India

New Delhi, Oct 14 (IANS) Anti-incumbency weighs heavily on the poll-bound BJP-ruled Himachal Pradesh government.

According to an opinion poll, conducted by C-Voter for ABP News, 45.5 per cent respondents are not happy with the Jairam Thakur government's performance and want to change it.

The survey, which was conducted with a sample size of 100 respondents in September as well as October, has revealed that only 22.1 per cent of them were satisfied with the state government's performance and did not want to change it.

Those respondents who were angry with the state government but did not want to change it were 32.4 per cent.

The hill state goes for assembly polls on November 12 while results would be declared on December 8.

--IANS
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Bhubaneswar, Oct 14 (IANS) Veteran Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday met Odisha Congress leaders and sought their support for his candidature in the AICC Presidential election, scheduled to be held on October 17.

Speaking to reporters here, Kharge said he has resigned from Leader of Opposition and filed nominations for the AICC President's election after receiving calls from many of his party leaders.

The Congress leader said he has no other manifesto to contest the election within the party. He will implement the outcomes of the Chintan Shivir held at Udaipur in Rajasthan four months ago.

"About 1,000 Congress leaders across the country had participated in the deliberation and the outcomes, also called 'Udaipur Declaration', is my priority," he said.

Kharge said he is committed to implementing the party's decision to give priority to leaders of less than 50 years old in decision making.

Kharge and Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor are in the fray for Congress Presidential poll as the party high command has decided that, this time, no one from Gandhi family will contest for the post.

--IANS
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Patna, Oct 14 (IANS) In wake of income tax raids on a prominent builder and hotelier Gabbu Singh, JD-U national President Lalan Singh on Friday said that there was nothing new as the BJP uses the CBI, the ED, and the Income Tax against those who oppose it.

Income Tax officials conducted raids on 31 locations of Gabbu Singh, known to be a close friend of Lalan Singh, across the state.

Asked about the raids and Gabbu Singh's close relations with him, Lalan Singh said: "What is close? Everyone knows whoever is opposing the BJP in the country, they used the CBI, the ED and the Income Tax against them. They are using these agencies similar to how people change their clothes. Do whatever they want, we will not come under the pressure of raids."

Gabbu Singh never came into politics but he has close relations with Lalan Singh. The IT officials conducted raids at his 31 places including his flat at Shivpuri locality in Patna.

The raid is currently underway and the Income Tax Department has not given details of recoveries so far.

--IANS
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Gurugram, Oct 14 (IANS) A woman gave birth to a boy inside a car on the way to Civil Hospital in Sector-10 of Gurugram.

Meenakshi, mother-in-law of the woman, said her daughter-in-law Hemlata had experienced labour pain and had left the house located in Jacobpura in Gurugram around noon on Thursday along with her and a neighbour named Raja.

"We got stuck in traffic on way to a government hospital for about half an hour. I asked Raja to park the car in a street located near Prem Mandir and around 12.30 p.m. Hemlata delivered the baby boy after I helped her inside a car," Meenakshi said.

Both the mother and the child are in healthy condition, and were admitted to the government hospital after delivery.

The distance of the government hospital from the Jacobpura area is around 3 km. The woman took 45 minutes to reach the hospital.

The family said they were stuck for around 30 minutes in traffic and the baby was delivered inside the car.

"The doctor at the hospital told us anything could have happened, had we been late in reaching the hospital, and advised us not to take any risk in such a situation in future," Hemlata said.

--IANS
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Hyderabad, Oct 14 (IANS) Hyderabad has won the overall 'World Green City Award 2022' and another award in the category 'Living Green for Economic Recovery and Inclusive Growth' at the International Association of Horticulture Producers (AIPH) 2022 World Green City Awards 2022 held in Jeju, South Korea on Friday.

AIPH invited entries for 'World Green Cities Awards 2022' across six categories. A total of 18 finalists across six categories were selected and final category wise winners were announced on Friday.

The 6 categories and shortlisted countries are Living Green for Biodiversity (Columbia, Australia, France), Living Green for Climate Change (Turkey, Australia, Mexico), Living Green for Health and Wellbeing (Brazil, Netherlands, Australia), Living Green for Water (Canada, Australia, South Africa), Living Green for Social Cohesion (Argentina, South Korea, France) and Living Green for Economic Recovery & Inclusive Growth (Canada, Iran, India).

Hyderabad is the only Indian city that was selected and it is a matter of pride that Hyderabad has won not only the category award but the overall 'World Green City 2022' award that is the best across all six categories, the state government said.

In the category 'Living Green for Economic Recovery and Inclusive Growth', the greening of the Outer Ring Road (ORR) was submitted as Hyderabad's entry. The category focuses on creating systems and solutions that allow all city residents to overcome economic distress and thrive and the ORR greenery called as 'Green Necklace to the State of Telangana' was adjudged the best in this category.

Minister for municipal administration K.T. Rama Rao congratulated entire Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) team and Special Chief Secretary, MA&UD, Arvind Kumar, for this achievement.

Rama Rao has been emphasising on ensuring greenery along the ORR and under the guidance of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, massive greenery efforts have been undertaken.

This award is a testimony to the continued efforts and focus of the government of Telangana on increasing the green cover in the state through its flagship programme 'Telangana ku Haritha Haram' (TKHH), the government said.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Oct 14 (IANS) The overwhelming popularity and ratings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi seem to be negating all the anti-incumbency sentiments of voters in Himachal Pradesh where elections have been scheduled for November 12.

This was revealed by a CVoter opinion poll conducted on behalf of ABP News across the state during September and October.

Three results of the exclusive opinion poll stand out. The rise is anger with the performance of the state government. As many as 45.5 per cent of the respondents stated that they are angry and want to change the government.

Less than half of that, or about 22 per cent said they are not happy with the BJP government and want to change it. Similarly, 36.6 per cent of the voters rate the performance of the state government as good while 34.6 per cent rate it as poor.

Then again, results of the exclusive CVoter survey for ABP News show that while 37.6 per cent of respondents rate the performance of Chief Minister Jairam Thakur as good, as many as 33.7 per cent rated his performance as poor.

In most elections, these numbers would have resulted in high probabilities of the state government being ousted during elections because of high anti-incumbency sentiments.

Yet, the CVoter opinion poll reveals that the BJP is slated to win 46 per cent of the vote share while the Congress is projected to win 35.2 per cent with the Aam Aadmi Party managing 6.3 per cent. The projected gap between the BJP and Congress vote share is more than 10 per cent, it was just about 7 per cent in the previous elections in 2017.

The projected seats for the BJP are 42 while that for the Congress are 24, giving the former a comfortable majority in a house of 68 members.

The primary reason for this is the enduring popularity of Modi. While 64.3 per cent of respondents rated the performance of the Prime Minister as good, only 19.4 per cent rated it as poor. This is reminiscent of elections held in another hill state Uttarakhand in early 2022 where strong ant-incumbency sentiments against the BJP state government were negated by the Modi factor.

The actual results will be known on December 10.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Oct 14 (IANS) The Supreme Court will hear on Saturday a plea by Maharashtra government challenging the Bombay High Court's Nagpur bench order, acquitting former Delhi University professor G.N. Saibaba in an alleged Maoist links case.

A bench comprising Justices M.R. Shah and Bela M. Trivedi will hear the matter.

As Solicitor General Tushar Mehta mentioned the appeal before a bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Hima Kohli and sought urgent listing of the case, as, in all likelihood, the respondents may be released from the jail, it directed the case to be listed before an appropriate bench after the Chief Justice provides his administrative approval.

"At this stage, we deem it appropriate to mention that the proceedings have been mentioned before this since the bench presided over by the Chief Justice has risen for the day. The Solicitor General states that he will move an application before the Registry for obtaining administrative directions of Hon'ble the Chief Justice for listing of the Special Leave Petition tomorrow (15.10.2022)", said the top court, in its order.

Earlier in the day, the Bombay High Court' Nagpur bench acquitted former Delhi University professor Saibaba and five others in an alleged Maoist links and conspiracy case.

A division bench of Justices Rohit Deo and Anil Pansare acquitted Mahesh K. Tirki, Hem Keshawdatt Mishra, Prashant Rahi, Vijay Nan Tirki and Pandur Pora Narote who died in August this year.

Earlier, the court had allowed their appeals against conviction and life sentences awarded under the UAPA provisions.

Saibaba, who suffers from a polio-related paralysis and is bound to a wheelchair, had previously filed a plea seeking suspension of his sentence on medical grounds, saying he is also suffering from multiple ailments, but it was rejected.

Currently in Nagpur Central Jail, Saibaba is likely to be freed soon unless required in any other case. All the accused, arrested in 2014, were tried under various sections of IPC and UAPA and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Gadchiroli Sessions Court in March 2017, for links with the banned Maoist groups, charges of waging war against the nation, conspiracy, among others.

--IANS
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By Vishal Gulati
Shimla, Oct 14 (IANS) The political landscape in the cool environs of Himachal Pradesh heated up with the Election Commission on Friday announcing the poll schedule for the 68-member Assembly - polling on November 12 and counting of ballots on December 8.



Political observers told IANS the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has managed an edge over its seemingly somnolent rival Congress by already launching a statewide campaign with a back-to-back public meetings by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party's national leadership comprising J.P. Nadda and Anurag Thakur.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday formally launched the party's election campaign after paying obeisance at Maa Shoolini Temple in Solan town. She addressed the Parivartan Pratigya Rally.

The fledgling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), it seems, is attempting to conquer the state with an army without a general.

So far, the party in power in the national capital and neighbouring Punjab has not been able to rope in any prominent leader to head the team in the Hill state.

Political pundits believe the situation is not very different from Punjab where the party had only Bhagwant Mann at the helm of affairs. But it may not work in Himachal where the political parties almost always announce the Chief Ministerial candidate's name well before the polls.

The Congress is also dithering over the Chief Ministerial face in the absence of its stalwart and six-time Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.

With the passing away of Virbhadra Singh, who literally 'ruled' the political landscape single-handedly for almost six decades, the somnolent Congress seems fractured and divided in his absence. No other leader enjoys the mass appeal and popularity that he had.

Political observers believe the BJP, which is facing anti-incumbency, has somehow managed an edge over its rival Congress by making it clear that the party will go to the polls under the leadership of first-time Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur. Most probably, the party is likely to retain him for the post, if the BJP comes back to power.

The Election Commission announced that the state would vote for a new assembly on November 12 and the counting would be held on December 8. The term of the assembly ends on January 8 next year.

While Chief Minister Thakur has already carried out a whirlwind tour of the state ahead of the announcement of polls, the Congress is banking on its Central top leadership, with minimal chance of Rahul Gandhi touring the state owing to his preoccupation with 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'.

Its state senior leaders -- Mukesh Agnihotri, Kaul Singh Thakur, Sukhvinder Sukhu, Harsh Vardhan, Sudhir Sharma and Asha Kumari -- are concentrating on their respective seats only.

The BJP had won a majority in the 2017 Assembly polls with 44 seats in the 68-member Assembly.

Sounding the poll bugle with an emphasis the government "lays the foundation stone of a project and inaugurates itself", the Prime Minister on Thursday launched projects related to pharmaceuticals, education, railways and rural roads with saying these will have positive impact on the region's progress.

And also with a message that this became a reality with the state's double-engine government that has ensured "approvals for projects and their fast progress".

This was the Prime Minister's ninth visit to the state in the five years and second in almost a week.

Earlier, Modi inaugurated development works and laid foundation stones of over Rs 3,650 crore spread across various sectors, comprising AIIMS Bilaspur, on October 5. On that day, Modi became the first Prime Minister to pay obeisance to Kullu Valley's chief deity Lord Raghunath in the Dussehra festivity in Kullu town amidst the presence of nearly 300 deities.

Unlike her husband Virbhadra Singh, who had a direct connect even at the grassroots, Congress state unit chief Pratibha Singh, who has never contested the Assembly poll, is spearheading the campaign by banking on its promise to bring back the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) that will benefit 225,000 employees, a crucial vote bank.

However, the "divided" Congress is struggling to speak with one voice over key issues to put the government in the dock over corruption, deteriorating law and order situation, rising debt, an education scam of selling more than 45,000 fake degrees and the constable recruitment question paper leak that was sold for Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh.

The only saving grace for the Congress is induction of former BJP chief Khimi Ram, once a close confidante of former Chief Minister and BJP veteran Prem Kumar Dhumal. He served as a legislator from Banjar assembly constituency twice from 2003 to 2012.

Also the Congress managed to rope in BJP leader Indu Verma, who is the wife of late Rakesh Verma, a three-time legislator. The family has a base in Shimla district.

But leaders foresee more trouble in the Congress with the granting of tribal status by the Central government to nearly 2.50 lakh voters settled mainly in Sirmaur district, a demand pending for five decades.

The state party leadership fears an exodus of its leaders, comprising two sitting lawmakers -- Harsh Vardhan and Vinay Kumar, an HPCC working president, who have been "hobnobbing" with the BJP.

The Hatti community, who got the Scheduled Tribe status this month, is based mainly in the 133 panchayats dotting the trans-Giri area, which is part of the Shimla (reserved) seat.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is coming on Saturday to attend a thanks-giving rally in Sataun in Sirmaur district being organised by the Hatti community.

State BJP President Suresh Kashyap said the people of the Hatti community are extremely happy on getting the tribal status after a long struggle of 55 years.

"This rally will be landmark rally as the people of Hatti will be taking part in massive numbers," Kashyap, who also belongs to the area dominated by the Hattis, told IANS.

The BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections had won all the four seats of Himachal that saw 72.25 per cent polling.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)
--IANS
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New Delhi, Oct 14 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually address the inaugural session of All India Conference of Law Ministers and Law Secretaries on Saturday (October 15).

The two-day conference is being hosted by the Ministry of Law and Justice at Ekta Nagar, Gujarat.

The objective of the conference is to provide a common forum for the policy makers to discuss issues related to the Indian legal and judicial system, an official statement said.

The conference will witness discussions on topics like alternative dispute resolution mechanisms such as arbitration and mediation for quick and affordable justice, upgrading overall legal infrastructure, removing obsolete laws, improving access to justice, reducing pendency of cases and ensuring speedy disposal of matters.

The states will be able to share their best practices, exchange new ideas and improve their mutual cooperation through this conference, the statement said.

--IANS
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