UDUPI: Udupi police, who were investigating a case against former RDPR minister and BJP leader KS Eshwarappa who was facing charges of abetting the suicide of contractor Santhosh Patil from Belagavi, have cleared the former minister in the case. The police filed an 85-page long ‘B’ report before the 42nd Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Bengaluru, which is the special court for cases against elected representatives.

It may be recalled that Patil had written to PM Narendra Modi claiming to have invested Rs 4 crore on building roadsin his village in Belagavi based on oral instructions byEshwarappa. He had asked the PM to direct Eshwarappa tosettle his bills. Accusing the minister of cheating him, Patil had alleged that he had to
offer Rs 15 lakh in bribe to the rural development department to get paid.

Reacting, Eshwarappa said, “I denied the charges when it were made against me. With the blessings of mother Goddess Chowdeshwari, I got the clean chit and am now free of all the charges”.

DD Sahyadri is Prasar Bharati’s Marathi-language channel dedicated to bringing infotainment and educational TV programs to audiences across Maharashtra.

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Wednesday demanded that state-run Prasar Bharati should telecast only Marathi language programmes on its regional television channel DD Sahyadri.

DD Sahyadri is Prasar Bharati’s Marathi-language channel dedicated to bringing infotainment and educational TV programs to audiences across Maharashtra.

Thackeray made the demand in a letter addressed to Neeraj Agrawal, additional director general (western region) of Doordarshan here.

“DD Sahyadri channel, founded on August 15, 1994, is expected to telecast all of its programmes in the Marathi language. However, we have noticed that this channel telecasts programmes in other languages,” it said.

“We have received several complaints regarding the same from the audience of the channel. It has been also noticed that guests invited to speak in some programmes, like interviews or discussions, can speak in Hindi language. This is against the foundation of this channel,” the letter said.

Thackeray also cautioned the officials saying, “Kindly consider our demand and take necessary actions, otherwise the MNS will take appropriate steps to address the problem.”

The leader also said that there was no dearth of people who have excelled in the fields of cooking, cinema, music or any other sectors and they can speak Marathi very well.

The DD Sahyadri can always conduct programmes in Marathi inviting them on its shows, he said.

Thackeray also made a reference to how local DD channels and other private channels from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are particular about their respective regional languages.

SINGAPORE: Singapore has granted a 14-day short-term visit pass to former Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa as he entered the country on a “private visit” on July 14, according to immigration authorities here.

Rajapaksa, 73, on July 13 fled Sri Lanka to the Maldives and then Singapore and resigned after a popular uprising against his government for mismanaging the economy.

In a statement released in response to media queries about Rajapaksa’s visit to Singapore, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority said that he was granted a short-term visit pass (STVP) on arrival.

Rajapaksa was issued a 14-day visit pass when he arrived here on July 14, according to a report by The Straits Times newspaper.

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman said last week that Rajapaksa has not asked for asylum and neither has he been granted any asylum.

The ICA said visitors from Sri Lanka who enter Singapore for social visits will generally be issued with an STVP with a duration of up to 30 days.

Those who need to extend their stay here may apply online for an extension of their STVP. Applications will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, said the ICA. Meanwhile, Sri Lankans in Singapore remains optimistic about the situation back home.

But they say a real change has to go beyond the changing of guards with more decisive policies and more engaged voters, Channel News Asia reported as it interviewed several Sri Lankans in the country.

Some Sri Lankans in Singapore is skipping meals to save money and sending items such as medicine and other essential goods back to their home country amid the economic crisis there.

Some are shipping bicycles as it is very difficult to travel in the country, one Sri Lankan told the Channel.

“People are using bikes as a mode of transport and we have a shortage of bikes (back home) because we have only two manufacturers (in the country),” said Samira Peiris, an engineer, who had recently moved to Singapore to work.

Peiris says a meal in Singapore is equivalent to three back home and as such he skips meals and cuts down on spending.

“This is not purely out of desperation but I don’t feel it is right for me to enjoy life here when people back home are suffering.,” he added. 

He said many others like him in Singapore are coming up with ways to contribute. Paul William, an auditor, said that Sri Lankans in Singapore would definitely send money when they can. But they want to send it through a reliable source as that is the main concern.

“If it goes into the wrong hands, then there is no point,” said William. He added, “Every single time we meet a Sri Lankan, this is the discussion we have.”

William, a permanent resident here, is concerned about how his 72-year-old mother is coping. He is sending her money through the United Kingdom where his sister is based.

He also hit out at Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde accusing him of trying to break the Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party at a time when the state was struggling to come to terms with floods.

NEW DELHI: Faced by a rebellion in its ranks, senior Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Tuesday said the party was ready for a fight over the symbol and control of the organisation.

Interacting with the media here, Raut also claimed that the BJP was trying to break Maharashtra into three pieces, and making a dent in the Shiv Sena ranks was part of the saffron party’s conspiracy.

He also hit out at Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde accusing him of trying to break the Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party at a time when the state was struggling to come to terms with massive floods in some parts.

“We are ready for any fight, be it for the symbol or the party organisation. A few MPs and MLAs may be leaving us. But MLAs and MPs alone do not make up the Shiv Sena,” Raut said, adding Shiv Sainiks will make it difficult for the rebels to win any election in the future.

He reminded the breakaway faction of the assistance given to them by the party supremo Uddhav Thackeray politically, socially and financially over the years.

Raut also took a swipe at Shinde saying he had to make visits to Delhi as he was a “BJP chief minister”.

“I never recall Shiv Sena chief ministers Manohar Joshi or Narayan Rane making rounds of the national capital for cabinet expansion and other issues,” he said.

Shiv Sena parliamentary party is staring at a split in its ranks with a breakaway faction set to approach Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla with a plea to recognise them as a separate group with Rahul Shewale as their leader.

RAIPUR:  Chhattisgarh minister T S Singhdeo who resigned as panchayat and rural development minister has sought an appointment from the Congress high command apparently “to share his viewpoints” as he left for Delhi on Monday.

He will also meet senior Congress leaders in the national capital before proceeding on July 21 to the poll-bound Gujarat where he has been appointed as senior party observer by AICC, said the sources close to him.

His letter addressed to the chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on Saturday citing the reasons behind leaving the panchayat department has led to turmoil within the Congress party in the state.

Several party MLAs including the ministers expressing displeasure over the Singhdeo’s move are seeking action against him for making public the contents of his letter, which according to them carry expressions no different than the language of the opposition.

“Perhaps I couldn’t prove to be an effective panchayat minister to fulfill the goal as set down in the poll manifesto,” he said in Raipur.

Singh Deo, locked in a power tussle with Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, has given up the charge of the panchayat and rural development department citing reasons like non-allotment of funds by the CM for the construction of houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).

However, he still holds health and family welfare, medical education, 20-point implementation and commercial tax (GST) portfolios.

Asked about reports that a few Congress MLAs have demanded action against him, the health minister sought to know how making a point amounts to “indiscipline”.

“A Union minister came here (apparently referring to the visit of Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Giriraj Singh to the state) and commented on MNREGA (rural jobs scheme) as well as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

“I took the responsibility for it (alleged tardy pace of implementation of schemes) and resigned from the department. How is it an act of indiscipline? I am in frequent talks with everyone in the government and have made all the things public,”” said Singh Deo while talking to PTI.

“I have defended the (state) government and taken the responsibility for works not being done in my department (Panchayat and Rural Development),” he said.

Giriraj Singh, who was in Chhattisgarh last week, had criticized the Congress government for the way it has been implementing central welfare schemes.

After the latest political development in the state, which goes polls in late 2023, Singh Deo has sought time from the party’s central leadership.

“I will be visiting Ahmedabad via Delhi. Time has been sought to meet the high command and if there is a meeting, then there will be a conversation about the current events,” the Congress leader said.

Singh Deo has been appointed an observer by the party for the Gujarat assembly polls slated by the year-end.

““I have learnt that the issue of my resignation was brought up in the meeting of the Congress Legislative Party on Sunday and a few MLAs demanded action in this regard. I also came to know that Punia Ji (the party’s state in charge P L Punia) listened to the MLAs and said he will convey their sentiments to the people concerned,”” said Singh Deo.

The Congress minister did not attend the CLP meeting.

Talking to reporters on Sunday, Chief Minister Baghel had said he was yet to receive Singh Deo’s resignation from the panchayat and rural development department and that he learnt about the latter’s move through the media.

Responding to this, Singh Deo said the resignation letter was sent on Saturday and when he was hold that the CM’s office was closed, he emailed the missive.

“Before my resignation, I had a talk with the chief minister and informed him about everything,” he said.

The minister said he met Baghel in the state assembly on Monday but there was no discussion on the resignation issue.

In his resignation letter to the chief minister, Singh Deo had claimed not a single house was built for homeless people under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana as funds were not allotted despite “repeated request”.

In the four-page resignation letter, Singh Deo cited various reasons, saying he was unable to fulfil the department’s targets as per the vision of the Jan Ghoshna Patra (poll manifesto), given the “current scenario”.

As soon as the House assembled at 11 am, opposition members belonging to the Congress, Trinamool Congress, DMK and others came to the well of the House carrying placards against the imposition of the GST on some new items.

They raised slogans against the Modi government over the issue of price rise.

The placards read “Gabbar Singh Strikes Again”.

The opposition has been describing the GST as Gabbar Singh Tax, referring to the Bollywood blockbuster Sholay’s villain Gabbar Singh, who used to illegally collect taxes from the villagers in the film.

Speaker Om Birla appealed to the opposition members to go to their seats and said carrying of placards inside the House is against rules.

He said since the House is discussing farmers’ issue, the members should participate in it.

“”You carry rules book but don’t follow rules. The rules prohibit carrying placards here but you are carrying them. You raise farmers issue outside the House but not inside. “You raise the issue of price rise outside the House but not inside. In the last session, you did not participate in the debate on price rise. This is not good,”” Birla said.

As the opposition members did not pay any heed to the Speaker’s appeal, he adjourned the House till 2 pm after about 15 minutes of proceedings.

A five per cent GST has kicked in on pre-packaged and labelled food items such as cereals, pulses and flour weighing less than 25 kg.

For a commodity measured in litres like curd and ‘lassi, the limit is 25 litres.

Rajya Sabha proceedings in the pre-lunch session on Tuesday were adjourned without transacting any business as opposition parties, including the Congress, pressed for an immediate discussion on issues ranging from price rise to the Agnipath scheme.

Members of the Congress, Left, and AAP insisted on a discussion on the issues, forcing adjournment of proceedings till 2 pm.

Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu rejected notices given by Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and other leaders under rule 267 that calls for setting aside the business of the day to take up the issues listed by them.

“I am not admitting them,” Naidu said soon after the listed papers were laid on the table.

Opposition members insisted on a discussion on the issues.

“On price rise and other issues, we can have a discussion. On that I have no problem,” Naidu said indicating a willingness to take up a debate on the issue at a later date under a different rule.

But this did not pacify the opposition members who vociferously started raising the issue.

Naidu asked members to resume their places and ordered that nothing that they speak would go on record.

Soon after, he adjourned the proceedings till 2 pm.

The Congress on Tuesday held a protest over the issue of price rise in Parliament complex here, a day after the Goods and Services Tax on packaged food items such as milk and curd came into force.

Besides Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, some opposition MPs including Supriya Sule of the NCP, Ram Gopal Yadav of the Samajwadi party and Priyanka Chaturvedi of the Shiv Sena were present during the protest which was held in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in Parliament complex.

Raising slogans against the government, the Congress members demanded a rollback in prices of LPG.

They also held banners and placards which read that “high inflation, continuous price rise badly affecting common people”.

Congress MPs from both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha participated in the protest.

They included leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

“The imposition of five per cent GST on curd, paneer and other commodities of daily use will hurt the common people. We will protest inside the House also,” Kharge said.

The Congress whip in Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore said opposition members led by his party wanted a discussion on price rise and GST but the government did not allow and the speaker adjourned the House till 2 pm.

“We will raise the same when the House reconvenes. Why is the government afraid about holding the discussion,” he asked.

The protest came a day after GST on essential items including curd and paneer came into force.

The protest also came after the Rajya Sabha secretariat issued a circular saying no protest or demonstration will be allowed inside Parliament complex.

The opposition had protested against the issue of the circular, saying the voice of democracy is being throttled.

LUCKNOW: Two journalists of different Hindi language daily newspapers were allegedly shot at by two motorcycle-borne assailants in tribal district of Sonbhadra on Thursday night while they were sitting at a tea stall. The police claimed that both the scribes were out of danger and were undergoing treatment at a local hospital.

In a tweet shared by Sonbhadra police, the police officials informed that the two journalists Shyam Sunder Pandey, 38, and Vijay Shankar Pandey, 40, were targeted when they were sitting in front of a tea stall in Khaliyari market under Raipur police station area along with some friends at around 8:30 pm.

Shyam Sunder suffered bullet injury on his right hand while Vijay Shanker suffered an injury near the right eyebrow. Bullets brushed off causing minor injuries to both the journalists and doctors said that they were stable and out of danger, police said.

While talking to media persons, Shyam Sunder expressed ignorance about the assailants saying he was clueless as neither he nor Vijay Shanker had animosity with anyone.

However, Raipur police station SHO PP Srivastava said that per the eyewitness account, the assailants were covering their faces with a cloth and fled towards the Bihar border at some distance from the market.

He said three bullet shells were recovered from the crime scene. He said the police were further probing into the circumstances and motive behind the incidents. He said teams of police personnel were formed to trace the assailants.