New Delhi: Former Delhi chief minister and Congress stalwart Sheila Dikshit has reportedly turned down the offer to become the chief ministerial candidate of the grand old party in the high voltage 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

According to a NDTV report, poll strategist Prashant Kishor, who has been roped by the Congress to boost its fortunes in the Hindi heartland ahead of next year’s Assembly elections, wanted a Brahmin face to be projected as the face of the party.

The speculations about Dikshit being appointed as the CM candidate emerged after the Congress stalwart met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi on July 16.

The chorus for bringing Priyanka Gandhi into active politics to revive Congress’ fortunes in Uttar Pradesh has also been increasing these days.

Recently reports had claimed that around 600 block presidents of the grand old party had urged master strategist Prashant Kishor to bring Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s daughter into the political arena.

Congress, which once used to win almost all the seats in the cow belt state, has been performing very poorly in the last two decades.

Notably, the BJP had won on 71 out of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in 2014. Congress won two, Samajwadi Party five and Mayawati’s Bhaujan Samaj Party wasn’t able to open its account.

Key players in the state – Bharatiya Janata Party led by PM Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, Samajwadi Party led by Mulayam Singh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party led by Mayawati – are personality driven and have their strong vote bases. Meanwhile, Congress, which has been out of power in the state for nearly three decades, suffers from a leadership crisis.

(Agencies)

Chennai: A 24-year-old woman employee of an IT firm was today found murdered at a city railway station. S Swathi, employed with software giant Infosys, was found dead with cut injuries on her face and neck around 6.30 am on a platform in Nungambakkam railway station, police said.

The incident is believed to have taken place when Swathi, a resident of Choolaimedu near the station, was waiting to board a suburban train to reach her office as per her routine, they said.

It caused a flutter in the neighbourhood and the station, which usually gets busy around 7 am.

The body had been retrieved and sent for postmortem, police said, adding various angles were being probed to find out the assailant and also ascertain the motive behind the killing.

Infosys described the incident as “unfortunate” and said it was cooperating with investigating officials.

“We are saddened by the unfortunate incident that has led to the demise of our employee in Chennai. We are working with the local authorities as they investigate the matter and will continue to provide our co-operation and support,” it said in a statement.

“Our deepest sympathies and prayers are with the family of the deceased. Infosys will provide all the necessary support to the family in their hour of grief,” it further said.

The victim was employed with Infosys’ branch at Mahindra World City at Singaperumalkoil on the city outskirts.

(PTI)

Muzaffarnagar: A 35-year-old woman who was displaced from her native village during the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, gave birth on a road after she was allegedly denied admission by a government hospital here, prompting a probe by the Chief Medical Officer (CMO).

The incident occurred yesterday when the pregnant woman was denied entry at the government primary health centre in Kandhla town, her husband said.

She was asked by the doctors to return as her delivery date was scheduled three days later, he alleged.

He said that his wife gave birth on the road while they were returning to their house.

The woman was later shifted to a hospital in Shamli district on the directive of CMO V Agnihotri.

Meanwhile, the CMO has ordered a probe into the incident.

The woman claimed that she was displaced from her native Phugana village during the riots and was later rehabilitated at Kandhla town.

(Agencies)

Simple, sophisticated and lightweight, Elite Plus offers superior user experience with 5” FHD Display fueled by Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and a powerful 3050 mAh battery

Mr. Shripal Gandhi, Founder and CEO of Swipe Technologies along with Rashmi Nigam famous Bollywood actress at the launch of Swipe Elite Plus.

Bangalore: Swipe Technologies, India’s leading mobile internet company, is all-set to bring to you a smartphone experience that will set a market disruption in the category. Following months of anticipation, Swipe will be soon launching Elite Plus, a combination of aesthetics and power that brings an unmatched experience of craftsmanship without putting a dent on pockets. The latest offering from Swipe comes with an ergonomic arc design, premium build quality, powerful processor and a really long-lasting battery.

Launching the new smartphone, Mr. Shripal Gandhi, and Founder & CEO of Swipe Technologies, said “As a leading player in the smartphones space, it is our responsibility to offer better products to our customers every time. We continuously seek feedback from the mobile phone users on their desired features and incorporate them in our new offerings. Thus, after huge success of our pervious launch Elite Note, we are now presenting Elite Plus, which incorporates new improved hardware and software features and is much lighter in weight at 131gms – lowest among the competing brands with such loaded features. A marvel of craftsmanship and technology combines the beauty of Elite Plus. Our products are designed keeping in mind the expectations of Indian youth who is demanding better experience from smartphones in terms of better hardware as well as software. Elite Plus is priced competitively to offer this superior experience to the aspiring youth of the country.”

What gives Elite Plus its wings is its incredible power. With Qualcomm Snapdragon™ 64-Bit 615 Octa-Core processor, Elite Plus is equipped to handle all demanding tasks while giving the best 3D gaming experience on a Smartphone. A 2GB RAM powers Elite Plus to handle multi-tasking without breaking a sweat. A 3050 mAh marathon battery powers the Elite Plus for more than one full day’s use. Recognizing that a premium device must be compatible with high-speed connectivity standards, designers of Elite Plus have ensured supports 2G/3G/4G LTE/ EVDO/CDMA standards at breathtaking speeds, helping user make the most of their time.

Elite Plus scores a plus with cameras. With its 13MP rear camera and 8MP front camera, an Elite Plus user can take high-resolution selfies and all other photos without compromising on details. For music lovers, Elite Plus offers new edition of speakers that offers superior acoustics, with a dedicated amplifier for each speaker to deliver audio quality unprecedented from a smartphone.

It sports a Full High Definition (FHD) 5” 1920×1080 IPS Display and energy-efficient screen that gives 40% more colors than a normal LCD screen for brilliant graphics and gaming even under direct sunlight. It has a highly-intuitive control layout as part of the new Ergonomic Arc design. The new phone comes with Premium Jaquard Polycarbonate body with thin metal frame that is ergonomically tapered to effortlessly fit in your grip.

Despite being packed with superior features, the stunningly beautiful lightweight and powerful new Swipe Elite Plus comes at attractive price point. A price tag of INR 6999/- makes Elite Plus an object of desire that is truly affordable for the aspiring youth. Swipe’s new offering will be available exclusively from Flipkart.com from 6th June onwards

The growth in the Internet base in India has been exponential and rising penetration of smartphones is fueling this growth. According to a recent Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) report, INDIA@DIGITAL.BHARAT, it took 20 years from the introduction on the Internet to reach 100 million users. The second 200 million will likely be reached within three years, and a third in less than a year. In fact, the next four years will see nearly 350 million additional Internet users. The primary drivers of this exponential growth have been expansion to small towns / rural India, increased affordability due to lower-cost data-enabled smartphones and ever-increasing awareness of, and need for, the Internet. “It has been endevour of Swipe to offer lower-cost feature-rich to the aspiring youth from tier-2 and tier-3 towns, thus contributing to true digitalization of India,” says Mr Gandhi.

Mr Ajay Yadav, VP – Smartphones, Flipkart, said “We are delighted to announce Flipkart’s exclusive association with Swipe to launch its latest offering Elite Plus. We have received overwhelming response – especially from tier 2 and tier 3 towns – for all Swipe products that we have sold in the past. With its enriched features and attractive price tag, we expect great response for this flagship device from Swipe.”

New Delhi: Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria on Sunday kicked up a storm for allegedly using foul language while referring to former prime minister Manmohan Singh during a meeting of BJP workers in Churu. Kataria later apologised, saying that a word he used was “inappropriate”.

Comparing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his predecessor, Kataria said: “Desh ka pradhan mantri pehle Manmohan Singh jab America utarta tha, toh sa** ko receive karne kay liye aira-gera nathu khaira mantri ja karke airport se lekar ata tha. Lekin ab Hindustan ka pradhan mantri jab jata hai, toh Obama swayam uth karke jata hai uski agwani karne ke liye. (When prime minister Manmohan Singh used to go to America, the sa** was received by ordinary ministers at the airport. But now, when India’s prime minister goes, [US President Barack] Obama himself comes to receive him.”

Later, the minister tendered an apology on Twitter but insisted that he did not say anything derogatory about the former prime minister.

Congress leader and former chief minister Ashok Gehlot sought action against Kataria for the speech. “The BJP must take strong action against him and he should be sacked from his post. The BJP’s leaders are shamelessly saying whatever they want. They have literally crossed all limits,” said Gehlot.

The Congress also criticised the minister’s derogatory tone while referring to the former PM in his nearly half-hour speech. Congress state president Sachin Pilot said that “the state home minister’s comments about a former PM only reflect the state of his mental faculties”.

(Agencies)

Bengaluru: As discontent simmered over the reshuffle of his ministry by Chief Minister Sidddaramaiah, cine-actor turned politician Ambareesh today resigned as Member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.

Ambareesh sent a one line resignation letter addressed to the Assembly Speaker through his personal assistant, the move coming a day after Siddaramaiah dropped 14 ministers and inducted 13 others in the major revamp.

Deputy Speaker Shivashankara Reddy, who is officiating as the Speaker’s post is lying vacant with Kagodu Thimmappa being appointed as the cabinet Minister, has not accepted the letter as the Member himself did not submit it.

“Ambareesh has sent a letter of resignation through some other person; any such letter will be considered valid if the member himself submits it. I have sent it back,” Shivashankar Reddy told media.

The resignation letter states he is resigning as MLA of Mandya constituency, without assigning any reason.

Ambareesh was the Housing Minister before he was dropped.

He had earlier also served as Member of Parliament and was Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, but had resigned from the Lok Sabha membership, expressing dissatisfaction with the Cauvery Dispute Tribunal award.

Ambareesh’s supporters in Mandya continued their protest for the second consecutive day today.

They had blocked the Bengaluru-Mysuru Highway yesterday.

Resentment is brewing within Congress after the reshuffle, with several dropped Ministers and those who were aspiring to join the cabinet openly expressing their unhappiness against the party leadership.

The ministers who faced the axe are: Qamarul Islam, Shamanoor Shivashankarappa, V Srinivasa Prasad, M H Ambareesh, Vinay Kumar Sorake, Satish Jarkiholi, Baburao Chinchansoor, Shivaraj Sangappa Tangadagi, S R Patil, Manohar Tahasildhar, K Abayachandra Jain, Dinesh Gundu Rao, Kimmane Ratnakar and P T Parameshwar Naik.

Srinivasa Prasad and Islam are among others who have made no secret of their displeasure over being dropped.

Supporters of Srinivas Prasad had called for a bandh in Chamarajanagar and Nanjangud today.

Similar protests by supporters of various aspirants Congress MLA’s and dropped Ministers have been reported from different parts of the state.

(Agencies)