Cuttack, Aug 27 (PTI) Allowing a plea of Odisha Police, a court here has ordered the Choudwar jail authorities to make arrangements for video conferencing (VC) to avoid physical production of arrested godman Santosh Roul and his adopted son Satyam in court.

Facing problems in production of the father-son duo in the court and apprehending threat to their lives, the Crime Branch of the police had urged the court to dispense with their physical production and hold the hearing through video conferencing.

The court of sub-divisional judicial magistrate (SDJM) here yesterday accepted the Crime Branch plea and directed the jail authorities to make necessary arrangements for video conferencing.

Both the accused, who are under judicial custody, were directed for appearance in the court on September 2.

Earlier, under heavy escort, the duo were made to travel from jail to court and vice versa. The Crime Branch had also beefed up security in the court premises as mobs were chasing and heckling the alleged fake godman and his son.

Under section 167 of CrPC the accused under judicial custody are to be produced in the court once in every fortnight till the charge sheets are filed

RINGMASTER MAMATA OFFERS CARROT TO GJM SAYS BENGAL WILL DROP 115 CASES AGAINST MORCHA

Writes: Vivek Chhetri

Mamata Banerjee today played the ringmaster of hill politics, announcing a development board for Bhutias and dropping 115 cases against leaders of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha a little later, which had earlier accused the chief minister of resorting to a divide and rule policy by forming such panels.

Mamata capped the day’s developments by saying she would, for the first time, hold a meeting of the tribal advisory council tomorrow at Lal Kothi, the administrative headquarters of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA).

Morcha chief Bimal Gurung, who had postponed his trip to Delhi by two days to welcome the chief minister, sat quietly as the chief minister made the comments.

Aware that the announcement might not go down well with Morcha leaders, Mamata tried to do a balancing act. Soon after the programme, Mamata met a seven-member Morcha delegation, including senior party leaders Roshan Giri, Binay Tamang, Trilok Kumar Dewan and Harka Bahadur Chhetri and announced after the session:

“In the first phase, we have decided to withdraw 115 cases slapped on Morcha leaders and supporters for blocking roads before 2011. We must all work together and we are working together.”

During the tripartite agreement to form the GTA, it had been agreed upon that all cases slapped by the state government on statehood agitators, except for murder, would be withdrawn.

Till today, none has been withdrawn despite the Morcha raising the issue at various bipartite and tripartite meetings.

The Morcha claims the government had registered around 650 cases against party leaders and activists between 2007 and 2011.

When Giri was asked about the formation of the Bhutia board after the meeting with Mamata, he said: “Leave it now.”

Hill sources said the Morcha was not sure how to react to Mamata’s twin strategies. Development boards have been Mamata’s trump card to expand her support base among various hill communities. The strategy has yielded results to some extent, strengthening the party and creating a platform to take on the Morcha.

A day after her relations with Gurung strained in 2013 after Morcha supporters protested at a government programme in Darjeeling against her announcement that Bengal would not be divided, Mamata expressed her wish of forming a Lepcha development board. On February 6, 2013, the cabinet cleared the formation of the Mayel Lyang Lepcha Development Board.

When the Morcha renewed its agitation after the Centre agreed to form Telangana, Mamata visited Kalimpong on September 3, 2013, responding to an invitation from the Indigenous Lepcha Tribal Association. Thousands of Lepchas had attended the programme although the Morcha had urged people not to step out of their houses.

Just before the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, the chief minister had announced a board for the Tamangs, who make up about 15 per cent of the hill population.

On January 23 this year, Mamata announced the formation of a Sherpa development board in the presence of Gurung at Chowrasta.

Immediately after the announcement in January, Giri had said: “This is a divide-and-rule policy. If a board is formed for the Sherpas, similar boards must be set up for all hill communities. The (Sherpa) board should be brought under the GTA.”

All development boards are under the state’s backward classes welfare department while the GTA runs the hill administration.

Many believe that the decision to form the development board has paid dividends for Trinamul as during the last parliamentary elections, the party had managed to get around 90,000 votes in the Darjeeling hills.

The Bhutia community maintains it has around two lakh members in Darjeeling district. In the hills, there are around 50,000 Lepchas and more than 2 lakh Tamangs. The Sherpa community claims that its population is over one lakh.

(news source The Telegraph)

Srinagar, Aug 27 (IANS) Another Pakistani terrorist was caught alive on Thursday following a fierce gunfight in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla district, making him the second terrorist from Pakistan to be held this month.

The terrorist was identified as Sajjad alias Abu Ubadullah, 22, a resident of Muzaffargarh district of Balochistan, Pakistan, a senior police official told IANS.

Sajjad was caught a little over three weeks after Pakistani terrorist Naveed was arrested on August 5 following a terror attack on BSF troopers on the Jammu-Srinagar highway. Naveed had taken three people hostage who overpowered him.

It was not immediately known how Sajjad was caught.

The gunfight started on Wednesday afternoon after the army intercepted a group of militants in Toot Mar Gali of Nowgam sector in Kupwara. They had sneaked into India from Pakistan.

Three separatist guerrillas were killed by the security forces on Thursday.

“The gunbattle is still going on,” a senior police officer told IANS.

The militants managed to break the cordon after being challenged by the army, triggering a gunfight on Wednesday on the Indian side of the Line of Control (LoC) that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

NEW DELHI: The government on Thursday released a list of 98 cities, including 24 state capitals, which are to be developed as smart cities.

UP, with 13 cities, leads the states in number of smart cities.

However, Patna, Kolkata and Bengaluru are missing from the government’s smart city list.

Here is the list of smart cities released by the government today:

Here is the list of states and number of cities that have been nominated by the government:

Andaman and Nicobar Islands

1) Port Blair

Andhra Pradesh

1) Vishakhapatnam 2) Tirupati 3) Kakinada

Arunachal Pradesh

1) Pasighat

Assam

1) Guwahati

Bihar

1)Muzaffarpur 2)Bhagalpur 3)Biharsharif

Chandigarh

Chhattisgarh
1) Raipur 2) Bilaspur

Dadra and Nagar Haveli

1)Silvassa

Daman and Diu

1) Diu

Delhi (NDMC)

Goa

1) Panaji

Gujarat

1) Gandhinagar 2) Ahmedabad 3) Surat 4) Vadodara 5) Rajkot 6) Dahod

Haryana

1) Karnal 2) Faridabad

Himachal Pradesh

1) Dharamshala

Jharkhand

1) Ranchi

Karnataka

1) Mangaluru, 2) Belagavi, 3) Shivamogga, 4) Hubballi-Dharwad, 5)Tumakuru, 6)Davanegere

Kerala

1) Kochi

Lakshadweep

1) Kavarrati

Madhya Pradesh

1) Bhopal, 2) Indore, 3) Jabalpur, 4) Gwalior, 5) Sagar, 6) Satna, 7) Ujjain

Maharashtra

1) Navi Mumbai, 2) Nashik, 3) Thane, 4) Greater Mumbai, 5) Amravati, 6) Solapur, 7) Nagpur, 8) Kalyan-Dombivali, 9) Aurangabad, 10) Pune

Manipur

1) Imphal

Meghalaya

1) Shillong

Mizoram

1) Aizawl

Nagaland

1) Kohima

Odisha

1) Bhubaneshwar, 2) Raurkela

Puducherry

1) Oulgaret

Punjab

1) Ludhiana, 2)Jalandhar, 3)Amritsar

Rajasthan

1) Jaipur, 2) Udaipur, 3) Kota, 4)Ajmer

Sikkim

1) Namchi

Tamil Nadu

1) Tiruchirapalli, 2)Chennai, 3)Tiruppur, 4)Coimbatore, 5)Vellore, 6)Salem, 7)Erode, 8)Thanjavur, 9)Tirunelveli, 10)Dindigul, 11)Madurai, 12)Thoothukudi

Telangana

1)Greater Hyderabad, 2) Greater Warangal

Tripura

1) Agartala

Uttar Pradesh

1)Moradabad, 2)Aligarh, 3)Saharanpur, 4)Bareilly, 5)Jhansi, 6)Kanpur, 7)Allahabad, 8)Lucknow, 9)Varanasi, 10)Ghaziabad, 11)Agra, 12)Rampur

Uttarakhand

1) Dehradun

West Bengal

1) New Town Kolkata, 2) Bidhannagar, 3) Durgapur, 4) Haldia

* Jammu & Kashmir has asked for more time to decide on the potential cities

* 12 cities have been shortlisted from Uttar Pradesh against 13 cities nominated for Smart City project

Who are the Patidars?

Patidars or Patels claim themselves to be descendants of Lord Ram. They are divided into two main sub-castes: Leuva Patels and Kadva Patels, who claim to be descendants of Ram’s twins Luv and Kush respectively. There are other sub-castes like Satpanthis, who are mainly centered in Kutch district and have some social customs akin to Muslims, such as following a Pir. And there are Chaudhary Patels, who are concentrated in North Gujarat, and are recognised as OBC. Barring the eastern tribal belt, Patidars are spread all over Gujarat, with a higher concentration in North Gujarat and Saurashtra. Leuvas marginally outnumber the Kadvas. They dominate Saurashtra and Central Gujarat, while Kadvas are the leading community in North Gujarat. South Gujarat has a mixed population thanks to the migration of community members from other parts to Surat.

Patidar’ means one who owns a strip of land. In medieval India, members of the community were among the more industrious farmers, and rulers of erstwhile princely states hired them as tenants of the best and largest tracts of land in their kingdoms. Post independence, tenants got land ownership rights, and thus Patidars became lords of large swathes of prime agricultural land.

How well off are Patidars financially?

In medieval society, they were well placed in the caste hierarchy. The village chief was called Patel or Mukhi. In independent India, having got prime agricultural land, they were better off than other agriculturalists, and therefore recognised as an upper caste. They consolidated their position further with the advent of new crop varieties and agricultural equipment.

READ: Hardik Patel leads quota protests: Here are his top 10 quotes

In rural areas, the community has better landholding than OBCs and, according to Patidar leaders, have gained from the agricultural boom in the state over the last decade. This has led to large numbers of Patidars taking up businesses and migrating to cities or launching enterprises abroad. In the United States, for example, the motel industry is dominated by Patels. Patels living in cities are better off than their rural counterparts, and are perceived as being placed higher within the community.

However, community leaders say landholding is going down. “Only 10 per cent of farmers from our community hold more than 10 bigha of land each. The rest have become small or marginal farmers, and would like to look at other options. Only 15 per cent of community members are wealthy. But Patels in general have a habit of showing off. This has created a perception that the entire community is affluent,” says Jerambhai Vansjaliya, vice-president of Umiya Mataji Mandir Trust, Sidasar, one of the largest organisations of Kadva Patels in the state.

But then, there are examples like the BJP MP from Porbandar, Vitthal Radadiya, a Leuva Patel, who reportedly gifted Rs 100 crore worth of land and property to his widowed daughter-in-law when she married again last year. The community is seen as being economically powerful, but not as well educated as some other upper castes like Brahmins.

How do they control politics and industry in Gujarat?

Given their enterprising nature, a few Patels moved on from agriculture, and ventured into industry in the 1970s and 1980s. Odhavji Patel of Morbi came up with the Ajanta brand of clocks, and Karsan Patel set up Nirma. Popat and Chhagan Patel of Rajkot pioneered the oil engine industry in Rajkot. Valjibhai Patel of Rajkot started cinema houses, a real estate business and private education institutes. Dr Dahyabhai Ukani founded Ban Lab and ventured into the pharma industry. Tulsi Tanti, also from Rajkot, explored the harnessing of wind energy and founded Suzlon in the 1990s. More recently, Patidars of Morbi have earned a name in the ceramic tiles industry, and established Morbi as the tile town of India. Many from Central Gujarat districts like Anand and Kheda took flights to the UK and US, and established themselves as successful businessmen there. Some others entered the diamond polishing industry, and have turned Surat into India’s diamond city.

Last Diwali, Savji Dholakia hit the headlines after he gifted his employees flats and cars. Vansjaliya says that out of 6,146 industrial units with an investment of more than Rs 10 crore, 1,700 are Patidar-owned. However, according to him, only 15 per cent of Patels are affluent, and the rest are middle class or poor.

The community accounts for roughly 1.5 crore of Gujarat’s 6 crore population. Given their numbers and economic clout, Patels dominate politics in the state. The community was a committed votebank of the Congress till the 80s. But the KHAM reorganisation of underprivileged sections by Madhavsinh Solanki, and the rise of Hindutva took the Patels to the BJP. Since then, Patidars have been BJP supporters, and state Cabinets have been dominated by Patels. Besides Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, there are six Patidars in the present Cabinet. The community has 37 MLAs in the 182-member Assembly.

Why are they angry and demanding a share of the OBC quota?

Quotas have meant that Patidar youth must do that much better in competitive examinations to land a government job or a seat in a government medical college. Youths from rural areas are at a double disadvantage due to their socio-economic background. The community is infamous for its skewed sex ratio, and Patel youths, especially in the rural areas, find it difficult to get a bride. Parents of girls prefer a groom with a government job or business in a city to one with agricultural land in rural areas. Over the years, economic downturns and crop failures have led to a preference for government jobs over farming. Cities like Rajkot have seen training centres such as “Patidar IAS Academy” open with the aim of getting more Patels into the All-India Services. The diamond industry too has been under stress of late, and some diamond polishers have committed suicide in Surat after being laid off. Saurashtra, dominated by Patels, is a major cotton and groundnut belt, but farmers have not got good prices for their crops in the last two seasons. The stress has contributed to the perception that as Patels suffer, OBC youth, helped along by quotas, have been steadily improving their socio-economic situation.

What does the agitation mean for the BJP government?

The agitation, led by 23-year-old Hardik Patel under the banner of Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) and Lalji Patel, president of Sardar Patel Seva Dal, popularly called Sardar Patel Group or SPG, seems to have struck a chord with the youth and rural masses. Community leaders like Vansjaliya admit they are overwhelmed by the support the agitation has received. The agitation seems to have rattled established community organisations and their leaders. Facing possible irrelevance, the four major Patidar community organisations gave advertisements in local dailies earlier this month, saying they supported the movement and were ready to mediate between its leaders and the government. The fact that the government has not so far acceeded to the demands of the agitators may result in some sections of Patidars abandoning the BJP in the coming local body elections. Patidars can potentially swing at least 80 of the 182 Assembly constituencies. Hardik Patel warned during the mega rally in Ahmedabad that the lotus of the BJP may not bloom again in 2017.

PROMINENT PATIDARS

Industrialists
* KARSANBHAI Patel: Founder of Rs 2,500 cr Nirma group, which also runs Nirma University
* TULSI Tanti: Founder of Suzlon Group
* PANKAJ Patel: CMD of Cadila Healthcare and promoter of Zydus Group, 5th largest pharma company in India
* MAHENDRA G. Patel: MD of Ahmedabad-based Lincoln Pharmaceuticals Ltd
* JAYANTIBHAI Patel: CMD of Meghmani Organics Ltd, a chemicals manufacturing company that makes pigments and pesticides
* PRAYASVIN B Patel: CMD of Elecon Engineering Company Ltd, pioneer in the manufacture of material handling equipment

Diamond Barons
* SAVJI Dholakia: Harekrishna Diamonds, Surat; famously gifted cars and flats to employees as Diwali gifts
* GOVIND Dholakia: Shree Ramakrishna Exports, Surat
* VALLABH Patel: Chairman of the world’s leading diamond company, Kiran Gems, a Diamond Trading Company
* LALJI Patel: Owner of Dharmanandan Diamonds Pvt Ltd; bought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s monogrammed suit for Rs 4.31 crore

Politicians
* ANANDIBEN Patel: Chief Minister of Gujarat
* KESHUBHAI Patel: Former Chief Minister
* VITTHAL Radadiya: Porbandar MP
* PRITI Patel: Britain’s Minister of State for Employment

Real Estate
* DIPAK G Patel: Chairman, Ganesh Housing Corporation Ltd
* RUSHABH Patel: MD, Parshwanath Group of Companies
* SURESH Patel: CMD, Surya Group

NEW DELHI: Mikhail Bora, brother of Sheena Bora, said on Thursday that he was worried about his safety.

“The next target for them is me,” Mikhail Bora told reporters on Thursday.

Mikhail also said that there was a property dispute in the family.

“There is property issue. Maybe I am target to get this house. By killing me and grandparents, they will get the house,” Mikhail said.

Mikhail said he used to ask Indrani Mukerjea, his mother, about Sheena but she never gave any straight answers.

“The last time I asked Indrani about Sheena was in August 2014. Then Indrani asked me to stop asking and irritating her again and again,” Mikhail said.

Mikhail also claimed that he has some photographs as evidence of relationship between Sheena and Rahul Mukerjea.

“I have evidence – it is conversation between Peter Mukerjea and Sheena. I have photographs too, including of Rahul and Sheena,” Mikhail said.

“If cops comes today, I’ll give them evidence right away,” Mikhail added.

Meanwhile, Rahul Mukerjea was on Thursday questioned by Mumbai Police for a second time within 12 hours to unravel the complex web of linkages in the Sheena Bora murder case as he was in a relationship with the deceased.

Mumbai police commissioner Rakesh Maria is personally involved in the investigation being conducted by Khar police in suburban Mumbai. He had earlier questioned accused Indrani Mukherjea, mother of Sheena.

The investigators are also planning to question officials of Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd (MMOPL), where 24-year-old Sheena was working as an assistant manager since June 20, 2011.

Rahul, Peter Mukherjea’s son from an earlier marriage, was quizzed late last night by the police.

According to police officials, Rahul was on Thursday again grilled about his ‘relationship’ with Sheena and also over the reasons for not pursuing the missing complaint about her.

KATHMANDU/SINDHUPALCHOWK, Nepal (Reuters) – Nepali villagers blocked trucks carrying supplies for earthquake victims on Wednesday, demanding the government do more to help after last week’s disaster left more than 5,200 people dead and tens of thousands homeless and short of food and water.

In the capital Kathmandu, about 200 people protested outside parliament, asking for more buses to go to their homes in remote parts of the Himalayan nation and to hasten the distribution of aid that has flooded into the country but been slow to reach those in need.

In Sangachowk village in one of the worst-hit districts, about three hours by road from the capital, scores of angry villagers blocked the road with tires.
They stopped two trucks headed for the district capital with rice, noodles and biscuits. Later they blocked a convoy of three army trucks with relief supplies, leading to a tense standoff with armed soldiers.

“We have been given no food by the government,” said Udhav Giri, 34. “Trucks carrying rice go past and don’t stop. The district headquarters is getting all the food.”
The government was struggling to fully assess the devastation wrought by Saturday’s 7.8 magnitude quake.
“This is a disaster on an unprecedented scale. There have been some weaknesses in managing the relief operation,” Nepal’s Communication Minister Minendra Rijal said late on Tuesday.
An official from Nepal’s home ministry said the number of confirmed deaths had risen to 5,238 by Wednesday night. Almost 10,350 were injured in Nepal, and more than 80 were also killed in India and Tibet.

Prime Minister Sushil Koirala has told Reuters the death toll could reach 10,000, with information on casualties and damage from far-flung villages and towns yet to come in.
That would surpass the 8,500 who died in a 1934 earthquake, the last disaster on this scale to hit the Himalayan nation of 28 million people located between India and China.
However, there were signs on Wednesday that Kathmandu was slowly returning to normal. Some people prepared to head home to sleep after spending the last four nights in the open out of fear their damaged homes may not be able to withstand aftershocks.

Some street vendors started selling fruit in the city, but others said they were too scared to open shops because buildings had been so badly damaged.
“I want to start selling, I have children at home, but how can I open a shop where it is risky for me to sit inside?” said Arjun Rai, a 54-year-old who runs a general store.
In some mountainous areas, the government has struggled to deliver aid. Rescue helicopters have had problems landing at some sites.

Shambhu Khatri, a technician on board one of the helicopters, said entire hillsides had collapsed in parts of the Gorkha district, burying settlements, and access was almost impossible.
FEAR OF DISEASE
In Kathmandu and other cities, hospitals quickly overflowed with injured soon after the quake, with many being treated out in the open or not at all.
Guna Raj, who works for a Kathmandu-based NGO specialising in providing sanitation, said there have been outbreaks of diarrhoea in relief camps because of a shortage of toilets and clean water.
“In the next few days or weeks I am sure there will be an outbreak of epidemics,” said Raj, who is involved in the relief effort.

Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi appealed for specialist doctors from overseas, as well as for search-and-rescue teams despite earlier suggestions from officials that Nepal did not need more such assistance.
“Our top priority is for relief and rescue teams. We need neurologists, orthopaedic surgeons and trauma surgeons,” Bairagi said. Experts from a Polish NGO that has an 87-strong team in Nepal have said the chances of finding people alive in the ruins five days after the quake were “next to zero”.
Nevertheless, a Nepali-French rescue team pulled a 28-year-old man, Rishi Khanal, from a collapsed apartment block in Kathmandu on Tuesday after he had spent around 80 hours trapped in a room with three dead bodies.
Doctors amputated one of his legs on Wednesday because of damage from prolonged internal bleeding.

Tensions between foreigners and Nepalis desperate for relief surfaced, rescuers said, as fresh avalanches were reported in several areas.
Members of Israeli search-and-rescue group Magnus said hundreds of tourists, including about 100 Israelis, were being airlifted out of Langtang in Rasuwa district, a popular trekking area north of Kathmandu hit by a fresh avalanche on Tuesday.

Fights had broken out there because of food shortages, Magnus team member Amit Rubin said. One of the trekkers said there had also been scuffles over places on the rescue helicopters.
The quake also triggered an avalanche on Mount Everest that killed at least 18 climbers and guides, including four foreigners, the worst disaster on the world’s highest peak.