Daily News (In Short)-14-July-2015

#* 22 pilgrims killed in stampede at Andhra Pradesh's Godavari Pushkaram

At least 22 pilgrims, mostly women, were killed and 20 others injured in a stampede during Godavari Pushkaralu in Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday, officials said.
 
The tragedy occurred when a large number of pilgrims rushed towards one of the gates and tried to scale it at Kotagummam pushkar ghat on the banks of River Godavari to take the holy dip.

Chaos prevailed at all the three gates at the bathing ghat in Rajahmundry, a town in East Godavari district. The toll may further go up as some bodies were still believed to be lying at the spot.

The bodies of victims were shifted to Rajahmundry government hospital. The injured were also brought to the hospital, where the condition of some of them is stated to be critical.

Chief minister Chandrababu Naidu and his family took the holy dip in the river at the same spot on Tuesday morning.

#* RIPMSV: King of Light Music MS Viswanathan dies

Celebrated South Indian music director and composer MS Viswanathan -- who died in Chennai on Tuesday morning -- was one of the first to have infused respect and regard into film music in the early 1950s.
 
In a country where classical forms were venerated and worshipped as the ultimate in human arts, where even folk fare was not quite welcome, Viswanathan composed songs that were wonderfully melodious. Kannadasan's lyrics and TM Soundararajan's voice enriched Viswanathan's compositions. But they were not classical -- in any sense of the term. Rather, they were light and had a zing about them. No wonder, he was honoured with the title of Mellisai Mannar (The King of Light Music).

Viswanathan, who has often been compared to another giant composer, Naushad, was never a slave to traditions in music. He transcended every known boundary or category. And he gave us songs that moved and melted us. Working with some of the greatest heroes of the time, like MG Ramachandran, Sivaji Ganesh and Gemini Ganesh, Viswanathan composed hits which were played and replayed. They still are, and remain amazingly fresh at a time when movie music has transformed itself into din and noise.

Can anybody forget Aavalukkena Azhagiyaval from Server Sundaram or Tamizhukku Amuthu Endru Per from Panchavarna Killi or Chittu Kurvi/Partha Nyabagan in Pudiya Paarvai or Nenjam Marapthillai from Nenjam Marapathillai or Paal Irukkum Pazhaam Irukkum / Kaalangalil Aval in Paava Mannippu?

#* Pakistan's 26/11 statement is no u-turn, won't affect future action: Government sources

According to sources, the government is not looking at the statement as a jolt. They maintain that Aziz's comments do not affect the action that will be taken in the future.
They further pointed that Aziz has not ruled out coming to New Delhi to hold talks with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval as decided in bilateral talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif.
Notably, government sources said that an invite by Pakistan to separatist leaders to attend Eid festivities will not impact the benchmark set by both sides to engage bilaterally.
This came even as Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday morning said that India would give a befitting reply to Pakistan in case of any ceasefire violation along the Line of Control or International Border.
The Home Minister also reportedly said that “Kashmir is not a disputed area”, and in fact “an integral part of India”.
Sartaj Aziz had on Monday said that no dialogue with India was possible without discussion on the Kashmir issue.
"No discussion will take place with India if Kashmir will not be discussed. We will stay firm on all our primary issue," Aziz had said.
He also said that Pakistan needs more evidence from India to expedite 2008 Mumbai attacks trial.
On July 10, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of SCO Summit in Ufa, Russia, where the two leaders “exchanged views on issues of bilateral and regional interest”.
Addressing a joint press conference following the meeting, the foreign secretaries of both the countries had said that India and Pakistan were ready to “discuss all outstanding issues”.
They also said that a meeting between National Security Advisors of both the countries would be held in New Delhi to discuss all issues connected to terrorism.

#* SRK's spotboy Subhash Dada dies, Gauri and Aryan attend prayer meet

Shah Rukh Khan's wife Gauri Khan and elder son Aryan attended the prayer meet held for Subhash K Jain, close aide of SRK, who died of cancer on Monday in Mumbai. 

Jain, who had been Khan's spot boy for several years, last worked with him in Happy New Year.

However, SRK was busy shooting for Dilwale in Bulgaria and could not attend the last rites.Gauri Khan was accompanied by elder son Aryan at the prayer meet for Subhash Dada's soul. (Courtesy: Twitter)

While SRK refrained from tweeting about the loss of his aide Subhash Dada, his business manager Karuna Badwal tweeted: "Spl r the workings of the universe..this pic got tweeted as Subhash Dada left for a better place today to RIP..pray!"

#* Amit Shah Did Not Say Achche Din Will Take 25 Years, Says BJP

BHOPAL:  Amid an attack from the Opposition, the ruling BJP has denied an "Achche Din" comment attributed to its chief Amit Shah at a meeting in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh yesterday.  

The BJP described as "baseless" reports that Mr Shah said it would take 25 years to realise "Achche Din or the good days." The party president, said the BJP, had said that it would take 25 years to restore India to its "ancient glory."

"Shah said the BJP government has curbed corruption and brought down inflation. It is working to end corruption and create many jobs in five years. But the dream of making India 'Vishwa guru (world leader) will take 25 years to realise," BJP secretary and media cell in-charge Shrikant Sharma said.

"If the BJP had revealed before the elections that it would take 25 years to deliver achche din, would the people have voted it to power?" asked Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in an early morning tweet today.  

The Congress' Manish Tewari had tweeted even earlier on Tuesday, "From I00 days to 25 yrs for Acche Din and Acche Din means era before British Raj says BJP..."

Mr Sharma said there was a "conspiracy to defame the BJP", and added, "our president said it will take 25 years to restore India to its ancient glory and status of world leader again."

"Acche Din" was the leitmotif of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vote appeal in the national election that his party swept last year. It promised voters better days and deliverance from corruption and poverty that the BJP alleged 10 years of Congress rule had brought.  

In the months since, rival parties have often resurrected the "Achche Din" refrain to question the Modi government. Mr Shah was in Bhopal to review a membership drive.

#* Tamil Nadu rife with rumours of Jayalalithaa's illness

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's absence at the Secretariat and some scheduled events in recent times has sparked rumours that the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief is unwell.
If reports in various sections of the media hold any truth, Jayalalithaa is very ill and needs either a kidney or liver transplant.

Jayalalithaa was at the Secretariat on July 4 when she took oath as a Member of the Legislative Assembly after winning the by-election held for the Radhakrishnan Nagar constituency.

However, her absence at some scheduled events, including the Iftar party hosted by the AIADMK earlier this month, led leaders of some Opposition parties to raise questions about Jayalalithaa’s health.

DMK chief Karunanidhi and Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president EVKS Elangovan have sought to enquire about the health status of the Chief Minister.

"There may be political differences, but Jayalalithaa is the Chief Minister for all the people, hence everyone has a right to know about her health status," Elangovan told reporters on Monday.

"Hence, I appeal with concern, a medical bulletin on her health status should be released," he said.

"I am worried, since she is the Chief Minister and that is why I appeal that the information be made known," he told PTI.

Earlier, Karunanidhi had said that the Tamil Nadu government should give details related to Jayalalithaa's illness as people would be interested in knowing the same.

His remarks came after Jayalalithaa skipped an Iftar event hosted by her party citing sudden illness.

Her address at the Iftar party was read out by Finance Minister O Pannerselvam, in which she said, "I am unable to come to the Iftar party due to a sudden illness though it is my wish to participate in it (organised by AIADMK) as usual."

#* Spl CBI court to frma charges against Madhu Koda in coal scam

A special court on Tuesday fixed 14 July for pronouncing the order on framing of charges against former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda and seven others in a coal block allocation scam case.
"Put up for order on charge for July 14," Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar said.
The case pertains to alleged irregularities in allocation of Rajhara North coal block in Jharkhand to Kolkata-based Vini Iron and Steel Udyog Ltd (VISUL).
Besides Koda, the other accused in the case include ex-Coal Secretary H C Gupta, ex-Jharkhand Chief Secretary A K Basu, VISUL, two public servants -- Basant Kumar Bhattacharya and Bipin Bihari Singh, VISUL's Director Vaibhav Tulsyan, Koda's alleged close aide Vijay Joshi and chartered accountant Navin Kumar Tulsyan.
These eight accused were earlier granted bail by the court after they had appeared before it in pursuance to the summons issued against them.
They were summoned as accused after the court took cognisance of alleged offences under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) read with 420 (cheating) and 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servants) of IPC and under provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act.
CBI, in its charge sheet, had said that VISUL had applied for allocation of Rajhara North coal block on January 8, 2007.
The agency had alleged that although the Jharkhand government and Steel Ministry did not recommend VISUL's case for coal block allocation, the 36th Screening Committee recommended the block to the accused firm.
On May 29, CBI had told special court that Gupta had allegedly concealed facts from then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that Jharkhand had not recommended VISUL for allocation of a coal block.
CBI had said that Gupta, who was chairman of screening committee, was aware that the state government had not recommended the coal block to VISUL but did not mention this in the file noting sent to the PM, who then headed the Coal Ministry too.
The agency had alleged that Koda, Basu and two accused public servants conspired to somehow favour VISUL in the coal block allocation despite the fact that state government had initially recommended two other firms for it.
Earlier, Gupta had dragged the former PM's name in coal scam, saying he took the "ultimate decision" as the then Coal Minister in allocation of coal blocks. He had said Manmohan Singh had the "final authority" to take decisions and Gupta was empowered to only recommend allocation of blocks.

#* Instagram bug behind your new found popularity now fixed

Did your last snap on Instagram earn you hundreds of new followers? Well, that was thanks to a bug. And since the bug has been fixed, you are probably left with the same old figure of followers.

Instagram said that a bug had caused some users’ follower counts to increase, but this was a bug that’s being fixed. That increase in people’s follower count will disappear once the bug is completely fixed, TechCrunch reported.

A search on Twitter showed many users with smaller followings also saw an instant increase over the last day or so. Some were confused about whether those were real people who followed them or if Instagram was hacked.

“Some people’s follower counts (as shown on their profiles) have spiked (incorrectly) due to a bug. We’re fixing the bug and counts will be made accurate once we’ve got it fixed,” a company spokesperson was quoted as saying.

“We’ve identified a bug causing incorrect follower counts to appear on some profiles. We’re working to fix it, and any counts that have been affected will be restored when we’ve resolved the issue,” Instagram wrote in its Help Center.

So if you thought your photography skills have become superb overnight somehow, you will be disappointed. But it is time to move on as the bug problem has been resolved.

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