Regional

Chennai, April 8 (IANS) The Tamil Nadu health department will conduct a mock drill to assess the prepared of the department in curbing the possibilities of a Covid-19 surge. The Test Positivity Rate (TPR) in many districts of Tamil Nadu have touched above 5 indicating that things are not rosy.

However state Health Minister, Ma Subramanian expressed confidence in bringing things under control and told people not to worry about the slight increase in Covid cases. The minister has called upon people to strictly abide by the Covid protocol put forward by the government including wearing masks, safe distancing and washing hands regularly.

The minister said that the variant of Omicron that is present in the country was not lethal and hence called upon the people not to worry much but to be cautious.

Tamil Nadu reported 303 fresh cases on Friday, and the total active cases reached 1530.

The health department is conducting mock drill in all the government hospitals of the state to understand the preparations the medical staff have including the infrastructure available if there is a surge in cases.

According to the health minister, Tamil Nadu have 24.061 Oxygen concentrators and medical oxygen storage capacity of 2067 metric tonnes.

While speaking to IANS, Ma Subramanian said, "We had a meeting with Union Health Minister Manush Mandaviya virtually and things are under control. However, people have to be cautious and abide by the Covid protocol prescribed by the health department."

The minster also said that the RT-PCR tests per day will be increased from the present 4000 to 11000.

--IANS
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Chennai, April 8 (IANS) Deposed Coordinator of AIADMK and former Chief minister of Tamil Nadu O. Panneerselvam (OPS) has commenced discussions with the Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP.

Highly-placed sources in the Panneerselvam camp told IANS that the veteran leader, who is out of reckoning in the AIADMK, is trying to wield his power within his Thevar community and trying to enter into a bonhomie with the state BJP leadership.

OPS has already entered into a working relationship with former interim general secretary and close aide of late Jayalalithaa, V. K. Sasikala who is also from Thevar community. Sasikala's nephew TTV Dhinakaran who is the general secretary of Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK), has also been roped in into the group. Thevar community elders have been mediating for this and OPS is playing the card of his powerful caste factor.

BJP Tamil Nadu state president K. Annamalai is not in good terms with the AIADMK at a personal level and has been vehemently pushing for contesting the polls on its own. However, the central leadership of the BJP is keen that at present it needs the support of AIADMK for making major breakthroughs in the state in the ensuing Loks Sabha polls of 2024.

OPS, according to information, is trying to strike a deal with BJP state unit for his re-entry to AIADMK.

According to sources in the BJP, OPS has met Annamalai a couple of days ago at Chennai and is continuing with the discussions with other senior leaders of Tamil Nadu BJP including former Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan and former national secretary of the BJP H. Raja.

Sources told IANS that he had also met the four MLAs of the BJP including the national president of the woman's wing of the BJP, Vanathi Sreenivasan and Legislative party leader of BJP Nainar Nagendran who is a former AIADMK leader.

Even though OPS is a non-entity in AIADMK at present, the state and central leadership of the BJP is keen that his clout within the Thevar community has to be capitalised as South Tamil Nadu is the fiefdom of Thevar community and BJP has also good strength in this belt.

Dr. G. Padmanabhan, Director, Socio Economic Development Foundation, a think tank based out of Madurai told IANS, "OPS cannot be ruled out and sidelined like that. You have to understand that when all the AIADMK and BJP leaders lost the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Tamil Nadu, it was OP Raveendranath, son of OPS who emerged victorious from the family turf, Theni and this victory was primarily due to the support of the powerful Thevar community."

--IANS
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Lucknow, April 3 (IANS) Decades after the incidents rocked the nation, in two separate incidents, the courts have acquitted the accused for lack of evidence.

In the first incident in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut, nearly 36 years after the Maliana violence which claimed 63 lives, the court of additional district judge has acquitted 39 accused in the case for lack of evidence against them.

Additional district judge Lakhvinder Sood, after hearing pleas of both sides, ordered acquittal of all the 39 accused in absence of sufficient evidence against them.

Following the violence in 1987, one Yakoob Ali had got a case lodged against 93 people at the T.P. Nagar police station.

Later, in July 1988, police submitted a charge-sheet against 79 people while mentioning 61 eyewitnesses.

However, only 14 of the eyewitnesses turned up to record their statements.

The hearing of the case went on for more than 35 years. During this period, as many as 40 accused, along with the doctor who performed the post-mortem, died.

The remaining 39 accused appeared before the court on Saturday.

Senior lawyer Alauddin Siddiqui, representing the complainant, said that the survivors have lost hope of getting justice while pointing out that 14 family members of Ismail, an area resident, were killed in the riots.

"Family members of the victims are tired and they do not want to carry the legal battle forward," said Siddique.

Recounting the violence, Salim Siddique, a resident of Maliana and eyewitness of the bloodshed, said that it was the 25th day of Ramzan when police and PAC personnel cordoned off an entire locality.

Thereafter, drunk rioters allegedly entered the houses and attacked families with sharp-edged weapons and wooden shafts, and set their houses on fire. He added that youth were dragged out from their houses and gathered in vacant plots where they were mercilessly beaten by PAC jawans.

Salim claims that six people from a family were burnt alive.

In the second incident in Uttar Pradesh's Bhadohi, a court has acquitted 36 people, including 34 police personnel, in a 25-year-old case pertaining to the encounter of four people.

Additional sessions judge Shailoj Chandra acquitted the 36 people, giving them the benefit of doubt.

Additional district government counsel (ADGC), Vikas Narain Singh, said on October 1998, police had claimed that four men, including criminal Dhananjay Singh, who was carrying a cash reward of Rs 50,000 on information leading to his arrest, were shot dead while they had gone to a petrol pump in Saroi to commit dacoity.

Dhananjay Singh is now a leader of the Janata Dal (United) and also a former MP.

Late Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders Amar Singh and Phoolan Devi, former SP leader Ahmed Hasan and SP MLA from Bhadohi, Zahid Beg, held an agitation over the incident, alleging that the encounter was a fake one.

The government subsequently ordered a CB-CID probe, which revealed that the encounter was staged. The CB-CID registered a case against 36 people, including the then Circle Officer Akhilanand Mishra.

All of them were subsequently granted bail.

The ADGC said the CB-CID probe had revealed that during his term as the Circle Officer in Jaunpur, Mishra had developed a personal enmity with a student leader who was a lookalike of Dhananjay Singh. After he was transferred to Bhadohi, Mishra brought this man from Jaunpur and kept him in a flat.

Keeping his senior officials in the dark and attributing the operation to a tip-off, Mishra killed four people in broad daylight in Saroi, the government lawyer said.

Meanwhile, Dhananjay Singh surrendered before a court in February 1999, the ADGC said.

Both the incidents had made national headlines at that time and the government had a tough time explaining the police role.

--IANS
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Muzaffarnagar (Uttar Pradesh), April 3 (IANS) A minor girl in Uttar Pradesh's Muzzafarnagar district was electrocuted to death while her younger sister sustained serious injuries after coming in contact with a high-tension wire, police said.

The incident took place in Kasiara village in Charthawal on Sunday when the sisters had gone to collect grass from a field.

Station House Officer of Charthawal police station, Rakesh Singh, said Anushka, 12, and Avni, 10, accidentally touched the broken high-tension wire.

Anushka died on the spot while her sister was taken to a hospital in a critical condition, police said.

Angry local residents protested against the district administration, demanding compensation for the family of the deceased girl.

The protest was called off after assurance of help from senior administrative officials.

Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Parmanand Jha, said that the state Electricity Department will give a compensation of Rs five lakh to the family according to the rules.

He also assured to help in the treatment of the injured girl.

--IANS
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Kolkata, April 2 (IANS) After violence in Shibpur and Kazipara areas in Howrah district on March 30, a similar clash broke out on late Sunday evening between two groups of people at Rishra in West Bengal's Hooghly district over Ram Navami procession in which BJP vice-president and Lok Sabha MP Dilip Ghosh along with other leaders had also participated.

BJP legislator from Khanakul assembly constituency, Biman Ghosh, along with a number of police personnel including the officer-in-charge of Rishra police station, Piyali Biswas, were injured in the clashes.

The police said that as the procession reached a busy market area in Rishra on Sunday evening, a group of people attacked the procession following which clashes broke out.

The police resorted to cane-charge, and also fired teargas shells to bring the situation under control.

Biman Ghosh received injuries to his head, following which he was admitted to the nearby Uttarpara State General Hospital.

According to the Commissioner of Chandernagore City Police, Amit P Javalgi, Section 144 has been imposed in Rishra.

A huge police contingent has been deployed in the area. Internet services were suspended in the area till 10 p.m. on Monday.

West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose, after an initial discussion with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has issued a statement claiming that the state government will take strong action against those involved in such unruly activities.

Claiming that the attack on the procession was pre-planned, Dilip Ghosh said it seems unlikely that the police did not have prior information about the attack on the procession. "The police should have been more careful," he said.

Trinamool Congress MLA from Serampore assembly constituency Sudipta Roy said that outsiders who participated in the procession resorted to the violence in a planned way to disturb peace in the area.

--IANS
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Thane, April 2 (IANS) Taking forward the cause of "Hindutva", Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday announced that he will visit Ayodhya on April 9.

This will be a second visit by a Maharashtra CM to the upcoming Ram Temple - in March 2020, then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had prayed there and now present Shinde will perform an 'aarti' there.

Shinde will be accompanied by his party Ministers, MLAs, MPs and other leaders on their maiden trip to Ayodhya.

Like Thackeray two years ago, Shinde will also perform the aartis and other rituals at the Sarayu River and worship Ram Lalla there, besides visiting the Shri Hanuman Garhi Temple.

The developments follow an invite by a Mahant of Ayodhya who extended a personal invitation to the CM to visit the Lord Ram Temple, and a week after the Maharashtra government sent the first consignment of prized teak-wood from Chandrapur district for the temple construction.

Earlier, then minister Aditya Thackeray had visited the Lord Ram Temple and offered prayers there in June 2022, barely a fortnight before the MVA government was toppled by a Shinde-led rebellion.

However, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena President Raj Thackeray - the estranged cousin of Uddhav - was prevented from going to Ayodhya in early June 2022 in view of threats by the Uttar Pradesh BJP MP Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, though the MNS-BJP are now cosying up in this state.

--IANS
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By Quaid Najmi
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, April 2 (IANS) Echoing the Opposition's apprehensions, former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena (UBT) President Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday cited the example of Israel on how to protect democracy from authoritarianism in India.


"Look at Israel! How the people there have taken to the streets to protest against certain laws there... even the police joined the demonstrations and Israeli embassies all over the world shut down in solidarity with the people there. After it became impossible for their leader (Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu), the laws were withdrawn," Thackeray said.

Addressing a mammoth rally of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), Thackeray lauded the people of Israel and asserted that "this is called democracy, unlike India where anybody who speaks against the government is targeted in different ways", and the Constitution of the country is being trampled upon.

"It's heartening to note that democracy is still strong in India... the farmers' protests (2020-2021) saw the (Bharatiya Janata Party) government finally withdrawing the farm laws. Even the workers of the country are very much alert," said Thackeray in a veiled warning.

He cautioned that those who try to trample the Constitution of Bharat Mata "will be kicked out", and said the MVA will do everything to protect democracy in the country.

Thackeray lamented how his (original) Shiv Sena had erred for 25 years with the BJP, and nothing was done though the two parties came together in power twice (1995-1999 and 2014-2019), and gave examples of the major decisions of the MVA government of Shiv Sena (UBT)-Congress-Nationalist Congress Party did during its two-and-half years in office before it was unceremoniously toppled in June 2022.

Hammering at the BJP as 'the most corrupt party', the former chief minister said its name should be changed to 'Bhrasht Jana Party', since wherever they see any corrupt leaders, "they grab them", but teach others lessons in public morality, as the massive gathering roared its approval more than half-dozen times during his speech.

Thackeray attacked the BJP on its brand of 'Hindutva', how Hindus feel insecure and are compelled to take out 'Hindu Janakrosh Yatra' though ruled by "the most powerful Hindu leader in the world, but his power means nothing", and joining hands with any party irrespective of ideologies to bring down duly elected governments for grabbing power as in Maharashtra, Jammu & Kashmir, and Bihar.

NCP's Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar demanded to know what the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and BJP's Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis have done for the youth, unemployed, farmers, or problems like inflation.

"Ever since this government took over, industries are fleeing from Maharashtra, the political atmosphere is vitiated and big projects are not ready to come here. This will be very damaging for the state's economy and youth who will be deprived of jobs," warned Pawar.

On the Shiv Sena-BJP's 'Savarkar Gaurav Yatra' taken out in the state on Sunday to protest against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's utterances, Pawar pointedly asked that when the ex-governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and many other BJP leaders insulted Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Mahatma Jyotirao Phule and Savitribai Phule, no action was taken, and how the Supreme Court recently labelled the state government as 'impotent'.

"You only talk and do nothing. You are taking out 'Savarkar Gaurav Yatras', if you have the guts, then announce the Bharat Ratna immediately for Swatantryaveer Savarkar," dared Pawar.

Congress Legislative Party Leader Balasaheb Thorat said that calling anybody 'chor' (thief) is now a crime and the country has witnessed what happened to Rahul Gandhi.

"He was not allowed to speak in Parliament as he was raising issues of corruption, even (Congress President) Mallikarjun was denied permission to speak, and even if they spoke, their speech records were erased. The people are watching everything. The latest opinion polls suggest that MVA will get 38 out of 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra," said Thorat.

Taking pot-shots at the Central government, NCP senior leader Dhananjay Munde said that the BJP is simply playing a "fraud' on the masses and it's an "April Fool government". He said that April 1 (All Fools Day) should be celebrated as the BJP's birthday.

He also slammed the BJP for misusing the central investigation agencies like ED, CBI or I-T to scare and silence the Opposition but declared that "the people will not sit quiet now".

Congress' ex-CM Ashok Chavan said the manner in which the Shinde-Fadnavis regime grabbed power by breaking the Shiv Sena MLAs was "unprecedented in the state's history" and will not be tolerated by the people here.

"Its not just about the MVA government, but a question of preserving democracy. The state is reeling under multiple crises, has piled up a debt burden of Rs 7 lakh crore, but they are busy in propaganda and wasting money on 'yatras' now," said Chavan.

He also lauded Thackeray terming him as a humble leader who took decisions on merits in public interest without any bias on party lines, and called upon the people not to forget the treatment meted out to Rahul Gandhi in the next elections.

Elaborating on Israel, Thackeray said that Netanhayu, who is a friend of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, attempted to control that country's judiciary, and said "similar efforts are on by the BJP to undermine the justice system in India, and we must be on our guard".

"Democracy will end the day the judiciary goes down. In Israel, Netanyahu took back the laws due to public anger. The people vote, and the people should also keep a watch on the PM. We have the power to defend the Constitution," said Thackeray.

This was the first mega-public meeting of MVA after it lost power nine months ago and various leaders vowed that many more similar rallies would be held in the coming days, sounding the bugle for the upcoming civic polls, and next year's Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Assembly elections.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.najmi@ians.in)

--IANS
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Bhubaneswar, April 2 (IANS) To promote table tennis in the state, the Odisha government has decided to set up academies in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack while training centres will be set up across all the indoor halls in the state, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said on Sunday.

Delegates from International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and International Table Tennis Federation foundation met Patnaik here and he informed them about the decision of his government.

He also sought help of the ITTF for coaches' training programmes and hosting international table tennis events in Odisha.

The ITTF Foundation is the ITTF group's sport development body and is supporting a project in Bhubaneswar to use table tennis for gender empowerment and equality.

The delegation included ITTF and ITTF Foundation President Petra Sorling, ITTF Foundation Director Leandro Olvech, ITTF Foundation Programme Manager Saurabh Mishra, an ITTF Foundation Programme Coordinator Julia Tappendorf.

Welcoming the delegation, Patnaik praised the effort of the ITTF to promote table tennis in the state and country and assured them of all support.

The delegation said that they will organise competitive events, plan the social legacy of table tennis events, and provide coach education in table tennis.

They expressed gratitude to the Chief Minister for his focus on sports and for his plan towards TT development. They appreciated the Commonwealth TT championship organised in 2019 in Cuttack and assured support to bring more such events to Odisha.

Meanwhile, a team of delegates led by the Director Olympic Foundation for culture and Heritage (OFCH) also met the Chief Minister on Sunday and discussed the Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP) being implemented in the state.

The members appreciated the support extended by the Chief Minister and the Odisha government in making this unique programme a success.

Odisha was the first state to implement OVEP in India and had launched the initiative in May 2022. Since then, 32000 young children have been impacted by this programme which was introduced in 90 schools across Bhubaneswar and Rourkela.

The programme is all set to scale up and impact more than 1.5 lakh school children in 250 schools in Odisha.

The Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage will be visiting the OVEP intervened school in Bhubaneswar on April 3 and 4.

The initiative is being implemented in collaboration with the Odisha's School and Mass Education (SME) department and the Abhinav Bindra Foundation Trust.

The delegates were delighted by the decision of the Chief Minister to support the Olympic Forest Network programme of the IOC through more than 1 million tree plantations this year.

During the meeting, Patnaik handed over the delegation a letter inviting the IOC President Thomas Bach to Odisha when he comes to India for the IOC session in Mumbai later this year in October.

--IANS
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Amaravati, April 2 (IANS) The Andhra Pradesh government on Sunday deplored Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's visit to Kotia region on the Andhra-Odisha border, stressing that the Supreme Court directive for maintaining status quo should be honoured.

Deputy Chief Minister P. Rajanna Dora found fault with the Central minister's visit to the disputed region and his statement that Kotia cluster of villages is an integral part of Odisha.

He reminded Pradhan that he represents the entire country and should refrain himself from making such statements. "We need to obey the apex court's order to maintain status quo till the issue is resolved," Rajanna Dora told the media in Saluru in Parvatipuram- Manyam district.

At the time of formation of the Parvatipuram-Manyam district last year, the government had shown 21 villages in the Kotia region in the Andhra Pradesh map.

A day after Pradhan's visit to the disputed area along with five BJP MLAs from Odisha, Parvatipuram-Manyam District Collector Nishant Kumar and Superintendent of Police Vidya Sagar Naidu were closely monitoring the situation in the Kotia region, where the government had conducted panchayat elections two years ago and took up many welfare activities.

Naidu said community policing was being accorded top priority in the region.

The Andhra Pradesh government is likely to depute a team of officials to the region to undertake more welfare activities in the villages.

During his visit to Kotia gram panchatar on Saturday on the occasion of Utkal Divas, the Odisha Formation Day, Pradhan had taken exception to the presence of Andhra Pradesh officials and drove them away.

Expressing his annoyance over the presence of Andhra Pradesh Police officials, the Union Minister asked them to leave as their presence within Odisha borders is not solicited.

"Why are you all here? The Kotia panchayat belongs to Odisha. Please go back. Go back to Andhra," Pradhan told the Andhra Pradesh officials. He then raised the 'Bande Utkal Janani' slogan as locals gathered to take it to a feverish pitch forcing the two officials to beat a quick retreat.

Pradhan's action has evoked sharp reaction from the leaders of various political parties in Andhra Pradesh.

Lok Satta Party State president B. Babji demanded the dismissal of Pradhan from the Union Cabinet as his visit to the village was in violation of the apex court ruling.

Former Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MLC D. Jagadish urged the Union government to constitute a commission immediately to find a permanent solution to the border dispute that had started in 1956.

A total of 21 tribal hamlets located in the area known as Kotia cluster of villages have been a bone of contention between Odisha and Andhra Pradesh since 1956 when Andhra Pradesh was formed.

As the boundaries of Kotia were not clearly demarcated, both the states claim jurisdiction over the region and enlist tribals as their voters and extend benefits of various government schemes.

The government of Odisha claims that these villages are a part and parcel of the Koraput district while Andhra Pradesh maintains that they are part of newly created Parvatipuram-Manyam district. Availability of rich mineral resources in the region is said to be the reason for the dispute.

Pradhan had last visited Kotia in 2018 and had written to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy in September 2021 to resolve the border dispute through talks with his counterpart in Odisha. This was followed by a meeting of the two Chief Ministers in January last year.

Though the Chief Secretaries of the two states had a virtual meeting and decided to have a joint demarcation committee to define the border areas, no progress was made.

--IANS
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Chennai, April 2 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian on Sunday said that the state Health Department was prepared to handle Covid-19 even though the disease was surging in the country, and was following all the guidelines set by the Central government.

Addressing media persons here, he said that the state had adequate oxygen facilities, beds, and medicines to handle any surge in cases. With the experience gained during the second wave of Covid-19, several precautionary measures have been taken, he added.

Ma Subramanian said that the infection was increasing in the country and Omicron mutated infections are on the rise. He said that Omicron variants like XBB and BA2 are spreading in various parts of the world but added that these were low impact ones and people should not panic.

After inspecting the Mettupalayam government hospital in Coimbatore on Saturday, he said that all the health workers were wearing masks, following the directive given by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.

The minister said that 1,000 beds were set up in the ESI hospital in Coimbatore and a special ward with 20 beds has been set up in Mettupalayam.

He said that as per the Central government guidelines, random screening of 2 per cent of international passengers were being carried out in airports in Tamil Nadu. He added that at least two or three people were found to be infected at international airports like Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, and Tiruchi in the last 15 days.

Ma Subramanian said that eight to ten people have been diagnosed with the disease when passengers from Dubai and Singapore were tested and added that all those infected were directed to isolate themselves at home and to take medicine as per the advice of the doctors.

--IANS
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