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Wednesday, September 07, 2016
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NEWS brief LDF Government Aims To Make Kerala Zero-Homeless State
Thiruvananthapuram: The CPI(M)-led Kerala government, which completed 100 days in office, has envisaged a complete rehabilitation package for the homeless and landless in the next five years through a comprehensive Contd on page 5
'Sink Or Die', Buyers Need To Be Paid Back: Supreme Court To Supertech
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday gave a stern message to Supertech asking it to return money to investors, saying it was not concerned whether the real estate major "sinks or dies". Contd on page 5
Are Authorities Ready To Counter A Tsunami? India Will Find Out
New Delhi: India's costal belt is gearing up for one of the most extensive tsunami mock drills which will simulate a series of massive, life-threatening tsunamis rushing through the Indian Ocean. Altogether, 23 nations on the Indian Contd on page 5
Price. Rs.4.50
I Too Wanted To Expose AAP's Delhi Leadership: Sucha Singh Chhotepur
Kharsatiya Village, Uttar Pradesh: Ahead of the strategically crucial Uttar Pradesh election, the government is prepping to update affirmative action policies to address the job crisis confronted by Other Backward Classes or OBCs. "The ministry is considering a proposal from the National Commission for Backward Classes and will announce the new creamy layer or cut-off level within a couple of months," said Thaawar Chand Gehlot, the Social Justice Minister. Uttar Pradesh has to vote no later than March. Backward classes are the dominant force in virtually all of the 403 constituencies. 22.5% of government jobs and places in statefunded educational institutions are allocated to the 'Scheduled Castes' -- mostly former untouchables -- and tribal groups. In 1993, the Supreme Court set aside a further 27 percent of government jobs for other lower and disadvan-
PM Narendra Modi Looks Forward To Pakistan Visit, Says Indian Envoy New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is looking forward to visiting Pakistan in November for the SAARC Summit, India's High Commissioner said in comments published on Tuesday. Gautam Bambawale, however, stressed that this is the position "as of today" and he does not know how the situation will develop in
the coming days. "I can't say about the future but as of today Prime Minister Modi is looking forward to visiting Islamabad for the SAARC summit in November," Mr Bambawale said at an event in Karachi on Monday. Top officials in Delhi have said that no final decision has been taken yet on the Prime Contd on page 5
an hour before the event, invite for which was received and accepted by him a couple of weeks ago", sources said. The organisers did not give a reason immediately for the cancellation. However, the Indian officials feel that Mr Bambawale's comments on Monday on Pakistan's interference in Kashmir "rattled the Contd on page 5
minister Shashi Tharoor has alleged that BJP is trying to "hijack" Indian history for political purposes and said that the Congress will not let it reduce the country to a "Hindu Pakistan". "We will not let them run away with the history or hijack it for their political purposes. We are not going to let BJP reduce India to a Hindu Pakistan," he said in his speech on "rewriting history and redefining nationalism". He alleged that the new ruling doctrine in the country has sought to redefine Indian nationalism in "more sectarian terms". "BJP stood aside from the freedom struggle and sometimes actively collaborated with the colonial rulers. They,
at one time they were on the wrong side of the history, want us to believe that they are the true nationalists of India," he said. "BJP is appropriating the heroes of the Indian independence," he alleged. Mr Tharoor said: "In the run up to the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, comparisons were drawn between Narendra Modi and the country's first Home Minister Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel. This showed a lack of understanding of history." "It took (then chief minister) Modi threefour days to take action in the 2002 post-Godhra riots but during the 1947 riots, Sardar Patel took prompt measures to Contd on page 5
Government May Review High Security To Separatists: Sources New Delhi: The government will review facilities, including top security, provided to Kashmir separatists, in follow-up action to the visit to Jammu and Kashmir of an all-party delegation of Parliamentarians. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who had led the delegation, briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi this morning and later in the evening met top leaders of the BJP, including party chief Amit Shah and Finance Minster Arun Jaitley.
National
Ex-Congress Leader Jagmeet Singh Brar Extends Support To AAP In Punjab
With Job Crisis Among Key Voters (OBCs), Government Preps New Rules
Pak Commerce Body Snubs Indian Congress Will Not Let BJP Reduce India To A 'Hindu Envoy Gautam Bambawale, Pakistan': Shashi Tharoor Cancels Karachi Event Jaipur: Former Union instead of accepting that
Karachi: The Karachi Chamber of Commerce today cancelled an event of Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Gautam Bambawale at the last minute apparently over his remarks on Pakistan's interference in Kashmir. Mr Bambawale, who is on his first visit to Karachi after assuming charge in January this year, was told about the cancellation "just half
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After the meet, Ram Madhav, BJP's key interlocutor for Jammu and Kashmir, said that a blueprint of action is being drawn and it will be discussed at the all-
party meet tomorrow. The government, said sources, is contemplating a crackdown after the members of the Hurriyat Conference snubbed individual
members of the allparty delegation who tried to talk to them in Srinagar on Sunday. They had also rejected an invitation for dialogue sent by BJP ally Mehbooba Mufti - not as Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, but as chief of the People's Democratic Party, emphasised Rajnath Singh, who has described the separatists' conduct as "neither Kashmiriyat nor Insaniyat (humanity)." Sources said the govContd on page 5
taged castes, known as "Other Backward Classes" (OBCs). But the court also provided a rider - that those who cross an annual income benchmark will be considered part of "a creamy layer" and will not qualify for affirmative action policies. The Supreme Court said that the creamy layer must be reviewed by the government every three years; but in the last two decades, it has been revised only thrice, most recently in Contd on page 5
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International
Multi-Million Dollar Book Contracts Could Await The Obamas
Arwind Kejriwal 'Non-Resident' Chief Minister? That Tag's Taken, Says AAP
New Delhi: Before Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal goes to Bengaluru this week for a throat surgery to cure a chronic cough, he will head to Punjab, where his Aam Aadmi Party has been besieged by trouble ahead of assembly elections due early next year. In a video that AAP said was addressed to Punjab's youth, recorded in Italy where he attended the canonisation of Mother Teresa, Mr Kejriwal said he would be back in Punjab soon after his surgery and promised that he would handle all election matters himself. "Don't worry, I will throw out the wrong people from the party," he said. His aides have rejected the tag of "non-resident Chief Minister" that political rivals say applies to Mr Kejriwal because of his increasing absence from Delhi for party matters in states where elections will be held next year. "This should be used for the PM not our CM," said an indignant AAP leader Dilip Pandey, who also added, "People have faith in Kejriwal
and he enforces a kind of belief that draws people, so he is bound to lead us in all states that we contest. And Goa and Punjab are no different. Mr Kejriwal will reach Bengaluru on September 12 and will be operated upon the next day at the Narayana Hospital. He will recuperate in Bengaluru for 10 days before returning to PUNJAB on September 22. Tomorrow, he goes to Punjab for three days to oversee selection of candidates amid allegations of corruption in AAP's distribution of election ticket that led to the party sacking its Punjab chief Sucha Singh Chhotepur. As it grapples with rebellion against that
They Came To See Rahul Gandhi, Left With Cots. 2,000 Of Them Deoria, Uttar Pradesh: It was the khatiyas or cots that were most in demand at Rahul Gandhi's "khaat sabha" in a village in east Uttar Pradesh today. The Congress vice president's meeting with farmers and an address to them had barely ended, when locals were seen walking away with the brand new cots that had been laid out by his party. About 2,000 of them. It began with a raid of eatables and bottled water stored in a tent. A few people then picked up some cots and the crowds followed. Soon, only a few cots made of
iron were left on the vast ground - they were too heavy to lift. The khaat sabha - an innovative take on village meetings where elders deliberate on important matters seated on cots fashioned out of rope and wood marked the beginning of
School Children Run Risk Of Backaches And Hunchbacks Kolkata: Thanks to the load of books in their bags as much as 68 per cent of school children in the age group of 7-13 years face the risk of backaches and even hunchbacks. A recent survey conducted by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) under its Healthcare Committee has found that 68 per cent of school children under the age of 13 years across India may suffer from mild back pain, which can develop into chronic pain and later into hunchback. The survey noted that over 88 per cent of children in the age group of 7-13 years carry more than 45 per cent of their weight on their backs
including art kit, skates, taekwondo equipment, a swim bag, cricket kit every alternate day leading to serious spinal damage and irreversible back problems. "Early slip disc, spondylitis, spondylolisthesis, persistent back aches, early degeneration of spine and postural scoliosis are some of the problems that these children face," chairman of Assocham's health committee B K Rao said. As per the Children's School Bag Act 2006, a schoolbag should not weigh more than 10 per cent of a child's weight. The law also stipulates that nursery and kindergarten students should carry no schoolbag and Contd on page 5
Mr Gandhi's farmerfocused month-long yatra or tour of UP, where crucial elections will be held early next year. Mr Gandhi began his campaign predictably with an attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi Contd on page 5
decision, an AAP lawmaker has accused party leaders of exploiting women who want to contest the Punjab election. AAP has already announced 32 candidates for Punjab's 117 assembly seats. Mr Kejriwal will now personally scrutinise them to rule out people with dubious antecedents, stung by the sex scandal that has rocked his government in Delhi. "We will cancel ticket even a day before elections if we find anything against the candidate," vowed Mr Pandey. Last week, Mr Kejriwal sacked his minister for woman and child development Sandeep Kumar over a sex video that went public. Since then, Mr Contd on page 5
India's Borders Need Larger Attention, Investment: J&K Governor
New Delhi: India's borders need much larger investment and attention, Jammu and Kashmir Governor NN Vohra said today as he batted for "smart border management" for people living along these areas. Speaking at a conference on 'Homeland Security, Smart Border Management' organised by FICCI in New Delhi, he said such management was required for a state like Jammu and Kashmir which faces proxy war and infiltration attempts round the Contd on page 5
Hopes From Arvind Kejriwal Over, Says Anna Hazare In Jab At AAP Controversies
New Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal avoided media questions today on his former mentor Anna Hazare's trenchant comments on Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders wading into controversies. Mr Hazare's words in a TV interview on Monday nettled AAP at a time it is dealing with an embarrassing sex scandal that led to the sacking of a minister,
Sandeep Kumar, and also allegations that its leaders are taking bribe and exploiting women in election-bound Punjab. "The hope with which I was looking at him is over," remarked the social activist who worked with Mr Kejriwal on the 2011 campaign for a Lokpal or anti-corruption ombudsman that caught Contd on page 5