India

Srinagar, Nov 18 (IANS) In a significant development, the National Conference (NC) on Friday said that its president, Dr Farooq Abdullah, has refused to seek re-election to the post, elections for which will be held on December 5.

The party said on its twitter page, "Dr Farooq Abdullah Sahib has informed his colleagues of his decision to step down as president of JKNC. In spite of the best efforts of senior colleagues in the party Dr Sahib was adamant that he wouldn't review his decision".

In another tweet, NC said, "In light of this sudden announcement which has caught everyone by surprise, the General Secretary as per the party constitution, has been tasked with conducting the election for party president which will be completed on Dec 5. Until then Dr Sahib continues as President of JKNC".

Elections for NC president's post will be held on December 5 which is the birthday of NC founder, late Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah.

Till the abrogation of article 370 on August 5, 2019, December 5 was observed as a public holiday in Jammu and Kashmir.

In the event of Dr Abdullah not seeking re-election, it is likely that the command of the party would pass on to his son and NC vice president Omar Abdullah unless the party like the Indian National Congress (INC) decides to choose a president from outside the Abdullah family.

--IANS
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Kolkata, Nov 17 (IANS) Union Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari fell ill on Thursday afternoon after an official function in West Bengal's Siliguri district, but is said to be stable now.

Gadkari complained of not feeling well as he came to down from the stage after laying the foundation stone of a proposed road connecting Siliguri with Sevak Cantonment.

He was first taken to a nearby cottage and three doctors were rushed from the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH) via a green corridor. The doctors started the initial treatment at the cottage only after keeping him under saline support.

It is learnt that the Union Minister felt sick after his blood sugar level came down. Fluctuating blood pressure levels also added to the complication. Later he was taken to a local hotel for complete rest. His other programmes for the day have been cancelled.

BJP's Darjeeling MP, Raju Singh Bista informed media persons that the condition of the Union Minister is stable now and he needs rest. "There is nothing to be worried about," he said.

Dr P.G. Bhutia, one of his attending medical practitioners also confirmed that after tests like ECG, blood sugar and blood pressure, the Union Minister had been advised to be on rest for some time.

"His condition is stable now. His existing medicines will continue and we have not prescribed any new medicine," he said.

On being informed, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who was in the state Secretariat then, expressed concern over the development. She immediately called up the Commissioner of Siliguri Municipal Corporation, Akhilesh Kumar Chaturvedi and asked him to ensure that Gadkari gets proper medical attention.

--IANS
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By Venkatachari Jagannathan
Chennai, Nov 17 (IANS) The countdown for the Friday launch of Skyroot Aerospace-developed rocket Vikram-S, with three small satellites, will begin three hours before the lift-off time which is fixed at 11.30 a.m, said an official.


"The countdown will begin three hours before the rocket's lift off. The rocket is expected to lift off at 11.30 a.m. on Friday. The countdown time is less as it is a small rocket," a senior official of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told IANS.

Further, the single-stage rocket is powered with solid fuel which has also cut down the countdown time.

The official said the rocket will fly off from the ISRO's sounding rocket launch pad at the Sriharikota rocket port.

On Friday, Skyroot Aerospace is expected to become India's first private sector company to develop and fly a rocket.

The Hyderabad-based rocket startup was founded by Pawan Kumar Chandana and Naga Bharath Daka in June 2018. Till date, the company has raised Rs 526 crore funds and has about 200 employees.

Its 545 kg, six-metre-long rocket will carry three satellites from Space Kidz India, Bazoomq Armenia, and N-Space Tech India.

In 25 seconds after the liftoff and at an altitude of 17.9 km, the rocket's engine will burn out. The rocket would eject its payload at an altitude of 81.5 km.

The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), Department of Space (DOS), on Thursday said it had authorised the rocket launch with three satellites.

According to IN-SPACe - the regulator for private space players, the Vikram-S rocket flight is a technology demonstration flight to showcase the capabilities of the company.

It carries with it three PCB-based payloads for three customers which are equipped with sensors for the measurement of acceleration, pressure and other aspects.

This rocket will help validate the technologies that will be used in the subsequent Vikram-1 orbital vehicle of Skyroot Aerospace that is planned for launch next year, subject to technical clearance by IN-SPACe, the regulator said.

However, the IN-SPACe has declined to answer a couple of crucial questions like when was the draft National Space Transportation Policy-2020 approved and what about the financial guarantee or the insurance cover to be provided by the rocket launching company to the sectoral regulator.

As per the original draft policy, IN-SPACe authorisation requires the financial guarantee or insurance cover by the proposer/rocket launch company as part of its ownership towards fulfilment of nation's liability as per international agreements.

"As per the regulations up to certain value of damage, companies are liable and beyond that the state will foot the bill. The liability determination process is finalised and managed by INSPACe," Secretary, Space and ISRO Chairman, S. Somanath, had told IANS.

He said for the rockets, the liability is determined by the type of the rocket mission, range and others. The ISRO will do this exercise. For the satellites, the issue of liability cannot be estimated and has to be determined case to case basis.

Skyroot Aerospace's Chandana had told IANS that the insurance aspect has been taken care off but declined to mention the insurer's name and coverage citing a non-disclosure agreement.

IN-SPACe Chairman Pawan Goenka told IANS that the talk on the queries will be done post the Skyroot Aerospace's rocket launch while declining to answer the queries.

(Venkatachari Jagannathan can be reached at v.jagannathan@ians.in)

--IANS
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Bengaluru, Nov 17 (IANS) The Congress unit in Karnataka on Thursday alleged voter ID scam by the state's ruling BJP and demanded Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's resignation, as well as a probe into the scam by the Chief Justice of the High Court of Karnataka.

In a joint press conference at the KPCC headquarters in Bengaluru, the state's party in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala, opposition leader Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Congress President D.K. Shivakumar said that they would lodge a criminal complaint regarding the matter.

"The government is stealing the data of voters. The ruling BJP is indulging in election fraud through a private agency. Bommai, in-charge minister, BBMP Special Commissioner Tushar Girinath and the Election Commission are operating as one team to steal voters' data," Surjewala stated.

Shivakumar charged that thousands of BJP workers in the state have been roped in to manipulate electoral rolls.

"The BJP workers have been hired on contract basis by a private agency, given identity cards by the authorities to carry out the process of voter ID renewal," he charged.

In Bengaluru alone, about 17,000 to 18,000 such identity cards are given, he said, adding that the BJP workers are going door to door and mapping the voters.

"They are marking empty houses, studying voters' political affiliations and coming up with a voters' list to win elections."

Article 324, 325, 326 of the Indian Constitution and Section 28 of Representation of People's Act specify that only the government officers can carry out the task of handling issues related to voters list, Shivakumar said and added that the rules have been violated by ruling BJP and bureaucracy.

Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah claimed that all this is being done on the behest of the Chief Minister.

"He (Bommai) should be arrested. He should resign as he has no moral right to continue as he is at the helm of affairs. This kind of conspiracy, theft never happened by the Chief Minister himself in the history of Karnataka," he said.

KPCC Campaign Committee Chairman and MLA, M.B. Patil said that initially it was done in Mahadevapura constituency in Bengaluru.

"Now, BJP has taken the exercise in the entire Bengaluru and all 224 Assembly constituencies of the state."

Shivakumar further alleged that through the fraud ways, the votes of minorities, SC/STs and Other Backward Classes were being taken out of voters list.

"The BJP workers are mapping political inclinations and taking out their names or shifting their names to other wards. Voters from other constituencies are being brought and settled in empty houses to aid BJP candidates."

He demanded that thousands of BJP workers who were given identity cards by the government should be arrested, and complete data collected should be sieged.

"Who permitted a private entity to act on behalf of election commission and BBMP? How the government orders dated January 29 and August 28 were issued giving authorisation to this private entity?

"Why was an advertisement not ordered to be issued by Bommai who is also in-charge minister, BBMP or the Election Authority before giving the election work to a private party?" Surjewala queried.

"How was a private entity permitted to collect personal voter information like caste, religion, gender, mother tongue, marital status, Aadhaar number, phone number, address, voter id number, email address of voters? Is it not a clear cut theft bridge of privacy and fraud played upon innocent voters?

"Can personal data of voters uploaded by a private entity authorised by the government on its private app digital Samiksha, which supposedly is used by political parties MP, MLA, corporators and aspirants for political usage on payment?" he further questioned.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) AAP MLA Akhilesh Pati Tripathi is likely to appear before the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) of Delhi by 11 a.m. on Thursday in connection with the MCD ticket selling issue, officials said here.

Led by senior officials, the probe team is set to confront the Model Town MLA with testimonies and digital evidence.

On Wednesday, the ACB had arrested Tripathi's brother-in-law Om Singh, his associate Shiv Shankar Pandey alias Vishal Pandey, and one Prince Raghuvanshi for allegedly selling MCD ticket for Kamla Nagar Ward (No 69) for Rs 90 lakh.

They were placed under arrest under section 7/13 of POC Act and 171 (E) of IPC.

"The accused were arrested for accepting bribe for giving AAP ticket of MCD election to Shobha Khari, wife of the complainant Gopal Khari, for Ward No. 69, Kamla Nagar," said Madhur Verma, the DCP ACB.

Since the complainant has named him, the MLA has been summoned to join the pobe.

Complainant Gopal Khari, a resident of Kamla Nagar, had approached the ACB on November 14 with the grievance that he was associated with AAP as an active worker since 2014 and on November 9, he met Tripathi with the request to secure councillor's ticket for his wife Shobha Khari.

The complainant further stated that Tripathi demanded a bribe of Rs 90 lakh for the same.

"Khari paid a bribe amount of Rs 35 lakh to Tripathi and Rs 20 lakh to Rajesh Gupta (MLA Wazirpur), at his instance. Khari assured Tripathi that the remaining 35 lakh will be paid by him after getting the ticket. On November 12, Khari did not find the name of his wife in the list of contesting councillors released by the party.

"Thereafter, Om Singh contacted the complainant and assured him that the ticket will be given to him in the next elections. He also offered to return his money (bribe amount). Khari also submitted audio and video recordings of his alleged dealings during payment and return of the bribe amount," said the ACB official.

After receiving the complaint, the ACB formed a team of its elite officials to nab the accused. On the intervening night of November 15 and 16, they laid a trap at the residence of Khari and caught Singh and his associates -- Pandey and Raghuvanshi -- red-handed in the presence of independent witnesses. They had gone to return the bribe amount of Rs 33 lakh out of total 35 lakh received on behalf of Tripathi.

"The bribe amount of Rs 33 lakh has been seized. Further investigation of the case is on," said the official.

--IANS
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Lucknow, Nov 17 (IANS) The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has dismissed a petition challenging the appointment of Yogi Adityanath as Chief Minister and his election to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly from the Gorakhpur (Urban) seat.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 11,000 on the petitioner.

Petitioner M. Ismail Faruqui had filed the writ petition and appeared before the court in person to argue the case.

A division bench of Justices Attaur Rahman Masoodi and Om Prakash Shukla, observed: "The petitioner has failed to show from records as to how the appointment or the continuation of the respondent (Yogi Adityanath) on the Chief Minister's post is not in accordance with the law."

The court also stated that no litigant had the right to waste its time and public money in order to get his affairs settled in a manner as he wished.

"Easy access to justice should not be misused as a license to file misconceived and frivolous petitions," said the court, adding "for all the aforesaid reason the present petition is dismissed".

The 'exemplary' cost of Rs 11,000 imposed on the petitioner must be paid to State legal Services Authority within four weeks, the court directed.

--IANS
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Los Angeles, Nov 16 (IANS) Actor Andrew Garfield opens up on his experiment with the psychoactive plant ayahuasca. He revealed one experience nearly led to a disaster in the bathroom.

"Dude. I have to tell you. In one of my plant medicine experiences, there was a moment where I was so happy to remember what a toilet seat was. I'm not gonna go into it deeper than that, but there was a purging that I did, and up until that moment, nothing was identifiable," he told the interviewer in the British edition of GQ, reports aceshowbiz.com.

Garfield is said to have "a few very profound experiences" during his purges, but didn't wish to delve any further. He said: "I feel like talking about it in interviews never comes off. In, like, an actor interview. Talking about plant medicine."

"(Pause) I've definitely had a few very profound experiences. It fascinates me, really. Consciousness is like deep space travel - we're never going to know all of it. So I'm all for anything that helps us to reach those doors."

The Academy Award nominee did, however, warn substances are not "for the faint of heart" after he spilled how a friend took a hallucinogenic substance and quickly "became an expert" in astrophysics aka space science.

Andrew said: "I met someone recently who - I won't mention their name - but they developed this thing after smoking DMT, called advanced savant syndrome. They did DMT and they just became an expert in a field that they'd never studied."

"A scientific language. Astrophysics. So this stuff is not for the faint of heart. Like, what an amazing gift he's been given - but also, y'know, that's a lot to contend with."

--IANS
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Aizawl, Nov 16 (IANS) A total of 10 bodies have been recovered as of Wednesday after a large portion of a stone quarry in Mizoram collapsed and fell on 12 workers, officials said.

The number increased after two more bodies were found on Tuesday night.

Hnahthial district's Additional Superintendent of Police Vijoy Gurung said search operations were underway to retrieve two more bodies.

"The search operation team members are confident that they would be able to recover two more bodies by late today (Wednesday). Continuation of the search and rescue operation is very difficult after the evening. Big stone boulders and other challenges are causing difficulties to the rescuers," Gurung told IANS over the phone.

A total of 12 workers, mostly from outside Mizoram, have been confirmed dead in the accident that occurred on Monday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in Bali for the G20 Summit, on Tuesday condoled the deaths.

In a tweet, Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga said: "Search and rescue operations at quarry landslide, Maudarh village are being carried out tirelessly. My heart goes out to the victims of this unfortunate incident. Our gratitude to the PM Narendra Modi who conveyed his condolences via telephone."

According to a report of the Deputy Commissioner of the Hnahthial district, of the 12 workers, five hailed from West Bengal while three were from Assam and two each from Jharkhand and Mizoram.

According to some locals of the Maudarh village, at least five excavators and other drilling machines have been buried under the debris.

The stone quarry, located about 160 km from state capital Aizawl, has been operational for two-and-a-half years.

The State Disaster Response Force, Mizoram Armed police personnel, Border Security Force and Assam Rifles troopers, as well as volunteers of the Young Mizo Association are participating in the rescue operation.

A private company which is constructing a highway between Hnahthial and Dawn village collects stones from the quarry.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Nov 16 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Rishi Sunak will meet on Wednesday at the G20 Summit in Bali during which the two leaders will confirm "a new bespoke, reciprocal route" which will open in early 2023 to give young professionals from both the countries a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take part in a professional and cultural exchange.

Hours after Sunak and Modi met on the sidelines of the summit on Tuesday, the British Prime Minister announced that 3,000 Indians will be granted visas annually to come to the UK.

Under the new UK-India Young Professionals Scheme, the country will offer 3,000 places annually to 18-30 year-old degree educated Indian nationals to come to the UK to live and work here for up to two years.

According to a statement issued by the UK Prime Minister's Office, India is the first visa-national country to benefit from such a scheme, highlighting the strength of the UK-India Migration and Mobility Partnership agreed last year.

"The Indo-Pacific is increasingly crucial for our security and our prosperity. It is teeming with dynamic and fast-growing economies, and the next decade will be defined by what happens in this region," Sunak said in a statement released by the Prime Minister's Office.

"I know first-hand the incredible value of the deep cultural and historic ties we have with India. I am pleased that even more of India's brightest young people will now have the opportunity to experience all that life in the UK has to offer, and vice-versa, making our economies and societies richer."

The scheme will be reciprocal.

"The launch of the scheme is a significant moment both for the bilateral relationship with India and the UK's wider commitment to forging stronger links with the Indo-Pacific region to strengthen both the economies," the statement added.

Nearly a quarter of all international students in Britain are from India, and Indian investment into the UK supports 95,000 jobs across the UK.

The UK is also negotiating a trade deal with India, which would build on the UK-India trading relationship, already worth 24 billion pounds, and allow the UK to seize the opportunities presented by India's growing economy.

Besides Modi, Sunak is also scheduled will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday, becoming the first British Prime Minister to meet the latter in almost five years.

He will be clear on the need for China and the UK, as permanent members of the UN Security Council and major global economies, to establish a frank and constructive relationship.

--IANS
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Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 16 (IANS) After ruffling many a feather with his pro-RSS remarks, veteran leader K.Sudhakaran has expressed his willingness to step down as Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, sources said on Wednesday.

However, the leader denied having written any such letter.

As per the sources, in a letter to former party president Rahul Gandhi, the senior leader offered to quit his post citing lack of support from the Leader of Opposition V.D.Satheesan.

Another reason that he is understood to have put out in the letter is his failing health, they said.

Sudhakaran, the Kannur strongman and the arch-rival of the CPI-M led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, is known for his razor sharp tongue. In the past few days, he has come under severe duress from his own party, especially the faction led by Satheesan.

On the occasion of Children's Day on Monday, Sudhakaran said that Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had struck a truce with "communal fascists" for democracy's sake by agreeing to accommodate Jan Sangh founder and RSS leader Shyama Prasad Mukherjee in the Cabinet.

Also, on November 9, he said Congress workers had protected the RSS offices during his heyday at his home town-Kannur, when it came under duress from the Left forces.

On realising that it may spell trouble, he corrected and said it was a slip of his tongue, but a trail of emails from his party men by then had reached the AICC office in Delhi.

Sources close to Sudhakaran said it's been two days since he wrote to Gandhi and what's baffling is when the party has a full fledged elected president, what's the need for Sudhakaran to write to Gandhi.

The main reason why Sudhakaran has written to Gandhi is allies of the Congress party, including the Indian Union Muslim League, has expressed their ire about his utterances and his loose tongue.

Incidentally, in Kerala, never ever have the top leadership moved in unison as has been seen when it began with Karunakaran pitted against Antony, Oommen Chandy Vs Ramesh Chennithala and now with Sudhakaran and Satheesan taking cudgels against each other.

Only time will reveal the reason for Sudhakaran expressing his willingness to Gandhi and not to the newly elected national president Malikarjuna Kharge.

--IANS
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