Regional

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 20 (IANS) The tiff between Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and the ruling CPI-M led Left led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan appears to be escalating as on Tuesday the party organs of the CPI-M and the CPI have decided to take the fight into Khan's camp.

On Monday morning, Khan took the first shot hours later Vijayan hit back, and that gave the ammunition to many other Communist leaders to follow suit. Special articles in the party organs clearly indicate that there is not going to be a respite in near future.

Khan minced no words when he lashed out at the Communist ideology which he termed as alien. He said the cadres were indoctrinated to take on anyone who was against them.

Deshabhimani -- the party organ of the CPI-M -- carried two articles attacking Khan.

In the first one it says that Khan was one of the key politicians to be involved in the Jain Hawala case in 1989.

The report says that Khan was one of the politicians who got the maximum money to the tune of Rs 7.63 crore in installments and this is said in detail in a book by a leading journalist.

It also points out that in the statement of the prime accused Surendra Jain and also in the CBI charge sheet the name of Khan is there.

The second article portrays Khan as one leader who goes after positions and sold his ideology and went after the BJP.

This report points out that while being a BSP Lok Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh, "Khan took on the BJP and this very same Khan surprised one and all and joined the BJP in 2004, and caused a jolt to many, when he did this. Now in Kerala he is acting as a BJP soldier".

In the CPI party organ -- Janayugam -- the heading says Khan's press meet was a damp squib.

It goes on to say that a lot of noise was made in the past few days that Khan at his press meet would release a lot of information and when it was held it turned out to be a damp squib.

The only thing that surfaced at his press meet was he affirmed to one and all that he is an RSS man and his staunch opposition to the Communists also came out.

Meanwhile, CPI Rajya Sabha member Binoy Viswan wrote to the President that steps should be taken to reign in Khan and he should be told not to dabble into the affairs of governance and stick to the tenets of the Constitution.

State LSG and Excise Minister M.B. Rajesh said Khan himself has said that he was yet to see the Bills, and then how he could say that he won't sign.

"This means that he is prejudiced and a Governor should not act like this. The least he should do is he should comment after reading," said Rajesh.

--IANS
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Chennai, Sep 19 (IANS) Amid strong demands from several quarters for shutting down of schools due to the increase in fever cases, Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian said that the experts in the state have not recommended this measure.

Neighbouring Puducherry has recommended shutting down classes from 1 to 8 till September-end due to a high increase in fever cases.

PMK founder leader, Dr. S. Ramadoss, who is himself a medical doctor, has called for the state government to close down schools in the wake of increasing flu-like cases.

However, Ma Subramanian told reporters that there is "no unexpected increase in fever-like cases".

"This is the season of fever and we have adequate beds, doctors, and drugs. We have vacant beds and bed occupancy is not high. We have children among the infected but there is no need to panic. Most of the infected children recover in three days."

On Monday morning, Tamil Nadu reported 368 active cases of H1N1 and 280 cases of admission in hospitals due to dengue fever.

The minister said that not all H1N1 cases are admitted to hospitals and most of the patients are getting treated at their respective homes only. He also said that during the past two years, people were using masks and keeping safe distance and regular sanitisation of hands and this has led to the flu-like diseases not increasing in the state. However, after the Covid-19 protocols were relaxed, people began to throng public places leading to an increase in the spread of contagious diseases.

Ma Subramanian called upon the people to wear face masks, keep safe distancing, and sanitise hands regularly.

--IANS
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Amaravati, Sep 19 (IANS) The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) will operate 1,081 special buses to clear festival rush before and after Dasara.

The buses will be operated from September 29 to October 10. The state-run transport operator announced on Monday that the buses will run from Vijayawada to various places in Andhra Pradesh and also to neighbouring states.

The special buses will run from Vijayawada to Visakhapatnam, Rajamahendravaram, Kakinada, Tirupati, Rayalaseema district, Amalapuram, Bhadrachalam and other destinations in Andhra Pradesh.

Officials said special buses will also be operated to Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Chennai. Most of the buses will be operated from and to Hyderabad as a large number of people living there travel to their villages in Andhra Pradesh to celebrate Dasara.

The corporation will not charge extra fare for the special buses. Last year the APSRTC had charged 1.5 times more than the normal ticket prices. It had come under criticism for charging extra.

Reservation facility will also be available for the special buses. Details of these buses will be available on APSRTC website.

Vijayadashami is scheduled to be celebrated on October 5. Every year, lakhs of people from various cities in Andhra Pradesh and also Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai travel to their native places for the festival.

--IANS
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Chennai, Sep 19 (IANS) The Tamil Nadu Police will invoke the provisions of the Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe (Atrocities) Act to prevent two accused, who had discriminated against the children on caste basis, to enter the Panjakulam village in Tenkasi district.

Tamil Nadu Inspector General of Police (South Zone) Asra Garg took the steps to invoke the provisions.

If the special court that handles the SC/ST cases approves the decision of the police to evoke the provisions of the SC/ST Act, then the duo will be barred from entering the village for three years.

The Karivalamvanthanallur police arrested a shopkeeper Maheswaran for not selling snacks and candies to school children belonging to the Scheduled Caste community. The village chief Ramachandran was also arrested.

The duo was arrested after the video of Maheswaran denying snacks and candies to the children due to their caste went viral on social media.

Tension erupted in the Panjankulam village following a clash between caste Hindus and members of the SC community at a wedding function. This snowballed into a major issue leading to police registering cases against people from both sides. A Caste Hindu, Ramachandran (20) was to appear for recruitment for a defence post, but due to the police case registered against him, he could not attend the recruitment test. This led to the caste Hindus deciding not to give anything from their shops to the Scheduled Caste people and Maheswaran did not sell snacks and candies due to this diktat.

Police have already conducted a peace meeting between the two communities.

--IANS
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Hyderabad, Sep 19 (IANS) Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) working president K.T. Rama Rao has asked IndiGo to respect local languages after a woman was allegedly made to shift from her seat on a flight because she understood only Telugu.

Rama Rao was reacting to an incident which occurred on the Vijayawada-Hyderabad IndiGo flight on September 16.

Devasmita Chakraverty, an assistant professor of education at Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad tweeted that the woman aboard IndiGo 6E 7297 was originally sitting in 2A (XL seat, exit row) was forced to shift to seat 3C because she understood only Telugu, not English/Hindi. The attendant said it was a security issue

Devasmita Chakraverthy, who posted a photograph with her tweet, called the incident a discrimination. Reacting to her tweet, TRS leader and Telangana minister Rama Rao requested IndiGo management to start respecting local languages and passengers who may not be well conversant in English or Hindi in regional routes.

"Dear @IndiGo6E Management, I request you to start respecting local languages & passengers who may not be well conversant in English or Hindi In regional routes, recruit more staff who can speak the local language like Telugu, Tamil, Kannada etc. This will be a win-win solution," wrote KTR, as the minister is popularly known.

KTR received support from Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra. "Short haul European flights ex London all have attendants who are native language speakers," she tweeted.

The minister's tweet sparked a debate. Some Twitter users agreed with him while others found fault for turning it into a language issue.

"This is because the persons in the exit row seats need to be extra vigilant and support in an emergency by opening the door, communicating with others etc. It is unfair to showcase it as a language issue," wrote a Twitter user Subbaraju.

--IANS
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Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 19 (IANS) Starting October 1 for the next six months, the famed Sree Krishna temple at Guruvayoor and those who arrive for prayers are going to get a first of its kind 'Ayurvedic' touch as 34-year-old Kiran Anand Namboothiri becomes the new Chief Priest or 'Melsanthi' of the temple.

Namboothiri is an Ayurveda doctor and till four months ago, he and his wife Manasi, were in Moscow running a clinic there. It was then that he applied for the top post in the temple.

Of the 41 applicants who applied, 39 were cleared and when a draw of lots was done to find who should be the chief priest for a period of six months, the name of Namboothiri was selected.

"Am extremely delighted and happy that this is a great blessing for me. I am really delighted about this and this is now going to be a huge responsibility as well, and am confident that Lord Guruvayoor Appan will help me," said Namboothiri.

Incidentally, Namboothiri belongs to the Kakkad Othikkan family.

He will arrive here on September 30 to take over.

--IANS
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Bengaluru, Sep 19 (IANS) Reacting over a flex that was put up in Telangana which reffered the BJP-led Karnataka government as "40 per cent commission government", Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Sunday stated it would affect the relation between both the states.

The controversial flex was put up in Hyderabad city of Telangana. The flex reads - "Welcome to the 40 per cent government", and was put up on the road through which Union Home Minister Amit Shah travelled to participate in the 'Liberation Day'.

Chief Minister Bommai said, "How would it be, if something like this is published on Telangana in Karnataka. It is a systematic conspiracy. This would impact political relations between the two states. No one should do this."

"No one should allow this. It is unfair to make baseless allegations on one of the states," he added.

Opposition Congress and JD(S) have taken this opportunity to slam ruling BJP. Former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has said that the commission allegations against the BJP are reaching every place.

The State Contractors' Association has alleged that the contractors will have to pay 40 per cent commission to every government project. The association had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this regard twice seeking action.

Opposition Congress had earlier demanded the implementation of the President's rule in the state in the backdrop of allegations.

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao has been talking to JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda regarding launching of a parallel forum against the BJP at the Centre. Rao's son Minister K.T. Rama Rao had asked the IT companies to shift to Hyderabad promising better infrastructure than Bengaluru.

--IANS
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Guwahati, Sep 18 (IANS) A day after Assam Police arrested 17 Bangladeshi nationals from Biswanath district for violating visa norms by indulging in religious activities, DGP Bhaskarjyoti Mahanta said on Sunday that the state government has written to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) flagging repeated occurrence of such incidents.

The DGP said that many Bangladeshi clerics have already been barred from entering Assam for repeated violation of visa regulations.

"In lower Assam and in the Barak Valley area, there is a tendency to invite Bangladeshi clerics on tourist visa for religious preaching. These clerics often violate the visa norms and try to radicalise the Muslim youth of Assam in the name of religious preaching," he added.

On Saturday, Assam police had arrested 17 Bangladeshi nationals from Biswanath district for indulging in religious activities by violating visa norms.

Biswanath district SP Nabin Singh informed that the Bangladeshi nationals were camping in the Baghmari area under the Jinjia police station for the past few days. They carried out religious preaching in the riverine areas that fall in the district's interior parts.

The Bangladeshi nationals had entered India through the Coach Behar border in West Bengal in August and from there they went to Assam's South Shalmara district. The group was headed by religious teacher Ashraful Alom, who is a resident of the Sherpur district in Bangladesh.

After the police warned them to stop religious preaching in the area, the group left but returned to the state after a few days. This time, they went to Biswanath district and started religious preaching in the riverine areas.

Mahanta said: "We had earlier told the Bangladeshi clerics that the police will be strict next time. Though they entered India on tourist visa, the group never visited the tourist spots in the state."

"Radicalisation through religious preaching is neither good for Assam, nor for the country," he added.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 18 (IANS) The re-appointment of John Varghese as the Principal of St Stephen's College does not fulfil varsity rules or UGC norms and is thus invalid, the Delhi University has said.

The varsity's Joint Registrar, in a letter to the St Stephen's governing board Chairman P.C. Singh, said that norms were violated, making the re-appointment of Varghese flawed and invalid, and the University is bound not to recognise Varghese as the Principal.

A copy of the letter was also sent to the Secretary of the University Grants Commission (UGC).

St Stephen's was required to abide by the rules set by the UGC in the matter, the Joint Registrar wrote.

The Delhi University had earlier told the college that keeping Varghese as the Principal after his term ended was invalid.

It had noted that Varghese took over as Principal on March 1, 2016 and the decision of the college's supreme council to re-appoint him for another term was against the varsity's rules.

According to the rules, the term of the Principal of St. Stephen's or other constituent colleges is five years and a second term is only possible by following the necessary selection process.

In a letter, DU's Assistant Registrar had said that the varsity's ordinances have no provision of extending the tenure of a Principal by another term, though they provide for a further term by means of the duly laid out recruitment process, as per the UGC norms. However, the college's supreme council openly violated this.

--IANS
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Chennai, Sep 18 (IANS) Estranged AIADMK leader and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu O. Panneerselvam has urged the state government to close schools as flu-related cases are on the rise in the southern state.

He called upon Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to immediately intervene in the matter and take steps to close down schools to prevent the spread of the disease.

In a statement issued on Sunday, OPS, as Panneerselvam is popularly known, said that it is the duty of the state government to maintain public health, pointing out that hospitalisation of children is on the rise in the state.

The former Chief Minister said, "The Tamil Nadu government should declare holidays in schools for some time and postpone the exam schedule till the time the cases come down. The government should take steps to create awareness among the people about the flu and make the necessary medicines available to them."

He also said that doctors have warned people above 60 years of age to be careful. OPS said that schools in Puducherry have already been shut till September 25 due to the spread of flu cases in the Union Territory.

--IANS
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