AMRAVATI/NEW DELHI: Attacking the BJP government for betraying Andhra Pradesh Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on Wednesday decided to pull out two of its ministers in the central government marking the first crack in the BJP-led coalition four years after it stormed to office with a massive mandate. TDP boss and AP chief minister Chandrababu Naidu announced that the two ministers would resign on Thursday. We have taken the decision to pull out two TDP ministers civil aviation minister P https://xenforo.com/community/members/arfplayer.173913/#about Ashok Gajapati Raju and Union minister of science and technology Srujana Chowdary from the Union cabinet as all our efforts to get special category status failed. It was a last resort decision he said. BJP ministers in the Andhra government are also expected to put in their papers in Amaravati on Thursday morning. In a late-night tweet Naidu said I tried reaching out to the Prime Minister to inform him about our decision. But sadly he was unavailable. I tried reaching out to the Prime Minister to inform him about our decision. But sadly he was unavailable. N Chandrababu Naidu (@ncbn) 1520445844000 Naidu s decision came within hours of a press conference by FM Arun Jaitley in which he said the Centre could not accommodate TDP s demands for special category status or tax relief for the state. Naidu did not spell out whether TDP would also pull out of the BJP-led NDA. But his sharp attack on the Centre suggested that it only is a matter of time before the allies break up. We may be put into trouble after pulling out of the Central government. But we took the decision keeping in view the interests of the state he said. BJP demanded special category status for AP when it was in the Opposition. Now it says special status to AP is not possible. It is wrong on the part of the Centre to say that if special status is given to AP other states like Bihar will demand it the CM added. Naidu had made the betrayal remark twice during the day before his late evening press conference. Speaking in the assembly he also referred to Congress chief Rahul Gandhi s support for the demand for special category and complained that he had not received similar backing from BJP even when it is an ally. Naidu could wait for a few more days perhaps the end of the budget session of Parliament before breaking off from the BJP and perhaps forging new alliances ahead of next year s general and assembly elections in the state said TDP sources. The walkout of TDP which has 16 members in the Lok Sabha and another 4 in Rajya Sabha comes at a time when there is no let-up in the muscle-flexing by restive ally Shiv Sena or the opposition which has stepped up attacks on the government. Even parties like BJD which had so far been soft on the government have joined forces with Congress-led opposition s protest in Parliament on the Nirav Modi scam. BJP still has a majority in the Lok Sabha on its own with 274 members. The Centre appeared to have sensed that Naidu was set to get out of a partnership which had increasingly soured. In his press conference Jaitley refuted the charge of betrayal and reaffirmed what he called a commitment to help AP but ruled out conceding demands for special category for the state for reasons beyond Centre s control. In the first public response to Naidu s increasingly dire ultimatums to press his demand for AP to be classified as a Special Category State Jaitley said while the Centre would keep its promise to give assistance equivalent to Special Category status the designation itself cannot be conferred because it has ceased to exist after the implementation of the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission. Talking to media Jaitley denied that the Centre had backtracked on its promises. The Centre is committed to providing advantage to Andhra Pradesh in a 90-10 ratio. I have a positive attitude towards the state as it has suffered due to bifurcation. The Centre has not once said it would not give money he said. AP has suffered because of bifurcation and whatever support is required because of that (we will give) Jaitley said adding all issues have to be resolved within the framework of Centre-state relations. Jaitley was also forthright in detailing the Centre s constraints in accepting AP s demands for special category status and tax concessions. On tax concessions Jaitley said states like Bihar and Jharkhand had equally strong claims for similar relief. Jaitley said the Centre was committed to help with the development of AP but also underlined its constraints making it clear that it has its limitations which cannot be overcome because of political pressure from the southern ally. Asked about the pullout threat he said: Political issue cannot increase the quantum of money because Centre has no free floating fund. Every state in India has the right to Central funds in the same manner. Sentiment does not decide quantum of funds it is the constitutional award of the Finance Commission which decides on the quantum of funds that the states get the finance minister said. Asked about Rahul s support for the special category tag Jaitley bluntly said I still have to follow constitutional award of the 14th Finance Commission. The finance minister detailed steps taken by the Centre to help with the construction of AP s capital at Amaravati and also for setting up institutions. But he said Naidu s idea that the financial assistance to AP be routed through NABARD was not a good one since it will add to the Centre s fiscal deficit. Now if NABARD gives directly to the central government it gets added to the fiscal deficit. If it gives to the state government it will get added to the state s fiscal deficit and therefore reduces the borrowing capacity of the state Jaitley said. He explained the concern about the increase in fiscal deficit was why Centre had proposed that AP set up a special purpose vehicle but it was yet to hear from Naidu. We are awaiting a response and hope that it will be a positive one said Jaitley. But Naidu s late night decision to withdraw his ministers crushed any hope the Centre possibly had entertained despite growing differences with the AP CM. Earlier Naidu accused the Centre of insulting the sentiments of AP by not honouring 19 key commitments including special category designation for the state. Speaking in the assembly Naidu expressed unhappiness over step-motherly attitude of the Narendra Modi government towards the state. Recalling PM Modi s remarks that Congress successfully delivered the baby (Telangana) but killed the mother Naidu said the Centre is now stifling Andhra Pradesh by choking funds flow. I visited Delhi 29 times requesting the PM to hand-hold Andhra Pradesh but to no avail. The funds flow for the new capital city and Polavaram project are meagre and promise of separate railway zone for Vizag remains unfulfilled he said reiterating his demand that all 19 promises in the Andhra Pradesh Bifurcation Act be honoured.
HYDERABAD | NEW DELHI: YSR Congress Andhra Pradesh s principal opposition party today backed ruling TDP on special category status for the state. The party insisted that TDP move a no-confidence motion in Parliament against Modi government. Earlier Finance minister Arun Jaitley s promise to give monetary equivalent of a special category status to Andhra Pradesh had failed to pacify Telugu Desam Party which announced late on Wednesday that it would withdraw its two ministers from the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government. The announcement was made by Andhra Pradesh chief minister and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu after an hour-long meeting with party MPs MLAs and cabinet colleagues. Civil aviation minister A Gajapathi Raju and minister of state for science and technology YS Chowdary will submit resignations to the prime minister on Thursday. Naidu said he had tried to reach out to PM Modi to convey his party s decision before publicly announcing it but in vain. We have shown patience for four years. I tried to convince the Centre The Centre is not in a mood to listen he told reporters in Amravati the capital of Andhra. Asked if TDP would sever ties with NDA the TDP supremo said his party will decide the future course of action based on the response from BJP. Naidu said FM Jaitley had given the impression that TDP was asking for too much . FM Jaitley today not only de nied special category status to Andhra Pradesh as promised under the state reorganisation Act but also spoke in a way of insulting and humiliating the state by trying to project as if we were making unjustified demands against national interests said the Andhra CM. Naidu who spoke in the state assembly earlier on Wednesday reiterated the demand for special category status benefits for the state rebutting the central government s claim over implementation of promises made under the state reorganisation Act. He said it was BJP s moral responsibility to fulfil the promises made during the bifurcation of the state. TDP s decision to withdraw ministers could be a last ditch attempt to bargain with the NDA regime at the Centre. It also sends the message to the people of Andhra Pradesh that the party tried its best to wrest special category status for the state but was let down. The TDP announcement comes a year before Andhra Pradesh polls that will be held along with the 2019 general elections. The party was under pressure in the state as rival YSR Congress Party had often alleged that despite being an ally of the ruling BJP at the Centre TDP had failed to get special category status for Andhra. TDP s decision would be a déjà vu for BJP as the southern party had similarly walked out in 2004 when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the prime minister. BJP s allies have been unhappy with it for the past few months. Shiv Sena has declared that it will contest the next general and state elections without an alliance with the BJP while Shiromani Akali Dal has complained that the saffron party does not respect its allies. Tension had been brewing between TDP and the Modi government for some months. Naidu had made 29 trips to New Delhi before he could have a structured meeting with Modi in January this year. On its part the Centre said it was bound by the 14th Finance Commission directive that no state could be given special category status barring the three hill states and the North-East states. Sources at the Centre also rued that the Naidu government was demanding huge funds for building Amravati and the Polavaram project. Finance Minister Jaitley had held several meetings with Telugu Desam Party ministers but without any result. Earlier on Wednesday evening Jaitley held a press conference in New Delhi emphasising that the Centre was committed to giving monetary equivalent of special category status to Andhra Pradesh where it would bear 90% of the funds for centrally sponsored schemes and also grant other financial benefits to the state.
Pune: The Centre on Wednesday approved the Hinjewadi-Shivajinagar Metro corridor on public private partnership basis and sanctioned Rs1 300 crore as a part of the viability gap funding. The 23.3-km-long Hinjewadi-Shivajinagar stretch would be the third Metro corridor in the city and is expected to cost Rs8 313 crore. The state government had approved the proposal for the Metro stretch in the first week of January. According to the Centre s new Metro policy the project was awaiting the Centre s 20% viability-gap funding of Rs1 300 crore. The state is supposed to generate Rs812 crore. The delay in allocation had raised questions about the viability of the model. Finally the central government s finance department cleared funds for the project. The central government s approval and fund allocation has put the project on track and we should finalize the tendering process and decide the bidder for the project in the coming two months and sign the agreement thereafter said Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) commissioner Kiran Gitte who was in Delhi for the meeting with the finance department. The successful bidder will have to bring in 60% funding for the project 30% in equity and 70% in debt. The central government had raised several queries regarding the PPP model which had even forced PMRDA to keep a backup option and funds ready at the state level through land monetization. Gitte said with the central government sanctioning funds things would be on track and all approvals will be speeded up. The work on Hinjewadi-Shivajinagar stretch is expected to be carried out in phases. The first phase between Hinjewadi and Balewadi will be completed by April 2019 and the second phase between Balewadi and Shivajinagar will be completed by 2021. PMRDA has shortlisted three companies Tata Realty Siemens IRB in consortium with Chinese and Malaysian companies and ILFS who could bid for the project. With the clearance from the central government the bid should take place by June. All the stations will be equipped with the latest technology amenities and state-of-the-art infrastructure. The entire Metro stretch is expected to be monitored by automated technologies. According to the plan Metro will ply through Hinjewadi Wakad Balewadi Pune University and Shivajinagar. At Shivajinagar junction it will align with the other two Metro corridors.
HighlightsEarlier the deadline to link aadhaar to mobile phone was February 6 The aadhaar linking deadline was extended till March 31 The aadhaar deadline is expected to be extended beyond March 31 The government on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that it might consider extending the March 31 deadline for linking Aadhaar to various government schemes as well as mobile phones and bank accounts. The statement on behalf of central government was made by the attorney general K K Venugopal to the Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra. The bench is hearing a bunch of petitions against the Aadhaar (UIDAI) law. The government made a submission in to the bench to the effect that the Centre had extended the deadline in the past too and it can do so again. If required we can do it again Venugopal said after petitioners challenging the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar scheme sought an extension of the deadline to link the 12-digit unique identity number with various government schemes and services. Currently the deadline for mandatory linking of Aadhaar to avail the benefits of various welfare schemes is March 31. That includes as many as 135 schemes (of 35 ministries) including the free cooking gas (LPG) to poor women kerosene and fertilizer subsidy and targeted public distribution system (PDS).Aadhaar Linking Deadlines. Five Things To Know.1. The government by making the statement on Tuesday is moving towards extending the deadline beyond March 31. The current deadline is less than a month away and the aadhaar case is unlikely to be decided in the apex court before that.2. The government had in November extended to March 31 2018 the deadline for mandatory quoting of Aadhaar and Permanent Account Number (PAN) for taxpayers. The extension a government notification said has been granted after considering various representations received and inputs received from banks. 3. On December 15 2017 the apex court had directed the extension of deadline till March 31 for the linking of Aadhaar with bank accounts and mobile phones.4. The constitution bench is hearing challenges to the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar scheme on the touchstone of the fundamental right to privacy on a bunch of petitions by former Karnataka High Court Judge K.S. Puttuswamy Magsaysay awardee Shanta Sinha feminist researcher Kalyani Sen Menon and others.5. The CJI-led Constitution Bench had commenced the final hearing starting January 17 on the petition challenging the Aadhaar scheme. CommentsClose X
VISAKHAPATNAM: Andhra Medical College (AMC) will soon have a skill centre for MBBS and PG medicos where simulations and mannequins will be used for teaching them the procedures. A multi-disciplinary research (MDR) laboratory will open next month while an upgraded burns unit is also coming up later this year. All the three projects are being funded by the central government with costs ranging between Rs 4 to 4.5 crore for each facility. The MDR lab will be inaugurated in April and tender notice has been issued for the required equipments worth Rs 1 crore. All the research departments biochemistry pathology and microbiology would be located in the lab which will be fitted with advanced equipments. Doctors and researchers from other departments can also get their relevant work done here. Research assistants would also be appointed for the lab. Further Rs 4.5 crore has been sanctioned for a burns unit near the super-specialty block under the national programme for prevention and management of burns. The building plans have already been sent for approval. Another project is the skill centre near the paediatrics ward. This Rs 4 crore which will be entirely funded by the Centre is meant for MBBS and PG medicos for competency-based education so that they learn to perform procedures through the use of mannequins and simulations informed principal of AMC Dr P V Sudhakar who completed one year of his tenure earlier this month. Talking about other developments in AMC in the last one year Dr Sudhakar said: After inspections by the Medical Council of India (MCI) MBBS seats have been enhanced from 150 to 200 from the academic year 2017-18 while PG seats across various disciplines have been raised from 167 to 199. Apart from these the foundation stone for construction of a multi-storied academic block to commemorate the centenary celebrations of AMC in 2022-23 was laid in February-end. This Rs 45 crore project was envisaged by the old students of AMC to meet the requirements of MCI. The state government has sanctioned a grant of Rs 25 crore for the project.
By: AP | Colombo | Updated: March 7 2018 4:51 pm A computer screen showing a blocked Facebook window is seen in Colombo Sri Lanka Wednesday March 7 2018. An internet company official says the government has ordered popular social media networks blocked across a swathe of central Sri Lanka in an attempt to stop the spread of religious violence. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena) Top News Happy International Women s Day 2018: Wishes Quotes Photos Images Messages Greetings SMS Whatsapp And Facebook StatusIndian Railways halves tariff of luxury trains private individuals can now book luxury salonsAugusta Masters invite washed away pain of WGC final day says Shubhankar SharmaResidents say anti-Muslim rioting has flared anew in central Sri Lanka despite a state of emergency with Buddhist mobs burning mosques and Muslim-owned shops in at least two towns. The police ordered a curfew across much of the region Wednesday for a third day trying to calm the situation. An area resident who requested anonymity fearing reprisal attacks said two mosques and http://delhimonuments.org/members/arfplayer/ some Muslim-owned shops were attacked Wednesday in two towns in the central hills. The extent of the damage could not be verified. Meanwhile an internet company official says the government has ordered popular social media networks blocked across a swathe of central Sri Lanka in an attempt to stop the spread of religious violence. The official speaking on condition of anonymity under company policy said the networks including Facebook Instagram Viber and WhatsApp were blocked in the central hills scene of the violence. Outside of that region though many people were also unable to access the social media sites. The government order came as anti-Muslim rioting flared anew with Buddhist mobs attacking mosques and Muslim-owned shops in at least two towns. Anti-Muslim riots began Monday after a Buddhist Sinhalese man died after reportedly being attacked by a group of Muslim youths. Sri Lanka has long been divided between the majority Sinhalese who are overwhelmingly Buddhist and minority Tamils who are Hindu Muslim and Christian. For all the latest World News download Indian Express App More Top News International Women s Day 2018: Theme history and celebration TDP walks out of Govt: Why fallout poses a challenge to BJP s numbers count for 2019 Saminda thenuwaraMar 8 2018 at 12:33 amThis is not truth. Muslims attack sinhalese person and they killed him. That happened 3 days ago. Please Indian Express correct this news.(1)(0) Reply
