Good news for NRIs: Indian govt defers controversial ECNR registration

New Delhi, Jan 24: The Election Commission of India on Friday told the Supreme Court that its 2018 direction asking poll candidates to declare their criminal antecedents in electronic and print media has not helped curb criminalisation of politics. The poll panel suggested that instead of asking candidates to declare criminal antecedents in the media, political parties should be asked not to give tickets to candidates with criminal background.

A bench of Justices R F Nariman and S Ravindra Bhat asked the ECI to come up with a framework within one week which can help curb criminalisation of politics in nation's interest.

The top court asked the petitioner BJP leader and advocate Ashiwini Upadhyay and the poll panel to sit together and come up with suggestions which would help him in curbing criminalisation of politics.

In September 2018, a five-judge Constitution bench had unanimously held that all candidates will have to declare their criminal antecedents to the Election Commission before contesting polls and had called for a wider publicity, through print and electronic media about antecedents of candidates.

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 28: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention to remove the blocking of roads including state highway along the border of Karnataka in view of lock down to contain the spread of COVID-19.

In a letter sent to the Prime Minister on Friday evening, the Chief Minister said certain actions by the Karnataka Police have resulted in the blocking the Thalassery-Coorg State Highway-30. This road connects Kerala with Coorg in Karnataka via Veerajapettah. This route is a lifeline for flow of essential commodities to Kerala."

"If this is blocked, vehicles carrying essential commodities will have to travel a much longer route to reach our state. Given the situation of national lock down, this will add much more hardship to people," it said.

"You will naturally agree with me that no action impeding the movement of essential commodities should be initiated at this moment of crisis," he hoped.

Bengaluru, Apr 8: Heavy rain lashed Belthangady taluk in Dakshina Kannada district and parts of Udupi district on Tuesday providing much-needed relief to the people from the sultry heat.

Belthangady, Guruvayanakere, Madantyaru, Venoor, Naravi and surrounding areas received rain coupled with lightning and thunder. 

Rain also lashed Karkala, Kundapura, Kollur, Siddapura, Gangolli, Hemmady, Uppunda, Shiroor, Hebri and surrounding areas in Udupi district.

Parts of Malnad --- Koppa, Balehonnur and NR Pura taluks in the neighbouring Chikkamagaluru district --- received good rainfall coupled with lightning and thunder.

The rain has brought a smile on the face of coffee growers as it will help in the blossoming of the flowers in coffee plants.

In Kodagu district, heavy rain lashed Madikeri, Hudikeri, Ponnampet, Srimangala, Siddapura, Galiubeedu, Bapoklu, Talacauvery and Bhagamandala.

Parts of Mysuru city and district, Chamarajanagar, and Hassan received a good spell of rain on Monday night, bringing down the mercury levels.

Heavy rain lashed T Narasipur taluk in Mysuru district and the Kothegala Gram panchayat limits received 7 cm rainfall. Karya village in Nanjangud taluk received 5 cm rainfall.

Male Mahadeshwara Hills in Chamarajanagar district received good rain in the evening. 

Meanwhile, the Agriculture Research Station at Naganahalli has predicted thunderstorms, on April 7 and 8 in the region. The research centre recorded 12 mm rain on Sunday night and 22.5 mm on Monday midnight. 

Moderate to heavy rain, accompanied by strong wind and lightning, lashed some parts of Shivamogga district, including Ripponpet, Sorab, Bhadravathi, Thirthahalli, Sagar
and Shikariput. 

Bhatkal in Uttara Kannada district received heavy rain from 4 to 7 pm. The town had also received the rain for about half-an-hour in the morning.

Hosapete town and the surrounding villages also received the rain. At some places, the rain brought down the branches of the trees. The rain has cooled the mercury level at Hosur, Nagenahalli, Basavadurga, Kamalapur, Hampi and other villages in Hosapete taluk. 

Rain also lashed several places in Ballari district, including the Ballari city. Rain, accompanied by hailstones, brought cheers to the people at Kottur. 

Meanwhile, rain and hailstones have destroyed the standing paddy crop in hundreds of acres of land at Maraladinni, Katagal, Uskihal, Belladamaradi and other villages in Maski taluk of Raichur. The farmers are waiting to harvest the crop.