Regional

Amaravati, Jan 19 (IANS) Former Finance minister and TDP politburo member, Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, on Thursday expressed confidence that the upcoming pada yatra of the TDP national general secretary, Nara Lokesh, 'Yuva Galam' will certainly instill confidence among the youth in the state.

Calling upon the people to actively take part in the pada yatra, Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, said that the 4000-km-long pada yatra which is beginning on January 27 will continue for 400 days.

The TDP senior leader is confident that the 'Yuva Galam' will end the atrocious rule of the YSRCP and will certainly create history in the State.

"I am sure that the pada yatra will play a major role in bringing back the TDP to power," Yanamala said, adding that all the sections of people in the state suffered heavily in the past three years during the YSRCP regime. The youth have no employment opportunities in the state throwing their future into oblivion and the Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, who assured the unemployed a perfect job calendar while in Opposition, totally forgot his promise after coming to power, he said.

Even the unemployment allowance of Rs 3,000 per month extended during the TDP regime is also withdrawn deliberately as a vengeful attitude, Yanamala Ramakrishnudu observed. Against this backdrop, the 'Yuva Galam' pada yatra will certainly bring back self-confidence among the youth and bring political awareness among them, he added.

The farmers too are unhappy as they are not getting the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for the farm products and not even a single industry was set up in the past three-and-half years in the state, Yanamala remarked. Besides, those who have already set up their units in the State during the TDP rule, were chased out of the state by imposing 'J' tax on them, he noted.

The lifeline of the people of Andhra Pradesh, the Polavaram project, is deliberately neglected while the future of the capital, the Amaravathi, is now a big question, he said. There is absolutely no development in the State while North Andhra is being subjected to encroachments, the TDP politburo member said.

The law and order is a total failure following which there is no security for women in the State and the prices of essential commodities are skyrocketing, the former finance minister said adding that the pada yatra of Lokesh will certainly bring back confidence among all sections of people.

There is a tremendous response from the public on the pada yatra soon after Lokesh announced his programme, Yanamala Ramakrishnudu said and called upon all sections to actively take part in the pada yatra and make a resounding success.

--IANS
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Chennai, Jan 19 (IANS) The Greater Chennai Police have commenced operation to detect and prevent drug smuggling in the city and surrounding areas after arrest of a man who used to sell ganja-laced chocolates.

On Wednesday, the police have arrested Surendra Yadav, who used to sell ganja-laced chocolates to even children from his shop in Triplicane and recovered seven kg contraband from his shop.

After Yadav's arrest, the police formed several teams and commenced a crackdown on the ganja and other drug peddlers in the city.

There has been in an increase in the usage of drugs in Chennai city and this has led to the arrest and counselling of those who have been using the drug.

A senior officer of the Chennai police told IANS that highly-toxic synthetic drugs are in circulation in Chennai and the police is trying to unearth the source of these drugs. The arrest of peddlers is only the tip of the iceberg and the real culprits are sitting somewhere else and managing the show in Chennai city.

The source of most of the synthetic drugs like MDMA is reaching Chennai from states as far as West Bengal and Bihar. However, with the arrest of the peddlers, most of these drug seizures are forgotten leading to new peddlers arriving at the market.

The special police teams have arrested a few drug peddlers and are questioning them to ascertain the source of these drugs. While there are reports of the former operatives of LTTE being involved in the smuggling of these drugs, after the arrest of Satkunam alias Sabesan, a former top intelligence operative of the LTTE, police said that the former LTTE operatives were not directly involved in drug smuggling.

--IANS
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Jaipur, Jan 19 (IANS) Former Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Sachin Pilot on Thursday wrote a letter to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot demanding compensation for farmers who have incurred major losses due to damage of their standing crops amidst the ongoing cold wave in the desert state.

In his letter, Pilot said: "During my visit to Hanumangarh and surrounding regions, I met many farmers who complained that their standing crops have been damaged due to cold wave and frost in recent days.

"So I request the Chief Minister to announce maximum compensation for these farmers whose mustard and other crops were damaged after getting proper evaluation done."

Since Monday, the former Deputy Chief Minister has been holding Kisan Sammelans in different parts of the state which will continue till January 20.

In the last three days, he has been attacking the state government for protecting the mastermind engaged in the paper leak case.

Gehlot however, said that the ones who have been caught were the mastermind and there is no official involved in the case.

"If no officer was involved, how did the question paper go out of the locked almirah from the office. This seems to be a magical act," Pilot had said.

--IANS
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Kolkata, Jan 19 (IANS) An army jawan died after he was electrocuted at the New Jalpaiguri Railway Station in West Bengal on Thursday, while four of his colleagues were injured while attempting to save him.

The victim has been identified as Manish Mehta (34).

The four injured jawans are being treated at a local hospital and the condition of one of them is reported to be critical.

Railway sources said that an army trawler with a water-tank entered the station at around 9 a.m.

Some jawans climbed up the roof of the trawler to measure the quantity of water in the tanks.

"In that process, one of the jawans accidentally came in contact with the overhead wire. The others too got injured while attempting to save him. All of them were immediately sent to a nearby hospital of the railways department," a departmental officer said.

According to the Northeastern Railway PRO, Sabyasachi Dey, the matter, though unfortunate, the effort to climb the trawler to measure the quantity of water was unnecessary.

"If there was any requirement of more water the jawans could have immediately informed the railway authority who could have arranged for the water," he said.

--IANS
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Kanpur, Jan 19 (IANS) The Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT-K) and University of Alberta, Canada have signed an agreement for a joint degree program (JDP) and research collaborations.

The agreement between the two universities paves the way for doctoral students at either university to participate in the joint degree program and conduct research at the partner university.

The agreement will also foster research collaborations between faculty members of the two universities on energy materials, systems and technologies needed towards clean energy transition.

According to an official release from IIT-K, the agreement was signed by IIT Kanpur Director Prof. Abhay Karandikar and Prof. William Flanagan, President and Vice-Chancellor from the University of Alberta.

The agreement sets out guidelines for faculty from the two universities to jointly supervise a doctoral student and will give admitted students a chance to conduct research and visit the partner university for a period of one year or more.

The program will provide students with the opportunity to work with world-renowned faculty at both institutions in key research areas of mutual interest and will allow them to gain valuable experience while pursuing their doctoral studies.

IIT Kanpur will also collaborate with the University of Alberta in the Joint Research Innovation Network with a focus on developing new, renewable, and efficient energy materials, systems, and technologies for the clean energy transition to address climate issues.

Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Director IIT Kanpur, said: "We are excited to partner with the University of Alberta on this joint doctoral program. This agreement will provide the students with unique opportunities to work with leading researchers in their respective fields and will help to foster collaboration between our institutions. This is another significant addition to the growing collaborative R&D ecosystem at IIT Kanpur."

--IANS
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Patna, Jan 19 (IANS) Two on-duty women police personnel fought three robbers and foiled a bank robbery in Bihar's Vaisghali district.

Juhi Kumari and Shanti Kumari were guarding the Gramin Bank in Sendhuari block when three robbers arrived on two bikes. They entered the bank and tried to snatch the rifles of the women constables with an intention to rob the bank.

The women cops then overpowered the criminals and not only saved their weapons but also prevented the robbery. As a large number of locals assembled at the place, the robbers fled the spot.

Following the incident, top officials of Vaishali reached the bank and appreciated the brave efforts of the cops. The entire incident was captured on the CCTV cameras.

Om Prakash, the SDPO of Vaishali (Sadar) said, "We are appreciating the brave efforts of our cops and recommended for the reward. The identification of the accused is on. They will be put behind bars soon."

--IANS
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Mumbai, Jan 19 (IANS) At least 11 persons were killed and another 24 injured in two separate accidents on the Mumbai-Goa Highway in Raigad and Sindhudurg districts, here on Thursday, officials said.

In the first incident, nine persons of a family were killed instantly when their car collided with a truck which purportedly lost control around 4.45 a.m., at Repoli village near Goregaon, said Raigad Superintendent of Police Somnath S. Gharge.

"The truck was proceeding towards Mumbai and the Eco car coming from Mumbai was bound for Guhagar when the tragedy struck," said Gharge.

Five men and three women, and a minor girl, perished on the spot, but a four-year-old boy had a lucky escape in the truck-car collision.

He was pulled out in a badly injured condition from the wreckage and has been rushed to the Mangaon government hospital.

In the second incident, at least two passengers were killed and 23 others hurt when a private bus overturned on the highway around dawn.

The passenger bus was proceeding from Mumbai to Goa and suffered the mishap at a treacherous curve near a bridge on the Gad River, officials said.

Local villagers along with rescue teams, fire brigade and police are at the two accident sites even as traffic was badly hit on both sides on this busy highway.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde expressed pain and grief over the loss of lives and offered condolences to the bereaved families.

According to preliminary reports, in the Raigad crash, the speeding truck driver reportedly lost control and crashed into the Eco car coming in from the opposite direction resulting in the disaster.

Later, Gharge said that the highway was cleared of the vehicle wreckage and traffic had resumed as normal in both directions.

The work of identifying the victims and informing their families is currently on and the exact causes of the two accidents are being investigated, local officials said.

--IANS
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Hyderabad, Jan 19 (IANS) A man who had gone into forests for hunting died when a country-made firearm he was carrying went off accidentally in Telangana's Nizamabad district.

The incident occurred in the Srikonda forest area of the district in the early hours of Thursday.

According to police, three people had gone into the forest to hunt wild animals. They had climbed a tree and were waiting for the hunt. When one of them was getting down from the tree, the gun he was carrying went off accidentally. The bullet pierced through his chest killing him on the spot.

The deceased was identified as Banot Raoji of Somaripeta village of Machareddy mandal of Kamareddy district. Two other persons accompanying him informed the family about the incident.

Police have registered a case and took up further investigation.

A police officer said search was on for the two men who were absconding.

--IANS
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Ramnagar (Karnataka), Jan 19 (IANS) An case was lodged against five prisoners in Karnataka's Ramnagar district in connection with a birthday celebration and the illegal use of mobile phones inside the jail, police said on Thursday.

According to the police, rowdy sheeter Kiran aka Tamate's birthday on January 14 was celebrated inside the Ramnagar district jail.

The accused posted photos on social media.

Following this, the police department took serious note of the development and Superintendent of Police of Ramnagar district Santosh Babu had paid a visit and inspected the prison.

During inspection, two mobiles were recovered from the jail.

The SP had also given a report to the ADGP (Prisons) about the negligence of the jail authorities in this connection.

The incident had created a public outrage among the public.

--IANS
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Amaravati, Jan 16 (IANS) Andhra Pradesh Minister for Mines and Energy Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy and his son, MP Mithun Reddy had a narrow escape when a car in their convoy met with an accident in Annamayya district on Monday.

They were going to a relative's house when Mithun Reddy's car was hit by another vehicle coming from the opposite direction. The MP's vehicle overturned causing grievous injuries to his personal secretary.

Mithun Reddy was travelling in his father's car at the time of the accident which took place near Channamukkapalle ring road in Rayachoti mandal.

The injured was shifted to Rayachoti hospital. The minister along with his and other members of the family were travelling from Punganur to Veeraballi to participate in Sankranti festivities at their relative's house.

--IANS
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