NEWS

President of India removed Kiran Bedi as the Puducherry Lieutenant Governor. Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy hailed the removal and said the move came as a victory for the people of the Union Territory. He added that Bedi was being removed because of his and his party's pressure on Government of India and so they took the decision. 'She hampered the growth in here by her attitude of blocking welfare schemes,' he added.

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has accused the agitating farmers of illegally tapping electricity from its streetlight connection to run their gadgets and appliances, including washing machines, heaters and TVs, besides damaging the road at the Ghazipur border on the under-construction Delhi-Meerut Expressway.

The NHAI has urged the Uttar Pradesh government to get the road cleared in keeping with the terms and conditions of the State Support Agreement (SSA), which provides that barring reasons related to emergency, national security and law and order, no government agency or private individual will disrupt the highway project.

The NHAI charges come amid the announcement by Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait that he would set up an air-conditioned office at the protest site, giving indications about the agitators readying for a long haul.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a chargesheet against 22 accused, including former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, four retired IAS officers and some others, in a money-laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the allocation of 14 industrial plots worth more than Rs 30 crore in Panchkula in 2013.

The central agency has claimed that "worthy applicants were driven out of merit and applicants who were closely connected to Hooda, in terms of his personal capacity and also in terms of the political party he belongs to, were allotted these plots".

The Haryana Vigilance Bureau had registered an FIR in 2015 to probe the alleged irregularities. Later, the case was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation following which the CBI and the ED registered their respective cases.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has directed state officials to initiate a massive screening programme to identify sight and hearing defects in citizens, especially children, and initiate treatment procedures for those affected.

Taking part in a review meeting with Principal Secretary of Health Anil Kumar Singhal, Commissioner of Health Katamaneni Bhaskar and other officials on cochlear implants for hearing defects, the CM said that a special programme for the implants should be developed similar to YSR Kanti Velugu - an eye screening programme - and conduct surgeries by detecting the problems at an early stage.

Reddy said the government's goal was to help people with disabilities and support them by offering ideal treatment. The officials also discussed preventive measures taken by countries like the US, Britain, Australia in rectifying hearing and speech disorders.