Regional

Mysuru, Dec 17 (IANS) A farm owner in Karnataka was arrested for shooting at a famous elephant which takes part in the Dusshera celebrations in Mysuru, police said on Saturday.

According to the police, the arrested person has been identified as Suresh and the 63-year-old elephant named Balarama suffered a gunshot injury on the front side of right leg.

The police have seized a single barrel gun and cartridges from Suresh. He was produced before s court and remanded to judicial custody.

The tusker, who was kept at the Bheemanakatte Elephant Camp in Periyapatna taluk, sneaked into Suresh's farm after it was unchained to graze, the police said.

Ratan Kumar, Nagarhole WildLife Zone Forest, said the incident had taken place on Thursday and a further investigation is on.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Dec 17 (IANS) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday arrested an absconding accused in an arms recovery case of Tamil Nadu.

The arrested accused, identified as Kabilar A alias Kabilan, was among the three persons who created an outfit named WTJC (World Tamil Justice Case) - inspired by LTTE, and had manufactured arms, ammunition and explosives to carry out violent acts and subversive activities.

The case was initially registered in May at Omalur Police Station, Tamil Nadu and re-registered by the NIA in July.

A total of three accused have been arrested in this case so far and they have been chargesheeted.

Further investigations in the matter are on.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Dec 15 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Thursday granted the Karnataka government time till March 31, to complete the finalisation of OBCs political representation in local bodies.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Karnataka government, submitted before a bench of Justices S. Abdul Nazeer and Hima Kohli that a commission has been appointed to undertake the process, and it also includes the collection of empirical data for the purpose.

In October, the Karnataka High Court had set aside the state government's decision to fix 33 per cent quota for OBC in 243 wards of the Municipal cCorporation of Bengaluru. While quashing the August 16 notification of the civic body quota matrix, the high court said that the decision was based on imaginary data and not through a scientific exercise.

The government 's decision was based on the recommendation made by a commission headed by former Karnataka High Court judge Justice Bhaktavatsala.

During the hearing on Thursday, counsel, representing the State Election Commission, submitted that it would lead to further delay in holding the polls. At this, the top court said: "This is an opportunity for representation of OBCs. Let them get representation. Give them some time."

Mehta also contended that the poll panel should not be concerned about the delay.

The bench said that OBCs would not get representation, if polls were to be held without the completion of the process.

Citing the high court's order, Mehta said a fresh exercise was being conducted to comply with the triple test norm, which was laid down by the top court to give reservation to the OBCs.

After this development, it is expected that there would be further delay in local bodies polls, which includes Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) whose term had expired in September 2019.

The high court said the state's notification for reservation for backward classes, based on the report submitted by the commission, is contrary to the triple test set down by the Supreme Court.

--IANS
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Gandhinagar, Dec 15 (IANS) The Gujarat government has summoned single-day Assembly session on Monday to elect the new Speaker and Deputy Speaker.

Protem speaker Yogesh Patel will chair the proceedings of the session, till the Speaker and Deputy Speaker are elected on that day.

According to the BJP state media cell press statement, the party has nominated Tharad MLA Shankar Chaudhary for speaker and Shehra MLA Jethabhai Bharwad as Deputy Speaker.

The second sitting will start with Governor Acharya Devvrat's address to the Assembly, followed by a condolence resolution paying tribute to past members who have passed away recently, after which a few government bills will be discussed.

--IANS
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Mumbai, Dec 15 (IANS) Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar on Thursday urged the state government to appoint legal luminary Harish Salve to represent its stand in the Supreme Court on the simmering Maharashtra-Karnataka boundary dispute case.

Pawar, who is a senior Nationalist Congress Party leader, also accused Karnataka Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai of being responsible for creating the current crisis because of his indiscriminate statements which have created a political furore since the past few weeks.

"The matter is already before the apex court... The judiciary will decide the outcome of the case. But Bommai unnecessarily raked up the latest controversies. If he had not uttered those statements, the atmosphere on both sides would not have deteriorated," Pawar said.

In order to put forth Maharashtra's viewpoint on the border issue forcefully, he suggested the state government to name Salve to direct the legal battle in the apex court.

Pawar's statement came a day after the Chief Ministers and home ministers of the two squabbling states met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi late on Wednesday night to hammer out a solution to the border crisis.

Adopting a path of reconciliation, Shah has advised them to set up a panel of three ministers from both states to study and resolve the issues affecting the local populace, maintain a status quo and refrain from making statements/claims till the Supreme Court delivers verdict.

At the much-anticipated meeting were Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minsiter Devendra Fadnavis, and from Karnataka Chief Minister Bommai and Home Minister Araga Gyanendra.

Referring to Shah's issue of 'fake Twitter' accounts that are spreading misinformation on the states' border, Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) Chief Spokesperson Sanjay Raut have also expressed concern.

"It took a week to realise that those tweets are fake..! We have a claim over Belagavi (Belgaum), then how did you (Karnataka) make it the state's second capital and conduct the legislature session there when the matter is subjudice," demanded Raut.

--IANS
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Kochi, Dec 12 (IANS) After a four-year hiatus, the fifth edition of the international art exhibition Kochi-Muziris Biennale, featuring over 200 projects of 90 artists, will be inaugurated here on Monday.

Scheduled to be declared officially open later in the day by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the exhibition might see a delay due to sudden rains impacting the erection of installations.

Showcasing the creative artworks of 90 artists from around the world, the event will be held mainly on the island of Fort Kochi.

However, art enthusiasts can also visit the venue at the heart of Ernakulam city to get a feel of the international art exhibition.

The Durbar Hall Art Gallery will display around 150 finest contemporary artworks by 34 artists from Kerala curated by Gigi Scaria, P.S. Jalaja, and Radha Gomati.

"The exhibition shows that daily changes in contemporary art in the world are reflected in Kerala also", said the curators.

The Aspinwall House, Pepper House (Fort Kochi), and Anand Warehouse (Mattancherry) are the main venues.

The exhibition of the creative artworks will also be held at Cabral Yard, TKM Warehouse, Dutch Warehouse, Kashi Art Cafe, Kashi Town House, and David Hall in and around Fort Kochi.

The temporary pavilion, raised using scrap materials, at Cabral Yard will host seminars, discussions, cinematic art, and performances. The Cabral Yard has a seating capacity of 150 people.

Young talents from 60 art institutions from across the country will display their works at the Student's Biennale, an exhibitory platform that runs parallel to the Kochi-Muziris Biennale.

The same will be held at the four venues of Arman Building, V K L Warehouse, K V N Arcades, and Trivandrum Warehouse. Another attraction is the 'Art by Children', which exhibits the artworks of children.

Founded in 2010, the Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF) was started by artists for artists, with the intention to bring contemporary art and ideas from across the world to South Asia.

KMB will also enter into a long-term collaboration with HH Art Spaces in Goa, who have been invited to curate the performance programme during the Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2022 and will feature contributions from Amol K Patil, Joydeb Roaja, Sarah Naqvi, and Hilal Ahmed, among other artists.

This edition also marks a culmination of our partnerships with UNESCO and the Muziris Heritage Project into a range of programmes along the river Periyar and in Fort Kochi.

The entry fee for senior citizens is Rs 100, for adults is Rs 150, and for children Rs 50.

A full-week ticket can be purchased for Rs 1000 and it's Rs 4000 for a month.

The fourth edition in 2018 saw over six lakh art enthusiasts from across the world calling in at one of the top international art destinations.

This time over, the organisers are expecting more footfalls. The famed art festival not only enables Kochi to grow into the global tourism map but is also touted as the catalyst behind the state's emerging tourism sector.

--IANS
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Srinagar, Dec 12 (IANS) Weather was dry and cloudy in J&K as the Meteorological (MeT) office said on Monday that dry, cold weather with partly cloudy sky was likely during the next 24 hours.

"Dry, cold weather with partly cloudy sky is expected in J&K during the next 24 hours," an official of the MeT department said.

Srinagar had 1.6, Pahalgam minus 2.6 and Gulmarg minus 4.4 degrees Celsius as the minimum temperature.

In the Ladakh region, Kargil had minus 9.8 and Leh minus 9 as the minimum temperature.

Jammu and Katra both had 9.1, Batote 3.6, Banihal 0.6 and Bhaderwah 2.7 as the minimum temperature.

--IANS
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Mathura (UP), Dec 12 (IANS) A "dead" woman has been found alive, living with her second husband in Rajasthan while the first husband, charged with her 'murder' was in jail.

The woman, Aarti Devi's husband Sonu Saini, now 32, has spent 18 months in jail while his friend Gopal Saini, 30, was imprisoned for nine months. Both are out on bail.

As per police records, Aarti purportedly disappeared from her rented home in Vrindavan in 2015.

An unidentified body of a woman, which the father claimed to be of his missing daughter, landed the suspects in prison.

The husband and his friend used to work at a local eatery. They were booked for murder in 2016, following a complaint at Vrindavan police station by the woman's father.

The cops probing the case were even rewarded with Rs 15,000 for nabbing the two men.

Officer in-charge of Mathura SWAT team and cyber cell, Ajay Kaushal, said, "Sonu Saini met Aarti Devi when she had visited Mehandipur Balaji temple, situated on the border of Karauli and Dausa districts of Rajasthan, along with her father Suraj Prakash Gupta. They had a court marriage in 2015 without informing her father who lodged a complaint. The murder charge was added to the FIR in March 2016, against three named accused and Sonu and Gopal were arrested. They were later granted bail by the Allahabad high court."

Now, six years later, Sonu and Gopal managed to track down the "dead woman" and have informed Mathura police.

On Sunday, the woman was detained. The woman has been found with two Aadhaar cards carrying two different dates of birth, cops claimed.

--IANS
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Lucknow, Dec 12 (IANS) Under the fourth phase of Mission Shakti, the Yogi Adityanath government will impart self-defence training in the upper primary and composite schools.

This is being done to ensure safety and well-being of girls and their physical and mental self-dependency.

According to a government spokesman, due to the policy of 'zero tolerance' against crime and criminals in the last five-and-a-half years, there has been a significant decline in crimes against women in the state.

"To ensure their proper security, the girl students will be trained under the 'Rani Laxmi Bai' self-defence training programme," the spokesman said.

Director general, school education, Vijay Kiran Anand has issued detailed guidelines for successfully conducting the self-defence programme.

An action plan for the training of the girls has been prepared. This training will compulsorily start in December 2022 and will be conducted till February 2023.

Health and physical education instructors and Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBV) sports teachers will provide training to all the girls studying in the school during the prescribed period for physical education, sports, arts and music.

The training will be conducted under the supervision of the headmaster of the school. Apart from this, a teacher of the schools will also be included during the training, who will be continuously present during the training period of the girls.

During the warm-up activities in the first week of the programme, a mock drill will be conducted with the children making them aware of the safety measures, laws and helpline numbers etc.

For easy reference, a booklet developed by the Women and Child Protection Organisation Headquarters, 1090 Lucknow, based on important laws regarding crimes against women and children, will also be read and discussed in detail with the children.

At present, a total of 10,158 health and physical education instructors and 10,904 instructors and teachers are working in 746 KGBVs in the upper primary schools, and composite schools under Samagra Shiksha.

--IANS
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Aurraiya (UP), Dec 12 (IANS) The bodies of a 17-year-old girl and a 22-year-old man were found hanging in a room close to a water pump house in Murcha village in Auraiyya district.

A suicide note recovered from the tube well room requested their family members not to separate them after their death, and perform their last rites together. They said in the suicide note that they were taking the extreme step on their own and no one should be held responsible for it.

Shivam Kumar, a polytechnic student, was in love with his neighbour, but their families were against the relationship.

The two were upset due to the opposition by their families.

Circle officer Bidhuna, M P Singh said the bodies have been sent for post-mortem examination and action would be taken after receiving the report.

"We have recovered a suicide note from the spot in which both of them pleaded that they should not be separated after their death and cremated together," the CO said.

--IANS
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