Guwahati, July 29 (IANS) The Railway Protection Force (RPF) of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has intensified its drive to detain illegal foreign nationals, mostly Bangladeshis, who, after entering India, unlawfully travel on the trains to go to different parts of the country, an official said on Monday.

NFR Chief Public Relations Officer Sabyasachi De said that the RPF personnel in the months of June and July apprehended 88 illegal migrants while they were travelling illegally on the train in the jurisdiction of the NFR.

He said that in June, 47 illegal migrants and five Indian agents were arrested during checking across various stations in NFR zone while 41 illegal migrants were arrested till July 23.

Sabyasachi De said that many other illegal migrants were detained from Badarpur and New Jalpaiguri stations during checkings conducted by the RPF.

RPF personnel deployed at stations and trains are very vigilant and keep a close eye on illegal migrants, Rohingyas and suspicious-looking persons, De said.

Meanwhile, Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel also separately arrested around 110 Bangladeshi nationals from the Agartala and Guwahati railway stations in the last two months.

Officials said that all the Bangladeshis and Rohingyas illegally entered northeastern states to board trains or buses to go to other states in India “in search of jobs”.

Tripura and Assam share an 856 km and 263 km border with Bangladesh, respectively.

–IANS

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Hyderabad, July 29 (IANS) Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Monday said that his government is committed to bringing out the “irregularities” in the power sector during BRS rule.

He told the Assembly that the judicial probe already ordered into the irregularities in power purchase agreements with Chhattisgarh and the construction of Bhadradri and Yadadri thermal power plants would bring out the facts including the quantum of public money allegedly swindled during the 10-year rule of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).

The Assembly witnessed a heated debate over the alleged irregularities after BRS member and former Energy Minister G. Jagadishwar Reddy alleged that the Chief Minister tried to mislead the house on smart meters for farm connections. He claimed that the BRS government had refused to fix meters to agriculture connections.

The Chief Minister slammed BRS leaders for approaching the courts to scrap the Judicial Commission and reminded them that the Commission was set up after they challenged the government to order the probe.

He told the house that the Supreme Court has not scrapped the Commission but only asked the government to appoint a new Chairman in place of Justice L. Narasimha Reddy (retd) and the state government has given its consent for the same.

Alleging that the BRS is distorting even the orders of the Supreme Court, he announced that the new Chairman would be appointed soon.

He claimed that BRS President and former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) approached the court to scrap the Judicial Commission while citing the approach of the Chairman. Revanth Reddy said the Supreme Court rejected the arguments of KCR saying it is not possible to scrap the Commission. The court stated that if there are objections, the Chairman may be replaced.

The Chief Minister said the Bhadradri thermal power project was started at an estimated cost of Rs 7,290 crore in 2015 with the target of completing it in 2017 but it was completed in 2022 with an inflated cost of Rs 10,515 crore. It would cost Rs 9.73 crore to generate one MW of power in the Bhadradri plant, he said.

The Yadadri project was launched with an estimated cost of Rs 25,000 crore with the target of completing it by 2020 but the project has not yet been completed. The cost of the project has gone up to Rs 34,548 crore and in the future, it may jump to Rs 40,000 crore.

“The cost was escalated by Rs 10,000 crore and in whose pockets has this money gone,” he asked. He said while the generation of a MWt of power by NTPC costs Rs.7.38 crore, the same will cost Rs 8.64 crore at the Yadadri project. He claimed that civil work contracts in bulk were given to BHEL and from BHEL, the works were awarded to their benamis, relatives and those close to BRS leaders.

There was fraud of thousands of crores, the CM said, adding that due to irregularities by the BRS government, 16 officials had to face the probe.

The works which should have been completed in two years were continuing for eight years, he added.

“They (the BRS) demanded a probe into power purchase agreements with Chhattisgarh and Yadadri and Bhadradri thermal power projects. We constituted the Commission on their demand but when the Commission asked them to appear and give details, they made allegations against the Commission,” he said. Instead of appearing before the Commission to submit their arguments, they approached the court to scrap the Commission, he said.

He pointed out that at the time of the bifurcation of united Andhra Pradesh, then Union Minister S. Jaipal Reddy convinced the Centre to divide energy assets on the basis of requirements and not on the basis of the location of power plants. Telangana got 53.46 per cent of the energy while Andhra Pradesh was given the remaining 46.54 per cent. Thus it was ensured that Telangana does not plunge into darkness, he added.

–IANS

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Patna, July 29 (IANS) Four persons died and three were critically injured after a speeding truck rammed into a three-wheeler in Bihar’s Vaishali district on Monday.

The accident occurred at Chakwas Chowk, located on the Vaishali-Lalganj State Highway Number 74. Three critically injured persons were admitted in Patna Medical College and Hospital, while two children who sustained minor injuries were admitted to Hajipur Sadar Hospital.

Among the four deceased, three were women, and the fourth was the driver of the three-wheeler.

The victims had gone to Budhia Mai Asthan for a religious ritual on the second Monday of the Sawan month. While returning home, they boarded a three-wheeler. When the auto reached Chakwas Chowk, a speeding truck coming from the opposite direction rammed into it. Two children sustained minor injuries as they were thrown out of the vehicle due to the impact of the collision.

The police reported that around nine persons, including the driver, were in the three-wheeler.

A case of rash and negligent driving has been registered against the truck driver.

–IANS

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Jaipur, July 29 (IANS) Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma on Monday said that the Rajasthan Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) will be established on the lines of AIIMS in the state and also announced a budget of Rs 750 crore for the project.

He also announced that the government will now buy 1000 electric buses instead of 500. In the budget speech announced earlier, it was announced to buy 500 buses. With these announcements, the budget of Rajasthan was passed in the assembly on Monday.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister announced that Bikaner and Bharatpur UITs (Urban Improvement Trust) will now be promoted to development authorities, adding that a new plan has been announced for the beautification of the Dravyavati river.

He also announced a provision of reservation in state police, jail guard and forest guard recruitments for the Agniveers.

He announced that the families getting ration will also get a LPG cylinder for Rs 450.

“We are expanding the scope of those getting gas cylinders for Rs 450. Earlier, beneficiaries of Ujjwala Yojana and BPL families were getting LPG cylinders for Rs 450. Now this scheme will be extended to families who take ration wheat,” the Chief Minister said.

He also announced that the salary, allowances and pension of MLAs and former MLAs will increase every year.

For Class IV recruitment, the Chief Minister announced that the government will restart this long-pending recruitment with new rules. At the same time, candidates scoring 40 per cent marks will also be able to take the Common Entrance Test for government services.

“Elderly people between 70 and 75 years of age in the state will be given 5 per cent more allowance in pension,” the Chief Minister said.

Before the passing of the budget in the Rajasthan Assembly, the Chief Minister, responding to the debate on the Finance Bill, said that the opposition was short of words to criticise the budget.

“We are moving forward with the vision of a developed India@2047,” the Chief Minister said.

He said that the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) presented a true fact that companies are not coming to our state because there is no electricity and water in our state.

“But this is the result of the unwise policies of the five-year rule of Congress. Power companies of the state reached bankruptcy during their time. Where in the year 2018-19, power companies were in profit of Rs 2607 crore, however, in the year 2023-24, there is a debt burden of about Rs 91,000 crore on power companies.”

On the paper leak, the Chief Minister said that the LoP has said that only small fishes have been caught while the big crocodiles are still out.

“They should not worry at all, their net was too small for small fishes, but I come from Brij Bhoomi. I have unwavering faith in the one with Sudarshan Chakra Bansiwala (Lord Krishna). Their net must have fallen short but no one will be able to escape from the supreme Sudarshan Chakra. When the one with Sudarshan Chakra comes, even big crocodiles will be caught,” the Chief Minister said.

He said that the livestock health insurance was announced under their (Congress) tenure but not even a single animal was insured.

He said that medical colleges were announced to be built in the Rajsamand-Jalore district but they were also not built.

–IANS

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Chennai, July 29 (IANS) A judicial member of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), Chennai, on Monday recused himself from hearing a plea by Byju’s Founder Byju Raveendran against the insolvency petition against his company, Think & Learn Private Ltd.

Justice Sharad Kumar Sharma, a judicial member of the Chennai bench of the NCLAT, recused himself stating that he had appeared for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as a senior counsel in a number of cases.

“I will not venture into this. I have been a regular counsel for the BCCI in a number of cases,” he said.

He also directed that the case be placed before the NCLAT Chairperson for the nomination of an appropriate bench.

The NCLT, Bengaluru, had ordered insolvency proceedings against Think & Learn Private Ltd following a BCCI petition claiming a default of Rs 159 crore.

The NCLT had earlier appointed Pankaj Srivastava as an interim resolution professional to oversee the management of Byju’s, temporarily suspending the power of the board of directors.

Byju Raveendran had moved the NCLAT against the insolvency proceeding order.

–IANS

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