Regional

Bengaluru, Sep 15 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate has issued a summon to Karnataka Congress chief D.K. Shivakumar in connection with a money laundering case.

Reacting to the ED move, the senior Congress leader, who is currently busy making arrangements for the arrival of Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' in the state, questioned the timing of the summon.

"In the midst of the Bharat Jodo Yatra and the ongoing Assembly session, they have again issued me a summon to appear before the ED. I am ready to cooperate with the probe, but the timing of this summon and the harassment I am made to go through is coming in the way of discharging my constitutional and political duties," Shivakumar, who is in Mysore, tweeted on Thursday.

Even as the Karnataka Assembly session is underway, Shivakumar has been busy making preperations for the arrival of Bharat Jodo Yatra in the state.

In August this year, a Delhi court had granted bail to Shivakumar and other accused persons in connection with a 2018 money laundering case registered by the ED.

According to the financial probe agency, Shivakumar, who was a minister in Karnataka during the Congress regime, had generated huge amount of illegal and unaccounted cash and a criminal conspiracy was hatched with other co-accused persons for tax evasion and the tainted cash was transported from Bengaluru to Delhi.

The Income Tax Department had conducted search and seizure operations on August 2, 2017 at various properties in Delhi belonging to the accused persons, seizing unaccounted cash to the tune of Rs 8,59,69,100, the probe agency had said.

--IANS
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Chennai, Sep 15 (IANS) As many as 282 people have tested positive for HINI influenza and are under treatment across the state, Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian said here on Thursday.

He was briefing media persons after inspecting the fever ward at the Institute of Child Health (ICH) and Hospital for Children at Egmore, Chennai.

The minister said that of the 282 people who tested positive, 13 were admitted to government hospitals, 215 to private hospitals, and 54 were in home isolation.

Ma Subramanian said that 129 children were admitted to the Institute of Child Health (ICH) for fever but none tested positive for H1N1 influenza. Eighteen children were being treated for dengue fever. The minister said that there was no bed shortage at ICH and added that 637 children are admitted at ICH and that there are 837 beds in the hospital.

Circulars have been issued for managing children with H1N1 influenza, fever, and dengue. The minister said that pharmacies have been directed not to sell medicines for fever without prescriptions and have also asked laboratories to report to district health authorities on H1N1 and dengue cases.

There was no need for panic or fear as the number of H1N1 cases when compared to 2017 and 2018 was much lower and added that during the Covid-19 period the number of cases was less as people were wearing masks and social distancing was in place.

--IANS
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Hyderabad, Sep 15 (IANS) Women leaders and workers of the BJP on Thursday took out a bike rally from Bhagyalaxmi temple at historic Charminar as part of Hyderabad Liberation Day celebrations.

Holding national flags and raising slogans, the participants on motor bikes marched from the historic monument to the Assembly where they offered tributes to India's first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

Union minister for tourism and culture G. Kishan Reddy led the rally, which was organised by the BJP Mahila Morcha.

The rally passed through the busy Gulzar Houz, Patthergatti, Madina Circle, Nayapul, Afzalgunj, Siddi Amber Bazar, Moazzam Jahi Market and Nampally to reach Sardar Patel's statue in front of the Assembly building.

Kishan Reddy and other BJP leaders garlanded the statue of Sardar Patel and paid homage to him.

Union ministry of culture is organizing Hyderabad Liberation Day celebrations on a grand scale to mark 75 years of the accession of erstwhile Hyderabad State with the Indian Union.

The bike rally was part of the year-long celebrations which kicked off on Wednesday with Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan inaugurating a photo and art exhibition.

The exhibition showcases archival images associated with the erstwhile Hyderabad State and its unification with India on September 17, 1948.

The main event will be held on September 17 at Parade Grounds in Secunderabad where Union Home Minister Amit Shah will hoist the national flag and review a parade.

Personnel of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Rapid Action Force (RAF) and other central armed police forces were rehearsing for the parade.

Meanwhile, Telangana Legislative Council chairman Gutta Sukhender Reddy has alleged that certain forces were trying to create communal hatred in the name of Hyderabad Liberation Day celebrations.

Without naming anyone, he remarked that individuals holding Constitutional posts were also participating in the attempts to vitiate the atmosphere.

The government of Telangana has announced that the occasion will be celebrated as national integration day. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will hoist the national flag and address the people to launch year-long celebrations.

The state government also plans rallies by students, youth and women on September 16. A big procession is also planned in Hyderabad the next day culminating in a public meeting at NTR Stadium. The public meeting will be addressed by the chief minister and other leaders.

--IANS
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Sitapur (UP), Sep 15 (IANS) Four members of a family were killed and more than 35 injured when a truck laden with hay rammed into a tractor-trolley on NH 24 on Thursday.

The injured have been admitted to the Sidhauli health centre where the condition of few is stated to be serious. They re being referred to Sitapur district hospital.

According to reports, the impact of the collision was so strong that the tractor-trolley broke up into two parts.

The truck, meanwhile, rammed into a roadside shop after crossing over the divider.

All the passengers in the tractor-trolley were en route to Dewa Sharif in Barabanki from Shahjahanpur.

The highway had been jammed after the accident and the police are removed the blockade now.

--IANS
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Chennai, Sep 15 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Thursday inaugurated the free breakfast scheme for the government school students of Classes 1 to 5 at Madurai.

The Chief Minister in his inaugural speech said that in the first phase 1.16 lakh students will be provided free breakfast. Stalin said, "This will be further expanded. No one should think that this is a freebie. It's the duty of the government to do this." He said that no poor and underprivileged student should drop out of school for the need of food.

The Tamil Nadu government has chosen September 15 for inaugurating the scheme as this is the birthday of the DMK founder leader and former Chief Minister, Late C.N. Annadurai.

In the first phase, the free breakfast scheme will be implemented in 1,545 schools. The free breakfast includes Pongal, Kichdi, Upma and on Fridays a sweet will be provided in addition to the regular breakfast which is either rava kesari or semya kesari.

A total of 417 schools located in Municipal corporations, 163 schools in municipalities, 728 schools in village panchayats and 237 schools in interiors of the state and hilly areas will be covered under the first phase of the scheme.

--IANS
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Gandhinagar, Sep 15 (IANS) Former Minister of State and ex-chairman of Mehsana District Cooperative Producers Union Ltd (Dudhsagar Dairy) Vipul Chaudhary was arrested by the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) on alleged corruption charges from his Gandhinagar residence, officials said on Thursday.

"In May, a complaint was filed against Vipul Chaudhary and his personal secretary for siphoning off dairy's money with ACB Mehsana branch. A case was then registered under various sections of IPC for criminal breach of trust, cheating, forgery, forgery of valuable security, and conspiracy," the ACB said in a statement.

His personal secretary, Chartered Shailesh Parikh, has been detained in the case.

The action against the two was taken late on Wednesday night.

Reportedly, around Rs 300 crore of Dudhsagar dairy has been diverted in the name of an agency doing business with Dudhsagar dairy.

Vipul Chaudhary, along with his supporters, was running a campaign for the Dudhsagar dairy upcoming elections.

Chaudhary is also BJP leader and represents Aanjan Chaudhary (Patel sub caste), which has dominance in at least a dozen Assembly seats in North Gujarat.

--IANS
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Shahjahanpur (Uttar Pradesh), Sep 15 (IANS) Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists in Uttar Pradesh's Shahjahanpur district made a group of Muslim pilgrims from West Bengal apologise for offering namaz by the roadside before they were allowed to continue their journey to Ajmer Sharif Dargah (Rajasthan).

A video clip, purportedly of the incident, showed some men holding their ears in a gesture of apology. A couple of them were seen doing sit-ups.

The incident took place earlier this week.

Superintendent of Police (Shahjahanpur), S. Anand confirmed that a few people from West Bengal travelling to Rajasthan in a bus were found offering namaz on the road under Tilhar police station limits in Shahjahanpur.

The Muslim pilgrims were issued challans and then left for their journey ahead, he added.

Additional Superintendent of Police, Sanjeev Vajpayee, told reporters, "Eighteen people, who were on their way to Ajmer Sharif Dargah, were brought to the Tilhar police station with the complaint that they were offering namaz on the roadside. These people were released after they gave a written apology and were issued a challan."

Local VHP leader Rajesh Awasthi, who reported the matter to police, said, "I was on my way to some place when I saw some men offering namaz on the roadside."

Awasthi added that he told them that they were in Uttar Pradesh, where offering namaz in the open was prohibited.

In a video that surfaced on social media, the VHP members were purportedly heard asking some passengers of a bus to hold their ears and apologise.

--IANS
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Altaf Hussain Janjua
Srinagar, Sep 15 (IANS) In order to beautify the city of Jammu, the winter capital of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir, many important works are being done under the 'Jammu Smart City' project.


On the roadside walls, buildings, intersections and streets where the banners and posters of various political parties, commercial organisations were put up, you will now see beautiful paintings.

From Jewel to Bikram Chowk, flyover from Bikram Chowk to Gandhinagar. The beautiful painting on the pillars below includes highlights of the culture and heritage of Jammu.

In the paintings done on the walls, a unique message has been given on topics like staying healthy, harmful effects of drug abuse, women education etc.

There is also a wall painting of soldiers guarding the country on the borders. From Amhapala Chowk to Shakuntala, if you travel over the flyover and go to Satwari Chowk, you will find rare pieces of artistry everywhere.

The walls are being strictly monitored and warnings of strict action against anyone who tries to deface or destroy the art work have been issued. There is also a hanging garden and a fountain under the flyover from Jammu bus station to Dogra Chowk, where the night view is spectacular.

--IANS
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Bhopal, Sep 14 (IANS) While the BJP has decided to build a new party headquarters in Madhya Pradesh by demolishing the existing party office in Bhopal, voices opposing the plan are now emerging from within the saffron camp in the state.

Sources in the BJP said the party has decided to construct a high-tech multi-storey party office ahead of the Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh scheduled in end-2023.

The process has already begun with an idol of Lord Ganesha being placed at the site last week in the presence of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and MP BJP President V.D. Sharma, among others.

However, a group of veteran BJP leaders in the state have now opposed the decision to demolish the existing party headquarters.

Though there were concerns over the decision to demolish the existing structure located near the Rani Kamalapati railway station in Bhopal, now former Rajya Sabha member Raghunandan Sharma has written to the party's national President J.P. Nadda on the issue, which has gone viral on social media.

In the three-page letter to Nadda, Sharma detailed the memories associated with the building and how BJP leaders and workers worked hard for building the party headquarters for a few decades.

Sharma compared the decision to demolish the present party office to "a mad elephant crushing its own soldiers" and appealed to the top party leadership to reconsider the move.

He also alleged that the decision was taken without taking into consideration the opinion of the veteran party leaders in the state.

The existing BJP headquarters -- Deen Dayal Parishar -- was established in 1991 during the rule of then Chief Minister Sunderlal Patwa.

In his latter, Sharma mentioned that the party headquarters carry the memories of several leaders and workers, many of who are no more.

"I will urge that let the building remain at its place, and construct a new building elsewhere with a new dream for the new generations. Let the memories of Kushabhau Thakre and thousands of BJP workers remain there in the old building," Sharma wrote.

--IANS
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Ranchi, Sep 14 (IANS) A monkey has been spotted attending classes with students for the past one week at a government school in Danua village in Jharkhand's Hazaribagh district. The movements of the monkey have become a matter of curiosity.

Videos and pictures of the monkey's presence from the classes to the school office have gone viral.

The school's headmaster Ratan Verma told IANS that the monkey reaches the school premises as soon as the school opens at 9 in the morning and usually leaves in the evening only after the classes end. A week ago, when he suddenly entered Class 9 of the school, the students were terrified. He did not harm anyone and sat on a bench in the class. Since then, reaching any class and sitting in the front row with the students has become a regular routine.

On Wednesday, it reached the headmaster's room and sat on the table. When the classes started, he again went to the class. The principal attempted to drive the monkey away, but he remained in the classroom.

School Management Committee chairman Sakaldev Yadav said that the forest department was informed about it. A team reached the school, but it could not catch the monkey.

--IANS
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