In his first remarks after the 50-day deadline to deposit old notes lapsed on December 30, President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday warned that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetisation drive may lead to a temporary slowdown of the economy. “Demonetisation, while immobilising black money and fighting corruption, may lead to temporary slowdown of the economy,” said President Pranab Mukherjee. The President added that the government must be “extra careful” to alleviate the suffering of the poor.

“We all will have to be extra careful to alleviate the suffering of the poor which might become unavoidable for the expected progress in the long term,” Mukherjee said. He said that while he appreciates the thrust on transition from entitlement approach to an entrepreneurial one for poverty alleviation, he is not too sure that the “poor can wait that long”.

“They need to get succour here and now so that they can also participate actively in the national march toward a future devoid of hunger, unemployment and exploitation,” the President said.

The 50-day deadline set by the Centre for depositing of old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, ended on December 30, and the Reserve Bank of India is yet to make public the amount of money that made its way back to its coffers. A Bloomberg report, however, said that 97 per cent of the demonetised notes were already deposited in banks.

On November 9, a day after PM Modi’s announcement, President Mukherjee welcomed the move saying that it “will help unearth unaccounted money”. “President Mukherjee welcomed the bold step of the Government of India which will help unearth unaccounted money & counterfeit currency,” said a statement from Rashtrapati Bhavan.

In the Parliament Winter Session, former prime minister Manmohan Singh termed the demonetisation drive as “organised loot and legalised plunder”. He predicted that it would bring down the country’s GDP by at least 2 per cent.

(Agencies)

Bengaluru: Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Thursday said his previous statement about the New Year’s eve molestation incident had been interpreted ‘out of context’.

The state Home minister had stoked a controversy by blaming the youngsters’ “western ways” for the incidents.

In a press conference today, Home Minister told media National Commission for Women has summoned him and he would reoly to the commission.

Also, announced slew of measures to enhance the safety of the women in IT capital.

Parameshwar assured that number of CCTVs would be increased to 5000 in the city.

We will also increase number of Dial 100 24/7 helplines from present 15 to 100, added the Home Minister.

(Agencies)

Bengaluru: Four persons were arrested today in connection with the groping and assault of a woman by two scooter-borne men near her home here on New Year’s eve, a shocking incident caught on camera that caused a national outrage.

The accused had been stalking the victim for four or five days and molested her when she was returning home after celebrating New Year, Bengaluru Police Commissioner Praveen Sood told reporters here, amid growing public anger over delay in nabbing the culprits.

Sood said two other accomplices had been identified and they would be arrested soon. “This is a plan prepared by six of them. One of them groped. Others assisted,” the Police Commissioner said.

He gave the names of the arrested as Aiyappa, the main culprit who molested the woman and Leno, Sudesh and Somashekar.

Aiyappa and Sudesh are delivery boys, Leno was a helper and Somashekhar a driver, Sood said, adding, a bike had been seized from them. “They have confessed (to the crime),” he said.

The arrest comes three days after a CCTV footage surfaced showing two scooter-borne two men accost a woman, zoom past her, take a U-turn and halt the vehicle before one of them jumps off, gropes her and escapes even as bystanders watch without coming to her help.

Sood said there was no “friendship or anything except that they stayed close by (to the victim’s place).” He said Prashant Francis, a resident of Kammanahalli, came forward with the “gory” video to help police.

Sood said “when we saw the video I felt that I don’t have to talk to the victim at all. It was a clear case of molestation and groping and maybe much more. We did not wait, we did not waste time to look forthe victim or contact her.”

“We suo motU registered the casebecause what had been shown on the video convinced us beyond all possible doubt that this was a heinous crime.”

Sood warned all such “potential violators”that police would not have any mercy on them if such incidents are repeated in future.

In the footage, one of the two men is first seen approaching the woman, forcing himself on her and dragging her to the scooter while the other person is seated on it, before pinning her down.

As she resists and tries to free herself, he pushes her down on the road and both escape from the scene, but not before the victim slaps the one who had grabbed her.

The incident at Kammanahalli here had occurred even as on late December 31 night, several women were molested and groped and lewd remarks passed by miscreants on M G Road and Brigade Road, despite the presence of 1,500 police personnel to control the unruly New Year revellers.

The incident drew flak from many quarters even as Home Minister G Parameshwara stoked a controversy by blaming the youngsters’ “western ways” for the incidents.

(Agencies)

Nasim Zaidi- Chief Election Commisioner. File photo: PTI

New Delhi: The high-stakes assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases between February 11 and March 8, while Punjab and Goa will go to polls together on February 4, Uttarakhand on February 15 and Manipur in two phases on March 4 and 8, with counting to be held on March 11.

Announcing the poll schedule for five states, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said the seven-phased UP Assembly polls for 403 constituencies will be held on February 11, 15, 19, 23, 27, March 4 and 8.

He said over 16 crore people will participate in these polls for a total of 690 constituencies in five states, for which the Commission has set up 1.85 lakh polling stations, which are 15 per cent more than those set up in 2012 polls.

The CEC flanked by the two Election Commissioners A K Joti and O P Rawat announced that the poll process will commence with the issue of notification on January 11 for Punjab and Goa polls where candidates can start filing their nominations.

“The Model Code of Conduct will come into immediate effect and will apply on political parties and state governments concerned, besides the Central government in terms of announcements in these states,” Zaidi told reporters.

The CEC said candidates will have to open a fresh bank account for all election expenses and all expenses above Rs 20,000 will be made through cheques from their respective accounts. He added that all donations will also be accepted through cheques.

The maximum limit for expenses for each candidates in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand is Rs 28 lakh, while that in Goa and Manipur is Rs 20 lakh, he said.

The first phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections covering 73 constituencies in 15 districts will be held on February 11, while 67 constituencies spread over 11 districts will go to polls on February 15 in Phase II.

Similarly, for Phase III covering 69 constituencies in 12 districts of the states, polls will be held on February 19 and Phase IV and Phase V will be held on February 23 and February 27, covering 53 and 52 constituencies respectively.

Phase VI of UP polls covering 49 will be held on March 4 and the last phase covering 40 seats will be held on March 8.

The assembly polls in Punjab and Goa with 117 and 40 constituencies respectively, will be held in one go on February 4, with the poll process being set rolling on January 11 with the filing of nominations.

Uttarakhand with 70 assembly constituencies will go to polls in one go on February 15, while Manipur will have polling in two phases on March 4 and 8.

The poll process will start in Uttarakhand on January 20, while that for Manipur will commence on February 11 with the issue of notification, where the nominations will start.

Zaidi said the use of black money in these elections is expected to reduce post demonetisation, but use of other illegal inducements in different forms may see an increase.

He said for the first time the EC will issue Standard Operating Procedures for the first 72 hours of poll process after announcement of polls and for the last 72 hours before polling to ensure that the poll machinery is set rolling and activated.

The EC has also for the first time made it mandatory for every candidate contesting these polls to file another affidavit in the form of a “No demand certificate” declaring any pending electricity, water, telephone bills and rent for government accommodation in their possession in last ten years.

The CEC said candidates will also make a declaration while filing their nominations on their being a citizen of India and having not possessed citizenship of any other country.

The affidavit is in compliance with a Delhi High Court ruling in this regard and failure to file it will lead to defects of substantial nature during scrutiny of nomination papers, Zaidi said.

As part of another first of its kind initiative, the EC will accept online the service votes of defence, para-military personnel and those posted in missions abroad. This comes after the success of an experiment in Puducherry.

Zaidi said VVPAT machines will be used in increasing number in select areas during these assembly polls and Goa will be saturated with VVPAT.

While Electronic Voting Machines will be used in all polling stations, the ballot paper on EVM machines will for the first time carry photographs of candidates along with their names and poll symbols.

The Commission will issue photo voter slips to voters ahead of polls and will for the first time also distribute a colourful booklet that will guide the voters on date and time of polls and location of polling stations, besides Dos and Don’ts for them.

To encourage more participation of women in election management, the EC will also have some all-woman polling stations this time around, besides making all polling stations disabilities-friendly.

The tenure of Punjab, Goa and Manipur assemblies are ending on March 18, while that of Uttarakhand will end on March 26 and Uttar Pradesh Assembly on May 27.

Of the total 690 constituencies going to polls in these five states, 133 are reserved for Scheduled Castes and 23 for Scheduled Tribes.

(Agencies)

Srinagar: A Pakistani militant from the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) outfit was killed in an ambush by the security forces at the outskirts of north Kashmir’s Sopore town on Tuesday.

Abu Umar Khatab was killed after the army and police laid an ambush in Haritar Tarzoo village on Monday night, a police officer said here.

The militants opened fire as they were passing through the area early on Tuesday. But one of them was killed in the operation.

(Agencies)