Regional

Ranchi, June 2 (IANS) A controversy has erupted in Jharkhand over the renaming of several schools by the Hemant Soren-led state government.

Under the CM School of Excellence scheme launched in the state a few days ago, the names of 80 selected schools have been changed according to a latest order released by the Chief Minister.

Nadia Hindu High School in Lohardaga and Ram Rudra +2 High School in Chas are the two educational institutions which have expressed opposition to the renaming of their names by the state government.

The word 'Hindu' has been removed from the Nadia Hindu High School following an order from the state Education department. The school has been renamed as the District CM School of Excellence, Lohardaga.

Similarly, the word 'Ram Rudra' has been dropped from Ram Rudra +2 High School in Chas, Bokaro, and word 'SSLNT' (Sri Sri Lakshmi Narayan Trust) has been dropped from the SSLNT Government Girls +2 School in Dhanbad.

Nadia Hindu High School of Lohardaga was established in 1931 before India attained Independence by the owner of the land, Ghanshyam Das Birla, who donated his land to build this school which was later taken over by the Bihar government.

Even at that time, Birla had placed a condition that he would give the land to the state government but the name of the school would remain Nadia Hindu High School.

Former Union Minister and MP from Lohardaga, Sudarshan Bhagat, has opposed this decision of the Jharkhand government. He said that this decision taken by the state government is 'wrong' and is the 'height of appeasement politics'.

Educationist Madan Mohan Pandey said that while donating the land, Birla had put the condition that the name of the school would forever remain Nadia Hindu High School. Many people. including Rai Saheb Baldev Sahu, Shri Krishna Sahu and Manu Babu had helped financially in the construction of this school building. "It is absolutely wrong on behalf of the state government to remove the word 'Hindu' from the school," Pandey said.

Other schools renamed by the Jharkhand government include R.K. +2 Girls School located in Garhwa, C.D. Girls School, Jhumri Tilaiya; S.S. Girls High School, Ramgarh Cantt; and Zila School, Hazaribagh.

--IANS
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Lucknow, June 2 (IANS) Security at Hindu religious destinations in Uttar Pradesh like Ayodhya, Varanasi and Mathura will be further strengthened, following terror threat perception.

Uttar Pradesh Police officials said that more anti-sabotage (AS) check teams, an essential part of security paraphernalia for detection of any explosive items and unwanted materials, would be deployed at these places.

ADG (security) Binod Kumar Singh said two new AS check teams will be deployed on the Ram Janmabhoomi premises in Ayodhya while one each will be deployed at the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi and Vrindavan temple in Mathura.

Ten AS check teams were flagged off on Thursday to their destination points.

"Besides four teams are to be deployed at religious places, six others will remain deployed at Government Railway Police divisions in Lucknow, Prayagraj, Gorakhpur, Moradabad, Agra and Jhansi," he added.

The ADG said more bomb detection and disposal squads (BDDS) and anti-sabotage check teams were added to the state security headquarters armoury recently.

"Two BDDS and two anti-sabotage check teams have been deployed for security checks on the Ram Janmabhoomi premises in Ayodhya in April. One BDDS has been deployed at the Secretariat complex in Lucknow, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court, the Allahabad high court in Prayagraj, the Varanasi police and PAC's 30th battalion in Gonda," he informed.

The ADG said there were five BDDS teams in 1987, which gradually went up to 26 in 2010.

The state security headquarters prepared a proposal for the creation of more BDDS and AS check teams in 2021, keeping in mind security challenges in UP.

He said the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment for the creation of the new teams was done, and its members were trained at National Security Guards centre in Manesar, Haryana, and CRPF training centre in Pune.

"At present, the Uttar Pradesh security HQ has 61 AS check teams and 31 BDDS teams. All BDDS teams are equipped with AC buses for their movement," he stated.

--IANS
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Panaji, June 1 (IANS) Demanding the arrest of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who has been accused of sexual harassment by the top wrestlers of the country, Goa Pradesh Mahila Congress (GPMC) said on Thursday that sports should be made a 'holy area' by delivering justice to the protesting grapplers.

Addressing a press conference here, GPMC President Beena Naik lambasted the BJP government at the Centre for 'shielding' Singh, who also happens to be a saffron party MP.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi performed 'pooja' while inaugurating the new Parliament building. It was sad to see Singh present at the event when he should have been behind bars," Naik said.

She also said that if action is not taken against Singh, the future of sports in the country will be bleak.

"We need to make the field of sports holy by sending such accused person behind bars. This will encourage the parents to send their daughters to play," she said.

"To malign the image of the wrestlers, BJP's IT cell morphed photos to show smiling images of the protesting wrestlers while they were being detained by the police. This is how the BJP treats the daughters of the country," she added.

Naik also questioned the silence of Union ministers Smriti Irani and Meenakshi Lekhi on the wrestlers' issue.

"Why are they silent now? Before becoming ministers, they used to speak about women's safety... Have their concerns disappeared," she asked.

--IANS
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New Delhi, June 1 (IANS) Kerala Blasters FC have secured the services of full-back Prabir Das who has signed for the club on a three-year deal, the club announced on Thursday.

Das who has represented ATK FC, ATK Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC in the past will don the yellow jersey in the upcoming Indian Super League (ISL) season.

The West Bengal footballer has played 106 matches in the ISL and has seven assists to his name. He has created 63 chances in his career so far and has developed himself into one of the best attacking full-backs in the league.

His ability to run up and down the flanks provides the head coaches with tactical flexibility as he can operate equally effectively in a back four as well as a back three.

"Prabir Das comes into the squad with a wealth of title-winning experience. We expect his presence as a senior player to have a positive impact on the younger members of the squad, both on and off the field," said Karolis Skinkys, Sporting Director, Kerala Blasters, in a media release.

"He has played with and against some of the best footballers in India across various tournaments and that knowledge combined with his skills should prove beneficial to the team. I wish Prabir all the very best, for the upcoming season," he added.

Meanwhile, Das is looking forward to being welcomed by the Kerala Blasters FC fans in their first home game of the season.

"The management communicated a very exciting vision for the brand of football that they want to play and how I fit into it. I am eager to play a big part in bringing success to the club & I am grateful to the owners and management for showing faith in me. I cannot wait to get started and be on the right side of the Yellow Sea at Kaloor going forward," he said after signing for the club.

Das is Kerala Blasters FC's second signing of the summer after acquiring the services of Australian forward Jaushua Sotirio.

--IANS

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Bengaluru, May 27 (IANS) Exercise of cabinet expansion has ignited dissent in the Karnataka Congress which romped to back power after May 10 Assembly polls, according to sources.

Though, no one has dared to come out and issue a statement in this regard, Congress insiders confirmed that there is simmering discontent among senior party leaders who missed cabinet berths.

Senior leader Sonia Gandhi family loyalist B.K. Hariprasad is contemplating to put forth his resignation to the post of MLC and Opposition leader in the council as the party denied cabinet berth to him. Sources close to him maintained that he was shocked to learn about the development.

Veteran Congress leader R.V. Deshpande who refused to accept the post of Assembly  Speaker has apparently been dumped by the party.

Hectic lobbying in New Delhi did not help the senior leader, the source said, adding that the state unit has alleged that Deshpande, a resourceful politician, did not help the party in difficult times.

Shivalinge Gowda, who joined Congress after raising a banner of revolt against former PM H.D. The Deve Gowda family from JD(S) is unhappy owing to the same reason. "I am saddened. I won't speak anything now," he stated after meeting Siddaramaiah at his residence.

Senior politicians T.B. Jayachandra from Vokkaliga community, and Vinay Kulkarni, who won from Dharwad Rural without entering the constituency are also unhappy. Vinay Kulkarni is an accused in the murder case of a BJP worker and he is the blue eyed boy of CM Siddaramaiah.

Jagadish Shettar and Laxman Savadi who jumped ship from BJP have also not given cabinet berths. While Savadi has been promised an allotment of cabinet posts at later stages, Jagadish Shettar has been promised an MLC seat and then his induction to the cabinet.

Senior leader Rudrappa Lamani has also not been included in the cabinet. "Our banjara community leader Rudrappa Lamani's name was there on the list till last night, but today we saw that his name was not there on the list. If our leader will not get the Ministerial post, we will protest against this because we gave our 75 per cent vote to Congress in the election, so there should be at least one leader from our community," maintained his supporters.

Asked about this development, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in-turn asked the media on Saturday that any one of the leaders spoke to them personally that they are unhappy with the cabinet expansion? No such development is taking place, he added.

--IANS
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Kolkata, May 27 (IANS) Four persons have been arrested in connection with the attack on the convoy of Trinamool Congress' national general secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee, allegedly by a group of protesters from the Kurmi community who are agitating to press for their demand of Scheduled Tribe status.

The police are yet to disclose the identity of those arrested.

The offenders have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including Section 307 (attempt to murder).

Charges had been framed under the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984, since during the attack on Friday evening, the rear glass of the vehicle of West Bengal Minister Birbaha Hansda was completely smashed.

Meanwhile, Abhishek Banerjee has claimed that during the attack on his convoy, he heard the slogan of "Jai Shree Ram". "I demand a statement from the Kurmi Community leaders in the matter within the next 48 hours. Otherwise I will consider that they were involved in the attack," he said.

The attack occurred when his convoy was passing through the Salboni area in tribal-dominated West Midnapore district. Soon after the attack, Abhishek Banerjee talked to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee detailing the incident.

The chief minister immediately directed state chief secretary H. K. Dwivedi and the state Director general of Police to take strong action in the matter.

Meanwhile, Hansda alleged that the opposition parties like the BJP and the CPI(M) had been instigating the Kurmi protesters.

"Trinamool Congress had never opposed the Kurmi community's demand for Scheduled Tribe status. Then why our convoy was attacked. This cannot be the nature of any caste movement," Hansda said.

On Saturday, Banerjee is supposed to address a political rally at Salboni area.

--IANS
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Patna, May 27 (IANS) Bihar government has decided not to attend the NITI Aayog meeting to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Saturday.

State Finance Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary was scheduled to attend the event but cancelled it on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's direction.

Besides the Nitish Kumar government, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, West Bengal CM Mamata Benerjee, Punjab CM Bhagwant Maan, Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin, Telangana CM K. Chandrashekher Rao also have expressed their inability to attend the meeting.

According to sources, these leaders are upset with the policies and decisions of the Narendra Modi government, especially the Centre's issuance of an ordinance against the Supreme Court's decision to give the transfer-posting power to the Delhi government.

The Modi government has organised the meeting of NITI Aayog with the tagline of 'India @ 2047'. The opposition leaders of 21 parties have already announced to boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building on Sunday.

--IANS
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Dakshina Kannada (Karnataka), May 27 (IANS) The newly appointed Congress government in Karnataka has withdrawn the temporary appointment order of slain BJP activist Praveen Kumar Nettaru's wife from government services in Dakshina Kannada district, sources confirmed on Saturday.

Nutan Kumari, wife of the murdered BJP Yuva Morcha leader, was offered a Group C post on contract basis in the office of former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

She reported to duty and expressed before the former Chief Minister about her preference to work in Mangaluru.

Following her request she was given the post of an assistant in the Chief Minister;s Relief Fund section of the Deputy Commissioner's office in Mangaluru.

Now, the sitting Congress government has withdrawn the order.

The sources said that when governments change, temporary staff are generally asked to leave and no special consideration has been made for Nutan Kumari.

Nettaru was hacked to death on July 26, 2022. The case is now being investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

The initial probe had indicated that Nettaru's murder was revenge killing. More than 10 accused, including three assailants, have been arrested.

Hindu activists ran a social media campaign urging the former Bommai government to provide a government job Nutan.

The BJP had also built a house for Nettaru's family.

--IANS
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May 26 (IANS) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday termed TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu as unreliable and worse than Narakasura.

He appealed to people not to believe Chandrababu Naidu and fall prey to his hollow promises.

Addressing a public meeting here after launching the distribution of house sites among the poor, the Chief Minister said that Chandrababu Naidu remembers the poor at election time and goes on making false promises to hoodwink them.

Not even a cent of land was given to the poor during the TDP rule, he said, stating that Naidu threw the 600-page TDP election manifesto into the dustbin after coming to power with false promises.

"Chandrababu cheated all sections of society including unemployed, women and farmers," he said, adding that the former Chief Minister begins making empty promises as the election time draws nearer.

He said the government worked hard even during the Covid-19 pandemic to acquire land for allotment of house sites to the poor, treating the YSRCP election manifesto as sacred as Bhagavad Gita, Quran and the Bible unlike Naidu who never cared for the poor.

"I earnestly call upon you not to believe in Naidu. You can believe even Narakasura but not Nara Chandrababu Naidu," he said, adding that Naidu is trying to create obstacles even after the Supreme Court gave nod for distribution of house sites for the poor in the R-5 zone.

"Just think why Naidu failed to implement the welfare programmes which the government is implementing now, though percentage wise the budget now is low," he said, adding Naidu only implemented the policy of plunder, stash and devour while his foster son and friendly media had silently supported him.

The Chief Minister further said that the government has been fighting a class war unleashed against it by the TDP which is against the poor.

"You should not fall prey to the evil designs of the TDP and the gang of thieves," he appealed to them.

While Naidu looted the exchequer during the TDP rule, his foster son and friendly media were silent but now all of them joined together to hoodwink the people once again, he said, reiterating that the government spent more than Rs 3 lakh crore through DBT and non-DBT welfare schemes in the last four years.

"If you feel you have benefitted through the welfare schemes, stand by YSRCP and bring us victory in the next elections to continue the good work in future too," he told the people.

--IANS
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Thiruvananthapuram, May 24 (IANS) A couple who got married recently and three children from the woman's first marriage, were found dead at their home near Cherupuzha in Kerala's Kannur on Wednesday.

According to police, prima facie it appears that the couple Shaji and Sreeja had first killed the three children aged between 8 and 12 and then hung themselves.

Shaji also was previously married and has a wife and two children.

A case of unnatural death has been registered and a probe launched.

Further details are awaited.

--IANS
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