YSR Congress chief, 2 MPs withdraw plea from Delhi HC
New Delhi: YSR Congress chief Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and two MPs of his party on Friday withdrew their pleas from the Delhi High Court that had sought a direction to the Lok Sabha Speaker to accept their resignations from the lower House. The lawmakers told Justice Manmohan that the Telangana bill has already been passed in both Houses of parliament, rendering their petitions infructuous and hence they be allowed to withdraw them. The court allowed Jaganmohan, Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy and S P Y Reddy to withdraw their petitions. Earlier, the three YSR Congress MPs had agreed before the High Court to meet Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar to assure her about the veracity and voluntary nature of their resignations as members of parliament. The court was hearing the plea of Jaganmohan and the two other MPs who had resigned in August last year over proposed bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and moved the High Court seeking quashing of the Speaker’s decision to reject their resignations. The counsel for the MPs had contended that under the constitution, the Speaker is expected to give a reason while rejecting the resignations and since no grounds were given they had no remedy other than moving the court. They had also contended the decision was arbitrary as the Speaker did not make any enquiry to find out whether their resignations were genuine and voluntary. Apart from the three YSR Congress MPs, nine others from Indian National Congress and one from Telugu Desam Party had tendered their resignations, the petition had said. (PTI)
11 security men killed in Jammu region in LoC firing in 2013
Jammu: As many as 11 security personnel were killed while 24 others injured in 208 incidents of firing from across Lone of Control (LoC) in Jammu region last year, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Friday. 25 civilians were also injured in the firing from across the LoC. In a written reply to a question of Congress member Sham Lal Bhagat in Legislative Council today, the Chief Minister said,”11 security personnel were killed and 25 civilians and 24 security force personnel were injured in 208 incidents of LoC firing in Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Rajouri and Poonch districts in 2013.” Giving a break up, Omar said 9 security personnel were killed and seven securitymen and six civilians were injured in 143 incidents along LoC in Poonch district, followed by killing of one security man and injuries to 14 securitymen and 18 civilians in 41 incidents in Jammu district. It was followed by killing of one security man and injury to one security man in 12 incidents in Samba district, followed by injuries to two security personnel and a civilian in 10 incidents of cross-border firing besides no casualties in two incidents of firing in Rajouri district, he said. Omar said that an ex-gratia relief was paid as per norms notified by the state government. (PTI)
Ashok Chavan opposes bifurcation of Maharashtra
Shirdi (Maha): Former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan on Friday opposed the idea of carving out another state from Maharashtra. In the wake of Parliament passing the Telangana bill, demand for separate state of Vidarbha has again come to fore in Maharashtra. Talking to reporters after visiting the Saibaba temple here, Chavan said separate state would not solve the problems of Vidarbha or Marathwada regions. Chavan himself hails from Marathwada. When asked if he was interested in contesting the Lok Sabha election, Chavan, who was named in Adarsh Society scam by the CBI, but whose prosecution was vetoed by the state government, said the Congress high command will take the decision on this. (PTI)
‘185 religious places of Pandits damaged in Kashmir Valley’
Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir government on Friday said that 185 places of worship of Kashmiri Pandits (KPs) in Kashmir Valley are either damaged or in a dilapidated condition. The above information was shared with the Legislative Council today through a written reply by the Minister of State for Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation, Aijaz Ahmed Khan. He was responding to a query by Congress member Ravinder Kumar Sharma. Giving out the details, Khan said that the highest number of 40 shrines were damaged or in a dilapidated condition in Anantnag district. While 28 religious places were similarly affected in Kupwara district, 26 shrines in Baramulla district were in a poor structural condition. The break up for the other districts was: 21 in Pulwama, 17 in Kulgam district, 19 in Srinagar, 14 each in Budgam and Shopian, 5 in Ganderbal and one in Bandipura, he said. (PTI)