कर्णाटक में पावरफुल हुए एच डी रेवन्ना

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कर्नाटक के मुख्यमंत्री एचडी कुमारस्वामी के लिए कांग्रेस के मुकाबले अपने बड़े भाई एचडी रेवन्ना को संभालना मुश्किल है. रेवन्ना, राजनीति में कुमारस्वामी से सीनियर हैं और अपने पिता एचडी देवगौड़ा के पसंदीदा हैं.

बताया जाता है कि पीडब्ल्यूडी और पावर पोर्टफोलियो के लिए गौड़ा ने कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष राहुल गांधी को मना लिया है. इसके लिए कांग्रेस नेता तैयार नहीं थे, यहां तक कि जेडीएस के ‘क्राइसिस मैनेजर’ डीके शिवकुमार भी इसके खिलाफ थे. सीएम के नज़दीकी सूत्रों के मुताबिक, खुद कुमारस्वामी भी पिता के इस फैसले से नाखुश थे.

बता दें कि पीएडब्ल्यूडी और पावर रेवन्ना के पसंदीदा मंत्रालय हैं. उन्होंने 2004 से 2006 के बीच चली कांग्रेस-जेडीएस सरकार में भी यही मंत्रालय संभाले थे. यही नहीं, 2006 से 2007 तक चली बीजेपी गठबंधन वाली सरकार में भी वह इन विभागों के मंत्री थे.

इस बार भी रेवन्ना ने अपने पिता से इन मंत्रालयों की मांग की है. देवगौड़ा ने हसन जिले के होलेनारासीपुरा से पांच बार विधायक रह चुके रेवन्ना की इच्छा इस बार भी पूरी कर दी है. बता दें कि 1962 से 1989 तक देवगौड़ा भी इसी सीट से छह बार जीते थे.

कांग्रेस नाराज

गठबंधन की मुख्य पार्टी कांग्रेस के नेता राहुल गांधी द्वारा दोनों बड़े मंत्रालय जेडीएस को सौंपने से नाराज़ हैं. सिद्धारमैया सरकार में पावर पोर्टफोलियो संभाल चुके शिवकुमार भी कांग्रेस-जेडीएस के इस फैसले से नाराज़ हैं.

News18 से बातचीत में उन्होंने कहा, ‘रेवन्ना बड़े नेता हैं. मैं उनपर टिप्पणी नहीं करूंगा. इस पार्टी ने मुझे चौकीदार की नौकरी दी है. मैं इससे खुश हूं.’

उनके करीबियों का दावा है कि विश्वासमत से पहले कांग्रेस के विधायकों को छिपाकर रखने वाले शिवकुमार ने अब बेंगलुरु डेवलपमेंट या वॉटर रिसोर्स जैसे मंत्रालय की मांग की है. स्टेट कैबिनेट का मेंबर बनाए जाने की शर्त पर उन्होंने प्रदेश कांग्रेस का अध्यक्ष बनाने की मांग की है.

रिपोर्ट्स के अनुसार, रेवन्ना ने अपने पिता और भाई से किसी भी अन्य जेडीएस विधायक को यह मंत्रालय न सौंपने को कहा था.

मैसूर के केआर नगर से जेडीएस विधायक सा रा महेश ने मीडिया को बताया कि रेवन्ना को दोनो मंत्रालय नहीं मिलने चाहिए.

कुमारस्वामी का परिवार बिगाड़ सकता है गठबंधन का खेल

रेवन्ना के बेटे प्रजवल रेवन्ना भी अपने चाचा कुमारस्वामी से नाराज हैं क्योंकि उन्हें हालिया चुनाव में टिकट नहीं दिया.

गौड़ा के एक पुराने सहयोगी ने बताया, ‘परिवार में कुछ भी ठीक नहीं है. देवगौड़ा परिवार को एक साथ रखने की कोशिश कर रहे हैं. रेवन्ना की पत्नी और उनके पोते कांग्रेस के साथ हुए गठबंधन का खेल बिगाड़ सकते हैं.’

रेवन्ना को चिंता है कि कुमारस्वामी उनके बेटे निखिल कुमार को उनके बेटे प्रजवल की जगह प्रमोट कर सकते हैं. मौके की नज़ाकत देखते हुए गौड़ा ने 2019 लोकसभा चुनाव के लिए हसन सीट से टिकट देने का वादा किया है.

अगर कुमारस्वामी पावर और पीडब्ल्यूडी मंत्रालय रेवन्ना को सौंपते हैं तो यह कांग्रेस-जेडीएस और गौड़ा परिवार के बीच तनाव की बड़ी वजह बन सकती है. हालांकि, कुमारस्वामी अपने पिता के खिलाफ नहीं जाएंगे क्योंकि अब भी उनका पार्टी पर कंट्रोल है.

कर्नाटक कैबिनेट का बुधवार को विस्तार होगा. बताया जा रहा है कि इसमें कांग्रेस के 22 और जेडीएस के 12 चेहरों को जगह मिलेगी.

पेट्रोल कि कीमतों में भारी गिरावट दाम 10 पैसे गिरे

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पेट्रोलियम कंपनियों ने रविवार को पेट्रोल के दाम 10 पैसे तक घटा दिए लेकिन डीजल की कीमतों में कोई कमी नहीं की गई है।

उल्लेखनीय है कि पिछले पांच दिनों में पेट्रोल कंपनियों ने पेट्रोल के दाम 34 पैसे प्रति लीटर कम कर आम आदमी को आंशिक राहत दी है। डीजल के दाम भी 21 पैसे कम हुए हैं।

14 मिनट तक विदेश मंत्री के विमान का संपर्क टूटा रहा

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विदेश मंत्री सुषमा स्वराज के शनिवार को मॉरीशस जाने के दौरान उनके विमान का वायु यातायात नियंत्रक (एटीसी) से करीब 14 मिनट तक संपर्क टूटा रहा। भारतीय हवाई अड्डा प्राधिकरण ने यहां एक विज्ञप्ति जारी कर बताया कि स्वराज के विमान का लगभग 14 मिनट तक एटीसी से संपर्क टूटा रहा। उनके विमान ने 14:08 बजे तिरुवनंतपुरम से उड़ान भरी थी और शाम 16:44 बजे वह मॉरीशस के हवाई क्षेत्र में प्रवेश कर गया लेकिन उसका 16:58 तक वहां के एटीसी से संपर्क नहीं हो सका। इस दौरान मॉरीशस ने विमान से संपर्क नहीं हो पाने का अलर्ट भी जारी कर दिया।

प्राधिकरण के मुताबिक, आम तौर पर किसी विमान से अगर 30 मिनट तक कोई संपर्क नहीं होता है, तो ऐसा अलर्ट जारी किया जाता है लेकिन चूंकि यह विमान अति विशिष्ट व्यक्ति को लेकर जा रहा था इसलिए 14 मिनट में ही अलर्ट जारी कर दिया गया। विदेश मंत्री वायुसेना के आईएफसी 31 विमान में सवार थीं।

विमान के पायलट ने 16:58 बजे मॉरीशस एटीसी से संपर्क किया और कुछ समय बाद सुरक्षित मॉरीशस पहुंच गया। गौरतलब है कि श्रीमती स्वराज ब्रिक्स और इब्सा की मंत्रिस्तरीय बैठकों में शामिल होने के लिए दक्षिण अफ्रीका की पांच दिवसीय यात्रा पर हैं। इसी दौरान वह एक दिन के लिए मॉरीशस में रुकीं।

“Need to organise kisan huts in villages” Balbir Singh Rajewal, President BKU (Rajewal)

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There was a confrontation in Jodhpur Romana village of Bathinda district between farmers of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta) and milk vendors. Baldev Singh, president of BKU(Ekta) in Bathinda, was rounded up by the police after he he allegedly snatched milk container from a vendor and threw it on the road. Baldev Singh was released later.

A similar incident took place in Kotkapura when protesters descended on a vegetable marker and asked commission agents not to sell their vegetables. Heated arguments ensued between them before the protesters left.

In Kotkapura town of Faridkot district, Harpreet Singh Khalsa, a milk vendor, complained to police that the protesters had snatched keys of his motorcycle. Three farmers were rounded up by police on this complaint, but were released later.

Balbir Singh Rajewal, president of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Rajewal), said, “We have asked farmers and union leaders not to throw any foor product on roads. Farmers have been advised to organise kisan huts in villages and sell their produce. It was done in Karkhana village near Samarala and the response was overwhelming. Tomorrow, more kisan huts will be organised across the state. Farmers will be selling their produce cheaper than the market rate, but higher than what they are getting from wholesellers. This way, both consumer and farmer will benefit.”

 

“Protest is just adding to losses of farmers.” Balraj Singh

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The protests blocked supply of vegetables, milk and other essentials by vandalising vegetable trucks and milk tankers

 

Three days of ‘Gaon Bandh protest’ backed by some farmer unions in the country has left commercial dairy farmers in Punjab furious due to mounting losses. Many have been struggling to manage milk produced in bulk, and have said that they are against spilling it on roads.

As part of the protest, dairy farm owners are not allowed to sell their produce to government-run milk plants and other dairies for supply in cities. Some commercial dairy farmers Sunday also said that with mounting losses, they will have no other option but to withdraw from the protest and sell milk to plants. Others said they were considering of setting up chabeels (giving milk out for free) on roads or donating it to orphanages and old age homes.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Daljit Singh, president Punjab Dairy Farmers Association (PDFA), Punjab’s largest association for dairy farmers with 27,000 members, said, “Just in three days, we have incurred losses in crores. There are 6,500 big dairy farmers who are producing 200 to 5,000 litres of milk daily. It costs Rs 5,000 to Rs 1.50 lakh. It is easy for farmers who have less milk produce. They can consume at home or distribute among poor. But how do you manage as much as 50 quintals of milk daily? We are not in favour of spilling it on roads. It is not the right way to protest. Roughly, dairy farmers are already under loss of 2 to 2.5 crore in three days.”

He added that they were trying to approach farmer union leaders and activists to find a solution. “We held a meeting today at Bajakhana in Faridkot with activists from Bhartiya Kisan Union (Sidhupura), but it was futile. Another meeting will be held tomorrow.”

Kulbeer Singh, a dairy farmer from Kapurthala, said that his farm produces 800 litres of milk daily and his chillers are already filled to capacity. “It is worth Rs 30,000 daily. In three days, I am already under loss of 90,000. Is this a way to protest? Is this causing any loss to the government? I have 3,000 litres capacity of chillers and they are almost full. I am planning to put a chabeel on road in coming days. But we will never spill it on roads. Earlier, I was selling milk to Verka.”

Balraj Singh Khaira, a dairy farmer from Jalandhar, said that he has been distributing his around six quintal milk produce among labourers and poor families since three days. “It is for around Rs 15,000-20,000, but there is no way I will spill it on roads. This way to protest is just adding to losses of farmers.”

Milkmen union also held a protest outside Rampura Phull police station in Bathinda. They alleged that they are being stopped from selling milk even when they wanted to.

In another incident at Lehra Mohabbat in Bathinda, a dairy owner Manpreet Singh alleged that he was manhandled and his vehicle was also damaged by some protesting farmers when he was loading milk and cheese in his vehicle. “My 2.7 quintals of milk and 12 kg of cheese was destroyed by the protesters. Are they going to pay for loss? They also damaged by vehicle,” he said.

Dairy owners also protested against farmers’ unions and spilled huge quantity of milk on roads in Bhawanigarh town of district Sangrur. They said that since farmers are not allowing them to sell milk in cities, they do not have space or any arrangement to store it. So, they should be allowed to sell milk or spill it on roads.

HS Sandhu, general manager Verka Milk Plant, Ludhiana, said that milk supply to consumers in cities hasn’t been affected yet. “We are managing somehow. Yes, the milk collection has been hit, but we have stopped drying 3 lakh litres of milk which we were doing on daily basis. We can’t say how coming seven days would be but milk supply to consumers has not been hit yet.”

Modi – Mattis Pledged to Continue With Strong Bilateral Strategic Partnership

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India and the United States have pledged to continue their strong bilateral strategic partnership, the Pentagon said after a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis.

Mattis met the prime minister on the sidelines of the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ 17th Asia Security Summit — also known as the Shangri-La Dialogue — in Singapore on Saturday.

“The two discussed the importance of the US-India relationship, and the role of both nations in cooperating to uphold international laws and principles, and to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific,” defence spokesperson Captain Jeff Davis said here yesterday.

The two leaders “pledged to continue the strong US-India strategic partnership and affirmed their commitment to maintaining peace, stability and prosperity in the region,” Davis said in a readout of the meeting.

“Vikas” is The Only Agenda in Polls: BJP

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has sounded the poll bugle in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh with all the three chief ministers organizing Vikas Yatras, or development rallies, to list out the achievements of their respective state governments, and that of the centre.

In fact, development is back on the agenda, and showcasing the performance of the National Democratic Alliance government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and those of the states will be key to winning the upcoming assembly polls, feel party leaders.

“There is a continuity in all three campaigns —Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh—and the name of the campaign will help BJP talk about the development initiatives of the governments,” said a senior party leader involved in planning the Vikas Yatras.

While Shivraj Singh Chouhan has already concluded his Vikas Yatra in Madhya Pradesh, Raman Singh is continuing with his yatras in Chhattisgarh. Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje is yet to start her campaign. For Raje, however, the groundwork has started. She has been meeting different sections of the people across districts to talk about the development projects of the state and central governments.

BJP, in fact, is setting the agenda for the polls. “By talking about development, it is an attempt to ensure that the discussion during the assembly elections will be around development and not caste or religion. BJP wants elections to be contested on issues rather than caste,” the BJP leader added.

State elections in December are important for the BJP, more so as it might have to face severe anti-incumbency after being in power for three consecutive terms in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Rajasthan may also be a hard-fought battle with a resurgent Congress knocking on the doors.

 

Election Commission to Probe Voters List in Madhya Pradesh

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With six months to go for the assembly elections, the Madhya Pradesh unit of the Congress party has alleged that there were nearly 12%, or 6 million, fake voters in the state’s electoral rolls.

In a memorandum submitted to the Election Commission of India (EC), the Congress claimed that it had proof that “duplicate, repeat, multiple, illegal, invalid and false” entries were made in the state’s electoral list.

Hours after the memorandum was submitted, the EC set up two teams comprising central officials for Bhopal and Narmadapuram, and asked them to submit the final reports by 7 June. The teams were asked to verify every concern, assess the status of field verification and fix accountability.

Senior Congress party leaders, including state unit chief Kamal Nath, campaign committee chief Jyotiraditya Scindia, coordination committee chief Digvijay Singh and in-charge Deepak Babaria met senior EC officials on Sunday morning and demanded that the rolls should be “scrutinized meticulously” to ensure that irregularities and duplications are removed.

“There are several bogus voters. This cannot be a mistake. This is intentionally creating a fraudulent list. Our estimate is of 60 lakh (6 million) voters and this does not include those whose names have not been included or whose names are removed. This is only for duplicate, triplicate or names that have appeared five times in one or more constituencies,” Nath said in a joint press conference with other senior leaders in New Delhi.

Congress leaders said the complaint is based on studies by teams of its state units and “independent researchers”.

“We analysed 101 assembly constituencies where 24,65,000 fake voters were found. In the second category where two assembly constituencies had the same name and photos, we analysed 91 constituencies where 27 lakh fake voters were found. This is only 40% of total constituencies in Madhya Pradesh. If you extrapolate it, there are 60 lakh fake voters in the state,” Scindia told reporters.

In a presentation submitted to the poll panel, the party showed copies of voter IDs with the same photographs, but different names across constituencies. It also claimed that the increase in total electorate is much more than the corresponding increase in population of the state.

Bank of Baroda, IDBI Bank Ltd, Oriental Bank of Commerce and Central Bank of India

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The government is considering merging at least four state-run banks, including Bank of Baroda, IDBI Bank Ltd, Oriental Bank of Commerce and Central Bank of India, two people aware of the matter said. If the plan goes through, the merged entity will become the second-largest bank in the country after State Bank of India, with combined assets of ₹16.58 trillion.

With the merger, the government hopes to help stem the rise in bad loans in their books at a time when poor asset quality has crippled the lending ability of some of them. The merger will also allow the weak banks to sell assets, reduce overheads and shut money-losing branches.

The four banks that are being proposed to be merged are under pressure with combined losses of ₹21,646.38 crore in the year ended 31 March.

The department of financial services, under the finance ministry, is also simultaneously considering a 51% stake sale in IDBI Bank to a strategic partner, for ₹9,000-10,000 crore, the people said on condition of anonymity.

“Dilution of (government) stake in IDBI Bank could also be achieved through stake sale to private equity investors,” said one of the two people cited above. Queries emailed to IDBI Bank, Bank of Baroda, Oriental Bank of Commerce and Central Bank of India did not elicit any response.

On 21 May, IDBI Bank told the exchanges in a regulatory filling that a special resolution will be placed for further issue of capital at its board meeting of 25 May.

On the following day, IDBI Bank informed the exchanges about a scrutinizer report for an increase in the bank’s authorized capital from the existing ₹4,500 crore to ₹8,000 crore.

The increase in authorized capital could facilitate the sale of a stake of 51% or more, in the form of a preferential issue to investors.

Government officials declined to comment, saying the matter is highly market sensitive. In his 2016 budget speech, finance minister Arun Jaitley said that the government was considering reducing its stake in IDBI Bank to less than 50%.

The government had merged SBI with five of its associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank in April 2017.