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INDIA

SC refuses to stay hearing in Jaya’s case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India has termed the Rs 666.5 million disproportionate assets case involving the former Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa as a “hot cake” and decided to hear DMK leader K Anbazhagan’s plea to remove Special Public Prosecutor Bhavani Singh on March 9 after properly studying the case records. A bench, led by Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose, however, refused to stay the ongoing hearing of the appeals in the Karnataka High Court. The next date of hearing in the high court

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Jayalalithaa is March 4. Justice Ghose said the bench needed to go through the case files before hearing Anbazhagan’s plea and passing an impartial and fair order. “We don’t want to be a politician. We are not political men. We have never

taken up or decided any matter because the person involved in it is a politician,” Justice Ghose observed, before adjourning the case. Anbazhagan had moved the Supreme Court on February 20 against two orders passed by the high court earlier this month. In the first order of February 5, the high court dismissed Anbazhagan’s plea to help the prosecution in the appeals, observing that he was a “political opponent” and had no statutory right. On February 11, the court rejected his challenge and held that Singh was entitled

to appear as Special Public Prosecutor in the appellate stage without any written authority. Anbazhagan recounted that 2013, he had given “a representation to the government of Karnataka and the Hon’ble Chief Justice of the High Court of Karnataka against Bhavani Singh, detailing the allegations of collusion with the accused.” Anbazhagan denied that his view was coloured by “political vendetta. In a democracy, political opponents play an important role both inside and outside the House,” he said.

police. Activists belonging to the same group, along with pro-Hindu groups, allegedly hounded Perumal Murugan at his h o m e t o w n Madurai recently, driving him to Murugan withdraw all books, short stories and poetry he has written so far. In mid-January, he wrote on his Facebook page: "Author Perumal Murugan is dead. Only the teacher Perumal would be alive. People could have issues with my other books, that's why I've decided to withdraw them all...I shall pay due compensation to publishers..Don't indulge in protests and let me go." Murugan's drastic step followed protests against his book, 'Madhorubagan', by local groups who alleged that it defamed the town it is based in, and its women. The author, a university professor, had to leave his home town because of the protests.

Chennai: Amid the growing clamour for his son M K Stalin to take over the mantle from him, DMK chief M Karunanidhi said he did not wish to become chief minister again. Karunanidhi had served five tenures as chief minister since 1969. His admission comes close on the heels of PMK leader S Ramadoss announcing his son, Anbumani Ramadoss, as chief ministerial candidate of the party for the 2016 assembly elections. The DMK patriarch has had a six-decade long political career. "The speakers before me said I should become chief minister for the sixth term. I do not wish to do so. I am not driven by that desire any more. My desire is to ensure that the party is protected from rivals," he said, participating in the birthday celebrations organized by the district unit for Stalin, who turns 62 on March 1. The 91-year-old leader

was elected party chief for the 12th term in a row at the recent general council meeting amid growing demands for elevating Stalin in the party hierarchy. Even as the feud between his sons, M K Alagiri and Stalin, continued to pose a threat to the party's unity, the nonagenarian leader asserted his position and kept the power struggle at bay. While Alagiri was expelled from the party in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections on charges of anti-party activities, Stalin was re-elected treasurer for a second term in January. "Till the last cadre remains, we will not concede an inch to rivals," Karunanidhi said, exhorting leaders and workers to protect the party for the welfare of society and for their own sake. The members should realize that the party was working for the betterment of socially and economically weaker sections, he said.

Chandigarh: Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention to include the state in India's flagship ’Digital India’ programme. Badal urged Narendra Modi and Parkash the Prime Minister to Singh Badal fund the state governbring paradigm shift in citiment’s ambitious prozen service delivery and gramme for establishing Government functioning. 2,174 Unified Citizen The state has been a Service Delivery Centres at front-runner in implementa cost of nearly Rs 5.50 biling various Mission Mode lion under integrated Projects under National eapproach towards eGovernance Plan-eGovernance, according to District, State Service an official statement. Delivery Gateway, State The Digital India proWide Area Network and gramme includes projects State Data Centre, the that aim to ensure that govstatement said. ernment services are availIn order to provide able to citizens electronicalbroadband connectivity to ly and people get benefit of more than 12,000 gram the latest information and panchayats of the state communication technology. under National Optical In a letter to the Prime Fiber Network (NOFN) Minister, Badal shared his Project, Punjab has already view with the former saying approved free Right of Way Punjab is emerging as one to implement the project in of the leaders in implementhe state at a faster pace, tation of e-Governance inithe Chief Minister said in tiatives in every sphere of his letter. governance in order to

Amritsar: An American woman was arrested at the Amritsar airport after 25 live cartridges were allegedly recovered from her baggage during checking, police said. The woman identified as Manjita Kaur Dhillon (52), whose grandparents hailed from Punjab, was arrested at Guru Ram Das International Airport here when she was preparing to board a Jet Airways flight to Delhi, they said. Confirming the arrest of the woman, Airport police station in charge Mohan Singh said that Kaur was nabbed after 25 live imported cartridges were recovered from her baggage during frisking by the Immigration Authority at the Airport. Singh said the American Embassy had been informed about the development. He said on being questioned about the recovery of live cartridges in her luggage, the woman expressed

Another Tamil author attacked

Chennai: Last month, Tamil author Perumal Murugan's self-proclaimed "death" following protests against his books spurred a debate about freedom of expression. Now another author has Perumal been attacked in Tamil Nadu's Karur by activists who allege that his book has portrayed their community in poor light. Pulliyur Murugesan's book, a collection of short stories, has upset members of the Kongu Vellalar community, who have demanded a ban on it. The short story in question of the book 'Balachandran Enra Peyarum Enakkundu,' sources close to the author say is on the plight of transgenders. The police have arrested seven people for the attack on Murugesan. The protesters allegedly also damaged buses. The author is now in hospital but he is not seriously injured, say the

Include Punjab in ‘Digital India’ programme: Badal

No desire to become CM again: Karunanidhi

US woman arrested with 25 live bullets

South Brief

AIADMK to counter DMK with youth resurgence rallies

Chennai: In a bid to counter arch rival DMK which is harping on youth mantra, ruling AIADMK said that it would hold massive youth resurgence rallies across Tamil Nadu on March 7. AIADMK chief Jayalalaithaa has directed party MLAs and MPs to participate in the rallies and asked youth functionaries to coordinate with all other party wings and hold rallies in their respective areas to make it a big success. Party youth wings or "camps" as it is called in Tamil "Ilangyar Pasarai" and "Ilampengal Pasarai" for men and women were founded on March 7, 2008 by Jayalalithaa when it was the main opposition party to infuse new blood and rejuvenate it.

Singapore diplomat to advise AP govt

Singapore: The Singapore government has named Gopinath Pillai, Ambassador- at- large as special envoy to Andhra Pradesh to advise the state government on various issues pertaining to capital region development, including capital mobilisation and tourism. This was announced by Singapore Minister for Law and Foreign Affairs K Shanmugam at a joint media conference he addressed along with chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

School student punished for wearing 'tilak' on her birthday

Secunderabad: An 11-year-old girl in Telangana was allegedly made to stand for two hours outside her school principal's room as punishment for wearing a "tilak" on her birthday. The child, a student of St Ann School in Tarnaka area of Secunderabad was so badly affected by the incident that she refused to go to school for a few days, her parents have complained to the state human rights commission. The school principal allegedly refused to listen to the explanation of the girl's mother.

North Brief

Haryana raises cash reward for inter-caste marriages

Chandigarh: The Haryana government said it had decided to raise the cash reward under the inter-caste marriage scheme from Rs 50,000 to 100,000. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said with the hike in the reward money, the number of inter-caste marriages would go up and help in removing caste discrimination. He said that such assistance should be provided through bank accounts under the Pradhanmantri Jan-Dhan Yojana. Reviewing the implementation of provisions of SC/ST Act, the Chief Minister said the meetings of district level vigilance and monitoring committees should be held on schedule, and directions in this regard should be issued to Deputy Commissioners.

SAD, BJP to have three mayors each in Punjab

ignorance. “Investigation is under progress as to how cartridges were smuggled inside the airport,” he said. Singh also said that the woman passenger was repeatedly asked to produce any legal documents or weapon license but she insisted that the bullets did not belong to her and she had no knowledge as to how the bullets made her way into her luggage. He said that Kaur, against whom a case would be slapped under the provisions of the Arms Act besides under other provisions of the law, had come to Amritsar from Chandigarh via Nawanshehr to board Jet Airways flight for Delhi.

Ludhiana: Ruling SAD-BJP alliance have decided to nominate three mayors each for the six Municipal Corporations (MCs) of Punjab. Punjab BJP chief Kamal Sharma said the mayors for Pathankot, Hoshiarpur and Phagwara Municipal Corporations will be from the saffron party, while SAD's mayor will be from Mohali, Bathinda and Moga. On the victory of the alliance in the civic polls, Sharma said that the people of the state had voted for development, peace and communal harmony. He said that "by and large the Akali-BJP alliance had worked well except a couple of places, including Tarn Tarn".

Hardliner Sikh taken into preventive custody

Ludhiana: A hardliner Sikh who had been sitting on an indefinite fast here for the past nearly 40 days demanding release of 82 prisoners, including some terrorists lodged in various jails of Punjab, was taken into preventive custody by police. "Surat Singh Khalsa (70) was taken into preventive custody," Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, Ludhiana, Mukhwinder Singh said, adding that while his son Ravinder Singh who arrived here from Chicago, America was rounded up for questioning.