EC told to conduct RS elections in Kerala

Wednesday 14th April 2021 10:12 EDT
 

EC told to conduct RS elections in Kerala

The Kerala High Court has directed the Election Commission to hold the biennial election to the three Rajya Sabha seats from Kerala from the present state Assembly. "It is seen that at least after it arrived at the decision that it is its duty to see that the vacancies are filled up at the earliest, the Commission is yet to take any steps for the same," it said. "When the Commission itself has admitted that it is duty bound to conduct the election and complete the process at the earliest, it is only appropriate that it takes expeditious steps without further delay to complete the election before another electorate comes into existence on May 2, 2021," Justice PV Asha said in the order. The ruling party has challenged the Election Commission's decision to keep in abeyance proceedings for the Rajya Sabha elections in the state.

Telangana flags vaccine shortage

Telangana has joined several states in flagging a shortage of Covid -19 vaccines to the centre, and has written to Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan saying that the state's vaccine stocks would last only for three more days. In a letter sent to Bhushan on Saturday, Telangana chief secretary Somesh Kumar asked for 30,00,000 doses of vaccines for the next 15 days. He said the state has only 566,000 doses left which would "last for three days at maximum." Apart from Telangana, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi , Kerala and Jharkhand had also warned the centre of fast-depleting coronavirus vaccine stocks, even as a deadly second wave of infections threatens to overrun the country and its already-creaking medical infrastructure.

Punjab farmers to get direct cash transfer of MSP

The Punjab government has agreed to roll out the online direct cash transfer of MSP to bank accounts of farmers instead of arhtiyas accounts. This will start from the current rabi marketing season (RMS), which will kick off in Punjab from Saturday. With this the MSP payment to farmers across the country will become online. Confirming this, food and public distribution secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said, “The Punjab government has agreed that for the wheat procurement (RMS) starting from April 10, the MSP given to farmers shall be paid directly to their bank accounts on the basis of physical document of the land duly counter signed by either patwari or sarpanch of the village. In six months, the land record will also be integrated online.” The arathiyas will continue to get their commission of 2.5% separately, officials said.

Bihar SHO lynched by mob in Bengal

A police station in-charge of Kishanganj police station in Bihar, who had gone to conduct raids in adjoining West Bengal area to arrest an accused in a theft case, was killed by a mob. The accused was wanted in a theft case in Pantapara village, near Goalpokhar police station area bordering Bihar's Kishanganj district. A police official said that SHO Ashwini Kumar had arrived at a village near Dheksara to arrest the accused. The police team was surrounded by the locals as soon as they reached the village. People from nearby areas also gathered there, following which the police team tried to save themselves from the mob. The police station in-charge was killed on the spot in an attack by the mob.


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