Howrah -Yesvantpur special train service to continue

BENGALURU: The South Eastern Railway(SER) has decided to continue the services of Premium Express Special trains between Howrah and Yesvantpur, with four trips in each direction.

The trains will depart from Howrah on Mondays at 11 am to reach Yesvantpur on Tuesdays at 4 pm on.The service is available from February 2 till February 23.

In return direction, the trains will leave Yesvantpur on Wednesdays at 11.15 am to arrive at Howrah at 4 pm on Thursdays.This service is available from February 4 till February 25.

The Premium Express Special trains will have a total 14 coaches, consisting of three AC-2 tier coaches, eight AC-3 tier coaches,tow brake vans-cum-generator cars and a pantry car.

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Digvijaya Singh lambastes central government for attack on Delhi church

BELAGAVI: AICC general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Digvijaya Singh has lambasted BJP led central government for repeated attacks on churches in New Delhi.

Speaking to the media persons at Parwad village of Khanapur taluk of the Belagavi district on Monday, Singh condemned the attack on the church in South Delhi's Vasant Kunj area at New Delhi on the wee hours of Monday and said it's a fourth attack on churches at Delhi in the past few months. Delhi police commissioner and union home minister must give clarification on what action has been taken against the accused, how many arrested, and who are those people behind such incidents, he demanded.

Singh said Narendra Modi fought the Lok Sabha elections with slogan 'Sab Ka Sath Sab Ka Vikas'. He should clarify now that are the people of other religions sit into his Sab Ka Sath slogan and if 'yes', why such incidents are occurring on the face of elections. "During the elections, RSS provokes Hindus while Majlis-e-Ittehdul Muslimeen (MIM) provokes Muslims. I condemn both", he said.

He also blamed Narendra Modi led NDA government for neglecting the welfare of poor and farmers and framing laws in favour of corporate companies. He said because this industrialists are working in favour of BJP and also officially joining the party. He gave the instance of joining 100 industrialists into BJP at New Delhi on Sunday.

Commenting on former environmental minister Jayanti Natarajan's discloser over intervention of AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi in her portfolio, Singh said if Rahul Gandhi spoken against violation of Forest Environmental Act, he had spoken up for the tribal people of Orissa. It's a noble cause and he has every right to say that. Congress party stands for ecological environment protection. He is very much entitles to say that and it can't be deemed as interference, he said.

District Congress (Rural) president Laxmi Hebbalkar and city president Raju Sait were present.

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Congress to carry mass public contact programme in Karnataka to propagate its welfare programmes

BELAGAVI: Congress party will carry mass contract programme in the month of April across the state to propagate its welfare programmes implemented for pro-poor and pro-downtrodden in the past one and half year.

Congress feels the failure in propagating its welfare programmes up to the people caused for debacle in the Lok Sabha elections held eight months ago. The party don't want to repeat the same mistakes in Karnataka.

Speaking to the media persons at Parawad village of Khanapur taluk on Monday, AICC general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Digvijay Singh, said already issue has been discussed in the state coordination committee and decided to carry out mass public contact programme throughout the month in April to propagate and make aware people about welfare programmes of the state government, he said.

Meanwhile, Singh admitted that propagation of the government programmes has not happened in the scale it required in the past one and half year. He was in Parwad village to receive 'Seva Shree Puraskar' accorded on behalf of Sadguru Parwadeshwar Maharaj Matt on the occasion of Parwadeshwar Maharaj Jayanti Utsav. This matt has more than 150 branches across the country which follows Natha sampraday.

Digvijay Singh strongly defended CM Siddaramaiah in Arkavati denotification issue saying that there is no order given from CM or the government for Arkavati denotification. He said Arkavati land was notified in 2001 on which farmers appealed into the high court. HC appointed land acquisition officer with judicial powers to investigate the issue. Jagadish Shettar led BJP government appointed four officials for conducting inquiry and based on their report denotification was done. He defended the government saying that there is not Congress role in the denotification process.

Meanwhile, he lambasted BJP leaders for attempting to seek permission from the governor to prosecute CM Siddaramaiah. He said subject of prosecution is only arises when FIR made and investigation is done. Where is the FIR to give prosecution permission, he asked.

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WhatsApp effect: Karnataka legislature shuts door on mobile phones

BENGALURU: Following increasing incidents of MLAs getting caught watching clippings and pictures inside the House, mobile phones were not allowed inside the legislative assembly.

The legislature session started in Karnataka with governor Vajubhai R Vala addressing the joint House on Monday.

MLAs were asked to deposit their mobile phones in a specially made wooden locker in the lounge.Coupons containing numbers were issued to the members after depositing their mobiles. A marshal was also stationed near the locker to keep watch on the deposited mobiles.

In a huge embarrassment to the BJP, a party MLA was caught surfing photographs on his cellphone downloaded from WhatsApp during a serious debate on sugarcane pricing in the recently held session at Belagavi. TV footage showed Aurad legislator Prabhu Chavan zooming in on a photograph of Priyanka Gandhi, setting off a firestorm of criticism.

On the same day, another party MLA, UB Banakar, from Hirekerur in Haveri, was found playing Candy Crush Saga on his mobile.

As the TV clip went viral, legislative assembly Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa had announced that he was contemplating imposing a ban on mobiles in the assembly.

In February 2012, three BJP ministers — Laxman Savadi, Krishna J Palemar and CC Patil — were found watching porn in the assembly. They had to resign following the incident.

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Karnataka governor's speech in Hindi heard with rapt attention

BENGALURU: Governor Vajubhai R Vala created history on two counts in his first address to the joint session of the Karnataka legislature here on Monday.

Firstly, Vala addressed the 300 legislators including ministers in Hindi, which has not been done before, though Karnataka has had governors from Hindi speaking states in the past. They had always read out the speech in English with the opening lines of greetings being in Kannada.

Secondly, none from the opposition benches took exception to the Hindi speech unlike earlier sessions, where governors had been heckled for reading out in English or the members wanted to vent their ire at the ruling party on issues. In 2011 the Congress and the JD(S) prevented then governor H R Bhardwaj from going ahead with his address on the grounds that it was prepared by a corrupt government. Bhardwaj read out a couple of sentences and as the din grew, refrained from going ahead saying it was deemed to have been read.

In his 45-minute speech Vala called upon opposition parties to participate in discussions for all-round development and welfare of Karnataka. He stressed on the achievements in the health sector stating that medical facilities have been augmented on large scale by upgrading of peripheral cancer care centre at Kalaburagi. "New super speciality hospitals have come up at Mysuru, Belagavi and Kalaburagi, trauma care centres at Mysuru and Kalaburagi besides upgradation of Kidwai Institute of Oncology,'' he added.

Also new medical colleges would be started at Karwar, Kodagu, Koppal, Gadag, Kalaburagi, Chamarajanagar, Tumakuru, Chitradurga, Bagalkot, Haveri, Yadgir and Chikkaballapur.

Reactions:

"There is no freshness in the speech. The speech lacks a roadmap for the future. Just as the congress government is inactive, the speech is also the same." says Jagadish Shettar, opposition leader.

"The speech is nothing but a bundle of lies. This is not even worth discussing on the floor of the House. There is no clarity and vision in the speech. It has failed to meet aspirations of more than six crore people of the state", says HD Kumaraswamy, former chief minister.

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Congress questions role of RSS in '84 anti-Sikh riots

BENGALURU: AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh on Sunday demanded the Centre that the role of RSS should be investigated in the anti-Sikh riots.

His statement comes in the wake of Centre-appointed panel reportedly recommending setting up of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the 1984 riots in Delhi.

Singh, who is here in the city for last three days to hold series of meetings with Pradesh Congress Committee, said that the issue has been investigated and people have been put to trial in courts. "One aspect of the anti-Sikh riots on which the media and others have been very silent is the role of the RSS activists," he said.

The committee headed by former Supreme Court Judge Justice (retd) GP Mathur has submitted its report to home minister Rajnath Singh recently and is said to have recommended fresh probe of the anti-Sikh riots cases through SIT.

Singh also was critical of Prime minister Narendra Modi alleged that the PM continues to do "U-turn". "Modi is doing U-turn practically on every issue. His latest being the direct benefit transfer scheme," he said.

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Fresh bout of snowfall in Kashmir valley

SRINAGAR: Most parts of Kashmir valley got a fresh spell of snowfall on Sunday while prediction of moderate to heavy snowfall in the region has prompted authorities to gear up to tackle any eventuality.

"Snowfall is forecast for the next 48 hours in the Valley ... We are ready to deal with such an eventuality," Divisional commissioner Kashmir Rohit Kansal told PTI.

The Kashmir valley, including summer capital Srinagar and other plain areas, received fresh snowfall on Sunday, a day after 'Chillai-Kalan' — the 40-day harshest winter period — ended.

Kansal said a three-tier plan has been prepared to ensure least disruption to movement of traffic in the valley in case of heavy snowfall.

"The first priority will be to keep the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway motorable followed by inter-district roads in the valley," he said.

Kansal said the roads leading to hospitals, power stations and water supply schemes will be next on the list.

"We want to ensure minimum disruption in basic amenities to the residents of the valley," he said.

The divisional commissioner said there was enough stock of essential commodities in the valley in case of the Srinagar-Jammu road getting closed due to snowfall.

Heavy snowfall during winter sometimes forces closure of Srinagar-Jammu arterial road for several days. However, one-way traffic was plying on the road till last reports came in.

An avalanche warning was issued on Saturday to people living in areas above 2,500 metres altitude in the valley. The residents of these areas were asked not to venture in avalanche prone areas especially in mountainous areas close to the Line of Control.

Meanwhile, due to snowfall in most parts of the valley, minimum temperatures rose by several notches providing relief from the intense cold.

"Snowfall was recorded in higher reaches including the tourist resorts of Pahalgam, Gulmarg and Kupwara in the valley during the night," a Met department spokesman said.

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One rank-one pension scheme to be rolled out soon, Manohar Parrikar says

NEW DELHI: Defence minister Manohar Parrikar on Sunday assured the ex-servicemen of early implementation of the one rank-one pension scheme, saying his ministry has fast-tracked the work on it.

The assurance came when a 27-member delegation of the ex-servicemen called on Parrikar at Kota House here, his residence for the time-being.

A rally was also held here by the ex-servicemen, seeking early implementation of the scheme.

Defence sources said Parrikar assured the ex-servicemen of rolling it out at the earliest.

He said he is working hard on it and the ministry will send its views to the finance ministry by February 17.

BLOG: The one rank one pension conundrum

Parrikar underlined that there are lot of calculations and complications involved and he is working towards solving them.

"I will do my work," he was quoted as telling the delegation.

Maj Gen Satbir Singh (retired), chairman of Indian Ex-Service Movement, said the meeting with Parrikar was "positive".

READ ALSO: Govt drags feet on one-rank-one-pension, war veterans upset

He said that the minister has given assurances to the delegation on four major issues relating to the scheme, including "getting approval from the finance ministry before the Budget this month".

One rank-one pension scheme has been a long-standing demand of the over 2 million ex-servicemen in the country.

It seeks to ensure that a uniform pension is paid to defence personnel who retire at the same rank with the same length of service, irrespective of their date of retirement.

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SpeakAsia's country head, six others arrested in Rs 2,276cr cheating case

MUMBAI: The city economic offence wing (EOW) on Saturday arrested six persons including the country head (sales) of accused firm, SpeakAsia, in the Rs 2,276 crore cheating case. All the accused have been remanded in police custody till February 7.

Those arrested include SpeakAsia's country head Sanjeev Mehta, Hemant Suryavanshi, Hemant Chavan, Sudhanshu Tripathy, Virendra Singh and Hasmukh Patel. Suryavanshi, Chavan, Tripathy and Singh were SpeakAsia's franchise holders while Patel, arrested from Ahmedabad, ran Patel communication franchise. It was Chhattisgarh resident, Singh, with whom Navneet Khosla, the complainant, had deposited his money as investment. Rajvardhan Sinha, EOW chief, said, "It's a lengthy investigation. We have filed a charge sheet earlier and are still investigating the case and arresting suspects."

In July 2011, Navneet Khosla, a Mumbai resident, had filed a police complaint stating that the firm had promised a return of Rs 52,000 on his investment of Rs 11,000.

The accused had made over 24 lakh investors, called panelists. Each panelist would be given an online survey form to fill up and would gain points. If all the points turn out to be correct, he would be paid Rs 52,000 for completing a year's survey. Many accused challenged the police case saying they were doing pure business. However, police filed its reply saying it was a criminal act. The police have recently invoked the sections of stringent law, Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) act and under this law as per court order attached properties could be auctioned to repay the investors.

The 'manager model' was Mehta's brainchild, said police, adding, he would identify potential youths and would appoint them as managers in SpeakAsia to lure people. "Mehta along with his family was staying in a rented flat in Pune. The cheating of over Rs 2,276 crore would not have been possible without the help and participation of the arrested accused," said B P Shelke, the chief investigating officer.

The police have found financial transaction of more than Rs 150 crore that was done to the firm through the six arrested accused. "There is an FIR against the SpeakAsia in Bangladesh for cheating over three lakh people. We also communicated the Bangladesh police in this regard. Besides this, cases of cheating against the SpeakAsia suspects have been registered in various police stations in the country," said a police source.

The EOW has till date arrested 30 persons and filed a 7,500-page charge sheet against 21 persons and entities in December 2013. "We have frozen more than 250 bank accounts that contain around Rs 142 crore in them. The SpeakAsia accused had invested crores of rupees of real estate and buying properties," the source said.

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1857 mutiny records not in condition to be copied: NAI

NEW DELHI: Records related to the 1857 mutiny are in Urdu and not in a condition to be copied, according to National Archives of India (NAI), which expressed its inability to provide an RTI applicant with the information.

Right to Information (RTI) activist Salim Beg, who filed the query, also wanted to know details about the freedom fighters up to the end of the British rule.

On the query seeking information on those who contributed in the 1857 mutiny and on various movements and meetings related to freedom struggle, the NAI said, "The records are available with the department in Urdu and are not in a condition to be copied."

Replying to the query related to freedom fighters, the department said, "Providing this information needs a lot of analysis.

A picture from the Illustrated London News of 1857 showing two sepoys in Mumbai tied to cannon before being blown to bits after being implicated for plotting in the Mutiny. The picture has been reproduced in a book by Aroon Tikekar ( Drill havaldar Sayed Hussein and sepoy Mangal Guddrea were executed for participating in the Mutiny)
"And in the absence of definitive context, eg. file number, department/ ministry, branch/section sharing the information warrants a lot of research. As per the rules, Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) needs to provide information available with government bodies and not conduct researches on behalf of any applicant," the RTI reply said.

The NAI said that extensive records relating to that period are available with it and any Indian citizen is entitled to access and study them on any working day, according to the Public Records Act, 1993.

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