MUMBAI: Devendra Fadnavis was today sworn in as Chief Minister of Maharashtra where BJP formed its government for the first time without an alliance.

Fortyfour-year-old Fadnavis was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor C. Vidyasagar Rao in a grand function at Wankhede Stadium attended, among others, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several of his Cabinet colleagues, Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states and those governed by allies.

Apart from Fadnavis, seven Cabinet Ministers and two Ministers of State also took oath.

Former ally Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, whose party had decided to boycott the event citing "constant humiliation" by BJP during talks for formation of a coalition government, attended after a last-minute call by party President Amit Shah, amid indications of a possible rapprochement between the two estranged Hindutva parties.

All eyes were on Modi and Uddhav, who shook hands and exchanged pleasantries.

Cabinet Ministers who were sworn in are Eknath Khadse, Sudhir Mungantiwar, Vinod Tawde, Pankaja Munde, all members of the BJP's state Core Committee, Prakash Mehta, Chandrakant Patil and Vishnu Savara. The Ministers of State are Dilip Kamble and Vidya Thakur.

Apart from BJP patriarch L.K. Advani, Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari, M. Venkaiah Naidu, Ravishanker Prasad, Prakash Javadekar and Radhamohan Singh, Raman Singh, Manohar Parrikar, Anandiben Patel, Vasundhara Raje, BJP Chief Ministers of Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat and Rajasthan respectively were present.

Among the allies, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and N. Chandrababu Naidu of Andhra Pradesh also attended the ceremony.

Fadnavis is only the second Brahmin Chief Minister after Shiv Sena's Manohar Joshi in the state dominated by Maratha politicians.

Fadnavis has become the 27th CM of Maharashtra and the 18th person to hold the post. He is the fourth politician from Vidarbha region to become CM. — PTI

PM flags off 'Run for Unity', says Mahatma Gandhi incomplete without Sardar Patel

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday dedicated birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel as National Unity Day, saying a nation that disregards its history cannot create one and made a veiled reference to anti-Sikh riots that followed then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's assassination this day 30 years ago.

Got up as an event to accord Sardar Patel, the 'Iron Man of India', his place in history, the government made it clear that this was no attempt to belittle the contribution of any other leader.

"Let us not forget that a nation that disregards its history can never create one...Don't divide history, legacy in narrow confines of ideology," Modi said.

Flagging off 'Run for Unity' on the 139th birth anniversary of the first Home Minister of the country celebrated as "Rashtriya Ekta Divas", Modi said Patel devoted his life for the unity of the Nation and it was unfortunate that "our very own people" were killed on his birth anniversary 30 years ago.

In an apparent reference to riots which took place after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984, Modi said, "Patel never deviated from his vision of national unity despite facing obstacles in his political life.

It is a misfortune of this country that 30 years ago on the birth anniversary of such a leader an incident which shook the unity of nation took place."

"Hamare apne logon ko maut ke ghaat utar diya gaya (our own people were killed on that day). That incident was not a wound on the hearts of people of a particular religion it was a dagger into the heart of thousands of years of country's heritage and culture," he said.

He also noted that it was also the death anniversary of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Remembering the contribution of Patel in the Independence movement, Modi said Mahatma Gandhi had entrusted him with planning of historical Dandi march which he successfully did.

"When we see Ramakrishna Paramhans he appears to be incomplete without Swami Vivekananda. Similarly when we see Mahatma Gandhi, he also appears incomplete without Sardar Patel," he said. Earlier welcoming the Prime Minister, Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu said, "Had Sardar Patel been the first Prime Minister of the country, history would have been different. This is how many people feel." He also said the celebration was not aimed at belittling the contribution of any other political leader.

Sangh has always felt that successive governments had held the contribution of Jawahar Lal Nehru and those of the Nehru-Gandhi family in higher regards over others.

After flagging off the "unity run" which saw participation of athletes like Sushil Kumar, Vijender Singh, cricketers Virendra Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, Modi made a brisk walk leading the run.

Flanked by Union Ministers Sushma Swaraj, Naidu, Arun Jaitely among others, the Prime Minister administered the oath of unity to participants.

Earlier, Modi offered floral tributes to the statue of Sardar Patel at Patel Chowk which was decked up for the occasion. 

Modi also compared Patel with Chanakya, saying, "The country can never forget Sardar Patel. Centuries ago, Chanakya conducted a successful experiment of establishing a strong set up by uniting small princely states.

"Post Independence, the same great work was done by the man whose birth anniversary we are celebrating today, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel," he said.

"It is unfortunate that the man who dedicated his life for the unity of India, faced criticisms and opposition, suffered hurdles in his political career but was never deterred from his goal of uniting the country," the PM said.

"Our culture and legacy is of unity in diversity. Let us rise over differences of creed, community, language," he said while addressing the participants of the unity run.

Modi said Sardar Patel unified the country through his skill, vision and patriotism.

Recalling his role in uniting the entire country after partition, Modi said "Sardar Patel demolished Britishers' plan to divide India in many small regions. He single handedly merged all 550 regions with the country." Modi also lauded Patel's vision and diplomatic abilities in uniting the farmers in the freedom struggle against the British rule and said, "His act of consolidating the farmers as a force in the freedom movement dashed the dreams of the British to break India into small parts.".

Exhorting people to rise above casteism, communalism and language barriers to keep the country united, he said, "Sardar Patel gave us one India, we have to make it great India." 

As soon as he flagged off the run, participants asked the Prime Minister to lead them and he led the run for some distance.

Highlighting the contributions of Patel, Union Minister Naidu said, "As a student I used to think that history has not done justice to Sardar Patel who had single handedly unified the country. Had Sardar Patel been the first Prime minister of India, the fate of the country would have been different, the situation would have been different".

Lauding Patel for his mind of steel and great vision, he asked if our history books presented a true picture of his contributions, and said it was the objective of this Government to do so. -PTI

NEW DELHI: A special court trying the 2G spectrum scam on Friday framed charges against former Telecom Minister A. Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and others in 2G scam-related money laundering case. The Court also framed charges against DMK chief M. Karunanidhi’s wife Dayalu Ammal in the case.

Charges have been framed under section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC and under provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The Special Court said that prima facie the charge of money laundering is made out against all the 19 accused charge-sheeted by the Enforcement Directorate.

Besides the three, charges were also framed against Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka in the case.

Raja, Kanimozhi and all other accused pleaded not guilty and sought trial in the case.

On Monday, the Supreme Court rejected the plea for discharge of Dayalu Ammal from the case or to constitute a fresh medical board to ascertain her medical condition. — PTI

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday raked up the anti-Sikh violence that followed the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi this day 30 years ago and said it was a "dagger" in the centuries-old fabric of India's unity as he dedicated the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel as National Unity Day.

Got up as an event to accord Sardar Patel, the 'Iron Man of India', his place in history, the Government said it was not an attempt to belittle the contribution of any other leader.

Flagging off run for unity on the 139th birth anniversary of the first Home Minister of the country celebrated as "Rashtriya Ekta Divas", Modi noted that the day was being commemorated as death anniversary of Indira Gandhi but made a veiled reference to the anti-Sikh riots that followed her assassination.

Modi said Patel devoted his life for the unity of the Nation and it was unfortunate that "our very own people" were killed on his birth anniversary 30 years ago.

"...In the same country, 30 years ago, on the birth anniversary of the same leader something happened which cast a blow to the unity of the nation.

"Hamare apne logon ko maut ke ghaat utar diya gaya (our own people were killed on that day. That incident was not a wound in the heart of any community. It was a dagger in the centuries-old fabric of India's unity," he said.

"Patel never deviated from his vision of national unity despite facing obstacles in his political life. It is a misfortune of this country that 30 years ago on the birth anniversary of such a leader an incident which shook the unity of nation took place," Modi said.

Paying tributes to Patel's contribution to the integration and unity of the country, the Prime Minister said, "Let us not forget that a nation that disregards its history can never create one...Don't divide history, legacy in narrow confines of ideology."

The Modi government recently decided that it would be involved in commemoration of birth and death anniversaries of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel while leaving it to trusts and societies to mark the memory of other leaders.

Government had also decided that no memorials will be built in memory of other leaders. 

Remembering the contribution of Patel in the Independence movement, Modi said Mahatma Gandhi had entrusted him with planning of the historical Dandi march which he successfully did.

"When we see Ramakrishna Paramhans he appears to be incomplete without Swami Vivekananda. Similarly when we see Mahatma Gandhi, he also appears incomplete without Sardar Patel," he said.

Modi also compared Patel with Chanakya, saying, "The country can never forget Sardar Patel. Centuries ago, Chanakya conducted a successful experiment of establishing a strong set up by uniting small princely states.

"Post Independence, the same great work was done by the man whose birth anniversary we are celebrating today, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel," he said.

"It is unfortunate that the man who dedicated his life for the unity of India, faced criticisms and opposition, suffered hurdles in his political career but was never deterred from his goal of uniting the country," the PM said.

Modi said Sardar Patel unified the country through his skill, vision and patriotism.
Recalling his role in uniting the entire country after partition, Modi said "Sardar Patel demolished Britishers' plan to divide India in many small regions. He single handedly merged all 550 regions with the country." Earlier welcoming the Prime Minister, Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu said, "Had Sardar Patel been the first Prime Minister of the country, history would have been different. This is how many people feel." He also said the celebration was not aimed at belittling the contribution of any other political leader.

Sangh has always felt that successive governments had held the contribution of Jawahar Lal Nehru and those of the Nehru-Gandhi family in higher regard over others.
As soon as he flagged off the run, participants asked the Prime Minister to lead them and he led the run for some distance.

Sports personalities Sushil Kumar, Vijender Singh, Virendra Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir were among those who participated in the run.

Flanked by Union Ministers Sushma Swaraj, Naidu, Arun Jaitely among others, the Prime Minister administered the oath of unity to participants

Modi also offered floral tributes to the statue of Sardar Patel at Patel Chowk which was decked up for the occasion. -PTI

NEW DELHI: A delegation of victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots have urged Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to further increase the amount of compensation given to them.

The delegation, led by Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) national vice president Onkar Singh Thapar, met the Home Minister at his residence this morning and put forth their demands.

The Narendra Modi Government yesterday announced to give Rs five lakh each to the next of kin of 3,325 victims of the anti-Sikh riots triggered after assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984.

"We have also come here to thank Mr Rajnath Singh for increasing the compensation. However, we demand that compensation amount be increased up to Rs 20 lakh or Rs 25 lakh," Thapar said.

During the meeting, the victims also demanded that the pension, which is being given to them, be increased from existing Rs 2,500 to Rs 5,000.

"There are still some accused of anti-Sikh riots who are roaming free. We have also demanded that they immediately be punished. We won't sit silent until they are punished," Thapar added.

In 2006, the UPA government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had announced a package of Rs 717 crore which included monetary compensation of Rs 3.5 lakh to each killed in the riots besides financial assistance to injured and those who had lost their property.

Out of this only Rs 517 crore were spent and the remaining Rs 200 crore could not be distributed because of dispute over claimants.

The most affected were the Sikh neighbourhoods in Delhi.

Some of the riot cases are still continuing in courts and many Sikh organisations have alleged that the key conspirators of the violence were at large and victims have not yet got justice. -PTI

MUMBAI: The BSE Sensex and Nifty surged to record highs for a second consecutive session on Friday after Bank of Japan's surprise expansion of its massive stimulus programme raised hopes for additional foreign inflows, boosting blue-chips such as Larsen & Toubro.

The 30-share Sensex rose as much as 1.96% to an all-time high of 27,894.32, while the Nifty gained as much as 1.97% to mark a record high of 8,330.75, surpassing their previous highs hit on Thursday.

The benchmark BSE Sensex closed 1.9 higher at 27,865.83, while the broader Nifty ended up 1.87% at 8,322.20.

Larsen & Toubro surged 3.6%, while Housing Development Finance Corp rose 3.9%. Both the indexes also marked their eighth month of gains in nine. — Reuters