Archives for 2021

AHMEDABAD: New ministers of the Bhupendra Patel-led government in Gujarat will take oath on Thursday at Raj Bhavan in Gandhinagar amid speculation that the BJP may induct new faces into the state cabinet, with just over a year left for the state Assembly polls.

There has been suspense over ministerial faces, whose names have not been declared so far, in the backdrop of the BJP’s “no repeat” formula.

Earlier, the ruling BJP announced that the swearing-in ceremony would be held on Wednesday afternoon and preparations for the same had started at the governor’s house in the state capital.

However, the plan was later dropped all of a sudden and banners of the swearing-in ceremony were also taken down.

Neither the BJP nor the state government gave any reason for the postponement.

On Wednesday evening, the Chief Minister’s Office announced that the swearing-in ceremony of new ministers will be held at 1.30 pm at the Raj Bhavan in the state capital Gandhinagar on Thursday.

Patel (59), a first-time MLA from Ahmedabad, took over as the new Gujarat chief minister on Monday after the sudden resignation of Vijay Rupani last Saturday.

According to sources, the BJP leadership has decided to try new faces this time and drop almost all the past ministers, even some senior ones, who were part of the previous Rupani government.

However, there was no official word from the BJP about it.

Many believe that the “no repeat” formula has been proposed keeping in mind the 2022 Assembly polls as the BJP, which has been in power in Gujarat for more than two decades, wants to go to voters with a clean slate.

BENGALURU: After a brief respite of five days, when the state recorded less than 1,000 cases daily, Karnataka saw a sharp spike, registering 1,116 new patients and taking the state tally since the beginning of the pandemic to 29,64,083. Active cases increased from 15,754 to 15,892. 

The state’s positivity rate, however, reduced from 6.50 per cent to 6.48 per cent. Though recovery rate reduced on September 14, it picked up on Wednesday to 98.19 per cent, with 1,034 discharges. The capital’s recovery rate, however, decreased from 98.13 per cent to 98.11 per cent. The state’s mortality rate remained at 1.26 per cent, with eight deaths taking the toll to 37,529. 

Bengaluru’s mortality rate remained at 1.29 per cent, with five deaths taking the city’s toll to 16,065. 
Menwhile, Dakshina Kannada reported 102 fresh cases, followed by Udupi (89), Hassan (81), Mysuru (76), and Kodagu (67).

HYDERABAD: The body of an unidentified person was found on the railway tracks at Station Ghanpur in the erstwhile Warangal district on Thursday.

While the face was disfigured beyond recognition, from the tattoo marks on the victim’s hands and on his other body parts, police have come to a conclusion that it could be Palakonda Raju, accused in the rape and murder of a six-year-old girl at Saidabad in Hyderabad.

Ramesh Naik, Sub- Inspector Station Glamour said the body was found around 5 kms away from the Station Ghanpur railway station, towards Hyderabad.

“The tattoo marks, hairstyle, and other physical features are similar to that of Raju. ” he told.

New Delhi(: The Union Cabinet is believed to have approved a package for the telecom sector, aimed at giving relief to companies such as Vodafone Idea that have to pay thousands of crores in unprovisioned past statutory dues, according to sources.

The wide set of measures proposed entail reforms for the ailing sector by way of granting moratorium on unpaid dues, redefining AGR prospectively and cut in Spectrum Usage Charges.

Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw is slated to brief the media shortly on decisions taken by the Union Cabinet at its meeting held on Wednesday.

The relief package for the telecom sector will come as a breather to the three private players at a time when Vodafone Idea is confronting an existential crisis.

Bantwal: In an incident that occurred in Bantwal Taluk’s Adyanadka, a young female doctor reportedly drowned in a lake in the premises of the Varanasi farmhouse. 

The Mangaluru-based deceased doctor has been identified as Dr. Maiji Carol Fernandez (31). 

The incident is reported to have occurred on Tuesday evening. She was taken to the hospital in a critical state and on Wednesday morning, Dr. Maiji reportedly passed away, the police informed. 

Vittla police have registered a case in this regard. 

Dr. Maiji who was interested in agricultural studies had gone to Adyanadka for study, it is learned. On Tuesday evening, she reportedly went for a swim alone and accidentally drowned in the lake at the farmhouse. She was taken to the Vittla Community Health Centre and later taken to a private hospital in Mangaluru for treatment, police informed.

Muzaffarnagar: A woman was allegedly poisoned to death by her in-laws in Uttar Pradesh’s Shamli district after her family did not fulfil their demand for dowry, police said on Wednesday.

The woman’s husband and five in-laws have been booked in connection with the incident that occurred on Tuesday in Azad Chowk locality of the district. The victim, Muskan, had married Kasif in May, they said.

According to a complaint filed by Muskan’s family, Kasif had been harassing her for months for not bringing enough dowry. Later, she was poisoned by her in-laws, the police said.

Station House Officer Pankaj Tyagi said a case has been registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Dowry Prohibition Act against Kasif, his mother, his three brothers and his sister. They are on the run.

The body has been sent for a post-mortem examination, the police said.