09:36 Sacrilege incidents: Parkash, Sukhbir Badal, actor Akshay Kumar summoned by SIT:
The special investigation team, probing police firing incidents at Behbal Kalan on sacrilege issue, has summoned former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, his son Sukhbir Singh Badal and actor Akshay Kumar.
While Parkash has been asked to appear before the SIT of Punjab Police on November 16, Sukhbir has been summoned on November 19 and Akshay has been asked to come on November 21 to the Circuit House in Amritsar.
The summon orders have been issued separately for the three by SIT member and IG rank officer Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, according to an official release.
The SIT is probing police firing incidents at Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan in Faridkot in 2015 after a series of sacrilege incidents in the state. In police firing at Behbal Kalan, two persons were killed.
Notably, the actor’s name was mentioned in Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report on sacrilege incidents.
According to the report, a meeting between former deputy chief minister Sukhbir and Dera Sacha Sauda sect head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in connection with the release of latter’s movie ‘MSG’ was held at Akshay’s flat in Mumbai.
The meeting was held before the pardon given to Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in a blasphemy case. However, Akshay had denied all the claims.
Kunwar Singh said the summons relate to investigation of cases originating from the various incidents of sacrilege in the year 2015.
The summons have been issued under Section 160 of the CrPC, requiring attendance at investigation, relating to the Bargari sacrilege case and the Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura police firing incidents, the release said.
The notice says the presence of the aforesaid person is necessary for the purpose of inquiry into the above-mentioned offence and the person summoned needed to give such information relating to the said alleged offence as he may possess. — PTI
09:35 K’taka declares 3-day mourning as mark of respect to Ananth Kumar:
The Karnataka government has declared a three-day state mourning till November 14 as a mark of respect to Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar, who died in the early hours of Monday.
The state government has also declared a holiday on Monday as a mark of respect to Kumar.
His last rites would be performed with all Government honour, an official release said.
Kumar died at a private hospital in Bengaluru after battling lung cancer for several months.
A government notification said, during state mourning there would be no official programmes.
The national flag would fly at half mast atop all government buildings, it said.
Condoling Kumar’s death Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said, he has lost a great friend.
“Our families had a friendship beyond politics. He always valued and gave priority to friendship. I have lost a great friend in his death, Kumaraswamy said in a statement.
Describing him as a “value-based politician”, who made significant contribution to the country as an MP and Union Minister, the Chief Minister said, his pro people attitude and activities had made him the “apple of the eye of Bengalurians”.
Kumaraswamy will directly arrive to the National College Ground from Mysuru Monday and will pay his last respects to the departed leader, the Chief Minister’s Office said. — PTI
09:28 Shiv Sena loves us ‘secretly’: Fadnavis :
The Shiv Sena “secretly” loves the Bharatiya Janata Party while the latter shows its affection openly, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said.
On the Sena’s demand that the names of Aurangabad and Osmanabad be changed to Sambhaji Nagar and Dharashiv respectively, Fadnavis said the state government had cleared the proposal but there were litigations pending in this connection.
The Maharashtra chief minister said an expansion of the state cabinet was likely before the winter session of the Maharashtra legislature.
Fadnavis’ government has 38 ministers and as per norms, its strength can go up to 42. — PTI
09:26 Over 1.28 lakh tourists visit Statue of Unity in 11 days:
Since opening for the public on November 1, the 182-metre tall Statue of Unity in Narmada district of Gujarat has attracted more than 1.28 lakh tourists, officials said.
A huge rush of tourists was seen during the weekend, with over 50,000 people visiting the world’s tallest statue at Kevadiya village on Saturday and Sunday alone (November 10- 11), they said.
“Since November 1, when the statue opened for the public, we have recieved around 1.28 lakh tourists (till Sunday),” Superintending Engineer of Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd R G Kanungo said.
Over 24,000 tourists visited the site Sunday and more than 27,000 Saturday, he said.
The statue, dedicated to `Iron Man of India’ Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, is situated on an islet near the Sardar Sarovar Dam in Kevadiya. It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 31.
Principal Secretary (Tourism) S J Haider said more than 10,000 tourists had visited the statue on the very first day of its opening.
“The number of tourists kept on increasing since November 1,” he said.
Haider said the government is ready to welcome any number of tourists at the site.
He said the new tourist attraction in Gujarat will help increase the number of travellers visiting the state from other parts of the country and also abroad.
“Gujarat has registered 17 per cent year-on growth in tourism with a total 5.2 crore tourists visiting the state in 2017. The Statue of Unity will help in achieving considerable growth in arrival of tourists to Gujarat,” he said.
The towering structure, built at a cost of Rs 2,989 crore, is nearly twice the height of Statue of Liberty in United States and also bigger than Spring Temple Buddha, China (153 metres) and Ushika Daibustum Japan (120 metres).
Along with the Statue of Unity, Gujarat Tourism has added many attractions nearby for sight-seeing. Two tent cities have been created along the backwater lakes of the Narmada dam reservoir for tourists who want to stay there.
Among the prime attractions at the site is a viewers gallery inside the statue located at a height of 135 metres with a capacity to accommodate 200 persons at a time. — PTI
09:24 C’garh poll: Minutes before polling, Naxals trigger IED blast in Dantewada :
Minutes before the polling for first phase of the Chhattisgarh assembly elections, an improvised explosive device of 1-2 kilograms was exploded by the Naxals near Tumakpal camp in Katekalyan block of Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district.
The blast triggered when troops of 195 Battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force were approaching polling booth at 6:20 am.
No injury or loss of life has been reported.
On Sunday, a Border Security Force personnel was killed in an IED blast in Kanker’s Koyalibeda area of Chhattisgarh.
Naxalites have called for a boycott of polls in the state and have executed half a dozen attacks in the last 15 days, three of them major ones which left 13 people dead including a camera-person of national broadcaster Doordarshan who was covering the election campaign.
Keeping in view the growing terror of Naxals in Chhattisgarh, tight security arrangements have been made in several sensitive areas of the state to ensure peaceful elections.
09:17 UPDATE: Voting begins for 1st phase of Chhattisgarh poll:
Voting for all 18 constituencies in the first phase of Chhattisgarh assembly election has began.
Of total 18 constituencies, polling for 10 seats began from 7 am to 3 pm while voting in the remainder of the constituencies will take place from 8 am to 5 pm.
Tight security arrangements have been made in all the districts of the state to ensure free, fair and peaceful elections.
08:54 Raje in first list of 131 BJP candidates for Rajasthan:
The BJP on Sunday announced its candidates for 131 of the 200 seats of the Rajasthan assembly with Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje being fielded from her traditional seat of Jhalrapatan.
The names were announced by senior party leader J P Nadda following a meeting of the BJP central election committee which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and its president Amir Shah besides other top leaders.
Raje also attended the meeting.
The party has also fielded its Lok Sabha MP Sona Ram Choudhary in the assembly poll and given tickets to 12 women.
Nadda said the party has fielded 25 new faces.
BJP sources said 85 sitting MLAs have found their names on the first list.
“Party candidates for all the seats we’re discussed in the meeting. Names of other nominees will be announced soon,” Nadda told reporters.
The BJP is facing a strong challenge from a resurgent Congress in the state with the opposition party winning a number of by-polls in the last couple of years.
A number of opinion polls has also given an edge to the Congress but the BJP has insisted that it will be able to repulse the opposition’s challenge.
The saffron party under Raje had won a whopping 163 of the 200 assembly seats in the state in 2013, giving the Congress its worst ever drubbing at its hands.
The state has for the last two decades has seen the incumbent party losing the assembly polls. — PTI
08:41 Voting begins under tight security for 10 seats in Chhattisgarh:
Voting began in 10 out of 18 assembly constituencies in the first phase of Chhattisgarh elections on Monday under a tight security blanket comprising over 1.25 lakh police and paramilitary personnel.
In the first phase, 190 candidates are in the fray and as per electoral rolls, there are 31,80,014 voters.
Women voters outnumber men for the first phase of polling, with 16,22,492 female voters on the rolls against 15,57,435 men. There are 87 third gender voters as well.
As many as 4,336 polling booths have been set up for the first phase and 19,079 polling personnel have been deployed.
“Polling in nine constituencies of Bastar division and one in Rajnandgaon district has begun from 7 am and will conclude at 3 pm, while in the rest of the constituencies the polling time is from 8 am to 5 pm,” a poll official said.
Polling time in 10 constituencies — Mohla-Manpur, Antagarh, Bhanupratappur, Kanker, Keshkal, Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur and Konta — is from 7 am to 3 pm, due to the Naxal menace.
In the remaining eight constituencies — Khairgarh, Dongargarh, Rajnandgaon, Dongargaon, Khujji, Bastar, Jagdalpur and Chitrakot — it is from 8 am till 5 pm.
Among the prominent candidates who will try their electoral luck are Chief Minister Raman Singh, state ministers Kedar Kashyap (Narayanpur) and Mahesh Gagda (Bijpaur), as well as BJPs Kanker Lok Sabha MP Vikram Usendi (Antagarh).
In the first phase, the prestige of nine sitting Congress MLAs -Manoj Singh Mandavi (Bhanupratappur), Mohan Lal Markam (Kondagaon), Lakheshwar Baghel (Bastar), Deepak Kumar Baij (Chitrakot), Devati Karma (Dantewada), Kawasi Lakhma (Konta), Girwar Janghel (Khairagarh), Santram Netam (Keshkal) and Daleshwar Sahu (Dongargaon) is at stake.
Of the 18 seats going to polling in the first phase, 12 are reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST) while one is for Scheduled Caste (SC) category.
The second phase of polls will see voting in 72 seats on November 20. — PTI
08:08 Union Minister Ananth Kumar passes away:
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar died at a private hospital in Bengaluru in the early hours of Monday, party spokesman said.
He was suffering from cancer and had come back from the United States in October after treatment at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre, New York.
Kumar, 59, is survived by wife and two daughters.
He breathed his last around 4 am, party spokesman Prakash told PTI.
Kumar’s wife Tejaswini and his two daughters were with him when he passed away, he said.
Kumar was a BJP MP from south Bengaluru constituency.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the demise of Kumar.
“Extremely saddened by the passing away of my valued colleague and friend, Shri Ananth Kumar Ji. He was a remarkable leader, who entered public life at a young age and went on to serve society with utmost diligence and compassion. He will always be remembered for his good work,” he tweeted.
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also expressed deep sorrow over Kumar’s death.
“Deep sense of grief on hearing that Shri @AnanthKumar_BJP is no more with us. Served @BJP4India @BJP4Karnataka all along. Bengaluru was in his head and heart, always. May God give his family the strength to bear with this loss,” she tweeted. — PTI
Source: Rediff