BJP: Can’t allow UPA a walkover

Senior BJP leaders Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj on Thursday said that the BJP, being the main Opposition party, could not “allow a walkover” to the UPA since it did not consult the party before announcing its candidate.
NDA convenor and JD(U) president Sharad Yadav said his party was against any contest after former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam had refused to enter the fray. Trying to downplay the rift within the NDA, Mr Yadav argued: “We are not supporting a Congress candidate. Under the present circumstances, we are supporting a UPA candidate for whom there is a consensus.”
He indicated that after the 2014 general elections, there could possibly be a political crisis. “In that kind a scenario, we need a competent person to handle the situation,” he said. While Mr Yadav said that this was not the “first time” that the allied parties differed on presidential elections, CPI leader A.B. Bardhan said the differences “will not have any impact on Left unity”.

NRI Quota Reduced to 5% in BE Colleges

Non-resident Indian quota seats in engineering colleges have been slashed to 5 per cent from the existing 15 per cent. The government will issue the orders after the announcement of Eamcet results on June 30. The decision was taken to prevent college managements from misusing the NRI quota by selling the seats. There have been complaints that colleges were giving admission to fake NRI students by collecting huge capitation fees and donations. The new rules stipulate that only five per cent of seats can be allotted to NRI students whose parents live abroad. No “sponsorship” from NRI relatives or friends will be allowed.

Students and parents vie for NRI quota seats in the top 50 engineering colleges. Even though the AICTE clearly stipulates that the 15 per cent NRI quota within the 30 per cent management quota should be strictly allotted to “genuine NRI students” whose parents live abroad, the powerful college managements’ lobby brought pressure on the government to dilute the rule by incorporating the words “NRI or NRI-sponsored students.”

This allowed managements to admit local students if they have a letter from their NRI relatives stating that they will sponsor them. The advantage of the NRI quota for the college was that the government-prescribed fee for these students was $5000 or Rs 3 lakh per annum. The fee for the non-NRI management seats is Rs 95,000 per annum. That apart, it is an open secret that the colleges collect “donations” of up to Rs 20 lakh depending on the demand.

Maid arrested for attacking MLA, his wife

The Saifabad police on Thursday arrested one Veerabadhra Kumari, who allegedly has been harassing Kovvur MLA T.V. Rama Rao and his wife Venkatashesha Ratam. On Thursday, the MLA and his wife came to the Saifabad police station and stated that Ms Kumari, a maid servant, has been harassing them for the past several years.

In fact, Ms Ratam was reportedly assaulted by the woman. When Mr Rao was informed of the incident, he rushed to the city, where he too was attacked by Ms Kumari. According to Mr Rao, the maid had even tried to grab their property in MLA Colony at Adarshnagar. Ms Kumari, however, claimed that it is the MLA who has been harassing her.

Ambati apologises to reporters for Naming them

In a hurriedly arranged press conference YSR Congress spokesperson Ambati Rambabu clarified that the YSRC’s intention was not to expose reporters, but to expose CBI joint director V.V. Laxminarayana.

Many crime reporters working with different newspapers and news channels held a media conference in the evening and condemned the YSR Congress’ allegations. “It is our duty to make calls to investigating officers and get news; it is highly condemnable that the party objected to this,” the reporters said, demanding an unconditional apology from YSR Congress leaders for dragging their names and organisations into the affair.

YSR Congress MLAs had released purported call lists of two cellphones used by CBI joint director V.V. Laxminarayana which, they said, revealed that from March to June 17, Ms Chandrabala had made 411 and 21 calls to him on two phones. Mr Laxminarayana, according to them, had called her 328 times.

Ms Chandrabala had also called the managing director of a newspaper 10 times, Deloitte Hyderabad 10 times and a senior IPS Officer 15 times. The leaders said that they would bring this conspiracy angle to the notice of national leaders during their proposed meeting in Delhi by this month end. The police later broke up the dharna and took the MLAs into custody before releasing them on personal sureties.

YSR party outs CBI director’s phone list

YSR Congress MLAs protest in the Assembly premises on Thursday.

YSR Congress MLAs on Thursday demanded a probe by a Supreme Court judge into an alleged “conspiracy” behind the arrest of their leader Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Accusing CBI joint director V.V. Laxminarayana of leaking information and planting stories in one section of the media before affecting the Kadapa MP’s arrest, YSR Congress MLAs staged a dharna in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue on the Assembly premises. They released a list of calls made by Mr Laxminarayana to various reporters and also to one Vasireddy Chandrabala, said to be a former techie of Hyderabad.

YSR Congress leaders demanded why the CBI joint director called up media personnel in clear violation of the CBI manual. They also wanted to know who Ms Vasireddy Chandrabala was and why she had called him repeatedly. They alleged that the CBI joint director did not act fairly and had conspired with some parties with vested interests and had arrested Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy a few hours before attending court.


YSR party smells a rat in jail blackout:


There was a 12-hour blac-kout on Thursday at the Chanchalguda Central Prison where several high-profile undertrials including Kadapa MP Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and former minister Mopidevi Venkatramana are lodged. As news of the blackout spread, supporters of the YSR Congress chief started a rumour that it was a conspiracy to eliminate Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy. The power cut was rep-orted in the early hours of Thursday at the prison. Jail officials said one of the phases in the new prison block had developed glitches but power was restored by pulling a line from the old prison block which is empty.

Power problem resolved, says jail in-charge:


In-charge superintendent of Chanchalguda prison, Venkateshwar Reddy said, “We immediately addressed the problem by disconnecting the third phase from the old prison block and connecting it to the new prison block which holds all the inmates. The electricity department rectified the problem by Thursday evening. “There was no issue about the security of the inmates, including the special prisoners, being compromised. The charges are baseless.” Mr Jagan’s wife Bharathi Reddy had filed a petition in the HC seeking security for her husband in jail but the authorities had submitted a report stating that security was given to special category prisoners as per norms.

Sangma wants debate with Pranab ahead of presidential polls

Pinning hopes on "conscience vote", Sangma virtually dared UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee for a debate ahead of presidential polls, saying democracy needs debate.

NEW DELHI: Pinning hopes on "conscience vote" and his tribal identity, P A Sangma today virtually dared UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee for a debate ahead of presidential polls, saying democracy needs debate.

Maintaining that in a democracy people have the right to choose and there should be a debate at a time when the economy is sinking and scams are unimaginable, Sangma said, "Who is responsible for all this corruption...It has to be a candidate to candidate debate".

Asked whether he was throwing a challenge to Mukherjee, Sangma, who has the backing of BJP, BJD and AIADMK, said it was a practice. "Democracy means debate. I am asking for debate," he told TV channels.

Claiming that he will win the presidential race, Sangma also said he has sought appointments with Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray. He said that he was going to reach out to every one.

"The election will be by a secret ballot. Secret ballot means conscience vote. I depend on conscience vote and I believe in conscience vote," he said.

He said that the fact that there is a "split" in almost all political parties shows that this Presidential election is a serious one and "not as smooth as the Congress is claiming".

Sangma said that the UPA candidate is also not getting the undivided support of the ruling alliance as Mamata, whose party in a constituent of UPA, is "not supporting Mukherjee as yet".

He said that he is "constantly in touch" with the Trinamool Congress chief and is "very hopeful of her support". He said, "I am going to meet her in next few days."

Playing the tribal card, Sangma said that he wanted to correct the historic mistakes the country has committed as "tribals have not been given their due...I appeal to the consience of the nation. We have given our land, our forest, our natural resources...please recognize us."

Mumbai Mantralaya fire: CM, Deputy CM offices gutted

Mumbai: A major fire broke out in Maharashtra state secretariat on Thursday afternoon. The fire was reported from the cabin of Maharashtra state minister and NCP leader Babanrao Pachpute. Several people are reported to be trapped inside the building.
According to Relief Works Minister Patangrao Kadam, the fire broke out due to a short circuit.
While two people have been admitted to a hospital due to suffocation, several others are still trapped inside the building.

Thick smoke was seen outside the windows of the fourth floor of the building and no causalities have been reported so far.

The offices of Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, the Deputy Chief Minister and the Chief Secretary have been gutted by the fire. Chavan, it was reported, was not present in his office at the time of the incident.
Though reports suggested that files related to the Adarsh Housing Society scam could also be lost in the fire, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) dismissed them saying the files were safe in their possession.
Sixteen fire tenders were rushed to the spot and efforts have been on to douse the fire. Navy helicopters and anti-terrorist unit force one have also been rushed for the rescue operations.

Maharashtra Chief Secretary ordered immediate evacuation of the entire building, sources said.
Thousands of officials at Mantralaya, which houses the state Secretariat, were seen standing outside as fire fighters battled the blaze, which was suspected to have been caused by a short-circuit.

State Forest Minister Patang Rao said, "I am confident that all the important files will be safe and intact."
The eyewitnesses said that the fire broke out around 3 pm and now the area has been cordoned off.