Jayalalithaa now in Bangalore court, arrived with 20-car convoy

Bangalore:  Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayanthi Jayalalithaa has reached a Bangalore trial court to record her statement in connection with a corruption case. 
 
Ms Jayalalithaa reached the court in a long convoy of 20 cars and all that could be seen was the khaki of policemen around. The route from the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) airport, where Mr Jayalalithaa's special aircraft landed, to the court, has been sanitised. The court has turned into a virtual fortress; no private vehicle is allowed within one and a half kilometres. 
 

Kiran Bedi explains the controversy over her business class tickets

New Delhi:  Team Anna member and former top cop Kiran Bedi has rejected allegations that she over-bills companies and institutions who host her by inflating her travel expenses.

A report in the Indian Express this morning says that Ms Bedi, a core member of Team Anna, charges her hosts business-class fares, but travels economy instead.  At other times, the paper states, Ms Bedi avails of a discount from Air India -which she is entitled to as a Gallantry Award winner. In both cases, the paper alleges, Ms Bedi collects full business-class fare.

Govt to tap market for more funds

Calcutta, Oct. 18: The government has decided to raise another Rs 1,500 crore from the market at a time Bengal is lagging behind its tax revenue target.

The state finance department has got the green light from the Centre for raising the loan.

With this fresh round of borrowing, the government stands to exhaust 73.8 per cent of the enhanced borrowing limit for Bengal.

In the current fiscal, the Left Front government had made three borrowings between April and May and raised Rs 5,173 crore.

Mamata Banerjee and finance minister Amit Mitra had several meetings with Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee before the Centre agreed to increase Bengal’s borrowing limit to Rs 20,534 crore from Rs 17,800 crore.

Cong alliance worry

Calcutta, Oct. 18: Shakeel Ahmed, the Congress’s minder for Bengal, will visit the city on Friday following reports that the party’s activists are planning to defect to Trinamul in droves.

“We are really worried about reports that many party workers in rural Bengal are planning to defect to Trinamul. Our priority is to keep the flock together,” the AICC general secretary told The Telegraph during a phone conversation.

State Congress leaders allege that the party supporters are planning defection because they are unable to bear harassment by Trinamul activists.

Rs 100 subsidy for jute farmers

Calcutta, Oct. 18: Mamata Banerjee today said the government would subsidise by Rs 100 every quintal of jute procured from farmers by the Jute Corporation of India (JCI) from Friday.

Mamata said the decision was taken after Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar informed the state government that the JCI could not increase the minimum support price (MSP) of jute by Rs 400 as requested by her.

She had sent a missive to Pawar on August 21 and got a reply yesterday.

Joint forces end lull with raid for Akash - Squad stumbles on bathing group, rebels leave behind rifle and ammo

Midnapore, Oct. 18: The joint forces today launched the first major operation against Maoists in Jungle Mahal since the Mamata Banerjee government came to power nearly five months ago.

Sources in Writers’ Buildings said the operation, based on specific information, in Bankishole forest near Jhargram was to build pressure on the Maoists even as the government urged the rebels to shun violence and come to the talks table.

Today’s raid, involving about 300 jawans of the CRPF, Straco and police, lasted about half an hour. The Maoists shot at the joint forces and they retaliated.

Tackling encephalitis: Govt holds crisis meet

Lucknow:  As number of deaths from Japanese Encephalitis rise in Basti and Gorakhpur districts of Uttar Pradesh, the Health Department held a high level meeting where officials decided on an immediate immunisation programme.

Mallya goes back to school

Clad in a blazer and tie, Vijay Mallya was back in school. This time, however, as chief guest of his alma mater, La Martiniere for Boys, on its 176th commemoration service of the school’s founder, Major-General Claude Martin, last month. “How completely overwhelmed by nostalgia I was when I drove through the gates this morning — those days, I couldn’t drive through the gates but walked through them,” Mallya said. The chairman of the UB Group also visited some of the classrooms. He went on to recount some memorable anecdotes of his school life. “I was in Hastings House (Red) at school and that explains my passion for the colour red,” added Mallya, amidst a torrent of claps from students, past and present, especially of Hastings House.

Where grass is greener

Students seeks information at the Linden US University Fair. Picture by Sayantan Ghosh

A group of students from AK Ghosh Memorial High School stood uncertainly outside the ballroom of the Oberoi Grand. They had been sent by the school to attend the one-day Linden US University Fair, organised in association with the United States-India Educational Foundation (USIS), last month. Only one of them was sure he wanted to study engineering from a foreign university. The others just poured over the prospectus, ticking the various courses up for grabs.

Near them, a Class XI student from La Martiniere for Girls and her mother were ready with queries on business study courses offered by some shortlisted universities.

Anti-corruption campaign in schools

A CBI workshop at St. James’ School. Picture by Sayantan Ghosh The fight against corruption has reached the school classroom. The CBSE has asked schools to organise activities to spread awareness among students against corruption and several ICSE schools have already done so.

Diwali high-decibel sermon to high-rises - Cops ask residents not to take ban lightly

Calcutta police are on a sermon spree before cracking the whip on high-rises that think the campaign against high-decibel crackers is all sound and fury signifying nothing.

On Tuesday, representatives of 44 Alipore apartment blocks received a lesson in decibel levels from the deputy commissioner (south), D.P. Singh, at a community hall on Ashoka Road.

Fire at Behala auditorium

A spark from a welding machine at an auditorium under repair in Behala caused a blaze on the first-floor backstage balcony stashed with inflammable materials on Tuesday.

Officers said firefighting started late because an underground water reservoir in the building, maintained by the Calcutta Municipal Corporation, was empty. They said the auditorium was stashed with inflammable materials.

Hawkers refused place on bridge

A hawker-free Bankim Setu on Tuesday. (Gopal Senapati) Howrah police finally bowed to public demand and prevented hawkers from selling their wares on Bankim Setu on Tuesday, but the Citu-backed traders’ body vowed to return to the bridge next week. The hawkers submitted a memorandum to Mamata Banerjee’s Kalighat office, seeking the chief minister’s help in their fight against the district administration.

Social service buzz in IIT B-school fest

A B-school fest with a difference is what students of the Vinod Gupta School of Management (VGSOM), IIT Kharagpur, are offering with Saamanjasya 2011.

Unlike usual management fests, Saamanjasya is about events revolving around rural marketing strategies, a bazaar for rural artisans of India, case studies for NGOs and mock parliamentary debates.

Eden ready for champs

Next Tuesday, the Eden Gardens will host the ODI world champions for the first time since its Rs 80-crore revamp. Metro walks through the stadium to find out what has changed since the India-England World Cup tie was shifted to Bangalore in February

For the first time, the team buses will pull up in front of five giant pictures — of Sourav Ganguly, Kapil Dev, Laxman and Dravid, India’s T20 World Cup win and Sachin Tendulkar — above the main entrance of the stadium. The rest of the façade is made of glass, which has replaced murals of a bowler in delivery stride and a batsman following through after a lofted drive.

Big-league pressure on Besu

Bengal Engineering and Science University is being upgraded to an Institute of National Importance, a status it might find hard to live up to in the league of the IITs and NITs.

Besu’s inclusion in the list — the bill is likely to be tabled in the next session of Parliament — guarantees the Shibpur institute freedom from the state government, access to a larger pool of funds and a new name. Quality isn’t assured, and there are examples of institutes being stuck in the rut after similar upgrades.

Two institutions, two strides - Merit key to hiring: Presi VC

Presidency University’s second vice-chancellor took office on Monday and promised to follow an “unbiased, merit-based and transparent” teacher recruitment policy that will never be influenced by politics.

“There will be no place for politics. I don’t have any political affiliation. I can assure you faculty recruitment at Presidency will be unbiased, merit-based and transparent,” Malabika Sarkar told Metro soon after taking over the reins of the fledgling university that was once her college.

Hasina stopover today

Hasina, Ramesh New Delhi, Oct.18: When Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina makes a 20-minute stopover at the Teen Bigha Corridor tomorrow, she will be welcomed by two Indian ministers on the Indian side. Union home minister P. Chidambaram, who was to receive her and hold a 20-minute discussion literally by the roadside when Hasina crosses the corridor, had to call off the visit because of his mother’s ill health. Chidambaram is in Tamil Nadu.

No delay in Lokpal, promises Khurshid

Salman Khurshid

New Delhi, Oct. 18: Union law minister Salman Khurshid today said the Lokpal will be a constitutional authority and that this will not delay the bill.

“Is it going to delay Lokpal’s creation? My answer is no, there will be no delay and we will work hard to ensure there’s no delay. We cannot say with absolute certainty that it will be passed in Parliament at this time, on this day,” Khurshid said, but stressed the Lokpal bill will be passed in the winter session of Parliament.

Left out on poverty line, Selja protests

Kumari Selja

New Delhi, Oct. 18: The controversy over the Rs 32-a-day poverty line ceiling appears to have kicked off a minor storm in Congress corridors, with one minister upset that a colleague had hogged the limelight.

Kumari Selja, the minister for housing and urban poverty alleviation, has accused the Planning Commission of ignoring her ministry during the controversy while Jairam Ramesh, her colleague in the rural development ministry, had appeared at a media conference called by the panel.

SC questions F1 tax waiver

New Delhi, Oct. 18: The Supreme Court has asked the Uttar Pradesh government to explain why entertainment tax was waived for the Formula One event scheduled to kick off in Greater Noida later this month.

The court also issued notices to Jaypee Sports International Limited, the organisers, following a petition, which said F1 racing was an “elitist (and) dangerous sport” that served no public interest and, therefore, didn’t deserve a tax exemption.

A bench, headed by Justice D.K. Jain, also sent notices to the commissioner, entertainment taxes, Uttar Pradesh; the special secretary in the state’s tax department, and the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority.

Sheila sinks Moral Ma’am - Sena cubs cheer ‘bar dance’ numbers

Mumbai, Oct. 18: Good you weren’t there, Grandpa, the show was for adults only.

Bal Thackeray’s Shiv Sena may be known for its moral policing, but its kid wing Yuva Sena turned one yesterday to the raunchy tunes of Sheila ki Jawani andJalebi Bai. Party patriarch Thackeray “watched” from huge posters while his son Uddhav and grandson Aditya, the chief of the youth wing, clapped away merrily as women gyrated on stage to the Bollywood numbers and sexually suggestive Marathi songs “This is the new age,” Uddhav said today, clearly uncomfortable when asked if the Sena’s “morals” were changing. “You have to talk to the youth in their language.”

Yeddy hops hospitals

Yeddyurappa

Bangalore, Oct. 18: B.S. Yeddyurappa checked into a second hospital this evening after the first one certified him fit to go back to jail.

The former Karnataka chief minister, remanded in judicial custody on land scam charges, was discharged from the state-run Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences this evening after a two-day stay and diagnostic tests that found his heart to be in stable condition.