AP bifurcation will be smooth: Governor
New Delhi: The bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh will be a smooth affair and all people, irrespective of their domicile, will be safe in Telangana, Governor ESL Narasimhan said on Friday. The Governor met Home Minister Rajnath Singh here and had a detailed discussion with him about the ongoing process of bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. He conveyed to him that all arrangements have been made for creation of Telangana on the appointed day — June 2. “Bifurcation will be a smooth affair,” Narasimhan told reporters. Asked about the apprehensions of some sections of people about their security in the new state, the Governor said interests of all people living in Telangana, irrespective of their domicile, will be protected. “Everyone is safe,” he said. Narasimhan, who was appointed Governor of Telangana too, will take oath on June 2 before TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao is sworn in as Chief Minister of the country’s 29th state. Telangana Rashtra Samiti got absolute majority in Telangana’s 117 Assembly seats. Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu is likely to take oath as Chief Minister of residuary Andhra Pradesh either on June 8 or 9. (PTI)
Normal life disrupted due to strike in Kashmir’s Shopian
Srinagar: Normal life was disrupted in south Kashmir’s Shopian town due to a strike called by hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani on the fifth anniversary of Shopian rape and murder case. Shops, business establishments and petrol pumps in the town, 52 kms from here, were closed while public transport was off the roads, official sources said here. Geelani had called a shutdown in the district and appealed people to hold prayer meetings in mosques for peace to the souls of the victims – Asiya and Nelofar – whose death had sparked valley wide protests after allegations of rape and murder of the two women by security forces surfaced in 2009. Geelani, in a statement, said the incident was a “serious attack against the collective conscience” of people of Jammu and Kashmir. Asiya (17) and her sister-in-law Neelofar (22) were allegedly raped and killed in Shopian during the intervening night of May 29-30 in 2009. (PTI)
Man sentenced to life for killing woman suspecting her as witch
Baripada (Odisha): A man was sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district on Friday for killing a woman suspecting her to be a witch. Additional District Judge, Baripada, Asanta Kumar Das held Prafulla Santara, a tribal of Badabhalia village, guilty for killing Jhunumani Santara (25) of the same village on October 6, 2011. Besides pronouncing life term, the court also imposed Rs 1,000 fine on the convict and ruled that in the event of failure to pay the fine, he would have to undergo rigorous imprisonment for another six years. According to prosecution, Prafulla had beaten Jhunumani to death with a stick as he suspected that she was practising witchcraft that led to ailments in his family. Altogether 19 persons had deposed before the court as witness in connection with the case. (PTI)