Archives for 2024

New Delhi: The BJP on Sunday named 111 more candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, dropping Union ministers Ashwini Kumar Choubey and V K Singh, besides MP Varun Gandhi, while fielding actors Kangana Ranaut and Arun Govil.

Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan will contest from Sambalpur and the party’s spokesperson Sambit Patra will try his luck from Puri once again after losing out in a close contest in 2019.

The party fielded Maneka Gandhi from Sultanpur, while Uttar Pradesh minister Jitin Prasada has replaced Varun Gandhi in Pilibhit. Sita Soren will fight from Dumka (Jharkhand).

The party has dropped ex-Union minister Anant Kumar Hegde from Uttara Kannada constituency.

Actor Arun Govil, who played Ram in popular TV serial Ramayan, has been fielded by the BJP from the Meerut Lok Sabha seat.

Ahmedabad: Mumbai Indians maintained the tradition of losing their opening match of IPL since 2012 with Gujarat Titans snatching an improbable six-run victory in a thrilling match here on Sunday.

While Jasprit Bumrah bowled a couple of terrific spells to restrict Gujarat Titans to 168 for 6 in 20 overs, MI lost their way after Rohit Sharma’s dismissal to end up on 162 for 9 in 20 overs.

Brief Scores:

Gujarat Titans: 168 for 6 (Sai Sudharsan 45, Jasprit Bumrah 3/14).

MI 162 for 9 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 43, Dewald Brevis 46, MOhit Sharma 2/32, Spencer Johnson 2/32).

Parmesh S Jain special correspondent

Two Days after taking over Rameshwaram cafe blast case , the National Investigating Agency announces Rs.10 Lakh Bounty For Info on the accused .
The NIA in an official release released the information with a photograph of the suspect stated that any information leading to his arrest will be rewarded . The officials also assured to keep the identity of the informer confidential .
While a team of officials on Tuesday visited the cafe and inspected the blast site and gathered some details and sought details from the CCB officials .
Home Minister,G.Parameshwar said that the CCB team continue to probe and providing logistic help to the NIA officials. 
The CCB team has some vital clues and are working on it to track down the accused , he said .
Reacting to the question of intelligence failure led to the blast, Mr. Parameshwar said that there are many intelligence agencies including central and state having their  network. Despite this the the perpetrator carried out the attack intelligently. 
Reacting to the threat mail, he said that the proton mail service provider from other country and the city police has written to the service provide seeking information about the sender .  
This is the second such incident where such email IDs are being used.  
The central government should ban such mail Ids operating from outside, posing threat to the security, he said .

Parmesh S Jain special correspondent

The Subramanyanagar police on Wednesday arrested a realtor for cheating gullible people promising high returns on their investments. 
The accused identified as Makali Kishan,used to threat the investors at gun point when they demand the returns. 
Following a complaint from Gunanidhi,one of the investors, the police have registered a case of cheating and criminal intimidation and arrested the accused . 
In his complaint,Gunanidhi,said that he got introduced to Kishan through a common friend.Kishan offered Gunanishi high returns for the investment .  
When Gunanidhi said he did not have any money for investment,Kishan advised him to borrow personal loan and assured that he will pay the EMI and even give his returns of the investment . 
Following the advised Gunanidhi borrowed Rs.15 lakh loan and transferred the money online to Kishan’s account as advised. 
Initially Kishan paid few EMIs and later stopped paying the EMIs.When Gunanidhi started getting calls to pay EMI,he approached Kishan for which the accused threatened him with dire consequences at gun point. 
Gunanidhi came to know using the Modus Operandi, Kishan had cheated many people.police asked the victims to approach the police and file a complaint .

Parmesh S Jain Special correspondent

The Directorate of Revenue (DRI) officers in Bengaluru have busted a syndicate’s efforts to illicitly trade elephant tusks,classified under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act,1972, at the outskirts of Bengaluru,Karnataka. 
The interception of three suspects in an auto rickshaw on 05th and 6th March led to recovery of ivory tusks, concealed in a large bag in their possession. 

Further, swift action led to the arrest of four additional accomplices involved in facilitating the illegal trade.
The two elephant tusks,totally weighing 6.8 kg,were recovered and seized as per Section 50 of the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA),1972.The seven Individuals have been arrested.
With the recent amendments to the Wildlife Protection Act effective from April 1, 2023, DRI officers,already at the vanguard of anti-smuggling and counter-trafficking efforts across international frontiers, have been granted enhanced powers to clamp down on the domestic illegal wildlife trade.
Leveraging these new provisions,DRI officers are proactively engaged in operations to intercept illicitly traded wildlife items.
According to an official release,in the fiscal year 2023-2024 alone, DRI units across India conducted six successful seizures of elephant tusks, collectively weighing 57.5 kilogram. 
These operations were conducted at Chennai, Hyderabad,Guwahati,Kolkata,and Bengaluru,further demonstrating DRI’s unwavering commitment to combat wildlife trafficking.

Bengaluru: Former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar and former Karnataka Assembly Speaker Vishveshwar Hegde Kageri are among the four candidates in the BJP’s second list for Karnataka on Sunday.

As expected, Shettar will contest from Belgaum (Belagavi) constituency, while Kageri will fight from Uttara Kannada district, replacing sitting MP Anantkumar Hegde.

According to the list released by the party in New Delhi, the other two candidates fielded by the party are former Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar from Chikkaballapura and Raja Amareshwara Naik from Raichur.

Shettar assumed different positions right from party state president, leader of the opposition, assembly speaker and chief minister of Karnataka.

A staunch RSS man, Shettar quit the BJP in 2023 when he was denied a ticket in the assembly election. In less than a year, he was back to his parent organisation.

Shettar wanted to contest the Lok Sabha election from Haveri constituency but the party decided to field him from Belagavi.

Kageri’s selection was also on the anvil as the party had made up its mind to find a suitable replacement to Anantkumar Hegde, who had caused much embarrassment to the party time and again.

Kageri, a six-time MLA, is well known for his balanced views, his strong footing in the RSS ideology and well-weighed words. He hails from Sirsi in Uttara Kannada district.

As Union Minister of State, Hedge, on December 26, 2017, said that the BJP came to power to change the Constitution triggering a nationwide uproar. Later, he had to apologise for his comment.

Recently, Hegde said the BJP’s call for winning more than 400 seats in the Lok Sabha was to bring amendments to the Constitution. This led to sharp reactions from various quarters.

A three-time MLA, Dr K Sudhakar is a well known name in Chikkaballapura. He lost the 2023 assembly election from Chikkaballapura assembly constituency.

He was previously with the Congress but resigned from the assembly in 2019, a year after winning the election.

A medical professional Sudhakar was among the 18 disqualified MLAs who later joined the BJP.

He successfully contested the 2019 bypoll and during COVID-19 pandemic he was given the health and medical education portfolio.

The BJP has so far announced candidates for 24 Lok Sabha constituencies.

The general elections in Karnataka will be held in two phases on April 26 and May 7 for 28 constituencies.

Lucknow: The BJP on Sunday declared 13 candidates from Uttar Pradesh for the ongoing Lok Sabha polls including Ramayan TV serial-fame actor Arun Govil, who played the role of Lord Ram, from Meerut, while replacing sitting MP Varun Gandhi from Pilibhit with UP PWD minister Jitin Prasada.

Varun Gandhi has recently been vocal against the BJP on several issues, including employment and health. However, his mother Maneka Gandhi has been retained in the list of the candidates, and has been fielded from Sultanpur parliamentary constituency.

The BJP has fielded Atul Garg from Ghaziabad and dropped sitting MP and Union Minister V K Singh. Shortly before the list was announced, Singh said in a post on X that he will not contest the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

Similarly, the party has fielded Ramesh Awasthi from Kanpur Lok Sabha seat, after sitting MP Satyadev Pachauri on Sunday expressed his unwillingness to contest the elections and conveyed the same to the party’s national president J P Nadda.

This is the second list of candidates from UP released by the BJP for the Lok Sabha elections. The party is yet to declare its candidate for the Raebareli Lok Sabha seat.

In Budaun, the party has announced the name of Durvijay Singh Shakya, overlooking its current MP Sanghamitra Maurya.

In Bareilly, the party has replaced sitting MP Santosh Gangwar and given the ticket to Chattrapal Singh Gangwar.

The party has announced Raghav Lakhanpal as its nominee from Saharanpur, Sarvesh Singh from Moradabad and Satish Gautam from Aligarh seats.

On the reserved seats of Barabanki and Bahraich, the BJP has named Rajrani Rawat and Arvind Gond respectively.

The BJP in its first list had named its sitting MP Upendra Rawat from Barabanki. Rawat, however, refused to contest the election after an obscene video allegedly involving him surfaced on social media.

Karwar: Six time MP Anantkumar Hegde has been denied ticket by BJP in Uttar Kannada constituency for the present Lok Sabha elections. Former Speaker of Karnataka Legislative Assembly Kageri Vishweshwar Hegde has replaced him for the contest.

Anantkumar Hegde had contested seven times continuously from the constituency and had been elected six times. But he disappeared from the scene after previous Lok Sabha polls and to come back only two months ago. He continued his communally provocative statements which created more controversies and even gave a statement of his party changing the Constitution by winning 400 seats. This created a new controversy at national level. He was absent for all campaigns in the last Lok Sabha polls, even for Modi’s public meet in Ankola.

Kageri Vishweshwar Hegde too has been elected 6 times for Vidhan Sabha and faced a single defeat in the last polls. Coming from RSS background, he has been in politics since 1999. Chakravarti Soolibele, Journalist Hariprakash Konemane were also initially named for the ticket. However BJP high command has ended all speculations by granting the ticket to Kageri who is contesting Lok Sabha elections for the first time.