Press Trust of India

The central government on Saturday assured Tamil Nadu of 100 MW additional power from the second 1,000 MW nuclear power plant at Kudankulam, said a state government release.

According to the release, Union minister of state for power, coal, new and renewable energy Piyush Goyal called on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam at the state secretariat.

At the meeting, responding to the state government’s request for 15 percent of the unallocated power from the Kudankulam plant, Goyal assured supply of 100 MW.

After Day Four of e-auctions for radio frequency spectrum or airwaves for telecom operators on Saturday, the government had a total commitment of Rs.86,000 crore in terms of highest bids from the eight companies in the fray over 24 rounds, an official statement said here.

This is nearly double the amount the finance ministry had budgeted for from sale of spectrum this fiscal at Rs.43,161.72 crore, as also one-time spectrum fee and other license-related levies.

President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday condoled the death of G. Karthikeyan, speaker of the Kerala legislative assembly, saying he made “immense contribution” to the state.

In a condolence message to his wife M.T. Sulekha, the president said: “I am saddened to learn about the passing away of G. Karthikeyan.”

Feeling that social media users played a role in Thursday’s jailbreak by a mob in Dimapur and subsequent killing of a rape accused, Nagaland Chief Minister T.R. Zeliang Saturday warned social media users against spreading rumours that could lead to communal flare ups.

Zeliang said some groups and individuals are using social networking sites to spread false rumours and libellous comments in an attempt to stir up communal feelings and public unrest.

Financial business, including a discussion on the railway and general budgets for 2015-16, and consideration and passing of the bills to replace the ordinances will be the main issues before both houses of parliament next week.

Government business in the Lok Sabha for the next week includes consideration and passing of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, 2015, an official statement said here Saturday.

Kerala Tourism’s popular global multimedia campaign to promote the backwaters has won the Golden Gate award at the Internationale Tourismus-Borse Berlin (ITB-Berlin) – 2015, the world’s leading travel trade event.

The state tourism department bagged the silver prize at the Das Golden Stadttor (Golden Gate) Awards presented in the German capital on Thursday night.

Armed Sri Lankan fishermen have allegedly abducted seven fishermen from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, demanding a ransom from their families, local media reported.

The fishermen from Pamban town of Tamil Nadu were abducted by the Sri Lankan fishermen when setting out to sea late on Wednesday, Xinhua reported on Friday.

The Sri Lankans called the relatives of the abducted fishermen on their mobile phones, asking for money.

The amount of ransom was not disclosed by the media, quoting the abductors as saying that it could be “negotiable”.

The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation, India’s richest civic body, spent Rs.106 crore in 13 years to fight big and small court cases, a RTI query revealed Friday.

The cases mainly pertained to illegal constructions around the city, and other litigation, with a single lawyer, K.K. Singhvi, being paid Rs.19.13 crore as fees for his services, the RTI query filed by prominent activist Anil Galgali said.

He had sought the details of the legal expenditure incurred by the BMC, the expenses on lawyers’ fees and total number of cases being fought by them.

From the bylanes of Vrinadvan, Barsana and Mathura in Braj to the ghats of Varanasi, Holi was celebrated across Uttar Pradesh on Friday with fervour but some incidents of clashes and firing were also reported at a few places.

While there were reports of minor clashes and incidents of firing at some places, the festival of colours passed off peacefully, a home department official informed.

Two people were injured when two groups clashed in a Fatehpur village.

Whether Leslie Udwin, the British filmmaker who made the BBC documentary on the December 16, 2012 gang-rape, had misled government authorities would only be clear after the probe into this concludes, an official said.

A home ministry official, who did not want to be named, told IANS Friday that an inquiry has already been ordered into the matter and the government would take action, if required, on the basis of the inquiry report only.