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New Delhi, Oct 19 (IANS) The CBI on Wednesday arrested a BSF Commandant in connection with the Jammu and Kashmir Police sub-inspector recruitment scam.

After his arrest, Dr Karnail Singh was produced before the CJM, Jammu (J&K).

The case pertains to irregularities in written examinations for the posts of sub-inspectors in the J&K Police conducted by J&K Services Selection Board (JKSSB) in March.

As per sources, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered a case on August 3, on the request of J&K government.

The then Medical Officer, BSF Frontier Hqrs, Paloura, then Member, JKSSB, then Under Secretary, then Section Officer (both of JKSSB), Ex Official of CRPF, ASI of J&K Police, owner of a coaching centre in Akhnoor, private company based at Bengaluru, private persons and unknown others are among those booked.

Soon after the results were declared on June 4, allegations regarding malpractices in the examination surfaced. The J&K government had constituted an Inquiry Committee to look into the same. It was alleged that the accused entered into a conspiracy with officials of JKSSB, Bengaluru-based private company, beneficiary candidates and others, and caused gross irregularities in conduct of written examination for the posts of Sub-Inspectors.

There was an abnormally high percentage of selected candidates from Jammu, Rajouri & Samba districts. Violation of rules by JKSSB was allegedly found in assigning the task of setting question paper to a Bengaluru-based private company.

Earlier, searches were conducted on August 5 at 30 locations, including Jammu, Srinagar, Bengaluru on the premises of the accused.

Investigation has revealed the alleged payment of Rs 20-30 lakh by willing candidates and their families to the accused for accessing the question paper before commencement of the examination.

In this regard, involvement of a gang domiciled in Haryana, certain teachers of J&K, some serving/retired personnel of CRPF, J&K Police and JKSSB has allegedly come to light.

Further investigation in the matter is on.

--IANS
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Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 19 (IANS) Not even his most diehard supporter expected his victory in the Congress presidential poll, but Thiruvanthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor was expected to mount a credible fight.

And that is precisely what happened when he secured 1,072 votes of the total over 9,000, or, a healthy 12 per cent.

Incidentally, the last time there was similar election when Jitendra Prasada contested against Sonia Gandhi, he failed to even trouble those who counted the votes and prior to that even Maratha strongman Sharad Pawar and Rajesh Pilot contested against the AICC official candidate Sitaram Kesri, but did not make up a mark. Compared to this, Tharoor can be proud that with just 13 years in the Congress, he has made a huge impression and got four figure votes.

Meanwhile, according to sources in the know of things, Tharoor, who got 16 members from Kerala to put their signature in his nomination form, has managed to secure 130 votes out of the 297 votes from his home state, which is a very tall figure given the fact practically all the bigwigs from Kerala stood rock stock and barrel for Malikarjuna Kharge, who beat Tharoor by a mile.

State Congress president K. Sudhakaran, who dilly dallied on taking a position in the polls, on Wednesday said the Congress has emerged stronger and Tharoor will be given a key post in the party for sure.

--IANS
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Kurnool, Oct 19 (IANS) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday claimed that there is a lot of room for the party to grow in Andhra Pradesh.

On the second day of his Bharat Jodo Yatra in Kurnool district, he told reporters that the state Congress leaders were surprised over the tremendous response to the Yatra in the state.

When asked how Congress hopes to regain the lost ground in Andhra Pradesh with three parties occupying the political space in the state, he said that there is a lot of room for the Congress party to grow.

"Congress is an idea that helps weaker sections of society and stitches together all sections. There is a lot of place for Congress to grow in Andhra Pradesh. The three political parties are more like businesses than political parties. There is a lot of room for us to grow particularly because there is huge distress in Andhra Pradesh. I have seen during the Yatra that there is distress among farmers, labourers and poor people. That is going to be our focus," he said.

He termed the response to Bharat Jodo Yatra in Andhra Pradesh as a good starting point to rebuild the party in the state. "We have had tremendous response to our Yatra. Lot of leaders were quite surprised over the enthusiasm and response we have had. I think this is a very good starting point to build the Congress party in Andhra Pradesh," he said.

He evaded a reply when asked if Congress would have an alliance with TDP or any other party in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. "That is not my jurisdiction. That is the jurisdiction of leaders of the party in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana," he said.

"Now, all these questions will be answered by the Congress president. It is not my jurisdiction," he remarked when asked if the Congress would take support from the YSR Congress Party to form government at the Centre in 2024.

He parried questions on whether the Congress regretted the decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh. "I am not going to go into the past. I am interested in discussing the future. I am very clear. As far as Andhra Pradesh is concerned, a commitment was made and it should be fulfilled. I am not interested in delving into the past," he said.

The Congress leader said all the commitments made by the Central government to Andhra Pradesh at the time of bifurcation should be fulfilled. He identified Polavaram project and special category status to the state as the main commitments and reiterated that if voted to power at the Centre, the Congress would fulfill all commitments.

"When bifurcation took place, certain commitments were made to people of Andhra Pradesh. We believe those were fundamental commitments. Those should be fulfilled," he said.

Rahul opposed the idea of three state capitals proposed by the YSRCP Government. "My stand on the Amaravati issue is clear. We do not think the idea of having three capitals is a sensible and efficient idea. We think Andhra Pradesh should have one capital and that capital should be Amaravati. I met people who have given their lands and who have been cheated. I reiterate that we standby those people and defend the rights of those people," he added.

--IANS
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Kurnool (Andhra Pradesh), Oct 19 (IANS) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday alleged that the BJP has the objectives of maintaining caste hierarchy, ensuring that women remain subservient to men and dividing India along regional lines.

The Congress MP was interacting with mediapersons at Adoni in Kurnool district during his Bharat Jodo Yatra.

He alleged that Congress has got two-three objectives. "It's first objective is to maintain caste hierarchy and eventually kill the Constitution, second make sure women are always subservient to Indian men and third is to divide India along regional lines," he said.

Rahul claimed that the views of Congress are diametrically opposed to BJP's objectives. "We want to protect the Constitution. We want to protect the rights of women and we bring communities and religions together. That is what Bharat Jodo Yatra is aimed at and it is doing this successfully," he said.

The Congress leader said people had started asking what is the need for violence hatred, why should we hate each other and why should we kill each other. These questions are being asked as a result of Yatra, he said.

Alleging that the hatred and violence being spread in India and the country is being divided, he said that the Yatra's aim is to unite the country again and to stand up to the violence.

"We are getting an opportunity to connect with people through Yatra. We are learning a lot," he said while evading a direct reply on why Congress was losing elections.

Rahul Gandhi claimed that the Congress party represents every single Indian person. "It does not discriminate between caste, community, religion and state. It is everybody's party. We defend the rights of poor people, rights of farmers, labourers, medium businesses and we want to bring harmony to the nation. Unlike most parties, Congress listens to people and has free and fair elections inside it. It has a culture of listening and carrying people along. Have ever heard of anybody publicly dissenting in BJP. Can you dissent in the YSR Congress or TDP. Dissent is not tolerated. These are dictatorships. Congress party is the only democratic and open minded party in the country," he said.

Replying to another query, he alleged that BJP's policies completely destroyed the strengths of the Indian economy. "Job creation in our economy has always happened on the back of small and medium business and a strong agriculture sector. Demonetisation and GST have destroyed both the systems. For the first time in their lives, farmers are paying GST on farming inputs. Ask any small business, they will tell you about devastation. Lakhs of small businesses have gone out of business and this has crippled job creation," he said.

The Congress MP also alleged that during the BJP rule there has been massive transfer of wealth from poor and middle class to a handful of rich people. "Third richest person in the world is an Indian. He is a close associate of the Prime Minister, a friend of the Prime Minister. Everybody knows how he became third richest. These people have access to the entire banking system while farmers can't access it. These people can have unlimited debt. The entire economy is crippled. Lot of work has to be done to bring the economy back to life," he said.

"The idea whether a strong or weak rupee is good or bad has more nuances. There are advantages of a strong rupee and there are disadvantages. Both those have to be taken into account," he said when asked about the falling value of Indian rupee against the dollar.

Rahul said the Congress party's idea of GST was one unifying tax. He claimed that their vision of GST was a tax that would develop out of a conversation with the states.

"The BJP imposed GST without a conversation with states. They have forced the GST. They have five different levels of GST. It is not there anywhere in the world. We are against the basic design of GST. We will bring GST, one simple tax after conversation with stakeholders. We are confident we can give a GST that will actually simplify people's lives," he said.

--IANS
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Bengaluru, Oct 18 (IANS) The Karnataka government is preparing to take the ordinance route to raise the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Schedule Tribe (ST) reservation quota.

The state's Transport and Scheduled Tribes Welfare Minister B. Sriramulu on Monday said that an ordinance will be promulgated for the SC/ST reservation soon.

Once the ordinance is in place, reservation for SCs will go up to 17 per cent from the present 15 per cent, while ST reservation quota will increase to 7 per cent from the 3 per cent at present.

The move to increase the reservation for SC/STs by the state government will mean that reservation will cross the Supreme Court's 50 per cent limit judgement and touch 56 per cent in Karnataka.

Sriramulu added that the process has begun and the ordinance will be promulgated in a day or two.

"In order to ensure legal protection for the quota hike, the state government will recommend bringing it under the 9th Schedule of the Constitution," he said.

The state government opted for the ordinance route instead of the original plan of implementing the quota hike through an executive order and gazette notification.

--IANS
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Bengaluru, Oct 17 (IANS) The president of the Bengaluru chapter of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Mohan Dasari, on Monday lashed out at the BJP government in the state for 'denting' the image of Karnataka, as the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has imposed a fine of Rs 2,900 crore on the state government for failing to dispose of solid and liquid waste.

Speaking at a presser, Dasari said, "Even though the Supreme Court in 2014 had suggested many measures regarding waste management, the government has not followed them.

"So now the government has to pay a huge fine of Rs 2,900 crore. Add to that the fine imposed earlier for the defacement of Chandapur lake, the total comes to Rs 3,400 crore. Taxpayers' money is being wasted by the incompetent BJP government."

"An average of 15,000 tonnes of solid waste are generated in the state every day. Out of this, around 6,000 tonnes of waste are not adequately disposed of. They are dumped in the open. In addition to that, about 1,400 liters of untreated sewage enters water sources every day," Dasari said.

AAP lawyers' unit member Gangadhar said, "Garbage management has turned into a business worth over Rs 1,500 crore in the state, especially in Bengaluru.

"Because of this, Karnataka had to be reprimanded by the NGT. The NGT has not only fined the state government, but also ordered it to inform in detail what steps will be taken for garbage disposal. This shows that the NGT has lost faith in the state government," he said.

"Chief Minister Basavaraja Bommai himself is in-charge of Bengaluru Urban Development Department. He should calrify to the people of the state immediately," Gangadhar added.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Oct 17 (IANS) The Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia, on Monday termed the excise policy case as "completely fake and fabricated".

Addressing the media at his residence on Monday evening after nine hours of interrogation by the CBI at its headquarters here in connection with the case, Sisodia said, "During questioning, I understood that this is not a case about excise policy or corruption. The case is only aimed at making 'Operation Lotus' a success in Delhi."

Sisodia also alleged that he was pressured to quit the Aam Aadmi Party and join the BJP at the agency headquarters.

"I was pressured to join the BJP. 'These cases will go on like this... They will make you CM', I was told," Sisodia said, adding that the officials even suggested that in case of a switch, he would be offered the Chief Minister's post.

The Deputy CM added, "I told them that I find joy when a rickshaw puller's son joins the IIT. Today, I understood that the CBI is not investigating any scam... the case against me is just meant to make Operation Lotus a success here," he said.

"The BJP keeps saying that there was a scam of Rs 10,000 crore, but no scam happened. Today I understood that the whole case is fake and fabricated," he added.

Refuting Sisodia's allegations, the CBI said in a statement, "Some sections of the media have aired a video in which, after leaving the CBI office, Manish Sisodia has stated on camera that during his questioning, he was threatened to leave his political party and similar such insinuations.

"The CBI strongly refutes these allegations and reiterates that the examination of Shri Sisodia was carried out in a professional and legal manner strictly as per the allegations against him in the FIR. The investigation of the case will continue as per law."

The statement also said: "Manish Sisodia was today examined by CBI in connection with the ongoing investigation into Delhi excise policy case. He was examined strictly on the allegations in the FIR and the evidence collected so far during the course of investigation. His statement will be verified in due course and further action be taken as per the requirements of the investigation."

--IANS
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Panaji, Oct 17 (IANS) After announcing a stop to vegetables from other states in government schemes, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday urged people to grow marigold flowers, which are presently imported from Karnataka.

Noting that Diwali is around the corner, he said that there will be a need for marigold flowers.

"Marigolds come from Karnataka. We can grow them in Goa. Cant we make production as per need? We can do it. We daily need it," he said, adding that as there are many temples in the coastal state and flower vendors are dependent on supplies from Karnataka, they should grow it in their villages.

Large quantity of marigold flowers come from Karnataka on the occasion of Dussehra and Diwali. Even on a daily basis, there is demand for marigold as it is required for religious programmmes in the state.

"Flower vendors selling flowers outside temples bring it from Panaji, if they grow it in their villages, then they will also save on transport. We need to think about this," Sawant said.

He said that to achieve a goal of self-reliance, there is a need to focus on the production of vegetables and fish too.

"To become self-reliant, we need to give importance to local produce. I am optimistic that people will do it," he said.

At the launch of the 'Natural Farming' programme on September 20, he had noted that Goa is dependent on vegetables procured from Karnataka's Belgavi. "We now 'like' the taste of outside procurement, more than our traditionally grown here. This is a fact," Sawant had said.

Around 1,300 vendors in the state sell vegetables supplied by the Goa State Horticultural Corporation Ltd (GSHCL), which purchases these from other states.

"If we increase local vegetable production, then the Horticulture Corporation will give a good rate (to farmers). In a few days, it will stop importing vegetables from other states and will purchase only locally-produced vegetables," he had said.

--IANS
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Mumbai, Oct 17 (IANS) In a major last-minute political development, Maharashtra's ruling ally Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday stepped out of the fray in the by-elections to the Andheri East Assembly constituency.

This paves the way for a smooth election for Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray party nominee Rutuja Ramesh Latke on November 3.

Hours after the announcement by state BJP President Chandrashekhar Bawankule, candidate Murji Patel withdrew his nomination papers on Monday evening - the last date for withdrawal.

Bawankule also assured that Patel would not contest as an independent or rebel, while Latke welcomed the development.

The BJP's change of heart came after appeals from a MLA of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena President Raj Thackeray, and other leaders from different parties.

Latke thanked the BJP, NCP MNS and others for the move, saying that after the elections, she would work wholeheartedly for the development of Andheri East and fulfil her late husband Ramesh Latke's dreams.

State Congress President Nana Patole, NCP President Jayant Patil, Shiv Sena spokesperson Sushma Andhare and others took jibes at the BJP for deciding to withdraw from the contest.

Patole wondered whether it was linked with the ensuing BCCI elections, Patil said that the BJP was scared of defeat, and Andhare claimed Latke's victory was guaranteed prompting the BJP to leave the contest.

However, Raj Thackeray thanked the BJP for its move saying it will uphold the old political traditions in Maharashtra.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that after getting the requests from various quarters, he discussed the matter with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Bawankule and other state and central BJP leaders before deciding to bow out.

He and other BJP leaders dismissed the Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders' contentions and emphatically said that its nominee (Patel) would have romped home to victory by a huge victory margin.

--IANS
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Mumbai, Oct 17 (IANS) The election for the post of Congress President on Monday ended in Maharashtra with 96 per cent of all the delegates casting their votes in the state, and 97 per cent exercising their franchise in Mumbai.

Of the total 561 eligible voters in Maharashtra, 542 cast their votes, including by postal ballots, at three polling stations erected in the state Congress headquarters, for the two candidates in the fray, senior leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor.

The Returning Officer for the state was former Union Minister M.M. Pallam Raju and his team of Dinesh Kumar, Narendra Rawat and others while Krishna Punia oversaw the elections.

In Mumbai, of the 239 eligible delegates, 229 or 97 per cent turned up to vote at the polling station in the city party headquarters.

All voters (delegates) were granted entry to the polling stations only after verification of their barcoded identity cards with photos, issued by the AICC.

Among the prominent voters were state Congress President Nana Patole, Congress Legislature Party chief Balasaheb Thorat, three former Chief Ministers Sushilkumar Shinde, Prithviraj Chavan, Ashok Chavan, several ex-ministers, Naseem Khan, Sachin Sawant, state and district leaders and other delegates.

As many of the regional representatives from Maharashtra and Mumbai are participating in the Bharat Jodo Yatra (BJY), they voted in the polling stations specially organised there, while those appointed as election officers in other states cast their votes via postal ballots.

Among the prominent Mumbai voters were city Congress President Bhai Jagtap, while three city delegates voted outside - Sanjay Nirupam in Punjab, Netta D'Souza and Sachin Rao, who are in the BJY, voted in Karnataka at the yatra polling station.

All the ballot boxes were sealed and shall be despatched to New Delhi accompanied by the polling agents, state election officers and other office-bearers.

The counting of the ballots will be conducted on October 19 and the results are expected the same day, said a party spokesperson.

--IANS
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