Tag: thesamikhsya

Prime Minister Modi made a scathing attack on the opposition unity calling it a ‘maha millavat mahagathbandhan’ and laughed at the effort to succeed in uprooting his government. He retorted at the allegation replying on Thursday  on the motion on vote of thanks on President’s address, that crores of jobs were created in informal and formal sectors.

Supreme Court on Thursday asked the former interim Director of CBI to be personally present in the Court on February 12 to explain why the CBI officer heading the probe in the case, AK Sharma, was transferred without the leave of the court in connection with the alleged Bihar shelter home cases.

A bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi, said that the former CBI interim director M Nageswara Rao had, seemed prima facie, committed the contempt of court for shifting CBI officer A K Sharma from Muzaffarpur shelter home rape case without taking court approval.

The top court also directed Bashu Ram who is incharge of Director Prosecution in CBI to appear before it. It directs CBI director to give a list of other officers who processed the file to transfer A K Sharma and directs all of them to appear before it on Tuesday.

“Enough is enough. We are going to ask some question if you (counsel of Bihar) are not aware, we will ask Bihar Chief Secretary to appear before us,” CJI Gogoi said after hearing the Muzaffarpur shelter home case.(UNI

Visiting UNHCR special envoy Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie met Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the latter’s official residence Ganabhaban in Dhaka and appreciated Hasina’s government for giving shelter to the Rohingya refugees.

Jolie made the remarks when she paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at

Ganobhaban in Dhaka on Wednesday night.

Prime Minister’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed reporters after the meeting.

Angeline Jolie said, leaders like Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina are a very few in the

world at this moment.

The UN Special Envoy said that huge number of Rohingyas have created serious burden for Bangladesh and it is a very tough task to manage such a big population in shelter camps.

She assured that the UN, UNHCR and the World Bank will work together to lessen pressure on Bangladesh.

Angeline Jolie put emphasis on creating a congenial atmosphere for repatriation of the Myanmar Nationals now staying at refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar.

Jolie expressed concern about the future of Rohingya children saying their future is being destroyed although Bangladesh is trying to cooperate for their education, healthcare and other issues.

She added that she heard about recent incidents of torture and killing of the Rohingya women at Rakhaine state of Myanmar.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister welcomed the UN special envoy’s remark stating the Rohingya crisis must be resolved.

The premier said Myanmar is Bangladesh’s next door neighbour and an agreement has been signed with the country for repatriation of its nationals.

PM Sheikh Hasina, however, expressed her disappointment over delaying of implementation of the agreement.

The Prime Minister said, nearly 11 lakh Rohingyas were given shelter in Bangladesh, while some 40 thousand new babies were so far born at the shelter camps.

Referring to her government’s initiative of relocating the Rohingyas, the prime minister said, over one lakh refugees would get temporary shelter with better living condition there.

In this regard, she described the bitter experience of the people of Bangladesh in 1971 when over 10 million people took shelter in neighbouring India.

Premier Sheikh Hasina also described the moments of her life when she along with members of the Bangabandhu family including her mother was in a state of house-arrest in 1971 as well as her life in exile for more than six years after the brutal assassination of Bangabandhu in 1975.

The UN Special Envoy Angeline Jolie expressed her grief over listening to the painful stories from the Prime Minister.

Radwan Mujib Siddiq Boby, nephew of the Prime Minister and Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary Nojibur Rahman were present during the meeting.

In a scathing attack at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday called him a ‘darpok’ (coward) and challenged the Prime Minister for a debate with him on issues like national security and Rafale fighter jet deal.

Addressing a gathering of party’s minority cells from across the country, the Congress president said if the BJP has any courage, they should make Mr Modi stand with him on the stage for a debate.

“When you watch Mr. Modi’s face today, you can see fear. He has realised that by dividing the nation he cannot govern the country, and people will remove him, if he does. I challenge the BJP, let Narendra Modi ji debate with me for 10 minutes on stage. He is scared, he is a ‘darpok’ person,’ Mr Gandhi said.

Alleging that the RSS is trying to capture all the institutions of the country, Mr Gandhi said that Congress governments in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan will remove the persons who have association with the right wing organsation, from the system.

“The institutions of this country are not owned by any political party. They are this country’s institutions and it is the responsibility of political parties to protect them”, said Congress president and pointed out that four Supreme Court judges came out and said that they are not being allowed to work.

“The Judges had mentioned Justice Loya’s case too. This indicates that BJP president Amit Shah is not allowing Supreme Court to function,” the Congress president alleged.

Taking on the ruling dispensation, Mr Gandhi said the RSS and the BJP are thinking that they are above the country.

“The institutions in India do not belong to any party. They belong to the country, and to protect them is our responsibility, be it Congress or any other party. They(BJP) think they are above the nation. In three months, this country will explain it to them that this country is above them,” Mr Gandhi said.

Criticising the Modi government for its policies, the Congress president asked “what did the BJP do in last five years? Demonetisation has destroyed the country and brought down the GDP by two percentages. Then they implemented the ‘Gabbar Singh Tax’ and badly affected the poor and the middle class”.

Referring to the Doklam incident, Mr Gandhi said Mr Modi went to Beijing and had a dialogue with Chinese government without any agenda.

“Chinese government realised that Mr. 56 inch is not even four inches. This is Mr. Modi’s character. He bowed down to China on the Doklam issue”, he alleged.

Mr Gandhi reiterated that once the Congress forms the government at Centre, it will ensure that the country’s poor will get minimum income .(UNI)

K T S Tulsi, the lawyer of industrialist and brother-in-law of Congress president Rahul Gandhi Robert vadra on Thursday charged the Enforcement Directorate (ED) of leaking information in the case of alleged money laundering case.

Talking to reporters outside ED’s office , Mr Tulsi said, “First principle of any investigation is that it’s confidential. But ED here is leaking information as they know they’ve nothing to be investigated. They are calling people only to bring bad name to them.”

The ED on Wednesday questioned Congress’ President Rahul Gandhi’s brother-in-law Mr Vadra for over six hours in connection with the case while on Thursday he was grilled for over two hours.

On Wednesday, he was accompanied by his wife and newly appointed Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to the ED office in the national capital.

The ED case against Vadra relates to allegations of money laundering in the purchase of a London-based property located at 12, Bryanston Square worth 1.9 million GBP (British pounds), which is allegedly owned by him.

Actor Pankaj Tripathi will play PR Man Singh, the team’s manager in Kabir Khan’s biographical drama ‘83’, based on India’s 1983 cricket World Cup victory.

Pankaj Tripathi talking about the role and the director Kabir Khan says that he was always inspired and impressed by Kabir’s films.

“He is one of my favourite directors and we met a couple of times but never got an opportunity to work together. Then one day, he called me to narrate the story of ‘83’ and at certain points, it made me tear up,” Pankaj reminisces.

Pankaj admits that he had not watched the final match in which dark horse India beat team West Indies by 43 runs at Lords.

Also, Pankaj used to listen to the cricket commentary on the radio as he didn’t have a TV set at that point.

“I must have been around eight or nine at the time but I did read about the win in the papers. It’s an inspiring story and I leapt at the opportunity to be a part of the film,”he added.

Ranveer Singh has already started prepping up to play former Indian skipper Kapil Dev.

Tracing the historic victory of 1983 world cup, Kabir Khan’s upcoming directorial will star Ranveer Singh as the former captain of the Indian Cricket Team Kapil Dev.

The film ’83 would be Ranveer Singh’s first trilingual film to be made in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

There has been immense excitement amongst the audience to witness the magnificent event to be recreated on the silver screen.

Earlier, the makers hosted an event to announce the film along with the entire former team that lifted the world cup in 83.

Directed by Kabir Khan, the sports film will bring to light one of the most important event in Indian cricket history.

The film will be shot at real locations and will be going on floors early next year.

Shouldered by the then captain Kapil Dev, who led the Indian cricket team to it’s maiden World Cup win, 1983’s World Cup stays to be one of the most etched events in the minds of the cricket fans.

While Ranveer Singh will play the lead, the film will be backed by a powerful support cast.

The casting of the other cricket players will be announced soon.

Presented by Reliance Entertainment and Produced by Madhu Mantena, Vishnu Induri and Kabir Khan, the film ’83 will release in 2020.(UNI)

The government is likely to roll out bids to set up solar power projects to tune of around 7,500 MW in Ladakh and Leh region with contentious issues getting nearly resolved at various levels, India Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) chairman K S Popli indicated.
Addressing a conference on “Renewable Energy – Challenges and Way Forward” under the aegis of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry here,  Popli also announced that IREDA’s total loan disbursal would reach around Rs 9,500 crore by end of current fiscal keeping in view the focus of the government for harnessing the potential of non-renewable, largely solar and the enthusiasm that follow for commissioning of such projects.
“We at IREDA are of the view that the loan disbursal for the non-renewable projects and particularly solar plants will witness a hike of 30 per cent by the end of next fiscal which could be estimated at around Rs 12,350 crore,”   Popli said, adding that IREDA would source the disbursal funds from various multilateral agencies including domestic financial institutions at relaxed rates.
Another important milestone that the Agency would be embarking on is to aggressively fund for “solarisation of diesel agri pumps” across the country with multiple socio economic objectives.
According to him, there are roughly 3 crores of diesel pumps currently in operation for agriculture purposes of which 27 lakh pumps are required to be initially solarised and the IREDA would undertake the task of funding such conversion without disclosing any timeframe for it.
Elaborating on the bid process for 7,500 mw of solar power projects in Ladakh and Leh region,  Popli indicated that the Ministry would finalise the bidding process for these power plants with or without subsidy as more clarity has emerged on such power projects.(UNI)

Trinamool Congress on Thursday fielded its Member Dinesh Trivedi, a native of Gujarat — to speak in the Motion of Thanks to President’ Address, who said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was behaving like a Mughal emperor.
”Do hazar Uneesh, BJP finish (BJP will be finished in 2019),” said   Dwivedi who was Railway Minister in the UPA II regime.
Castigating the government for failures in multiple fronts, he specially made a mention of demonetisation decision of Prime Minister Modi and said various survey reports and analysis by economists have shown that the move was a failure.
He said the MSME suffered a lot during the last four-and-a-half years and many people were rendered jobless due to noteban.
The country experienced highest rate of joblessness under this government, he accused.
At least 3.5 million people lost their jobs due to demonetisation imposed by the government in 2016, he said.
Mr Trivedi said the joblessness is so alarming that the graduates have started to apply for jobs of sweepers.
Mr Trivedi maintained that most of the remarks made by Congress floor leader Mallikarjun Kharge during the debate had merits and endorsement of the Opposition parties as the government of the day stands exposed.
In this context, Mr Trivedi in a lighter vein said ”Kharge ki speech se itne demoralise ho gaye ki Pradhan Mantri chale gaye (Prime Minister was demoralised listening to Mr Kharge’s speech and he left the House)”.
The Member from Barrackpur (West Bengal) said he was unable to understand the claim made by the government time and again that prior to 2014, the country was passing through uncertainty.
Was there no government, no Parliament or no Constitution, he remarked.
Toeing the party line, he said the democracy is in danger in the country as various institutions with constitutional validity have been compromised.
”In this context, I can cite Parliament itself as several bills have been bulldozed, ” he said in reference to Ordinance route chosen by the government in various legislative measures.

(UNI) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Jai Ram Thakur today stated in the House that around Rs 2.31 crore were spent by the state on ‘Janabhar’ rally organised on the one year completion of state government held on Dec. 27, 2018.
In a written reply to a question by Congress member from Kinnaur, Mr. Jagat Singh Negi during Question Hour, the Chief Minister said 441 state transport buses and 63 private buses were hired for the Jan Abhar rally. He said no school bus was hired for the rally held at Police ground Dharamshala.
In another reply to a question by leader of opposition, Mr. Mukesh Agnihotri, the Chief Minister told the House that in all 199 persons were declared state guests from Jan 1, 2018 to Jan 15, 2019, which involved an expenditure of Rs 2.01 crore from public coffers. 

Information and Broadcasting Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore said India’s radio signals have got more reach in Pakistan than signals reaching here from the neighbouring country, Information and Broadcasting Minister Rajvardhan Rathore said on Thursday.

‘Under an International treaty, signals cannot be stopped, so Pakistani signals are reaching here, but our signals are reaching the neighbouring country more than their reaching here,’ Mr Rathore said responding to supplementaries during Question Hour.

To another question, he said as many as 221 Programme Executives in All India Radio have been given promotions in 2018 although the execution is pending, he said.

‘The Departmental Promotion Committee is not sitting on any promotions. A total 221 promotions have been made in 2018,’ he said.

No promotions were made since 1990 because the matter was stuck in courts, but now the promotions were done during the NDA regime , although their execution was pending, Col Rathore said.

Through Direct To Home (DTH), the whole country was covered, so AIR channels can be accessed through internet, the Minister said, adding that people can hear programmes of their choice on their mobile phones.

Mr Rathore also said radio signals covered 99.2 per cent of the country’s population.

To another supplementary, Col Rathore emphasised that mandate of Prasar Bharti, All India Radio and Doordarshan was to provide quality programmes with emphasis on promoting and conserving country’s culture and traditions rather than generating revenue, as done by private channels.

As regards Private FM Radio channels, 137 new private FM radio channels have been operationised in the country during past four years and current year, he said.

He also said,’We are closing down Analogue transmitters, as we are digitising the system which will provide better clarity as well as give 10 channels,’ the Minister said, adding that most people have got set top boxes and DTH can be used for receiving better transmissions.

He pointed out that the government is collaborating with private channels to give better service to people. (UNI)

The Congress on Thursday flayed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government for making use of customary Presidential address to the Joint Sitting of Parliament as a means to draw political mileage.

“Aap dusro ko mante hi nahi (You hardly bother about others and their views),” Congress floor leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said participating in the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address delivered on January 31.

He said to draw political mileage through President’s address was not in ‘good taste (Yeh shobha nahi deta)’.

“Trying to draw a comparison between what your government has done and what we did in 10 years was uncalled for,”   Kharge remarked.

It appears the President was made to speak what Prime Minister keeps repeating on every given occasion.

“It appears the Presidential speech was aimed at trying to save the falling reputation of the Modi government ,”   Kharge said in presence of Prime Minister.

The debate on Motion of Thanks was taken by the Lok Sabha on Tuesday and is likely to end on Thursday with reply from  Modi.

The highly controversial The Citizenship Amendment Bill should not be passed by Parliament, Congress lawmaker in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi said here on Thursday and maintained that the draft law is “unconstitutional” and seeks to violate the sanctity of the Assam Accord and the provisions of the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
“The sanctity of the Assam Accord should be upheld,”   Gogoi, who represents Kaliabor parliamentary seat in Assam, said during Zero Hour.
He said the Supreme Court has already expressed ‘unhappiness’ over the manner the government is delaying the effective implementation of the NRC provisions.
He said huge amount of money has been already spent in the initial exercise but still a large number of ‘genuine citizens’ are to get their names enrolled in the NRC.
In the light of emerging situations,   Gogoi suggested that the government should take adequate steps to ensure effective implementation of the NRC provisions in Assam.
The BJP-led NDA dispensation has been trying to push for the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Bill in the Rajya Sabha and reportedly reached out to parties like Samajwadi Party, BSP and also Trinamool Congress.
The BJP, which has 73 members in Rajya Sabha, has been apparently assured of support of 9 members from Biju Janata Dal, besides AIADMK (13), TRS (6), YSR Congress (2) and nominated (4) in favour of the Bill.
Several NDA partners have opposed the Bill and AGP in Assam has already walked out of the alliance.
Despite acrimonious relations with Trinamool, Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his West Bengal visit told a gathering at Thakurnagar that even Mamata Banerjee’s outfit should support the contentious bill in the Upper House.
Trinamool has 13 members and Congress 50.
The Citizenship Amendment Bill, which has got the nod from Lok Sabha may be taken up in the Rajya Sabha for consideration and passing next week – February 12 or 13.
In his January 31 address to the Joint Sitting of Parliament, President Ram Nath Kovind said categorically that those people who were ‘compelled’ to seek refuge in India cannot be blamed and clubbed with infiltrators since they were victims of circumstances.
“These people cannot be blamed since they were victims of circumstances,” said the Presidential address giving a clear indication of the NDA government was not at all willing to shelve The Citizenship Amendment Bill.

Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) on Wednesday announced that the company for the quarter ending December 2018 registered an overall sales volume growth of 12 per cent over the corresponding quarter in the last fiscal.
IGL is the supplier of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Piped Natural Gas (PNG) in the National Capital Territory of Delhi, Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Rewari & Gurugram.
As per the unaudited Q3 results the average daily sale increased from 5.26 mmscmd to 5.91 mmscmd.
It was stated that product wise, CNG recorded sales volume growth of 13 per cent, while PNG recorded sales volume growth of 10 pc in the quarter as compared to last year.
The total gross sales value during the quarter has increased by 28 pc to Rs 1661 crore as compared to Rs 1294 crore during the third quarter of FY’18.
The net profit for the quarter ending December 2018 including other comprehensive income for the
quarter, has increased by 19 pc to Rs 197.94 crore in FY’18 as compared to Rs. 165.65
in corresponding period in the last fiscal.
“These are standalone results for IGL only and do not include profits accruing from associate companies,” stated the release.(UNI)

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday lowered the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25 per cent with immediate effect.

In the final monetary policy review of the current fiscal, the six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) committee, headed by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, lowered the rate in 4-2 vote.

Following lowering of the Repo rates, the reverse repo rate under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility stands adjusted to 6.0 per cent, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 6.5 per cent.

Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has changed its stance to Neutral. Earlier, the MPC changed its stance to calibrated tightening in the meeting held on October 2018. The same stance was maintained in MPC meet of December 2018.

The apex Bank had cut rates in August of 2017.

And during this financial year, RBI has kept the rates unchanged in the last two monetary policy announcements held in October and December 2018, and hiked the rates twice in June.

The decision to change the monetary policy stance was unanimous.

As regards the reduction in the policy repo rate, Dr Ravindra H Dholakia, Dr Pami Dua, Dr Michael Debabrata Patra and Shri Shaktikanta Das voted in favour of the decision. Dr Chetan Ghate and Dr Viral V Acharya voted to keep the policy rate unchanged.

The MPC reiterates its commitment to achieving the medium-term target for headline inflation of 4 per cent on a durable basis. The minutes of the MPC’s meeting will be published by February 21, 2019.

The next meeting of the MPC is scheduled from April 2 to 4, 2019.(UNI)

Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, turned white on Thursday due to fresh snowfall since last night, resulting in chilly weather conditions, disrupting normal life.

Roof and tree tops, electric lines and poles besides open fields and roads were under a blanket of white powder as people woke up in Srinagar and adjoining areas this morning.

People enjoyed snowfall from windowpanes of their homes.

People alleged that till 0800 hrs, no snow clearance operation was started in the city. Snow has not been cleared from main roads one can imagine the condition of inner road, alleged Abdul Rashid, a resident of Natipora.

Similar reports were also received from Rajbagh, Dalgate, Radio Kashmir and Batmaloo. The roads have become very slippery and people were finding it difficult to drive. There was hardly any passenger vehicle visible on the roads and some people could be seen covering the distance to their destination on foot over several inches of snow. A number of vehicles could be seen abandoned on the roads due to slippery road condition.

Attendance in the tuition and coaching centres was also very less due to snow.

Interestingly, locals and tourists could be seen enjoying snowfall on the banks of Dal Lake since this morning despite cold. They were seen taking selfies and photographs.

A Met department said there is possibility of fresh rain and snow in Srinagar today. He said the minimum temperature in Srinagar was minus 1 degree. The day will become more colder today in the city, where the maximum temperature yesterday was 3 degree, 6.2 notches below normal.

In order to achieve the objectives of Agriculture Export Policy, clusters have been identified across the country for development of exports.
In Maharashtra, six clusters have been identified for grapes, mango, pomegranate, banana, oranges and onion.
For successful implementation, Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and co-operatives should be linked with the farmers and exporters. Required infrastructure needs to be provided in these clusters and use of latest technology in agriculture has to be adopted.
The Indian Institute of Packaging has been roped in for working on packaging standards for international markets in order to increase the demand for the identified products, officials said.
The Ministry is making all out efforts to implement the first ever Agriculture Export Policy announced in December, 2018 and meetings of stakeholders and workshops with farmers are being held.
Recently, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu, addressed a workshop with farmers in Pune.
Many countries in the Middle East region are ready to invest in facilities like cold chain and warehousing in India for import of agro and processed food products by them.
State Governments have a very important role in implementation of the agri export policy. The main aim of the policy is to reach farmers at grass-root level and double their income for achieving the overall objective of the policy.
”In India, agriculture and horticulture production is around 600 million tonnes per year. About 30 per cent of fresh horticulture produce goes waste and there is an urgent need to strengthen the supply chain to avoid the losses. India’s agri produce should not be confined to the country and for that, international markets need to be explored. Adherence to quality standards and health standards at the production level itself have to be followed,” they said.
As part of the Policy, shrimps, meat, basmati and non-basmati rice, grapes, bananas, pomegranate, vegetables including potatoes, processed / value added products, cashew, plant parts/medicinal herbs in value added form, including herbal medicines, food based nutraceuticals, aromatics, spices (cumin, turmeric, pepper), ethnic & organic food have been identified as potential winning sectors. Most of the products / clusters are already aligned with this objective.
Emphasis has been given on processing, and value addition in the policy through workshops synergy amongst all relevant stakeholders is expected to provide necessary boost in achieving higher exports of India’s high quality agri products.(UNI)

UK Prime Minister Theresa May will travel to Brussels on Thursday, where she will meet with President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker to discuss the United Kingdom’s divorce deal.

According to the prime minister’s representative, May will seek to negotiate alternative proposals for the provision on Irish border backstop, which has been the stumbling block in Brussels-London negotiations and prevented the draft withdrawal agreement from being passed by the UK parliament.

In January, the UK parliament rejected the draft withdrawal deal agreed by May and EU negotiators and later voted for an amendment urging a replacement to a controversial Irish border backstop. The European Union has repeatedly stressed that the draft agreement was not open for renegotiation. (UNI)

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party National President N Chandrababu Naidu asked his party cadre to register protest against the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the state on February 10.

The Chief Minister addressing party leaders through teleconference here on Thursday, said that he is coming to AP to address party meetings on February 10 and asked his leaders and activists to organize protests.

The Prime Minister failed to accord Special Category Status (SCS) to the state and fulfill other Reorganization Act assurances, he said.

Mr Naidu said that a massive dharna, christened as “Dharma Porata Deeksha” would be organized in New Delhi on February 11, in protest against the Central government’s denial of Special Category Status (SCS) and honouring some assurances of the AP Reorganisation Act 2014 provisions.

A host of National leaders would participate in the dharna, he said and asked his cadre to extend support to the ‘Dharma Porata Deeksha’ for making it a big success.

Taking a dig at the leader of the Opposition and YSRCP President Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, he said the YSRCP had plunged into a dilemma and embarrassment due to the enhancement of social security pensions by the government from Rs.1,000 to Rs.2000 and other schemes.

“The YSRCP has no ideology. Mr Reddy does not know how he should be “anna” (brother) to the women but he knows how a criminal should be, Mr Naidu said, adding the women in the state do not accept Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy as anna” pointing out to the latter’s conviction in corruption cases.

The Chief Minister asked the TDP activists to take the welfare schemes, being implemented by the government, to the people and extend help to them to reap benefits out of it.

He exhorted the TDP cadre to work in a coordinated manner for the victory of the party in the ensuing elections.(UNI)

Pandalam Royal family representative Sasikumar Varma has alleged that TDB, the administrative body of temples in Kerala, is not with the devotees.

The Government and the TDB are not with the devotees to protect customs and traditions, Varma said while reacting to TDB’s stand in Supreme Court which considered the review petitions on Sabarimala on Wednesday.

Earlier, TDB President A Padmakumar said TDB’s stand in SC to support women entry was not due to the pressure from the Left Government.

The TDB supported the September 28 SC verdict allowing the entry for women of all ages into Lord Ayyappa temple.

The TDB will not support gender discrimination even in religious matters and it also filed review petitions against the SC verdict, he added.

But, we asked the court allow more time to implement the order, he added.

Reacting to the incident, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said the Government was deliberately hurting the sentiments of Ayyappa devotees for political gain.

The TDB took the stand against devotees following pressure from the Government, he alleged.

BJP and Congress also criticised the TDB and the Government for their stand against devotees in SC.(UNI)