Jaipur, May 14 (IANS) After former Bollywood star and Salman Khan’s ex-girlfriend Somy Ali recently apologised to the Bishoi community and urged it to forgive the star actor in the 1998 blackbuck poaching case, the President of the All India Bishnoi Society, Devendra Budiya, said on Monday that the community will consider the matter if Salman Khan tenders a personal apology.

Salman Khan is accused of hunting down blackbucks at Bawad in Mathania near Jodhpur in September 1998 during the shooting of Sooraj Barjatya’s film ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’.

Two days back, Somy Ali appealed to the Bishnoi community to forgive Salman Khan, saying, “I apologise on his behalf if he has made a mistake; please forgive him. Taking someone’s life is not acceptable, be it Salman or an average common man.”

Reacting to Somy Ali’s statement, Devendra Budiya (Bishnoi) said: “If Salman himself apologises, the Bishnoi society will consider the apology. The mistake was not made by Somy Ali, but it was committed by Salman. Therefore, he should propose to the Bishnoi society that he wants to apologise.

“He should come to the temple and seek forgiveness. He should further take an oath that he will never make such a mistake in the future and will always work to protect wildlife and conserve the environment. If he does this, a decision of the society to forgive him will be considered.”

Salman Khan along with actors Tabu, Sonali Bendre, and Neelam were booked for hunting blackbucks while shooting for ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’ in October 1998. He was also sentenced to five-year rigorous imprisonment in 2018, though he is out on bail presently.

On April 14, two miscreants opened fire at Salman Khan’s Mumbai residence. The plot was believed to be hatched by jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi as a fallout of the blackbuck poaching case, triggering the apology from Somy Ali.

–IANS

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Ahmedabad, May 14 (IANS) Strong winds, sandstorms and rain struck Gujarat on Monday, disrupting daily life and agriculture across the state.

On Monday evening, winds moving with a speed of nearly 40 km/hr swept through Ahmedabad, reducing visibility and creating hazardous conditions leading to traffic congestion and rains.

In Chhotaudepur district, the unseasonal rain complete with hail, posed a threat to farmers’ livelihoods, with Kawant taluka recording 6mm of rainfall between 4 and 6 p.m.

The unexpected rain, while cooling the heat, has put nearly 8,000 hectares of summer crops at risk, although District Agriculture Officer D.S. Panchal noted that no immediate damage has been reported.

However, Panchal cautioned that continuous heavy rainfall could potentially harm the crops, which include maize and fodder.

The sudden weather shift was accompanied by rainfall in several districts, including Botad, Navsari, Bhavnagar, Sabarkantha and Dangs, with Botad receiving the heaviest downpour of up to 20mm.

The villages in several districts also reported power cuts due to these weather conditions.

The Indian Meteorological Department has issued a forecast predicting light thunderstorms and moderate rains in the next few days, which are likely to affect isolated places in districts such as Banaskantha, Patan, and Mehsana, among others, over the next three hours.

–IANS

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Kohima, May 13 (IANS) In a significant step, the government of Nagaland has decided to constitute a Political Affairs Committee (PAC), to find an inclusive solution to the decades-long Naga political issue, an official said here on Monday.

A state government official said that Nagaland Parliamentary Affairs Minister K.G. Kenye stated that the PAC would play the role of an active “facilitator” to find a comprehensive solution to the long awaited Naga political issue.

The official said that the decision to constitute the PAC was taken in a high-level political meeting chaired by Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on May 9.

“This is being initiated once again with a renewed vigour in furtherance to the spirit of the all party opposition-less government in pursuit of a broad consensus for an early and amicable settlement of the Naga political issue,” the circular stated.

The PAC, according to the official, would approach both the Central government and various Naga groups to pay attention to the voice of the people and find a inclusive and amicable solution to the much awaited Naga political issue.

Ministers and members of all political parties would be the members of the PAC, which would be formed as per the ratio of the members of the respective parties in the 60-member Assembly.

With 25 members, the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) is leading the opposition less United Democratic Alliance (UDA) government in Nagaland.

The BJP with 12 members is the partner of the UDA while the other allies of the alliance include, Nationalist Congress Party (7 members), National People’s Party (5), Naga People’s Front (2), Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas (2), Republican Party of India-Athawale (2), Janata Dal-United (1) and Independent (4).

The dominant Naga group Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM) on May 10, stated that in the event of failure of the current talks with the Central government, they are apprehensive of a horrible human rights situation returning to ‘Nagalim’ — the Naga dominated areas.

The Naga group said the Naga people under the banner of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim stand firm on the historic Framework Agreement signed on August 3, 2015. More than 90 rounds of meetings were held between the government and the Naga groups over the decades-old unresolved Naga political issue.

The NSCN-IM has remained unyielding on its demand for a separate flag and constitution for the Nagas as well as integration of Naga-inhabited areas spread over four northeastern states — Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur and Nagaland, besides Myanmar.

The NSCN-IM said that the outfit’s General Secretary and its chief negotiator, Thuingaleng Muivah has recently unequivocally stated that a solution without the Naga national flag and constitution would never be acceptable to the Naga people.

–IANS

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New Delhi, May 14 (IANS) A court here on Monday granted bail to Arun Bereddy, an accused in the Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s doctored video case.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Nabeela Wali of Patiala House Courts granted bail to Bereddy noting that the prime allegation against him was just him being the ‘Admin’ of the WhatsApp group on which the alleged fake video was first posted for circulation.

“However, there are no allegations of the applicant/ accused having posted/ circulated the said video on any forum,” the court noted.

Bereddy was granted bail on furnishing of bail bonds in the sum of Rs 50,000 with one surety in the like amount.

Delhi Police had arrested Bereddy, who manages the Telangana Congress’ X account — ‘Spirit of Congress’ on May 3.

The accused had moved an application under Section 437 CrPC seeking bail in the case.

In connection with the case, Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police arrested five persons, identified as Pendyala Vamshi Krishna, Satish Manne, Pettam Naveen, Asma Tasleem and Koya Geetha — all residents of Hyderabad, who were circulating the doctored video of the Home Minister.

According to police, Home Minister Shah delivered a speech during a public meeting in Telangana’s Medak on April 23.

“Pendyala Vamshi Krishna received a morphed video of the speech on WhatsApp. He then uploaded the morphed video on the ‘INCTelangana’ (X) handle and shared it in various WhatsApp groups,” said the Hyderabad Police in a statement on May 3.

Delhi Police registered an FIR after receiving complaints from the BJP and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

–IANS

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Hyderabad, May 13 (IANS) Voters’ apathy marked polling in Greater Hyderabad as the Lok Sabha constituencies of Hyderabad, Secunderabad, Malkajgiri, and Chevella recorded the lowest turnout in Telangana in that order.

Despite appeals by the political parties and all efforts by the election authorities, the urban voters remained indifferent.

The Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency recorded the lowest turnout in the state at 39.17 per cent till 5 p.m., as per the figures released by the Election Commission, far below the state’s average turnout of 62.48 per cent. In 2019, Hyderabad had recorded 45 per cent polling.

The figures are all provisional as the final numbers will be released by the poll panel on Tuesday.

The Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency recorded the second lowest polling at 42.48 per cent, marking a dip of 3 per cent compared to the 2019 polls.

Malkajgiri, which is India’s largest constituency with 37.80 lakh voters, also failed to cross the 50 per cent polling mark. The seat, termed ‘mini-India’ with people from various states and speaking different languages settled here, saw 49.60 per cent polling, almost at par with 2019 figures.

Only 50.34 per cent voters cast their votes in the by-election for the Secunderabad Cantonment Assembly constituency, one of the seven segments under Malkajgiri.

The Chevella constituency, which covers key urban clusters including the information technology district of Cyberabad, recorded 53.15 per cent polling, the fourth lowest in the state.

The Serilingampally segment, which has the highest number of software professionals, saw only 41.40 per cent turnout. It is part of the Chevella Lok Sabha constituency.

Many techies apparently skipped polling after packing off their bags for extended holidays.

The low turnout was despite pleasant weather as recent rains and clouds considerably brought down the maximum temperature. While polling centres in some segments saw queues from early in the morning, the booths were deserted in the majority of the segments.

Among the Assembly segments in the Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency, Malakpet recorded lowest polling at 37.84 per cent, Charminar recorded 38 per cent turnout, while Chandrayangutta witnessed 38.24 per cent voting, followed by Karwan at 40.57 per cent.

Nampally, a part of the Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency, recorded only 37.30 per cent turnout. The polling percentage in Jubilee Hills segment was 39.38 per cent.

After the polling on Monday, various sections have been voicing concerns over the declining poll percentage in the urban segments.

The Election Commission had roped in celebrities while the NGOs organised various programmes to appeal to people to come out and exercise their franchise in large numbers.

During the campaign, the political parties and candidates had also urged people to participate in the polling process in large numbers. However, these appeals had little impact on the urban voters.

Like in the past, the majority of the voters in the four Lok Sabha constituencies enjoyed the holiday declared for polling, but stayed away from the election process.

Union Minister and state BJP chief G. Kishan Reddy said one reason for the low turnout this year may be that polling in both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were held on the same day.

He pointed out that a large number of people left for the neighbouring state to cast votes in the simultaneous elections to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly on Monday.

–IANS

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