Author: LokMarg

Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar on Wednesday said that a corruption case must be registered against Minister KS Eshwarappa for allegedly demanding commission from deceased contractor Santosh Patil.

Addressing a joint press conference with former chief minister Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar said, “We will go to Belagavi and meet Santosh Patil’s family. The post-mortem has been delayed, we don’t know the reason why. An FIR has been filed, and now the Minister (Eshwarappa) has to be arrested. A corruption case must also be slapped against him.”
“He is also a murderer, what he has done is abetment to suicide. The family members have said it,” he added.

The Congress leader alleged that the state police is trying to safeguard the minister in the FIR.

“It is a black spot for the state. The BJP leaders have not spoken on the issue yet. Will the Minister resign? Why has the BJP not considered slapping a corruption charge against Eshwarappa? The police officials are trying to safeguard him through the FIR,” Shivakumar said.

The Congress state chief also announced that the party would protest against the government in front of the Chief Minister’s residence and in all districts.

Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah demanded the arrest of the Minister and other accused.

“FIR lodged against KS Eshwarappa. He and other accused should be immediately arrested; a case must be filed under the corruption act… In his text message, (deceased contractor) Santosh Patil clearly blamed Eshwarappa for his death. The Minister and his PAs demanded 40 per cent commission. He wrote to PM Modi and met BL Santhosh and others. He categorically mentioned corruption. We demand that the case must be filed under the corruption act,” he said.

Referring to the purported social media message, the Congress leader said “In his WhatsApp message, he clearly said that Eshwarappa is responsible for his death. So Eshwarappa must be arrested.”

Earlier, the brother of the deceased contractor Santosh Patil on Wednesday demanded the arrest of Karnataka Minister KS Eshwarappa and his close aides Ramesh and Basawaraj.

A Congress delegation led by state party chief DK Shivakumar, and former chief minister Siddaramaiah also met the Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, demanding the expulsion of Eshwarappa from the state cabinet as well as his arrest over contractor Santosh Patil’s death. (ANI)

It’s a special day for veteran actor Neetu Kapoor as her son Ranbir Kapoor and his lady love Alia Bhatt are all set to commence their wedding festivities.

Neetu, her daughter Riddhima Kapoor Sahni and granddaughter Samara, on Wednesday, were papped outside Ranbir’s Vastu residence in Bandra. They were all dressed in traditional outfits. The big smile on their faces clearly expressed their happiness.

Reportedly, a pooja is being organised at Ranbir’s house today in remembrance of his late father Rishi Kapoor.

Interestingly, at the same time, Ranbir and Alia’s close friend Ayan Mukerji has unveiled the couple’s love song from their film ‘Brahmastra’ to mark their fresh beginnings. (ANI)

A day after India-US announced the intent to establish a new Education and Skills Development Working Group, a Washington-based expert said that higher education cooperation between the two countries will help deliver the real promise of diplomatic relationship.

“Great today to be at Howard University to have a meeting with the Secretary of State and India’s External Affairs Minister to talk about the real promise of US-India higher education cooperation,” Richard Rossow, Wadhwani Chair in US-India Policy Studies at Center for Strategic and International Studies, told ANI.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday participated in a conversation with students, faculty, and leadership of Howard University. Both foreign ministers interacted with Indian students, scholars, and researchers who have worked in the United States, and with US students, scholars, and researchers.

Talking about the key takeaways from this interaction, Rossow said the high-level takeaway is that both ministers got together to talk about higher education. “When you talk about 200,000 Indian students coming here, number of US universities that have research partnerships there-a lot going on that underpins many other elements of our relationship,” he added.

At the working level, Rossow said that the ministers announced during the 2+2 Summit on Monday that they created a new working group on higher education skills development. “Trying to underscore and underpin this vital element of our relationship that sits there, very exciting to see this much attention,” he said.

On the question of what more can be done in the field of higher education, Rossow said “Once the American business realise that India is today and certainly will be in future a critical part of global investment and trade regimes, they got to send signals to MBA students that you need a little bit of background if you gotta succeed in big corporate America.”

Answering a question about the 2 + 2 dialogue, the senior fellow said,” It’s great for the two countries to get together when there was a lot of tensions building up over the difference of opinion on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.” “Second, you did see some significant announcement on the Space Situational Awareness,” he added.

Jaishankar earlier said that a key driver in this change has been the human element which includes 4.4 million Indian diaspora that has defined India’s image in US society. “The 4.4 million Indian diaspora has literally defined our image in this society and helped forge relationships that are an enormous source of strength for us,” he said.

Highlighting the “deeper academic” ties between the United States and India, Blinken said that the partnership is absolutely crucial and pertinent for addressing the problems of the 21st century. He said that at least 200,000 Indian students are studying in US universities.

This Howard University event comes a day after India and US reiterated their support to further strengthen cooperation in the field of education and skill development through joint collaborations and promote student and scholar mobility to build people-to-people linkages between the two countries.

“In this regard, the ministers announced the intent to establish a new India-U.S. Education and Skills Development Working Group,” the joint statement on the Fourth India-U.S. 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue read. (ANI)

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has restrained 90 pilots of SpiceJet airline from operating Boeing 737 Max aircraft after finding they were not properly trained, informed SpiceJet on Wednesday.

“90 pilots have been restrained from flying the Boeing 737 MAX. They will have to undergo training again to the satisfaction of DGCA,” DGCA Director-General Arun Kumar told ANI.

However, the restriction does not impact the operations of MAX aircraft, he added. “SpiceJet currently operates 11 MAX aircraft and about 144 pilots are required to operate these 11 aircraft”, said DGCA Director-General.

Of the 650 trained pilots on the MAX, 560 continue to remain available. The pilots will have to undergo training again, in a proper manner, on the Max simulator.

The DGCA’s move comes after a 737-800 plane operated by China airline crashed in mountains in southern China killing 132 people on board last month.

Indian airlines like SpiceJet, Vistara and Air India Express operate Boeing 737 aircraft in their fleets. (ANI)

Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said on Wednesday that as the country’s prime minister, he is ready to speak with the protesters who have been protesting against the government at Galle Face in Colombo for five days over the economic and political crisis.

“Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has stated that he is ready for a discussion. Rajapaksa is likely to take the views of the protesters to deal with the current economic challenge faced by the country. If the protesters are ready for this discussion, they will inform the government about the group of the representatives who will speak on behalf of the protestors,” Sri Lanka Prime Minister’s office said.

Sri Lankans are set to celebrate Happy New Year on April 14. PM Rajapaksa has reached out to the protesters on the eve of the new year.

The island nation is facing its worst economic crisis since independence with food and fuel shortages, soaring prices and power cuts affecting a large number of the people in the island nation, resulting in massive protests over the government’s handling of the situation.

Sri Lanka’s economy has been in a free-fall since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the crash of the tourism sector.

Sri Lanka is also facing a foreign exchange shortage, which has affected its capacity to import food and fuel. The shortage of essential goods forced Sri Lanka to seek assistance from friendly countries.

The economic situation has led to huge protests with demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Earlier, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in a special address to the nation on Monday requested people to remain patient and stop taking to the streets in order to enable the government to resolve the situation. (ANI)

The trial run for the entire Gujarat section of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed train corridor will begin in the year 2026 and services for people will be rolled out by 2027, said SC Agnihotri, Managing Director of National High-Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) on Tuesday.

The Managing Director further said escalated costs of the project, missed deadlines due to land acquisition and COVID-19 pandemic, among other issues will be discussed with the Japanese government to figure out the solutions.
A joint press conference over the status of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail project was held by SC Agnihotri, Managing Director of NHSRCL and Satoshi Suzuki, Ambassador of Japan to India.

In Gujarat and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, 100 per cent of civil contracts for the construction of the entire route i.e. 352 km have been awarded to Indian contractors.

There will be eight stations in Gujarat– Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand/Nadiad, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati.

Surat station will be one of the largest stations in the High-Speed Rail Project with a built-up area of 48,234 Sqm.

Surat is famous for its diamond industry, hence, the interiors of the station will represent the diamond facets.

“Surat station will be completed by 2023 and it will be the first station of the project to get ready,” he said.

The project has generated 1.20 lakh direct and indirect jobs. The project has provided 20,000 direct employment and around one lakh indirect jobs in the state, he added.

Meanwhile, Satoshi said that they have emphasized through this project the transfer of technology to the Indian side.

The NHSRCL will be a technology provider to other such high-speed rail projects in the country. Like Delhi Metro is providing consultation to other metro projects in the country. (ANI)

Actor Kriti Sanon has landed in Mauritius to join her co-star Kartik Aaryan for shooting another schedule of their upcoming film ‘Shehzaada’.

Dressed in an all-white ensemble, Kriti was spotted at the Mumbai airport by paparazzi on Monday night.

As per sources, Kriti and Kartik will be stationed there for almost two weeks for the schedule.

Directed by Rohit Dhawan, ‘Shehzada’ is produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Allu Arvind, S Radha Krishna and Aman Gill.

‘Shehzada’, which is touted as an action-packed family musical film, will hit theatres on November 4, 2022. (ANI)

Multiple people were shot at a subway station in New York’s Brooklyn on Tuesday (local time), the city fire department said.

Preliminary reports indicated that five people were shot, a law enforcement official said. The police were seeking a man with a gas mask and an orange construction vest, the official said, reported The New York Times.
The violent episode heightened simmering fears about public safety that have hindered New York City’s push to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The attack took place during the Tuesday morning rush at the 36th Street stop in Sunset Park.

Police officers were called to the 36th Street subway station, where the D, N and R lines pass through the Sunset Park neighbourhood, at around 8:30 a.m., a Police Department spokeswoman said. They had also received reports of smoke inside the station, reported The New York Times.

Transit officials said that trains on the D, N and R lines would be delayed because of an unspecified investigation.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates the city’s subway, said no additional details were immediately available.

A spokesman for Mayor Eric Adams declined to comment as reports were still preliminary. (ANI)

India’s retail inflation surged to a 17-month high of 6.95 per cent in March from 6.07 per cent in the previous month due to a sharp increase in food prices, the National Statistical Office (NSO) data showed on Tuesday.

Retail inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has remained above the upper limit of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) tolerance band for the third consecutive month. The retail inflation stood at 6.01 per cent in January 2022.
The inflation is sharply higher when compared with the previous year. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation stood at 5.52 per cent in March 2021.

The price rise was sharper in rural India than in urban. CPI for rural India surged to 7.66 per cent in March from 6.38 per cent in the previous month.

CPI-based inflation for urban India rose to 6.12 per cent in March 2022 from 5.75 per cent in the previous month.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation data is released monthly by the National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

The Price data are collected from selected 1,114 urban markets and 1,181 villages covering all states/UTs through personal visits by field staff of the Field Operations Division of NSO, MoSPI on a weekly roster.

During the month of March 2022, NSO collected prices from 99.9 per cent of villages and 98.3 per cent urban markets while the market-wise prices reported therein were 90.2 per cent for rural and 93.2 per cent for urban, according to an official statement released by the National Statistical Office (NSO). (ANI)