KCR sworn-in, returns as Telangana CM for second straight term
Hyderabad, Dec 13: TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao, who led his party to a massive victory in the December 7 assembly elections, was sworn-in Thursday as the chief minister of Telangana for a second straight term.
KCR, as Rao is popularly known, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor E S L Narasimhan at a simple ceremony on the lawns of Raj Bhavan here.
Along with Rao, party MLC Mohammed Mehmood Ali, who was deputy chief minister in the previous TRS government, took oath as a minister.
Rao was unanimously elected leader of the TRS Legislature Party by the newly-elected MLAs Wednesday.
In the December 7 elections, the TRS won 88 seats in the 119-member assembly, trouncing the Congress-led 'Praja Kutami', which ended up with a tally of 21.
The BJP won just one seat in the state.
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Karnataka Assembly passes Social Boycott Prevention Bill
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): The Karnataka Assembly on Thursday passed the Social Boycott (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Bill unanimously.
The bill was introduced in the House by the Social Welfare Minister H C Mahadevappa on December 12.
The bill defines social boycott as a gesture or an act, whether oral or written, of any social discrimination between the members of the community.
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The bill proposes three years of imprisonment and a fine extending up to Rs 1 lakh. It also prohibits people from gathering, assembling, or congregating at any time and at any place with the view or intention to deliberate on the issue of imposing social boycott on any member of the community. It prohibits gathering to impose social boycott.
The bill also says that if the accused is convicted, the court should hear the victim on the quantum of sentence and then only pass the sentence.
During the discussion, Mahadevappa termed the bill historic and said the aim of the bill is to bring equality in society and to protect backward people from further getting marginalised through social boycott.
The BJP and the JD(S) MLAs welcomed the bill.
