HT Correspondent, Bengaluru
Chief minister Bommai, who would complete five months in office in the next couple of
days, had turned emotional in his home town Shiggaon in Haveri district a few days ago and said he was aware of the fact that posts and positions were not forever, raising eyebrows. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Karnataka continues to go on overdrive to debunk speculation of a possible leadership change in the state or that the chief minister is travelling abroad when change is expected to happen. “Bommai is going to be the Chief Minister till the next election, which is 2023. There is no leadership change,” Nalin Kumar Kateel, the state BJP president, told reporters in Bengaluru on Saturday. The Chief Minister, who would complete five months in office in the next couple of days, had turned emotional in his home town Shiggaon in Haveri district a few days ago and said he was aware of the fact that posts and positions were not forever, raising eyebrows.
However, Kateel termed these talks of leadership change, a conspiracy. According to him, when senior BJP leader B S Yediyurappa became the chief minister, speculations started about his exit but he remained in power for two years.”This news (about Bommai’s exit) is a figment of imagination. I feel this is a conspiracy to create confusion, problem in the state politics and to defame the BJP government,” Kateel said.He suspected the involvement of Congress behind spreading the rumours. Kateel also ruled out Bommai going abroad for the treatment of his knee related ailment. “He is not going abroad. There is nothing wrong with his health but only some leg related issues for which he is getting treatment. He is healthy. His leg related problem will be cured here only,” Kateel said. He added that Bommai was supposed to go abroad from the government side, which has been postponed. Hence, the foreign trip has been cancelled. Union Minister for coal and mines Pralhad Joshi too dismissed the issue of leadership change. “I have made it clear several times that Basavaraj Bommai will remain as Chief Minister till 2023 and under his leadership, the government is performing well and bringing good name,” Joshi told reporters in Hubballi. He said it was wrong to spread such news as there was no issue of leadership change. “There is no leadership change. I am always in touch with our national level leaders regularly and I have good relationship with them. If such was the case, then certainly I would have come to know. There is no such proposal. He is doing a good job,” the union minister said. Ruling out Bommai’s foreign trip, Joshi said such speculations should not be given any credence. To a query on cabinet rejig, Joshi said there were no such discussions happening at the state and national level as of now.
Make Flex-Fuel Vehicles within 6 months in India: Nitin Gadkari
New Delhi, Dec 27: Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari
has said in order to substitute India’s import of petroleum as a fuel and to provide direct benefits to farmers, the Automobile Manufacturers in India have now been advised to start manufacturing Flex Fuel Vehicles (FFV) and Flex Fuel Strong Hybrid Electric Vehicles (FFV-SHEV) complying with BS-6 Norms in a time bound manner within a period of six months.
In a series of Tweets he said that in line with Prime Minister’s vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat and government’s policy on promoting ethanol as a transport fuel, Flex Fuel Vehicles are capable to run on a combination of 100% Petrol or 100% bio-ethanol and their blends, along with strong Hybrid Electric technology in case of FFV-SHEVs.
Gadkari said this move will drastically reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions from vehicles on a Well-to-Wheel basis, helping India to comply with its commitment made at COP26 to reduce the total projected carbon emissions by One Billion Tonnes by 2030. Government is enabling the use of various alternate fuels in an effort to shift from fossil fuels. In order to accelerate the introduction of Flex Fuel vehicles, the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme has included automobile & auto components and auto components of flex fuel engines. NITI Aayog, after acknowledging the strong foundation for the Ethanol blending programme (EBP), has formulated the road map for Ethanol blending for the period, 2020-2025.
PM Modi gets this ₹12-cr Mercedes-Maybach S650,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi now has the Mercedes-Maybach S650 armoured vehicle as a part of his convoy—upgraded from Range Rover Vogue and Toyota Land Cruiser.PM Modi was recently seen in the new Maybach 650 armoured first at Hyderabad House when he met Russian President Vladimir Putin on his short visit to India.
The vehicle was spotted again in the Prime Minister’s convoy recently. Mercedes-Maybach S650 Guard is the latest facelifted model with VR10 level protection— the highest-ever provided in a production car. According to reports, Mercedes-Maybach launched the S600 Guard in India last year for ₹10.5 crore and the S650 can cost more than ₹12 crore.The Special Protection Group or SPG, responsible for protecting the head of state of the country, usually submits the request for a new car. The SPG identifies security requirements and determines whether the person they are protecting needs a new vehicle. Since decoys are used, the SPG ask for the same model of vehicle.
Katrina Kaif wishes Salman Khan
Katrina Kaif wished Salman Khan on Monday on his 56th birthday with what appears to be a throwback picture of the actor and a special message. Taking to Instagram Stories, Katrina also added a ‘happy birthday’ sticker.Katrina Kaif posted a black and white photo of Salman Khan. Along with the picture, she wrote, “@beingsalmankhan the happiest birthday to you (white heart emoji).
May all the love light and brilliance you have be with you forever-.” Salman hosted a birthday bash at his Panvel farmhouse after he recovered from a snake bite recently. The birthday bash was attended by several celebrities including Saif Ali Khan’s son Ibrahim Ali Khan, actor Bobby Deol, producer-director Sajid Nadiadwala, producer-actor Nikhil Dwivedi and actor Maniesh Paul among others.
Several videos are also surfacing on the internet in which the birthday star can be seen cutting his birthday cake along with his two-year-old niece Ayat in his arms, with whom he shares his birthday.
During a media interaction outside his farmhouse, Salman said Tiger 3 would release by December 2022 and teased the possibility of him and Shah Rukh Khan teaming up for another project. The duo will be seen making extended appearances in their upcoming movies, Tiger 3 and Pathan.
Yash Raj Films’ Tiger 3 is the next film in the spy action-thriller franchise, which will see Salman and Katrina reprise their roles as agents Tiger and Zoya. The film will also star Emraan Hashmi as the antagonist. YRF is also backing Shah Rukh-led actioner Pathan, which will feature Salman in an extended cameo.
“We are coming together in Tiger and Pathan. Tiger 3 should be released by December 2022, before that Pathan will release. Then maybe both of us will come together,” news agency PTI quoted the actor as saying. Tiger 3 is helmed by Maneesh Sharma while Pathan is directed by Siddharth Anand.
DH
Anti-conversion bill: Complaint lodged against Bommai, others
A complaint has been lodged against Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, state Home Minister Araga Jnanendra, Speaker Vishveshwara Hegde Kageri and all BJP legislators in connection with presenting of the controversial Karnataka Protection of Right to to Freedom of Religion Bill, 2021 popularly known as the anti-conversion bill.
The complaint has been lodged by a social activist R. Manaiah with Lingasugur police station in Raichur district, police said on Monday. The complainant has sought legal action against all state BJP honchos in his complaint. The complainant has stated that the ruling BJP while tabling the Anti-conversion Bill has shown the people of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities in poor light.
“The Anti-conversion Bill has shown the people of these communities as vagabonds, beggars and portrayed them to be the ones who get converted to other religions with the lure of money, cloth, enticements and acts of donations,” the complainant stated…
The complaint has sought action in this backdrop for portraying particular communities in bad light in the Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill recently presented in the Assembly session. When the Bill was presented by the state…
When the Bill was presented by the state Home Minister Araga Jnaendra, all BJP MLA’s banged on their desks in the Assembly welcoming the Bill in the House. The complainant has sought in the complaint that action should be initiated against theKarnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and others.
Wrong questions appear in II PU mid-term exams
The recently concluded mid-term examinations for II PUC reportedly had wrong questions in the question papers of several subjects.
Following the objections and grievances raised by students at the district levels, the department of pre university education has decided to drop the wrong questions from the evaluation. The department has directed the deputy directors of pre-university education (DDPU) to drop wrong questions from the evaluation.
As per the details available from the department, highest mistakes were in the question paper bundle supplied to Dakshina Kannada district. This year the department had set the question papers at the state level and supplied separate set of papers to each district. All these years the question papers were set by the principals’ association and examination was conducted at the college level.
“Most mistakes appeared in English, Accountancy, Mathematics and Chemistry subjects. The evaluation has been completed in some colleges and it is a double work for lecturers as they have to re-do it now,” said a principal of a private unaided college…
The annual II PU exams are likely to be delayed by a month. Following shortage of academic days to complete the syllabus, the department is thinking of conducting the examination in April. Every year the board exams used to be conducted in March.
‘FCRA renewal application not approved, no freeze ordered by MHA’, clarifies Missionaries of Charity
Daijiworld Media Network – Kolkata
Kolkata, Dec 27: The Missionaries of Charity on Monday December 27, clarified that their FCRA – Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act renewal application has not been approved and that they have asked their centres not to operate these bank accounts. They cleared clarified that no freeze was ordered by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on any of their bank accounts. In a statement, Sr M Prema, superior general of the Missionaries of Charity said, “We have been informed that our FCRA renewal application has not been approved. Therefore, as a measure to ensure there is no lapse, we have asked our centres not to operate any of the FC (foreign contribution) accounts until matter is resolved. “FCRA registration of Missionaries of Charity has neither been suspended nor cancelled. Further there is no freeze ordered by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on any of our bank accounts,” stated Sr M Prema. Earlier, multiple media reports claimed that bank accounts of Missionaries of Charity were frozen by the Centre. The news was termed ‘false’ by the MHA.
Updated
Govt did not freeze bank accounts of Missionaries of Charity: MHA
New Delhi, Dec 27 (IANS): The Union Home Ministry on Monday clarified that the government has not frozen the bank accounts of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity (MoC) and the State Bank of India has informed that MoC has sent a request to freeze its accounts. The Ministry also said that the renewal application under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) for the renewal of FCRA registration of Missionaries of Charity (MoC) was refused on December 25, 2021 for not meeting the eligibility conditions under FCRA 2010 and Foreign Contribution Regulation Rules (FCRR) 2011.
