Telangana science teacher suspended for showing animal brain in classroom

The incident sparked protests by ABVP and others, who accused the teacher of “hurting religious sentiments” by bringing an animal brain to class.

A case has been filed against a government school teacher in Vikarabad district after she allegedly brought an animal brain to class to explain its anatomy, police said on Friday.

Some students claimed the teacher told them it was a cow’s brain. However, police said the animal species is yet to be confirmed.

A case under the Cow Slaughter Act has been registered against the science teacher, who allegedly showed the brain to Class 10 students on June 24.

Police said the case was registered following a complaint by the school’s Headmaster.

The incident triggered protests by the Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and other groups, who accused the teacher of “hurting religious sentiments”. They submitted a memorandum to education department officials demanding action.

The teacher was suspended based on a preliminary report by education officials, pending a detailed inquiry.

The Mandal Education Officer (MEO) visited the school as part of the inquiry, an official said.

Telangana CM Revanth Reddy puts Hyderabad Airport Metro on hold

The previous BRS government had planned a 31-km-long Hyderabad Airport Express Metro corridor at an estimated cost of Rs 6,250 crore.

Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Wednesday ordered the ongoing Hyderabad Airport Metro plan and related works to be put on hold and asked officials to prepare alternate routes that are cost-effective.

Revanth Reddy questioned how L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad Limited (LTMRHL) was given several benefits despite the non-completion of the project in the old city of Hyderabad, and instructed senior officers to investigate the issue.

The Telangana chief minister also directed officials to develop a new township in the huge tracts of lands acquired for Hyderabad Pharma City that was planned by the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government.

The previous government had planned a 31-km long Airport Express Metro corridor connecting Raidurg Metro station in Madhapur and RGI Airport in Shamshabad via outer ring road (ORR) at an estimated cost of Rs 6,250 crore as a joint venture between Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL), Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA), and Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TSIIC). The foundation for the project was laid in December 2022 and the groundwork related to alignment and documentation regarding tender works is ongoing. On Wednesday, Revanth Reddy conducted a detailed review of the metro rail project and its expansion plans and asked how the alignment was fixed along the ORR where the scope for development was limited due to GO-111 restrictions. He added that ORR is a sufficient mode of transport.

The previous government had decided to scrap GO-111 and open up about 1.32 lakh acres in 84 villages for development. The GO-111 prevented big constructions and industries in the 10-km radius of two Nizam-era water reservoirs, Osman Sagar, and Himayat Sagar, and its catchment on the city’s outskirts.

During the meeting, Reddy said priority should have been given to taking the Airport Metro alignment through the Old City from MGBS-Falaknuma corridor via Chandrayangutta and from L B Nagar to serve a vast majority of the people. The CM asked officials to prepare cost-effective alternatives and explore routes via Mailardevpally, Jalpally, and P7 Road, or Barkas-Pahadi Shareef and Srisailam Road.

The CM also expressed his dissatisfaction over several benefits handed over to the L&T MRHL despite the non-completion of a 5.5 km stretch connecting the old city of Hyderabad. He asked officials to thoroughly examine the concession agreement of LTMRHL and GMR Airport and the supplementary concession agreement of metro rail to protect the government’s interests.

Reddy said the city will have to be developed and expanded equally in all directions by creating satellite townships around ORR and hoped metro rail would play an important role in providing affordable and fast connectivity to these satellite townships. On these lines, he advised officials to plan for an environmentally friendly mega township in Kandukur where the government has acquired huge tracts of land for Pharma City.

He said Pharma City should not be near Hyderabad but at a distant place. He directed the HMRL to plan for metro rail connectivity to this mega township from the airport via Tukkuguda on Srisailam Road.

The CM also asked officials to prepare a new master plan for the city, including beautification of the Musi riverfront and a plan for an east-west road and metro rail corridor from Nagole to Gandipet, duly connecting intercity bus terminal MGBS.

He also advised senior officers to explore Hyderabad’s potential to be a logistics and medical hub between the West, the GCC countries and Southeast Asia. He also instructed them to plan for a dry port, since Telangana is a landlocked state.

President Murmu inaugurates replica of flagpole that witnessed Hyderabad’s accession to Indian Union

Also inaugurated were a maze garden and a children’s park, restoration of stepwells, Shiva and Nandi sculptures and new enclaves in the knowledge gallery at Rashtrapati Nilayam

President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday inaugurated a replica of the historic flagpole at the Rashtrapati Nilayam on which the national flag was hoisted for the first time in Hyderabad after the princely state acceded to the Indian Union in 1948. The 120-ft-tall flagpole made of teak was later dismantled as it became dilapidated and posed a threat to the main building.

Murmu arrived in Hyderabad on Monday night as part of the President’s annual southern sojourn for five days. The Rashtrapati Nilayam, the iconic heritage bungalow built in the 1850s, served as the country house of the British Residents before Independence. It is now the official retreat of the President of India during the annual southern sojourn. Since last year, the 97-acre campus has been open to visitors exept on Mondays and government holidays.

It was at an official ceremony in 1948 at the Bolarum residency (which is now the Rashtrapati Nilayam), the erstwhile Hyderabad state’s flag was taken down from the flagpole in the presence of Prince Azam Jah, the eldest son of seventh Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan, and the tricolour was hoisted as a symbolic transition of power. It was also here in 1949 that civil services officer MK Vellodi took the oath of office as the first appointed chief minister of Hyderabad after military rule was disbanded.

Besides the flagpole, President Murmu also inaugurated a maze garden and a children’s park; restoration of stepwells and traditional irrigation systems; Shiva and Nandi sculptures on the rock water cascade; and the addition of new enclaves in the knowledge gallery on the Rashtrapati Nilayam campus.

The new flagpole is an exact replica of the original one and has wooden platforms on it at a height of 15 m and 30 m as before. The replica features hinges and, as before, is erected with 14 steel wire stay supports at different locations.

Flags can be hoisted on the new pole both manually and using a motorised mechanism with steel wires and pulleys. There is also a provision to illuminate the flagpole at night. At the four corners of the flagpole area, authorities have installed 250-watt LED focus lights to illuminate the flag. For easy general maintenance, a mobile man trolley system has been installed in the flagpole with steel wires and pulleys as per the flag hoisting system.

According to a press release, the maze garden located near the main building has Murraya Exotica as the main attraction. The restoration of three stepwells is aimed at capturing a significant amount of rainwater and increasing water security and local resource sustainability while traditional irrigation systems will make visitors aware of the heritage. The sculptures of Dakshinamurthy Shiva seated under a banyan tree and the Nandi bull on a rock are among the newest attractions for visitors.

In the knowledge gallery, two new enclaves have been added—one provides information about the unification of Hyderabad and the other about Rashtrapati Bhavan and the Presidents of India. The Rock paintings outside the knowledge gallery depict various aspects of “Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat”—scientific and defence achievements, heritage, various monuments and art forms.

Ban halal-certified foods in Maharashtra, demands BJP MLA Nitesh Rane

The UP government, on November 18, banned the production, storage, distribution and sale of food products with halal certification with immediate effect while exempting products manufactured for export.

Ban halal-certified foods in Maharashtra, demands BJP MLA Nitesh Rane Mumbai, Dec 21 (PTI) Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Nitesh Rane has sought a ban on halal certification of food items in Maharashtra on the lines of the decision taken by his party’s government in Uttar Pradesh.

The UP government, on November 18, banned the production, storage, distribution and sale of food products with halal certification with immediate effect while exempting products manufactured for export.

Speaking to reporters on the premises of the Vidhan Bhavan complex in Nagpur on Wednesday, Rane claimed the money from this process was being used to fund terrorism.

“Halal, jihad and love jihad are major concerns. The money collected in the name of halal certificate is being used to fund terrorism. It is used against the Hindu religion. We have all evidence related to this,” he alleged. “Maharashtra should ban halal certification in the same way that the Uttar Pradesh government has done. There are two companies that provide such certification. They are also from Maharashtra,” he claimed. The Kankavli MLA said he would write to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also hold the home portfolio, in this regard.

In KTR vs Priyank Kharge, a warning against Cong strategist Sunil Kanugolu

KTR alerted Priyank Kharge about Sunil Kanugolu and his ‘propaganda’; the Karnataka minister gave back.

Sunil Kanugolu is a poll strategist who was hailed as the mastermind behind Congress’ historic win in Telangana — the first for the party in the newest state of India. His name again surfaced as former Telangana minister KT Rama Rao crossed swords with the Karnataka ministers on social media over job claims. KTR warned Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge to not get carried away by “propaganda of Sunil & team”. Sunil Kanugolu was reportedly approached by KCR when he was the chief minister of Telangana at least two years before the poll. After rounds of meetings, Sunil apparently declined KCR’s offer and decided to work for the Congress. Why KTR and Priyank Kharge are fighting on social media

KTR shared an edited video of Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah purportedly saying in the Assembly that the government has no money to implement the poll promises. Siddaramaiah clarified that the video was edited and shared the original full clip.

“No money to deliver poll promises/guarantees says Karnataka CM! Is this the future template for Telangana too after successfully hoodwinking the people in elections? Aren’t you supposed to do basic research and planning before making outlandish statements?”KTR posted citing the edited video.

“Mr. @KTRBRS, Do you know why your party lost in the Telangana Elections? Because you don’t even know how to verify what is fake and edited, and what is truth. @BJP4India creates fake edited videos, and your party circulates them. Yours is a perfect B Team of BJP,” Siddaramaiah replied.

“Dear Sri Siddaramaiah Garu, We’ve lost the election because your party had shamelessly misled the people of Telangana with Fake promises. Dec 9th, 2023 has passed, but where is the: Rythu Bharosa promised to farmers, tenant farmers and farm labourers; ₹2 Lakhs Farm Loan Waiver; ₹4000 welfare pension; ₹500 Gas Cylinder; ₹2500 your party had promised to every woman; Mega DSC announcement in first cabinet; Providing legal sanctity to 6 guarantees in first cabinet. Are these promises fake or are your party leaders who promised these schemes fake?” KTR retorted.

Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge joined the debate as he tweeted: “Looks like @KTRBRS gaaru has taken BJP’s bait of lies and manipulation. I am sure such fake narratives will now be a daily affair since BRS & BJP are thick as thieves.”

KTR did not give in and cited a statement of Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar that the Karnataka government won’t be able to provide development this year and asked whether those statements were also fake. “Buddy, we defeated all the BJP bigwigs in Telangana including all three of their MPs, Not the Congress party. Better be careful/prepared before you get carried away by propaganda of Sunil & team,” KTR said.

“Bhai @KTRBRS Like I said you have not only fallen into the trap of BJP, but also Godhi media. One of the main reasons, BRS was voted out, was because BRS was unable to provide a single Govt job exam paperleaks that happened under the watchful eyes of your leaders. Of course, I am always keen to learn more on the debacles of Raitha Bandhu, 2BHK, Kaleshwaram etc. Probably, if you were better prepared, we could have avoided this conversation,” Priyank replied.

Karnataka techie, an MNC employee, detained in Parliament security breach probe

Parliament security breach main accused Manoranjan D was a roommate of Sai Krishna, a software engineer who is being questioned by the cops.

The Delhi Police on Wednesday detained a software engineer employed with an MNC from Karnataka’s Vidyagiri in connection with the December 13 Lok Sabha security breach incident. According to reports, Sai Krishna, the techie, knew Manoranjan D, one of the men who entered the Lok Sabha with hidden canisters and sprayed yellow smoke in a huge security scare on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament attack. Reports said Sai Krishna is the son of a retired cop of the Karnataka Police.

Delhi Police Special Celldetained another man from Uttar Pradesh in connection with the case. 50-year-old Atul Kulshetra is a resident of Jalalpur, reports said.

On Wednesday all six arrested in the case were confronted with each other for a corroboration of the sequence of the incident. The police custody of the four accused Sagar Sharma, Manoranjan D, Neemal and Amol Shinde is ending on Thursday. Lalit Jha and Mahesh Kumawat are the two other accused arrested in the case.

The six people arrested in the Parliament security breach case were part of half a dozen WhatsApp groups named after Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekar Azad, police sources said on Tuesday. The accused and other members of these groups would regularly discuss the thoughts and ideas of the freedom fighters and also share related video clips, they said

Sai Krishna was Manoranjan D’s roommate in the engineering college where they studied together. Repos said Sai Krishna was picked up from his sister’s place in Bagalkot.

On December 13, Manohar D and Sagar Sharma jumped inside the Lok Sabha when the session was on and sprayed yellow smoke. Outside Parliament, Neelam Azad and Amol Shinde were found protesting using the same smoke. The four were arrested under UAPA charges for the serious breach and as the police widened the net of the investigation, it was revealed that the security breach was a pre-mediated plan — to create anarchy. No link with any organisation has been found so far.

Manoranjan D got two entry passes from BJP MP Pratap Simha’s office. In their previous recce, they found out that shoes were not checked in Parliament and hence hid canisters inside their shoes and entered the Lok Sabha as visitors.

DMK minister K Ponmudy gets 3 yrs in prison

The court also imposed a fine of ₹50 lakhs each on Ponmudy and his wife.

The Madras High Court on Thursday sentenced Tamil Nadu state’s higher education minister K Ponmudy to 3 years of simple imprisonment in a ₹1.75-crore disproportionate assets case, ANI reported.

The court also imposed a fine of ₹50 lakhs each on Ponmudy and his wife. On Tuesday, the Madras High Court convicted Ponmudy and his wife in the case, setting aside a trial court’s order which acquitted them.

The case pertains to Ponmudy (72) amassing wealth disproportionately to the tune of ₹1.75 crore in his name and in the name of his wife which was 65.99% more than his known sources of income when he was a minister in the DMK-led regime during 2006 to 2011.

They were, however, acquitted by a trial court in Villupuram in 2016. On Tuesday, the high court set aside that verdict and noted that the charge of offence punishable under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, stands proved against both accused.

“A complete miscarriage of justice had occurred by the omission of reliable evidence and by mis-interpretation of the evidence,” Justice Jayachandran noted. “…the overwhelming evidence against the respondents and the unsustainable reasons given by the trial court for acquittal by ignoring those evidence compel this court to declare the judgment of the trial court is palpably wrong, manifestly erroneous and demonstrably unsustainable. Hence, this is a fit case for the appellate court to interfere and set it aside.”

The judge also held the trial court wrong to consider the accused couple as separate entities instead of clubbing them together.

“The trial court has failed to understand that, the substance of charge against A-2 is that, she being the wife of A-1 (public servant) holding the assets of A-1 which he had acquired through unknown source,” the court held. “Whether, the lack of capital/source to yield income proportionate to the properties acquired in the name of A-2 during the check period is the point which ought to have been first examined by the trial court…”

Delhi court grants bail to Lalu Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav, and Rabri Devi

This is the second chargesheet against Lalu and his family in the case wherein Lalu is accused of receiving plots of land as a bribe in return for giving jobs to people when he was the railways minister in the UPA government

A Delhi court Wednesday granted bail to RJD chief Lalu Yadav, his son and Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, and his wife Rabri Devi in the alleged land-for-jobs scam.

On September 22, the Delhi Court of Special Judge Geetanjali Goel had summoned former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad and Tejashwi Yadav along with 15 others allegedly involved in the land-for-jobs scam.

The court took cognisance of the chargesheet filed in July this year against the 17 accused. This is the second chargesheet against Lalu and his family in the case wherein Lalu is accused of receiving plots of land as a bribe in return for giving jobs to people when he was the railways minister in the UPA government

It is also the first chargesheet in the case to name Tejashwi Yadav as an accused.

Earlier, the CBI received a nod from the Union Home Ministry in the form of four prosecution sanctions against Lalu and three former Indian Railways officials. While the sanction to prosecute was granted earlier, that for the former Railways officials was given only recently.

Officials said they had applied for the sanction last year. Prosecution sanction from the competent authority is a prerequisite for the special court to take cognisance of the chargesheet filed by the agency.

According to the Central Bureau of Investigation, the new chargesheet mentions railway zones which were not mentioned in the earlier chargesheet.

The CBI had booked Lalu and his family members in a fresh case of corruption in May last year. The agency had named as many as 17 people, including Lalu, Tejashwi, Rabri Devi, his daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav, and the beneficiaries of the entire process, as accused in the FIR.

According to the CBI’s first chargesheet, Lalu’s family acquired over 1 lakh sq ft of land in this manner for a meagre Rs 26 lakh when the then circle rate puts the cumulative value of the land at over Rs 4.39 crore.

AAP MP Sanjay Singh arrested by ED

AAP MP Sanjay Singh arrested by ED following the central agency’s searches at his residence in connection with its money laundering probe.

Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh was arrested on Wednesday by the Enforcement Directorate following the central agency’s searches at his residence in connection with its money laundering probe into alleged irregularities in Delhi excise policy 2021-22.

The probe agency alleged that Singh, who was arrested under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, played a key role in the formulation and implementation of the now scrapped policy which benefited certain liquor manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers.

In May this year, an ED chargesheet filed against arrested ex-deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia stated that a restaurateur named Dinesh Arora was extremely close to both Singh and Sisodia.

Arora was arrested by the ED in July which claimed that he was a key person in the case. The agency alleged that Arora in 2020 received a call from the AAP MP saying that Delhi assembly elections were approaching and AAP was in need for funds.

Earlier in the day, AAP had cried foul over the ED searches at Singh’s residence. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had said,””They have been probing the alleged liquor scam for the last year but nothing has been found yet. Nothing will be found at Sanjay Singh’s residence. When someone is staring at defeat, they resort to desperate measures. That is what is happening right now”.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, on the other hand, named Kejriwal as the ‘kingpin’ in the case. “The public of the nation and Delhi has understood that if there’s a kingpin in the Liquor scam it is Arvind Kejriwal on whose indications the Liquor scam in Delhi took place. The accused Dinesh Arora who is a businessman has accepted that at Delhi CM’s residence, the meeting was held”, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia had said in a press briefing.

“On the indication of Arvind Kejriwal, Sanjay Singh said to ‘give ₹32 lakhs to the ‘Paapi AAP Arajak Apradh Party’. An MP does ‘vasooli’ sitting at the CM’s residence. The 32 lakh money was given through cheque. There could be crores of rupees and it has come across during the investigation”, he added.

Union cabinet clears new terms to decide Telangana water share

The council of ministers signed off on new terms of reference for the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II to adjudicate on what should be the amount of water Telangana should be able to draw from the Krishna Basin

The Union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday took two decisions related to water, clearing proposals to rework the water-sharing formula between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana from the river Krishna and completing an irrigation project that will benefit Bihar and Jharkhand, information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur said.

The council of ministers signed off on new terms of reference for the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II to adjudicate on what should be the amount of water Telangana should be able to draw from the Krishna Basin.

The two states have been in a dispute over their shares, especially after the creation of Telangana as a separate state out of undivided Andhra Pradesh.

Under section 5(1) of the Inter State Water Dispute Act 1956, the Centre has called for the adjudication between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on the basis of new terms of reference.

The proposal was approved after the Union government sought legal opinion on the matter and following complaints raised by the Telangana government invoking provisions of the Act.

“Telangana had demanded that the matter should be looked into by the tribunal and decided to withdraw a plea before the Supreme Court,” Thakur said in a briefing.

An earlier demand by the Telangana government to revisit its water share had been rejected by the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II, following which it had moved the Supreme Court. The state then made a new complaint to the Centre, Thakur said.

The tribunal was set up by the Centre on 2 April 2004. In 2014, after Telangana came into existence, the tenure of the tribunal was extended in accordance to section 89 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act (APRA), 2014.

Telangana first complained to the Jal Shakti ministry over water-sharing on July 14 2014. It also filed a plea in the Supreme Court in 2015. In 2018, the state made a second complaint to the Centre, asking it to refer its complaint to the tribunal by confining the scope of reference between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh only, according to records of the Union Jal Shakti ministry.

In a separate decision, the Cabinet also approved revised costs for the completion of the North Koel reservoir, a major irrigation project that will benefit Bihar and Jharkhand. The project will provide additional annual irrigation to 42,301 hectares in the four drought prone districts of Bihar and Jharkhand, a Cabinet statement read.