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Opposition protests over remarks of VK Singh, RSS chief disrupts Rajya Sabha

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rajya-sabha-chaos

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha today witnessed two adjournments before noon after BSP launched a vociferous protest over V K Singh’s alleged anti-Dalit remarks and SP created ruckus over RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s reported comments on Ram temple in Ayodhya.

No sooner did the House met and mourned the death of former member M A M Ramaswamy and the listed papers laid, BSP supremo Mayawati rose to say that the government’s attitude over Singh’s comments was “very sad and unfortunate”.

As Deputy Chairman P J Kurien disallowed her and asked her to give a notice for making a statement, her party members rushed into the Well raising anti-government slogans.

Not to be left behind, Naresh Agarwal (SP) raised the issue of reported statement of Bhagwat over the construction of the temple.

Kurien did not allow this as well and asked them to make mentions during the Zero Hour. “Please give notice. This is against rules. You cannot make a statement without notice,” he said. Immediately thereafter, SP members rushed into the Well of the House raising slogans.

Mayawati alleged that social and communal atomsphere in the country has detoriated since BJP came to power, as the government instead of taking action against the rabble-rousers was indulging in soft-peddling such issues.

“Dalit virodhi yeh sarkar nahi chalegi, nahi chalegi (anti-Dalit government will not be allowed)”, “V K Singh murdabad (down with V K Singh)”, the BSP members shouted.

With members of the two parties not listening to his pleas for order, Kurien adjourned the House for 15 minutes.

Similar scenes were witnessed when the House met at 11:30 hours with slogan-shouting BSP members again trooping into the Well.

Ram Gopal Yadav (SP) said while the issue of Ram Temple at Ayodhya was pending in courts, a communally tense situation was being created by Bhagwat’s statement. Alleging collusion between government and RSS, he sought action against Bhagwat. Some of his party members too trooped in the Well.

To this, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the government respected court’s decision on the Ayodhya issue, but people have “fundamental right” to reiterate committment for construction of a temple.

However, he added the construction would be according to the court’s decision. On Singh’s reported remarks, Naqvi also stated that the Minister has repeatedly clarified that he had not made any anti-Dalit comment.

But he could not douse the slogneering as some Congress members also rushed to the Well, forcing Kurien to adjourn the proceedings till 12 noon.

(PTI)

18 die in Chennai hospital ICU due to power failure

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18 ICU patients die

Chennai: Eighteen patients died in a private hospital here allegedly due to flooding of generator room and resultant snap of oxygen supply even as the Tamil Nadu government today indicated that it would probe the matter.

 

The medical institution has declined to comment. Over the past several days when rains ravaged the city, a well known private hospital on the banks of the Adyar river in Manapakkanam here witnessed flooding in parts of its premises.

As there was no electricity, the hospital was run on generator. Speaking to reporters, some relatives of those dead alleged that those on life support like ventilator and oxygen could not be continuously given such backup as the generator room was flooded.

The private health authorities remained inaccessible.

“Out of 75 ICU patients in that hospital, 57 ventilator patients were moved out. The remaining patients died over the past two three days. Let us not jump the gun to say that the patients died due to power failure,” Tamil Nadu Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan told reporters.

He said, however, the government was probing the issue.

To another question, he said, “If it was so all the ICU patients would have died. 575 patients have been moved out of that hospital,” he said acknowledging that there was flooding and power cut in that particular hospital.

“All government hospitals were up and running. We are taking patients from all hospitals on need basis,” he said.

Patients needing support are being shifted to large state-run hospitals with facilities, he said.
“92 additional mobile medical teams have been dispatched across the city for such purposes,” he said.

The Health Secretary said that he along with the Health Minister visited another private hospital, which is also flooded, and shifted babies on a ventilator to a government facility.

“Let us not unnecessarily create panic. But we will also go through records,” he said.

Mulayam PM, Rahul his deputy: Akhilesh’s formula for alliance with Congress

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Akhilesh-Yadav

New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today suggested that an alliance with Congress is possible in an arrangement where Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav is the Prime Minister and Rahul Gandhi his Deputy.

 

Akhilesh made the comments in the course of a conversation at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here in the presence of the Congress vice president. However, Rahul refused to comment when asked to respond.

 

The UP Chief Minister was replying to a question on whether he was ready to extend his “good” personal relationship with Gandhi to a political level with the Congress.

“You are asking me because I am a Samajwadi (socialist) and you also say that I get rebuked by my father (Mulayam). I also want that Netaji’s dreams are fulfilled and that I work for him. He becomes the Prime Minister and he (pointing at Rahul) Deputy Prime Minister. I am in agreement with this and will make an alliance now,” if it is found acceptable, Akhilesh said, smiling.

He, however, sidestepped a question on whether an alliance with its rival BSP, like the one in Bihar where JD(U) and RJD came together, is possible in UP for the 2017 Assembly polls.

“Her (Mayawati) choice is that stone made elephant statues come up. So how is that possible? I have already told you my formula,” was Akhilesh’s response, referring to his conditions for a possible alliance with Congress.

Earlier, he categorically said, “there is no talk of any coalition at this point. It’s better if we don’t talk of it now.”

The 42-year-old chief minister of India’s most populous state asserted that any relationship with the BJP or any of its associate organisations was not possible “because of the kind of divisions they produce and the language they use.”

(Agencies)

Modi announces relief of Rs 1000 crore for rain-hit Tamil Nadu

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People of India stay with people of Tamil Nadu in this hour of need, says the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducting an aerial survey of rain hit areas of Chennai on Thursday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducting an aerial survey of rain hit areas of Chennai on Thursday.

Chennai: After an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday announced an immediate release of Rs.1,000 crore for relief and rehabilitation works in Tamil Nadu.

“A sum of Rs. 1,000 crore will be released immediately by the Government of India to carry out relief works. This will be in addition to Rs.940 crore which was released earlier (by the Centre),” he said in a brief statement at the naval base “INS Adyar” here.

Flanked by Governor K Rosaiah and Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, Mr. Modi began his brief statement with a sentence in Tamil saying telling people of Tamil Nadu, “I will be in support of you”.

Switching to English, Mr. Modi said he has seen the damage and misery caused by the monsoon fury.

“People of India stay with people of Tamil Nadu in this hour of need,” he said after the survey in which he was accompanied by Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan, who hails from Tamil Nadu.

Mr. Modi also tweeted later, “The Government of India stands shoulder to shoulder with the people of Tamil Nadu in this hour of need.”

“I have directed that Rs. 1000 crore be released immediately by the Govt of India to Tamil Nadu for immediate relief,” he said in another tweet.

“I have seen the damage and misery caused by the extremely heavy rainfall,” said another of his tweet.

The Prime Minister made the announcement after holding consultations with the Chief Minister at the naval base here.

Earlier, Mr. Modi arrived from Delhi at the naval working station ‘INS Rajali’ in Arakkonam, about 60 km from here, and made an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas of Chennai, its suburbs and Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur districts.

After an earlier spell of heavy rains and damage in November, the Prime Minister had announced release of Rs.940 crore to Tamil Nadu.

(PTI)

Justice Thakur sworn-in as Chief Justice of India

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Justice T S Thakur

New Delhi: Justice T.S. Thakur was sworn in on Thursday as the 43rd Chief Justice of India.

President Pranab Mukherjee administered the oath of office.

Thakur succeeded Chief Justice H.L. Dattu who demitted office on December 2.

Chief Justice Thakur will have a tenure of 13 months as he is slated to retire on January 3, 2017.

(IANS)

Siddaramaiah announces Rs. 5-crore aid to flood-hit Tamil Nadu

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Bengaluru: Karnataka on Wednesday announced Rs.5 crore for relief and rescue operations in flood-hit Chennai.

“As a humanitarian gesture, we are also rushing relief materials to Chennai for the people affected by flood waters,” an official told sources after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced in New Delhi the Rs.5-crore aid to Tamil Nadu.

With air, rail and road connectivity to Chennai disrupted, flights, trains and bus services from Bengaluru were cancelled for the next two days.

Though Chennai is about 350 km away to the southeast of Bengaluru, there is heavy movement of people and goods between the two state capitals, with a dozen flights and trains and about 100 buses operating daily.

As the low pressure over the Bay of Bengal continued to batter Chennai, dark clouds and chilly winds gripped Bengaluru since Monday, with forecast of rains and thundershowers this week.

In a related development, prayers and rituals were performed in temples in the city to appease rain gods for sparing Chennai from further rains, as thousands of people, especially the Tamil-speaking community, with relatives reside in both cities.

(Agencies)

Rains, floods kill 269 in Tamil Nadu, 54 in Andhra

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New Delhi: The heaviest rains in Tamil Nadu in over a century and floods have claimed 269 lives, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday, describing the situation as “alarming”.

 

The minister also told the Lok Sabha that 54 people had been killed in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and two in Puducherry.

“There are no two opinions that the situation in Tamil Nadu is alarming. It is not an exaggeration to say that Chennai has turned into an island,” Singh said.

Singh said all highways leading to Chennai were closed for the past two days.

Chennai, he said, had received torrential rains, and the meteorological department has predicted more rains in the next two-three days.

Singh said 30 teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and seven columns of the army were engaged in relief and rescue work. The navy had also deployed boats and divers.

He said the central government would provide all necessary assistance sought by the Tamil Nadu government.

Singh said the Tamil Nadu government had demanded Rs.8,480.93 crore for flood destruction and Rs.940 crore had been released as immediate relief.

(Agencies)

JD(S) to announce MLC list soon

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Bengaluru: The JD (S) today convened a meeting of the MLAs to discuss the upcoming Legislative Council polls scheduled for December 27.

The JD (S) has 13 representations in the Legislative Council and of these, five MLCs recently retired. The party has not yet taken a final call on whether it should field candidates for all the 25 seats. The party said the decision will be announced soon.

JD (S) said that there are no differences of opinion about the selection of MLCs among members and said all petty differences have been sorted out.

In an aside party supremo and former prime minister blamed the media for distorting the image of the party .

Gujarat local polls: Congress leads in rural areas; BJP ahead in urban

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Gujarat-polls

Ahmedabad: In what could be a setback to the ruling BJP in crucial civic polls in Gujarat, the Congress is leading in district and taluka panchayats even as the saffron party is ahead in corporations and municipalities, as initial counting trends start pouring in from across the state.

The BJP had held almost all the local bodies earlier in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The civic elections have also assumed significance for the ruling party in the backdrop of Patel quota agitation and being the first major political battle for Chief Minister Anandiben Patel.

The Congress has surged ahead in nine district panchayats of the state, while the BJP is leading in four out of the total 31 district panchayats that went to polls.

In the last election, the Congress had only won the Tapi district panchayat.

The BJP, however, is ahead in all the six municipal corporations that went to polls, including Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar and Vadodara. All the municipal corporations were earlier held by BJP.

The ruling party is also doing reasonably well in the 56 municipalities.

However, in the 230 taluka panchayats, the Congress is doing well at the initial stage, State Election Commission officials said.

In the prestigious Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation polls, the BJP is ahead in more than 50 seats, while the Congress is leading in 15 seats out of total of 192 seats.

However, in a major upset, the Congress is leading its way to win the Rajkot district panchayat, where it is ahead in 22 seats out of total 40, while BJP is ahead in one seat. In the last elections, the BJP had won 26 seats there and the Congress 14 seats.

The voting for six municipal corporations was held on November 26, while that for 31 district panchayats, 230 taluka panchayats and 56 municipalities was held on November 29.

Though the voting for the six municipal corporations was as low as 45 per cent, for other semi-urban and rural bodies it was over 60 per cent.

For the BJP and Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, the polls are being seen as a challenge as they were held after the Patel quota stir and in absence of Narendra Modi.

The Congress is hoping to make a comeback in the state, riding on the Patel quota agitation.

The Patel leaders, who had launched a stir for inclusion under OBC category for reservation, had during the poll campaign told their community members to vote against the BJP, and in favour of the Congress.

(PTI)

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