IPS officer crushed to death by mining mafia in Madhya Pradesh

                                                     
BHOPAL: A young Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Narendra Kumar was mowed to death on Thrusday afternoon as he tried to intercept tractor laden with illegally mined stones in Morena district -once again exposing the 'mafia like' mining network existing in Madhya Pradesh.

Kumar, an IPS officer of 2009 batch, was critically injured as he was crushed by the tractor and was rushed to a hospital but he succumbed to his injuries on his way to hospital, Deputy IGP (Chambal range) D P Gupta said.
Reacting to the development, leader of the opposition in the assembly Ajay Singh told TOI that the opposition parties had raised the issue of rampant illegal mining across the state during the winter session of the Vidhan Sabha late last year but the BJP government preferred to remain silent without taking any concrete action. "We have been pointing towards presence of mining mafia which enjoyed political patronage of the ruling party. Morale of illegal mining mafia is so high that they have now killed an IPS officer", he said.

However, when the driver did not budge, he again overtook the vehicle, and this time stood in front of the vehicle to bring it to a halt. But the tractor driver, identified as Manoj Gurjar, instead of stopping the vehicle, speeded up and hit the 30-year-old officer, crushing him under the wheels.
Following the incident, the officer was rushed to a hospital here, where he was declared brought dead, the DIG said, adding prima facie it appears that the mining mafia active in the area is behind the incident.
Kumar was posted at Banmore since last one month and during his brief tenure he had taken on the mining mafia head-on by seizing a number of trucks and tractors engaged in illegal mining in the area, sources said.
Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Uma Shankar Gupta and the State’s Director General of Police (DGP) Nandan Dube have rushed to Gwalior following the incident.
Leader of Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, Ajay Singh, alleged the manner in which the IPS officer was killed indicated how bad the law and order situation in the state was. ”One can imagine the law and order situation in a state where people are so emboldened that they can think of killing an IPS officer,” he said in a statement here.
Congress had since long speaking about illegal mining in the state but the BJP government had not done anything to control it, he alleged.

Andhra Pradesh CM: UP will not affect AP bypolls

CM N. Kiran Kumar Reddy on Wednesday said that the results of elections to the Assemblies of five states, including Uttar Pradesh, will have a no bearing on the byelections in the state.

The Congress has faced such situations in the past and it has come back with strengthened vigour and was not weakened. Any election result is indication of public opinion at that point of time. It keeps changing. This is a stepping stone for future victory. Of course, we need to introspect and plan out how to go forward.
Ultimately, voters decide our fate,” Mr Reddy said.

When asked what tilted voters towards the Samajwadi Party, he said that it depended on local factors and of course the manifesto. “You better read the SP's manifesto,” he said.
Defending Rahul Gandhi’s campaign, Mr Reddy said it was not correct to blame the Congress general secretary for the debacle.

Mr Reddy said that the Congress is on a strong turf in the state and a very close finish is expected in at least three to four Assembly constituencies in the ensuing byelections. He emphasised that Telangana is not an issue since the Centre is seized of the matter.

The Chief Minister also hit back at the prediction of Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu prediction that the Congress is doomed, saying, “Bicycle (TD election symbol) is rusted. It has no chance in the future.” “The Congress is strong in the country. The UP election result is a temporary setback. The party will come back with flying colours in the next elections. This election is a stepping stone for the party to win the 2014 elections,” Mr Reddy asserted.

Stating that the party network is like a spider's web that stretches from the booth-level to state-level, the CM said local issues and other factors decide the win and loss of a candidate in an election while none can predict the mood of the voters.

“Congress is strong in AP, says Kiran CM feels that the Congress is on a strong turf in AP and expects a very close finish in at least three to four seats in the ensuing bypolls a Telangana is not an issu since the Centre is seized of the matter.

State cotton association's plea to Commerce Ministry

                                                       

The Andhra Pradesh Cotton Association has asked the Commerce Ministry to raise the minimum support price (MSP) of cotton by at least Rs.500-700 to bail out the farmers and textile traders reeling under the impact of ban on export of cotton.

Stating that there was no rationale behind the ban, A.P Spinning Mills Association president Gorantla Punnaiah Chowdary said 40 lakh bales have arrived in market and about 15-18 lakh bales are still with the farmers.

Association president Kamepalli Subba Rao told media persons on Wednesday here that an increase in the MSP would instil confidence among the beleaguered farmers, already reeling under the impact of sliding prices.

He also said bleak power scenario in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu meant that domestic ginning/spinning mills would not be functioning of their full capacity and hence there was a need to lift the ban on the exports. Vice-president of A.P Cotton Association Ranga Sai was also present.

Welcoming Holi

                                               

Congress didn't want some sections to win: Sanjay Singh

                                                   
Amethi:  After the drubbing in the assembly elections, there is now more bad news for the Congress. The party's MP from Sultanpur, Sanjay Singh and his wife Ameeta, who was the Congress' candidate for the Amethi seat in the UP assembly elections have spoken out against the party.

"Neither the party, nor the candidates wanted me to campaign. So I didn't go. The candidates thought that me being a member of Parliament won't help, that they themselves were enough," said Mr Sanjay Singh.
I was asked about the candidates but I knew they won't win in Sultanpur, he added.

When asked whether the Gandhi family charisma has been a factor at all, Mrs Singh said, "I believe that coming from the era of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, then Mrs Gandhi, followed by Rajiv Gandhi and then Mrs Sonia Gandhi, and now Rahul Gandhi, times are changing. And if we talk about this legacy, this family then Mulayam Singh also has a legacy. But his daughter-in-law lost the election two years back. And in his own hometown."

The Congress chief fielded questions about the party's poor showing in the family bastion of Amethi-Rae Bareli calmly. She admitted that the Congress' choice of candidates was wrong, pointing out that "In Amethi, the newcomer who we fielded won." That was one of only two seats that the Congress could win from the 10 on offer. Her daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had camped in this area for more than a month and campaigned extensively door-to-door. She had also promised her mother publicly that she would deliver all 10 seats.

The Congress could add only six seats to its earlier tally of 22 in UP; it lost a sitter in Punjab; lost Goa comprehensively, and fell short of a majority, though it has now staked claim, in Uttarakhand. Mrs Gandhi pointed out that the party had been re-elected in Manipur.

The Congress is busy assessing damage from its disastrous showing in what was pegged as a mini-general election. The Congress president made a rare appearance yesterday to explain what went wrong and had all her answers ready. In UP, she said, a weak organisation and a poor choice of candidates had done her party in. Wrong candidates meant more rebels, she said. She also said very candidly, with a laugh, that her party's problem was not a lack of leadership, but that of "too many leaders." Spoiling the broth?

Mrs Gandhi also made it clear that the UPA government that her party leads at the Centre is secure and that there will be no change of Prime Minister till 2014. "The question does not arise," she said, also refusing to answer who the Congress' candidate for PM will be in the next General Elections. "We are in 2012 and 2014 is a long way off," she said.

The mother did not offer extensive explanations for her son Rahul Gandhi's failure to convert his high-profile, high-energy efforts in UP into seats for the party. Stating that she "humbly accepted the people's verdict," Mrs Gandhi said, "In UP the people were unhappy with the BSP and the alternative for them was the Samajwadi Party." With the same candour she accepted, "In Goa, the people were unhappy with us."

Two hour power cut in Hyderabad from today

                                                       
HYDERABAD: With the power demand crossing 13,000 MW on Wednesday, Discoms have decided to increase the duration of the daily power cuts across the state with immediate effect. The Greater Hyderabad region will from Thursday witness a two-hour power cut as against the one-hour one that was unofficially imposed on the region two days ago.


The power supply situation further deteriorated in all towns and municipalities with Discoms deciding to go ahead with three-spell power cuts during the day time. Despite a capacity addition of 5,311 MW in the state during the last 7 years, there is still power deficit. This is mainly due to reduced gas production in KG basin. The nine gas-based projects with installed capacity of 2,772 MW are currently generating only around 1,500 MW. There is an idle capacity of around 1,272 MW due to reduced gas supply. Had the gas supply been maintained as per the agreement, the state would have seen a surplus of power rather than the crisis it is experiencing now.

With no inflows during the last four months, the water level in the major reservoirs have already hit the dead storage level," said sources in APGenco. The lack of transmission lines from the southern grid is also proving critical to all the four southern states. While Tamil Nadu is experiencing a shortage of more than 3,000 MW per day, AP saw a shortfall of 1890 MW on Wednesday.

All villages which are experiencing 8-hour power cut till date will have 12-hour power cut hereafter. All mandal headquarters will have 8-hour power cut from Thursday and all towns and district headquarters will have 6-hour power cut in three spells.

"If power cut is imposed on urban areas, it would give more relief to the system as one hour of power cut in the cities including Hyderabad is equal to four hours of power cut in rural areas," pointed an official in APTransco.

The hydel generation has been hit due to poor inflows into Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar reservoirs. The total water availability in major reservoirs is 90 TMC as against 341 TMC last year, thereby resulting in a deficit of around 1,195 million units of hydel power generation. During the strike in Singareni Collieries as part of the Telangana agitation in September and October last year, an additional 72 TMC of water was used in Srisailam and 11 TMC of water in Sileru to maintain power supply during the strike period. "We are feeling the consequences now as there is no water to meet the peak demand requirement.