Regional

Guwahati, Sep 16 (IANS) Congress MLAs walked out of the Assam Assembly on Friday, alleging that the government is not ready for a discussion on allegations of irregularities in the recently-held examinations for large-scale recruitment to government jobs in the state.

"The ruling party should be always ready to answer the questions raised by the opposition to maintain the spirit of democracy. But, BJP is not at all keen to maintain it," Assam Congress Working President and MLA Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha told IANS.

He said that the opposition members wanted that the government should come clean on the allegations raised from several quarters on the recently-held recruitment drive. But as the ruling dispensation did not pay any heed to their demand, the Congress legislators walked out of the Assembly.

Raijor Dal chief and Sivsagar MLA Akhil Gogoi also walked out from the Assembly. However, the AIUDF members did not leave the house.

There were wide-scale allegations of irregularities in the recently-concluded recruitment examinations of the state government where nearly 30,000 government posts will be filled up.

State BJP President Bhabesh Kalita's name also surfaced with a few people alleging that he committed to giving backdoor entries. However, Kalita denied the allegations.

Meanwhile, private coaching centre teacher Victor Das, who was arrested on September 9 Das was arrested for allegedly spreading rumours regarding the recruitment process for the jobs, was granted interim bail by the Gauhati High court on Friday.

In his tweets tagging the Chief Minister, DGP Assam, and others, he raised questions about the irregularities in the recently-held recruitment examinations.

The tweet caused a stir and netizens expressed their discontent and urged the government and the police to take serious note of the issue.

Following this, Das was arrested and a court sent him to seven days police custody.

The police have claimed that he was unable to provide any evidence in support of his allegations.

According to reports, Das was granted bail on medical grounds. Police sources said that Das has been suffering from fever and severe headache for the last few days.

Police have also summoned five students of the coaching institute run by Das for questioning.

--IANS
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Patna, Sep 16 (IANS) Union Minister of State for Fertilisers Bhagwanth Khuba on Friday slammed the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar for not providing fertilisers to farmers despite an adequate supply from the Centre.

The black-marketing of fertilisers is taking place on a large scale, and this is the main reason why farmers of Bihar are not getting the fertilisers, he said.

"We regularly have meetings of states on every Tuesday to discuss the quantity of fertilisers being given to states. Bihar's Agriculture Minister Sudhakar Singh recently sent a letter to us, demanding an adequate amount of fertilisers. We replied that the fertilisers were released adequately.

"The details of what Singh demanded and what the Centre has released every month are in the public domain. Due to the black market, it is not reaching the actual farmers. The Nitish Kumar government has failed to prevent black marketing of fertilisers," Khuba said.

"Centre is taking every measure to make the state 'Atma Nirbhar'. Barauni fertiliser factory will be open in the next 2 weeks and PM Narendra Modi will inaugurate the facility in the month of October," he added.

--IANS
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Mumbai, Sep 16 (IANS) In a swift and coordinated rescue operation, the Indian Coast Guard saved 19 crew members - 18 Indians and the Ethiopian Captain - of a sinking cargo ship, an official said here on Friday.

The Gabon-flagged vessel, MT Parth, was carrying a cargo of 3,911 tonnes of Asphalt Bitumen from Khor Fakkan in UAE to New Mangalore Port.

Around 9.30 a.m., the vessel reported flooding in the Arabian Sea when it was around 41 miles off Ratnagiri coast and the crew sent a distress message to the ICG.

The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre swung into action and two ICG ships in the vicinity, ICGS Sujeet and ICGS Apoorva, were diverted to the distressed cargo ship, an Advanced Light Helicopter deployed and ship MV Wadi Bani directed to proceed for help.

The ICG also relayed International Safety Net and NAVTEX to alert other merchant vessels in the area.

As the MT Parth was flooding fast and dangerously listing, the crew abandoned the ship expecting it would sink when the MV Wadi Bani Khalid reached the spot around 12.30 pm, along with ICGS Sujeet and the chopper.

The rescue operations are continuing and the owners of the distressed vessel have been asked to take up preventive measures to arrest marine pollution with an emergency towing vessel proceeding to the spot.

Till date, the ICG has saved more than 11,000 lives at sea, or almost one life every other day with quick seamless coordination among various agencies.

--IANS
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Hyderabad, Sep 16 (IANS) For the first time in its history, the AIMIM organised celebrations to mark Hyderabad State's integration with the Indian Union.

The party organised a massive 'Tiranga' bike rally in the old city of Hyderabad on the eve of September 17.

Led by AIMIM President and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, hundreds of people participated in the rally from Eidgah Mir Alam to Teegal Kunat crossroads.

Owaisi later hoisted the national flag and addressed the gathering. Party's MLAs, corporators, other leaders, and workers participated in the rally.

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has called for celebrating September 17 as national integration day.

Owaisi, in his speech, hit back at the RSS and the BJP, which call his AIMIM as the party of 'razakars', or the supporters of Nizam who were opposed to Hyderabad State's accession to the Indian Union. He reiterated that 'razakars' left the country and those who were loyal to the country chose to live here. "Razakars have gone to Pakistan, wafadars (loyalists) have remained in India," he said.

"We do not need a loyalty certificate from the RSS and the BJP as both were not there in India's first freedom struggle in 1857 and at the time of Hyderabad's integration with India," he said.

Owaisi also made it clear that he was not an inheritor of Qasim Razvi, who had migrated to Pakistan after Hyderabad's accession to India.

Razvi was president of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) and he wanted Hyderabad State to be merged with Pakistan. MIM was banned after Hyderabad State acceded to India following India's military action aOperation Polo'.

"This is Abdul Wahid Owaisi's party which has always had an unwavering belief in the Constitution of India," he said.

Abdul Wahid Owaisi was Asaduddin Owaisi's grandfather, who revived MIM with a new constitution.

MIM was originally founded in 1927 to promote the socio-economic and educational development of Muslims.

Owaisi said old wounds should not be re-opened. He quoted Sunderlal Commission's report which revealed that 40,000 people were killed in the 'Police Action' as Operation Polo was popularly called.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government is also celebrating September 17 this year as national unity day. The three-day celebrations began across the state on Friday with massive rallies and processions led by ministers, MPs and other leaders.

The national unity day celebrations by the TRS and the AIMIM are seen as counter to Hyderabad Liberation Day being celebrated by the BJP.

The Union Culture Ministry is organiszing a parade in Hyderabad on Saturday, which will be addressed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Taking exception to the use of word liberation, the AIMIM and the TRS have decided to organise the celebrations as national unity or national integration day.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 16 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a plea by the Karnataka government, challenging the Karnataka High Court judgment, which struck down provisions of law prohibiting betting and wagering in online games.

Senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi, A.M Singhvi, and Shyam Divan, represented the gaming companies' associations, submitted before a bench of Justices S. Abdul Nazeer and V. Ramasubramanian that the issue was whether it was game of skill or chance or gambling.

The Karnataka government contended that cybercrime has become a major issue and cited filing of 28,000 cases in the last three years, while emphasising the need for a law against online gaming to maintain public order. It further argued that people have died by suicide and the online gaming has ruined many families, therefore it was necessary to deal with its ill effects.

The state government's plea said: "The Karnataka Police (Amendment) Act, 2021 made criminalised wagering, betting or risking money on the unknown result of an event."

On February 14 this year, the high court struck down the government's ban and the legal provision which criminalised playing games of skill, including online games, and betting.

The top court issued notice to online gaming industry body All India Gaming Federation and skill-based gaming firms. It directed to tag this matter with a similar matter, where the Tamil Nadu government has challenged the judgment by the Madras High Court.

The Karnataka High Court had said that the Act was unconstitutional and there cannot be any ban on online games of skill. The state government contended before the apex court that the high court had grossly erred in not taking into account the material produced by it in connection with cases registered by the police authorities.

--IANS
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Amaravati, Sep 16 (IANS) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday alleged that the opposition and its "friendly" media is painting the state's financial management in poor light and claimed that there is no threat to the state's economy.

He told the Assembly that despite Covid-19 and other challenges, the state economy was doing well and in fact, better than many other states and even the national average.

Making a power-point presentation about the actual facts and figures regarding the state's economy and finance, he claimed that YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government has been performing better than the previous TDP government.

"A concerted effort is being made by (TDP chief) Chandrababu Naidu and his friendly media to show the state in dire straits and comparing it with Sri Lanka, while in reality the growth rate of Andhra Pradesh is very rosy and has been very encouraging," he said.

"Braving Covid, we had gone forward balancing welfare and development and state's performance was far better than the previous government and even the national average," he said giving a graphic detail of the comparative figures on GDP, loans taken, government guarantees and other indices to show the financial management is healthy.

"The Gang of Four which follows the principle of plunder, stash and devour have started a vicious campaign to defame the government. People of the state need to know the facts that when the budget of the previous and our government is almost the same and the loans we have taken are less than Chandrababu Naidu regime," he said.

"Why could Chandrababu Naidu not implement the welfare schemes we are implementing?" he asked.

The Chief Minister pointed out that the state's debts increased by 123 per cent under TDP rule (2014-19) while the hike during last three years was only 41 per cent.

Earlier, Industries Minister G. Amarnath said that the opposition is trying to spoil the brand image of the state and have been writing letters to stall the industrial growth in the state.

K. Parthasarathi, Abbaya Choudhary and other MLAs of the ruling party listed out the failure of Chandrababu Naidu government and the initiatives and incentives being given by the YSRCP government to promote industries.

--IANS
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Berlin, Sep 16 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday sought support of the German Agribusiness Alliance for sustainable development of the agri-food sector to benefit farmers in the state.

German Agribusiness Alliance (GAA) is a business initiative of leading associations and companies in the agri-food sector.

Mann said that the expertise of alliance and its member companies include BASF, Bayer, BayWA, CLAAS, John Deere, VDMA, Covestro, GIZ, ECOCERT Group and EKOSEM-AGRAR could be very useful for the food growers in the state.

During deliberations, the Chief Minister envisaged opportunities for mutual collaboration in business and solutions. He said that the alliance could provide on-field handholding to Punjab farmers in best practices of crop management.

Inviting Germany Agribusinesses to the state, Mann said that the Green Revolution led by Punjab has not only made India self-sufficient in agri production but also a world leader in various commodities.

The Chief Minister added that the state is a leader in cereal production and one of the largest milk producers in India and has state-of-the-art export facilities. He said that the strong infrastructure of the state has made it the preferred investment destination for leading MNCs like Nestle, Danone, Pepsico, Coca Cola, Unilever and Godrej.

The Chief Minister has also asked leading German company Verbio group to explore future collaboration opportunities with the state in the renewable energy sector.

The Chief Minister further said that the Verbio Group has strong association with state as its Indian subsidiary, Verbio India Private Ltd. has recently commissioned one of the largest biofuel (biomethane/bio-CNG) production units in India with 33 TPD (tons per day) of capacity in Sangrur.

He said that the plant will produce biogas by anaerobic digestion process and is a great way to solve the problem of stubble burning.

--IANS
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Hyderabad, Sep 16 (IANS) Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) legislator K. Kavitha on Friday denied receiving any notice from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Delhi's liquor policy scam.

Kavitha, who is daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, clarified that she has not received any notice.

She tweeted that the media is being misled by the "malicious propaganda of people sitting in Delhi". "I request all the media houses to rather utilize your time in showing the truth. To save some precious time of the TV viewers, I would like to clarify that I have not received any notice," she wrote.

Reports of the ED issuing notice to Kavitha were doing rounds on the day when the ED conducted searches at several places in different parts of the country. Some premises in Hyderabad were also reportedly searched by the ED officials.

Kavitha has already denied allegations of her involvement in the scam. Last month, she filed defamation suit against BJP MP Parvesh Varma and former MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa.

The city civil court, in an interim order, directed the BJP leadersAnot to make any defamatory statements against Kavitha either on print, electronic and social media or any other medium.

The BJP leaders had alleged that she played a crucial role in a liquor policy scam involving Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

--IANS
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Panaji, Sep 16 (IANS) A CBI team arrived in Goa on Friday to conduct a probe into the death of TikTok star and BJP leader Sonali Phogat.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah had ordered a CBI probe into the death of Phogat.

The move came after Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant recommended a CBI probe into the case as per demand of Phogat's daughter and people of Haryana.

"I have faith in the Goa police. They are doing investigations in a good way and also have got good clues. But considering the demand of people and her daughter (for a CBI probe), I am recommending for the same," Sawant had said.

Senior police officer told IANS that the CBI team will visit the hotel in Anjuna, where Phogat was staying.

Phogat had come to Goa on August 22 and was staying at the said hotel. Phogat, who felt uneasy that night, was taken to the St. Anthony hospital next morning where she was declared brought dead.

Police on August 26, had arrested Sudhir Sangwan (Phogat's PA) along with Sukwinder Singh in connection with her murder.

Police said that methamphetamine drugs were allegedly given to Phogat, while she was partying in Curlies restaurant in Anjuna. The restaurant co-owner Edwin Nunes and two drug peddlers were also arrested in this case.

Opposition parties in Goa had also demanded a CBI probe into the case.

--IANS
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Hyderabad, Sep 16 (IANS) Telangana Unity Day celebrations began across the state on Friday on the eve of September 17, which marks accession of erstwhile Hyderabad State to the Indian Union.

Rallies were taken out in all Assembly constituencies in the state, kicking off the year-long official celebrations announced by the state government to mark the golden jubilee celebrations.

Ministers, MPs, state legislators and other public representatives addressed the rallies, emphasising the need for unity.

Holding national flags, thousands of students, youth and women participated in the rallies at constituency headquarters. This marked the beginning of three-day celebrations. Various programmes will be organised during the three days.

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will unfurl the national flag at the main ceremony to be held on Saturday in Hyderabad. Ministers will hoist the national flag at district headquarters.

It was on September 17, 1948 that then princely State of Hyderabad acceded to Indian Union, 13 months after India gained independence.

The accession followed Operation Polo launched by the Indian Army after then Nizam of Hyderabad had refused to join the Indian Union.

State Home Minister Mahmood Ali, Animal Husbandry Minister T. Srinivas Yadav, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar and other officials participated in the rally held at People's Plaza on the banks of Hussain Sagar lake in Hyderabad to mark Telangana Unity Day celebrations

Industry and Information Technology Minister K.T. Rama Rao addressed the gathering at Sircilla.

Targeting the BJP, Rama Rao said attempts were being made to incite communal hatred in the peaceful Telangana. He said that an atmosphere of communal hatred is being created by digging up the past and by spewing venom.

The TRS working president was referring to Hyderabad Liberation Day celebrations being organised by the BJP.

KTR cautioned people against the designs to create communal divide. He said if people do not remain alert, there was danger of Telangana going back by decades.

He said that struggle was not new to Telangana as the state was achieved after a long fight. He suggested that Union Ministers and BJP leaders visiting Telangana bring funds to the state.

"We have to see if Union Home Minister Amit Shah who is coming to Hyderabad will speak about funds which the Centre owes to the state or instigate people in the name of religion," KTR said.

Amit Shah will be participating in Telangana Liberation Day celebrations being organised by the Union Culture Ministry in Hyderabad on September 17.

--IANS
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