Shutdown, official restrictions affect life in Srinagar
Srinagar: Authorities continued restrictions in Srinagar city and some other major towns of Kashmir on Monday for the second consecutive day to prevent separatist protests. Shops, private and public transport services remained closed in Srinagar and some other towns in Kashmir following restrictions imposed by the officials and the shutdown called by the separatists. Separatist groups have called for a three-day protest shutdown till Tuesday to press for the return of mortal remains of Afzal Guru and Muhammad Maqbool Bhat, who were hanged in Tihar Jail Feb 9, 2013, and Feb 11, 1984, respectively. They were subsequently buried in the jail compound. All separatist leaders, including Muhammad Yasin Malik, Shabir Ahmad Shah and Muhammad Nayeem Khan have been taken into preventive custody by the police, while hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani has been placed under house arrest. “These are preventive measures taken to maintain law and order in the city and some other places in the valley”, said a senior police officer here. Sporadic incidents of protestors throwing stones at the security forces were witnessed Sunday at a few places in Ganderbal, Baramulla and Bandipora districts. Police said the security forces exercised restraint while bringing the situation under control and nobody was injured in the clashes. Meanwhile, Kashmir University has postponed all its exams scheduled for Monday and Tuesday. (IANS)
Andhra presents Rs.1.83 lakh crore vote-on-account
Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy on Monday presented a tax-free, revenue-surplus vote-on-account for 2014-15 with an overall expenditure of over Rs.1.83 lakh crore. In his budget speech in the state assembly, he said the overall expenditure in fiscal 2014-15 would be Rs.183,129 crore, comprising Rs.115,179 crore under non-plan and Rs.67,950 crore under plan heads. The overall budget is more than 13 percent over 2013-14. With elections round the corner, the Congress government has presented vote-on-account instead of a full-fledged budget. Presenting his fourth budget, Ramanarayana Reddy said estimated revenue surplus would be Rs.474 crore and fiscal deficit would be Rs.25,402 crore. The finance minister presented the budget amid protests by legislators from Telangana over the manner in which the house passed a resolution, by a voice vote, Jan 30 rejecting the Telangana bill sent by the President to the legislature for its opinion. The budget speech last for only 15 minutes as Ramanarayana Reddy presented only highlights and laid his speech on the table. (IANS)
Russians booked for assaulting Goa beach waiter
Panaji: Two Russians have been booked for allegedly attacking a beach shack waiter at the popular Calangute beach late Sunday, police said on Monday. Enraged Russian tourists Kotsya Belyoev and Vasya Nadtochi assaulted Sheikh, the waiter, after he, according to the police, passed comments on the foreigners. The Russians were beaten up by a crowd which gathered at the beach, located 20 km from here, sub-inspector Nitin Halarnkar said. “Both have been arrested,” he added. The waiter has been admitted to the Goa Medical College as he sustained injuries to his face. After an alarm was raised by the beach shack hands, Russians ran on to the beach and started swimming away into the sea to escape attack by people on the beach, who had gathered near the shack. “They were forcibly pulled back from the sea by lifeguards, with whom also they scuffled,” an official attached to the Calangute police station said. The two Russians have been booked for assault and threatening. (IANS)
Kejriwal threatens to quit, again
New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday reiterated that he would quit if the Jan Lokpal and Swaraj bills are not passed in the upcoming assembly session. “To wipe out corruption, I am willing to forgo the chief minister’s seat hundred times over,” Kejriwal tweeted. In another tweet, he added that he is willing to “sacrifice” the chief minister’s chair a thousand times over to ensure that Swaraj and governance is directly controlled by the people. “This is our second fight for independence,” he wrote. Kejriwal on Sunday threatened to resign if the Congress did not support his government in passing the two legislations. The two bills would be tabled in the assembly Feb 13, Kejriwal said, adding that his government intended to get the Jan Lokpal bill passed at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium Feb 16. (IANS)
Dry weather prevails across UP
Lucknow: Weather continued to remain mainly dry in several districts in Uttar Pradesh in the past 24 hours. Night temperatures appreciably fell in Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Faizabad, Allahabad, Lucknow, Agra, Kanpur divisions, fell in Bareilly divisions and changed little in the remaining divisions of the state, according to a MeT report. They were markedly below normal in Agra division; appreciably below normal in Faizabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Bareilly, Moradabad, Meerut divisions; below normal in Allahabad division and were normal in the remaining divisions of the state, the report said. Lowest minimum temperature in the state was 03.0 deg Celsius recorded at Nazibabad. (PTI)
3 landmines recovered in Latehar
Latehar: Security forces on Monday recovered three landmines on the Barwadih-Daltonganj main road under Barwadih police station area of this naxal dominated district of Jharkhand. The landmines weighing around two kilograms were planted on the main road near Raja Medni Rai College, police sources said adding that the landmines were recovered by the CRPF during a search operation. Apart from the landmines four detonators have also been recovered from the spot. A bomb disposal squad is on its way to the site to defuse the bombs, police said. (UNI)