Dharmheri (Patiala), June 29
Punjab Irrigation Minister Janmeja Singh Sekhon has said that in case of torrential rain, a threat of flood in Patiala district looms large.

After visiting the site at the Punjab-Haryana border where the 3.75-km concrete wall is being built by Haryana here today, Sekhon said that the construction of the wall should be stopped immediately.

Squarely blaming the Congress-led UPA government, Sekhon said that ignoring the interests of Punjab, the Union government is supporting the Haryana government.

The minister added, “Due to the wall, an estimated 20,700 acres of farmland in Punjab would be submerged. Plus, people in 32 villages in Patiala alone face a serious threat to their lives and farms due to floods.”

The minister stated that because of the floods last year, Patiala and its adjoining areas had to suffer immense loss of life, property and crops. “It is a fact that the main reason behind last year’s floods was the 16-feet-high embankment of the Hansi-Butana canal which runs parallel to the Punjab-Haryana border and obstructs the natural flow of water during the monsoon season,” said Sekhon.

He added that it was the Hansi-Butana canal that prevented the free flow of water following which there were breaches in the Ghaggar river and its tributaries.

Terming the present situation as grim, Sekhon gave a clarion call to the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Capt Amarinder Singh, Leader of Opposition in Punjab Vidhan Sabha Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur, who represents Patiala Lok Sabha constituency, to rise above petty political interests, press upon the Union government to intervene in the matter and subsequently issue directions to the Haryana Government to stop the construction of the wall.

Sekhon said that the Punjab Government has made several requests to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to resolve the issue amicably but to no avail.

Chandigarh, June 29
Haryana today reiterated that whenever elections were due in Punjab, leaders of that state started making issues out of non-issues.

Irrigation Minister Harmohinder Singh Chatha said Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had replied to his Punjab counterpart Parkash Singh Badal’s letter of May 18 that Punjab was unnecessarily making the strengthening of the Ghaggar bandh a political issue.

Punjab engineers did not raise any objection when the tender for the work was floated on March 7, 2011. When the work was allotted in April 2011, even then Punjab had not reacted. In fact, the Punjab Government did not raise the issue till that state’s Leader of Opposition’s statement was published in newspapers. This proved that the issue was being unnecessarily politicised. Chatha said Badal had written to Hooda only once and no new letter from him had been received by Haryana.

Reacting to the threat issued by certain Punjab villagers that they would file a PIL against the Hansi-Butana canal, the latest bone of contention between the two states, and the strengthening of the Ghaggar bandh, Chatha said the Punjab Government had already moved the Supreme Court. Its application was listed before the apex court twice, but it did not get any relief.

Chatha said it was well-known that the Ghaggar basin was prone to floods. These floods had occurred many times in the past, prior to the construction of the Hansi-Butana canal and perhaps once after its construction. It was because of this reason that the National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA), an independent agency under the Planning Commission, had conceived a scheme for harvesting flood water in the region.

He said it would be wrong to attribute floods in Haryana and Punjab to the Hansi-Butana canal. The areas were flooded due to the construction of embankments on the Ghaggar side. The Pachisdhara has also not been widened and there was jacketing of water on the Punjab side. On the other hand, Haryana had always helped in carrying the Ghaggar water to its end.

Chatha said the bandh about which Punjab was raising questions, had been in existence since 1950s. Punjab even admitted this in its rejoinder filed in the Supreme Court. The Haryana Irrigation Department was only strengthening the existing bandh. The Central Water Commission had already cleared the construction of the Hansi-Butana Canal.

New Delhi, June 29
Tata Motors’ today got “interim protection” from the Supreme Court that stopped the newly elected West Bengal Government from returning to farmers the land acquired for the automobile major’s Nano project in Singur.

“Our interim protection is for some time,” the apex court said noting that the main matter against the state government on the issue of possession and distribution of the land to the orginal owners was pending before the Calcutta High Court.

“As an interim order, we direct the state government not to hand over or return land to the farmers concerned until further order by the high court,” a Vacation Bench comprising Justices P Sathasivam an AK Patnaik said.

The Bench said it was making it clear that this was an “interim arrangement” and it was not expressing any opinion on the merits of the case.

The judges said they were passing a “limited interim order” and asking the high court to proceed with the main matter in which the Tatas had challenged the new law enacted by the Mamata Banerjee government for taking possession of land and distributing it to farmers who were the original owners.

Hours after the order, the Chief Minister said the apex court did not stop land survey and the “process of distribution of land”.

A report from Singur said since the order was yet to reach to the authorities, survey and ground-levelling work continued with over 150 farmers submitting forms for reclaiming their holdings.

During the hearing, the Bench sought to keep itself away from expressing its view on the merits of the case, saying since the main issues were pending before the high court, it was not inclined to go into them.

“We are not inclined to interfere at this stage on the main issues pending before the high court,” it said. “It is not a question of political equations, but a question of rights,” it added.

The Bench said it was granting interim protection as senior counsel PP Rao, appearing for the state government, made it clear that possession of the land would remain in the hands of the state government till the high court decided the issue.

The court was hearing a petition filed by Tata Motors challenging the order of the Calcutta High Court that refused to grant any relief to it. — PTI

Kolkata: The Supreme Court’s interim order on Singur land would not affect the process of returning land to farmers and the work would continue as usual, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said today.

“Our officials will conduct survey and identification of the land to be returned to the farmers and they will also undertake other necessary formalities for facilitating smooth returning of the Singur land to the affected farmers as soon as possible since there was no legal bar imposed by the court,” by the Chief Minister declared.

She said she was happy at the decision of the apex court that did not declare the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011, ultra vires and illegal, as demanded by Tata Motors. The court only issued a one-month stay on the actual transferring of land to the unwilling farmers, which she welcomed.

Mamata said the state government had no plan to hand over the land to the farmers before completing various official formalities like serving one-month notice to the parties concerned. — TNS

New Delhi, June 29
The Supreme Court today declined to give immediate hearing on a petition seeking to restrain the government from circulating the draft of the proposed Lokpal Bill to parliamentarians.

A vacation bench comprising justices P Sathasivam Reddy and A K Patnaik said the matter of the Lokpal Bill was still under discussion and there was no need to interfere at this stage.

“It is still under discussion. Why should we discuss here at this stage? Let them solve it first, then it would come before us,” the bench said, asking petitioner M L Sharma to get the matter listed after the summer vacation.

The bench said it was the right of parliamentarians to discuss the draft Bill. Its remarks came while negating the submission of the petitioner that it was against the established law.

“Do you think that the draft would be made law before Monday? We do not know when it would be solved. If it is solved then we are ready to sit on Saturday,” the bench said.

The apex court's remarks came after Sharma submitted that the Joint Drafting Committee was not a legal advisory committee for drafting a Lokpal Bill.

"The civil society petition committee is deciding policy and preparing the final report with pre-consent of the Members of Parliament to put it in the House. ....it cannot be said to be an advisory committee by any stretch of law," the petitioner said.

He further submitted that as per law, Secretary General of the House received the proposed draft Bill. After that, the House standing committee evaluated, arranged and prepared and introduced a Bill on the floor and the Joint Drafting Committee could not violate it.

"The respondent's action to circulate and give up petition of the civil society members either to the Cabinet or among the Members of Parliament is a serious violation of the rule framed under Article 118,” the petitioner alleged.

Article 118 of the Constitution elaborates the rules and procedures for conduct of business of Parliament.

He further requested the court to “prohibit the respondent to accept /circulate draft petition of civil society member among Members of Parliament for their approval as contrary to the existing rule of the Lok Sabha”. — PTI

Agartala/ New Delhi, June 29
A nationwide socio-economic and caste census to identify people living below poverty line (BPL) was today flagged off from Shankhola, a remote tribal hamlet in Tripura West district.

Rural Development Secretary B K Sinha said, “Those names would be deleted from the list of BPL beneficiaries who own a vehicle or two-wheelers, pucca houses, land phone, and fishing trawler, and government employees having an income above Rs 10,000 or holders of Kisan Credit Cards with Rs 50,000 or those paying income tax."

This was the first time the BPL census would include urban households and Chandigarh would be the first city where the caste census would begin on July 18, he said.

Registrar General of India and Census Commissioner C Chandramauli said, “This programme of enumeration of poor in the country would be completed within 40 days from today.”

The survey is being jointly conducted by Ministry of Rural Development and Department of Census after 14 years.

Meanwhile, with more than a month for the monsoon session of Parliament to commence, JD-U president Sharad Yadav has threatened serious action by him and others seeking caste-based census to protest an attempt by the UPA government to hoodwink them in the matter.

Sharad Yadav, along with Mulayam Singh Yadav, heading the Samajwadi Party, and Lalu Prasad, leading the RJD, as also others like Gopinath Munde of the BJP had been forcefully demanding caste-based census much before the exercise for 2011 census commenced.

The government had ostensibly heeded their demand with Leader of the Lok Sabha Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister P Chidambaram assuring them from time to time that it would be done, though the Census Commissioner always appeared reluctant.

That exercise is over now with no caste census done so far. Now the Government has come out with a novel idea of asking the states to do the enumeration of its below poverty line (BPL) population and also mentioning their castes along side. This has naturally infuriated all supporters of the caste census and Yadav was reacting to that.

He reminded today that in August 2010, Mukherjee had assured that caste census would be carried out during the house-to-house census enumeration phase in February 2011.

“But the government went back on that and in September 2010 Chidambaram had announced that a separate caste enumeration would be conducted from June 2011. The government went back on this assurance also with the Cabinet deciding on May 19, 2011, that it would be a poverty-cum-caste survey (not a Census under the Census Act), to be undertaken not by the Census Commissioner but by state governments.”

New Delhi, June 29
Anna Hazare will try to persuade Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to include the post of Prime Minister in the Lokpal when he meets her here tomorrow, asking her why there is a problem in doing so when an honest person like Manmohan Singh suggests such a measure.

His team members also suggested that the Prime Minister should show his commitment in this regard as he did on the issue of the nuclear deal with the US.

Hazare today said he would meet Gandhi tomorrow and would apprise her about their stand on the Lokpal Bill.

“We will meet all parties... we will meet Sonia tomorrow and tell her if the Prime Minister is saying so, then what is the problem,” he told reporters after arriving here to meet a host of political leaders on the Lokpal Bill issue.

He said the incumbent Prime Minister was an honest man.

“The Union Cabinet belongs to India, the people in the Cabinet are our people. Then what is the problem in taking the decision? They should be able to take it for the country.”

Hazare's response came as Singh remarked to top editors during an interaction that he had no hesitation about bringing himself under the purview of the Lokpal but many of his Cabinet colleagues felt otherwise. —PTI

Haridwar, June 29
On the CBI radar for allegedly concealing information and fudging documents to procure two passports, Ramdev’s aide and managing director of the multiple trusts of Patanjali Yogpeeth Acharya Balakrishna has assured full cooperation during investigation even as he declared that he had done nothing wrong, and so he had nothing to hide.

“The passport issue is no issue at all as everything has been legally done from my side. I am an Indian resident as per the Constitution and by birth, too. It’s the Central government’s pressure tactics to make sure our movement against black money gets weakened, but neither Gurudev (Ramdev) nor I are going to bow down to such tactics,” Balakrishna said.

Balakrishna has been under CBI scrutiny for allegedly fudging documents and acquiring two passports. Various other irregularities have also come to the notice of the CBI team, which is in touch with the municipal committee here, and the revenue and other related departments.

Meanwhile, the district police as well as local intelligence unit (LIU) officials have refused to disclose any information about the ongoing CBI investigation though SSP Kewal Khurana had recently met CBI sleuths at his office.

New Delhi, June 29
Scientists have developed a unique parentage-verification kit for indigenous and crossbred cattle. The kit is expected to help breeders select genetically superior male under normal field conditions and in turn ensure better progeny and increased milk yield.

The DNA marker-based parentage verification system has been developed by the National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources (NBAGR), Karnal, which recently came out with an interesting study. It says Indian cow and buffalo breeds possess a rich A2 allele gene that provides a better and healthier quality of milk than foreign breeds.

According to NBAGR Director BK Joshi, this is the first time a parentage-verification kit has been developed for Indian cattle.

Explaining the technique, Joshi says parentage testing is achieved by detecting certain “markers”. Any attribute that can be easily detected and its inheritance traced can serve as a marker. Parentage and paternity testing relies on two basic principles, detection of genetically inherited markers that remain the same throughout the animal’s life, and on the knowledge that all animals possess two copies of a gene (or marker), one of which was inherited from the sire (father) and the other from the dam (mother).

Joshi says while milk production is a sex-limited trait, genes for milk production are present in both sexes. “Milk potential of a cow is determined by the amount of milk it gives. The milk yield of a sire can be determined indirectly by the milk yield of its mother and or that of its female offspring. The animal husbandry practices require the production of a large number of female offspring of one bull through artificial insemination. The breeding value or expected milk yield of the bull is determined by the parentage or paternity-confirmed female offspring,” he adds.

The process of DNA marker-based parentage verification requires DNA to be extracted from a tissue sample, preferably blood. The efficacy of the buffalo kit has been tested on 10,000 buffaloes and has given consistent results, Joshi says.

The cost per sample will be in the range of Rs 250-Rs 300 per sample, while such imported kits cost around $ 140 per family. Moreover, imported kits are viable only for foreign breeds.

Led by Ramesh Kumar Vijh, Principal Scientist under the NAIP research project on identification of markers for milk yield, fat and protein percentage in buffaloes, the team includes Priyanka Banerjee, Jyoti Joshi and Upasna Sharma, Bina Mishra and MS Tantia.

Pithoragarh, June 29
The Pithoragarh police will counter check the revelation of Ganesh Sorari, alias Honey Dada, that he neither visited Kathgodam nor anywhere else in the past five years and remained at home after he was investigated by the police in connection with the murder of Mumbai journalist J Dey.

It was revealed by the scribe’s killers that the weapon used in the murder was supplied to them from Kathgodam in Kumoan region. The needle of suspicion was pointed towards Honey Dada, a local history sheeter.

“We brought Honey from his in-laws’ home in Maltola village of Devalthal locality in Pithoragarh district, where he is living at present. He was taken to the local police station for investigation by various agencies looking into the murder,” said Ram Singh Meena, IGP, Kumoan region.

However, even the Mumbai police was not able to confirm whether the arms were brought from Kumoan, said Meena.

Sorari, an Indian citizen of Nepalese origin, came into the police records in Pithoragarh in 2001 in connection with looting of a contractor in Askot area of the district. He is also suspected to be involved in the abduction and murder of a mining contractor’s son in 2003.

Honey came out on bail granted to him in 2005 after he suffered a paralytic stroke. “Since than he has been living in Tanakpur, where his son is a zila panchayat member of Champawat district,” said the police.

Prakash Karat, secretary general of the CPM, said he was being relentlessly pursued by civil society members as to the party’s stand on various facets of the Bill. — TNS

Chandigarh, June 29
While over 60 per cent of the Army’s field firing ranges (FFRs) remain non-operational for training purposes due to non-notification by state governments, the number of such ranges is forecast to dwindle down to just seven in the next three years.

According to official documents, there are 92 notified FFRs in the country, out of which notification for 57 ranges has expired. This figure was 54 two years ago. Non-availability of ranges has an adverse impact on training and operational preparedness as it restricts mechanised manoeuvres under simulated battle conditions as well as prevents live firing by tanks and artillery that is vital for battle inoculation of troops and testing equipment. This raised serious concerns in several quarters as it has a direct impact on national security.

The situation with the Air Force too, is far from happy. Its seven ranges for firing air-to-ground munitions are severely constrained due to restrictions imposed by civilian air traffic as well as mushrooming habitation and industry around them.

One of the important reasons attributable to the depleting number of FFRs is reported to be the clearances required to be obtained by state governments from the Ministry of Environment and Forests to permit use of forest land for non-forest activities in accordance with the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, and a Supreme Court judgment of 2002. At present, only four ranges are under active consideration of state governments for re-notification.

The latest report by Parliament’s Standing Committee on Defence has stated that while the Ministry of Defence has launched a process of consultations with all stakeholders in order to find a mutually acceptable solution to the problem, it is high time that the ministry initiated “expeditious and concrete steps” to resolve this issue in a time-bound manner.

Besides notified ranges, where land is made available by the state government for specific periods, the Army has 12 “acquired” ranges, where the Defence Ministry owns the land. A comprehensive three-year study undertaken by a special task force some time ago had recommended that to meet the Army’s “bottom-line requirement”, six ranges in various parts of the country be “acquired on priority”. It had also recommended a long-term notification of some FFRs for a minimum period of 25 years.

In fact, a recent report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had revealed that inadequate critical infrastructure and facilities, including firing ranges and simulators, had compromised the training standards of recruits. These deficiencies, CAG observed, resulted in poor standards of firing of troops and non-achievement of excellence in battle-efficiency tests and physical-proficiency tests.

Thiruvananthapuram, June 29
The process of making an inventory of the priceless articles locked up in underground cellars of the famed Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple here has revealed gold ornaments, vessels, jewels and precious stones worth hundreds of crores of rupees.

The examination of three of the six inner chambers in the sprawling temple complex in the city, completed last evening, showed that they contained gold chains, gold, a large number of silver and brass platters, ornaments, a stone-studded crown and glittering gold-coated parasols and many other objects of great intrinsic and antique value, temple sources said.

The magnificent temple, built in the 18th century by King Marthanda Varma of the erstwhile Travancore princely state, is run by a trust under the control of the royal family.

The Supreme Court recently appointed a seven-member panel, comprising two former judges of Kerala High Court as observers, to draw up a list of valuable articles stashed away in the cellars, said to have been locked up for long.

The observers had made it clear that their job was not to assess the value of the articles in money terms but to draw up an inventory and submit it to the apex court.

However, temple sources, present during the exercise, indicated that the precious objects listed in the first days alone would run into at least Rs 700 crore in the present market rates.

Historians and temple scholars, however, held that it would be unwise to put a cash tag on the rare articles without accounting their antique value.

The cellars were ordered to be opened by the apex court to prepare an inventory while considering a private petition.

The court issued orders on a private petition which sought measures for greater transparency and accountability in the management of the temple. — PTI

Chandigarh, June 29
For the past few weeks, armed forces officers have been unable to purchase cars from Canteen Stores Department despite having deposited the requisite advance payment. The reason is that shortage of funds with the CSD has resulted in a “large” backlog of payments to dealers and vendors supplying goods for CSD outlets.

“Due to inadequate budget for the financial year 2010-11, a large amount of payments is outstanding and unless sufficient funds are made available early by the government in 2011-12, payments will be further held up or be delayed this year,” a letter sent recently to all Army commands by the Quartermaster General’s Branch at Army Headquarters states.

The letter adds that due to delayed or pending payments, dealers in turn refuse or delay delivery of consignments. As per the existing terms of trade, dealers are to be paid within seven days of delivery of goods. The ban on purchase of cars, which was initially applied for personnel below officer rank (PBOR), has now been extended to officers also.

An officer told The Tribune that he had booked a car through the CSD in February and he is getting calls from the dealer that the vehicle is available but he would have to pay the market rate if he wants delivery now. The cost difference between the market rate and CSD price is about Rs 50,000.

An officer associated with the CSD said payments received in advance from customers for purchase of cars and hi-end goods, referred to as AFD-1 items in CSD parlance, have to be deposited with the Consolidated Fund of India, For its expenses and for making payments to dealers separate funds are received by the CSD from the government under the head ‘supplies and material (S&M) budget allocation’. The amount received by the CSD as advance cannot be utilised for making payments to dealers. According to available information, payments towards AFD-1 items like cars, two-wheelers, air-conditioners, electronic items, washing machines and refrigerators now account for over 20 per cent of the S&M budget.

New Delhi, June 29
While the BJP is busy crusading corruption in the UPA government, it is denying instances of corruption against its ministers, legislators and other leaders in the states where it is in the government.

The latest is a letter to BJP president Nitin Gadkari by Muzaffarpur MP Jai Narayan Prashad Nishad belonging to the BJP’s ally JD (U), who has charged the Fisheries and Cooperative Ministries in Bihar, both held by BJP leaders Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi and Giriraj Singh, with large-scale corruption and to Gadkari’s utter embarrassment has virtually thrown a challenge asking him to get his allegations verified by the RSS.

Nishad sent a copy of his letter to his party president Sharad Yadav. While Sharad tried to underplay the letter refusing to say anything, Gadkari denied saying, “No such letter has been written to me.”

However, the JD-U implicitly admitted to such a letter with its spokesperson Shivanand Tiwari criticising the MP saying that he had no business to bypass the Chief Minister and approach the president of another party. Nishad himself defended writing to Gadkari saying, “I chose to write to Gadkari as both the departments are under the BJP leaders.”

Nishad has only added to BJP woes by pointing to irregularities by BJP ministers in Bihar. Most of the ministers led by Chief Minister BS Yedyurappa in the BJP’s first government in south, Karnataka, are facing a number of corruption allegations.

New Delhi, June 29
The proposed Food Security Bill envisages designating “mother” as the head of selected households entitled to rice, wheat and nutri-cereals under the scheme.

“Mother will be the head of the family,” Food Minister KV Thomas said today as he went on to explain the benefits of making women the controlling factor while making food a legal entitlement to people of the country. Thomas said the decision would go a long way in empowering women.

Concerns over huge subsidy and rising inflation have hindered the government while making a quick decision on the structure of the proposed Food Security Bill.

While Congress president Sonia Gandhi-led NAC has already sent its version of the Bill to the Prime Minister, the Economic Advisory Council also has its version of the draft ready. Sources said the two documents would be placed before the panel of ministers for final comments within a couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, Thomas, who said the food Bill would not be inflammatory, assured that his ministry was not negative to the foodgrain export.

Specific apprehensions have been raised regarding the availability of requisite amount of foodgrain, especially once it is designated as legal entitlement. This is one of the reasons, apart from rising inflation, that the government has been desisting from their export. Once the proposed food Bill becomes an Act, India will annually require around 60 to 65 MT of foodgrain, which will cost between Rs 83,000 crore and Rs 1 lakh crore.

Sources say India can decide to allow exports of a million tonnes each of wheat and common rice as stocks have hit a record 65.6 MT.

While Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has called for grain exports with stocks overflowing after three years of bumper harvests and the onset of the monsoon raising concerns about stocks lying outside in open, the Food Ministry has been resisting the move.

Sources say while the Food Ministry is showing leniency towards export keeping in mind real-time problems of storage of excess stock, the Commerce Ministry continued to remain opposed to the move.

India is one of the world’s biggest producers and consumers of wheat and rice and kept a tight control over grain exports keeping in mind the pending food Bill, a poll commitment made by the UPA-II in 2009. However, the recent decision to allow the export of additional 5 lakh tonnes of sugar under the Open General Licences (OGL) has again raised questions about exports of wheat and rice.

Chandigarh, June 29
Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal firmly supports the use of technology in education. From ‘virtual visits’ to schools by parents; introduction of tablets, initially for higher education, and later for school education; and, ensuring that students have access to lectures from other universities through satellite linkage Under National Knowledge Network, Sibal wants quality educationto be accessible to all.

Sibal said that they had already devised the technology allowing parents to have a “virtual visit” of the college/ university where they want to enroll their wards for higher education.

“This has been successfully tested in a pilot project in Karnataka. A combination of geospatial technology, videography and aerial photography has been put into use to develop this new technology, which has been pioneered by us. We have also started an exercise for mapping the schools, and it would take three to four years to put this in use,” he said.

He added: “We will give tablets worth $35 to Universities. A total of 10,000 tablets will be supplied to these institutions in July. Our target is to slowly introduce this in schools as well,” he said. Sibal emphasized that massive investment was required in education sector, and public private partnership would help in ushering quality education. “We are targeting an enrolment ratio of 30 per cent by 2020, which is just 15 per cent as of now . The other thing on our agenda is to improve the quality and develop skills of teachers,” he said.

Bangalore, June 29
The Karnataka Government has suspended three policemen, including an Inspector, a Sub-Inspector and a constable, for failing to produce its Tourism Minister Janardhana Reddy in the Sandur court at Bellary in connection with a case related to illegal mining.

“The cops have been suspended on disciplinary grounds for failing to produce Reddy in the court,” Karnataka ADGP (administration) JV Gaonkar said.

The Tourism Minister has been evading appearance in the court despite summons.

Mine owner Tapal Narayana had filed a case against Reddy in 2006 for state-border violations and threatening Narayana for life.