India

Hyderabad, Jan 9 (IANS) Tamil superstar Rajinikanth called on Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national President and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu here on Monday.

Rajinikanth met Naidu at the latter's residence in Jubilee Hills. The TDP termed it as a courtesy call.

"It was a pleasure to meet and interact with my dear friend 'Thalaivar' Rajinikanth today," tweeted Naidu. He shared a picture of their meeting.

Rajinikanth met Naidu a day after Tollywood actor and Jana Sena Party (JSP) leader Pawan Kalyan met the former Chief Minister.

Pawan Kalyan had expressed solidarity with Naidu in the wake of the recent developments in the latter's Assembly constituency Kuppam.

Naidu was not allowed to conduct road shows and hold meetings in Kuppam last week, consequent to a Government Order (GO) issued by the state government prohibiting meetings on roads.

The GO was issued in the wake of an incident of stampede during Naidu's road show at Kandukur. Eight persons were killed in the incident that occurred on December 28.

--IANS
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Panaji, Jan 9 (IANS) A heavy police force has been deployed at Dabolim airport in Goa after an incoming chartered flight from Moscow to Goa was diverted to Gujarat's Jamnagar over bomb threat.

Sources said the flight was diverted after the Air Traffic Controller at Goa airport received a bomb threat. There were around 244 passengers on-board the flight which landed at Jamnagar airport at around 9.49 p.m.

After receiving the bomb threat, a large number of police personnel were deployed at Dabolim airport in Goa and senior officers held a meeting over the incident.

More details are awaited.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Jan 9 (IANS) Union Home Minister Amit Shah was on Tuesday chairing a meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party's core group meeting of Jammu and Kashmir at his residence.

BJP leaders like party's J&K President Ravinder Raina, Kavinder Gupta, Jammu and Kashmir in charge Tarun Chugh, former Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh were present at the meeting, where, as per sources, "there will be deep discussion on multiple issues related to J&K like security, border issues, political, assembly election, ground review etc".

The meeting comes in the wake of the recent terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, particularly the Rajouri incident in which 7 civilians were killed.

Six civilians, including two children, were killed and many more injured in two terror attacks in Upper Dangri village in Rajouri district on Sunday evening and Monday morning. One injured subsequently succumbed.

The Union Home Ministry had issued an order for deploying an additional 18 companies of paramilitary forces in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the civilian killings in the two terror attacks in the Rajouri district.

--IANS
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Jaipur, Jan 9 (IANS) Terming the BJP's 'Janakrosh Yatra' in Rajasthan as "historic" in the nation, party state in charge Arun Singh said that it covered 1.15 lakh km,, which happened for the first time in the history of the country and the state, while 92 lakh leaflets were also distributed to the common people, as 200 chariots were run in 200 assembly seats.

He said that the Jan Aakrosh Yatra reached all panchayats and villages of Rajasthan and more than 62,000 Nukkad Sabhas and Choupals were held. Contact has been made with more than 1.20 crore people of Rajasthan, and the message has reached 8 crore people of the state, he said.

Singh also mocked the Ashok Gehlot government, saying that "Rahul gone, power gone", in Rajasthan on the present power crisis in the state, while targeting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra.

He claimed that there is resentment against the Congress government in Rajasthan among the people, adding that the farmers of Rajasthan are saying that when Rahul Gandhi reached Bharat Jodo Yatra in Rajasthan, there was electricity, but as soon as he left, the electricity has also gone in those areas.

Congress government's lacunae came to fore via this yatra, including crime against women, breach of promise to the youth, failure to fulfil the promise of loan waiver to farmers, due to which the farmer of Rajasthan is forced to commit suicide and now the public will say good bye to the Congress government from Rajasthan in 2023, Singh said.

Terming the Rajasthan government as anti-youth, he accused it of playing with their future, noting 16 times, exam papers have been leaked in a row, and there is definitely involvement of the people sitting in the government, while Gehlot is constantly trying to save them.

If elections are held now, a BJP government with a three-fourth majority will be formed in Rajasthan under the strong leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Jan 9 (IANS) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday called Lt. Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena for a public discussion, claiming that he had interfered in the functioning of the elected government, while accusing him of by-passing the Council of Ministers.

The Chief Minister's reply came after the L-G invited him for a meeting over the matter.

Kejriwal has accused the L-G of by-passing the elected government in the appointment of Aldermen, the presiding officers and the Haj Committee.

"Make your stand on your by-passing of the elected government. There was strong public criticism when you unilaterally appointed 10 aldermen, presiding officer and the Haj Committee. You admitted having taken all those actions unilaterally bypassing the government saying that in all those Acts and provisions, it was written that 'Administrator/LG shall appoint'. All laws and acts related to electricity, health, water, education define the government as 'Administrator/LG', will all these departments be directly run by you? What would the elected government do in Delhi? Won't it be contrary to all SC judgements on transferred subjects belonging to the elected government? These questions are very critical for the future of Delhi and the whole country, better to have public discussion than private talks," Kejriwal has written in the letter.

"Then what would the elected government do, Sir? Won't that be contrary to all SC judgements where it has been repeatedly said that L-G is bound by aid and advice of the Council of Ministers on all transferred subjects? Whereas we could discuss all these issues privately over tea, however, these questions are very critical for the future of Delhi and the whole country. Therefore, a public discussion on this issue will be useful. We wait for your response, Sir."

He, however, said that he would definitely attend the meeting with the L-G, and fix a convenient time with the L-G office.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Jan 9 (IANS) The Centre on Monday reappointed Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor Michael Debabrata Patra for a period of one year with effect from January 15.

The decision was taken by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.

Patra, a career central banker since 1985, had taken over as RBI Deputy Governor on January 14, 2020.

He has worked in various positions in the central bank.

As Executive Director, he was a member of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the RBI, which is entrusted with the responsibility of monetary policy decision making in India.

He continues to be an ex-officio member of the MPC as Deputy Governor.

Prior to this, he was Principal Adviser of the Monetary Policy Department of RBI between July 2012 and October 2014.

Patra has worked in the International Monetary Fund as Senior Adviser to Executive Director (India) during December 2008 to June 2012, when he actively engaged in the work of the IMF's Executive Board through the period of the global financial crisis and the ongoing Euro area sovereign debt crisis.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Jan 9 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea by Centre against the Delhi High Court order, which dismissed its plea in connection with appointment of two of the three judges on an arbitration panel examining a cost-recovery dispute in Reliance Industries Ltd's (RIL) KG-D6 gas block.

Citing alleged bias, the Centre had approached the high court seeking a direction that the two judges should be discharged from their functions.

During a hearing in the matter on Monday, a bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and comprising Justice P.S. Narasimha told the Centre's counsel that it is not inclined to interfere with the high court order. "Sorry, we would not like to interfere...", said the bench.

In December last year, the high court dismissed on maintainability grounds a petition by the Centre seeking removal of two of the three arbitrators in its ongoing arbitration proceedings. The Central government moved the apex court challenging this verdict.

Reliance counsel's preliminary objection was upheld by the high court. However, the high court had clarified that it did not either consider or rule on Centre's allegation against the members of the arbitral tribunal and that all contentions were kept open.

In November 2011, RIL had initiated arbitration, disputing the disallowance of more than $2.3 billion of the KG-D6 cost by the government on the ground of gas output lagging in meeting targets.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Jan 9 (IANS) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday that for India's growing defence industrial capabilities, efforts are being made towards enhancing manufacturing capabilities, particularly in the emerging areas of drones, cyber-tech, Artificial Intelligence, radars, etc.

He said that a robust defence manufacturing ecosystem has been created which has led to the emergence of India as a leading defence exporter in recent years.

The defence exports have grown by eight times in the last five years and now India is exporting to over 75 countries.

Singh said this at 'Ambassadors' Roundtable conference' for the forthcoming Aero India 2023, on Monday. He chaired the Roundtable conference.

The reach-out event was attended by Ambassadors, High Commissioners, Charge d'affaires and Defence Attaches of over 80 countries.

The Defence Minister invited the representatives from across the world to attend Asia's largest and 14th Aero show -- Aero India-2023 -- which will be held in Bengaluru in February.

He urged them to encourage their respective defence and aerospace companies to attend the global event.

Singh described Aero India as a premier global aviation trade fair, which provides an opportunity for the Indian aviation-defence industry, including the aerospace industry, to showcase its products, technologies and solutions to the national decision makers.

The five-day show will witness a combination of major aerospace and defence trade exposition, along with aerial displays by the Indian Air Force.

"Besides the major entrepreneurs and investors in the defence and aerospace industries, the event will witness participation of prominent defence think-tanks and defence-related bodies from across the world. Aero India will, indeed, provide a unique opportunity for exchange of information, ideas and new technological developments in the aviation industry," he said.

Rajnath Singh emphasised that the government's efforts towards 'Make in India' are neither isolationist nor are they just meant for India alone.

"Our self-reliance initiative is the beginning of a new paradigm of partnership with our partner countries. Partnerships are being made with global defence industry giants. Recently, we signed a contract for manufacture of C-295 aircraft for the Indian Air Force through collaboration between Tata Advanced Systems Limited and Airbus Defence and Space S.A., Spain. 'Make in India' encompasses 'Make for the World'. It translates into an open offer to all for joint efforts and partnerships in defence R&D and production," he said.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud on Wednesday said Supreme Court judge Justice S. Abdul Nazeer was a judge dedicated to the law and all those affected by it and was a "people's judge".

Justice Nazeer, who was known for keeping the atmosphere light in the courtroom, demitted office after being in the apex court for about 6 years.

In his address at the farewell function organised for Justice Nazeer by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), Chief Justice Chandrachud said he was a farmer at heart, and it was a difficult life for him to grow up on his uncle's farms and he had even scavenged for fish which used to wash up on the beach there.

Justice Nazeer was a judge dedicated to the law and all those affected by it and was a "people's judge", he added.

SCBA President Vikas Singh said Justice Nazeer was the only Muslim judge on the bench, which decided the Ayodhya title dispute, and there was an expectation that he would author a separate judgement, "concurring, or not".

"He is a true embodiment of secularism in this country. He not only agreed to give a unanimous verdict without naming who wrote that judgment, but he also agreed with the view of the majority," Singh said that it showed for Justice Nazeer, it was the "nation first, himself as a judge second, and himself as an individual last".

The Chief Justice also said: "Justice Nazeer has been here and has done everything that is expected of a judge..." He appreciated Justice Nazeer for rendering services as a collegial colleague on the bench and in the collegium.

Born on January 5, 1958, at Beluvai in Karnataka Dakshina Kannada district, Justice Nazeer enrolled as an advocate on February 18, 1983, after completing his LLB degree from SDM Law College, Mangaluru.

He practiced before the Karnataka High Court and was appointed as its Additional Judge on May 12, 2003. He became a permanent judge on September 24, 2004 and was elevated to the Supreme Court on February 17, 2017.

Justice Nazeer was part of several landmark constitution bench decisions, which included triple talaq, right to privacy, Ayodhya case, and recently on the Centre's 2016 decision on demonetisation, and free speech of lawmakers.

Justice Nazeer said that the situation in the Indian judiciary today is not as grim as it used to be though a wrong impression is conveyed due to misinformation.

"There is always room for improvement. If I say Indian judiciary is immune to gender inequalities, I can't be farther away from reality," he said, emphasising that the representation of women in the judiciary is still very low.

--IANS
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Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 30 (IANS) A meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday to assess the Covid situation in the state concluded by advising all above the age of 60 to take the booster dose of the Covid vaccine.

He said that while caution has to be exercised, there is no need to worry.

All the frontline Covid workers have also been advised to take the booster dose.

The meeting was informed by the health authorities that on an average there are around 7,000 Covid tests being done daily. At the moment there are 474 Covid positive cases in the state, of which 72 people are in hospitals and 13 in ICUs.

A request has been made to the Centre for vaccines.

The meeting was informed that all the 14 district hospitals in the state have oxygen plants installed and there is adequate stock of PPE kits, masks and medicines.

The Rapid Response Team is also ready, an awareness drive has also started and a Covid Monitoring Cell has been set up.

The meeting said masks should be used in public and where people assemble in good numbers and all other precautions should be taken.

Vijayan asked all to ensure that the directives of the Centre are followed.

--IANS
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