Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar has been given the additional charge of the ministry of parliamentary affairs and D V Sadananda Gowda that of the ministry of chemicals and fertilisers, according to a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique Tuesday.

The move was necessitated following the demise of Ananth Kumar on Monday. He was holding the charge of both the ministries of parliamentary affairs and chemicals and fertilisers.

President Ram Nath Kovind, as advised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has directed that Gowda be assigned the charge of the ministry of chemicals and fertilisers, in addition to his existing portfolio, the statement said. Gowda is the Minister for Statistics and Programme Implementation.

 President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi were among others who along with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday paid tributes to the nation’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on his birth anniversary.

While Kovind “remembered” Nehru in a tweet, Modi from Singapore tweeted: “We recall his contribution to our freedom struggle and during his tenure as Prime Minister.”

Former President Pranab Mukherjee, former Vice President Hamid Ansari, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh along with Gandhi and senior Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ashok Gehlot, P.C. Chacko among others paid floral tributes to Nehru at the Shanti Vana here.

Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu described Nehru as a “visionary” for his “invaluable contributions towards the building of modern India”.

On the occasion, Naidu also greeted children as their much loved Chacha Nehru’s birthday is celebrated as Children’s Day in India since 1964.

“Let us pledge today to ensure that no child shall be denied the opportunity to live a healthy and happy life, that no child shall be left behind,” he aded. The day is also known as “Bal Diwas”.

Nehru was born on November 14, 1889, and was sworn in as the first Prime Minister on August 15, 1947, after the country gained independence from the British rule.

IANS

The ruling AIADMK unveiled a new statue of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa at its headquarters in Chennai on Wednesday, months after the earlier one was criticised for not resembling the former party supremo.

According to a party release, AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam and Joint Coordinator K Palaniswami paid floral tributes to the ‘refurbished’ statue of Jayalalithaa, in the presence of senior leaders, including MPs and state ministers.

Palaniswami is the chief minister of Tamil Nadu and Panneerselvam is his deputy.

A life-size statue of the leader was unveiled by the two leaders on February 24, coinciding with Jayalalithaa’s 70th birth anniversary. However, it drew criticism from various quarters that it bore little resemblance to Jayalalithaa following which the party decided to go in for a new one.

Accordingly, the new statue was unveiled on Wednesday, and is placed near that of party founder and former chief minister MG Ramachandran at the entrance of the AIADMK headquarters.

The new life-size statue is made of bronze and weighs around 800 kg, a little more than the earlier one, party sources said.

PTI

Kannada and Tamil actor Sanjjanaa Galrani has apologised to director Ravi Srivatsa, three weeks after she raised allegations of harassment by him during the shooting of the film Ganda Hendathi.

The actor had accused the director of coercing her into enacting intimate scenes she was uncomfortable in the film which released in 2006. In a Facebook Live posted on October 17, she detailed her ordeal in completing the shooting of her debut film.

However, despite of offering an apology, Sanjjana continues to stand by the allegations she raised in October. But, she says that she wants to move on from the issue and issued the apology following advice from actor Ambareesh. “All that I have spoken in the Me Too allegation is true but to get rid of the headache and the ruckus this has created, I have apologised,” Sanjjanaa told media.

The allegations had led to a controversy with Ravi Srivatsa complaining to the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) and the Kannada Film Directors Association that Sanjjana had tarnished his image with false allegations. He had also questioned the reason for her silence for twelve years and demanded an apology from Sanjjana for the allegations.

Initially, Sanjjana had lashed out at the director for demanding an apology but it appears that she has been coerced into making one after the issue snowballed into a controversy. Veteran actor Ambareesh stepped in as “peacekeeper” and urged Sanjjanaa to offer an apology.

Sanjjana apologised to Ravi in Ambareesh’s residence in the presence of director Roopa Iyer, producer Rockline Venkatesh, association president Nagendra Prasad among others.  “Ambareesh sir insisted to close this matter diplomatically, so I decided to apologise to maintain decorum in the industry,” she added. 

TNM

As Maharashtra slipped to the third position behind Karnataka and Gujarat in terms of investments, Congress and Shiv Sena on Tuesday slammed Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for the state’s dismal economic performance.

Citing data from the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), Maharashtra Congress President Ashok Chavan said that over the past four years, Maharashtra has fallen to the third position from its numero uno status earlier.

He accused Fadnavis of maintaining “silence on issues involving Gujarat”, which has benefited at the cost of Maharashtra.

“There is the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project, new airports and flights are being announced for Gujarat and there is a clear attempt to ignore the country’s financial capital Mumbai to benefit Gujarat,” Chavan said.

The Shiv Sena, an ally of the BJP government in Maharashtra as well as at the Centre, attacked Fadnavis in party mouthpieces – ‘Saamana’ and ‘Dopahar Ka Saamana’ for the steep fall in industrial investments.

As per the DIPP statistics, in 2018, Maharashtra received just Rs 46,428 crore investments, compared to Rs 59,089 in Gujarat and Rs 83,236 crore in Karnataka.

“The government feels that we only criticise them, but these are hard statistics. How can the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) speak of ‘Magnetic Maharashtra’ without delivering upon its promises to the people,” Chavan asked.

He held the Shiv Sena equally guilty for the state’s decline and said the party cannot escape responsibility for the alliance government’s performance if it continued to remain an NDA partner at the Centre and in Maharashtra.

Chavan said that at a State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) meeting in August, Bank of Maharashtra had demonstrated the state government’s total failure in implementing various initiatives.

Under one such initiative, each bank branch was supposed to provide loans to one woman, one Dalit and one Tribal person. The government expected to reach out to 22,890 borrowers, but could achieve a success rate of only 14.98 per cent by reaching out to just 3,430 persons, Chavan said.

“While Dalits, Tribals and women were promised loans of up to Rs 1 crore, the average lending amount was between Rs 16 lakh and Rs 17 lakh. They have been cheated by the government,” Chavan said.

The Shiv Sena said that in the past 10 years, 25 per cent of all investment proposals in the country across all important sectors were made to Karnataka, while the BJP-ruled states seem to “talk more and act less.”

“Mumbai’s economic status is being ruined by shifting the diamond industry and headquarters of several financial companies to Gujarat. Also, many big industries have shut down in Maharashtra and many more are floundering in engineering, pharmaceuticals, textiles, and other sectors. Though express highways are being created, the development is at a bullock-cart’s pace,” the Sena said.

 Two armed Kashmiri Hizbul militants have been arrested from a Jammu and Kashmir village in Pulwama district, police said on Wednesday.

They were nabbed from Panzgam village in the Awantipora area. A large cache of arms and ammunition was also recovered, the police tweeted.

IANS

 The main opposition Congress in Telangana on Wednesday released its second list of 10 candidates for the state assembly polls on December 7, re-nominating seven candidates who had lost in 2014.

With this, the Congress has so far announced candidates to 75 seats in the 119-member Assembly. The first list of 65 candidates had triggered discontent in the party, with those denied threatening to enter the fray as Independents.

The Congress is heading a four-party alliance calling ‘Mahakutami’ and it has left 24 seats for its three allies — Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) and Communist Party of India.

According to the second list, Congress spokesman Dasoju Sravan Kumar will contest from Khairatabad constituency in Hyderabad. Former MP Ramesh Rathod, who quit the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) after being denied a ticket, joined the Congress in September and has secured the Khanapur constituency ticket from Adilabad district.

Gandra Venkat Ramna Reddy was given Bhupalapalle ticket, while P. Vishnuvardhan Reddy will contest from Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad. Both were defeated in the 2014 elections.

The others renominated from the loser list are Jajala Surendar from Yellareddy, Adluri Laxman Kumar from Dhamapuri, K.K. Mahendar Reddy from Sircilla, K. Laxma Reddy from Medchal and C. Pratap Reddy from Shadnagar.

Kandala Upender Reddy, a prominent contractor, who had been eyeing the ticket since 2009, has been fielded from Palair constituency.

Senior leader and former minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah, a stronger contender for the ticket from Jangaon, is missing from the second list too. He had earlier expressed surprise over his name not figuring in the first list announced late on Monday.

Lakshmaiah has represented Jangaon assembly constituency for four terms but this time around Congress ally TJS is keen to contest from here.

The seat sharing among the constituents of the Mahakutami was yet to be finalised. The TDP has so far announced nine candidates. TJS and CPI were yet to declare their candidates.

The last date for filing of nomination for the elections to the 119-member assembly is November 19.

The Telangana Assembly was dissolved on September 6 on the recommendation of the state government, almost nine months ahead of the expiry of its term.

IANS