Vote for Cong in MLC polls: Sanjeeva
Farmers refer CM Jagan as a ‘saviour’
HYDERABAD, FEB. 23
Intuc president Dr Sanjeeva Reddy Tuesday said Telangana state challenges
G. on that faces
like unemployment, inequality, racial injustice and poverty that need to be tackled immediately.
He appealed to the graduates of the state to vote for the Congress for its socialist, democratic and progressive values in the MLC elections in graduates constituencies being held on March 14.
The Congress has fielded Dr G. Chinna Reddy from the
Hyderabad-Ranga Reddy-Mahbubnagar graduates’ constituency while Ramulu Naik is contesting from Nalgonda-WarangalKhammam graduates constituency.
The nearly one-and-a-half decades’ struggle of farmers under Kakinada Special Economic Zone (KSEZ) fructified with the state cabinet on Tuesday deciding to return around 2,180 acres of land in the zone to farmers who have refused to take any compensation.
If small extents of 5–10 acres of land adjacent to KSEZ are there, these farmers will be given the same extent of land at another place the “landfor-land’’ policy.
Following the decision, some of the farmers have called Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy as “saviour of farmers”. Particularly delighted are farmers of U. Kothapalli and Thondangi mandal in East Godavari district.
During his padayatra when he was the opposition leader, Jagan had visited the KSEZ area and promised to sort out the issue. “The Chief Minister has fulfiled his promise and proved his credibility,” said KSEZ Vyathireka Porata Samithi convener Chinta
SAMITHI LEADER Bavisetti Narayana Swamy alias Pedakapu said the announcement has come on the auspicious “Bhishma Ekadasi’’ day. “People of the area will be worshipping Jagan as a saviour’,” he stated.
Suryanarayana Murthy.
He thanked Kakinada MP Vanga Gita, Tuni MLA Dadisetti Raja, Pithapuram MLA Pendem Dorababu and others who fully supported farmers on the issue. Samithi leader Bavisetti Narayana Swamy alias Pedakapu said the announcement has come on the auspicious “Bhishma Ekadasi’’ day. “People of the area will be worshipping Jagan as a saviour’,” he stated.
The capital’s Gymkhana Club, the 107-year-old watering hole favoured by the high and mighty of currently beleaguered Lutyens’ Delhi, is back in the news. With its seemingly endless saga of mismanagement and irregularities, the Club has been in the limelight a lot, unfortunately.
The present crisis has emerged after the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) dissolved the Club’s governing council and appointed M.M. Juneja, director general of the ministry of corporate affairs, as “administrator” to oversee the club’s functioning even as the legal case continues. Among Mr Juneja’s first actions after his appointment sent a notice to all members to clear pending dues amounting to Rs 1.2 crores!
This is the first time in the Club’s history that an administrator has been appointed to run its affairs. Mr Juneja has been given the mandate to introduce “the best practices that can bring the club to the 21st-century norms”.
The current imbroglio dates back four years when the ministry of corporate affairs decided to open an inquiry into the Club’s management after the growing number of complaints and court cases against the Club. The petition was filed early last year at the NCLAT in which the ministry sought to take over the Club management. It seems to have got its way, for now. Other clubs in Lutyens’ Delhi are trembling now that serious action has begun. Any guesses about who’s next? DKB is listening to your chatter, so send it in…
ED ON AN EXPANSION SPREE
As it seeks to become nimbler as well as to strengthen its reach due to growing responsibilities, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is on an expansion spree. This requires more officers for new zonal and sub-zonal offices.
The agency, a part of the revenue department of the Union finance ministry, is responsible for enforcing economic laws and fighting economic crime. But with a wider jurisdiction now with new responsibilities under the FEMA, PMLA and FEO acts, it will need to expand its footprint.
According to sources, the expansion will involve a considerable restructuring of its cadre strength. At present, ED has a sanctioned strength of 2,064 posts including five special directors and 27 joint directors. Since there is a shortage of officers for even the sanctioned posts, there is a greater urgency for selecting more officers to fill existing vacancies as well as for the new offices. Apparently, there is a move to create new posts of additional/joint directors and deputy directors for the new zonal and sub-zonal offices.
Recently, ED promoted 10 assistant directors as deputy directors of enforcement. They include P. Radhakrishnan, P. Vinod Kumar, P. Nandini, Rajesh Kumar, M. Nair, Shubhendu Parthi, Diptesh Mondal, Benjamin S.N. Chattair, Padma,
V.G. Thomas and Krishna Jain. The agency has also recently opened two new zonal offices in Bhopal and Gurugram and raised the status of sub-zonal offices in Raipur and Bhubaneshwar to zonal offices. It has also opened several sub-zonal offices across the country.
BIHAR EX-DGP’S POLITICAL CAREER STILL AT START LINE
The political ambitions of the highprofile former DGP of Bihar Gupteshwar Pandey have been thwarted, yet again.
Though Mr Pandey waited patiently for his hoped-for induction into the NDA government, chief minister Nitish Kumar has instead appointed another former IPS officer, Sunil Kumar, as a cabinet minister in the state with the excise and prohibition portfolio, barely a few months after his retirement.
Mr Pandey shot into the headline with his comments during the furore over actor Sushant Singh’s suicide. Even as the controversy raged, Mr Pandey took voluntary retirement and joined the Janata Dal (United) Party hoping to get a party ticket. However, the ticket went to the BJP candidate under the seat-sharing agreement within the NDA.
This denied, many were certain that Mr Pandey would be inducted into the Nitish Cabinet sooner than later. But Sunil Kumar has pipped him to that. Neither has Mr Pandey been made an MLC either.
Curiously, this was Mr Pandey’s second attempt at a career in politics. In 2009, he had taken voluntary retirement in the hope of getting a BJP ticket, which he was denied. Luckily for him, Nitish Kumar allowed him to withdraw his resignation from the IPS and subsequently even elevated him as state police chief.
Will Mr Pandey’s patient wait fructify or has he run out of options? We’ll wait and see.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday sought immediate intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lift the restrictions on movement of people and vehicles from Kerala to Karnataka.
In a letter to Modi, the Chief Minister said that the people and vehicles from Kerala were being blocked at the interstate check posts along areas bordering Karnataka in the name of Covid restrictions. Following the stringent restrictions, people seeking medical treatment in hospitals in Mangalore and Dakshina Kannada districts and students pursuing studies in various higher education institutions in Karnataka were facing a harrowing time. Even vehicles bringing in essential commodities were being blocked.
He said the Karnataka action was against the Centre’s standing direction that there should be no restrictions in the interstate transportation. Hence the Prime Minister should intervene and ensure the matter is settled amicably at the earliest, he added.
Meanwhile, the workers of CPM, CPI, Congress and Muslim League led organisations took out separate marches to the Karnataka border demanding the lifting of restrictions on interstate travel. The workers took out processions towards the Talapady interstate border and blocked vehicles coming from Karnataka. They demanded that the restrictions which warrant mandatory Covid negative test reports for entering Karnataka should be lifted completely.
Though the Karnataka government had put the restrictions on hold for two days, political parties in Kasargod are demanding a complete roll back. The ensuing Assembly elections has also aggravated the situation.
With the BJP having a sizeable presence in areas in Kasargod bordering Karnataka, parties like the CPM, Congress and Muslim League have turned the issue into a political fight. These parties are accusing the BJP led government in Karnataka of causing innumerable problems for the people of Kerala.
It is learnt that the Kasargod district BJP president has conveyed to the Karnataka officials that if the restrictions continued it would adversely affect the party’s electoral prospects in the coming polls.
Commissioners to impose night curfew in Covid-19 hotspots in their districts, if needed.
The move comes amid a growing concern over an upswing in the number of Coronavirus cases in the state.
Chairing a virtual meeting to review the Coronavirus situation, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh ordered restrictions on gathering of people from March 1, with 100 people allowed indoors and 200 people allowed to gather outdoors, according to a government statement.
He also directed that wearing of face masks and social distancing norms be strictly enforced, with testing to be ramped to 30,000 a day, it said.
Health officials said presently 200 people were allowed to gather indoors and 500 people outdoors, while 20,000 to 22,000 tests are conducted every day.
Chief secretary Vinni Mahajan ruled out closure of government schools again and said the department is taking all steps to ensure the safety of students.
Amarinder Singh authorised deputy commissioners to impose night curfew in hotspots in their districts, if needed, with a micro-containment strategy to be adopted.
He also directed the police force to ensure strict enforcement of wearing masks.
There will be monitoring of adherence to Covid-19 norms at all restaurants and marriage palaces and the Department of Excise and Taxation will be the nodal agency for it.
The Chief Minister said a decision on reducing occupancy in cinema halls will be taken after March 1.
Private offices and restaurants shall be encouraged to display the last tests done for all employees, he added.
Punjab is among the five states that have been asked by the Centre to refocus on strict surveillance, containment and RT-PCR testing to check the growing number of cases. The other four states are Maharashtra, Kerala, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
CM SAID that the people and vehicles from Kerala were being blocked at the interstate check posts along areas bordering Karnataka in the name of Covid restrictions. Even vehicles bringing in essential commodities were being blocked.