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Modi suggests more reforms at UN, seeks
 greater role for India 

At rock concert, Modi calls for world peace; evokes youth power 

NEW YORK: Using an unusual platform of a rock concert, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday invoked "can do" attitude of youth to change India and the world while addressing a thousands-strong crowd which gathered for "Global Citizen Festival" in Central Park here.

After a seven-minute speech in English, Modi also read out a Sanskrit scripture calling for "peace in the world" and greeted the largely American crowd with a 
"Namaste" amid cheers and claps.

Amid performances by various singers, Modi was introduced to the crowd by actor Hugh Jackman as someone who started as a "tea salesman" and went on to become 
Chief Minister of Gujarat and then Prime Minister of India with a huge mandate.

Addressing the crowd, Modi also sent his "Namaste" to those watching the concert on "TVs, laptops, tablets and phones".

Modi said he was delighted to be among the youth in an open park and not inside a closed conference room.

"Because you are the future. What you do today, will decide our tomorrow. I feel a current of hope in this park.

Among you, I feel confident about the future," he said.
Hailing the Global Citizen movement to end poverty and provide education and basic sanitation to all, Modi said, "Some believe that the world changes with the wisdom of the old. I think that the idealism, innovation, energy and 'can do' attitude of the youth is even more powerful." "That is my hope for India too (for) 800 million youth joining hands to transform our nation," he added.

Modi said he decided to come to the festival to extend his support and to express his belief that youth of India can join them in this global effort. -PTI

Floods: J-K to seek enhanced compensation for damaged houses 

SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir government will ask the Centre to enhance to Rs 7500 crore the compensation for damage to residential houses due to floods in relaxation of the norms under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).

As the number of fully damaged houses in the state is estimated to be one lakh, the state government is entitled for an assistance of nearly Rs 900 crore for reconstruction of houses at present.

The state government, in its memorandum of losses to be submitted to the Centre, has sought Rs 5 lakh as compensation for fully damaged houses and Rs two lakh for partially damaged houses.

"We are planning to approach the Centre for relaxing the SDRF norms and provide compensation of Rs five lakh for each damaged house," a senior state government official told PTI.

Under the existing SDRF norms, which were amended in July last year, compensation for a fully damaged pucca (concrete) house has been fixed at Rs 70,000 while for a partially damaged house, the compensation is Rs 15,000, he said.

The state government is seeking compensation of Rs two lakh for each partially damaged house, the official said.

He said state's Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation department has put the number of fully damaged houses in the state at one lakh – mostly in Srinagar city – and the partially damaged houses at 1.30 lakh.

As per these figures, the state government is entitled for an assistance of nearly Rs 900 crore for reconstruction of houses but if the Centre grants the wish of the state government for enhanced compensation, the assistance shall rise to Rs 7500 crore.

"Although even the enhanced amount will not fully compensate the losses, it will contribute significantly in the rebuilding process," the official said.

He said the issue of compensation for reconstruction of houses and other issues, which are part of the memorandum of losses to be submitted to the Centre, were discussed in detail at a meeting chaired by Chief Secretary M I Khanday yesterday.

The state government is also seeking to enhance the ex-gratia relief in case of deaths due to floods from existing Rs 1.50 lakh to Rs seven lakh. 

More than 280 persons have been reported dead so far across the state and the death toll is not going to change by much now as water has receded in most parts while not many people have been reported missing in the deluge.

The official said the memorandum of losses was to be submitted to the Centre this weekend but at least seven departments have failed to submit the details of losses in their sectors.

"Most of the departments have submitted the details of losses but some departments have not done it. We are hopeful that the process will be completed within couple of days," he added.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah during his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the aftermath of the floods, had sought liberal financial assistance to the state and relaxation of SDRF norms for compensation to the affected people. -PTI

President's rule imposed in Maharashtra

NEW DELHI: President's rule was imposed today in poll-bound Maharashtra, three days after the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) snapped its 15-year-old ties with the Congress reducing the Prithviraj Chavan government to a minority.

President Pranab Mukherjee signed the proclamation for imposition of Central rule in Maharashtra, a day after the Union Cabinet recommended such a step, a Home Ministry spokesperson said.

The brief Cabinet meeting yesterday was chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh in the absence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is in the US.

Following NCP's decision to part ways, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan had resigned on Friday. His resignation was accepted by Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao yesterday.

In his report to the Centre, the Governor had recommended imposition of President's rule in the state.

the Congress immediately opposed the governnment decision, saying with a little over two weeks left for the October 15 Assembly polls in the state, it was unwarranted.

"The Chief Minister resigned on grounds of morality ... A caretaker CM should have been made in the state. There was no need for President's rule. The elections are due in about 15 days," Congress leader Rashid Alvi said.

After the withdrawal of the NCP with its 62 legislators, the Congress-led Democratic Front government was reduced to a minority in the 288-member house, as it had only 82 MLAs.

The NCP had on Thursday called off its alliance with Congress accusing Chavan of neglecting it and stalling talks over seat-sharing.

NCP's insistence on the two parties contesting an equal number of the state's 288 Assembly seats and the demand for rotational Chief Ministership for half of the government's five-year term if the alliance retained power were the sticking points during the seat-sharing talks which eventually led to the collapse of the alliance.

With the Shiv Sena also ending its 25-year-old alliance with the BJP in Maharashtra, the state is now headed for at least a four-cornered contest in the Assembly polls. — PTI

Maharashtra polls: Cong, NCP rebels flock BJP

MUMBAI: Congress and NCP rebels, includingsitting MLAs and ministers who joined the BJP ahead of next month's Assembly elections in Maharashtra, figure in the list of the party candidates in more than a dozen constituencies.

These rebels are likely to queer the pitch for the official nominees of both the parties as most of them are contesting from their pocket boroughs.

Similarly, kin of Congressmen are also pitted by BJP against prominent Congress candidates including caretaker Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan in Karad South constituency.

The battle in Karad, hometown of Chavan, has become an interesting one with the BJP fielding Congress rebel Atul Bhosale even as the sitting Congress MLA Vilas Undalkar Patil has raised a banner of revolt against the party for refusing his renomination from the seat. Bhosale is the son-in-law of Congress MLC Dilip Deshmukh.

Among the rebels is Minister of State Sanjay Sawkare of NCP who joined BJP a few days back and will contest on BJP ticket to seek re-election from Bhusawal seat.
Former cabinet minister and state NCP president Babanrao Pachpute, who was dropped from the ministry to induct Sawkare, has also joined BJP and is in the fray from Srigonda constituency.

Sitting Congress MLA from Sinnar in Nashik district, Manikrao Kokate is now BJP candidate. Similarly NCP legislator Kisan Kathore has switched sides and is contesting as BJP nominee from Murbad.

Amal Mahadik, son of Congress MLC Mahadev Mahadik, is crossing swords as a BJP nominee with the minister of state for Home, Satej Patil in Kolhapur South.

Former medical education minister Vijay Kumar Gavit, expelled from the NCP after his daughter Heena contested on BJP ticket in Lok Sabha elections, is the party candidate from his pocket borough Nandurbar.

Independent MLA Anil Gote, one of the accused in the Telgi fake stamp paper scam, is in the poll arena from Dhule city. He is supporting the Sena-BJP.

Former Congressman Sunil Deshmukh, who had rebelled against Congress in 2009 for being denied ticket from his home turf Amravati, is now BJP nominee against Congress' Rajendra Shekhawat, son of former President Pratibha Patil.

A single-phase polling will be held to elect the 288-member House on October 15 and counting of votes on October 19.
 
Madhav Kinhalkar, who was with the NCP and had filed a case of paid news against former chief minister and Congress leader Ashok Chavan in 2009, has switched his loyalty to BJP and is the party nominee from Bhokar in Nanded district.
NCP rebel Ajit Ghorpade will take on the party heavyweight and home minister R R Patil from Tasgaon-Kavthemahankal seat and former MLA Prithviraj Deshmukh will contest against Congress veteran Patangrao Kadam in Palus Kadegaon seat.
Shivajirao Naik, a three-time independent MLA who was earlier with Congress, has secured BJP ticket from his constituency of Shirala whereas Laxman Jagtap, independent MLA from Chinchwad in Pune who was previously supporting NCP, is now the BJP nominee.

Sameer Meghe, son of former Congress MP Datta Meghe, who was till recently the president of Youth Congress in Nagpur, is now the BJP candidate from Hingna.

Former NCP MLC Manda Mhatre is contesting against the party heavyweight Ganesh Naik in Belapur in Navi Mumbai.

Sitting Congress MLA from Panvel in Raigad district, Prashant Thakur, who was a member of Rahul Gandhi youth brigade, is now contesting on BJP ticket.

Bharti Lavhekar, formerly with NCP, is the BJP candidate from Versova in Mumbai.

Congress leader and cultural affairs minister Sanjay Deotale has filed his nomination as a BJP candidate from Warora seat in Chandrapur district in Vidarbha region. He had contested the Lok Sabha elections on Congress ticket but was denied the assembly nomination after the debacle.

Similarly, Rajan Teli, a close aide of Congress leader Narayan Rane, is contesting on BJP ticket from Sawantwadi seat in Konkan region. He shifted his camp to BJP recently after a brief stint in NCP.

Even Shiv Sena, the erstwhile partner of BJP, is suffering from defections.

Prominent among the rebels from the party are former Mumbai Mayor Shubha Raul who has joined the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and is contesting from the suburban Dahisar.

Similarly, Deputy leader of Shiv Sena, Anant Tare will contest against official nominee Eknath Shinde in Thane.

Minister of state for urban development and NCP's sitting MLA from Ratnagiri, Uday Samant who joined BJP yesterday is the party's candidate from that constituency. -PTI

DMK-AIADMK clash: FIR filed against Karunanidhi, Stalin

CHENNAI: FIRs have been filed against DMK president M. Karunanidhi and his son and party Treasurer M.K. Stalin in connection with a clash between their supporters and AIADMK workers in the wake of conviction of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in the assets case.

Three FIRs were filed at Royapettah Police Station against the two and several others here last night based on a complaint by some AIADMK workers who alleged that a group of DMK workers attacked them with 'deadly weapons' near Karunanidhi's Gopalapuram residence here, the police said.

The FIRs were filed under IPC Sections 147 (Punishment for Rioting), 148 (Rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 324 (Voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 336 (Act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 506/2 (Punishment for criminal intimidation), they said.

The clash took place when AIADMK workers protested against DMK and its leaders, alleging that it was their act of 'foisting' the illegal Rs 66.65-crore assets case that led to the conviction of Jayalalithaa by a Bangalore special court yesterday. — PTI

Paneerselvam to be new TN Chief Minister

CHENNAI: AIADMK legislators on Sunday elected Tamil Nadu Finance Minister O. Paneerselvam to succeed the jailed J. Jayalalithaa as the state's new Chief Minister.

The decision was made known after a meeting of the legislators in the party headquarters in the heart of Chennai. A party leader told IANS that Panneerselvam would call on Governor K. Rosiah later in the day.

The expected development followed a meeting Jayalalithaa had with Panneerselvam and some other senior AIADMK functionaries at the Bangalore Central Jail earlier today.

Panneerselvam had become Chief Minister in similar circumstances in 2001 for a brief period. 

A special court in Bangalore yesterday sentenced Jayalalithaa to four years in prison and fined her Rs 100 crore for amassing wealth illegally when she was the Chief Minister in 1991-96. — IANS

Jaya to move Karnataka HC for bail

BANAGALORE/CHENNAI: Lawyers for jailed AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa will move the Karnataka High Court tomorrow for bail for her while they were also finalising a strategy for seeking a stay on her conviction and sentence in the disproportionate assets case.

"We will be filing a bail application in the Karnataka High Court tomorrow," B. Kumar, Senior Counsel for the 66-year-old leader, told PTI today, a day after a Special court sentenced her to four years in jail that immediately disqualified her from being an MLA.

But it may be taken up only on Tuesday, when there is a scheduled hearing by a Vacation Bench, because the high court will observe holidays from September 29 to August 6 for Dashera.

A battery of lawyers was giving final touches to its legal strategy in seeking immediate relief for Jayalalithaa, who has been convicted by Special Judge John Michael D'Cunha and sentenced to four-year imprisonment in the Rs 66.65 crore disproportionate assets case.

Since the sentencing was for a period more than three years, only the high court can grant bail in Jayalalithaa's case.

Kumar said a team of lawyers was holding discussions on filing a petition seeking stay of conviction and also the sentence awarded to Jayalalithaa in the 18-year-old case.

The criminal revision petition is one of the options before the lawyers who would like to secure an immediate stay on the conviction and the sentencing.

A stay on the conviction, which superior courts are said to be normally reluctant to grant in a corruption case, would nullify the disqualification as MLA, which the AIADMK leader has suffered with yesterday's judgement.

Unless the conviction is overturned by a superior court, Jayalalithaa runs the risk of being barred from contesting elections for 10 years — four years when she is in jail and six years after release.

Under a Supreme Court judgement of last year, any MLA or MP would stand automatically disqualified if he or she is convicted and sentenced to an imprisonment of a period not less than two years.

Before this judgement, Section 8(4) of the Representation of People Act, which was stuck down by the Supreme Court, protected an elected representative from disqualification if they appeal before a higher court within three months.

In a rare case, the Supreme Court had stayed the conviction by the Punjab and Haryana High Court of culpable homicide in a case involving former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu.

The advocates representing Jayalalithaa have secured the copy of the judgement delivered by the special Court yesterday which also imposed a staggering fine of Rs 100 crore.

The Court also found guilty three others — Jayalalithaa's close associate Sasikala her relatives V.N. Sudhakaran and Ilavarasi — who were handed a four-year jail term and a fine of Rs 10 crore each. 

The Rs 100 crore fine is the highest imposed on any politician by the special judge who heard the case of Rs 66.65 crore disproportionate assets acquired during Jayalalithaa's first term as Chief Minister between 1991 and 1996.

Convicting her, special judge D'Cunha said the prosecution had proved beyond doubt that the accused had acquired assets worth Rs 53.64 crore unlawfully.

Jayalalithaa appealed for leniency from the judge claiming that the case against her was politically motivated.

She also sought leniency on the ground that she was suffering from illness and stress. — PTI

Asian Games
Khushbir Kaur scripts history, wins silver in 20-km race walk

INCHEON: Khushbir Kaur today became the first Indian woman to win a medal in race walking at the Asian Games as she clinched a silver in the 20-km event on the second day of the athletics competition here.

The 21-year-old from Amritsar clocked 1:33:07 to finish behind Lu Xiuzhi of China, who won the gold in 1:31:06, at the Marathon Course here.

The Indian, who holds the national record of 1:31:40, was consistently third till the 18-km mark before going up a position in the final 2 km, thanks largely to the slowing down of second-placed Chinese Nie Jingjing, who eventually finished fourth.

The bronze medal went to local favourite Jeon Yeongeun, who also clocked a personal best of 1:33:18.

This is the biggest triumph of Khushbir's nascent career after the bronze medal she won at this year's Asian Walking Championships bronze in Japan. She was the first Indian woman to achieve such a feat.

Khushbir burst into the scene after winning a bronze medal in the 10,000-metre walk race at the 2012 Asian Junior Athletics Championships in Colombo. — PTI

Govt preparing comprehensive policy on Kashmir: Rajnath 

NEW DELHI: A comprehensive policy on Kashmir is being prepared by the NDA government, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Sunday.

"We are preparing a comprehensive policy on Kashmir. We will announce it soon," he told PTI here.

Asked whether there is any proposal to appoint an interlocutor for having dialogue with various stakeholders like those named for the northeast, Singh said there was no such move.

"I am not in favour of appointing interlocutors for Jammu and Kashmir," he said.

In a recent interview with a fortnightly magazine, the Home Minister had said the past practices of appointing interlocutors for Jammu and Kashmir must be discontinued as it was non-productive.

"Now the time has come to have a rethink on appointing interlocutors. Having said this, let me clarify that I am not averse to talks. But I am also not in favour of non-productive talks which are carried out by anti-nationals to burnish their own political image in either Jammu and Kashmir or the Northeast," he was quoted as having said in an interview to a fortnightly magazine 'Governance Now'.

Academician Radha Kumar, veteran journalist Dileep Padgaonkar and M M Ansari had been interlocutors on Kashmir during UPA rule.

Singh said the level of infiltration into Jammu and Kashmir has come down to a great extent and security forces were strictly guarding the International Border and LoC.

The Home Minister earlier had asked the Jammu and Kashmir government to identify "suitable land" for the rehabilitation of some three lakh Kashmiri Pandits who migrated from the Kashmir Valley in the early 1990s due to militancy.

The Narendra Modi government has committed itself to the return of some 62,000 Kashmiri Pandit families with "full dignity" to their homes in the Valley and has earmarked Rs 500 crore for this in the 2014-15 Union budget.

Singh wrote to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for allocation of "suitable" land for creating dwelling units for these families under the government's plan for implementation of the rehabilitation scheme for migrants. — PTI

Justice Dattu sworn in as Chief Justice of India

NEW DELHI: Justice HL Dattu was on Sunday sworn-in as the Chief Justice of India. He was administered the oath of office by President Pranab Mukherjee.

He is the 42nd Chief Justice of India and will be at the helms of the Indian judiciary till December 2, 2015. He succeeds Chief Justice RM Lodha who demitted office Sep 27.

The oath ceremony held in Darbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan was attended by Vice President Hamid Ansari, former deputy prime minister LK Advani, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu, outgoing Chief Justice RM Lodha and Justice AS Anand as well as other seating and retired judges.

Before being elevated as the judge of the apex court Dec 17, 2008, Chief Justice Dattu was the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court.

He was appointed a judge of the Karnataka High Court Dec 18, 1995. Thereafter, he was elevated as Chief Justice of Chhattisgarh High Court Feb 12, 2007. Three months later May 18, 2007, he was transferred to head the Kerala High Court.

Born Dec 3, 1950, Chief Justice Dattu was enrolled as an advocate Oct 23, 1975. He practised at Bangalore in civil, criminal, constitutional and taxation matters.

Chief Justice Dattu appeared as government counsel in the Karnataka High court for the sales tax department from 1983 to 1990, government advocate from 1990 to 1993, standing counsel for the income tax department from 1992 to 1993 and a senior standing counsel for the IT department from 1993 to 1995.

Over 30 feared dead in Japan volcano eruption

TOKYO: More than 30 persons were feared dead on Sunday near the peak of the Japanese volcano that erupted a day earlier, sending a huge cloud of ash and rock tumbling down its slopes, while packed with hikers.

The police said they were found in a state of "cardiopulmonary" arrest, but declined to confirm their deaths pending a formal examination, as per Japanese custom.

Hundreds of people, including children, were stranded on Mount Ontake after it erupted without warning on Saturday, sending ash pouring down the slope for more than 3km.

Most made their way down that evening but at least 30 spent the night near the 3,067 metre (10,062 feet) peak.

More than 40 people were injured, several with broken bones, and authorities were trying to confirm the whereabouts of 45 people, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said earlier.

The volcano was still erupting on Sunday, pouring smoke and ash hundreds of metres into the sky. Ash was found on cars as far as 80km away.

Volcanoes erupt periodically in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active nations, but there have been no fatalities since 1991, when 43 people died in a pyroclastic flow, a superheated current of gas and rock, at Mount Unzen in southwestern Japan.

Satoshi Saito, a 52-year-old hiker who climbed Ontake on Saturday and descended less than an hour before the eruption, said the weather was good and the mountain, known for its fall foliage, was crowded with people bearing cameras.

"There were no earthquakes or strange smells on the mountain when I was there," Saito, who usually climbs Ontake several times a year, told Reuters, adding that there were no warnings of possible eruptions posted on the trail.

"But a man who runs a hotel near the mountain told me that the number of small earthquakes had risen these past two months, and everyone thought it was weird."

Video footage on the internet showed huge grey clouds boiling towards climbers at the peak and people scrambling to descend as blackness enveloped them.

Footage on NHK national television showed windows in a mountain lodge darkening and people screaming as heavy objects pelted the roof.

"All of a sudden ash piled up so quickly that we couldn't even open the door," Shuichi Mukai, who worked in a mountain lodge just below the peak, told Reuters. The building quickly filled with hikers taking refuge.

"We were really packed in here, maybe 150 people. There were some children crying, but most people were calm. We waited there in hard hats until they told us it was safe to come down."

The mountain, some 200 km (125 miles) west of Tokyo, is a popular site to view autumn foliage.

Flights at Tokyo's Haneda airport suffered delays as planes changed routes to avoid the peak, which straddles Nagano and Gifu prefectures, but were mostly back to normal by Sunday, an airport spokeswoman said.

An official at the volcano division of the Japan Meteorological Agency said that, while there had been a rising number of small earthquakes detected at Ontake since Sept. 10, the eruption could not have been predicted easily.

"There were no other signs of an imminent eruption, such as earth movements or changes on the mountain's surface," the official told Reuters. "With only the earthquakes, we couldn't really say this would lead to an eruption." — Reuters