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Chennai, Sep 2 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin will be meeting his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday in Thiruvananthapuram.

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister is reaching Kerala to participate in the South Indian Chief Ministers' conference, also being attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The discussions between the two Chief Ministers will be mainly centred around Siruvani and Mullaperiyar water sharing issues.

Located inside deep forests in Palakkad district of Kerala, the Siruvani dam is a major source of drinking water for the people of Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu.

Notably, after the 2019 floods in Kerala, the state water resources department has been maintaining water levels below the Full Reservoir Level (FRL). The Kerala irrigation department has been maintaining the water level of Siruvani dam at 44 ft since 2019 instead of 49.5 ft which is the water level agreed between Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Lowering of water level by five feet will lead to a shortage of 122.05 mcft (million cubic feet) which is 19 per cent of the storage capacity of the dam.

The Water level in Siruvani dam has gone up following incessant rains in the catchment areas of the dam and on Thursday the water level touched 43.5 ft and Coimbatore receives 101.4 MLD of water from Siruvani. However once the water level touches 44 ft, the water will be discharged.

Sources in the Tamil Nadu Water Resources Department told IANS that the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister will take this matter up with his Kerala counterpart and try to convince him of the necessity of maintaining the FRL of Siruvani dam so that drinking water for Coimbatore is not affected.

Mullaperiyar dam issue which is again a contentious one between Kerala and Tamil Nadu will also come for discussion during the meeting between the two Chief Ministers.

--IANS
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Chitradurga (Karnataka), Sep 2 (IANS) Lingayat seer Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru who has been arrested for sexually assaulting minor girls, was on Friday shifted from the jail to a hospital in Karnataka's Chitradurga district after developing chest pain and breathlessness.

Police sources said that the accused seer who was lodged in prison following his arrest on Thursday night, collapsed complaining of chest pain and breathlessness.

He is presently being treated at the emergency ward of the hospital, where doctors are conducting ECG, echo tests and chest scan.

The sources added that he might be shifted to the Jayadeva hospital or the Apollo hospital in Bengaluru for additional treatment.

They further said that due to the development, the investigation might be hampered as they were preparing to take him into custody.

The seer is facing charges under the Prevention of Children against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. He is alleged raping girls aged 15 and 16, with help of a lady warden, junior pontiff and other staff.

Earlier in the day, a district and sessions court sent him to a 14-day judicial custody.

--IANS
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Beijing, Sep 2 (IANS) More than 21 million people are under a Covid lockdown in Chengdu after a fresh outbreak was detected in the Chinese city, the media reported.

On Thursday, Chengdu, the capital of the southern Sichuan province, reported 157 new Covid-19 cases, including 51 asymptomatic, the BBC reported.

The lockdown came into effect on Thursday, with residents being asked to remain indoors while just one person per household has been allowed to step out for essential shopping.

Authorities have also imposed a ban on people leaving or entering the city as health officials have termed the current situation as "extremely complex and severe" and blamed the outbreak on mass gatherings.

Mass testing will begin in the coming days, the BBC said but added that there was no immediate information on when the lockdown will end.

This latest development is in line with China's "zero Covid policy" require cities to enter strict lockdowns, even if just a handful of cases are reported.

In March, China imposed its largest lockdown in Shanghai which lasted for two months and led to widespread reports of food shortages and poor living conditions in quarantine centres, the BBC reported.

Wuhan, the city where the virus originated in late 2019, went into a lockdown in July after the discovery of four positive cases.

Other restrictions currently in force elsewhere in China include Shenzhen in the south and Dalian in the north-east.

Although the Covid pandemic originated in China, the country so far has reported a total of 243,822 cases and 5,226 deaths, way less than the worst-hit countries like the US, Brazil and India.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS) A deputy legal advisor with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) allegedly committed suicide at his south Delhi residence on Thursday, police said.

The deceased was identified as Jitendra Kumar, 48.

A senior police official said that they got a call at the Defence Colony police station at around 6.45 a.m. about a man found hanging, and a crime team, along with forensic mobile team, reached the spot.

"Kumar was posted as deputy legal advisor in the CBI. He was found hanging at his house in Hudco Place. He originally belonged to district Mandi in Himachal Pradesh. A suicide note was also found in which it was written that nobody was responsible for his death," the official said.

His wife Jyoti lives in Mandi and brother Rajender in Chandigarh. The Delhi Police also shared the information with senior officers of the CBI who came on the spot.A

"No foul play was found. The body of the deceased was shifted to mortuary. The postmortem will be conducted tomorrow (Friday)," the official said.

--IANS
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Chitradurga, Sep 1 (IANS) Six days after a FIR was lodged under the POCSO Act and the SC, ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, the Karnataka police finally swung into action on Thursday in connection with the sex scandal involving the Lingayat seer in Chitradurga district of Karnataka.

Chitradurga Superintendent of Police Parashuram on Thursday stated that accused number 2, women's hostel warden Rashmi is being questioned in the case of sexual assault on minor girls. "We have started investigating the accused persons in the case one after the other," he said.

There is no rule as such that the accused should be arrested, if it is necessary the accused seer will be questioned, he maintained. The NCPCR has sought a report from Parashuram on the incident.

Meanwhile, a local court in Chitradurga has granted bail to former MLA S K Basavarajan and his wife Soubhagya in connection with the attempt to rape case and the sexual harassment case filed by the women's hostel warden Rashmi in the Chitradurga Rural police station.

Rashmi, who is an accused in the POCSO case, has alleged kidnapping of two minor girls, sexual assault on her. She lodged her complaint after the FIR against the Lingayat seer.

S K Basavarajan stated after obtaining bail that he is not conspiring against the mutt. "I only protected children. After coming to know that the minor girls are in Bengaluru I, my wife and son went to Bengaluru and tried to bring back the girls to Chitradurga Mutt. But they refused to stay and later they were sent with their family members," he said.

"The minor victims were in a bad condition and I gave them shelter. If the minor girls are truthful they will get justice, if they are not, they will be exposed," Basavarajan stated.

Meanwhile, Dalit organizations laid siege to the vehicle of the district commissioner of Chitradurga and demanded the arrest of the seer. They warned that if the seer is not arrested, they would give a call to their workers from all over the state to come to Chitradurga and protest against the accused seer.

The court has adjourned the bail petition of the seer to Friday.

--IANS
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Mumbai, Sep 1 (IANS) Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan, whose latest release 'Laal Singh Chaddha' tanked at the box-office, is currently holidaying in San Francisco.

Earlier media reports claimed that the superstar is on a two-month break and is holidaying in the US. He will start his next film after he is back in Mumbai following his break.

A picture of Aamir doing the rounds on social media shows that the actor is currently not in the country.

The photograph has been shared by a fan named Natasha on Twitter, where the two are seen posing for a selfie.

She captioned the image: "Yesterday in unexpected unbelievable i'm still unwell twists."

In the image, Aamir is seen flaunting a salt and pepper look. He looks dapper dressed in a navy blue full sleeved T-shirt. He has a sweater tied around his waist and is seen carrying a beige coloured cross bag. He kept it casual and completed his look with spectacles.

'Laal Singh Chaddha', which also stars Kareena Kapoor Khan, is a remake of the Hollywood film 'Forest Gump' starring Tom Hanks.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 1 (IANS) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has declared a Rs 25 lakh reward on underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.

The probe agency said that whosoever will provide information to it about Dawood shall be rewarded.

The NIA has also declared a reward of Rs 20 lakh on Chhota Shakeel and Rs 15 lakh reward on Anis Abrahim, aides of Dawood.

"NIA has declared reward of Rs 15 lakh each on Dawood's other aides Javed Chikna and Tiger Memon, wanted accused in Mumbai serial blasts," said an official.

The NIA has said that Dawood is funding terror outfits to carry out terror-related activities across India.

The probe agency said that Dawood is working with LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammed, the international terrorist organisations.

In February, the NIA had lodged a fresh case against Dawood.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 1 (IANS) Bharti Airtel on Thursday launched a new Cloud portfolio to offer specialised products for multiple business segments, as the company plnas to roll out 5G services in the country.

The new cloud offerings will fall under Edge Cloud Portfolio and will include Edge content delivery network (CDN).

Airtel Cloud's Edge CDN accelerates web and video content delivery by using its edge network to bring content as close to users as possible.

This reduces latency, costs and load on servers making it easier for enterprises to focus on app performance for OTT, ed-tech, gaming and healthcare sectors.

"Airtel has three key strengths to offer a differentiated set of cloud offerings – we have 12 large data centres and 120+ edge locations. We also have a network with comprehensive coverage across the country and to most locations across the globe," said Ajay Chitkara, Director and CEO, Airtel Business.

Airtel is currently working with two of the largest OTT companies in India and others on this platform.

"With 5G around the corner, businesses will leverage the low latency, high bandwidth and high device density of the 5G spectrum to solve critical problems using edge computing," said Chitkara.

Airtel said it will utilise Edge Cloud applicationd eveloper Qwilt's 'Open Edge Cloud' solution for deployment.

"Our edge architecture provides a new economic model for streaming delivery, in which Airtel Cloud's Edge CDN plays a central role in the end-to-end value chain," said Alon Maor, CEO, Qwilt.

Airtel recently became the first company to test a captive private network at the Bosch facility in Bengaluru. Airtel is also rolling out its Edge compute service to customers.

The company said there will be many targeted cloud solutions coming in for specific industry requrements soon.

--IANS
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Dakshina Kannada (Karnataka), Sep 1 (IANS) Karnataka police have arrested nine students in connection with thrashing of a Muslim student for developing friendship with a Hindu girl in Sullia Police station limits in Dakshina Kannada district, police said on Thursday.

Mohammad Sanif, 19-year-old B.com student of First Grade College at Sullia, was beaten up by a group of Hindu students on August 30 for being friends with a Hindu girl student.

Sanif, a resident of Jalsoor Village, was talking to his Hindu friend. The accused did not like Sanif talking to Hindu girl and took him to the college playground. The accused had pulled the shirt of the victim and assaulted him with a wooden log.

The accused questioned him why he was talking to Hindu girl and threatened him that he won't be spared if he continued to talk to her. He was also pushed to the ground and kicked.

The victim had informed the matter to his family members who lodged a police complaint in this regard. Sanif is being treated at the Sullia Government hospital, police said.

The police have arrested five students for assaulting Sanif and four students for supporting the assault. The photos of the assault have gone viral on social media and created public outrage. Police have taken up further investigations.

--IANS
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Prayagraj, Sep 1 (IANS) In a major development, the Allahabad high court has cancelled three government orders issued between 2016 and 2019 through which 18 sub-castes from the Other Backward Classes (OBC) were notified as Schedule Caste (SC) in Uttar Pradesh.

The Allahabad high court ruled that the Central government alone has the power to include a caste in the list of SC.

Allowing a PIL filed by B.R. Ambedker Granthalaya Evam Jan Kalyan, Gorakhpur and others, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice J.J. Munir quashed the three notifications dated December 21, 2016, December 22, 2016, and June 24, 2019.

The first two notifications were issued by the Samajwadi Party (SP) government while the BJP government issued the third one during its previous tenure.

By these notifications, 18 OBCs were placed in the category of SC. High court had already intervened to stop both the governments from action on these notifications.

The two notifications issued by the SP government were challenged through the above-mentioned PIL on the ground that they were without authority as provided under Article 341 of the Constitution.

Article 341 empowers the President to specify castes, races or tribes that will be classified as 'SC' under the Constitution.

While hearing the PIL, the court had passed an interim order in favour of the petitioner and directed the state government not to issue any caste certificate on the basis of these notifications.

However, during the pendency of the PIL, another notification to the same effect was issued on June 24, 2019, by the Yogi Adityanath government. This notification was also challenged and, in this case, too, an interim order directing the state government not to issue any caste certificate on the basis of the notification was passed.

On Wednesday, after hearing the counsel for the parties, the court was of the view that "it is the Central government which is empowered to bring a caste in the ambit of SC and the state government has no power in this regard".

The detailed verdict is awaited.

The sub-castes which the SP and BJP governments intended to include in the SC category were Majhwar, Kahar, Kashyap, Kevat, Mallah, Nishad, Kumhar, Prajapati, Dheevar, Bind, Bhar, Rajbhar, Dhiman, Batham, Turha, Godia, Manjhi and Machhua.

Among these, sub-castes like Kevat, Mallah, Bind, Nishad and Manjhi broadly come under the Nishad community, which has been demanding SC status for a long time.

Nishad Party, which claims to be representing the community, is part of the NDA alliance since 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Earlier, it was an ally of the SP.

Similarly, the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, claiming to have the support of Rajbhars, was an ally of SP in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh elections and prior to this, it was part of the NDA and its leader O.P. Rajbhar was also a Minister in the Yogi government.

The issue of inclusion of certain OBC sub-castes in the SC list has been lingering for the past 18 years. It was in 2004 that the Mulayam Singh Yadav government amended the Uttar Pradesh Public Services Act, 1994, to include as many as 17 OBC sub-castes in the SC category.

The Allahabad high court, however, quashed the decision declaring the move unconstitutional and void as it was taken without the consent of the Central government.

The issue was revived when the SP came to power again in 2012.

"In their OBC outreach bid, both SP and BJP have been trying to take certain sub-castes out of the backward bracket, where the competition for the quota pie is much stiffer, and put them in the SC category where fewer strong sub-castes like Jatavs and Pasi vie for the reservation," says a political analyst.

Attacking the BJP on the HC decision, SP said that the reservation to the 18 most backward communities got cancelled due to ineffective action in court by the BJP government.

--IANS
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