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Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 11 (IANS) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is on the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' from Kanniyakumari to Kashmir, was caught in another controversy on Sunday after he skipped a function for inauguration of memorials of two noted Gandhians of Kerala.

Both the Gandhians - Gopinathan Nair and K.E. Maman - are highly respected in the state.

Rahul Gandhi was passing near the Noorul Islam Medical Sciences (NIMS) at Neyyatinkara during his Yatra and the organisers of the Kerala leg of the journey had agreed that he would inaugurate the memorials of the two Gandhians, constructed at the hospital building. The hospital had taken care of both the Gandhians in their medical emergencies.

While Gandhi passed in front of the NIMS hospital, he did not stop to inaugurate the memorials.

This led to controversy as families and friends of both the Gandhians, including the wife of late Gopinathan Nair, were waiting at the hospital premises for the function.

Congress's state unit President K. Sudhakaran later apologised for the goof-up and promised the NIMS Managing Director that a separate function would be organised for the inauguration.

MP Shashi Tharoor criticised Gandhi for skipping the event, saying: "Such things affect the credibility."

--IANS
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Bengaluru, Sep 11 (IANS) Karnataka has decided to significantly hike the solatium provided to the families of forest department personnel who lose their lives while on duty. Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai announced on Sunday that the state government will raise the solatium amount from the existing Rs 30 lakh to Rs 50 lakh.

He was speaking after paying respects to martyrs as part of National Forest Martyrs Day-2022 organised by the Forest Department here on Sunday.

Bommai said his predecessor, B.S. Yediyurappa had hiked the solatium paid to martyrs from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 30 lakh.

The incumbent government will further hike from Rs 30 lakh to Rs 50 lakh.


Now, the government will ensure appointment of martyrs' family members on compassionate grounds and their welfare with utmost sympathy.

"You protect the forest, the government will protect you."

The chief minister also said that the government plans to increase the forest cover from 21 per cent to 30 per cent. He pointed out that Karnataka has over 4 lakh hectares of barren land and afforestation can be taken up to increase the forested area.

Pointing out that Karnataka is the first state in the country to present an environment budget, Bommai said the department is formulating the environment budget and the government has already given its approval for the action plan.

"This year, an afforestation programme will be taken up at a cost of Rs 100 crore. A special plan has been chalked out by the forest department to conserve the ecologically sensitive areas. The Department of Forest and Environment has taken special interest to protect natural resources and to minimise loss to the environment. By implementing the action plan this year, a new model will be prepared and increase the forest cover," Bommai stated.

--IANS
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Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 11 (IANS) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who has embarked on a the Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir from September 8 has commenced his 19-day Kerala leg from Parassala bordering Tamil Nadu.

The Congress scion reached Parassala on Saturday night and started the journey in the morning. He was accorded a warm welcome with people thronging on both sides of the road to shower petals on him.

Party General Secretary (Organisation) K.C. Venugopal, who is coordinating the Yatra, and former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and party general secretary, Digvijaya Singh were walking along with Rahul Gandhi.

Gandhi will be reaching Thiruvananthapuram city on Monday and will address a public meeting there. The Congress leader is covering around 25 km on foot per day.

Kerala Pradesh Congress committee President K. Sudhakaran, Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly and senior Congress leader V.D. Satheeshan, coordinator for the Kerala leg of the Yatra, Kodikkunnil Suresh MP, Thiruvananthapuram District congress president Palode Ravi and senior leader Manacaud Suresh were also present with Rahul Gandhi as he beagn his Kerala leg padyatra.

--IANS
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Lucknow, Sep 11 (IANS) The Shiv Sena in Uttar Pradesh has started preparing for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections by strengthening its party organisation.

The Sena wants to settle scores with the BJP for toppling its government in Maharashtra and it knows that the BJP draws maximum strength from Uttar Pradesh.

State Shiv Sena president Anil Singh has announced district chiefs in 30 districts, including Moradabad, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Muzaffarnagar, Farrukhabad, Noida, Bulandshahr, Kasganj, Firozabad, Amroha, Bareilly, Pilibhit, Mirzapur, Ambedkar Nagar, Lakhimpur Kheri, Sitapur, Gonda , Kannauj, Bahraich, Basti, Chandauli, Pratapgarh, Barabanki, Fatehpur, Kaushambhi, Banda, Chitrakoot, Sonbhadra, Prayagraj, and Agra.

The state Sena chief said that he would personally visit each district and ensure a strong organisational structure that can contest elections.

He said that the Shiv Sena would also contest the urban municipal elections, scheduled to be held later this year.

Singh said that top Sena leaders would also visit Uttar Pradesh and mobilise the party workers.

--IANS
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By Narendra Puppala
Hyderabad, Sep 11 (IANS) The political spotlight is on Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar ever since he walked out of the NDA camp. He has been actively reaching out to opposition forces in what is being seen as a last-ditch effort to defeat the BJP-led NDA in the 2024 elections.


Meanwhile, Telangana chief minister and TRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) has been criss-crossing the country in his efforts to forge a national front ahead of the general elections. He had also visited Patna a few days ago to discuss the issue with Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav.

However, the fragility of opposition unity seemed evident the moment the media queried KCR on whether he would support Nitish Kumar as the Prime Ministerial candidate. To Nitish Kumar's obvious discomfiture, KCR responded that all the partners would discuss and decide the issue after the elections.

Thereafter, the press conference was wrapped up in a hurry. But the visuals, of a persistent KCR requesting an equally adamant Nitish Kumar to be seated while he answered the query, highlighted the obvious chinks in the opposition camp's armour.

It's quite clear that opposition unity remains a chimera. Especially, when it comes to the Prime Ministership, leaders like KCR are not expected to compromise.

Political observer Prof K. Nageshwar in Hyderabad too feels the question of KCR accepting Nitish's leadership does not arise now. "That question will arise only after 2024 who will accept whom. Depending on permutations and combinations. It all depends. Everybody wants to become the Prime Minister. It all depends on the numbers they have. There is no question of who is accepting whom at this point of time. Now everybody has to accept everybody."

KCR has built up his own political party and achieved statehood for Telangana, and rules over one of India's richer states. In comparison, Nitish is seen as a beneficiary of coalition politics. It is unlikely that KCR will allow Nitish Kumar to walk in and take the Prime Ministership, if the occasion arises.

KCR also enjoys the added advantage of being a fluent Hindi speaker, a rarity among south Indian political leaders. Ability to speak Hindi becomes vital in areas north of the Vindhyas.

One factor that may put a hurdle in the opposition unity initiatives is that while KCR is trying to forge a non-BJP, non-Congress political front, Nitish Kumar is heading a coalition government in Bihar that includes the Congress.

For now, KCR seems to be preparing for his foray into national politics. On the anvil are a national political party. He has been actively reaching out to farmers and other influential segments of society.

--IANS
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By Jaison Wilson
New Delhi, Sep 11 (IANS) Expressing concern over the continuing serious pollution in the Periyar river of Kerala and its consequences on public health and the environment, the National Green Tribunal observed that pollution is a "crime against humanity" and the "victims are poor voiceless people".


"Pollution is crime against humanity and under law of the land. Right to clean environment is part of Right to Life. As already noted, large number of deaths and diseases are attributable to it. Most of the victims are poor voiceless people. Even if victims are poor and helpless, no State under the Constitution can show apathy and pay lip sympathy to the issue inspite of binding Court orders...," NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel-led bench said in a recent order.

The bench was dealing with three similar complaints over the pollution of the Periyar river, the longest river in the state which is also known as "the lifeline of Kerala".

Pulling up the state government, the green court said, "Reports of the authorities during the last several years do not show improvement in water quality of the River Periyar at any of the locations in question. It is not clear whether the river water is fit for bathing purpose, with Fecal Coliform counts being within acceptable level."

Pointing out that the river which is adjoining the Arabian Sea in its last phase through the city of Cochin, the commercial capital of the state, the tribunal noted that the Greater Kochi (Udyogamandal) is one of the critically polluted industrial area, having Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI) at 52.94 (2018).

"This certainly necessitates that the industries are compelled to adopt Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD). Further, Periyar River in Kerala falls in the list of identified polluted river stretches under 'Priority-V' category Aluva-Eloor to Kalamassery to Kalamassery, having BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) range between 3-6.0 mg/l," stated the order.

The green court also pointed out the earlier action plan of May 2019, saying it identified short-term and long-term actions but there is no mention of execution of the said plan.

"Such execution must be expedited without further delay on the pretext of non-availability of funds or non identification of executing agencies. Since discharge of untreated sewage into the river is a criminal offence under the Water Act, the same must be stopped forthwith. River must meet standard of atleast Class-B designated best use classification of CPCB. Plea that Kerala being high rain-fed area does not require any solution untenable," the order stated.

The tribunal, while noting the long pending complaints over a decade, said that since all issues related to the river pollution stand identified and there are binding directions of the Supreme Court and the Tribunal to enforce the State's obligation to provide clean environment to citizens, no purpose will be served by endless proceedings before the Tribunal.

It is high time that the State takes over its responsibility and higher level monitoring mechanism is evolved, the green court averred.

Accordingly, the tribunal directed the Chief Secretary, Kerala to constitute a monitoring committee comprising of four Additional Chief Secretaries of concerned Departments - Environment, Local Self government, Irrigation/Water Resource and Finance.

The Additional Chief Secretary, Environment will be the Coordinator. The Committee may hold its first meeting within two weeks to take stock of the situation of execution of action plan with time-bound targets. Progress on such targets must be reviewed atleast once in a month, the order said.

(Jaison Wilson can be reached at jaison.w@ians.in)

--IANS
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Lucknow, Sep 11 (IANS) In another incident of Pitbull attack, a youth taking a walk in the Gomti Nagar area was attacked by the dog.

The youth received serious injuries on his hand and the dog retreated only when passers-by came to the youth's rescue and used sticks to shoo it away.

In the ensuing melee, the dog owner fled the scene along with the dog while the youth was taken to the Civil hospital for treatment.

The youth was later discharged after being given first aid.

The police said that they are scanning the CCTV footage of the area to trace the owner of the dog.

This is the second Pitbull attack in Lucknow.

Earlier, in July, a 82-year-old woman was mauled to death by her pet Pitbull in Lucknow.

--IANS
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Lucknow, Sep 11 (IANS) The Lucknow Police have arrested a dog owner on the complaint of the injured person who was mauled by the dog.

The action comes almost a week after the incident took place in the Krishna Nagar area.

Earlier, the Lucknow Municipal Corporation team reached the owner's house on Saturday and took away the dog as the owner had violated norms of registration.

The victim said the dog had bitten his private parts following which his bladder tube was damaged and the doctors of King George Medical University (KGMU) had told him that treatment would take a long time.

Inspector in-charge of Krishna Nagar police station, Alok Kumar Rao said the pet owner Shiv Shankar Pandey, resident of Prem Nagar, had been arrested after registering an FIR.

He said the incident took place outside the house of the accused in Prem Nagar when the victim, Sankalp Nigam, was returning home from a Jagran at around 10.30 p.m. on September 3.

He said the FIR was lodged on September 8 under Indian Penal Code section 289 (negligent conduct with respect to animals) and investigations were underway.

The complainant told the police that the dog had badly bitten him and its owner kept watching instead of rescuing him.

He said the dog attacked his private parts and he saved himself by running away from there.

"I started bleeding profusely and rushed to the nearby Lok Bandhu hospital to get first aid. I was later shifted to the KGMU for further treatment. The doctors there told me that my bladder tube had been damaged due to deep dog bite and would take a long time to heal. I was admitted to the hospital for around four days and lodged the FIR after returning from there," he said.

Earlier on July 14, an 82-year-old woman Sushila Tripathi was mauled to death by her pet dog in Lucknow's Wazirganj area. The dog, a pit bull, kept attacking the retired teacher for over an hour before she could be taken to hospital, where she died of the injuries.

--IANS
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Bengaluru, Sep 10 (IANS) Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced on Saturday that President Droupadi Murmu will inaugurate the Mysuru Dasara celebrations this year.

"Mysuru Dasara, which will be celebrated from September 26, will be inaugurated by President Droupadi Murmu. She has given her consent for this," Bommai said.

On September 6, Bommai had written to the President inviting her to inaugurate the event. The President's office has now confirmed it, an official communication from the state government stated.

The BJP government is celebrating Dasara with grandeur this time following two years' of Covid hiatus.

--IANS
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Chennai, Sep 10 (IANS) Former India coach Gary Kirsten will soon be visiting India to conduct regular high-performance camps, spending up to 67 days in the country at the Gary Kirsten Cricket India (GKCL) academy, which was on Saturday launched in Chennai in collaboration with Sri Ram Universal School and HotFut Sports.

The GKCL academy will be held at the SPR City in Chennai. On the occasion, South India's first ever Padel Court was launched in addition to the announcement of a National Cricket Talent Hunt to be conducted by GKCI.

Kirsten will personally come down to India to conduct the GKCI International High-performance camps where he will spend up to 07 days with the GKCI students and athletes on the ground, guiding, training, and assessing both students and coaches, said a release here on Saturday.

Every City where GKCI operates is headed by a South African Coach. The coaching pedagogy and c'aches' education platform are world-renowned and are the unique feature of GKCI. GKCI follows a 1:10 Coach: Students ratio.

The cricket academy at TSUS will be the first GKCI in South India. The academy was launched in the presence of TSUS Co-founder & trustee, Navin Ranka, GKCI India Director Anand Mittal, officials at SPR, and Jean Cilliers, the Head Coach for GKCI Chennai and Daniel Seha, the Chief coach for GKCI India.

The Gary Kirsten Cricket India, the brainchild of Gary Kirsten founded and deployed a unique teaching methodology and renown'd coaches' development platform which is designed by the former India coach himself.

All the head coaches in GKCI come through Kirsten's system in South Africa. Jean Cilliers will be the head coach at GKCI Chennai and will be assisted by three Indian coaches.

GKCI Chennai has 10 Cricket Nets at the facility of which seven nets are Astroturf wickets and three Nets are Natural Turf wickets.

--IANS

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