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Legal action on Maharashtra ministers if they enter Belagavi: Basavaraj Bommai

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BELAGAVI/HUBBALLI : Even as two Maharashtra ministers Chandrakant Patil and Shamburaj Desai have made it clear that they will visit Belagavi as planned on December 6, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said his government will not hesitate to take legal action against the duo if they enter the district.  
Speaking to reporters in Hubballi on Monday, Bommai warned the two ministers against going ahead with their visit to Belagavi while indicating that his government was mulling taking legal action against them if they did so. “The boundary dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra is a closed chapter

And the visit of Maharashtra ministers to Belagavi at this juncture is an act of provocation. Already, the Maharashtra government had been requested through bureaucratic channels not to send their ministers to Karnataka. As the situation is volatile in Belagavi, their visit could lead to a law and order problem. However, it is unfair of the two ministers to remain unrelenting despite the state’s objection to their visit,’’ he added.

In spite of the fact that Kannada and Marathi people are living in harmony, the Maharashtra government moved the Supreme Court over the vexed dispute, he said, adding that for Karnataka, the dispute was a closed chapter. And now, when the case is before the apex court, it is unfair that Maharashtra leaders are provoking people and inciting their sentiments, he said.

Stating that he would once again appeal to his Maharashtra counterpart Eknath Shinde not to send his ministers to Belagavi, Bommai said he had asked his officials to check on what actions were taken during such situations in Karnataka by the governments of the past.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) activists staged a protest and performed urulu seve at Rani Chennamma Circle in Belagavi on Monday demanding that the district administration not allow the two ministers into Belagavi. They also urged the government to initiate stringent action against those police officers “who attacked and insulted a Kannadiga student for waving a Kannada flag” recently. The agitating activists took out a rally from Chennamma Circle to the DC office and submitted a memorandum to the DC Nitesh Patil.

THEY WILL NOT BE ALLOWED: BELAGAVI DC

Belagavi DC Nitesh Patil has said the two Maharashtra ministers will not be allowed to enter Belagavi on. Speaking to reporters in Belagavi on Monday, he said, “I have received the tour plan of the two ministers and an MP from Mahar-ashtra. Earlier, they were to visit on December 3 but now their visit has been pushed to December 6. The police commissioner of Belagavi city and SP of the district have informed that the law and order situation may get disturbed if they visit at this juncture. We expect the ministers to cancel their visit… else we will take action.’’ Prohibition orders would be imposed to ban their entry into Belagavi under IPC section 144(3) like it was issued on earlier occasions, he said.

Dogs found sleeping on beds in MP govt hospital, video goes viral

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Two stray dogs can be seen sleeping on beds at Shahpura health centre. (Photo | Express)

BHOPAL: Days after a  viral video showed a cow strolling and feeding on medical waste at the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Rajgarh district hospital, a new video of stray dogs having a field day on patients’ beds of a health centre in Jabalpur district has gone viral.

While two stray dogs can be seen sleeping and comforting on beds meant for patients at the Shahpura community health centre (CHC), another viral video of the same key government health facility shows pathetic state of cleanliness and sanitation near the operation theatre (OT) further narrates the state of affairs there.

The twin videos were possibly shot by Shahpura (Jabalpur) resident Siddharth Jain, who had gone to the same CHC for a medical check up of pregnant wife, but remained shocked to find the canines comforting on empty patients’ beds and pathetic state of cleanliness and sanitation.

Besides these shocking scenes, all Jain could find was just one nurse on duty and no doctor or other paramedical or security staff on duty. Meanwhile, the Jabalpur district administration has taken cognisance of the matter after the twin videos went viral.

“The Block Medical Officer (BMO) Dr CK Atraulia has been showcaused and asked to reply within 24 hours.Based on his reply, action will ensue. We’ve seven CHCs in Jabalpur district, but the incident has been reported from one of them, which means that the monitoring authority (the BMO) isn’t monitoring the affairs adequately;otherwise such repeated mess wouldn’t have been reported from there. There are sufficient staff there, but still if such mess is prevailing then the BMO owes a reply. If the reply is found unsatisfactory, suitable action will be taken,” Jabalpur district chief medical and health officer Dr Sanjay Mishra said on Monday.Earlier, in September, a video of a dog sleeping on a hospital bed in Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh went viral on social media, inviting criticism from the opposition Congress.

Himachal Pradesh race tight, BJP sweep in Gujarat: Exit poll

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NEW DELHI: The BJP appears headed for a record victory in the Gujarat while the race in Himachal Pradesh could be unexpectedly tight, if the poll of exit polls is any indicator. Exit poll results came out in the evening after the last phase Gujarat Assembly elections ended on Monday.

Pollsters were unanimous in predicting a clean sweep for the BJP in Gujarat, with the Congress finishing a distant second. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) could consider itself lucky if it crosses single digits. If the BJP wins, it would be a record seventh successive term for it in Gujarat. However, the Congress appears to have given the BJP a run for its money in Himachal Pradesh, exit polls suggest. Counting of votes will take place on December 8.

The poll of exit polls gave 132 seats to the BJP in the 182-member Gujarat Assembly with the Congress and its allies trailing at 38. If the projection holds, it would be a huge blow for the Congress, which secured 77 seats in the 2017 Assembly elections. Its lacklustre performance could affect its morale at a time when it is looking to build up some steam ahead of the 2024 general elections. Congress leaders had claimed the party will win despite its low key campaign in the state.

As for the AAP, its high voltage campaign may not have commensurate results on the ground in Gujarat, with BJP being the big beneficiary.In Himachal Pradesh, the BJP could get to retain power, through with a razor thin margin, as the poll of polls gave it 35 seats, which is also the majority mark in the 68-member Assembly. The Congress could end up with 30 seats while it will be a no-show for the AAP.

However, two exit polls showed a dead heat between the BJP and the Congress in the state, where results could go either way. According to the Chanakya exit poll, it will be a cliffhanger as both the BJP and the Congress may secure 33 seats each. The India-Today Axis poll gave the Congress an edge with 30-40 seats.

MCD polls: Violence-hit Jahangirpuri votes for peace, harmony and cleanliness

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NEW DELHI: The residents of Northwest Delhi’s Jahangirpuri have cast their votes for peace, communal harmony and cleanliness in this Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections. 

The market area in Jahangirpuri which had come to a standstill in April due to clashes between two communities during a Hanuman Jayanti procession was bustling on Sunday as people went out in large numbers to exercise their franchise.

The clash that erupted on April 16 left eight police personnel and a local resident injured.

Although the situation returned to normalcy months ago, the security in the market area was slightly beefed up with the deployment of police and Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel every 200 metres.

Tajman Bibi, one of the Jahangirpuri voters, said he wants the upcoming MCD regime to focus on peace and communal harmony, which are his primary concerns.

“Jahangirpuri should never again witness the kind of violence it did in April. The authorities should focus on maintaining communal harmony in this area. While casting my vote, that was my only concern,” Tajman told PTI.

Another voter Rafiq echoed similar sentiments, saying that people in Jahangirpuri should not “face divisive politics” anymore.

“No matter which party comes to power in the MCD, we expect peace in Jahangirpuri. People should not face divisive politics here anymore. There should be harmony amongst all communities.”

“We do not want any sort of division on the basis of communities. We do not want people to fight amongst each other,” the 56-year-old added.

On the civic front, the residents highlighted the lack of cleanliness and garbage menace as other major issues.

Mohammad Junu,48, whose house is located in one of the congested gullies, said the drains in the area mostly remain clogged throughout the year.

“We have been facing the issue of clogged drains since several years now. We spoke to the authorities earlier many times but nobody paid heed to the issue. Due to water stagnation, drains get clogged here. This is one issue that leads to major health problems to the residents, including dengue and malaria,” he said.

A few days after the clash, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) launched an anti-encroachment drive in Jahangirpuri during which bulldozers razed several structures in the area.

The exercise continued for one-and-a-half hours even after a Supreme Court directive to stop it.

The civic polls, spanning 250 wards, was conducted on Sunday. The votes will be counted on December 7.

China eases controls, gives no sign when ‘zero COVID’ ends

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BEIJING: China is easing some of the world’s most stringent anti-virus controls and authorities say new variants are weaker. But they have yet to say when they might end a “zero-COVID” strategy that confines millions of people to their homes and set off protests and demands for President Xi Jinping to resign.

On Monday, commuters in Beijing and at least 16 other cities were allowed to board buses and subways without a virus test in the previous 48 hours for the first time in months. Industrial centres including Guangzhou near Hong Kong have reopened markets and businesses and lifted most curbs on movement while keeping restrictions on neighbourhoods with infections.

The government announced plans last week to vaccinate millions of people in their 70s and 80s, a condition for ending “zero- COVID“ restrictions that keep most visitors out of China and have disrupted manufacturing and global trade.

That spurred hopes for a quick end to “zero COVID.” But health experts and economists warn it will be mid-2023 and possibly 2024 before vaccination rates are high enough and hospitals are prepared to handle a possible rash of infections.

“China is not ready for a fast reopening yet,” Morgan Stanley economists said in a report Monday. “We expect lingering containment measures. … Restrictions could still tighten dynamically in lower-tier cities should hospitalizations surge.”

The changes follow protests demanding an end to “zero COVID” but are in line with Communist Party promises earlier to reduce disruption by easing quarantine and other restrictions. The changes have been highly publicized in a possible effort to mollify public anger, but there is no indication whether any might have been made in response to protests in Shanghai and other cities.

China is the only major country still trying to stamp out transmission while the United States and others relax restrictions and try to live with the virus that has killed at least 6.6 million people and infected almost 650 million.

The protests began Nov. 25 after at least 10 people died in a fire in an apartment building in Urumqi in the northwest. Authorities denied suggestions firefighters or victims were blocked by locked doors or other anti-virus controls. But the disaster became a focus for public frustration.

Bharat Jodo Yatra enters Rajasthan, Rahul Gandhi interacts with children, sips tea at dhaba on first day

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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, MP Congress chief Kamal Nath and Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, in Jhalawar. (Photo | PTI)

RAJASTHAN: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi began the Rajasthan leg of his Bharat Jodo Yatra from Jhalawar district on Monday morning, with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot in attendance.

The 89th day of the yatra started from Kali Talai in Jhalrapatan, a rural area on the Rajasthan-Madhya Pradesh border.

Gandhi set off the yatra at 6.10 am when the temperature was 13 degrees Celsius, but he was seemingly comfortable walking in a half sleeves T-shirt and trousers teamed with sports shoes, while the other leaders and workers were seen in jackets.

The other notable leaders who accompanied Gandhi were AICC general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal, Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee chief Govind Singh Dotasra, senior leader Bhanwar Jitendra Singh, and Food and Civil Supplies Minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas.

During the yatra, Gandhi interacted with about half a dozen children and waved at a large number of people who participated in the yatra who called it a “fair”.

He sipped his morning tea at a dhaba.

During the yatra, former MP Raghuveer Meena felt uneasiness and he was taken to the district hospital in Jhalawar in an ambulance.

After covering about 14 km, the padayatra halted at Baliborda chauraha.

It will resume after lunch from Nahardi area at 3.30 pm.

The Congress party tweeted in Hindi asking its members and supporters not to slow down but deliver “something amazing”.

“Bharat Jodo Yatra has saluted the soil of bravery, and Rajasthan, which is a land of histories, will create another history,” the party tweeted.

The yatra entered Rajasthan from Madhya Pradesh on Sunday evening.

While Gehlot shared pictures on Twitter, Pilot took to the micro-blogging platform to convey that the yatra in the state started with a resolve to fulfil hopes and expectations of the youth.

Dotasara tweeted, “The caravan of Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi to tie India in the thread of love, harmony and unity has now set out to create history in Rajasthan.”

Rajasthan is the only Congress-ruled state where the yatra has entered and will cover about 500 km passing through Jhalawar, Kota, Bundi, Sawai Madhopur, Dausa and Alwar districts over 17 days before entering Haryana on December 21.

Gandhi will interact with farmers at Lalsot in Dausa on December 15 and address a public meeting at Malakheda in Alwar on December 19.

The yatra started from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu on September 7 and has so far covered the five southern states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Telangana, and then traversed through Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

It will conclude in Jammu and Kashmir in early February 2023, covering 3,570 km in 150 days.

Gujarat Assembly polls: Amit Shah casts vote asks people to strengthen state’s ‘development model’

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AHMEDABAD: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday cast his vote in Ahmedabad during polling for the second phase of Gujarat Assembly elections and appealed to people to strengthen the state’s “development model” by coming out to vote in large numbers

Shah, who represents Gandhinagar seat in the Lok Sabha, reached the Naranpura sub-zonal office polling booth here along with his family members including wife Sonalben Shah and son Jay Shah.

Talking to reporters after casting his vote, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader appealed to people to carry forward and strengthen Gujarat’s ‘development model’ through their votes.

“I urge all the voters, especially the first time voters, to exercise their franchise without fail to take ahead this two-and-a-half decades of journey of development, because Gujarat’s development is not limited to our state only. Gujarat’s development is a medium to bring development in the country,” Shah said.

The BJP has been in power in Gujarat for more than 25 years.

Shah said Gujarat’s development serves as the foundation for the development of the entire country.

The BJP leader said various achievements of the ‘Gujarat model’, such as high industrial investment, 100 per cent enrolment in schools, zero drop out and poverty alleviation schemes, have been attracting attention of the whole country.

“I urge the voters to come out in large numbers and vote for strengthening this development model,” said Shah.

Voting was underway on Monday for the second phase of polls in 93 out of the total 182 Assembly seats in Gujarat.

Earlier, polls in 89 Assembly seats were held on December 1. The counting of votes in all the seats will be taken up on December 8.

Bengaluru: Neighbour kills octogenarian, hides body in wardrobe

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BENGALURU: A woman allegedly murdered her octogenarian neighbour and escaped after hiding the body in a wardrobe. The incident took place in Attibele of Anekal taluk. Police said the deceased has been identified as Parvathamma (80), a resident of Neraluru village.

The police are on the lookout for the accused, Payal Khan (aged about 26). “Parvathamma had moved with her family to a rented house on the second floor of a building about nine months ago and the accused lived on the third floor of the building for 10 months. Parvathamma had left the house on Friday evening, informing family members that she was going out to buy betel leaf and would be back soon. However, she did not return and her family started searching for her,” police said.

On Saturday, her son, Ramesh, lodged a missing person complaint.  “Meanwhile, Ramesh’s wife informed him that Parvathamma had told her that the neighbour upstairs was inviting her home and they should check there once, but the house was locked on Saturday evening. As it was locked even on Sunday morning, Ramesh grew suspicious and informed the police.

When the house was searched, the body was found in a wardrobe,” the police said. The miscreant had smothered the elderly woman and hidden her body in the wardrobe after tying her limbs. “About 80 grams of gold the woman was wearing are missing. It appears to be a murder for gain. We are looking for the killer,” the police added.

Maharashtra CM Shinde postpones cabinet expansion, focuses on boards and corporations

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MUMBAI:  Ahead of the Maharashtra assembly winter session scheduled on December 19 in Nagpur, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis have decided to postpone cabinet expansion and begin allocations of state boards and corporations.

Shinde held a meeting with Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule, where they decided that rather than awaiting centre clearance for cabinet expansion, both the alliance partners can start allocations of state boards and corporations.

“The MLAs who supported Shinde in his revolt are desperate to get the ministerial hearth. Some of them have warned that if the cabinet is not expanded and if their names are not included, they may take a different call. The immediate issue before the CM is to pacify the disgruntled MLAs by allocations,” said a senior BJP leader who requested anonymity.  

The first cabinet expansion was carried out five months ago, however, majority of ministries are yet to be allocated. The chief minister and his deputy are burdened with the maximum portfolios. Besides, it also has an adverse cascading effect on the administration and implementation of government policies.

Meanwhile, the matter of disqualification of 16 MLAs including Shinde and prominent ministers are still pending in the Supreme Court. A negative result can jeopardise the government. Therefore, they are giving a lot of thought to delaying the expansions,” said a senior BJP leader who requested anonymity.

A source close to Shinde said that allocating the state boards with cabinet status will kill two birds with one stone. “The MLAs who were earlier demanding cream portfolios are now desperate and even ready to settle with boards. This will reduce competition. So later, it won’t be an issue for us to distribute the portfolios and expand the cabinet. This is a well-planned strategy,” he added.

BJP Maharashtra unit vice-president Prasad Lad has stoked another row over Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj after he made an inaccurate statement about the birthplace of the Maratha king. Lad, who is a close aide of state Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, on Saturday said that Shivaji was born in Konkan while in fact he was born in Shivneri fort in Pune district. Prasad Lad made the error while addressing a gathering at the Konkan Mohatsav in Mumbai on Saturday.

Lad’s remark invited strong reactions from leaders across political parties in the estate. Later, he extended an apology and said, “I have huge respect for Shivaji. It came out while speaking about Shivaji and Konkan. Konkan was the work land of Shivaji and that is a fact we cannot deny,” he added.

Re-poll in two DDC constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir

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SRINAGAR: Polling was underway on Monday in two district development council (DDC) constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir where a re-poll was ordered by election authorities due to disputed qualification of candidates, officials said

The polling for the DDC seats of Hajin-A in Bandipora and Drugmulla in Kupwara started this morning.

The State Election Commissioner has appealed voters to come out and cast their votes without any fear and strengthen the democratic process by participating in large numbers, the officials said.

A mock poll was also conducted at all polling stations before the actual start to ensure free and transparent polling, they added.

The DDC elections took place in Jammu and Kashmir in December 2020.

However, the counting of votes was withheld in these two seats due to the disputed qualification of two candidates.

Later, the state election commission declared the polling to these constituencies as void, cancelling the candidature of Soomia Sadaf and Shazia Aslam, citing wrong information about the place of birth by the PoK-origin candidates.

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