Pioneer dehradun-english-edition-2021-06-06

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The standoff between twit-
ter and the Centre inten-
sified on Saturday after the
microblogging site removed
the blue tick verification mark-
ers of Vice President Venkaiah
Naidu and RSS chief Mohan
Bhagwat, only to restore them
later after massive uproar even
as the Centre gave a last
chance to the social media
giant to comply with the pro-
vision of the new Information
Technology Act.
Twitter said as per its ver-
ification policy, the microblog-
ging platform may automati-
cally remove the blue verified
badge and verified status if the
account becomes inactive or is
incomplete.
“Inactivity is based on log-
ging in. To keep the account
active, the account holder
must make sure to log in at
least every 6 months,” Twitter
said.
Though the RSS chief has
214k followers, he has never
posted a single tweet. More or
less, same is the case with
other RSS leaders who were
stripped off the blue badge of
twitter’s honour.
Taking strong objection,
Rajiv Tuli, a functionary in
Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh’s (RSS) Delhi unit, said
it “clearly shows biasness and
a clear example of ‘tech feu-
dalism’ by Twitter”. He cited
several Twitter handles which
have been “inactive but con-
tinue to remain verified”.
Later in the day, the veri-
fication badge of RSS chief
Mohan Bhagawat, Suresh Soni,
Arun Kumar, Suresh Joshi and
Krishna Gopal was restored.
Senior RSS functionaries,
including Bhagwat, had joined
Twitter in July 2019. Sources
in the Sangh said that the
accounts were created to
“check the spread of misin-
formation by parody
accounts”.
The “blue badge’’ helps
users distinguish the authen-
ticity of accounts that are of
high public interest, and gives
Twitter users more context
about who they’re having con-
versations with, the micro-
blogging platform had earlier
stated
Meanwhile, the
Government on Saturday
issued a notice to Twitter giv-
ing it one last chance to “imme-
diately” comply with the new
IT rules and warned that fail-
ure to adhere to the norms will
lead to the platform losing
exemption from liability under
the IT Act. The Ministry of
Electronics and Information
Technology (MeitY) said that
Twitter’s refusal to comply with
the rules demonstrated the
microblogging site’s “lack of
commitment and efforts
towards providing a safe expe-
rience for the people of India
on its platform”.
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With the number of Covid-
19 cases coming down
significantly in the last few
days, Delhi Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday
announced further relaxations
in lockdown, saying markets
and malls will open on an odd-
even basis and the Delhi Metro
will now operate at 50 per cent
capacity from June 7.
According to an order
issued by the Delhi Disaster
Management Authority
(DDMA) on Saturday, all
standalone and neighbourhood
shops will be allowed to func-
tion.
These include liquor vends
which will reopen from
Monday when the new relax-
ations will come into force.
However, establishments
like cinemas, theatres, restau-
rants (except home delivery
and take away), bars, gyms,
spas, barber shops, salons and
beauty parlours will remain
closed till further orders, it said.
As per the order of DDMA,
malls, markets and market
complexes (except weekly mar-
kets) will open between 10 am
and 8 pm on odd-even basis in
accordance with their shop
numbers.
A0:4B7B8=67Q =4F34;78
The mystery around the exit
of fugitive Indian busi-
nessman Mehul Choksi, want-
ed here in connection with the
C13,500 crore PNB credit fraud
scam, from Antigua to
Dominica has deepened as two
sets of documents of St Lucia
registered vessels suggest dif-
ferent passenger manifests.
The passenger manifest of
vessel Lady Anne lists names of
four crew and passengers,
including captain Egbert
Joyeux and Eugene Davidson,
both nationals of St Lucia, and
UK nationals Gurjit Bhandal
and Gurmit Singh, both based
in Birmingham,
The customs clearance
documents at Portsmouth,
Dominica of another St Lucia
registered vessel Calliope of
Arne names Gurjit Bhandal
(Date of Birth: 19.01.1971) as
a UK citizen and Gurmit Singh
(Date of Birth: 20.02.1958) as
an Indian citizen. Singh’s date
of birth as mentioned in the
customs documents is closer to
Choksi’s age which is 62 years.
The customs documents of
Dominica’s Portsmouth port
mention their port of embarka-
tion as Antigua. The document
is part of the Dominica police
chargesheet against Choksi for
illegal entry, sources said.
However, it is not clear if
Choksi assumed the name of
Gurmit Singh for illegally
entering into Dominica or he
(Gurmit) was an Indian agent
who forced him to enter the
island nation as alleged by the
lawyers of the fugitive busi-
nessman.
Bhandal and Singh dis-
embarked at Portsmouth,
according to the customs and
excise documents of the
Commonwealth of Dominica.
Both the passenger mani-
fests do not specifically name
Choksi as a passenger which
further complicates his exit
from Antigua and entry into
Dominica. Gurmit Singh fea-
turing as a UK citizen and a
passenger in the Lady of Anne
and the same person being
mentioned as an Indian citizen
in Calliope of Arne has further
compounded the mystery of
Choksi’s exit from Antigua and
alleged illegal entry into
Dominica .
India does not have an
extradition treaty with
Dominica . Choksi can still be
deported if the authorities there
so decide.
India has an extradition
treaty with Antigua whose cit-
izenship Choksi acquired in
2017. He has been staying in
Antigua since January 2018
after his flight from Mumbai
when the PNB scam surfaced.
The sources tracking the
developments there said
Choksi left from Antigua on
May 23 and reached Dominica
on May 25, covering just 100
nautical miles. Choksi had
some stopover for a day in
between these three days where
he was served food thrice by a
confidant identified by his first
name Vivek, they said.
0A270=09HC8Q =4F34;78
Arecent report by the
Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention
(CDC), the USA’s public health
protection agency, has revealed
increased cases of hospitalisa-
tion among adolescents ages 12
to 17 after catching Covid-19
infections from potentially
more dangerous virus vari-
ants. This should come as a
warning to India as well, health
experts here have said.
They have called for vac-
cinating teenagers here also to
save them protection from the
infection given that infectious
variant Delta is prevalent in
various States like Andhra
Pradesh, a few Southern States
and Maharashtra.
There is also a need to cre-
ate among this group as well as
their parents about the impor-
tance of use of masks and
adoption of social behaviour
norms.
So far, the mass vaccination
programme, which is under-
way, is applicable for those
above 18 years in India.
The CDC report found
that at least 31 per cent of the
Covid-infected adolescents
were admitted to ICU and 5 per
cent required invasive mechan-
ical ventilation. But none died.
In India, though in differ-
ent settings, several children
below the age of 18 years and
newborns too have tested pos-
itive for Covid-19 in
Maharashtra’s Akola and
Amravati districts.
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Asserting that both Prime
Minister Narendra Modi
and Chinese President Xi
Jinping are “very responsible”
leaders, Russian President
Vladimir Putin on Saturday
said they both are capable of
solving Sino-India issues, and
cautioned against any inter-
ference from “extra-regional
power” in the process.
With Russia publicly crit-
ical of the Quad, the four-
nation grouping of India, the
US, Japan and Australia, Putin
also told PTI that though it
was not up to Moscow to
assess how any nation should
participate in an initiative
and to what extent they
should build their relations
with other countries but no
partnership should be aimed
at making friends against any-
one.
?=BQ =4F34;78
India strongly opposed the
adoption of coronavirus
“vaccine passport” at the G7
meeting of Health Ministers of
participating countries on
Friday, saying such an initia-
tive was “disadvantageous to
developing nations” and
could prove to be “hugely
discriminatory” given that a
little over 3 per cent of its pop-
ulation has been fully vacci-
nated so far.
Union Health Minister
Dr Harsh Vardhan, addressing
the meeting of his counter-
parts from seven wealthy
nations — to which India was
invited this year as a guest —
raised concerns about the
availability of vaccines and
low rates of inoculation in
developing nations.
“At this stage of [the] pan-
demic, it is pertinent to also
discuss India’s concern over
the idea of a vaccine passport.
Considering the fact of lower
levels of vaccination in devel-
oping countries in contrast to
the developed countries and
still unaddressed issues relat-
ed to equitable and affordable
access, supply and distribution
of safe and effective vaccines,
India would propose that
implementation of vaccine
passports will be hugely dis-
criminatory and disadvanta-
geous to the developing coun-
tries,” he said.
“India would suggest that
the same should be imple-
mented duly taking into con-
sideration emerging evidence
on [the] efficacy of vaccines
and under the overarching
coordination of WHO duly
attending to the anomaly of
access and affordability as it
exists today,” Dr Vardhan fur-
ther said.
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Trinamool Congress supre-
mo Mamata Banerjee on
Saturday effected a reshuffle in
the Bengal ruling outfit accord-
ing a bigger responsibility to the
younger leaders as well as her
nephew and Diamond Harbour
MP Abhishek Banerjee.
The junior Banerjee more
blatantly targeted as the
“Tolabaj (corrupt) Bhaipo” by
the BJP — a plank that bombed
in the electoral box office —
was made the All-India
Trinamool Congress general
secretary. The post was so far
held by former party MP and
close Mamata confidant
Subroto Bakshi.
The BJP had throughout
the entire electoral campaign
linked the 35-year-old politician
with coal and cow smuggling
racket, while CBI questioned
his wife and in-laws regarding
the source of their wealth kept
in foreign banks.
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St Petersburg: As Indian com-
panies get ready to manufac-
ture Russian-made Sputnik V
anti-Covid vaccine to meet
the staggering demand in the
country, Russian President
Vladimir Putin on Saturday
said Russia is the only country
in the world which is ready to
transfer technology and to
expand production abroad,
and noted that the vaccine
was being sold in 66 countries.
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The Delhi Government has
accused the Centre of
stalling its ambitious doorstep
delivery of ration scheme that
would have benefitted 72 lakh
ration card holders in the
national Capital and termed the
move “politically motivated.”
It was scheduled to be
launched in next one or two
days.
Sources privy to the devel-
opment, however, claimed the
Lieutenant Governor has not
rejected the proposal as was
being “portrayed” by the Delhi
Government.
“The file related to the
notification of the scheme,
proposed to be implemented
through private vendors, has
been returned for reconsider-
ation to the Chief Minister by
the LG,” they said.
While asserting that it was
prepared to launch the scheme
in the next few days, the Chief
Minister’s Office, in a state-
ment, claimed the Lieutenant
Governor returned the file on
June 2 stating the scheme can-
not be implemented.
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RELAXATIONS ANNOUNCED IN DELHI
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QWhat is Jijaji Chhat Parr Koii
Hai about?
Thosewhohave nottunedin
to the show need to understand
that this has nothing to do with
Jijaji Chhat Per Hain. This is a
totally new and different series.
Even my character is different. I
don’t play Elaichi here. However,
peoplewhohavestartedwatching
feel that my other character has
some connection with Elaichi.
This is far from true. But this is
good for the show since there is
an element of mystery.
QWhat’s your role here?
I have a double role here. My
living character is very different
from the other role that I play –
thatofaghost—ChandraPrabha
(Chandni). We know that she is
from a different era from the way
she is dressed. My other role, that
of Connaught Place aka CP
Sharma, is bubbly, she belongs to
Delhi, lives in Punjabi Bagh and
helps her parents. They live in a
building which is disputed. Each
party wants the property in their
name. CP Sharma’s aim besides
wanting to get married because
she is of marriageable age is to
ensure that her parents get the
property. But Chandni doesn’t
want CP to get married. The why
is the mystery here.
QYouplayadoublerole.Howis
the experience?
There is so much to explore
as an actor when you have a
double role. Second, it is hectic as
well. I have to switch roles at the
drop of a hat. Chandni is a
difficult role to play; I have to get
all decked up — wear jewellery
and lehenga. CP Sharma is a 21st
Century girl. The contrast in
costumes is huge. Another
challenge is that both the
characters need to act and look
different.
QWhatpreparationdidyoudo?
Wehadworkshopsbeforethe
shoot with the director. Hence, I
wasnotworriedaboutplayingCP
Sharma. It is a character that one
comes across in real life. I have a
lot of friends in Delhi. I had a lot
of help from them to play
Sharma’s role. To play Chandni
wasachallenge;sheisaghostand
there is a mystery here. We
practiced. We decided during
theworkshopthatshewouldhave
ahuskyvoicewithnoexpressions
on the face. But there is a twist;
Chandni gets into the body of
Sharmasometimes.Here,shehas
to act like Sharma but she is a
ghost. This is tough to put across
for the audience who has to
understand that it is Chandni in
the body of Sharma.
QHow did you come on board
for Jijaji Chhat Per Hain?
I had worked with the
makersofthisshowearlieraswell.
They liked my work back then.
They asked me to audition for
Elaichi. I agreed and they liked
me. In the previous Edit II
Production, Bhaag Bakool Bhaag
my character was so different. I
wasnotconfidentifIwouldfitthe
bill. But the makers really helped
me throughout. I then realised
that I wanted to explore different
roles. I am glad I took up the role.
QWhy do you think the show
gained popularity?
The casting for perfect. Also,
their relationship that they have
shown between the father and
daughters was well fleshed out.
Thetimingofairingtheshowwas
perfect too. The combination of
Sony SAB and Edit II Production
is amazing as well. This is one of
my favourite shows.
QHow did you end up acting?
A friend of mine was
working in TV as a child artist.
It was summer vacation and I
decided to try my hand as well. I
shifted to Mumbai. I
changed my school as
well.Butaftersometime,
I wanted to go back
home and quit acting. After
four years, I saw a message on
myfather’smobile.Backthen,
I didn’t have one. It was for
an audition for Channel V.
The good thing was that it
wasinBareilly.Igotselected
and the rest is history.
QYou have done a couple
of music videos as well.
What made you say to
them?
I was at an event. A
person walked up to me
and made an offer to me
to do a music video. I
agreed and ended up
doing not two but three
music videos.
QAreauditionstheway
to choose an actor for
a show since people
may have an off day?
This has
happened to me a
few times. But
auditions are the
way forward
because there are
so many people
auditioning for a
single part. Yes,
there is a lot of
pressure on
actors. For
known actors, it
is easy since their work
is seen by people. But it can
be a challenge for newcomers.
= 0 C D A 4 C 0 ; :
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?=BQ 347A03D=
The Assembly speaker Prem
Chand Agarwal has said
that the proposed toll plaza on
Haridwar- Dehradun national
highway at Nepali Farm has
been scrapped.
Informing the media per-
sons on Saturday the speaker
said that he was in touch with
the chief minister, union edu-
cation minister and officers of
Public Works Department
(PWD) and National Highways
Authority of India (NHAI) on
the issue.
He said that it was not
proper to have two tolls locat-
ed nearby on one stretch of
road and it would have been a
financial burden on people.
The speaker thanked the
Uttarakhand government and
CM for scrapping the toll plaza
in public interest. He also
appealed to those sitting in
protest against the toll plaza to
take back their agitation. It is
worth mentioning here that
many organisations and
Pradhan association were sit-
ting on a protest at the pro-
posed toll plaza site. The area
where the toll plaza was being
planned falls in the assembly
constituency of Rishikesh
which is represented by
Agarwal.
1RWROO3OD]DRQ+DULGZDU'RRQ
1+DW1HSDOL)DUP6SHDNHU
?=BQ 347A03D=
Member of All India
Congress Committee
(AICC) and spokesperson of
Uttarakhand Congress,
Garima Dasauni has demand-
ed that the state government
should take back the order to
freeze 102 posts in
Uttarakhand Power
Corporation Limited (UPCL)
and Power Transmission
Corporation of Uttarakhand
Limited (PTCUL).
She said that the Congress
government had issued the
notification for recruitment
of 250 posts in UPCL and
PTCUL in the year 2016 but
the BJP government in the last
five years has failed to com-
plete the process of recruit-
ment. She said that the gov-
ernment has reduced 102 posts
in the drive.
Dasauni said that more
than 8000 applicants appeared
in the examination held on
February 8, 2018 but after that
the matter was taken to the
court. The Uttarakhand High
Court (HC) ordered cancella-
tion of the examination in
December 2020 and on its
order examination was again
conducted on January 10, 2021
the result of which was declared
recently. In it the government
reduced 102 posts ( 62 UPCL
and 42 in PTCUL).
Questioning the motive behind
reduction in posts and demand-
ed that these posts should be
restored immediately consid-
ering the future of the youths.
7DNHEDFNIUHH]HRUGHU
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FRUSRUDWLRQV'DVDXQL
?=BQ 347A03D=
Thesharpdeclineinthenum-
ber of new cases of Covid -
19 coupled with increase in the
number of recoveries has
increased the recovery percent-
age of the disease to 91.03 per-
cent in Uttarakhand. The State
health department reported 619
new cases and 2531 recoveries
from the disease on Saturday.
The cumulative count of novel
Coronavirus (Covid-19) in
Uttarakhand has increased to
3,33,578 on Saturday. The
authorities also reported the
death of 16 patients on the day
whichincreasedthedeathtollto
6664 in the state. The samples of
24,058 suspected patients were
sent for testing on Saturday and
the sample positivity rate is at
6.76 percent.
Out of the 16 deaths report-
ed on Saturday three occurred
at Medicity hospital Rudrapur,
Udham Singh Nagar and two
each at All India Institute of
Medical Sciences (AIIMS)
Rishikesh and HNB base hos-
pital Srinagar. The authorities
also added 16 deaths in the toll
which had occurred in the past
but were not reported earlier.
Outofthem16suchdeathswere
reported from Jaya Maxwell
hospital, Haridwar.
The provisional state capi-
tal Dehradun reported 127,
Almora 118, Haridwar 98,
Nainital83,Chamoli42,Udham
Singh Nagar 31, Tehri 29, Pauri
23, Uttarkashi 22, Pithoragarh
20, Rudraprayag 10, Bageshwar
nine and Champawat seven
new cases of the disease on
Saturday.
The state now has 17,305
active patients of the disease.
Haridwar is the top position in
the list of active cases with
2,906 cases. Chamoli has 1,724,
Dehradun 1669, Pauri 1666,
Pithoragarh 1,614, Nainital
1,433,Tehri1,364,UdhamSingh
Nagar 1100, Bageshwar 1,074,
Almora 999, Champawat 618,
Uttarkashi592andRudraprayag
546 active cases of the disease.
The state now has 279
patientsofMucormycosis(Black
fungus)andoutofthem44have
died while 18 have recovered
from the disease. On Saturday
eight patients were reported
dead from the disease.
In the ongoing vaccina-
tion drive 34,497 people were
vaccinated in 407 sessions in
different parts of the state on
Saturday. A total of 6,86,926
people have been fully vacci-
nated while 22,30,346 have
received the first dose of the
vaccine in the state.
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?=BQ 70;3F0=8
Taking cognisance of alleged
profiteering in the task of
paid vaccinations, the leader of
opposition and Haldwani
MLA, Indira Hridayesh has
strongly objected to this. She
said that it had been brought to
her notice that rampant profi-
teering is being indulged into
under the guise of paid vacci-
nation in the state. She said that
this is ethically unacceptable.
Hridayesh said that the state
government had promised that
it would facilitate free vacci-
nation for those in the 18 to 45
years age group and those aged
above this age group. However,
this is not being seen happen-
ing in the state. Taking advan-
tage of this situation, some of
those facilitating paid vaccina-
tion are charging up to double
and triple rate to facilitate vac-
cination. This is not affordable
for the poor and general pub-
lic, apart from which it is also
highly objectionable from the
ethical point of view, she said.
The leader of opposition
has asked the Chief Minister
Tirath Singh Rawat and the
state government to take strict
action against such profiteer-
ing. She said that the govern-
ment should fulfill its promise
to the people and facilitate
free vaccination for all at the
earliest. The State Government
does not have the right to
remain in office if it is unable
to stop profiteering and facili-
tate free vaccination for the cit-
izens, added Hridayesh.
/R3VHHNVDFWLRQDJDLQVW
SURILWHHULQJLQSDLGYDFFLQDWLRQ
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Ud[UX[[Xcb_a^XbT
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ePRRX]PcX^]U^a
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?=BQ 347A03D=
Chief Minister Tirath Singh
Rawat announced that all
ponds and water bodies situ-
ated in all villages and near vil-
lages, which are recorded in
revenue records will be revived
in the next one year. Climate
budgeting will be started in the
state to mainstream works
related to climate change in the
financial year 2022-23. Rawat
said this after planting a Jamun
sapling at his residence at GMS
Road in Dehradun on the
occasion of World
Environment Day.
The CM appealed to the
citizens to plant trees to con-
tribute their bit for environ-
mental conservation. Stating
that protection of the environ-
ment is related to the life of the
common man, he said that
environmental conservation is
a collective responsibility.
Referring to this year’s World
Environment Day theme of
ecosystem restoration, he said
that special focus will have to
be laid on tree plantation and
environmental protection to
decrease rising pollution levels
along with checking the rising
pressure on the ecosystem.
Later, after reaching New
Delhi, the chief minister plant-
ed a Rudraksh sapling at the
Uttarakhand Sadan. He
stressed on the need for all cit-
izens to plant trees in order to
conserve and nurture the envi-
ronment.
Rawat also attended a vir-
tual programme held to pay
homage to recently deceased
environmentalist Sunder Lal
Bahuguna. Recalling
Bahuguna’s works for environ-
mental conservation, he said
that the late environmentalist
had also raised public aware-
ness about environmental dam-
age caused by indiscriminate
use of concrete. He also recalled
his interaction with Bahuguna
during his own days in a stu-
dent organisation. He exhort-
ed all to imbibe Bahuguna’s
thoughts regarding the con-
servation of the environment.
?=BQ =4FC47A8
While ceremonial tree plan-
tations and discussions
were held to mark the World
Environment Day on Saturday,
a few people like villager Gopal
Bahuguna took action and
began planting trees about two
decades ago which have been
nurtured into a jungle in the
village. Resident of Sabli village
in Tehri district, Bahuguna
succeeded in converting a
patch of barren land into a jun-
gle on his own.
The 52 year old has been
working for the conservation of
forests for the past 30 years. He
had started planting oaks at
Saud Tok in 1990 which have
now developed into a wooded
area. Bahuguna was 20 years
old when he realised the
importance of trees and the
environment. He used to hear
from the elderly in the house
that the water level was going
down in the ground and that it
was important to plant oak
trees to deal with this problem.
Bahuguna decided to first plant
bamboo in the fields. They had
a small piece of ancestral land
which was left without being
cultivated for a long time. He
sowed the seeds of oak on this
barren land. He nurtured the
saplings till they grew into a
small jungle. This wooded area
is now abuzz with the sounds
of various birds. Bahuguna
says that he faced a lot of chal-
lenges in the early days, but he
did not give up. He always did
his best to save the forest from
the menace of forest fires and
the occasional drought.
2DNSDWFKGHYHORSHG
DIWHUGHFDGHVRI
HIIRUWVEYLOODJHU
?=BQ 70;3F0=8
The Terai east forest division
undertook a novel initiative
to mark World Environment
Day on Saturday.
The divisional forest officer
Sandeep Kumar facilitated tree
plantation by people who had
recovered from Covid-19 and
returned to their homes. Kumar
said that at a time when the
whole world is grappling with
the Covid pandemic, everybody
has realised the importance of
oxygen, especially the Covid
patients and their kin. To ensure
clean and fresh air in the envi-
ronment, the forest depart-
ment provided two saplings
each to about 100 families
residing in Haldwani and near-
by areas who had Covid
patients who had recovered
and returned home from hos-
pitals. The department per-
sonnel helped the families plant
the saplings at their homes. In
addition to this, the department
also provided 100 saplings to
the government medical college
in Haldwani, 100 in the centre
hospital and 100 in Brijlal hos-
pital- two for each Covid
patient who were returning
home after recovering from
Covid-19. The divisional forest
officer along with other staff
members also planted saplings
at the Shishambagh forest cam-
pus. A total of 80 saplings were
also provided to the army can-
tonment in Rajpura. In addition
to this, tree plantation pro-
grammes were also held in
each of the nine ranges in the
forest division.
According to the depart-
mental officials, about 2,000
saplings of fruit of other tree
species were distributed for
plantation in various parts of
the forest division to mark the
World Environment Day.
BUS_fUbUT3_fYT`QdYU^dc`Q^d
dbUUcY^TU`Qbd]U^dQTbYfU
?=BQ 347A03D=
In a ceremony presided over
by the commandant of
Indian Military Academy
(IMA) Lieutenant General
Harinder Singh degrees were
awarded to 29 cadets of Army
Cadet College (ACC) at
Khetarpal auditorium of IMA
on Saturday. Among the cadets
awarded degrees, 17 were from
the humanities stream while 12
belonged to the science stream.
In the ceremony which was held
according to Covid-19 regula-
tions, the cadets were conferred
degrees of the Jawaharlal Nehru
University (JNU), New Delhi.
The commandant in his
convocation address congratu-
lated the course for successful-
ly completing their challenging
three years of training at the
ACC wing. He said, “The degree
that you all have just received
represents a major milestone in
your career and marks the end
of an initial, but immensely
important phase of your pro-
fessional life.” He further said, “I
would like to remind you that
former ACC cadets have
excelled and have risen to high
ranks.’’
The commander of ACC
wing Brigadier Shailesh Sati
highlighted the dedication and
commitment shown by the
cadets during the course.
On the occasion, the
Commandant’s Banner to the
Champion Company was
awarded to Bogra Company.
The banner is awarded to the
company, which excels in vari-
ous competitions like sports,
academics, camps, debates and
interior economy.
The ACC has a history of
training selected personnel from
other ranks of all three services
who have the potential to
become officers in the Indian
Army. After three years of train-
ing at the ACC, the graduated
course will join the Indian
Military Academy for one year
for their pre-commissioning
training. The cadets and the
officers were wearing masks
and were seen adhering to
Covid-19 protocol during the
ceremony.
*UDGXDWLRQFHUHPRQRI
$FDGHWVKHOGDW,0$
The Award Winners list
I Chief of Army Staff
(COAS) Medals.
1 Gold Medal : Rituraj
Singh
2 Silver Medal- Vikram
Gautam
3 Bronze Medal – Dubal
Rana
II Commandant’s Silver
Medals.
1 First in Service Subjects
– Dubal Rana
2 First in Humanities
Stream: Birendra Singh
3 First in Science Stream-
Rituraj Singh
?=BQ 347A03D=
Measures like bulk mes-
sage service should be
activated to ensure swift report-
ing in case of disasters. The dis-
aster management secretary
SA Murugesan said this while
chairing a meeting regarding
the preparedness for emergen-
cies during the coming mon-
soon.
He said that bulk messag-
ing service should be started so
that important initial report
about a disaster reaches the
general public. Checking the
preparations of the disaster
control room and stressed on
preparing the list of contract
numbers and descriptions of
the officials concerned of
national agencies, army and
paramilitary forces, state and
district level departmental offi-
cials. He also directed that
voluntary organisations, Yuvak
Mangal Dal/Mahila Mangal
Dal, search and rescue teams of
the disaster management
department and others should
be contacted so that assistance
can be sought from them dur-
ing disaster situations. He
directed departmental officials
to inform about the require-
ment for important equipment
now. Murugesan stressed that
information should be
exchanged in the reporting
format so that coordination can
be established swiftly with
nodal officers of departments
concerned and response can be
immediate in case of a disaster
scenario. Uttarakhand State
Disaster Management
Authority (USDMA) execu-
tive director Piyoosh Rautela,
additional CEO
(Administration) Anand
Srivastav and other officials
concerned were also present in
the meeting.
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4. 347A03D=kBD=30H k9D=4%!! ]PcX^]#
?=BQ 270=3860A7
On World Environment
Day, Haryana Chief
Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar
on Saturday said that 3 crore
trees will be planted in a year
in Haryana and plantation
would be done on 10 percent
of the 8 lakh acres of pan-
chayat land, which will be
named as Oxy Forest. Not
only this, all the trees planted
in a year will also be named
Oxy Forests.
He said that for mainte-
nance of trees above 75 years,
a pension amount of Rs 2500
would be given per year in the
name of Pran Vayu Devta and
this pension would also
increase every year similar to
the old age samman
pension. To promote the
process of getting natural
oxygen from trees, plantations
will be done in the name of
Panchavati in every village of
Haryana. Besides this, agro
forestry will also be promoted
on vacant land so that
Panchayat income in rural
areas can also
increase. The Chief Minister
also launched Oxy Forest on
Forest Department land in
Mughal Canal near
Sector 4, Karnal.
Forest and
Education Minister,
Kanwar Pal, MP
Sanjay Bhatia,
MLA Gharaunda,
Harvinder Kalyan
and Additional
Chief Secretary,
Forest Department,
G. Anupama also
accompanied the
Chief Minister and
planted Panchavati
saplings. In this
Panchavati, trees of
Bel, Banyan, Amla,
Peepal and Ashoka
were planted.
Besides this,
the Chief Minister
also inaugurated
and laid founda-
tion stones of three
other projects at
the same pro-
gramme, these
include laying
foundation stone of
Nagar Van
Panchkula, starting
Panchavati planta-
tion at 134 places of
Kurukshetra pilgrimage and
Pran Vayu Devta Pension
Scheme.
Khattar said that the Mera
Pani-Meri Virasat scheme
was started by the state gov-
ernment to
save water
for future
g e n e r a -
tions. He
said that
for this, it
was decid-
ed that an
incentive
amount of
R s . 7 0 0 0
per acre
would be
given to the
f a r m e r s
adopting
crop diver-
sification
in place of
paddy and
now the
g o v e r n -
ment has
d e c i d e d
that any
f a r m e r
who opts
for agro
f o r e s t r y
and plants
400 trees
on his land,
then an
amount of Rs.10,000 would be
given to such farmers for a
period of three years instead of
Rs. 7000.
He said, 'Pranvayu Devta
Pension' scheme will be unique
and the first of its kind in India.
As a matter of honour, the State
Government has taken an ini-
tiative to honour all those
trees which are of the age of 75
years and above and have
served humanity throughout
their life by producing oxygen,
reducing pollution, providing
shade and so on. Such trees
will be identified throughout
the state and these will be
looked after by involving local
people in this scheme.
Khattar said that as a gift
to the residents of Panchkula,
Oxy Van Panchkula will be
established in Bir Ghaggar
over an area of one hundred
acres to create Mother Nature’s
green lungs so that the resi-
dents of Panchkula can breathe
in fresh oxygen. The total cost
of this project will be Rs One
crore. The Chief Minister said
that the Oxy Van, Karnal will
be created on Old Badshahi
Canal (Also known as Mughal
Canal) on an area of 80 acres
covering a total length of 4.2
Kms. It is being built on 80
acres of land in Karnal.
?=BQ 270=3860A7
Farmers in several places in
Punjab and Haryana on
Saturday burnt copies of the
Centre's three farm laws near
residences of BJP leaders and at
other places, observing the day
of the promulgation of the
farm ordinances last year as
''Sampoorna Kranti Diwas''.
Carrying black flags, farm-
ers raised slogans against the
BJP-led central government
for not scrapping the legislation
which, they said, will destroy
the farming community.
Security personnel were
deployed and barricades put up
near the protest sites to main-
tain law and order. The call for
observing ''Sampoorna Kranti
Diwas'' was given by the
Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an
umbrella body of the protest-
ing farmer unions, spearhead-
ing the agitation against the
farm laws.
Protests were held at many
places including Amritsar,
Jalandhar, Mohali, Abohar,
Hoshiarpur, Barnala,
Nawanshahr, Patiala,
Chandigarh, Sirsa, Jind, Karnal,
Panipat and Ambala. In
Phagwara, farmers burnt copies
of the farm laws near the resi-
dence of Union minister Som
Parkash at Urban Estate. The
protesters assembled near the
GT Road and marched towards
his residence. Police put up bar-
ricades on the road leading to
Parkash's house to prevent
protesters from reaching there,
officials said. The Union min-
ister was not at home at the
time of the protest.
In Chandigarh, a protest
was held against the Centre for
not repealing the farm laws, the
main demand of the agitating
farmers. In Hoshiarpur, farm-
ers took out a protest march
from local Gurdwara Singh
Sabha to the local BJP office at
Shastri market and then burnt
the copies of the legislation.
In Karnal, Haryana Chief
Minister Manohar Lal Khattar
appealed to farmers not to
disturb law and order during
their protest. In Ambala, farm-
ers held a demonstration near
the residence of Haryana Home
Minister Anil Vij. A group of
farmers affiliated to Bharatiya
Kisan Union reached the
National Highway number -1
near Ambala Cantonment,
around 500 yards away from
the residence of the home min-
ister. The entry point of Vij res-
idence at Shastri colony was
barricaded and police person-
nel were also deployed there.
Similarly, farmers also held
protests near the residence of
BJP MLA from Ambala City
Aseem Goyal. Goyal was not
present in his home when the
farmers burnt the copies of the
laws.
In Panchkula, police
resorted to mild cane charge
after a group of farmers tried to
force their way through barri-
cades to head towards the
home of Haryana Assembly
Speaker Gian Chand Gupta.
After being promulgated as
ordinances on this day last
year, the farm legislations were
passed by Parliament in
September.
The president gave his
assent to the bills later that
month. Farmers have been
camping at Delhi's borders
since November last year
demanding that the three laws
be rolled back and a new law
made to guarantee minimum
support price (MSP) for their
crops.
?=BQ 270=3860A7
Exhorting the people to
make Punjab clean, green
and pollution free under the
revamped ‘Mission Tandarust
Punjab’, Chief Minister Capt
Amarinder Singh on Saturday
emphasized the need to devel-
op synergy amongst all the line
departments to achieve the
desired goals for a safer and
cleaner environment.
He virtually launched the
Statewide revamped 'Mission
Tandarust Punjab' to kickstart
slew of development projects
worth Rs.115 crore to further
capitalise on the success of the
first phase of the Mission so as
to make second phase more
focussed by introducing 10 Sub-
Missions spearheaded by sepa-
rate Departments of the State.
Thesesub-missionsincludeSafe
Food, Clean Water, Green
Punjab, Road Safety, Nutrition,
Waste Management, Khedo
Punjab, Healthy Soil, Clean Air
and Preventive Health. In his
address on the World
Environment Day, the Chief
Minister hoped that this initia-
tive would lead to better coor-
dination among all stakeholders
viz. Punjab Government,
ResearchInstitutions,Industries,
NGOs and general public to
ensure sustainable and envi-
ronment friendly model of
development. Recalling the first
Sikh Guru Sri Guru Nanak Dev
Ji's ideology Pavan Guru, Pani
Pita, Mata Dharat Mahat (Air
is the guru, water the father, and
earth the mother), the Chief
Minister underlined the intrin-
sic bond between nature and
mankind. Underlining the need
to preserve this philosophy in
letterandspirittoensurethatthe
future generations do not suffer
from deadly diseases due to
environmental pollution, as is
evident from the prevailing air
pollutioncausingseveraleyeand
lung ailments, said Capt
Amarinder. Showing concern
over the pollution in the rivers,
theChiefMinistersaidwithcon-
certed efforts of environmen-
talists like Sant Baba Balbir
Singh Seechewal and Head of
the Namdhari Sect Baba Uday
Singh has led to considerable
improvement in the quality of
water in river Kali Bein and
Buddha Nala, which flows into
Satluj river. He sought fulsome
support and Cooperation from
other NGOs for such a noble
task. On the occasion, the Chief
Minister digitally laid the foun-
dation stone of Waryana Dump
Site Remediation Project in
Jalandhar City at a cost of Rs. 35
crore apart from a Sewerage
Treatment Plant (STP) in
Fazilka (Rs. 14.68 crore), Ajnala
and Goraya (Rs. 6.25 crore
each) and Garhdiwala (Rs. 3.14
crore).
?=BQ 270=3860A7
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)
President Sukhbir Singh
Badal will hold a ‘dharna’ at the
residence of Health minister
Balbir Singh Sidhu at Mohali on
June 7 to demand his immedi-
ate dismissal as well as institu-
tion of a CBI inquiry to probe
the multi-crore vaccine sale
scam.
A party statement said the
SAD President would lead the
two hour long dharna which
would be attended by the entire
senior leadership of the party
including legislators, former
legislators and district
Presidents.
Party spokesman Daljit
Singh Cheema said though the
Congress government had
admitted that it had wrongful-
ly sold 80,000 out of the one
lakh vaccine doses received by
it from the centre to private hos-
pitals at a hefty margin and also
allowed the latter to charge a
further premium on the doses,
it had not taken any action
against those responsible for this
corrupt and inhuman act. “No
action has been initiated against
Health minister Balbir Sidhu
who is directly responsible for
diverting vaccine doses which
should have been administered
free of cost to people to private
hospitals which started selling
them at a cost of Rs 1560 to Rs
2,000 per dose. It is clear that
like in other cases of corruption,
this time also chief minister
Capt Amarinder Singh is shield-
ing a corrupt minister. The
SAD will join the people in
demanding justice in the case
and kick off this campaign by
holding a two hour dharna at
the minister’s residence”.
The SAD said it was shock-
ing that the health minister was
trying to feign ignorance of the
entire issue and refusing to
take responsibility for selling
vaccine doses received for Rs
400 per dose to private hospi-
tals for Rs 1060 per dose and
allowing the latter to charge a
further premium on them.
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Chief whip in the Himachal
Pradesh Assembly and BJP
MLA Narinder Bragta, 69,
died due to COVID-19 after a
prolonged struggle at PGI
Chandigarh on Saturday.
Chief Minister Jai Ram
Thakur had visited PGI
Chandigarh on Friday evening
to enquire about his health.
Thakur termed his demise an
irreparable loss for Himachal
Pradesh, especially for Jubbal-
Kotkhai.
Narinder Bragta was first
time elected to the State
Legislative Assembly in 1998
from Shimla Constituency. He
was re-elected in December
2007 from Jubbal-Kotkhai. He
remained Minister of State for
Horticulture (Independent
Charge) 1998-02 and
Horticulture, Technical
Education and Health Minister
from December 30, 2007 to
December 2012. He was re-
elected to the 13th Vidhan
Sabha from Jubbal-Kotkhai for
the third term in December
2017.
The Chief Minister
expressed grief over the sad
demise of Chief Whip and
said that people of the State,
particularly Shimla district,
would always remember the
contributions made by him in
various fields such as horticul-
ture, technical education etc.
He said that Bragta had always
taken care of the interests of the
people of Jubbal-Kotkhai and
horticulturists, besides giving
new direction for the develop-
ment of the
Thakur laid a wreath on
the body of Narinder Bragta at
Chandigarh and remembered
his contributions made for the
development of the State as well
as the Bharatiya Janata Party.
All Cabinet ministers have also
expressed grief over the sad
demise of Narinder
Bragta.
At Chandigarh, State BJP
President Suresh Kashyap,
Himachal BJP Incharge
Avinash Rai Khanna, Co-
Incharge Sanjay Tandon,
Organizing Secretary BJP
Pawan Rana, MLAs Rajiv
Bindal and Paramjit Singh
Pammi, Vice Chairman Water
Management Board Darshan
Singh Saini, former MP Kripal
Parmar and other BJP leaders
also laid wreath on the body of
Narinder Bragta.
2:@=1QbY^TUb2bQWdQ
TYUc_V3_fYT!)
?=BQ 270=3860A7
Haryana Government will
formulate a policy to man-
ufacture electric vehicles and
convert petrol-diesel vehicles
into electric vehicles in the
State for which suggestions will
be invited after consultation
with vehicle manufacturers and
industry experts, Haryana
Deputy Chief Minister,
Dushyant Chautala said on
Saturday. Presiding over a meet-
ing of senior officers of
Industries and Commerce
Department, he gave necessary
guidelines regarding policy for-
mulation. During the meeting
Principal Secretary, Industries
and Commerce Department,
Vijayendra Kumar, Director
General, Industries
Commerce Department, Saket
Kumar besides other senior
officers were present.
Deputy Chief Minister, who
also holds the charge of
Industries and Commerce
Department, said after the
meeting the State Government
has decided to formulate a pol-
icy to promote eco-friendly
electric vehicles instead of
diesel-petrol vehicles that cause
pollution. He said that apart
from the purchase of new elec-
tric vehicles, the existing vehi-
cles would also be replaced
with electric vehicles at the end
of their time. This work will be
completed in a phased manner.
In order to ensure that there is
no problem in charging the
vehicle, charging stations will be
set up in every city as well as on
main roads. It has already start-
ed with the inauguration of the
first charging station of the
State in Panchkula.
7PahP]Pc^U^ad[PcT
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?=BQ B78;0
The Himachal Cabinet met
under the chairmanship of
Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur
on Saturday to review the
Covid-19 situation in the State
and decided that due to the
pandemic, all the restrictions
under imposition would con-
tinue till June 14, morning 6
AM.
The Cabinet also decided
to cancel 10+2 examinations
for the year 2020-21 in line
with the decision of the
Government of India. Cabinet
decided that the H.P Board of
School Education would devise
a formula for calculating the
awards of the students keeping
in view the formula being
devised by the CBSE and
declare the final results accord-
ingly. It was also decided that
in case some students are not
satisfied with the results, they
would be allowed to appear in
a special examination to be
conducted, once the situation
is conducive for conducting the
examination.
The Cabinet also decided
that telephonic consultation
should be ensured for Covid-19
patients discharged from hos-
pitals for home recovery. It
was also decided that the Health
department should explore
more options for procurement
of more vaccines directly from
the vaccine producers.
Earlier, the Cabinet passed
a resolution mourning the
demise of Chief Whip and
MLA from Jubbal-Kotkhai
Vidhan Sabha constituency of
Shimla district Narinder
Bragta. The Cabinet appreciat-
ed his contributions, particu-
larly in the development of hor-
ticulture sector in the State.
Two minute silence was also
observed by the Cabinet as a
mark of respect to the depart-
ed leader.
?=BQ 270=3860A7
Haryana on Saturday
reported 59 more Covid-
19 related deaths, taking the
cumulative toll to 8,664, while
723 fresh infections pushed the
total case count to
761,637.
According to the health
department's daily bulletin, the
latest deaths included five each
from Hisar, Rewari and
Bhiwani and four each from
Panipat, Sirsa, Jhajjar, Jind and
Fatehabad districts. Of the
fresh cases, Hisar district
reported 75 cases,
Yamunanagar 67, Panchkula
66, Karnal 57, Gurugram 45
and Faridabad 37.
The total number of active
cases is 9974, while 742,999
patients have recovered so far.
The recovery rate is 97.55 per-
cent. The cumulative positivi-
ty rate is 8.29 percent, the bul-
letin stated.
98 CASES, 3 DEATHS IN
CHANDIGARH
Chandigarh on Saturday
reported 98 fresh cases of
Covid-19 and three deaths
while175 patients recovered
from the virus in the last 24
hours, according to a medical
bulletin. The total number of
cases has reached 60,585, of
which 925 are active cases. As
many as 58,892 people have
recovered from the infection so
far while 768 people have suc-
cumbed to the virus. A total of
175 patients were discharged,
including persons from home
isolation who have completed
10 days and are asymptomatic.
So far, 521,716 samples have
been taken for testing. In addi-
tion, 5471 more people were
vaccinated, taking the total
count to 3,76, 892, the bulletin
stated.
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?=BQ 270=3860A7
Punjab on Saturday regis-
tered 79 more fatalities due
to Covid-19, taking the death
toll to 15,009, while 1907 fresh
cases pushed the infection
count to 577,997, according to
a medical bulletin.
The number of active cases
declined to 24454 on Saturday.
Eight deaths were reported
from Bathinda, seven from
Amritsar and Sangur, six from
Fazilka and Patiala, five each
from SAS Nagar, Muktsar,
Jalandhar, Ludhiana; four from
Pathankot, the bulletin
said.
Ludhiana reported 201
fresh cases, followed by
Jalandhar (184), Hoshiarpur
(150), Patiala (147), Muktsar
(129), Amritsar (114), Bathinda
(104) and SAS Nagar (99).
With 3619 more recoveries, the
number of cured persons in the
state reached 5,38,534, as per
the bulletin.
There are 295 critical
patients who are on ventilator
support, 704 other critical
patients and 3424 others on
oxygen support, A total of
95,98,059 samples have been
collected for testing so far in the
state, the bulletin said.
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?=BQ =4F34;78
In a great loss for the country,
nearly 1,400 doctors have
died in the first and second
wave of Covid-19. While 646
doctors have died so far due to
Covid-19 in 2021, with maxi-
mum fatalities being in Delhi,
as many as 748 doctors across
India died in 2020, the Indian
Medical Association (IMA)
said on Saturday.
The State-wise data
revealed by the IMA shows that
every second doctor who died
in the second Covid-19 wave
was either in Delhi or Bihar
and Uttar Pradesh. Delhi saw
the maximum number of 109
deaths, followed by Bihar at 97,
Uttar Pradesh with 79,
Rajasthan 43, Jharkhand 39,
Gujarat 37, Andhra Pradesh 35,
Telangana 34, West Bengal 30,
Maharashtra 23, Madhya
Pradesh 16 deaths, Assam 8,
Karnataka 6, according to data
till June 5 compiled at the
IMA’s Covid-19 registry.
The least number of deaths
was recorded in Puducherry,
with only one doctor in the
southern Union territory losing
his life. Two deaths each were
recorded in Tripura, Goa and
Uttarakhand, three each in
Jammu Kashmir, Haryana
and Punjab, whereas, five doc-
tors lost their lives in Kerala,
Manipur and Chhattisgarh, the
IMA said.
The IMA said that 748
doctors had died of coronavirus
across the country in the first
wave of the pandemic in 2020.
Over 201 doctors who died
were in the age group of 60-70
years, the IMA said, followed
by 171 in the 50-60 age group.
The data also showed that 66
doctors who died were over the
age of 70.
However, because the IMA
is a voluntary organisation of
doctors, it is probable that the
actual number of fatalities sig-
nificantly exceeds these figures.
Since the association only
keeps track of its 3.5 lakh
members out of the country’s
over 12 lakh doctors.
The second wave of pan-
demic had stretched healthcare
system in the country, with
shortage of oxygen, medicines
and hospital beds reported
from across the country. The
daily case count had crossed
the 4 lakh-mark in first week
of May.
The IMA recently
expressed its concerns on acts
of violence against doctors,
healthcare workers, and
healthcare facilities. IMA also
requested Union Home
Minister Amit Shah to take
immediate action on its request
and enact an effective and
powerful law against health-
care violence to protect the
country’s healthcare personnel.
In the meantime, the new
Covid cases have decreased
since then, with the country
reporting 1,20,529 fresh
COVID-19 cases, the lowest
single-day rise in infections in
around two months, on
Saturday.
The death toll from
COVID-19 climbed to
3,44,082 with 3,380 new fatal-
ities, while the number of
active cases was recorded
below 20 lakh for the fifth con-
secutive day.
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?=BQ =4F34;78
Two brigadiers have been
promoted to the next rank
of Major General four years
after they superannuated from
service and following a legal
battle that went up to the
Supreme Court, which ruled in
the favour of the two officers.
The two Brigadiers are
Nalin Bhatia and VN
Chaturvedi. While Bhatia was
from the Corps of Intelligence,
Chaturvedi was from the
Education Corps. Incidentally,
they were the only two officers
to be considered for promotion
from their batches to the next
rank in 2015. However, they
were overlooked.
The two officers pleaded
that they were not promoted
even though their profession-
al record was without any
blemish and excellent profile.
The track record was above-
average to outstanding and no
adverse remarks, their counsel
Colonel Indra Sen Singh
(Retired) said.
The reason for not select-
ing them was not cited despite
a Right to
Information(RTI)application,
he said. The two officers
received good reports from
their reporting officers and
were recommended for eleva-
tion to the rank of Major
General but it did not take
place, the counsel said.
He claimed the two officers
were denied promotion as they
were perceived to be close to
the previous Army chief by the
then Army chief.
Unable to get promotion,
Bhatia and Chaturvedi
appealed in the Armed Forces
Tribunal(AFT) but their pleas
were rejected. The two officers
then knocked the doors of the
apex court.
Their counsel said the
Supreme Court allowed both
the appeals by observing that
the non-selection of the two
officers was contrary to Army’s
own policy and there is no pre-
sumption that a decision taken
by persons occupying high
posts is valid.
Moreover, the two officers
had to submit a contempt peti-
tion in the apex court to get its
order implemented. Following
this, a notice was issued and the
Military Secretary branch of
the Army cleared the promo-
tion order of both officers.
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As the ongoing second wave
of the pandemic has taken
a toll on mental health, the
National Cooperative
Development Corporation
(NCDC) revealed its compas-
sionate side for its staff and
members of cooperative soci-
eties by holding a virtual inter-
active session titled “NCDC
Health Talk-Covid Mental
Health”. Dr Nand Kumar,
Department of Psychiatry,
AIIMS, New Delhi, dwelled in
detail on the ways to overcome
mental health crisis during the
pandemic that has swept the
entire world.
For his part, Executive
Director, NCDC, Dr KT
Channeshappa, a Covid sur-
vivor, said: “People are going
through a multitude of trau-
mas which need to be talked
about. NCDC Ayushman
Sahakar scheme is a response
and we have been holding a
series of such sessions at the
initiative of our MD Sundeep
Nayak.”
Dr Kumar talked about
various issues related to
Covid-19 ranging from its
impact on psychology, physi-
cal well being as people suf-
fered persistent nervousness,
irritability, poor concentra-
tion, sleep disturbances, panic
disorders and phobia such as
fear of not getting medical
treatment in time which in
turn aggravated the health
problems.
Keeping in contact with
the near and dear ones
through virtual medium like
phone and videos, restoration
of physical activities like walk-
ing and doing yoga, medita-
tion and maintaining a daily
routine were some of the mea-
sures suggested by the doctor
to keep the mental health
problems at bay. He also
emphasized on helping people
whenever possible as it gives a
sense of fulfillment and calms
the restless mind.
“Also, having nutritious
diets, cutting down junk and
frozen food will keep one
healthy. There is no need to
take an overdose of so-called
supplements or vitamin tablets
on the pretext of increasing
immunity, he said, as he
emphasized on the common
saying ‘healthy body has a
healthy mind’.
“Covid will go away soon-
er or later but trauma caused
by the virus will stay for a long
time and we should come out
of it as soon as possible by
restoring our daily activities
and Cognitive flexibility,” he
said and advised that when in
panic just think about the
mantra that “this too shall
pass”.
Preitiben Patel,
Chairperson of Rajkot
Womens Credit Cooperative
said that mental health crisis
has impacted women in a big
way and the second wave have
taken a toll on families while
MD Sundeep Nayak added, “As
an organization, it is NCDC’s
responsibility to be with our
employees and cooperators
and help them find ways to
cope with situations like these.”
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The India Meteorological
Department (IMD) on
Saturday said that heatwave
conditions will remain abated
from all parts of the country at
least for the next one week.
Meanwhile, the southwest
monsoon has advanced further
to the central Arabian Sea,
entire coastal Karnataka, Goa,
parts of Maharashtra, parts of
north Interior Karnataka, some
parts of Telengana, Andhra
Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, central
some parts of northeast Bay of
Bengal, hinting at its good
progress in the next 10 days.
The IMD said that heat-
wave conditions will remain
abated from all parts of the
country at least for the next one
week. Heatwave is declared
when the day temperature
reaches 40 degrees or more and
is above normal by more than
4.5 degrees celsius. Alternately,
mercury breaching 45 degrees
for 2 or more consecutive days
calls for heatwave announce-
ment and is generally relieved
with thunderstorm and dust
storm activity.
However, a lull is expect-
ed in the rainfall activity on
June 7-8, Rajendra Jenamani of
the National Weather
Forecasting Centre of the IMD,
said.
“But a low pressure area is
expected to form in the Bay of
Bengal by June 11. This will
help in the progress of the
monsoon and it is likely to
advance into Odisha,
Jharkhand, parts of West
Bengal and Bihar,” he said. The
monsoon set over Kerala on
June 3, two days after its nor-
mal onset date. The IMD has
also made a forecast of a nor-
mal rainfall in June.
“Temperatures are likely to
rise by three to four degrees
Celsius over most parts of
northwest India in the next
three days due to increase in
moisture and variable wind
direction,” the IMD said.
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Farmers’ body Samyukta
Kisan Morcha (SKM) agi-
tating for repeal of central
farm laws, will hold protest
events all over the country on
Sunday in memory of six
farmers who lost lives in
alleged police firing in
Mandsaur, MP in 2017 when
they were agitating for getting
better prices for their pro-
duce. Farmers on Saturday
gheraoed BJP leaders’ houses
and offices in many places in
Punjab and Haryana observ-
ing the day of the promulga-
tion of the farm ordinances
last year as ‘Sampoorna
Kranti Diwas’.
The call for observing
‘Sampoorna Kranti Diwas’
was given by the Samyukta
Kisan Morcha, an umbrella
body of the protesting farmer
unions, spearheading the agi-
tation against the farm laws.
Protests were held at
many places including
Amritsar, Jalandhar, Mohali,
Abohar, Hoshiarpur, Barnala,
Nawanshahr, Patiala,
Chandigarh, Sirsa, Jind,
Karnal, Panipat and Ambala.
Farmers leaders Rakesh
Tikait and Gurnam Singh
Chaduni along with scores of
their associates on Saturday
gathered at Sadar police sta-
tion in Fatehabad, demanding
the release of fellow farmers.
They also sought the regis-
tration of a case against local
JJP MLA Devender Babli for
allegedly hurling abuses at
them.
Agitating farmers are
demanding the release of two
farmers who were arrested in
the case of gherao of the res-
idence of JJP legislator
Devendra Babli.
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Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on Saturday asked
farmers to engage in organic
and diverse farming to main-
tain soil fertility even as he
pointed out that the increasing
use of ethanol is having a bet-
ter impact on the environ-
ment and the lives of farmers.
The Prime Minister said
that the Government has
resolved to meet the target of
20 percent ethanol blending in
petrol by 2025. Previously, the
resolve was to achieve the tar-
get by 2030 which is now pre-
poned by 5 years.
Modi said that a large part
of this eight-fold increase in
ethanol procurement has ben-
efitted the sugarcane farmers of
the country but ethanol pro-
duction is now being diversi-
fied.
Addressing the World
Environment Day event, joint-
ly organized by the Ministry of
Petroleum Natural Gas and
the Ministry of Environment,
Forest and Climate Change
through a video conference, the
Prime Minister said that farm-
ers should focus on diverse
farming to save “mother earth”.
Modi interacted with a
farmer from Pune who shared
his experience of organic farm-
ing and use of biofuel in agri-
culture.
Modi released the “Report
of the Expert Committee on
Road Map for ethanol blending
in India 2020-2025” and
launched the ambitious E-100
pilot project in Pune for the
production and distribution
of ethanol across the country.
The theme for this year’s event
is ‘promotion of biofuels for a
better environment’.
Union Cabinet Ministers
Nitin Gadkari, Narendra Singh
Tomar, Prakash Javadekar,
Piyush Goyal and Dharmendra
Pradhan attended the event.
The PM said India has
taken another leap by releasing
a detailed roadmap for the
development of the ethanol
sector on the occasion of World
Environment Day. Till 2014, on
an average, only 1.5 percent of
ethanol could be blended in
India which has now reached
about 8.5 percent, he said
adding “in 2013-14, about 38
crore litres of ethanol were pur-
chased in the country which
has now grown to more than
320 crore litres”.
He said today, a lot of
emphasis is being laid on
building the necessary infra-
structure for the production
and purchase of ethanol in the
country. Most of the ethanol
manufacturing units are most-
ly concentrated in 4-5 states
where sugar production is high
but now Food Grain Based
Distilleries are being estab-
lished to expand this to the
whole country.
“Modern technology based
plants are also being set up in
the country to make ethanol
from agricultural waste, said
Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister said
that India is a strong propo-
nent of climate justice and is
moving ahead with a lofty
global vision like the founding
of International Solar Alliance
for realizing the vision of One
Sun, One World, One Grid and
the Coalition for Disaster
Resilient Infrastructure initia-
tive. He noted India has been
included in the top 10 coun-
tries of the world in the
Climate Change Performance
Index.
The Prime Minister spoke
about the hard and soft
approaches taken to fight cli-
mate change. On the hard
approach, he noted that our
capacity for renewable energy
has increased by more than
250 percent in the last 6-7
years. India is today among the
top 5 countries of the world in
terms of installed renewable
energy capacity. The capacity
of solar energy has increased
by about 15 times in the last 6
years, he said.
He said along with
strengthening the economy,
our forests have also increased
by 15 thousand square kilo-
meters in the last few years.
The number of Tigers in our
country has doubled and the
number of leopards has also
increased by about 60 percent
in the last few years.
The Prime Minister spoke
about a project which is under-
way to develop Kevadiya as an
electric vehicle city.
?=BQ =4F34;78
BJP leader and Union
Minister Hardeep
Singh Puri on Saturday
accused the Congress of
first running down
domestic vaccines and
creating “vaccine hesi-
tancy” and then “profi-
teering” with it in Punjab
ruled by it.
Addressing a press
conference here, Puri said
Covishield that costs Rs
309 per vaccine was sold
by private hospitals in
Punjab for Rs1560.
This “profiteering” is
indulged in Punjab , a
state ruled by the
Congress ,whose top lead-
ers previously told “lies”
and created “vaccine hes-
itancy” in the country,
said the BJP leader.
Puri said the coun-
try’s vaccines were being
wasted in Rajasthan and
being used for profiteer-
ing in another Congress-
run Punjab.
“The Congress has
been fueling vaccine hes-
itancy. Rahul and Sonia
(Gandhi) ji keep saying
that we should not export
vaccines. Rahul Gandhi
asks - where are our chil-
dren’s vaccines? In
Rajasthan they are in the
garbage, and in Punjab
they are being used for
profiteering,” Puri said.
Over the last few
days, several vials of
Covid-19 were reported
being thrown out into
the garbage in Rajasthan.
“In Punjab , Covid-19
doses which should be
provided free of cost to
people were sold at high-
er prices to private hos-
pitals. A dose of
Covishield that was pur-
chased at Rs 309 was
been sold at 1,560,” Puri
said.
Explaining his point,
he said that as per the
Punjab government’s offi-
cer and in-charge of
COVID-19 vaccination,
4.29 lakh doses of
Covishield were procured
at Rs 13.25 crore, an aver-
age amount of Rs 309 per
dose.
As many as 1,14,190
Covaxin doses have been
procured at Rs 4.70 crore,
averaging to Rs 412, he
said adding that the state
was making a profit out of
their own procurement.
“The Centre has dis-
tributed 50 per cent of
vaccines to states and
Union Territories to
administer vaccines to
people free of cost. States
are profiteering on their
own procurement. If
these figures are true then
the real amount of profit
is not just Rs 2.40 crore,”
Puri said.
The minister also
accused the Congress of
spreading confusion and
disinformation on the
Minimum Support Price
and ‘Mandi-system” say-
ing this season record
MSP procurement of
wheat was done and Rs
76,000 crore payment was
directly transferred in
farmers account of which
32 percent - Rs 26103
crore- was in Punjab.
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BJP General Secretaries
on Saturday met party
president JP Nadda at its
headquarters and decided
to scale up organisational
outreach with ‘achieve-
mentsof sevenyears’ of the
Modi-regime to beat “anti
government feeling” in the
party-ruled States
on account of the
Covid-19.
The meeting dis-
cussed ways to leverage its
anti-Covid19 assistance to
the people under ‘Seva hi
Sanghthan’ in the six states
going to polls next year,
sources said.
The meeting is the
first to be held after the
outbreak of the second
wave of COVID-19.
A seperate sitting
“exclusive to UP” was also
held at Nadda’s residence
said sources.
The leaders discussed
new poll strategy to “ beat
anti-incumbency” in five
of the six-states which
would face voters next
year.
Party’’s performance
in recently-held assembly
elections in West Bengal,
Assam, Tamil Nadu,
Kerala and Puducherry
was reviewed and “correc-
tive measures suggested”.
“Electoral gains and
reverses” in Bengal were
discussed in detail with
General Secretaries and
State-in-charge submitting
assessment reports.
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