Over 16 lakh voters set to cast their votes in Krishnagiri district

 

COVID patients will be allowed to cast their ballots between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m, on the polling day on April 6, here on Tuesday, said Collector V.Jayachandra Bhanu Reddy on Monday.

Speaking to the reporters on the arrangements ahead of the polls as the district’s 16,05,280 voters are set to cast their ballots in the six Assembly constituencies, the Collector said the arrangements have been made in accordance with the orders of the Election Commission of India.

The voters will vote to elect among the 86 candidates for the assembly constituencies.A total of 9,594 EVMs, that include 20% reserve EVMS are being deployed.

The postal ballots for absentee voters over 80 years under Form 12D has been claimed by 2,877 voters. A total of 11,031 polling personnel are deployed for duty, with 2,600 of them availing 2,600 postal ballots.

Seizures

A total of ₹77,27,940 was seized in multiple cash seizures. In addition, 10.55 kg of silver was seized and few hundreds and cookers and hotpacks were also seized. Liquor to the tune of ₹36.69 lakh have also been seized. A total of 11,810 defacements were carried out and 142 cases were filed for Model Code of Conduct violations.

According to the Superintendent of Police Bandi Gangadar, eight companies of police force have been deployed in the district. They include Central Police Force, Tamil Nadu Special Police, local police. Besides, home guards and ex-servicemen totalling about 5,000, have been deployed.

2,766 fake accounts found in Krishnagiri

 As many as 2,766 fake accounts of non-farmer “beneficiaries” have been detected and about ₹1.03 crore has been recovered so far in the scam under the PM-Kisan scheme in the district.

According to official sources, investigations were on, and more information would be available later this week.

As of date, as many as 2,766 fake accounts had been detected in the district, sources said.

The PM-Kisan Scheme was conceived to provide ₹6,000 as income support to farmers annually, and it was to be credited into their accounts in three instalments of ₹2,000 each.

However, it came to light that the password and username of an Agriculture Department official was hacked to include non-farmers as beneficiaries by creating fake accounts.

The total number of fake accounts and the total amount of recovery will come to light once the investigation gets completed, said official sources.

Source

An initiative to boost horticulture

Minister for Agriculture R. Vaithilingam inspecting the stall for bananas at Paiyyur research station

A National Farmers Meet as an interface between farmers, traders and researchers was organised at the Regional Research Station of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University at Paiyyur on Saturday.

The meet on Horticultural Crops 2015, jointly organised under the aegis of TNAU and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, was a first of its kind initiative to boost horticulture and augment value addition to horticultural produce.

Farmers from across the four States of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu participated in the day-long sessions that explored techniques of cultivation and value addition practised in horticulture.

Over 60 scientists from ICAR and TNAU acted as resource persons in the interface on flowers, vegetables, plantation and spices.

The sessions included cultivation aspects of mango that included fruiting, crop regulation, canopy management, spongy tissue, alternate bearing, malformation, pests, diseases and post-harvest handling etc. Similarly, seed production, nutrition, and post-harvest handling for papaya was also discussed.

Focus

Speaking to The Hindu , Prof. Vijay Bhaskaran, Agronomist, Paiyyur Research Station, said the focus was on mango and papaya as the farmers largely from Kolar, Malur and Telengana region cultivated mangoes. Krishnagiri being a significant cultivator of horticultural crops and a reckonable exporter with its hi-tech horticulture, disease, pest and nutrition management of flowers was also a point of focus.

The meet had over 2500 farmers, and horticultural industry persons participating in the day-long sessions.

Stalls put up by ICAR, TNAU and private industrial units included stalls on farm mechanisation, hybrid varieties, and value addition techniques among others.

S. Ayyappan, Director General and Secretary, Directorate of Agriculture and Education, ICAR, was the chief guest.

Man killed by elephant herd in Krishnagiri

A herd of 35 elephants killed a 65-year-old man at Kadur village in Bommathathanur, Denkanikottai, late on Sunday night.

When Govindappa stepped out of his hut on hearing a tamarind tree breaking, he was attacked by the herd.

He was living in the hut with his wife Maari (60) doing farming and rearing livestock for the last three decades.

The body of the deceased was later found badly damaged and the limbs were found a few meters away from the hut.

Govindappa’s death marks the sixth human casualty this year in the Hosur forest range from January. Five persons, including two women, were killed in elephant attacks up to May in the forest range.

An initial assistance of Rs. 25,000 as part of solatium was handed over to the victim’s wife by the Forest Department. A sum of Rs..2.75 lakh will be disbursed to the bereaved wife later.

15 of a family injured in mini bus accident

Fifteen persons who were part of a family were seriously injured when a mini bus went out of control and fell on its side after a front wheel suffered a flat tyre at Mathur on Thursday.

The passengers were travelling from Dharmapuri after attending a family function.

They had set out from Kolandhampalli village in Thirupathur in Vellore to attend a ‘valaikappu’ ceremony.

The injured persons were taken to the Krishnagiri Government Hospital, according to police sources here.

They had set out from Kolandhampalli village in Thirupathur in Vellore district to attend a ‘valaikappu’ at Dharmapuri