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Honeypreet’s former husband alleges threat to life

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Karnal: Vishwas Gupta, the former husband of Dera Sacha Sauda chief’s “adopted” daughter Honeypreet Insan, today filed a complaint here alleging threat to his life, the police said. In his complaint, Gupta alleged that an unidentified person threatened to kill him, the SHO at the Karnal City Police Station, Inspector Rajbir Singh, said.

“Gupta filed a complaint with the Sector 4 police post here and alleged that an unknown caller threatened to eliminate him. We are examining the complaint,” Singh said, adding that he has been provided security. Gupta married Honeypreet in 1999 and filed for a divorce in 2011.

Addressing a news conference in Chandigarh last week, Gupta had expressed apprehension that that he might be killed for speaking against the Dera head. Honeypreet, against whom the Haryana Police had issued a lookout notice last month in connection with the violence in Panchkula, has been absconding since Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s conviction on August 25.

(Agencies)

Congress Candidate Sampath Raj Elected as 50th Mayor of BBMP

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Bengaluru: Congress party candidate Sampath Raj has been elected as 50th Mayor of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) while JDS candidate Padmavathi Narasimhamurthy declared as deputy mayor of the civic body after an election process held here on Thursday.

DJ Halli Corporator Sampath Raj secured 139 votes whereas another BBMP corporator Padmavathi Narasimhamurthy managed to get only 38 votes. Newly elected mayor and deputy mayors have tenure of one year until September 27, 2018.

Joint efforts of Congress and JDS turned fruitful to attain their preferred posts at BBMP as planned earlier. Meanwhile, BJP protested and boycotted the elections and finally moved away from the BBMP hall.

(Agencies)

Jaya’s death: Inquiry panel to submit report in 3 months

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(Photo: PTI/File)

Chennai, Sep 28 : An inquiry commission, set up by the Tamil Nadu government to probe former chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s death, will look into the circumstances leading to her hospitalisation last year and subsequent treatment, the government has said.

The commission shall submit its report in three months, it said.

A public (SC) department Government Order (GO) dated September 27 said Tamil Nadu Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, in excercise of the powers conferred under relevant sections of the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952 (Central Act LX of 1952), issued the following terms of reference of the commission.

“To inquire into the circumstances and situation leading to the hospitalisation of the late Hon’ble Chief Minister (Jayalalithaa) on 22.9.2016 and subsequent treatment provided till her unfortunate demise” on December 5, 2016, it said.

The state government had on Monday announced setting up of the inquiry commission to probe and submit a report on the death of Jayalalithaa.

The probe was a key demand of the then rebel AIADMK faction led by O Panneerselvam as a pre-condition for the merger of his camp with that of Chief Minister K Palaniswami.

The two factions had merged on August 21.

Another GO, dated September 25 and released by the government yesterday, said the Commission “shall complete its enquiry and submit its report (both English and Tamil) to the Government within a period of three months from the date of publication of this notification in the Tamil Nadu Gazette (ie. September 25)”.

(Agencies)

‘I was raped every night for 8 months, baba supplied school girls to politicians’

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Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh police have arrested Baba Siya Ram Das, for allegedly raping a teenaged girl repeatedly.

The baba allegedly confined the girl illegally for over 8 months and raped her on several occasions. According to the victim, she was raped by other disciples of the baba as well.

Cops said that the victim was allegedly sold by her relatives to a female disciple of the baba for Rs 50,000. The victim was initially taken to Lucknow and then to Mishrikh-based ashram where she was raped by him.

According to the victim, Das also filmed an MMS of her and threatened her with dire consequences if she revealed about the happening to anyone. From Mishrikh, she was taken to Agra-based ashram where she was allegedly raped by other men every night during her 8-month stay.

The baba raped her again when she returned to Mishrikh. She, however, got hold of his mobile phone and called the police from the ashram.

Baba Siya Ram Das has also been accused of running a sex racket through a girls’ school owned by him. The victim has alleged that the students of the school were not only raped, but also supplied to politicians and bureaucrats.

The Sitapur police have filed a rape case against the fake godman and initiated a probe into other allegations against him.

The baba has, however, denied all allegations, and claimed to have never met the victim in the past.

(Agencies)

Saudi Arabia to allow women to drive

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Royal decree announcing decision signed by King Salman will be effective immediately but rollout will take months.

by Al Jazeera

In a reversal of a longstanding rule, Saudi Arabia has announced that it will now allow women to drive.

In a royal decree signed by King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the order said it will be effective immediately but the rollout will take months, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Tuesday.

A high-level committee of ministers has been set up to examine the arrangements for the enforcement of the order.

The committee will take up the recommendations within 30 days from the date of the decree, and will be implemented between 23 and 24 of June 2018, based on the Islamic calendar.

The decree said that women would be allowed to drive “in accordance with the Islamic laws”.

The announcement follows a gender-mixed celebration of Saudi National Day over the weekend, the first of its kind, which aimed to spotlight the kingdom’s reform push, analysts said, despite a backlash from religious conservatives.

Women were also allowed into a sports stadium – previously a male-only arena – to watch a musical concert, a move that chimes with the government’s “Vision 2030” plan for social and economic reform as the kingdom prepares for a post-oil era.

Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world which does not allow women to drive.

While there have been restrictions imposed on women drivers, some female activists have defied the ban leading to their arrests.

Women drivers have previously been arrested and cars have been confiscated, activists said.

In 2016, Alwaleed bin Talal, an influential Saudi prince called for an “urgent” end to the ban, saying it is a matter not just of rights but economic necessity.

“Preventing a woman from driving a car is today an issue of rights similar to the one that forbade her from receiving an education or having an independent identity,” Alwaleed said.

“They are all unjust acts by a traditional society, far more restrictive than what is lawfully allowed by the precepts of religion.”

He also detailed the “economic costs” of women having to rely on private drivers or taxis, since public transit is not a viable alternative in the kingdom.

Using foreign drivers drains billions of dollars from the Saudi economy, Alwaleed said.

He calculated that families spend an average of $1,000 a month on a driver, money that otherwise could help household income at a time when many are making do with less.

“Having women drive has become an urgent social demand predicated upon current economic circumstances,” said the prince.

A slow expansion of women’s rights began under the late king, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, who in 2013 named some women to the Shura Council, which advises the cabinet.

Abdullah also announced that women could for the first time vote and run in municipal elections.

The gambit to loosen social restrictions, which had so far not translated into more political and civil rights, seeks to push criticism over a recent political crackdown out of the public eye, some observers said.

Saudi Arabia has some of the world’s tightest restrictions on women, despite ambitious government reforms aimed at boosting female employment.

Under the country’s guardianship system, a male family member – normally the father, husband or brother – must grant permission for a woman’s study, travel and other activities.

But Saudi Arabia appears to be relaxing some norms as part of the Vision 2030 reform plan.

Karnataka Govt to Build 1 lakh Houses for Poor in Bengaluru; Approves Anti Superstition Bill

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Bengaluru: Bengaluru: Karnataka state cabinet has approved for a proposal to build 1 lakh homes in Bengaluru city in a meeting held in the state capital here on Wednesday. The decision to construct 1 lakh houses came in an attempt to support the people who are living in lower strata of the society. Karnataka Housing Board, Karnataka Urban Water Supply, Drainage Board and Rajeev Gandhi Housing Corporation will take initiatives to construct the estimated number of houses.

The cabinet meeting has also approved to upgrade 1512 veterinary hospitals in the state and has also approved Anti Superstition Bill to table in the next assembly session, said TB Jayachandra, Karnataka State Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs speaking to media persons after the cabinet meeting held.

(Agencies)

Wings have fallen off our plane: Rahul on India’s economy ‘mess’

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New Delhi: The Congress, led by party Vice President Rahul Gandhi, on Wednesday launched a frontal attack on the Modi government over the state of the economy, after BJP leader Yashwant Sinha aired his views on the “mess”, and warned people to brace for tougher times ahead.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your copilot and FM speaking. Please fasten your seat belts and take brace position. The wings have fallen off our plane,” Gandhi tweeted while sharing the article Sinha wrote in The Indian Express, critical of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

In the hard-hitting remarks, Sinha, who was the Finance Minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government, lashed out at “superman” Jaitley for making a “mess” of the Indian economy which is headed for a “hard landing” as sector after sector is slipping into distress.

Sinha claimed that his views reflected the “sentiments of a large number of people in the BJP and elsewhere who are not speaking up out of fear”.

Former Finance Minister and senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram said Sinha had spoken the truth and shown mirror to the government by noting that had it not changed the methodology for calculation of the GDP in 2015, the growth rate of 5.7 per cent would have actually been 3.7 per cent or less.

“Yashwant Sinha speaks ‘Truth to Power’. Will Power now admit the Truth that economy is sinking?,” Chidambaram tweeted.

Referring to Sinha’s article in which he also wrote that when the BJP was in opposition, it was against the “raid raj” but now it seems to have become the order of the day, Chidambaram said: “Instilling fear in the minds of the people is the name of the new game, says Yashwant Sinha.”

“Eternal truth: No matter what Power does, ultimately Truth will prevail,” said Chidambaram.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said Sinha had “rightly spoken as to how an experimental Finance Minister and an autocrat Prime Minister can wreck India’s economy” and that it was the “time for the people of this country to seek the relevant answers both from Arun Jaitley as also from Narendra Modi”.

Surjewala said the facts and figures point to how the “economy is in a state of flux” in India.

“The GDP has fallen from 9.2 per cent to 5.7 per cent and as per old (methodology of calculation) will be about 3.5 per cent. NPA in this country has risen to Rs 11 lakh crore, share of exports in the GDP is at 14 year low of 19.4 per cent, private investment and gross capital formation as percentage of the GDP in 2016-17 is actually at a low of 14 years. Credit growth is lowest in the last 63 years, manufacturing PMI is at a low of eight years, inflation is at a five month high.

“On top of that there is Rs 2 lakh, 67 thousand crore of revenue being collected by the government of India through taxes on petrol and diesel. The Prime Minister only speaks and the Finance Minister only mismanages the economy.”

(IANS)

Karnataka to feed 12 lakh pregnant women from October 2

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Bengaluru: Nutritious meals would be served daily to 12 lakh pregnant women and lactating mothers at child care centres across the state from October 2, said Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday night.

“Besides nutritional supplements, counselling and other maternity benefits will be provided at the centres (anganwadis) under the Mathrupoorna lifecycle health scheme,” said the Chief Minister at a state conclave, organised by the ‘India Today’ media group here.

In view of the state’s commitment to health for all, the government will unveil a free comprehensive ‘Arogya Bhagya’ scheme from November 1 to benefit 1.4 crore households across the state.

“Karnataka will be the first state in the country to provide universal health coverage as part of our commitment to social welfare,” asserted Siddaramaiah.

Asserting that the state would soon be hunger-free, the Chief Minister said his government would serve more urban poor and migrant labour affordable food daily from October 2 under its ‘Indira Canteens’ across Bengaluru and in other cities and towns across the state subsequently.

“Breakfast for Rs 5 per plate, meals for lunch and dinner for Rs 10 per plate will be served in all the 198 civic wards across the city, extending it from 100 wards since August 16,” affirmed Siddaramaiah.

The affordable food for the urban poor is complementary to the state’s subsidised food (Anna Bhagya) scheme since the last four years, under which 4 crore economically poor are given 7kg rice or wheat free per month.

“We are also giving milk for five days a week to around one crore students in state-run and aided schools under the ‘Ksheera Bhagya’ scheme and eggs twice a week to 60 lakh infants at care centres (anganwadis),” he recalled.

Noting that empowerment was not possible without creating opportunities through investments in education and healthcare, the Chief Minister said the state had been providing free textbooks, uniforms and shoes to about 60 lakh students across the state.

“We are also giving bicycles to all students of class 8 in government and aided schools. We will soon gift laptops to 1.5 lakh deserving students in degree colleges across the state to access information online from the world over,” added Siddaramaiah.

State Industries Minister R.V. Deshpande, Wipro Chairman Azim Premji and Manipal Global Education Chairman Mohandas Pai participated in the day-long conclave.

(IANS)

Economy in downward spiral, hard landing inevitable: BJP leader Yashwant Sinha

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New Delhi: Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha in hard-hitting remarks has lashed out at “superman” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for making a “mess” of the Indian economy which is headed for a “hard landing” as sector after sector is slipping into distress.

In an editorial page article in The Indian Express, Sinha, who was Finance Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi “claims he has seen poverty from close quarters (and) his finance minister is working over-time to make sure that all Indians also see it from equally close quarters”.

Sinha said Jaitley had been luckier than his predecessors to hold the Ministry at a time when lakhs of crores of rupees were at his disposal following the depressed global crude oil prices.

But he wasted the oil bonanza which “was waiting to be used imaginatively”.

“The legacy problems like stalled projects and bank NPAs were no doubt there and should have been managed better… But the legacy problems have not only been allowed to persist, they have become worse.”

Illustrating the picture of the Indian economy today, Sinha said private investment has shrunk “as never before in two decades” while industrial production has all but collapsed.

“Agriculture is in distress, construction industry, a big employer of the work force, is in the doldrums, the rest of the service sector is also in the slow lane, exports have dwindled, sector after sector of the economy is in distress.”

Continuing his tirade against the government’s demonetisation decision, Sinha said spiking large currency notes “has proved to be an unmitigated economic disaster” which coupled with “a badly conceived and poorly implemented GST” has played havoc with businesses and sunk many of them.

“Countless millions have lost their jobs with hardly any new opportunities coming the way of the new entrants to the labour market. For quarter after quarter, the growth rate of the economy has been declining until it reached the low of 5.7 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal.”

He said if the government had not changed the methodology for calculation of the GDP in 2015, the growth rate of 5.7 per cent would have actually been 3.7 per cent or less — according to the old method of calculation.

He came down heavily on the government’s view that the slowdown was for technical reasons and cited the SBI, the largest public sector bank of the country, as stating “with unusual frankness that the slowdown is not transient or ‘technical’, it is here to stay”.

He said it was not difficult to anticipate the reasons for the slowdown and counter measures taken to deal with them.

“But that called for devoting time to the task, serious application of mind, understanding of the issues and then working out a game plan to tackle them.”

He noted that Jaitley, who holds the department of disinvestment, and also held the Ministries of Defence (which was given to Nirmala Sitharaman in the last cabinet rejig) and Corporate Affairs, was carrying the heavy burden of so many extra responsibilities and it was “perhaps too much to expect from” him.

“I have handled the Ministry of Finance and know how much hard work there is in that ministry alone. Finance Ministry, in the best of times, calls for the undivided attention of its boss if the job has to be properly done. In challenging times it becomes more than a 24/7 job. Naturally, even a superman like Jaitley could not do justice to the task.”

Sinha said he was speaking about the mess after realizing that “I shall be failing in my national duty if I did not speak up even now”.

“I am also convinced that (it) reflects the sentiments of a large number of people in the BJP and elsewhere who are not speaking up out of fear.”

He said the SME sector was suffering from an “unprecedented existential crisis”.

“The input tax credit demand under the GST is a whopping Rs 65,000 crore against a collection of Rs 95,000 crore. The government has asked the income tax department to chase those who have made large claims.

“Cash flow problems have already arisen for many companies specially in the SME sector. But this is the style of functioning of the Finance Ministry now.

“We protested against raid raj when we were in opposition. Today it has become the order of the day.”

(IANS)

Retired Major Ramesh Upadhyay gets bail in 2008 Malegaon blast case

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Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted bail to Major Ramesh Upadhyay (retd), one of the prime accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, on grounds of parity.

A Division Bench comprising Justice Ranjit More and Justice Sadhna Jadhav granted him bail on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 100,000 and two sureties.

National Investigating Agency (NIA) counsel Sandesh Patil opposed the bail plea, but the court said it had no options in view of Supreme Court directions on parity since other prime accused in the case have been enlarged on bail.

On whether Upadhyay was liable for the charge of “waging war against the nation” and if his role in the blast was bigger than that of another prime accused, Lt Col Prasad S. Purohit, who was released last month on bail, Upadhyay’s lawyer Sudeep Pasbola denied it.

Pasbola contended that the apex court has recently given bail to Purohit while a Special MCOCA Court in Mumbai had last week granted bail to other accused — Sudhakar Dwivedi alias Dayanand Pandey and Sudhakar Chaturvedi — and hence Upadhyay also was entitled to bail on grounds of parity.

Upadhyay was arrested prior to Purohit in the case wherein a blast in a Muslim locality of Malegaon in Nashik district left seven dead and over 100 injured.

He was accused of joining various meetings organised by right-wing organisation Abhinav Bharat, reportedly founded by Purohit.

Pasbola said the organisation was not banned and the blast proposal was given by Purohit and others as they had planned to wage a guerrilla war, as per the charge sheet filed against them.

In its charge sheet, the NIA has detailed transcripts of telephonic conversations between Purohit and Upadhyay as prime evidence against the latter.

Upadhyay is the 10th accused to get bail in the case, including Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur who was released last year.

In May 2016, a Special MCOCA Court had dropped the charges under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act against 11 accused in the Malegaon case.

(IANS)

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