“I am not under any pressure. There is nothing to do with the high command. It is all purely depending on preliminary investigation decision will be taken,” said Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
Amid the Opposition’s call to sack the state Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister over his alleged role in the suicide of a contractor, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday made it clear that KS Eshwarappa will remain in his cabinet, for now. “The postmortem is done. Let the preliminary inquiry begin. Depending on the preliminary we will decide the next course of action,” Bommai was quoted as saying by NDTV in a report. Karnataka’s Rural Development and Panchayat Raj
Minister Eshwarappa was accused of corruption by civil contractor Santosh Patil, who allegedly died by suicide on Tuesday. Patil has blamed the minister for his death in a WhatsApp message to his friends and the media. He had alleged that he was asked to pay 40 per cent of what he was owed for a government project. Dismissing the reports of BJP high command’s inclination towards Eashwarappa’s dismissal, Bommai told NDTV, “I am not under any pressure. There is nothing to do with the high command. It is all purely depending on preliminary investigation decision will be taken”. When asked if Eshwarappa’s presence in the cabinet will leave room for a fair investigation, the Chief Minister said, “What you think or I think is not important. What is the fact of the case is important”. Earlier, after being named in a contractor’s suicide case, Eshwarappa on Wednesday said the death note of the contractor is false propaganda and added that there is no question of him resigning as minister from Karnataka cabinet. “The death note is false propaganda (on contractor Santosh Patil who accused Eshwarappa of corruption found dead in a lodge in Udupi). I have informed CM Bommai and the party president that there is no question of me resigning as a minister,” KS Eshwarappa said. On Wednesday, a case was registered against Eshwarappa for abetment of suicide over the death of a civil contractor in Udupi. According to police, Eshwarappa has been named as the first accused in the case. The contractor’s death has unleashed a huge political storm in the state. Before his death, he had also sent his cut money allegations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him and the Chief Minister to take care of his wife and child.
Pak Army says it has ‘nothing to do with politics’,
will remain apolitical in future as well
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) – the media wing of the army- Director General (DG) Major General Babar Iftikhar said Pakistan’s survival lies solely on democracy
PTI, APR 14 2022,
Pakistan Army said on Thursday that it has “nothing to do with politics” and it will remain apolitical in the future as well, as the powerful institution asserted that its chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa was not seeking an extension and will neither accept one. Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) – the media wing of the army- Director General (DG) Major General Babar Iftikhar also said that Pakistan’s survival lies solely on democracy and its strength lies in the institutions, be it Parliament, Supreme Court, or the Armed forces. The Pakistan Army has “nothing to do with politics” and the institution has decided to
remain apolitical in the future as well, Major General Iftikhar told reporters, three days after Opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif was sworn in as Pakistan’s Prime Minister after prolonged political turmoil. “Chief of army staff is neither seeking an extension nor will he accept an extension. No matter what, he will be retiring on the 29th of November 2022,” he was quoted as saying by The Express Tribune newspaper. He also said that the word “conspiracy” was not used in the statement issued after a meeting of the National Security Committee last month, apparently contradicting ousted prime minister Imran Khan who has accused America of hatching a conspiracy to topple his government. “As far as a military response about the NSC meeting is considered, that stance, in that meeting was fully given, and then a statement was issued … which clearly says what was concluded in that meeting. The words used are in front of you … as I said … the words used are clear. Is there any word such as conspiracy used in it? I think not,” Gen Iftikhar said, adding that the minutes of the NSC meeting can be declassified if the government decides. He also said that the former prime minister had approached the army chief to help find a solution to the political crisis.
‘Azaan’ controversy reaches Varanasi: Saffron outfits start reciting ‘bhajans’ five times a day
Saffron outfits said the recitation of bhajans and mantras had been an ancient tradition in Varanasi
The ‘azaan’ controversy has reached all the way to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi, where saffron outfits have installed loudspeakers atop several houses to recite the ‘Hanuman the ‘Hanuman Chalisa’, ‘bhajans’ and other hymns, five times a day during the azaan. President of Shrikashi Vishwanath Gyanvapi Movement and BJP member Sudhir Singh made the
announcement on Thursday, saying that the recitation of bhajans and mantras had been an ancient tradition in Varanasi. “It was stopped under pressure during the non-BJP governments…we want to restart the old tradition,” Singh said. Saffron outfits were demanding a ban on ‘azaan’ through loudspeakers. Singh asked all the Hindu residents of Varanasi to install loudspeakers atop their houses and join the recitation five times a day. He, however, said that it was not his intention to disturb communal harmony Singh asked all the Hindu residents of Varanasi to install loudspeakers atop their houses and join the recitation five times a day. He, however, said that it was not his intention to disturb communal harmony in the town. “If azan can be recited through loudspeakers from the mosques, then why can’t we recite bhajans through the loudspeakers from the temples?” asked Roshan Pandey, president of the Rashtriya Hindu Dal. Some Hindu seers, however, reacted sharply to the recitation of bhajans through loudspeakers. “Hinduism is not a reactionary religion. There are certain established traditions for puja. Earlier Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray had warned that his party workers would start reciting ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ at high decibel levels if the state government did not get the loudspeakers removed from the mosques in Maharashtra.
D K Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah, other Congress leaders detained at protest seeking Eshwarappa’s ouster
Bommai said that any action would be taken only after the post-mortem examination report of Santosh Patil
DH Web Desk, APR 14 2022
Congress leaders D K Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah, and others were detained as Bengaluru Police stopped them from marching towards CM Basavaraj Bommai’s residence demanding the removal of Karnataka Minister K S Eshwarappa in connection with contractor Santosh Patil’s death. Earlier today, Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai said that any action would be taken only after the post-mortem
examination report of Belagavi contractor Santosh Patil. Speculations were rife that the party could ask Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj KS Eshwarappa to resign in the aftermath of Patil’s death after the Opposition created a furore to sack him. Patil had named Eshwarappa in his alleged suicide note as being responsible for his death. The contractor had, a few weeks ago, accused Eshwarappa of charging a 40 per cent commission in completion of pending public works. Speaking on the Opposition protesting, Bommai called Congress a “Gangotri of corruption”. “Congress doesn’t have any moral right to protest. Congress is a Gangotri of corruption,” the chief minister said.
High fuel prices to hit near-term demand, recovery seen in second half of 2022: Report
India’s oil demand in the second half of 2022 is expected to be 275,000 barrels per day, said S&P Global Commodity Insights
High prices of fuels are likely to dampen near-term demand for energy, however, recovery is expected in the second half of the calendar year 2022 (July-December). Driven by a more broad-based pickup in economic activity as the country adapts to live with Covid-19 amid higher vaccination rates, India’s oil demand in the second half of 2022 is expected to be 275,000 barrels per day, said S&P Global Commodity Insights, which was curated by analysts JY Lim and Kang Wu. “More than 72 per cent of its population has received at least one dose of the vaccine, and about 61 per cent of its
population has received both doses to be fully vaccinated. India has just started to give booster shots on April 10, and will be limited to front-line workers and those older than 60 who get them at government centres,” the S&P Global Commodity Insights said. For overall 2022, India’s oil demand is expected to grow by 225,000 barrels per day, with growth expected to ease to 185,000 barrels per day in 2023. “Gasoil demand is set to improve as manufacturing activity regains momentum and jet fuel use will also improve as international flights start to resume, though they are likely to remain well below capacity,”it said. However, there are still risks of downward adjustments as the Russian-Ukraine conflict continues to evolve as well as because of growing concerns of a global or regional economic recession.
One should not take Raj Thackeray seriously: Sharad Pawar
One who speaks once a year cannot be taken seriously, says NCP boss while rebutting MNS chief’s allegations against him, family and party
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar matched ‘barb for barb’ and ‘swipe for swipe’ while returning salvos fired by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray, who targeted NCP leaders on Tuesday at a public rally in Thane. Pawar said one should not take Raj Thackeray, who speaks once a year, seriously, and yet responded to certain charges, reminding the MNS chief that waking up early in the morning helps one gain knowledge through reading newspapers before speaking rubbish against anyone. About Thackeray’s ultimatum on removing loudspeakers from the mosques by May 3, Pawar put the ball in the state government’s court, saying it should think seriously about it. 
On Ajit Pawar
When asked about Thackeray’s accusation that Pawar did not approach the PM when his nephew and his sisters were raided by the Enforcement Directorate, but he did it after Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut’s family’s assets were attached, Pawar said it wasn’t a political question. “I’m an MP and there is nothing wrong with meeting the PM. I have discussed the pending issue of MLC nominations and other issues,” he said. “We [Ajit and I] are the same. Whatever happens to him also happens to me. Isn’t Supriya [Sule] Ajit’s sister? It’s a childish allegation,” he said, with reference to Thackeray’s observation that Ajit was raided but Supriya spared.
