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Rs 1.49 lakh power bill shocks thatched house owner in Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur

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When the issue was taken to the notice of APT rancor Assistant Engineer Srinivas Reddy, he attributed the excess billing to technical glitch.

The electricity bill shown to daily labourer K Nagamma

ANANTAPUR: K Nagamma, a daily labourer, was shocked on seeing the monthly power bill for her thatched house in Kanekal on Wednesday. The power bill for the small house located near the Zilla Parishad Boys High School in the mandal headquarters was a whopping Rs 1,49,034. The only electrical appliances in the house are a fan and a TV, besides a tube-light. Normally, her monthly power bill does not cross Rs 100. 

“I used to get a power bill of around Rs 100 month. The components of the bill include Rs 50 as minimum charges, Rs 25 as customer charges and another Rs 25 as late fee surcharge. But, the arrears from April to December in the bill were shown as Rs 1,48,934. Even if I have not paid the power tariff for the past seven months in view of the Covid-19 pandemic, it should not be more than Rs 1,000,” Nagamma lamented. 

When the issue was taken to the notice of AP Transco Assistant Engineer Srinivas Reddy, he attributed the excess billing to technical glitch. “We will resolve the matter if the consumer brings the power bill to us. Once the matter is resolved, the consumer will get normal bill like earlier,” he said.

Congress Ml Cs held Dy Chairman by neck: BJP

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BENGALURU: Soon after the House assembled, Deputy Chairman Dharme Gowda, a JDS MLC, occupied the Chairman’s seat even as the quorum bell was ringing and the Chairman who was in his office was yet to arrive inside the House. Angry legislators rushed to the well and physically dragged Gowda from the seat. While the BJP accused the Chairman of holding on to power by rejecting the no-confidence motion without placing it before the House, the Congress blamed the ruling party of trying to prevent the Chairman from entering the House and making deputy chairman occupy the chair even when the chairman was in his office.

After putting Chandrashekar Patil in the presiding officer’s seat, Congress MLCs stood guard around him to prevent BJP members from unseating him. All this while, the Marshals were struggling to control the situation. Amid the din and highly-charged atmosphere, the Chairman walked into House and immediately adjourned the House. But the ruling and opposition members continued to indulge in heated exchanges.  

BJP, the single-largest party in the council with 31 members, accused Shetty and Congress of holding on to the post even after losing the confidence of members and the majority required to continue in the post. The leaders said they had followed required procedures and issued a notice for moving the no-confidence motion, but it was not listed in the agenda as the Chairman rejected it.

“Today’s developments highlighted the Congress culture. They forcibly removed the Deputy Chairman from the seat holding him by his neck,” said Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa after he was briefed about the developments. After JDS openly stated that they were supporting BJP, Congress should have immediately asked the chairman to resign as they do not have the majority, Yediyurappa said.  

Shetty from Congress and Gowda from JDS were elected when the JDS-Congress coalition government was in power. Now, in the changed situation, especially after BJP emerged as the single-largest party in the Council and struck a good equation with the JDS, the party is keen on ousting the chairman, who they accuse of being partisan. But the Congress blamed BJP for the ruckus in the House. “How could the Deputy Chairman occupy that seat when the Chairman was in the office? The Deputy Chairman should not have done that,” Opposition Leader in the Council S R Patil .

Congress Legislature Party chief Siddaramaiah said it was a black spot on parliamentary democracy. It was a conspiracy by BJP and JDS, he alleged.JDS MLC Basavaraj Horatti said the chairman lost the majority supprt and since the no-confidence motion was against him, the Deputy Chairman had occupied the seat.The government, however, defended its decision to allow Deputy Chairman to conduct the House. Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy said, “He (Shetty) has rejected our motion of impeachment, though he has no powers to do so. He cannot be a judge in his own case.” Revenue Minister R Ashoka said, “We condemn the Chairman’s behaviour. Our fight will continue.”

Government is ready 24 hours to clear all doubts over farm laws: PM Narendra Modi

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NEW DELHI: Seeking to allay the fears of farmers over their landholdings, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while making a strong defence of the Centre’s new farm laws, on Tuesday said that a conspiracy is afoot to confuse the farmers over the legislations and accused the Opposition of using the shoulders of protesters to fire their guns.

After performing virtual stone laying ceremonies for three projects in Kutch of Gujarat district — a hybrid renewable energy park, a desalination plant and a milk processing and packing unit — the PM said the laws include all the demands made by the farmers and the Opposition in the past to improve the agricultural incomes of the cultivators.  

“There’s an attempt being made to create fears in the minds of the farmers about the farm laws. Farmers are being told that their landholdings may be occupied by others,” the  PM said.

While the farmers’ unions have dug in their heels to demand the repeal of the three farm laws, the government has maintained that it’s willing to talk to the farmers. 

“The present agricultural laws had been the demand of farmers since a long time. Even those who are in the Opposition today were supporting these bills earlier when they were in power, but could never take a decision on them and pacified the farmers with false assurances. I want to reiterate that my government is ready 24 hours to resolve all your doubts,” Modi said.

He also gave the example of two sectors in Gujarat, which flourished without government intervention.

Modi said dairy and fisheries sectors grew exponentially without much intervention of the state government as the business is mainly handled by co-operative sector leaders and farmers.

Trinamool will not get even 100 seats: Mukul Roy attacks Mamata government

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Criticising Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, he said that earlier she did not sit with rich persons but now she does just that.

Mukul Roy was given the responsibility of the chief election strategist by the BJP in Bengal.

KALYANI: BJP national vice-president Mukul Roy claimed on Tuesday that TMC will not get even 100 seats out of the total 294 in the West Bengal assembly polls in 2021.

He said all those who are keeping themselves away from BJP because of misunderstandings must be convinced to return to its fold.

“With responsibility I am saying that TMC will not even cross the 100 seat mark in the coming state poll,” he told a meeting of BJP workers at Shimurali in Nadia district.

“Ask TMC to say how many seat they are going to win,” he said.

Asking party workers to convince those who were staying away from the party due to misunderstanding, Roy said “This is not the time for ego. There is big and strong fight before us and we have to win as Amit Shah Ji wants at least 200 seats in Bengal to turn it into Sonar Bangla and push TMC to the bottom like CPI-M.”

Criticising Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, he said that earlier she did not sit with rich persons but now she does just that.

He hit out at the state government for the power rates in West Bengal, which she said is the highest in the country.

Roy, who was earlier a prominent leader of the ruling Trinamool Congress, criticised the Mamata Banerjee government for misusing funds given by the Centre post Cyclone Amphan.

“In two phases Modi handed over Rs 3400 crore to the Bengal government for Amphan effected people. But the poor people remained in the same plight”, Roy iterated.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will arrive in Bengal later this week and address two rallies on December 19 and 20, he added.

India Covid-19 Updates new COVID-19 26,382 cases, tally at 99,32,548

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The total active cases in the country are at 3,32,002. With 33,813 new discharges in the last 24 hours, total discharged cases reached 94,56,449 With 26,382 new Covid-19 infections and 387 new deaths in the last 24 hours, the total cases in India reached 99,32,548, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) on Wednesday.

With 387 new deaths reported in the last 24 hours, the toll mounted to 1,44,096.

The total active cases in the country are at 3,32,002. With 33,813 new discharges in the last 24 hours, total discharged cases reached 94,56,449.

Maharashtra continues to be the worst affected state by the pandemic with 72,458 active cases, followed by Kerala with 57,909 active cases.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Wednesday said that a total of 15,66,46,280 samples tested for the novel coronavirus up to December 15. Of these, 10,85,625 samples were tested on Tuesday. 

Ibrahim meets Gowda, HDK, stirs the pot for Congress

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BENGALURU: Lending credence to speculation that he could be back in the JDS, Congress MLC CM Ibrahim on Monday met JDS national president HD Deve Gowda at his residence. Former CM HD Kumaraswamy and Gowda — who was confined to bed for a few days over back-related issues — spoke to Ibrahim, though the details of the meeting are not clear. It is said that Ibrahim is being offered an important post in the JDS, a party he quit over serious differences with Gowda about 16 years ago.

It is no secret that Ibrahim is eyeing the post of Opposition leader in the Council, expected to be vacated by SR Patil when his six-year term concludes next year. Although Ibrahim has expressed his interest, he has not received any formal assurance from the Congress, which is still weighing its options after suffering serious poll reverses.

Among the frontrunners are backward communities leader BK Hariprasad, who has served as general secretary of ten states and and secretary of six states in the AICC. Ibrahim is not too hopeful as there are doubts that the Congress will elevate a Muslim to the position. The Karnataka Pradesh Congress got wind of Kumaraswamy visiting Ibrahim at his Benson Town residence about six days ago to invite him to rejoin his party, and KPCC president DK Shivakumar himself rushed to Ibrahim’s residence and spent considerable time with him.

Shivakumar said “They have worked together, and it could have been a courtesy call. Ibrahim enjoys secular credentials.’’Ibrahim, once a Gowda loyalist, went on to become a Siddaramaiah loyalist, but of late, the two leaders have fallen out, and MLA Zameer Ahmed Khan is said to have taken his place. Ibrahim has been consistently absent at Siddaramaiah’s meetings too. In 2013, Ibrahim got the Congress ticket from Bhadravati, replacing local leader Sangameshwar, but lost. He was later accommodated as MLC.

RSS-affiliate Bharatiya Kisan Sangh to protest in Madhya Pradesh for MSP regime

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MP agriculture minister Kamal Patel had said that the BJP would be organising farmer meets in the state from Tuesday to dispel “misconceptions” about the Centre’s new farm laws.

INDORE: The RSS-affiliated Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) said it would protest on Tuesday on two highways in Madhya Pradesh in support of the minimum support price (MSP) mechanism with over 10,000 farmers expected to take part, a functionary said on Monday.

Incidentally, MP agriculture minister Kamal Patel had said that the BJP would be organising farmer meets in the state from Tuesday to dispel “misconceptions” about the Centre’s new farm laws.

Those protesting against the three farm laws have claimed they are aimed at doing away with the MSP and mandi mechanisms and give corporates a dominant role in the sector.

“Farmers of western Madhya Pradesh, known for major cotton harvests, are forced to sell their produce below MSP. In this region, even the procurement centre of Cotton Corporation of India has not come up,” Kamal Singh Anjana of the BKS’ Malwa Prant (Indore and Ujjain divisions) said.

“Maize too is being sold below MSP in western MP. On the call of the BKS, over 10,000 farmers will protest on national highway number 3 (Mumbai-Agra road) in Dhar and on Indore-Icchapur state highway in Khandwa,” he said, adding that the BKS has already said some changes should be made in the new farm laws.

“For ensuring procurement through MSP and for other demands, we have written nearly four lakh letters to the president and prime minister from Madhya Pradesh,” he added.

Meanwhile, Khandwa BJP MP and former president of MP BJP unit Nandkumar Chauhan said at a press conference that the new laws were for the benefit of farmers.

Asked about farmers not getting MSP for cotton and maize, Chauhan said, “recent rains have made the produce moist and this has caused some hurdles in their procurement”.

To another query on the BKS’ protest, Chauhan said India is a democracy and if the RSS-backed BKS wants to protest on farmers’ issues, “it would manifest that it is an active organisation”.

BJP finishes third in Rajasthan Urban local body polls, Congress bounces back

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The biggest blow was for BJP which finished third and the second spot went to a large number of independents who emerged victorious. 

BJP Flag

JAIPUR: Days after suffering a setback in panchayat polls, the ruling Congress in Rajasthan bounced back with an impressive show in the m

Of the 50 municipal bodies that went to polls, the Congress emerged as a clear  winner in 620 of the total 1,775 wards. 

The biggest blow was for BJP which finished third. The second spot went to a large number of independents who emerged victorious. 

The independents candidates bagged 596 wards, while the BJP could win only 548 wards.

The Congress has emerged victorious in urban centres traditionally considered BJP bastions while the saffron party which did better in last week’s panchayat polls seems to have weakened in its strongholds in towns and cities.

The Congress has done particularly well in Jaipur district where it won 6 of the 10 ULBs. 

Similarly, in Sri Ganganagar district the Congress won 5 of the 8 municipal bodies that went to polls. 

The BJP did better than the Congress only in Bharatpur district where it won 6 of the 8 urban bodies, while in Alwar district the Congress and BJP won 3 ULBs each.

Lauding the Congress’ victory, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot tweeted, “I thank all the citizens who showed their trust in Congress and because of which the party won. I thank all the Congress workers. Because of their hard work, the party has won.”

BJP state president Satish Poonia, however, had a different take. 

Despite the BJP finishing third, he claimed that the results have gone against the Congress as the BJP and independent leaders won more than 60 per cent seats. 

He remarked that this implies that the “mandate has gone against the Congress”.

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