LIVE! PM announces Rs 2 lakh each for next of kin who died in TN floods

LIVE

Sat, 05 December 2015

PM announces Rs 2 lakh each for next of kin who died in TN floods

Timeline Refresh

23:01 Godman held for raping Afghan national in Delhi

A self-styled godman, who was on the run for the last eight days, was arrested today for allegedly raping and duping a 24-year-old Afghan national.

The godman was ensnared by policemen from one of his hideouts today in connection with the incident which took place in South-East Delhi's Amar Colony area, police said.

"In her complaint, the woman said she had approached the guru to seek his blessings as she was not doing well in her career. She did so following someone's advice that her career will flourish due to his blessings. "She alleged the guru gave here some prasad, laced with sedatives. After consuming it, she fell unconscious.

Taking advantage the guru allegedly raped her," an official said. According to the police, the woman also accused the guru of threatening to kill her if she approached police.

The complainant has also charged the guru of cheating her with Rs 10 lakh, police added.

Showing solidarity to the flood affected people of Tamil Nadu, many banks including SBI, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank have decided not to impose any penalty on its Chennai customers for delay in EMI payments.

The bank has decided to waive off penalty for late payment or no payment of EMI for November and December for Home Loans and Car Loans and personal loans, SBI said in a statement. Besides, the largest lender has also done away with processing fees for loans the public may seek to take for effecting repairs and recouping damage.

SBI will also offer special soft loans on convenient repayment terms for repair of cars to existing car Loan borrowers up to 10 per cent of the original loan taken and salary advance of three months net salary for customers having salary accounts with the bank.

HDFC Bank also announced penalty waiver for delay in EMI and card payments for November.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tonight announced Rs 2 lakh each for the next of kin of those who died in Tamil Nadu floods.

"PM announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs. 2 lakhs each from PMNRF (Prime Minister's National Relief Fund) for next of kin of those who lost their lives in the floods in Tamil Nadu," said the PMO in a Twitter post.

Modi had on December 3 made an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas in Tamil Nadu and announced an immediate release of Rs.1,000 crore for relief and rehabilitation work in the flood-ravaged state. That was in addition to Rs.940 crore which was released earlier by the Centre.

The Faizabad district administration has stepped up security and is taking measures to maintain peace ahead of the VHP's 'big show' here tomorrow to mark the 23rd anniversary of Babri Masjid demolition. The district administration conducted a high-level security meeting in Ayodhya ahead of the planned event.

Intelligence reports have suggested that the gathering at the VHP event may see a breach of the peace, police sources said. VHP spokesman Sharad Sharma has said that 'Hindu Swabhimaan Diwas' (Hindu Respect Day) will be observed tomorrow.

"We have sent invites through social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. We are hopeful that a large number of people will turn up," he said.

21:29 6 'jihadi' militants arrested in Assam

Six Jamaat ul Mujaheedin militants, including one allegedly close to the Burdwan blast kingpin, were arrested from different places of Lower Assam and huge quantities of arms and ammunition seized, police said today.

The police arrested the 'jehadis' from Baksa, Chirang, Goalpara and Kokrajhar districts and the prize catch was Monirul Islam alias Burabhai who was absconding since the police busted a jehadi camp in September last, IGP(BTAD) L R Bishnoi told PTI.

Islam had allegedly visited Burdwan before the blasts last year and was also attempting to set up training camps for jehadis in Barpeta districts and along the Assam-Meghalaya border, he said.

The police seized a revolver along with five rounds of ammunition from his possession. The police had arrested last night one Anwar Ali from Baksa district who led the police to another 'jihadi' activist Ikram Hussain and they in turn led the police to Abdul Rezzak in Chirang district, the official said.

Noted lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani today said that he had asked Peter Mukerjea, arrested in Sheena Bora murder case, not to talk to the media about the case but the former media magnate's interview to a news channel prior to this "advice" had already started the "media trial".

Jethmalani, who represents Peter Mukerjea in court in the murder case, while taking part in the panel discussion on 'Anatomy of an Investigation - The Art and Science of Forensics' in Times LitFest here, decried the "increasing tendency" of the media to conduct trials in sensational cases even before the judicial process takes off.

"This is why I had advised Peter not to talk to the press or give any interview to the media. But Even before my advice, he had given an interview to a news channel, that turned out like a trial for him even before the actual trial started," Jethmalani said.

The closure of Chennai airport has been extended till December 8, the Air India said today even as Airports Authority of India was monitoring the situation to take a decision on resuming normal operations.

"The closure of the Chennai Airport has been further extended till 1100 hours of December 8, 2015," Air India said mentioning it in a statement a statement about its flights to Hyderabad and Port Blair from Chennai.

In the wake of heavy rains and flooding of the runway and nearby operational areas, AAI had closed the airport for normal operations on December 2 till December 6.

When contacted, an AAI spokesperson said the situation at the airport was being constantly monitored and a decision on extending the closure period has not been taken yet.

Indian high commission diplomat was denied permission to travel to Lahore to set up the mission's stall at the ongoing SAARC Trade Fair where all the other SAARC nations have their representation.

The Pakistan Foreign Office had invited the Indian High Commission like other missions of SAARC countries to put up a stall at the 12th SAARC Trade Fair inaugurated by Pakistan's Commerce Minister Khurram Dastagir Khan yesterday.

Over 50 Indian traders are participating in the fair, which is being held in Lahore from December 4-6. Diplomatic missions of all SAARC nations were given space for putting up their respective stalls at the the fair.

However, the chief coordinator from the Indian high commission was not given permission to travel from Islamabad to Lahore. Therefore, India is the only country whose mission does not have representation at the fair, sources here said.

Stating that development is Narendra Modi Government's lone agenda, Union Minister and BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu today said those attacking it in the name of "intolerance" were actually hurting the image of the country.

"Those attacking the NDA Government in the name of "intolerance" are actually hurting the image and standing of the country," he said.

Speaking at a foundation stone laying ceremony for a fly-over, Naidu attacked Congress over some important events of the past. Recalling the imposition of Emergency (1975-77) in the country and massacre of Sikhs in Delhi in 1984, the former BJP President said those who were at the helm of affairs then, are now preaching morals.

Amid widespread apprehension over the odd and even number scheme for private vehicles, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today struck a conciliatory note and said it will be tried out for limited period of time and it will be stopped if there are problems galore.

With experts and Opposition parties questioning the practicability of the scheme, Kejriwal said many things were yet to be thrashed out including exemptions for certain private vehicles and it was a decision taken in principle which will be "thought through".

"In principle, a decision has been taken. Many things are yet to be thrashed out... We will experiment with it for some time. May be for 15 days. If there are too many problems, it will be stopped," he said at the HT Leadership Summit here.

Trustees of a charitable trust, who have filed a suit in 1997 against Kailash Satyarthi for alleged misappropriation of funds, today told a Delhi court that the Nobel laureate was deceiving the society in the name of social work, an allegation that he has denied.

Satyarthi said the litigation and allegations were aimed at "tarnishing his image at the instigation of people who are having vested interests."

His counsel Pradeep Diwan claimed that his client was being dragged in the "frivolous" litigation which gained momentum only after he was conferred the award.

Additional District Judge Kamini Lau, however, was not convinced by this argument and said "work is more important. People who earn a name fall from it overnight also. So, let's not get into that."

Satyarthi in his application has sought a direction to the plaintiffs, trustees of the charitable trust, to deposit security for costs incurred or likely to be incurred by him and his wife to defend themselves in the matter.

Senior National Conference leader Mustafa Kamal today stoked a controversy saying Kashmir will be independent as neither India nor Pakistan loves the people of the Valley.

"By heart, both of them do not treat us as their own. Neither India nor Pakistan loves us.... In my opinion, Allah has destined independence for us and we will get it," Kamal said here after paying tributes to his father and National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah on his 110th birth anniversary.

Kamal said that his elder brother and the then Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, following the 1996 assembly elections, had said even if he tore his heart out to show he is an Indian, he would not be believed. "Same is the case with Pakistan.

"They (India and Pakistan) do not trust us," he said.

Indian Air Force has come to the rescue of stranded students of educational institutions here and passengers at the airport following the devastating floods caused by heavy rainfall over the last week. The IAF has put in 13 helicopters, C17s and C130s for relief and rescue operations in Chennai following the flooding, Indian Air Force, Southern Air Command, Senior Air Staff Officer, Air Marshal P N Pradhan said.

At least two people have been injured in twin explosions in Guwahati's Fancy Bazaar area in Assam.The area, in the heart of Guwahati, is a trading hub popular with Hindi-speaking communities. The near simultaneous blasts assume significance as it comes before elections next year.Early reports suggest the explosives may have been kept in a garbage dump near a temple.

Former journalist S Balakrishnan who would be bidding for one of the seven properties of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, said he has been threatened by the don's aide Chhota Shakeel.

"I received an SMS from Shakeel. He said, 'You are taking part in the auction. What happened to you? I hope you are okay'," Balakrishnan said. "This is their style of saying: keep off," he said.

"I am bidding on behalf of my NGO Desh Seva Samiti which works for child welfare and women's empowerment. We will run English speaking and computer training institute at the place. It will be named after great patriot Ashfaqullah Khan. He should be the role model for kids, not Dawood," he said.

15:58 Bill Gates meets Bihar CM Nitish Kumar

Microsoft founder and one of the world's richest men Bill Gates met Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to discuss support to health, education and other sectors for human development, officials said. "Bill Gates met Nitish Kumar at his official residence here and discussed about various issues and likely support for human development in Bihar," an official in the chief minister's office said.

15:41

JUST IN: 2 blasts in Guwahati's Fancy Bazaar area, 2 injured.

15:05 Bill Gates sceptical of solar, wind power

Lauding India for doubling its funding for research and development of climate change technology, the former Microsoft CEO and co-founder of the world's biggest charitable foundation, Bill Gates, says technological innovation is the only way to fight climate change.

"If we are going to make the cost of clean energy as inexpensive as hydrocarbons, or coal energy today, which will need innovations. That will mean you won't have to think about this huge trade-off between 'Should I be clean' or 'Should I electrify'?' he told The Hindu in an exclusive interview.

Read the full interview HERE

14:52 Chennai cloudy with a chance of rain, says MeT

The MeT department said that the rains are likely to continue in the coastal parts of Tamil Nadu even though its intensity would be less, hinting that weakening of low pressure area in the region might bring some relief from relentless showers.

Regional Meteorological Director S R Ramanan said that Chennai is likely to remain cloudy. "Yesterday's low pressure area over Sri Lanka and North Tamil Nadu coast has weakened into a trough of low pressure which is now lying over Sri Lanka and adjoining areas of Tamil Nadu coast. Because of this trough it has rained at many places of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry," Ramanan said.

"As far as forecast for next 24 hours is concerned, it is likely to rain at many places in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, with some areas likely to experience heavy rainfall," he added.

At least 10 people were injured as three crude bombs went off at jatra (open air drama) pandal on the premises of Kantaji Temple in Kaharol upazila of Dinajpur on Saturday. Three people are said to be in a critical condition.

Police picked up three people for interrogation in this regard. According to police and witnesses, a series of blasts took place around 1.15 am when people were watching a jatra show at the Rash Mela organised on the temple premises.

The severe flooding in Chennai caused by torrential rains is a result of climate change and should be an eye opener for city planners, experts have warned.

Some experts have opined that Chennai being one of the outsourcing hub of India and a major destination of foreign investment, the current disastrous situation could also affect the national economy.

"Chennai has seen 17 days straight of rain, precisely the kind of extreme weather event that experts say will only become more common in a warming world," said Nambi Appardurai, India's adaptation strategy head for World Resources Institute.

Matthew Boulton, whose research in India involves vaccination and other public health issues, felt that the risk of drowning and electrical hazards may be two of the most immediate dangers, but flooding and standing water of this magnitude can significantly increase the risk for serious waterborne illness, like childhood diarrhea.

According to highly-placed sources, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to make minor changes in his council of ministers by first week of January 2016. Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonwal is expected to resign from council of ministers as he has been appointed as President of BJP Assam unit, prior to the assembly elections. Insiders speculate there shall be change of two more portfolios but not a reshuffle.

In discussion with NDTV Editorial Director Sonia Singh, Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party President Mehbooba Mufti spoke about terrorism, Islam and democracy. When asked about the controversial Article 370, Mufti said, "No fiddling with Article 370. It is a unique state, different in every way from other states. If Kashmiris chose to be part of India, we need to be treated specially. If there is Article 370, then we will have a more stronger bond with India."

As Chennai battles hard to pick up the pieces of its life ravaged by severe torrential rain, the alleged politicisation of relief and rescue efforts by Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and her party, the AIADMK, has outraged many people in Tamil Nadu.

Several people on Twitter have alleged that relief materials are being allowed in certain areas only when they carry a mandatory sticker with Amma's (as Jayalalithaa is addressed by her supporters) face. They have shared images of AIADMK volunteers sticking such posters and fliers on relief packets to be distributed to the stranded people in Chennai, Cuddalore and other places.

As much as 8,955 hectare area under paddy cultivation has been damaged by the unprecedented torrential rain that has hit the union territory. Chief Minister N Rangasamy said that 11,418 farmers who raised paddy have been baffled by the massive loss in the devastation.

While, 4,420 hectare area under paddy was damaged in Puducherry, in Karaikal the figure stood at 4,248.34 hectare and in Yanam the extent of damage was 287.15 hectare.

The government said it would incur an expenditure of Rs 17.91 crore to disburse Rs 20,000 as compensation for an hectare of paddy damaged in the floods.

The Lashkar-e-Tayiba are planning to carry out terror strikes across the capital and other parts, an FIR by Delhi police revealed on Saturday.

Acting on a tip-off by the central intel agencies, the Delhi police said that 2 LeT operatives have infiltrated in Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir.

The LeT men were planning to launch fidayeen strikes at crowded places in Delhi. According to the police, the LeT commanders are in touch with operatives Kujana and Ujana, who have been code named as Numan, Zaid and Khursheed. The code names were provided to ward of tech surveillance mounted by the cops.

For most people stranded in rain-hit Chennai, taking a flight to neighbouring cities has been a bleak option over the last few days. Not just due to the fact that the Chennai airport has been flooded, but also because tickets are priced as high as Rs 50,000 one way.

On Thursday and Friday, domestic airfares for flights departing from Bangalore skyrocketed. Air India was charging fares as high as Rs 51,750 for a business class ticket for its flight to Delhi from Bangalore for Friday, while Jet Airways fare was Rs 47,000.

With the rains having slowed down in Tamil Nadu and the surrounding areas, the National Disaster Response Force has now shifted its focus from rescue to relief work and will deploy its teams with the aim to persuade people to leave their homes and move to safer areas.

"Looking at the predictability to the IMD department, we have stepped up our deployment in Tamil Nadu and surrounding areas. A total of 50 NDRF teams are here and this is so far the most massive deployment in any flood related situation," NDRF DG OP Singh said.

Emphasizing on the large scale of the relief work, he added that the operation consisted of more than 1500 jawans and over 200 inflatable boats are still at work rescuing people.

"We are trying to step up our activities, especially where it's still waterlogged. We are also persuading people to leave their homes so we can evacuate them safely. We are also using social media extensively, our helpline is working very effectively and we have inducted a number of technological driven operations," Singh added.

10:27

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to travel to Islamabad on Dec 8 to attend Heart of Asia security conference

10:04

Here's the measures that the Delhi government has proposed to curb pollution in the state. On Friday, the AAP sarkar had proposed measures in order to reduce pollution after the Delhi high court had ruled that living in Delhi was like being inside a 'gas chamber'.

09:38 Tirupati temple may move gold to PM Narendra Modi's scheme

The richest Hindu temple in the world could soon come to the rescue of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's plan to recycle tonnes of idle gold and cut economy-hurting imports.

The gold monetisation scheme, aimed at persuading individuals, institutions and rich temples to deposit some of their gold stash with banks to recycle, has only attracted about one kg in a month out of a total hoard of over 20,000 tonnes.

But the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple, popularly known as the Tirupati Temple that is believed to have been the abode of Lord Venkateswara for 5,000 years, may become the biggest contributor with more than 5.5 tonnes of gold.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has decided to take her fight against Narendra Modi to the prime minister's home turf Gujarat. Sources said the Trinamool Congress chief is all set to lend her support to the Patel agitation, which was led by Hardik Patel, in Gujarat. Mamata Banerjee is all set to hold talks with Hardik Patel's aide and Patidar Amanat Andolan Samiti leader Akhilesh Katiyar. However, the Trinamool leadership remains tight-lipped over the issue.

Around 700 Tunisian women have travelled to Syria to join jihadist groups, Minister for Women Samira Merai has the told parliament.

Some 5,000 people from Tunisia, which is battling an Islamist insurgency at home, are thought to have joined the ranks of the Islamic State group and other groups, in Syria, Iraq and Libya.

"We have noted a development in the phenomenon of terrorism," Merai said yesterday. "Today there are 700 (Tunisian) women in Syria and women in Tunisian prisons" on terrorism charges.

She did not elaborate on what they were doing there, but said Prime Minister Habib Essid had called on several ministers "to present a battle plan against terrorism, each in his own area".

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb said last month's hostage taking at a hotel in Mali's capital Bamako was a joint operation with another jihadist group, in an audio message.

"The lions of Al-Murabitoun brigade... have joined Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, so that they are one sword in the throat of their first enemy, Crusader France and its agents in the area," said AQIM chief Abdelmalek Droukdel, an Algerian.

The attack in Bamako underlined their new unity "with blood and sweat", he said.

Meanwhile, Al-Murabitoun, the group of Mokhtar Belmokhtar, confirmed in an audio recording that it is joining AQIM.

The FBI is investigating this week's massacre in which a married couple killed 14 people in California as an "act of terrorism," an official said on Friday, as sources said that the female shooter apparently pledged allegiance to a leader of the militant group Islamic State.

Tashfeen Malik, 27, a native of Pakistan, and her U.S.-born husband, Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, were killed in a shootout with police hours after the Wednesday massacre during a holiday party at the Inland Regional Center social services agency in San Bernardino, about 60 miles (100 km) east of Los Angeles. The attack was the deadliest mass shooting the United States has experienced in three years.

U.S. investigators are evaluating evidence that Malik, a Pakistani native who had been living in Saudi Arabia when she married Farook, had pledged allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, two U.S. officials told Reuters. They said the finding, if confirmed, could be a "game changer" in the investigation, though another source cautioned there was no indication that there was no evidence Islamic State "even knew" who the shooters were.

Heavy government bombardment of rebel-held towns across Syria today killed at least 56 civilians, more than a quarter of them children, a monitoring group said.

The bloodiest attacks were in Eastern Ghouta, a rebel stronghold east of Damascus, where at least 41 civilians were killed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"Regime warplanes targeted the towns of Jisreen and Kfar Batna in the Eastern Ghouta region", leaving 35 killed, the Britain-based Observatory added.

Six children were among the dead there and dozens of people were wounded.

But the opposition National Coalition, the leading anti-regime group in exile, blamed the Jisreen strikes on Russia.

00:26 Poll: Trump alone at the top again

Donald Trump is once again alone at the top of the Republican field, according to the latest CNN/ORC Poll, with 36% of registered Republicans and Republican-leaning independents behind him, while his nearest competitor trails by 20 points.

Three candidates cluster behind Trump in the mid-teens, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz at 16%, former neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 14% and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio at 12%. All other candidates have the support of less than 5% of GOP voters in the race for the Republican Party's nomination for president.

Carson (down 8 points since October), former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (down 5 points to 3%) and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul (down 4 points to 1%) have lost the most ground since the last CNN/ORC poll, conducted in mid-October.

As Chennai on Friday battled hard to pick up the pieces of its life ravaged by severe torrential rain, the alleged politicisation of relief and rescue efforts by Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and her party, the AIADMK, has outraged many people in Tamil Nadu.

00:09 Top headlines of the last hour

Chennai rains: Over 600 people rescued, 2 foreigners flown to Delhi

California shooting: Woman attacker pledged allegiance to the Islamic State

Delhi assembly passes Jan Lokpal Bill

Timeline Refresh

TOP STORIES