Regional

Bengaluru, Oct 16 (IANS) Reacting to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's statement that only people having money will get jobs in Karnataka, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Sunday that details of corruption during the Congress regime in the state will be sent to him along with full statistics.

Talking to reporters at KR Pet in Mandya district, Bommai said Rahul Gandhi may either be suffering from selective amnesia or the state Congress leaders have not briefed their leader properly.

"The amount of corruption in recruitment that took place during the Congress regime has never happened in any other state. The incumbent government has ordered inquiry into the leakage of question papers pertaining to the recruitment of police constables and PU exams. Details of the probe will be sent to Rahul Gandhi. Let him see the amount of corruption that took place when his party was in power in the state and then talk," Bommai said.

Reacting to Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah's statement that the Congress will return to power in Karnataka after next year's elections, Bommai said, "In 2018, Siddaramaiah had said that his party would certainly come to power. But what happened? The total number of seats won by the Congress came down to 79 from 127. The former CM had said B.S. Yediyurappa and H.D. Kumaraswamy would not become Chief Ministers, but both of them served as the CM for one term. We will request Siddaramaiah to repeat his remarks as it will help the BJP," Bommai said.

Karnataka will go to the polls in the first half of 2023, and the two principal parties -- Congress and BJP -- have begun their preperations in earnest.

Rahul Gandhi is currently traversing through the state as part of his Bharat Jodo Yatra, while the ruling BJP has launched its Jana Sankalpa Yatra.

--IANS
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Kolkata, Oct 16 (IANS) Iconic Indian pediatrician, Dilip Mahalanabis, who pioneered the use of oral rehydration theory for treatment of diarrhoeal diseases and development of ORS, died at city-based hospital in Kolkata on Sunday. He was 88.

His family sources said that he was admitted to a private hospital in Kolkata a couple of weeks back with a number of age-related ailments including lung problems. However, all the efforts of the doctors to revive his health conditions failed and ultimately, he died on Sunday.

Oral rehydration theory is an alternative to intravenous rehydration theory for prevention and treatment of dehydration from diarrhoea in an emergency situation when intravenous therapy is not available.

As per the estimates of the World Health Organization (WHO), oral rehydration theory is estimated to have saved over 60 million lives.

He was awarded the Pollin Prize in 2002 and Prince Mahidol Award in 2006. He was elected as a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1994. However, there was hardly any recognition from the Union government for his contribution in a field of medicine that saved millions of lives.

To recall, Bangladesh came under the grip of cholera during the liberation war there in 1971. Mahalanabis was then serving as a doctor in a refugee camp at the Indo-Bangladesh border area at Bangaon in West Bengal. To protect the people at the camp from cholera and diarrhoea, he prepared an oral solution mixing salt and sugar in water. This solution worked as a miracle in preventing these two fatal diseases and the solution later became famous as ORS.

Mahalanabis completed his degree in MBBS from Calcutta Medical College and Hospital in 1958. Later, he secured his Diploma in Child Health from London.

A pall of gloom has set in among the medical fraternity in the state following his demise.

--IANS
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Chennai, Oct 16 (IANS) Tamil Nadu BJP state president, K. Annamalai has said that the party would conduct protest marches in all districts of the state against the DMK's hypocritical stand on the Hindi language issue.

In a statement on Saturday, the BJP leader said that the DMK was trying to cover up its political and administrative failures by raking up the Hindi language issue.

He said that the DMK was trying to deliberately twist the recommendation recently made by the Committee of Parliament on Official Language and give a false impression that the committee was trying to impose Hindi in states where it was not the mother tongue.

The BJP state president came out heavily against the DMK government and said that it was not properly functioning and addressing the major issues of the people of the state.

Annamalai said that the state government had failed to do even the basic work on flood mitigation. He also said that diverse opinions were emanating from the elected representatives of the ruling party on the stormwater drain works.

The BJP Tamil Nadu state president also said that the DMK government assumed office one-and-half-years ago and it cannot shy away from the administrative responsibilities by only talking about the 'inefficiency' of the previous AIADMK government.

--IANS
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Lucknow, Oct 16 (IANS) The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has granted bail to a rape accused booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, on condition that he will marry the girl within 15 days of release, and will also give all rights to her and her child, born after the alleged rape, as wife and daughter respectively.

The court also ordered the accused to get the marriage registered within a month from the date of marriage. The child is around one month old.

The incident took place in Lakhimpur Kheri district in March this year. The accused has been in jail since April 10, 2022.

A single judge bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh observed, "Soon after the accused applicant comes out of jail on bail, he will perform the marriage within 15 days from the date of release with the prosecutrix (victim)."

The court took into consideration the stand of the girl and her father in the court that they had no objection if the accused was granted bail provided, he married the victim.

The accused was booked under several sections of the IPC and POCSO Act on the charges that he had allured the girl to elope with him in March 2022 when the girl was just 17-years-old.

The accused allured the girl on the intervening night of March 22-23, 2022. Thereafter, she gave birth to a girl child.

--IANS
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By Arun Lakshman
Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 16 (IANS) When Kerala Police came searching for Bhagaval Singh, 68, and his wife Laila, 59, in Elanthoor, a sleepy village of Pathanamthitta district, the local people were in for a shock. The duo is very popular in the local community through their political activism and Bhagaval Singh being a popular traditional masseur with his father Vasu Vaidyar being a highly-respected person in the area.


The shock turned into a gory story of human sacrifice in which die-hard criminal Mohammed Shafi aka Rasheed, with more than 10 cases of rape, theft and assault against him, befriended the couple through social media and forced them to be part of a cruel, brutal human sacrifice of two women.

Police took into custody the three and on interrogation, found that two women -- Roslyn Vargheese, 49, and Padma, 52, were brutally killed in two incidents of human sacrifice. While Vargheese, a lottery seller, was missing from her home since June 8, Padma went missing on September 26 and it was a missing complaint filed by her sister Palani Ammal that led to the unravelling of the brutal murder and human sacrifice over money and wealth.

The sequence of events commenced after Shafi befriended Bhagaval Singh, a CPI-M party member and worker who is a traditional healer and therapist and a haiku poet who used to take classes in haiku. Shafi, got in touch with Bhagaval Singh under a pseudonym, Sridevi, and lured Singh and his wife Laila into his trap of raising wealth through occult practices and witchcraft.

Talking to IANS, social activist and former journalist Roy Mathew said: "Kerala society is now in the grip of religion and people are doing anything and everything for money. The lure for easy money and comfortable living is the reason behind these religious beliefs... Religion is taking hold over the gullible people by offering heaven and a point has reached wherein we are hanging our heads in shame over human sacrifice."

A state that witnessed a renaissance with social reformers like Sree Narayana Guru, Chattambi Swamigal, and Mahatma Ayyankali had worked hard to bring up a revolutionary mindset among its people. This has led to the state turning into a progressive one with high health index, top-class education, and very low child mortality rate. However, all that has gone for a toss with this incident - and more taking place in many places of the state for long.

In Idukki district, more than 10 cases of sorcery and witchcraft were registered. Locals people protested in front of a sorcery centre "Vasanthi Madam" a couple of days before and the police arrested Shobhana, and her live in partner Unnikrishnan for reportedly practicing sorcery at that place.

In Kozhikode also, local people damaged the property of a sorcerer after the human sacrifice in Pathanamthitta came to fore.

Senior Congress leader and former minister Pandalam Sudhakaran told IANS that "Elanthoor is a place near my hometown and this sleepy village was a blessed place as Mahatma Gandhiji had come there. Such a gory tale from that village.... I feel that the rot has set in society with people believing in sorcery to accumulate easy wealth."

"Regarding this I need to say that the Kerala Police was very active in the first phase of the investigation and has brought to book all three prime accused. However with the accused being aligned to CPI-M and Bhagval Singh being a local leader of the ruling CPI-M, there can be intervention and it has to be seen as to how things are moving ahead."

Interestingly, a Latin Catholic Bishop had once openly told the laity that purifying a church with the menstrual blood of a local woman would drive all the negative forces and bring prosperity to the church and the local people. The Bishop was later removed from the service due to his affair with a woman.

The Latin Catholic Church in Alapuzha is also mired in controversy over a prayer group, 'Kripasanam' functioning under the church. The prayer group that is in the name of Virgin Mary has claimed several supernatural powers. There were instances of a woman mixing pieces of written material on 'Kripasanam' with breakfast and feeding her son to bring him out of alcohol addiction.

Meanwhile, newspapers in the state are flooded with advertisements seeking a supernatural cure in the name of 'Arabic Tantric', Occult worship, 'Kuttichathan', Kripasanam, and whatnot.

It has to be seen whether the revulsion against witchcraft and occult worship in the Kerala society that has gripped it after the news of human sacrifice has come out will continue or will things will become the same after the initial furore is over.

--IANS
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By Manoj Pathak
Patna, Oct 16 (IANS) Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) supremo Nitish Kumar's image has been that of a corruption-free politician and he has been among those leaders who expresses his views clearly, but in recent times he is in news for making statements against the state's opposition, Bharatiya Janata Party. Nitish is now questioned for his own comments to prove himself superior and project his image as a leader with vast political experience than other opposition leaders.


After quitting the NDA-led alliance in Bihar and forming the government with the Opposition Grand Alliance or 'Mahagathbandhan', BJP leaders are constantly launching political attacks on the Bihar Chief Minister with remarks like return of 'Jungle Raj' in Bihar or claims to follow ideals of socialist leader Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan, appeasement politics or a discussion on improper implementation of liquor prohibition law.

On the one hand, the BJP is constantly launching political attacks on the Chief Minister, the latter seems to avoid giving a clear response to the former on any real issue. Recently, when Union Home Minister Amit Shah had come to Sitab Diara, the native village of Jai Prakash Narayan on the occasion of his 120th birth anniversary. Responding to Shah's visit to the socialist leader's village, Nitish said he had much more political experience than Shah to understand the legacy of JP movement.

Taking a dig at Shah, Nitish said that the statements of those leaders who came into politics 20 years ago have no significance for him. This is not the first time that the Chief Minister has tried to belittle his political opponents by pretending to be a politican with a vast experience.

Earlier, Nitish had also asked former Minister Nitin Navin Sinha to sit down in the state Assembly by calling him a 'child'.This happened when the Chief Minister was speaking in the state Assembly and the four-time BJP MLA Nitin Navin tried to interrupt.

The Chief Minister replied saying that the (BJP MLA) is still a child. "Your father (Nabin Kishore Sinha) used to be part of our party," Nitish added.

Later, Navin said that the Chief Minister should remember that all MLAs are equal in the state Assembly. "I can play his nephew outside the state Assembly. He will get a befitting reply on his seniority someday," the BJP MLA said.

Recently, the Chief Minister had also tried to call the Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council, Samrat Choudhary as a child. However, Choudhary later retaliated saying that Nitish Kumar seems to have lost his political wisdom now. "I am a five-time MLA. Just like Nitish Kumar is an MLC, I am also an MLC. He should discuss issues with us and not discuss on who is a senior leader."

Earlier, the Chief Minister had also raised questions about the knowledge of political strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor. Asked by the media about Kishor, Nitish said that the former knew nothing and was doing senseless talk.

Bihar BJP spokesperson Manoj Sharma said that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has now grown too old. To those who are of his son's age, he tries to project himself as a 'super boss'. The situation is that even as Chief Minister, Nitish has to approach the RJD for making a decision on any key issue. By giving such statements he vents out his anger and tries to prove his seniority before the RJD.

The BJP leader, however, also said that it is not age and seniority that matters in a democracy, but faith of the people. The Chief Minister should give a direct reply.

Even RJD leaders do not agree with such statements of Nitish Kumar. An RJD leader said the Chief Minister should refrain from making statements on projecting his seniority in politics.

--IANS
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Lucknow, Oct 16 (IANS) The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh is holding a 'Vivah Pakhwara later this month -- a fortnight during which community wedding ceremonies will be organised.

This is aimed at promoting the chief minister's 'Samoohik Vivah' scheme, which was announced shortly after Yogi Adityanath became the chief minister for the first time in 2017.

More than 1.91 lakh couples have tied the knot under the Samoohik Vivah scheme till August this year.

A government spokesperson said that out of the 1.91 lakh couples, 21,025 were from minority communities, 60,875 were OBCs, 10,129 were from the SC/ ST community while 7,858 were from the general category.

"To ensure the success of the scheme, the local public representative and administration official play the role of the hosts and parents of the couples are present to give them blessings. The aim of these ceremonies is to prevent unnecessary expenditure and ostentation, which often forces the family of a girl into penury. The government had made provision of Rs 600 crore in the budget for this scheme," the spokesperson said.

This scheme is also proving to be beneficial in preventing child marriages, the spokesperson said, explaining that now with families assured of a proper function and basic arrangements for their daughters' weddings, they were not in a hurry to marry them off and were allowing them to study.

The government spends Rs 51,000 on each couple under this scheme.

Of this, Rs 35,000 is deposited into the account of the beneficiary girl or woman while goods worth Rs 10,000 from the remaining funds are given to the couple and Rs 6,000 is spent on the ceremony.

A family whose annual income is less than Rs 2 lakh is eligible for this scheme. The age of a girl must be 18 years or above and that of a boy 21 years or more. The beneficiaries must be residents of UP.

--IANS
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Bengaluru, Oct 15 (IANS) The Congress party's Bharat Jodo Yatra led by former party president Rahul Gandhi has completed 1,000 km on Saturday.

The rally is currently passing through Karnataka's Ballary district.

On Saturday, at a convention in Ballary, Gandhi continued his attack on the ruling BJP government in the state.

Addressing a huge gathering, Rahul Gandhi criticised the ideology of the BJP and the RSS.

"By this (their ideology) the country is being divided. This is an attack on Hindustan. This is not patriotism, this is anti-national," he said.

"Through the Bharat Jodo Yatra, we are passing from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. This is a 3,500 km journey. It started from Kanyakumari and reached Karnataka. In the beginning, we assumed that walking 3,500 km was a tough task. But, later, it went on to become an easy task," the Congress leader added.

"Whenever we felt fatigued, a certain force encouraged us and made us march ahead. The words of small children, physically challenged, aged and poor served were sources of inspiration. The padayatra was taken up a month ago, people belonging to different religions, backgrounds are together putting steps ahead," he said.

"This ideology of togetherness as proposed by Basavanna, Ambedkar, Narayana Guru is found during padayatra. This nature is in the blood of Kannadigas, this can't be clinched away," he added.

Slamming the Basavaraj Bommai-led Karnataka government, he questioned: "Why there are 2.5 lakh vacancies in Karnataka?"

He further said if the youth want jobs in police, they need to pay Rs 80 lakh.

"The ruling BJP in the state is against Dalits and the people of backward communities. The atrocities on Dalits have risen by 50 per cent. The fund of Rs 8,000 crore reserved for the development of people of this section has been utilised for other purposes," he said.

Rahul Gandhi also said that his family shared a special bond with Ballary and he would do everything possible for the people of the region, once his party comes to power.

--IANS
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Chennai, Oct 15 (IANS) The Tamil Nadu firecracker industry, which contributes to around 90 per cent of the country's overall demand, has jacked up the prices of its products ahead of Diwali.

Legal issues related to green crackers being used in the industry, as well as heavy rain were some of the reasons behind escalating the prices.

Traders have predicted that it was possible for the prices to go up to 50 per cent in retail markets across the state.

Manickam, a firecracker trader in Chennai's Ashok Nagar, told IANS: "The firecracker industry is going through a rough phase. With green crackers being made the norm and even long-chain crackers being banned, the fun is gone. Heavy rain in Tamil Nadu has led to a dip in production leading to the prices being hiked. Compared to last year, the new rates are 20 per cent higher and this will go up and may even touch 50 per cent in the days to come."

The crackers including Kambi Thiri, Pookutti, and floor chakras require drying and due to the heavy rain, Virudhunagar district, which houses almost all the production houses in Tamil Nadu, was inundated.

The demand as usual is heavy but the supply -- another factor that has also led to an increase in the prices.

While speaking to IANS, Muthukumaran, who runs a firecracker unit employing around 100 workers, said: "The industry is facing harrowing times. First, we are fighting legal issues over the green crackers and removing barium nitrate from the cracker industry. Second is heavy rain leading to less production... We have no other option but to increase the prices and the industry as a whole has advocated for this."

The production has dipped by around 50 per cent as the green cracker norms were implemented and the manufacturing as per the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) is difficult and time-consuming.

Another issue for the price hike is the import cost of raw materials that is plaguing the industry and restrictions in many states on the bursting of crackers.

Mohammed Hassan, a third-generation trader of firecrackers in Chennai's Arumbagam, told IANS: "We are yet to touch the pre- Covid sale in Tamil Nadu. In 2019, Diwali sale in Chennai alsone was around Rs 125 crore but now it is much less than that. Coupled with the increase in prices by the Sivakasi factories and the green norms, the supply is less, but the demand as usual is more. So it remains to be seen how can we strike a balance and sell crackers without incurring losses to us."

--IANS
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Bengaluru, Oct 15 (IANS) The world's largest passenger plane Airbus A380 operated by Emirates' arrived at the Kempe Gowda International Airport in Bengaluru on Saturday.

Bengaluru became the first southern city in the country where services of world's largest passenger aircraft is launched.

Minister for Co-Operation, S.T. Somashekar and Bengaluru International Airport (BIAL) Managing Director and CEO Hari Marar described the moment as historical and thanked Emirates for reposing faith in Karnataka government.

Satyaki Raghunath, Chief Strategy and Development officer at BIAL, said that Bengaluru has become the first city in southern India to be served by Emirates flagship A380 services.

The arrival of this wide-body aircraft shows the operation capability and rising passenger demand at Bengaluru airport. The enhanced premium experience that the new A380 service brings to the Dubai-Bengaluru route will not only meet the strong travel demand but also help to stimulate traffic between the two markets, Raghunath added.

Adnan Kazim, Chief Commercial Officer, Emirates, said, "The special relationship that we share with Bengaluru and the state of Karnataka is one of mutual growth and prosperity."

"We are delighted to introduce A380 services to this vital gateway for travellers in south India. Today's flight is testament to the fruitful relationship that we share with the city and we look forward to providing the flagship experiences across all cabins for travellers travelling to and from Bengaluru when we begin our scheduled daily A380 services later this month," he added.

Emirates' flight took off from Dubai at 10 a.m. and landed in Bengaluru at 3.40 p.m. The occassion was marked by celebrations. The special flight operating as EK562 was greeted with a procession of follow-me vehicles, arrived ahead of the launch of scheduled A380 services, which will begin on October 30, an official statement said.

Starting on October 30, Emirates' A380 flights between Dubai and Bengaluru will operate as EK568 and EK569. The daily flight leaves the airline hub at 21:25 hour, arriving in Bengaluru at 2:30 local time the next day. The return flight departs Bengaluru at 4:30 hour and arrives in Dubai at 7:10 hour.

Currently, Emirates operates A380 to more than 30 destinations across the globe. The airbus is loved for its extra legroom. The flight has premium economy.

The other features include shower spa and onboard lounge. Business class cabins provide superior levels of comfort and privacy and spacious seats in economy class.

--IANS
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