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TN govt presents budget with focus on the “7 grand Tamil dream”

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TN govt presents budget with focus on the "7 grand Tamil dream"

Chennai : The Tamil Nadu government on Monday presented its budget for the year 2024-25, premising the exercise on the “7 grand Tamil dream,” that included social justice and women’s welfare at the core.

Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu presented the budget and made a slew of announcements.

This included the “Kalaignarin Kanavu Illam,” a housing scheme named after the late DMK patriarch and former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi. As per the scheme, 8 lakh concrete houses will be constructed in rural areas across the state to make it ‘hut-free’ by 2030, he said.

Social justice, welfare of the marginalised, making Tamil youth global achievers were among the 7 goals, Thennarasu said in his budget speech.

Among others, he announced allocating Rs 300 crore in budget for civic amenities including roads for areas nearby city corporations.

Thennarasu said the state has made very significant progress in poverty reduction through its welfare schemes.

The NITI Aayog has said that people below poverty line in Tamil Nadu was only about 2.2 per cent, he added.

SC stays LS notices to West Bengal chief secretary, DGP on complaint of BJP MP

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the notices issued by the privileges committee of the Lok Sabha Secretariat to the West Bengal chief secretary, DGP and others over a complaint of “misconduct” filed against them by BJP MP Sukanta Majumdar.

Majumdar sustained injuries last week as BJP workers clashed with police personnel after being stopped from going to violence-hit Sandeshkhali in West Bengal.

A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwla and Manoj Misra took note of the submissions of senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the state officials, and stayed the notices issued seeking their presence at 10.30 am on Monday.

The counsel for the Lok Sabha secretariat opposed the grant of stay by the top court, saying this is the first sitting of the privileges committee.

“They are not being accused of anything. This is a regular process. Once an MP sends a notice and the speaker thinks there is something to look into then notices are issued,” the counsel said.

West Bengal Chief Secretary Bhagwati Prasad Gopalika and Director General of Police (DGP) Rajeev Kumar were summoned by the Lok Sabha Secretariat to appear on Monday.

The bench issued notices to the Lok Sabha Secretariat and others and sought their responses in four weeks and in the meanwhile stayed the proceedings before the panel of the lower House.

The MP and others were stopped from entering Sandeshkhali, where women have been agitating over alleged atrocities committed against them by Trinamool Congress leader Shajahan Sheikh and his aides.

Sandeshkhali has been tense with a large number of women in the locality accusing Trinamool Congress strongman Shajahan Sheikh and his supporters of “land-grab and sexually assaulting” them under coercion.

Renowned novelist KT Gatti passes away

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Renowned novelist KT Gatti passes away
KT Gatti

Mangaluru : Renowned novelist KT Gatti, known for his impactful works in Kannada literature, passed away in Mangalore on Monday.

Originally from Kudlu in Kasaragod district, he had recently settled in Mangalore. KT Gatti was a distinguished writer and recipient of prestigious awards such as the Karnataka Sahitya Akademi Honorary Award and the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award.

Gatti, who served as a professor at T M Pai University, Udupi, travelled to Ethiopia as a professor from the Government of India. After returning from Ethiopia, he settled in Ujire and engaged in agriculture.

Keenly interested in learning, KT Gatti earned a diploma in English Studies from Trinity and Oxford Colleges in England.

Novels of KT Gatti:

Shabdas (1976), Soumya (1978), Mane, Ramayajna, Siddhu, Abrahmana, Amukta, Avibhaktaru, Karmanye Vadhikarasthe, Koopa, Pujari, Bisilugudure, Mrityorma Amritham Gamaya, Yugantara, Shilatapasvi, Swarnamriga, Aragina Mane.

Allegation of Sexual Abuse Against Magistrate in Tripura Under Investigation

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A rape survivor in Tripura has accused a magistrate of sexually abusing her inside his chamber. A three-member panel, headed by a district and Sessions court judge, has commenced an investigation into the matter.

The survivor alleges that the incident occurred on February 16 when she visited the first-class judicial magistrate’s chamber to have her statement recorded in the rape case. In her complaint to the additional district and sessions judge in Kamalpur, she stated, “When I was about to give my statement, the judge groped me. I rushed out of his chamber and informed the lawyers and my husband about the incident.”

Subsequently, the survivor’s husband also filed a separate complaint with the Kamalpur Bar Association. The investigating panel, led by District and Sessions Judge Gautam Sarkar and Chief Judicial Magistrate Satyajit Das, visited Kamalpur’s additional district and sessions judge’s office to probe the matter further.

Shibendra Dasgupta, the secretary of the advocate body, confirmed that the panel had met with members of the Kamalpur Bar Association to gather their perspective on the allegations. Meanwhile, V Pandey, the Registrar General of Tripura High Court, stated, “We have not yet received any official complaint regarding the issue. Once we receive a complaint in a proper format, we will definitely take appropriate action.”

Netizens slam actor Ajay Devgn for siding with government’s narrative on farmers’ protest

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Bollywood luminary Ajay Devgn’s recent social media post celebrating the conferment of the Bharat Ratna upon Dr. MS Swaminathan has triggered a wave of controversy, with netizens questioning the actor’s stance in relation to the ongoing farmers’ protests.

Devgn lauded Dr. Swaminathan as a visionary leader whose agricultural innovations have significantly impacted the nation.

However, a section of social media users has accused Devgn of tacitly supporting the government’s agenda and diverting attention from the farmers’ agitation.

Critics argue that the actor’s conspicuous silence on the farmers’ protests, juxtaposed with his endorsement of the Bharat Ratna for Dr. Swaminathan, implies a certain alignment with the government’s narrative.

According to these social media users, Devgn’s apparent support for the award is viewed as an attempt to overshadow the farmer protests and project an image of governmental concern for agricultural welfare.

The controversy has ignited a heated online debate, with users expressing varying opinions on the actor’s motivations and allegiances. Some defend Devgn’s right to applaud the recognition of Dr. Swaminathan’s contributions, emphasizing the need to separate the individual’s achievements from broader political dynamics. Others, however, argue that the actor’s timing and choice of subject inadvertently align him with the government’s narrative, which seeks to downplay the gravity of the farmers’ concerns.

India beat England by 434 runs in third Test

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India hammer England by 434 runs in third Test

Rajkot: India beat England by a whopping 434 runs in the third Test to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series here on Sunday.

This was India’s biggest Test win in terms of runs, surpassing the 372-run victory over New Zealand in 2021.

Set an improbable victory target of 557, England collapsed to 122 all out in 39.4 overs on day four.

Ravindra Jadeja was the pick of the bowlers for India, taking five wickets for 41 runs in 12.4 overs.

It was easily England’s worst batting effort of the series with no batter able to cross the 20-run mark barring number 10 Mark Wood (33).

On the same pitch, India amassed 445 and 430 for four declared in their two innings respectively.

The massive win was set up by Yashasvi Jaiswal who remained unbeaten on 214 in India’s second innings. The other centurions of the game were Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja.

Sarfaraz Khan scored back-to-back fifties on his debut.

The fourth Test will be played in Ranchi from February 23.

Brief Scores:

India: 445 and 430 for 4 in 98 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 214 not out, Sarfaraz Khan 68 not out, Shubman Gill 91; Rehan Ahmed 1/108)

England: 319 and 122 all out in 39.4 overs (Mark Wood 33; Ravindra Jadeja 5/41, Kuldeep Yadav 2/19).

CM Kejriwal moves motion of confidence in Delhi Assembly

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CM Kejriwal moves motion of confidence in Delhi Assembly

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday moved a motion of confidence in the Assembly which the House will discuss on Saturday.

Seeking the vote of confidence in the Assembly, he said, “Two MLAs had come to me saying they were contacted by BJP members offering them Rs 25 crore each. They were told that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will be arrested and the government will be toppled.”

Claiming that the Delhi excise policy case was false, he alleged the BJP wanted to topple the AAP government.

A Delhi court has asked Kejriwal to appear before it on February 17 on a complaint filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for skipping summons in an excise policy-linked case and noted that prima facie the AAP chief was “legally bound” to comply.

The ED had moved the court after Kejriwal skipped the fifth summons by the probe agency for questioning in a Delhi liquor policy-linked money laundering case.

Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny reported dead

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Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny reported dead

Moscow: Alexei Navalny, the fiercest foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin who crusaded against official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests, died in prison Friday, Russia’s prison agency said. He was 47.

The Federal Penitentiary Service said in a statement that Navalny felt unwell after a walk on Friday and lost consciousness. An ambulance arrived to try to rehabilitate him, but he died.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says Putin was informed of Navalny’s death and the prison service was looking into the death in line with standard procedures.

Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that the politician’s team had no confirmation of his death so far and that his lawyer was travelling to the town where he was held.

Navalny, who was serving a 19-year sentence on charges of extremism, was moved in December from his former prison in the Vladimir region of central Russia to to a “special regime” penal colony the highest security level of prisons in Russia above the Artic Circle.

His allies decried the transfer to a colony in the town of Kharp, in the Yamalo-Nenets region about 1,900 kilometers (1,200 miles) northeast of Moscow, as yet another attempt to force Navalny into silence.

The remote region is notorious for long and severe winters. Kharp is about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Vorkuta, whose coal mines were part of the Soviet gulag prison-camp system.

Navalny had been behind bars since January 2021, when he returned to Moscow after recuperating in Germany from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin. Before his arrest, he campaigned against official corruption, organized major anti-Kremlin protests and ran for public office.

He had since received three prison sentences, all of which he rejected as politically motivated.

In Putin’s Russia, political opponents often faded amid factional disputes or went into exile after imprisonment, suspected poisonings or other heavy repression. But Navalny grew consistently stronger and reached the apex of the opposition through grit, bravado and an acute understanding of how social media could circumvent the Kremlin’s suffocation of independent news outlets.

He faced each setback whether it was a physical assault or imprisonment with an intense devotion, confronting dangers with a sardonic wit. That drove him to the bold and fateful move of returning from Germany to Russia and certain arrest.

Navalny was born in Butyn, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) outside Moscow. He received a law degree from People’s Friendship University in 1998 and did a fellowship at Yale in 2010.

He gained attention by focusing on corruption in Russia’s murky mix of politicians and businesses; one of his early moves was to buy a stake in Russian oil and gas companies to become an activist shareholder and push for transparency. By concentrating on corruption, Navalny’s work had a pocketbook appeal to Russians’ widespread sense of being cheated, and he carried stronger resonance than more abstract and philosophical concerns about democratic ideals and human rights.

He was convicted in 2013 of embezzlement on what he called a politically motivated prosecution and was sentenced to five years in prison, but the prosecutor’s office later surprisingly demanded his release pending appeal. A higher court later gave him a suspended sentence.

The day before the sentence, Navalny had registered as a candidate for Moscow mayor. The opposition saw his release as the result of large protests in the capital of his sentence, but many observers attributed it to a desire by authorities to add a tinge of legitimacy to the mayoral election.

Navalny finished second, an impressive performance against the incumbent who had the backing of Putin’s political machine and was popular for improving the capital’s infrastructure and aesthetics.

Navalny’s popularity increased after the leading charismatic politician, Boris Nemtsov, was shot and killed in 2015 on a bridge near the Kremlin.

Whenever Putin spoke about Navalny, he made it a point to never mention the activist by name, referring to him as “that person” or similar wording, in an apparent effort to diminish his importance.

Programmes to support early-stage startups women entrepreneurs to be launched: CM Siddaramaiah

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Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in his budget speech on Friday proposed to launch three new programmes aimed at maintaining Karnataka’s top position in the startup ecosystem, particularly to support early stage startups and women entrepreneurs.

Presenting the state budget for 2024-25 in the legislative assembly, Siddaramaiah announced Rajiv Gandhi Entrepreneurship Programme an early-stage funding programme that nurtures ideas and innovations to promote innovative endeavours and startups founded by students or inexperienced entrepreneurs.

These programmes will also include a new initiative to support early stage women entrepreneurs with a sector-wise and targeted approach. To promote agriculture startups in the state, five acres of land will be provided to C-Camp Agri innovation Park, the chief minister said.

“Karnataka has been a pioneering state in the field of technology. To expand the state’s footprint in this sector, a Centre of Excellence in Fintech, Space-tech and Automation Tech at a cost of Rs 10 crore will be set up over a period of five years in collaboration with entrepreneurs and educational institutions,” the chief minister said.

Bengaluru has more than 400 Global Capability Centres. In order to attract higher investment in this sector, it is proposed to introduce a new Global Capability Centre Policy in the current year, he said.

“Karnataka Innovation of Technology Solutions, in collaboration with KEONICS, will establish skilling and innovation centres in emerging technologies across Kalaburagi, Shivamogga, Hubbali, and Tumakuru, at a budget of Rs 12 Crore,” he added.

An Institute of Advanced Genome Editing and Gene Therapy will be established to promote study and research in genomics in the state which aims to become a hub for cutting-edge research in health, agriculture and other areas of life sciences, he said.

The Karnataka government will launch a AVGC-XR Policy 3.0 for the period 2024-2029, with an ambitious aim of generating 30,000 new high-quality jobs in this sector. There will be a new investment of Rs 150 crore towards this, Siddaramaiah said.

To showcase the growth of science and technology and to promote science education, a science city at Bengaluru will be established in association with the Government of India at total cost of Rs 233 crore.

“Karnataka holds the top position in terms of industrial growth. To maintain its top position and to attract more investment, New Industrial Policy will be formulated in the current year. Global Investors Meet will be organised in February-2025 to attract greater foreign investment into the state,” Siddaramaiah said during his speech.

The industrial estates existing in various districts will be upgraded through Karnataka State Small Industries Development Corporation in collaboration with the central government at an estimated cost of Rs 39 crore.

An industrial node will be developed near Dharwad in 6,000 acres of land under the Bengaluru-Mumbai economic corridor programme in collaboration with the central and state government. This will resolve the unemployment problem of the North Karnataka region and encourage economic development, he said.

The New Textile Policy 2024-29 will be formulated for the development of the textile and weaving sector, the chief minister announced. Through this, a capital investment of Rs 10,000 crore is expected along with generation of two lakh jobs. This policy will also promote greater investment and employment opportunities, he added.

The chief minister also announced that mini textile parks will be set up in 25 districts of the state for which subsidy will be provided with the existing policy.

Justice NV Anjaria appointed as new Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court

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Justice NV Anjaria appointed as new Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court
Justice Nilay V Anjaria

New Delhi: Justice Nilay V Anjaria was on Friday appointed as the next chief justice of the Karnataka High Court, the law ministry said.

At present a judge of the Gujarat High Court, his name was recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium earlier this month.

He would assume charge after incumbent chief justice P S Dinesh Kumar demits office on February 24 on attaining the age of 62 years.

Justice Anjaria was appointed as a judge of the Gujarat High Court in November 2011 and has been functioning there since then.

Before his elevation as a judge, he had practised in the Gujarat High Court in civil, constitutional, company law, labour and service matters, the collegium had noted while recommending his name.

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