THE HEADLINES
- Nitish Kumar to stake claim to form a new government in Bihar after being elected leader of JD(U) legislature party even as Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi refuses to step down.
- A record voter turnout of over 67 percent registered in assembly elections in Delhi yesterday; BJP leadership take stock of post poll scenario after exit poll results give a clear lead to Aam Aadmi Party.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi to chair the first meeting of "Governing Council" of "NITI Aayog" today.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin says that his country does not want war with any one.
- India to take on hosts Australia in Adelaide today in opening warm-up game of ICC Cricket World Cup; Ishant Sharma out of the world cup due to knee injury.
||<<><>>||
Former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will stake claim to form a new government in the state after being elected as the leader of JD(U) Legislature Party. However, the incumbent Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi has refused to step down. Mr. Manjhi arrived in New Delhi yesterday to attend the Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog. He said, he will attend the meeting where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will seek the views of Chief Ministers and Lt. Governors. Bihar Chief Minister has sought an appointment with Prime Minister today and is awaiting a response.
Earlier yesterday, Mr Manjhi called a meeting of his Cabinet which authorised the Chief Minister to recommend the dissolution of Bihar Assembly. But, the move was strongly opposed by 20 Ministers loyal to Nitish Kumar. Mr Manjhi claimed he is authorised to take a decision on dissolution of the Assembly. Meanwhile, Mr. Manjhi recommended dismissal of 15 more Ministers loyal to Nitish Kumar after removing two on Friday night. In a counter move, 20 ministers loyal to Nitish have sent their resignation to Governor Kesrinath Tripathi. More from our correspondent.
"Senior JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar claimed that he had support of 130 Party Legislators. So, he would stake the claim to form the Government. Mr. Kumar said, he is ready to parade the Legislators before Governor, if required. On the other hand Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi said that he would prove majority on the floor of the House. Mr. Manjhi said the decision to elect Nitish Kumar as leader of JD(U) Legislator Party is illegal. He said meeting called by Sharad Yadav was unconstitutional. Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Mr. Narendra Singh said that he will take support of the BJP, if needed. Krishan Kumar Lal, AIR News, Patna."
In New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took stock of the situation in Bihar at a meeting with top BJP leaders at his residence last evening. BJP President Amit Shah and Union Ministers Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj and Nitin Gadkari attended the meeting. Earlier, Party President Amit Shah also had a meeting in New Delhi with party leaders from Bihar. Talking to reporters after the meeting Sushil Modi said the BJP is keeping a close watch on the situation.
<><><>
Union minister Ramvilas Paswan has described JD(U) legislature party meeting, which elected Nitish Kumar its leader as unconstitutional. Mr Paswan, who is also president of the LJP, an ally of the BJP, said in Patna that the power to call a Legislature Party meet rests with the Leader of the House that is the Chief Minister. Pointing at the intense fight within the JD(U) which had spilled onto the streets, Paswan said, the best thing in this situation can be either President's rule or going in for an early Assembly poll.
<><><>
A record voter turnout of over 67 percent was registered in assembly elections in Delhi yesterday. The voting was by an large peaceful. Briefing reporters, Delhi Chief Electoral Officer Chandra Bushan Kumar said that this election has been unprecedented in terms of voter turn out as around 11 lakh new voters cast their votes.
In the last assembly polls, the overall voting percentage was 65.6 percent. A total of 673 candidates are in the fray for the 70-member member assembly. Counting of votes will take place on Tuesday.
<><><>
BJP leadership is taking stock of the post poll scenario after exit poll results give a clear lead to Aam Aadmi Party.
All the exit polls have predicted a majority for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Delhi Assembly elections with one of them giving it as high as 53 seats in the 70-member House. The polls shown on different TV channels predicted BJP as the number two party and Congress way behind with none of them giving it more than 5 seats. India Today-Cicero exit poll has projected that AAP will get between 35 and 43 and BJP between 23 and 29. Congress has been projected to get up to 5 seats. The ABP-Nielsen poll said that AAP will get 39 while BJP 28 and Congress 3 seats. The highest number of 53 seats for AAP has been predicted by India News-Axis poll which gave BJP 17 and Congress up to two seats. The India TV's exit poll put AAP in the top with 31 to 39 seats, BJP 27 to 35 and Congress 2 to 4 seats.
<><><>
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the first meeting of the "Governing Council" of "NITI Aayog today". He will interact with the Chief Ministers of the states and Lieutenant governor of Union territories. An official release said, the meeting is expected to provide further suggestions on setting efficient processes and mechanism of interactions between centre and states and also between NITI Aayog. A report from our correspondent.
"After replacing 65-year Planning Commission,with NITI Aayog, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will seek views form the members on forthcoming Budget and flagship schemes to put the economy on high growth trajectory. The meeting is also expected deliberate on the stalled infrastructure projects, especially rail and highways, for the development of the hinterland. Promoting cooperative federalism and healthy competition among states for development is also top on agenda. States have been also requested to give their suggestion on the new initiatives of government schemes like Swachh Mission, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Smart Cities and Make in India campaign. On Friday Modi along with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had met economists at NITI Aayog to seek their suggestion on policies to bring economy back on track.Sanjeev Jasoria, AIR News,Delhi".
<><><>
In Assam, 12 persons were killed and seven injured in a road accident at Bokaghat in Golaghat district this morning.
<><><>
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has seized a huge cache of bomb-making material from Madhya Pradesh and arrested two persons in a joint operation with the police of the neighbouring state. More from our correspondent:
"The Nagpur unit of Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad had received a tip-off that huge quantity of bomb-making material was stored at a house in Chhindwara district in Madhya Pradesh (MP) which was likely to be used for some illegal acts. The ATS officials planned a joint mission to seize the said stock of explosive material Accordingly the joint operation was carried out yesterday by ATS and Madhya Pradesh police in which two persons were arrested and detonator, 612 gelatin sticks, 840 feet of detonating cord and an exploder were recovered. With Nivedita, Devapriyo Bhattacharjee, AIR News, Mumbai."
<><><>
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia does not plan to wage war on anyone and going to cooperate with all. The comment were the first from Mr. Putin since he met French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the crisis in the Ukraine on Friday. Mr. Putin said there is clearly an attempt to restrain the development of Russia with different means. He said, there is an attempt to perturb the existing world order with one incontestable leader who wants to remain as such thinking he is allowed everything while others are only allowed what he allows. Mr. Putin said, this world order will never suit Russia.
<><><>
In Ukraine, seven civilians and five soldiers were killed in fighting while Kiev accusing pro-Russian separatists of massing forces for fresh offensives. Officials from the two warring sides said that over the past 24 hours six civilians were killed by shelling across government-held territory while one local resident died in rebel bastion Donetsk.
<><><>
Andhra Pradesh will introduce an e-pass system in May to check diversion and under-weighing of essential commodities under the public distribution system (PDS). The e-pass system would also help track the movement of essential commodities in remote areas. More from our correspondent:
"The e-pass system would be put in place in all fair price shops as under-weighment had been a major complaint from consumers across the State. Under the biometric authentication system, the quantum of essential commodities each consumer is entitled to will be displayed. The consumer can draw the entire quantum at one go or in several spells and a slip will get generated on the quantum of essential commodities drawn. Henry, AIR News, Vijayawada."
<><><>
India will take on hosts Australia in Adelaide today in their opening warm-up game of the ICC Cricket World Cup. Since the match won't have official status, India can test all their batsmen as well as bowlers in today's as well as next warm-up tie against Afghanistan on Tuesday. Ahead of their campaign, the team lost their senior-most pacer Ishant Sharma due to knee injury. Mohit Sharma is most likely to replace Ishant in the squad. Defending champions India will begin their campaign in the World Cup with a match against arch-rivals Pakistan on February 15 at the Adelaide Oval.
Meanwhile, the ICC has made it loud and clear that players crossing the line as regards to their on-field behaviour in the upcoming cricket World Cup could expect harsher sanctions.
<><><>
NEWSPAPERS HEADLINES:
- After the Delhi Elections yesterday, all newspapers have highlighted the results of the Exit Polls on their front pages with catchy headlines "Exit Polls, Enter Aam Aadmi," headlines The Pioneer. The Mail Today reports" Pehle Aap say Exit Polls", while the Times of India adds " Paanch Saal Kejriwal: Exit Polls- Muffler Man may have wrapped it up, leaving BJP out in the cold."
- In related stories The Hindustan Times reports " High on poll ink, Delhi breaks turnout record". The Hindu reports " many centers inaccessible to differently-abled."
- The ouster of Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Manjhi has also been reported by many newspaper. " Manjhi out and Nitish in ", reports the Mail Today. The Asian Age reports "Nitish effects Bihar coup, Manjhi defiant" while The Hindu adds "Bihar in flux as Manjhi wants House dissolved."
- The Asian Age reports that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked Indian Diplomats to " shed old mindsets" adding that, that is the way forward to position the country in a leading role, rather than being a balancing force globally.
- In significant news, The Times of India informs that " to counter insurgency, the center wants to lay a web or roads in the Naxal-affected areas. To construct 7300 kms of roads, the highways Ministry has reportedly urged the Home Ministry to earmark, rupees 12,000 crore in its Budget.
- The Business Standard in a front page story reports "Government's message to public sector banks : Perform or Perish -allocates rupees 6,990 crore to 9 banks, based on efficiency; laggards left out".
- According to the Indian express "Third Party insurance premium on vehicles set to see sharp hike". In the wake of huge losses being suffered by general insurance firms, the Finance Ministry has asked the regulator to allow a higher hike than usual.
- And finally, in a story headlined " Bone-breaking surgery becomes tall order" The Hindustan Times reports that a new Ilizarov technique in which a bone is cut or-broken- and lengthened gradually with the help of metal wires or rings, is being used to increase height to grow taller.
||<<><>>||
