Amidst statewide protests, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami on Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to immediately set up the Cauvery Management Board.

He presented a memorandum to Modi, who was on a whirlwind visit to inaugurate the DefExpo and a function at the Cancer Institute. Widespread protests in Chennai and several parts of the state greeted the Prime Minister after the Centre failed to set up the CMB despite being told to do so by the Supreme Court.

In the memorandum, Palaniswami recalled the February 16 Supreme Court verdict that said that a scheme be formulated by the Central government within six weeks to “implement the notified final order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal as modified by its judgment”.

On April 9, the apex court clearly stated that the final order of the CWDT had “merged with the judgment of the Supreme Court”, he said.

It said that, therefore, constitution of the Cauvery Management Board had become an “integral part of the Supreme Court’s judgment”.

Delta areas are dependent on Cauvery water for irrigation and they were fervently hoping that the implementation machinery would be constituted by the Centre to enable them to commence the agricultural operations in the next irrigation season which starts on June 1, the memorandum said.

Modi was urged to immediately constitute the Cauvery Management Board and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee “vested with all powers to effectively implement the orders of the Tribunal and the Supreme Court”.

(IANS)

Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan on Thursday recorded an open message for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking for justice to Tamil Nadu over the Cauvery water dispute.

Taking to his Twitter handle, the Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) chief said, “Sir, I am sure you are aware of the crisis that is gripping Tamil Nadu over the Cauvery water. I believe, from your past experience, you could easily deliver justice in the case of Narmada River Water Board.”
Haasan further said, people of the state believe that there is a delay in Cauvery water issue because of the upcoming elections in Karnataka that are scheduled to take place on May 12.

“I want this belief to be dispelled. People are more important than elections,” he added.

Haasan asked Modi to follow the Supreme Court judgement, and also posted an open letter to the Prime minister, in which he wrote “I am sure you will fulfill your duty towards the people and farmers of Tamil Nadu by constituting the Cauvery water Management Board immediately.”

On February 16, the court had ordered the Central government to set up the Cauvery water Management Board (CMB) and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) within six weeks, in regards to the Cauvery River water dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

The Centre’s failure to constitute CMB led to various protests in Tamil Nadu. Earlier on Thursday, opposition parties held a black flag protest against the Prime Minister’s visit to the city without constituting the CMB.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here on Thursday amid growing political turmoil over the Cauvery water issue and black flag protests by Opposition parties.

Modi, who arrived by a special aircraft from New Delhi, was received at the airport by Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Pon Radhakrishnan, Governor Banwarilal Purohit, Chief Minister E. Palaniswami, Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam and Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan.

After a brief reception, he left for Mamallapuram, about 55 km from here, from where he would reach the temple town of Tiruvidanthai to formally inaugurate the Defence Expo-2018, which began here on Wednesday.

Later, he would unveil the diamond jubilee plaque at the Adyar Cancer Institute.

Earlier, a press conference was planned with the Prime Minister at the IIT-Madras, adjacent to the Cancer Institute, but it failed to materialise.

The police have made tight security arrangements in view of the visit.

Meanwhile, opposition parties, inclduing the DMK, various fringe outfits and Tamil organisations greeted the Prime Minister with black flag protests to condemn the Centre for its failure to set up the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) and the Cauvery Water Regulatory Committee (CWRC) as directed by the Supreme Court.

The six-week deadline set by the Apex Court ended on March 29 and the Centre, keeping the next month’s Assembly elections in Karnataka in mind, filed a clarification plea in the Court at the last minute and sought three months time to implement its order, by which time the polling process in the neighbouring state would have been concluded.

DMK leader M.K. Stalin, along with his party cadres, protested in Sirkazhi, Nagapattinam district, by wearing black shirts.

The DMK has appealed to the people to hoist black flags atop their houses and stage demonstrations against the Prime Minister.

Activsits of fringe parties including the Tamizhaga Vaazhvurimai Katchi (TVK) led by T. Velmurugan, Tamil Nationalist Movement headed by P. Nedumaran also staged demonstration in front of the Alandur Metro station in Chennai.

MLAs Tamimum Ansari and Thaniarasi along with SDPI members were arrested in Tirisoolam near the airport.

Similarly, members of the newly-formed Tamilaga Kalai Illakiya Panpattu Maiyam by noted filmmakers Bharathiraaja, Ameeer, Gouthaman and Thangarbachan, were also arrested as they staged a black flag protest at the airport.

As the political atmosphere in the state remained tense and surcharged following unending protests on the Cauvery issue, the remaining six IPL matches of the Chennai Super Kings were shifted to Pune.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said India is ready to take all steps to equip the armed forces to protect her people and territory. He said his government has streamlined defence manufacturing and procurement processes.

“India has sent one of the largest numbers of UN peacekeepers all over the word. Our commitment to peace is just as strong as our commitment to protecting our people and our territory,” Modi said after formally inaugurating the Defence Expo 2018 here.

“For this, we are ready to take all necessary measures to equip our armed forces, including through the establishment of a strategically independent defence industrial complex.”

The country’s history of thousands of years shows India never desired anyone else’s territory, Modi added.

On the defence front, he said his government has taken steps to strengthen and improve manufacturing licenses, exports clearances, Foreign Direct Investment and reforming procurement.

“In all these areas, our regulations, processes and procedures have been made more industry-friendly, more transparent, more predictable, more outcome-oriented,” he added.

Modi said the Defence Procurement Procedure has been revised with many specific provisions for stimulating growth of the domestic defence industry.

“We have also de-notified some items earlier made exclusively by Ordnance Factories, so that the private sector, especially, the MSMEs can enter this space,” he said.

(IANS)

The Karnataka High Court guided the candidates to document an affidavit in the court on the advantage and their effects, if Speaker of the Legislative Assembly disqualfies seven JD(S) rebel MLAs who have just resigned from their posts.

Two JD(S) legislators C N Balakrishna (MLA Shravanabelagola) and B Ningaiah (Mudigere) have recorded a request of looking for preclusion of seven rebel JD (S) MLAs who defied the party’s whip in the 2016 elections to the Rajya Sabha by voting for a Congress competitor.

The candidates had additionally looked for a course to the Speaker not to allow them to vote in the Rajya Sabha elections held a month ago.

Three senior Congress leader’s children, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s son Dr Yathindra from Varuna, Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy’s daughter Sowmya Reddy from Jayanagar and former Union Minister K H Muniyappa’s daughter Roopa Shashidhar from KGF, are probably going to get party ticket to challenge the upcoming assembly elections.

A senior congress leader said that, in spite of the fact that over twelve senior leaders have looked for the ticket for their children, the Congress high command has affirmed just three aspirants as they have nursed the constituencies for long and their odds of winning the polls are high.

The Congress screening committee headed by Madhusudhan Mistry is learnt to have rejected the plea by a few leaders saying that the party needs to offer tickets to different leaders in view of position blends.

The screening committee likewise chose to leave it to the Central Election Committee (CEC) headed by Congress president Rahul Gandhi to settle on Siddaramaiah challenging from two Assembly portions, Chamundeshwari in Mysuru and Badami in Bagalkot.

The announced plea by Karnataka Pradesh Congress president G Parameshwara to enable him to challenge from Koratagere (SC Reserved) in Tumakuru area and Pulakeshinagar (SC Reserved)) in Bengaluru has additionally been alluded to the CEC by the screening committee.

The CEC will meet in the capital at 10 am on Friday and clear the list endorsed by the screening committee. Sources said that the party may report possibility for all the 224 seats in one go.

A leader said that the party supposedly asked Public Works Minister H C Mahadevappa to choose whether he or his son Sunil Bose will challenge from T Narasipura constituency. The party rejected Mahadevappa’s plea to field his son from Nanjangud by replacing sitting MLA Kalale Krishnamurthy.

In spite of the fact that Law Minister T B Jayachandra looked for the ticket for his son Santosh from Chikkanayakanahalli in Tumakuru region, the party chose to field a leader of Yadava community to maintian position adjust as vast number of voters of that group live in Tumakuru and Chitradurga areas.

From Karkala in Udupi locale, the gathering is probably going to field former MLA Gopal Bandari, a loyalist of former Chief Minister M Veerappa Moily.

Regardless of Siddaramaiah demanding that all the sitting MLAs and new contestants ought to get the ticket, the gathering leaders left the choice on renominating N A Haris from Shantinagar and H Y Meti from Bagalkot to the CEC. While Haris’ son is in prison and Meti quit as Excise serve over a sex CD embarrassment.

Leaders have additionally suggested the name of former MLA B Prasanna Kumar from Pulakeshinagar. Siddaramaiah has proposed the names of his secretary Bhimasenarao Shinde for Aurad and personal secretary Heera Naik for Mayakonda replacing sitting MLA B Shivamurthy Naik. The choice on these two seats were likewise left to the CEC.

Will the lack of a Muslim leadership in the Hyderabad-Karnataka/Northeast Karnataka region hurt the prospects of the Congress party. The region comprising Bidar, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal and Gulbarga and, Bellary districts play a crucial role in shaping the prospects of any political party.

On one hand, the Congress government in its attempt to divide dominant community Lingayat – which plays a decisive role in the election- apparently ignored to find a new Muslim leader in the region who can consolidate Muslim votes in the upcoming elections. With the passing away of former chief minister Dharam Singh and the senior most Muslim leader from the region Qamar ul Islam, the party is being crippled by the absence of tall leaders who can bring together Muslim community.

Dharam Singh hailed from the Rajput community, whose numbers are very low in the state. However, he knew the art of winning over political rivals. Qamar ul Islam a well-known name in the region, was elected six times from Gulbarga North constituency. According to reports, Khaneez Fathima, the wife of late Congress leader and minister Qamar ul Islam, has been convinced by senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge to accept a ticket if given one from Gulbarga North, the constituency Islam represented.

“The process of finding a new leader is not going to be a cakewalk for the Congress. The party wants to ride on a sympathy wave in Gulbarga North by giving the ticket to Khaneez Fathima but internal revolt cannot be overruled if the ticket is given to her. For the leadership vacuum in the region, late Qamar ul Islam has to share the blame too. He had followers but, did not groom second rung Muslim leadership in the region.”

In absence of two tall leaders, now the gigantic responsibility lies on the shoulders of senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and his son Priyanka Kharge who is currently a minister in the Congress government. Besides, recent induction of Mallikarjun Khuba, Nagappa Saloni, Basavaraj Patil Anwari and Malikayya Guttedar to the BJP has mounted pressure on the Congress leadership in the region.

Political analyst Mahadeva Prakash blamed Mallikarjun Kharge and Dharam Singh for the leadership crisis in Hyderabad-Karnataka region. Mahadeva Prakash said, “Both of them have grown like a banyan tree in the party. But they never allowed others to grow politically either Lingayats, backward class and minority. In fact, they restricted Qamar ul Islam to Gulbarga North. Qamar ul Islam’s wife may win with the help of sympathy wave. However, he ruled out opposition to her candidature.” It may be recalled that the Congress had won 27 seats out of 40 seats in 2013. The rise in the number of seats was attributed to division in BJP vote back due to Lingayat leader BS Yeddyurappa’s faction Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP). In fact, traditionally Muslim voters have always stood by the Congress in the region. This time they may have to vote for the Congress without a prominent Muslim face around.

In a setback for the Kerala government, the High Court on Wednesday cancelled an order that had enabled it take over 38,000 acres of land belonging to a plantation major in the state.

A division bench cancelled the order of a single bench that had earlier directed the takeover of the plantation land of diversified agri-major Harrison Malayalam Limited (HML), a part of R.P.G Enterprises.

Coming down heavily on the state government, the bench directed it “not to play Robin Hood”, as big companies have to exist in the state.

The court also struck down the report by special officer M.G. Rajamanickam on which the earlier judgment was based.

The report had said that foreign companies were holding land by flouting the rules and all treaties and agreements had become null and void with the Indian Independence Act of 1947.

Hence agreements prior to Independence stood cancelled and the ownership of such land should remain with the government.

HML Vice President V. Venugopal, in a statement on Wednesday said: “Being in the business for over a century in the country, the lands held by us are all legitimately held. We have always complied with statutory regulations without any default.

“Through this high court order, all the doubts raised against our company is laid to rest and it will allow us to carry on with our normal business and focus more on growth and development of its estates protecting thousands of workers and their families.”

Veteran leader and former Chief Minister SM Krishna is continually in news particularly in light of his nonappearance from dynamic political scenes.

Krishna, who had joined the BJP in the wake of breaking all ties with the Congress around one year back has been passive in his ‘new house’.
Gossipy tidbits are overflowing that the veteran pioneer, who quit the Congress referring to that he has been sidelined, keeps on being sidelined even in the new party. Before long, news of Krishna wanting to backpedal to the Congress has been making rounds. As indicated by late reports, KPCC Chief Dr G Parameshwar and Minister DK Shivakumar had held one round of talks with the veteran pioneer and persuaded him to join the party once more. It is said that AICC Chief Rahul Gandhi has given green flag for the same.

However, SM Krishna himself has negated each of this statements. Responding to media reports of a crack between the BJP government and him, Krishna has said that he has been far from the political show and battling because of ‘time compels’.

“I will crusade for the saffron party if time permits,” Krishna has said.