NEWS;
- In Tamil Nadu, AIADMK, adhoc General Secretary VK Sasikala accuses Governor of splitting the party;More MLAs and MPs move to O.Panneerselvam camp.
- 64.22 per cent voters excecised their franchise in first phase of Uttar Prdesh Assembly elections ;Campaigning peaks in poll bound areas in Uttarakhand and for second phase in Uttar Pradesh.
- Income Tax department extends date till wednesday for replying to queries on cash deposits during demonetisation period .
- About 3.5 lakh cases settled in National Lok Adalats held at all levels ranging from district to high courts across the country in a day.
- US President Donald Trump to sign a brand new executive order to temporarily bar citizens of seven Muslim-majority nations from entering America.
- Bangladesh to resume its first innings batting at 322 for 6 against India on 4th day of the Hyderabad test.
- In final of World Cup Twenty-20 for the blind, India to face archrivals Pakistan at Bengaluru today.
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In Tamil Nadu, even as support among MLAs and MPs for caretaker chief minister O.Panneerselvam is gradually increasing in the ruling AIADMK, ad hoc General Secretary VK Sasikala has said the delay in inviting her to form the government by Governor Vidyasagar Rao is a ploy to split the party. She said from today new kind of protests would be held.
Both the competing sides called on the Governor pressing their demand to invite them to form the government. Some of the legislators have defected to Mr. Panneerselvam camp due to which Ms Sasikala visited the MLAs yesterday at a resort in Kuvathur near Chennai and had discussions with them for over 3 hours.
So far, cabinet minister K.Pandiarajan, party seniors E Madhusudanan, PH Pandian, C Ponnaiyan, some of the MLAs and five of the party MPs have pledged their support to Mr Panneerselvam.
Ms Sasikala wrote to the Governor yesterday to give an appointment for meeting her along with all the MLAs who support her. However, as the Governor is considering various dimensions of the ongoing power tussle, no response has been given so far.Here is a report from our correspondent.
"The suspense over who would form the next government in Tamil Nadu continues for the eighth day today since the resignation of Mr O Panneerselvam from the post, even as Governor is considering various dimensions of the ongoing tussle for power. Parties other than the AIADMK that is deeply embroiled in the power wrangling are also divided on who would be given the first opportunity to be invited to form the government. Observers say, a clear picture is expected to emerge only this week. Jayasingh, AIR News, Chennai."
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The much-awaited judgment of the Supreme Court in a disproportionate assets (DA) case in which late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and AIADMK leader VK Sasikala are accused, is not listed for pronouncement tomorrow. The judgment may be pronounced any day in the coming week.
Justice P C Ghose, along with Justice Amitava Roy, had last year reserved the verdict in the appeal against the Karnataka High Court order acquitting all accused in the 19-year-old DA case.
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In Uttar Pradesh, polling in the first phase of assembly elections for 73 constituencies spread over 15 districts passed off peacefully yesterday. In total 64.22 per cent voters exercised their franchise bettering the 2012 state elections figure by 3 percent. Chief Electoral Officer UP, T Venkatesh released data last evening saying Shamli polled the highest with 67.12 percent.
Briefing reporters in New Delhi in the evening, Deputy Election Commissioner, Vijay Dev appreciated the exemplary participation of voters during the polling process.
Meanwhile, campaigning has started peaking in the areas of the state where polls are slated for Wednesday, the second phase. In this phase eleven districts having 67 assembly seats will go to the polls. As only two days are left for campaigning, the top leadership of all political parties including SP, Congress, BJP, BSP and RLD have lined up to address poll rallies in these areas.
"State BJP president Keshav Prasad Maurya is slated to address poll rallies in Rampur, Bareilly and Pilibhit today. While BSP chief Mayawati, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav and RLD chief Ajit Singh have also scheduled to address several rallies in the poll bound areas of 2nd phase. Mulayam Singh Yadav started his poll campaign for Samajwadi Party but it was brother Shivpal Yadav who got his first program in Jaswantnagar yesterday. Merajuddin, AIR News, Lucknow."
In this phase, 721 candidates are in the fray out of which 69 are women, while there is also a candidate from the third gender. Fifteen constituencies in the second phase have been declared as Red Alert Constituencies, or ones which have three or more candidates in the fray with declared criminal cases.
In Uttarakhand, campaigning will come to a halt tomorrow evening. For that reason political parties are leaving no stone unturned to woo voters. The state is going to the polls on Wednesday. For the BJP, senior party leader and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address two public meetings today. While, Congress National Vice-President Rahul Gandhi will participate in road shows in half a dozen assembly seats of district Haridwar.
"Tomorrow is the last day for electioneering in Uttarakhand. BJP leader and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be addressing two election rallies in Srinagar Garhwal of district Pauri and Pithoragarh in Kumaon today. In addition, senior BJP leaders and Union Cabinet Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Smiriti Irani will also address public meetings in the state. On the other hand, the National Vice-President of Congress, Rahul Gandhi will participate in road shows of six assembly seats of Uttarakhand at Mangalore, Roorkee, Bhagwanpur, Piran Kaliyar, Jwalapur and Haridwar. With OP Meena this is Sanjeev Sundriyal, AIR News, Dehradun."
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Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has expressed the hope that the Universal Basic Income (UBI) scheme, under which the government would provide a minimum cash to poor people to meet their basic needs, will be implemented over the next one year in some parts of the country on an experimental basis. Mr Jaitley was speaking at a book release function in New Delhi yesterday. He said, under the proposed system UBI could be given to people and subsidies can be done away with.
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The Income Tax department has extended the date for replying to queries on cash deposits during the demonetisation period till Wednesday.
On the 31st of last month, the tax department had launched 'Operation Clean Money' under which it had sent out SMSes and e-mails to 18 lakh assessees in the initial phase for suspicious cash deposits of 5 lakh rupees and above made during the demonetisation period.
"The assessees had to reply to these queries by logging onto the e-filing portal within 10 days. This has now been extended till Wednesday that is till 15th of Feburary. In an FAQ to clear the doubts over replying to SMS or e-mail queries received with regard to suspicious deposits, the tax department said assessees should give explanations of the source of cash. If the cash deposited is from multiple sources or arises from cash in hand as on 8th of November, the assessee while replying on the e-filing portal will have to give segregated details like cash withdrawn from bank, cash received from identifiable persons with or without PAN, cash received from unidentifiable persons and cash out of earlier income or savings. Saira Mujtaba, News Desk"
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About 3.5 lakh cases were settled in the National Lok Adalats held at all levels ranging from district to high courts across the country in a day, yesterday. The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) in a statement said, that as per the figures received till 5 in the evening, more than 3.5 lakh cases, including 1.9 lakh pending and 1.6 lakh pre-litigation cases, have been settled. The total value of the settlement amount reached is 1,185 crores rupees. The National Lok Adalat was organised by NALSA along with the respective State Legal Services Authorities.
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The National productivity week celebrations will begin from today. Every year 12th-18 February is celebrated as the National Productivity Week. This year the theme of the week is From Waste to Profits-through Reduce, Recycle and Reuse.
"Departmental Secretaries, PSU’s, Industry Associations, Local Productivity Councils and others have been asked to organize various activities including workshops, essay, slogan competitions, debates and training programs. During the week, the message of productivity will be spread amongst all stakeholders. National Productivity Council, an autonomous body under Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion was established on this day in 1958. The objective of the Council is to stimulate and promote productivity and quality consciousness across all sectors in the country. With Shashank Kumar, Somnath Das, AIR News, Delhi."
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US President Donald Trump has said, he is considering signing a brand new executive order by next week to temporarily bar citizens of seven Muslim-majority nations from entering America. Trump told reporters yesterday that he has a lot of other options, including just filing a brand new order. He said, that in honour of the 9th US Circuit court's decision he will likely wait until next week to respond with any action.
The President's remarks came after a three-judge bench of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco refused to reinstate his controversial travel ban on Thursday.
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External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has sought a report from the Indian High Commission in Jamaica about an Indian youth shot dead there. Ms Swaraj tweeted asking details, after news report came in that an Indian youth was shot dead by four unidentified men in his Kingston home in a case of suspected armed robbery.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi today paid rich tributes to social reformer Dayanand Saraswati on his birth anniversary. In a tweet, Mr Modi said, his noble efforts towards social reform and education continue to have a lasting impact.
Yesterday, Mr Modi condoled the passing away of eminent thinker, writer and journalist Pandit Dharmsheel Chaturvedi. In a tweet, he said, the sharp writings, wit and humour of Pandit Dharmsheel Chaturvedi endeared him and he will be missed.
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On the 4th day of the Hyderabad cricket test, Bangladesh will resume its first innings batting at 322 for 6 against India. Visiting skipper Mushfiqur Rahim on 81 and young lad Mehedi Hasan Miraz on 51 will resume batting. However, the visitors are still trailing by 365 runs with just 4 wickets in hand and require 166 runs to avoid a follow on. For India, Umesh Yadav has taken 2 wickets, while Ishant Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin have scalped one each.
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In the final of the World Cup Twenty-20 for the blind, India will face archrivals Pakistan at Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium, today. The match will begin at 11 AM. India, the defending champions, have just lost a match so far in the World Cup to Pakistan. On the other hand Pakistan have remained unbeaten throughout the tournament.
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NEWSPAPERS HEADLINES:
· Voting in the first phase of assembly polls in UP dominates the front pages. "64% turnout in UP's first of 7 phases : Stray incidents of violence in Meerut, Baghpat" reports the Tribune.
· Political developments in Tamil Nadu are keenly tracked in the press as the Sasikala - O Paneerselvam tussle over control of the party and the government continues. The Hindustan Times observes "Sasikala loses prominent faces, TN tussle continues". The DNA quotes Sasikala as saying "Swearing-in delay aimed at splitting AIADMK".
· Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad's comments at a thought- conclave organised by the Hindu are highlighted by the paper on its front page. It quotes the Minister as saying " Government is committed to independent judiciary".
· The paper also informs us that five names have been cleared for Supreme Court judges' positions. These include the Chief Justices of the High Courts in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh.
· PM pulls up Railways for sitting on his 'Rail Shivir' ideas discussed in Nov 2016 reports The Asian Age.
· The Hindustan Times has an interesting story on the cash deposited by political parties during 50 days of demonetisation. The paper writes "167 crore rupees deposited by parties, BSP alone put 104 crores".
· RBI Governor Urjit Patel's comments at the customary post-budget RBI Board meeting is taken note of in the press. The Tribune writes "Bad loans legacy issue, says Patel ; RBI governor urges banks to lower lending rates".
· The Indian Express has published a photograph of Chinese soldier Wang Qi reunited with his family and relatives in Beijing after spending more than 50 years in India since crossing a border post during the 1962 India-China war.
