The counting will begin at 8 am, and as per the Election Commission's COVID-19 guidelines, a candidate, his poll agent and counting agent can remain present in the counting hall, officials said, adding various measures have been taken to ensure social distancing and avoid crowding.
Justice P Swaroop Reddy dismissed the three revision petitions filed against the lower court's order on police custody, saying that there was 'no need for the high court's intervention at this juncture.' The 6th additional chief metropolitan magistrate had, on January 17, ordered Raju, his brother Rama Raju and Satyam's former CFO Vadlamani Srinivas to be sent to police custody for four days till January 22.
Kumaraswamy had proved right the adage that politics is the art of the possible, but the science graduate failed to get his chemistry right in keeping the coalition legislators together to ensure his government's longevity.
Kumaraswamy and the Congress had moved the Supreme Court on Friday, accusing the Governor of interfering with the assembly proceedings when the debate on the trust vote was underway and sought clarification on its July 17 order, which they said, caused hindrance in issuing whip to the legislators.
Earlier, the Sebi had interrogated and recorded the statement of Raju and his brother and Rama Raju for three days from February 4 in Chanchalguda Jail. In a petition filed in the court of 6th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, the I-T department sought three days time to examine and record the statement of Raju.
Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy said on Wednesday he was not aware of the details of the Satyam Computer financial fraud, and would take appropriate action after studying the case. Reddy was in New Delhi for a meeting with Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
The 13 month-old Karnataka coalition government of JD-S and Congress slumped into crisis following the resignation of their 11 MLAs from the membership of the state assembly on Saturday.
The CM, however, said he would abide by the high command's decision.
Extensive arrangements have been made due to the COVID-19 pandemic including personal protective equipment kits for election staff, more polling booths, thermal screening, sanitisers, masks and gloves for voters and markings to ensure social distancing, officials said.
Speaker Ramesh Kumar said the motion of confidence would reach finality on Monday and it would not be prolonged further under any circumstances, to which the government agreed.
20 lawmakers did not turn up on Thursday, including 17 from the ruling coalition, 12 of whom are corralled in a hotel in Mumbai, as the House debated in a surcharged atmosphere.
As the House resumed its sitting an hour late, the Speaker made it clear, "The debate should start now. Everybody is watching us. Please don't make me a scapegoat. Let us reach our goal," stressing that the process should reach finality on Monday.
The confidence motion moved by Kumaraswamy was defeated with 99 members voting for the motion and 105 against it in a House of 225 including speaker P R Ramesh Kumar and a nominated member.
Raju's grandfather had commissioned a similar sahasra nama mala for Lord Balaji 50 years ago. Raju now wanted to offer a new garland.
According to a department notification, Tech Mahindra has approached the Board of Approvals under the Department of Commerce for transferring rights of three SEZs (one in Tamil Nadu and two in Andhra Pradesh) and the proposal will come up for a discussion before the BoA on August 30.
VG Siddhartha's story 'will be a good case study and not a deterrent to those who want to be entrepreneurs. I don't think it will scare young entrepreneurs. I think these cases will make them sensible. They will understand that they have to be very careful about certain things, otherwise, they will have to pay a heavy price.'
The 30-share Sensex ended higher by 177.46 points at 28,885.21 and the Nifty gained 63.90 points at 8,778.30.