Massive cash seizures in Andhra worry Election Commission

May 4, 2014

Election-CommissionHyderabad, May 4: The Election Commission (EC) has asked Andhra Pradesh authorities to step up vigil to check the use of cash in the elections during the next phase of polls on Wednesday in 13 districts of Seemandhra.

The EC was worried over the use of money power in Andhra Pradesh, state Chief Electoral Officer Bhanwar Lal said on Saturday. The police had seized Rs 140 crore so far. The EC was baffled by the fact that the volume of cash seized in Andhra Pradesh accounts for over 50 per cent of the total cash seized in the entire country. "CEC is worried. On Friday, they have asked us to double the number of flying squads," Lal told the reporters. The total cash seized in the ongoing elections in India was Rs 270 crore.

Apart from cash, 74 kg of gold, close to one tonne silver and around five lakh litres of liquor were also seized by the police so far, according to the CEO.

There are about 36.8 million voters in Seemandhra, which has 25 Lok Sabha and 175 Assembly constituencies. Authorities have set up over 40,000 polling stations. There are 333 candidates for the Lok Sabha and 2,243 candidates for the Assembly.

Election Commission officials on Saturday released the final polling percentages in all 10 districts of Telangana, according to which the polling was up by just two per cent this time around compared to the voting recorded in the 2009 elections.

According to data, the total percentage of voting in the Telangana districts on the April 30 polling was 70.85 per cent compared to 68.71 per cent in the 2009 elections.

The three parliamentary constituencies located in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits -- Hyderabad, Secunderabad and Malkajgiri -- proved a drag on overall poll percentage as these three recorded 52.52 per cent, 53.28 per cent and 51.19 per cent polling, respectively.

Chevella with just over 60 per cent is another constituency with low turnout.

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News Network
February 28,2020

Hyderabad, Feb 28: The Cyber Crime Police of Hyderabad has registered an FIR against social media platforms- WhatsApp, Twitter and TikTok- for allowing people to spread anti-national activities, as per a complaint filed by one S Srishailam.

Raghuveer, Additional DCP Cyber Crimes said," We have received a court referred complaint, which was filed by S Srisailam in the concerned court stating that social media platforms Whatsapp, Twitter and TikTok are allowing few people to spread anti-national activities and videos."

S Srisailam also claimed that a few people are running a campaign against the CAA on social media platforms to spread hatred which in turn is causing damage to national integrity.

"In this regard, because the complaint was referred by a court a case has been registered against Whatsapp, Twitter & TikTok under the relevant section of Indian Penal Code and IT Act and took up the investigation," the DCP added.

He also added that the police cannot take action against these platforms as they are not banned in India but can initiate action against persons who intentionally indulge in spreading hatred.

"The police are conducting the investigation and if allegations of the complainant are found to be false then we will drop the case. We had received the case one week ago," informed the DCP.

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News Network
May 22,2020

New Delhi, May 22: Air India on Friday started booking for domestic flights amid the COVID-19 lockdown.

"We have started bookings for domestic flights," said Air India in a statement.

The airlines will operate a total of 8,428 flights each week for the next three months from May 25 to August 25 as the Central government has announced the resumption of domestic flights.

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday said that a minimum and maximum fare for three months has been set for the domestic flight services, which resume from May 25.

In the case of Delhi, Mumbai the minimum fare would be Rs 3,500 for a journey between 90-120 minutes. The maximum fare would be Rs 10,000.

"This is operative for three months -- till one minute to midnight on August 24," said Puri at a press conference here.

Puri said that guidelines have been issued for the passengers and airports, which are to be followed during flight operations.

He also said that self-declaration or Aarogya Setu App status on a compatible device would be obtained to ensure that a person does not have COVID-19 symptoms.

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News Network
January 15,2020

Kolkata, Jan 15: The arrows of Mahabharata's Arjuna had atomic power, claimed West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, drawing sharp criticism from academicians, even as he joined a long list of politicians who have in recent years given bizarre interpretations linking mythology with science.

Speaking at the 45th Eastern India Science Fair and 19th Science and Engineering Fair on Tuesday, Dhankhar also claimed that flying objects existed during the period of Ramayana.

"It is said that the plane was invented in 1910 or 1911, but if we delve into our old scriptures we will see in Ramayana, we had 'uran khatola' (aircraft)," he said.

"Sanjaya narrated the entire war of Mahabharata (to Dhitarasthra) not from TV. The arrows of Arjuna in Mahabharata had atomic power in it," Dhankhar said, asserting that the world can no longer afford to ignore India.

According to Sanskrit epic Mahabharata, Sanjay, even after staying away from the battlefield, had narrated what was happening there to Dhritarashtra, who was blind.

Dhankhar, who has been in news for clashes with the Mamata Banerjee government ever since he assumed office in July last year, joins politicians such as Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb and UP deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma to give odd interpretations of mythology.

While Deb had claimed that the internet existed during Mahabharata, Sharma suggested that godess Sita was a test tube baby.

Recently, Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi was trolled online for sharing a doctored video that claimed, "NASA recorded sound of sun -- Sun chants Om".

Indologist Nrisingha Prasad Bhaduri said governors appointed by the BJP government at the Centre are delving into everything and behave "as if they are know-alls".

"They fail to understand one thing that great writers have very strong power of imagination," Bhaduri said.

Scientist Sandip Chakraborty said such comments only hurt the scientific progress in India at the global forum.

"The ancient writers described all these things based on their imagination. It is true that India made a lot of progress during the ancient period, but such comments only damages the progress made by our scientific community," he said.

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