Telangana LIVE: Bandh in Seemandhara; AP CM convenes meet

October 4, 2013

Telangana_LIVEHyderabad, Oct 4: The emotive state bifurcation issue has once again flared up in Andhra Pradesh after the union cabinet set up a Group of Ministers (GoM) to work out the modalities for creation of Telangana, India’s 29th state.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram will head the GoM. Hyderabad will be the joint capital of Telangana and Seemandhara for 10 years and after that Seemandhara will have to establish its own capital.

The cabinet decided to go ahead with the Telangana despite the stiff opposition from leaders from the Seemandhara region. Tourism Minister Chiranjeevi has already resigned from the government while another heavyweight, HRD Minister MM Pallam Raju, offered to quit but was asked to continue by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Textiles Minister KS Rao had also offered to quit, reports said. Also, Congress' V Aruna Kumar, MP from Rajahmundry, tendered his resignation both from the party and Parliament in protest over the decision.

The Jaganmohan Reddy-led YSR Congress party has called for a 72-hour bandh in protest against the cabinet’s decision.

The bandh is expected to be near total in the entire Seemandhara region and would be felt in cities like Vijayawada and Vishakapatnam.

48-hour-bandh in the 13 districts of Seemandhara and the Andhra Pradesh Non-Gazetted Officers (APNGOs) Association has called for 48-hour blockade of national highways.

By approving Telangana, the Congress has stood to its poll promise; however, the party is yet to decipher how the issue will play out in Seemandhara and Rayalaseema where YSR Congress party has emerged a potent force.

Jagan’s release on bail after spending 16 months in jail in a corruption case was seen as a sign of the emerging tactic understanding between the YSR Congress Party and the Congress.

However, Jagan dropped a bombshell on the Congress by praising Narendra Modi – implying that he has kept his options open. "What I want Narendra Modi to do is, I appreciate Modi as an administrator, I want Modi to change this entire system in bringing every party on to a secular platform in the interest of the nation," he said.

Another cause of worry for the Congress is Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy. The CM has already made it more than clear that he is willing to stake his chair for a united Andhra Pradesh.

His opposition may make it that more difficult for the Congress to go ahead with the Telanaga plan.

Kiran Reddy convened an emergency meeting at 11.30 am today with ministers, MPs, MLCs and MLAs from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema to discuss the developments following the Union Cabinet's approval of bifurcation of the state.

A decision on en masse resignation by ministers and legislators is expected to be taken at the meeting.

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News Network
August 7,2020

Kozhikode: An Air India Express flight from Dubai with 190 people on board overshot the Kozhikode tabletop runway on landing there today. The Boeing 737 “fell off” the runway into the valley, broke into two causing death and devastation. 

According to reports, around 20 people were dead including two pilots.

An Air India spokesperson said: “Air India Express flight IX 1344 operated by Boeing 737 aircraft from Dubai to Calicut overshot the runway at Kozhikode at 7.41 pm Friday. No fire reported at the time of landing. There are 174 passengers, 10 infants, two pilots and five cabin crew on board. Rescue operations are on and passengers are being taken to hospital for medical care. We will soon share the update in this regard.”

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is probing this accident. “Prima facie, the aircraft landed beyond the touchdown point and fell into a valley. It has broken into two. We suspect some casualties. More information is awaited,” said a senior DGCA official.

Taking to twitter, defence minister Rajnath Singh wrote: “Devastating news from Kozhikode, Kerala. I am deeply anguished by the loss of lives due to an accident carrying several passengers on Air India flight. In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with the bereaved families. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured.”

Foreign minister S Jaishankar tweeted: “Deeply distressed to hear about the Air India Express tragedy at Kozhikode. Prayers are with the bereaved families and those injured. We are ascertaining further details.”

While, senior BJP leader from Kerala K J Alphons tweeted: “Second tragedy of the day in Kerala: Air India Express skids off the run way at Kozhikode, front portion splits , pilot dies and lots of passengers injured . All passengers evacuated. Very lucky the aircraft didn’t catch fire.”

More details are awaited.

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News Network
January 30,2020

Baharampore, Jan 30: Two persons were killed and one was injured in a clash over a protest programme against the CAA and the proposed NRC in West Bengal's Murshidabad district on Wednesday, police said.

The incident occured after an argument broke out between the two sides at Jalangi over a protest programme opposing Citizenship Amendment Act.

According to the police, a scuffle broke out between the local TMC leaders and residents' forum 'Nagarik Mancha', which was observing a shutdown in the area against the amended citizenship act and the proposed country-wide NRC.

The residents' forum was asked to withdraw the shutdown and the situation turned violent as both sides came to blows and hurled bombs at each other. Several two-wheelers and cars were damaged and set on fire during the clash.

Local TMC MP Abu Taher, denied that the party was involved in the clash and alleged that the violence was by Congress and CPI(M) supporters.

"I have requested the police to look into the incident. The culprits should be immediately arrested," he said.

Senior Congress leader and MLA Manoj Chakraborty said that the party was not involved in the incident and demanded judicial inquiry into it.

The injured have been rushed to Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital here, the police said.

The Muslim-majority district had witnessed violence and arson during the anti-CAA protests across the state in December last year.

West Bengal became the fourth state after Left-ruled Kerala, and Punjab and Rajasthan, where the Congress is in power, to have passed a resolution on January 27 against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. The state assembly had on September 6, 2019, passed a resolution against NRC.

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Agencies
March 25,2020

New Delhi, Mar 25: The Indian Rail Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) on Wednesday appealed to the people not to cancel their e-tickets on their own in case of trains being cancelled by the national transporter due to nation-wide lockdown to help curb the spread of novel coronavirus pandemic.

Clearing the doubts of the railway passengers, IRCTC spokesperson Siddharth Singh said, "Doubts have been raised regarding cancellation of e-tickets subsequent to the halting of railway passenger trains.

"It may be submitted that for trains cancelled by the railways in its complete run, refund on e-tickets is full and automatic. In this case, no cancellation exercise is required to be done on the part of the user," he said.

The IRCTC official said that if user cancels his e-ticket in situations of train cancellations, there are chances he may get "less refund". "Hence passengers are advised not to cancel e-tickets on their own for those trains which have been cancelled by the railways," he said.

He also said that the refund amount will be credited to the user account used for booking e-tickets automatically and no charges will be deducted by the railways in case of train cancellation.

His remarks came as the national transporter announced the suspension of the passenger, mail and express services from March 23 till March 31. However, the railways extended the suspension of services till April 14 in the wake of the three week lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from March 25 during his second special address to the nation on Tuesday night.

The railways has cancelled over 13,600 passengers trains across the country in a bid to combat the spread of novel coronavirus. Only freight trains are running to ensure the supply of essential services. About 9,000 freight trains are transporting essential items every day across the country.

On Wednesday, India recorded 562 cases of COVID-19 with 10 deaths.

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