Pioneer dehradun-english-edition-2021-07-13

1. 96?8:A8B7=0=Q =4F34;78
India’s own ‘Panama papers’
are gathering dust with law
enforcement agencies and the
Delhi High Court (HC). The
1.5 GB leaked data belongs to
the tax consulting firm Nishith
Desai Associates and includes
controversial tax-related cor-
respondences involving 33 of
India’s biggest corporates and
several high-net-worth indi-
viduals (HNWIs).
A Delhi-based whistle-
blower, who is a software engi-
neer, first got the sensational
data and communications that
could pose serious trouble for
corporate houses since it con-
tains disturbing details on how
to exploit loopholes in the
country’s taxation regime and
float shell firms across the
world in places like Mauritius,
Cayman Islands, British Virgin
Islands, Guernsey Island, and
Uganda, apparently to avoid
taxes in India.
The Pioneer has accessed
the 1.5 GB data, which has 33
files with numerous corre-
spondences between Nishith
Desai Associates and big cor-
porates and HNWIs. Noted
advocate Prashant Bhushan
has alleged that the ‘Desai
Papers’ are on the lines of the
‘Panama Papers.’ The Panama
Papers relate to a Panama-
based tax firm’s involvement in
helping companies and
HNWIs in avoiding taxes by
floating companies in tax
havens.
Nishith Desai Associates is
a Delhi-based legal and tax
consulting firm having offices
in Mumbai, Bengaluru, the
Silicon Valley, Singapore,
Munich, and New York.
Interestingly, former SEBI chief
UK Sinha’s documents like
passport and credit card pay-
ments details are also available
in the leaked documents.
The whistle-blower Pankaj
Jain and Prashant Bhushan in
August 2020 approached the
Black Money Commission, the
CBDT and the Enforcement
Directorate seeking a probe in
the alleged tax evasion con-
spiracies by the corporates and
HNWIs. Bhushan also sub-
mitted the entire data to these
agencies.
“One whistle-blower has
provided the undersigned with
certain incriminating data in
electronic format stored on an
original device viz. a hard disk,
containinginteralia,documents
disclosing clear tax evasion. The
saiddocumentscontaindetailed
financial information of a large
number of entities and influen-
tial Indians, comprising, inter
alia, memos, advice, audit
reports, emails/correspondence
of Venture Capitalists/ Private
Equity funds, companies,
HNWIs, etc.; and discloses a
complex global network of off-
shore accounts and shell entities
incorporated solely for the ille-
gal purpose of evading taxes in
India,” Bhushan wrote in his
complaint.
After the role of Jain in
leaking the data came to the
knowledge of Desai, he
approached the Delhi HC to
restrain Jain. On February 17
last year, he filed a case against
Jain in Delhi HC directly in the
chamber of Justice Rajiv Sahai
Endlaw, without going to the
Registry. Shockingly, the case
was titled ‘Anuradha Vs
Bajrangi’ whereas it should
have been Nishith Desai Vs.
Pankaj Jain.
Continued on Page 2
?=BQ =4F34;78
Amid continuing tension at
the Line of Actual Control
(LAC), a group of Chinese
soldiers and civilians recently
protested in Ladakh against
India celebrating the Dalai
Lama’s birthday.
The incident took place on
July 6 at about 11.00 AM and
the group of about 40-odd
Chinese people returned to
their bases after displaying
banners written in Mandarin,
sources said here on Monday.
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi had congratulated the
Dalai Lama on his 86th birth-
day on July 6. This was the first
time that Modi had publicly
confirmed speaking with the
Dalai Lama since he became
the Prime Minister in 2014.
In a tweet, Modi said,
“Spoke on phone to His
Holiness the @Dalai Lama to
convey greetings on his 86th
birthday. We wish him a long
and healthy life.”
A similar incident had
taken place in 2019 also when
some Indian villagers were cel-
ebrating the Tibetan spiritual
leader’s birthday. A large group
of Chinese soldiers and civil-
ians had gathered on their side
of the LAC to register their
protest against the celebra-
tions. Their banners reported-
ly said: “Ban all activity to split
Tibet.” In the latest incident,
some Chinese soldiers and
civilians came on the other side
of the Sindu River in the
Demchok region of Ladakh
and displayed banners and a
Chinese flag.
The group came in five to
six vehicles and raised banners
near the village community
centre where the Dalai Lama’s
birthday was being celebrated.
This development came at
a time when stand-offs are on
at three friction points in
Eastern Ladakh for the
last one year.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Athird wave of the Covid-19
pandemic is “inevitable”
and “imminent”, the Indian
Medical Association (IMA)
said on Monday as it warned
the State Governments against
allowing potential “super-
spreader” events like tourism
activities, pilgrimages like
Kanwariya Yatra and other
forms of mass congregations
such as Jagannath Rath Yatra.
Having lost some 800 doc-
tors in the second wave of
Covid-19 which swept the
country, the apex body of med-
ical professionals expressed
concerns over the authorities
and public becoming compla-
cent about the pandemic-relat-
ed norms. It urged the States to
control large gatherings as
these could become “potential
super spreader” events.
To date, the IMA data
showed that more than 1,500
doctors have died of Covid-19
since its outbreak in December
2019.
The IMA’s Uttarakhand
chapter has also written to
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh
Dhami requesting him to can-
cel the Kanwar Yatra this year
for public safety during
Covid times.
$PLG/$WHQVLRQ
KLQDFRQWLQXHVWR
SURYRNH
7KLUGZDYHRI
RYLGLQHYLWDEOH
LPPLQHQW,0$
7D[ILUP¶VOHDNHGGDWDLQFOXGHVFRUUHVSRQGHQFHVZLWKRV+1:,V
HRc_dDeReV8`ged
RXRZ_deR]]`hZ_X
µdfaVcdacVRUVc¶
VgV_edZ_:_UZR
E7?=XcXbWaPXbTaTbTaePcX^]b
^]D?´b_^_d[PcX^]_^[XRh
344?0::D?A4C8Q =4F34;78
Not only the Vishwa Hindu
Parishad (VHP) — an
important member of the larg-
er saffron Parivar — but Bihar
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, a
key ally of the BJP, has also
raised some reservations on
the new population policy for
2021-2030 as announced this
week by Uttar Pradesh Chief
Minister Yogi Adityanath
aimed at reducing the popu-
lation to “sustain development
growth”.
Treading carefully on a
“politically sensitive” issue,
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish
Kumar said, “Population con-
trol can’t be attained by just
making laws.”
He said every State is inde-
pendent to do what they want.
“When women will be educat-
ed they’ll become conscious
enough and the fertility rate
will decrease,” said Kumar
mindful of “reactions” it evoked
in many communities, partic-
ularly among minorities, his
party’s dominant vote-bank.
Kumar’s response
was way away from that of
Opposition Nationalist
Congress Party (NCP) chief
Sharad Pawar.
He said the population
needs to be controlled so as to
sustain the country’s economy,
healthy living standards, and a
balanced environment.
“Every conscious citizen
should make a commitment to
contribute to population con-
trol on the occasion of World
Population Day,” said Pawar.
The VHP has demanded
specific modification in the
draft new population policy.
The RSS outfit has asked
the UP Government to remove
the one-child norm from the
draft of its population control
bill, saying it will lead to an
imbalance in society.
The Yogi Adityanath-led
Government has put up a draft
of its Population Control Bill
on the website of the Uttar
Pradesh law commission invit-
ing suggestions from the pub-
lic till July 19.
“The preamble of Bill states
that this is a Bill (i) inter alia to
stabilize the population and (ii)
promotion of the two-child
norm. VHP agrees with both
objectives.
However, Section 5, 6(2),
and 7 of the Bill, which incen-
tivise the public servants and
others to have only one child in
the family go well beyond the
said objectives,” said the VHP
in a statement.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Congress president Sonia
Gandhi has called the
party’s Parliamentary Strategy
Group on Wednesday to dis-
cuss the party’s strategy in the
forthcoming Monsoon Session
and decide on naming a
new leader of the party in the
Lok Sabha.
According to speculations,
a decision on changing Adhir
Chowdhury as the party’s
leader in the Lok Sabha will be
taken in view of the “one man
one post” formula within the
party. Several other
changes are also possible in the
Lok Sabha team.
Party sources said
Chaudhary can be replaced by
Shashi Tharoor or Manish
Tewari. Adhir holds the dual
post of Congress leader in the
Lok Sabha and West Bengal
Congress chief. Tharoor
remains the frontrunner since
the party may appoint Manish
Tewari to lead the party in poll
bound Punjab.
AICC sources said issues
like the rising prices, Covid-19
related socio economic situa-
tion, like fuel price, farmers
issues and their prolonged agi-
tation, and organisational deci-
sions could also be taken dur-
ing the strategy meet to counter
the Government.
A senior Parliamentarian
said there will be a continuous
protest in and out of both
Houses on the ever rising prices
of fuel and edible oils and the
grand old party is in talks with
other Opposition parties to
chalk a coordinated strategy to
corner the Government.
Earlier in the day the
Congress general secretary and
in-charge of party’s Uttar
Pradesh unit Priyanka Gandhi
Vadra held a virtual meeting
with senior Congress leaders
from UP on the preparations
for next year’s Assembly polls.
She is likely to kickstart
“Mission UP” this week with an
eye on 2022 Uttar Pradesh
Assembly elections.
7KDURRUPDUHSODFH$GKLU
DVRQJOHDGHULQ/RN6DEKD
D`_ZRe`UZdTfdd
aRcej¶ddecReVXjZ_
W`ceYT`^Z_X
`_d``_DVddZ`_
exclusive
pioneer
20?BD;4
:_UZR¶dµAR_R^RARaVcd¶`_dYV]]
WZc^deRi]``aY`]VdXReYVcUfde
03T[WXQPbTSfWXbc[TQ[^fTafW^XbPb^UcfPaTT]VX]TTaUXabcV^ccWTbT]bPcX^]P[SPcPP]S
R^d]XRPcX^]bcWPcR^d[S_^bTbTaX^dbca^dQ[TU^aR^a_^aPcTW^dbTbbX]RTXcR^]cPX]bSXbcdaQX]VSTcPX[b
^]W^fc^Tg_[^Xc[^^_W^[TbX]cWTR^d]cah³bcPgPcX^]aTVXTP]SU[^PcbWT[[UXabPRa^bbcWTf^a[SX]
_[PRTb[XZTPdaXcXdb2PhP]8b[P]Sb1aXcXbWEXaVX]8b[P]Sb6dTa]bTh8b[P]SP]SDVP]SPP__PaT]c[hc^
Pe^XScPgTbX]8]SXP
CWTfWXbc[TQ[^fTa?P]ZPY9PX]P]S?aPbWP]c1WdbWP]X]0dVdbc!!P__a^PRWTScWT1[PRZ^]Th
2^XbbX^]cWT213CP]ScWT4]U^aRTT]c3XaTRc^aPcTbTTZX]VP_a^QTX]cWTP[[TVTScPgTePbX^]
R^]b_XaPRXTbQhcWTR^a_^aPcTbP]S7=F8b1WdbWP]P[b^bdQXccTScWTT]cXaTSPcPc^cWTbTPVT]RXTb
CWTUX[TbX]R[dSTR^d]XRPcX^]QTcfTT]3TbPX0bb^RXPcTbP]S0]X[0QP]X³bAT[XP]RT6a^d_
9PXR^a_UX[T]PTXbAT[XP]RT8]SdbcaXTb9PXR^a_0RRT]cdaT0bXP]6T]R^^aVP]BcP][Th3B?
4QPbbh6a^d_^U1T]VP[dad4a]bcP]SH^d]V7XaP]P]SP]XCadbc:^cPZ5?eT]cdaTRP_XcP[UXab
BT`d^XP=TgdbET]cdaT2P_XcP[P]S!X2P_XcP[?XaPP[8]SXPaTXcEXPR^=Tcf^aZ '?T_bX2^TcR
4YZ_VdVd`]UZVcd
TZgZ]ZR_dac`eVdeVU
Z_=RURYRXRZ_de
:_UZRTV]VScReZ_X
eYV5R]RZ=R^R¶d
SZceYURj`_;f]j'
2WX]TbTSXb_[PhQP]]TabUa^PRa^bb
cWT8]Sdb]TPacWT;02X]3TRW^Z
(ZUdR^`_X
(Z]]VUSj
]ZXYe_Z_XZ_FA
ACR[Z_#%Ycd
?=BQ =4F34;78
At least 71 people, including
seven children, died and
over 70 injured in separate
lightning incidents in the past
24 hours across Uttar Pradesh,
Madhya Pradesh, and
Rajasthan. So far, a total of 41
people have been killed
and 30 injured in 16 districts
across Uttar Pradesh, 23 in
Rajasthan, and seven in
Madhya Pradesh.
In a major tragedy in
Jaipur, 12 people, mostly
youngsters, were killed and 11
injured in an incident of light-
ning strike at the iconic watch-
tower near the Amber Fort.
Some of them were taking
selfies on the watchtower while
the others were on the hill
nearby.
Besides, lightning also
killed hundreds of animals
across these States in the last 24
hours. As per the India
Meteorological Department,
over 100 people have died in
the last two months due to
lightning across India.
Lightning strikes have
killed over 48000 people, more
than cyclones since 2001 in
India. Prime Minister
Narendra Modi announced ex-
gratia of Rs two lakh each for
the next of kin of those killed
due to the lightning strikes in
all the three States and C50,000
for the injured.
Continued on Page 2
?C8Q :0C70=3D
In a landmark verdict, Nepal’s
Supreme Court on Monday
directed President Bidya Devi
Bhandari to appoint Opposition
leader and Nepali Congress
chief Sher Bahadur Deuba as
Prime Minister by Tuesday and
dismissed her “unconstitution-
al” move to dissolve the House
of Representatives for a second
time in five months that
plunged the country into a
major political crisis.
A five-member
Constitutional Bench of the
Supreme Court led by Chief
Justice Cholendra Shumsher
Rana pronounced the verdict
stating that President
Bhandari’s decision to dissolve
the lower house upon a rec-
ommendation of Prime
Minister KP Sharma Oli was an
“unconstitutional” act, deliver-
ing a major blow to the veter-
an Communist leader who was
preparing for snap polls.
The bench issued a man-
damus to appoint Deuba as the
Prime Minister by Tuesday.
Deuba, 74, has served as
the prime minister on four
occasions; first from 1995 to
1997, then from 2001 to 2002,
again from 2004 to 2005, and
from 2017 to 2018. Currently,
he is the Leader of the
Opposition in the House.
Hours after the apex court’s
verdict, Nepali Congress (NC)
President Deuba held consul-
tations with the alliance part-
ners to form a new
Government.
The meeting was attended
by leaders of the NC, CPN
(Maoist Center), Upendra
Yadav-led Janata Samajbadi
Party (JSP), and Madhav
Nepal-led faction of the UML.
The meeting focused on
discussing their future course
of action including the forma-
tion of a new Cabinet. Deuba
will take the oath of office and
secrecy as the new prime min-
ister of Nepal on Tuesday.
Deuba will have to win the
vote of confidence as per
Article 76 (4) of the
Constitution within 30 days of
his appointment. The apex
court in its verdict also ordered
summoning a new session of
the House of Representatives at
5 pm on July 18.
Chief Justice Rana also
said that the bench has con-
cluded that party whip does not
apply when lawmakers take
part in the voting to elect new
Prime Minister as per Article
76(5) of the Constitution.
The bench comprising four
other senior most justices —
Dipak Kumar Karki, Mira
Khadka, Ishwar Prasad
Khatiwada and Dr Ananda
Mohan Bhattarai — had
concluded hearings in the case
last week.
President Bhandari had
dissolved the 275-member
lower house for the second
time in five months on May 22
at the recommendation of
Prime Minister Oli
and announced snap elections
on November 12 and
November 19.
Deuba had staked the
claim to form the government
as per the Article 76(5) with the
support of 149 lawmakers of
the 275-member Parliament
but President Bhandari had
invalidated the claim, along
with that made by Oli saying
both claims were insufficient.
?VaR]¶dD4cVZ_deReVdUZdd`]gVUARc]ZR^V_e
$SH[FRXUWRUGHUV
6KHU%DKDGXU'HXED
WREHDSSRLQWHGDV
QHZ3ULPH0LQLVWHU
4`gZU*
:?:?5:2
CC0;20B4B) (##$!
$%
340C7B)#(!%$#
A42E4A43) $$#
#'$!
02C8E4)#! %
070)% %$#!%
:4A0;0) #('
:´C0:0)!'!%'# '%
C=)!$! #'!%$!
34;78) #$ !'#$
278=0A4942CBB2B
CA81D=0;´BE4A382C
1TXYX]V) 0STUXP]c2WX]P^]
^]SPhSXbXbbTScWT! %
eTaSXRc^UcWTX]cTa]PcX^]P[
caXQd]P[^]cWTB^dcW2WX]P
BTPB2BaTYTRcX]VXcb
R[PXb^eTacWTPaTPPb
P_XTRT^U°fPbcT_P_Ta±P]S
QadbWTSPbXSTDB³UaTbW
QPRZX]VU^acWTYdSVTT]cPbP
°_^[XcXRP[UPaRT±c^bTPa
1TXYX]V
8=3DBCA80;?A3D2C8=
6A4F!(8=0H
=Tf3T[WX) 8]SXP³bX]SdbcaXP[
_a^SdRcX^]VaTf!(_TaRT]c
X]Ph^UUXRXP[SPcPbW^fTS^]
^]SPh0RR^aSX]Vc^cWT
8]STg^U8]SdbcaXP[?a^SdRcX^]
88?SPcPaT[TPbTSQhcWT
=PcX^]P[BcPcXbcXRP[UUXRT
=B
0822b^daRTbbPXSXbbdTb[XZTcWT
aXbX]V_aXRTb2^eXS (aT[PcTS
b^RX^TR^]^XRbXcdPcX^][XZT
UdT[_aXRTUPaTabXbbdTbP]S
cWTXa_a^[^]VTSPVXcPcX^]P]S
^aVP]XbPcX^]P[STRXbX^]bR^d[S
P[b^QTcPZT]SdaX]VcWTbcaPcTVh
TTcc^R^d]cTacWT6^eTa]T]c
0]TPacW^eTaPRWX]TaT^eTbPeTWXR[TbcdRZX]U[^^SfPcTa
]TPa1WPVbd]PVPbWTPehaPX][PbWTScWTPaTPPUcTaP
R[^dSQdabcX]R;T^SVP]Y]TPa3WPaPbWP[P^]^]SPh ?C8
/CWT3PX[h?X^]TTa UPRTQ^^ZR^SPX[h_X^]TTa
7`]]`hfd`_+
fffSPX[h_X^]TTaR^
X]bcPVaPR^SPX[h_X^]TTa
;PcT2Xch E^[ $8bbdT (
0XaBdaRWPaVT4gcaPXU0__[XRPQ[T
?dQ[XbWTS5a^
34;78;D2:=F 17?0;17D10=4BF0A
A0=278A08?DA 270=3860A7
347A03D= 7H34A0103E890HF030
4bcPQ[XbWTS '%#
51,1R5HJQ877(1*5(*'1R8$'2''1
347A03D=CD4B30H9D;H !! *?064B !C!
@A:?:@?'
?F4A59D38280AH
8==4?0;³B?;8C82B
DA@CE#
814;84E48C74
14BC)=E0:
m
m
H@C=5)
C0;810=2A02:3F==
05670=F4=0=34380
C500= =145
=5CDB?75B*
=BE1
!!F9F139DI

2. 347A03D=kCD4B30H k9D;H !! ]PcX^]!
$OWKRXJKHYHUSRVVLEOHFDUHDQGFDXWLRQKDVEHHQWDNHQWRDYRLGHUURUVRURPLVVLRQVWKLVSXEOLFDWLRQLVEHLQJVROGRQWKHFRQGLWLRQDQGXQGHUVWDQGLQJWKDWLQIRUPDWLRQJLYHQLQWKLVSXEOLFDWLRQLVPHUHOIRUUHIHUHQFHDQGPXVWQRWEHWDNHQDVKDYLQJDXWKRULWRIRUELQGLQJLQDQZDRQWKHZULWHUVHGLWRUVSXEOLVKHUVDQGSULQWHUVDQGVHOOHUVZKRGRQRWRZHDQUHVSRQVLELOLWIRUDQ
GDPDJHRUORVVWRDQSHUVRQDSXUFKDVHURIWKLVSXEOLFDWLRQRUQRWIRUWKHUHVXOWRIDQDFWLRQWDNHQRQWKHEDVLVRIWKLVZRUN$OOGLVSXWHVDUHVXEMHFWWRWKHH[FOXVLYHMXULVGLFWLRQRIFRPSHWHQWFRXUWDQGIRUXPVLQ'HOKL1HZ'HOKLRQO5HDGHUVDUHDGYLVHGDQGUHTXHVWHGWRYHULIDQGVHHNDSSURSULDWHDGYLFHWRVDWLVIWKHPVHOYHVDERXWWKHYHUDFLWRIDQNLQGRIDGYHUWLVHPHQWEHIRUH
UHVSRQGLQJWRDQFRQWHQWVSXEOLVKHGLQWKLVQHZVSDSHU7KHSULQWHUSXEOLVKHUHGLWRUDQGDQHPSORHHRIWKH3LRQHHU*URXS·VZLOOQRWEHKHOGUHVSRQVLEOHIRUDQNLQGRIFODLPPDGHEWKHDGYHUWLVHUVRIWKHSURGXFWV VHUYLFHVDQGVKDOOQRWEHPDGHUHVSRQVLEOHIRUDQNLQGRIORVVFRQVHTXHQFHVDQGIXUWKHUSURGXFWUHODWHGGDPDJHVRQVXFKDGYHUWLVHPHQWV
?=BQ 347A03D=
Various recommendations
were made in a meeting of
the forest department with the
Government of India’s region-
al office for expediting forest
land transfer cases in the State.
In the meeting chaired by
the principal chief conservator
of forests (head of forest force)
Rajiv Bhartari that since cre-
ation of Uttarakhand 777
approvals in principle and
3,659 formal approvals- total of
4,436 approvals were granted
for forest land transfer.
Majorityoftheseapprovals-
2,800 were granted for road
related works. In 2020-21, 243
approvals in principle and 116
formal approvals have been
granted. Bhartari asked the
regional office officials what
morethestategovernmentcould
do to ensure timely approval for
forest land transfer proposals.
The officials told him that
at the field level the divisional
forest officer/forest conservator
need to lay special focus on for-
est land transfer proposals
under the Forest Act so that
objections are not raised from
the Government of India level
on these proposals.
It was suggested that each
proposal be listed as per the
centre’s check list in serial
order along with online
uploading the presentation of
the hard copy. Attempt should
be made to ensure minimum
cutting of oak trees.
The officials stressed on the
need for special focus on the
execution of debris disposal
plan. The soil factor should be
taken into consideration while
preparing the said plan.
?=BQ 347A03D=
THDC India Limited (THDCIL) observed its 34th Foundation
Day with its chairman and managing director Vijay Goel
hoisting the THDCIL flag at its corporate office in Rishikesh in
the presence of finance director J Behera, CVO BP Gupta and
general manager (HR) Veer Singh among others on Monday.
Addressing the gathering on the occasion Goel outlined the
recent achievements of the company and shared the future
roadmap. A short film prepared by team corporate communi-
cation highlighting the recent achievements of the corporation
was also screened on this occasion.
C7328;0A:B#C75D=30C8=30H
2daVTedUZdTfddVU
e`ViaVUZeVW`cVde
]R_UecR_dWVc
:_UZR¶dµAR_R^R
ARaVcd¶`_dYV]]
WZc^deRi]``aY`]Vd
XReYVcUfde
From Page 1
On February 19, 2020, the
Delhi HC appointed a Court
Commissioner along with three
Price Waterhouse Coopers
(PwC) staffers, four employees
from Desai’s office, and four
Delhi Police cops to raid Jain’s
home at Pitampura in Delhi
even though he is named as
Bajrangi in the Delhi HC’s
records. As many as 30 devices,
including several laptops, hard
discs, and mobile phones were
seized from his home.
Jain could not enter the HC
or attend the virtual hearings as
he was named Bajrangi in the
court’s records as per the peti-
tion filed by Desai, who showed
himself as Anuradha in court
records. In December 2020,
Jain alias Bajrangi, told the
Delhi HC that, he had already
given all data to Bhushan. On
April 13, Justice C Hari
Shanker questioned the so-
called “Confidential Club” in
this case and the need to keep
the court orders confidential.
Now the case on the ‘Desai
Papers’ is listed for July 29.
In the initial hearing, sur-
prisingly the Delhi HC
imposed a “Confidentiality
Club” in this case which is
rarely used in Intellectual
Property cases, where peti-
tioners do not want the oppo-
site party to know details of
Intellectual Rights. The big
question is how the
“Confidentiality Club” was
imposed, as this is just leakage
of information of alleged tax
evasion, which is already with
the CBDT and the ED?
The 33 files include com-
munication between Desai
Associates and Anil Ambani’s
Reliance Group, Jaicorp (file
name is Reliance Industries
Jaicorp), Accenture, Asian
Genco Morgan Stanley, DSP,
Embassy Group of Bengaluru,
Ernst and Young, Hiranandani
Trust, Kotak FMP, venture cap-
ital firms Sequoia, Nexus
Venture Capital and 2i Capital,
Piramal Indiareit, Viacom
Network 18, Pepsi Co, etc.
In his complaint, Bhushan
also alleged that the docu-
ments showed HNWIs dis-
cussing how to evade taxes in
India and route funds through
tax havens, and take claims on
tax implications in other coun-
tries. “I am providing these
documents to you in a USB
drive in two folders. The first
folder titled ‘briefcase’ con-
tains all available documents
with us. A second folder titled
‘analysis’ contains documents
on a few individual/entities on
which a study has been done
and which prima facie show
gross violation of law,” said
Bhushan detailing documents
of communication between
Desai Associates with Sequoia
India, KP Balraj, IDG Ventures,
the Embassy Group, the
Hiranandani Trust, Suresh
Nichani, Bala Deshpande, etc.
“These documents reveal
structures of a web of shell
companies around the world.
Information contained herein
is disturbing and shows the
impunity in which the eco-
nomic security of the country
is being violated in express vio-
lation of FEBA, RBI circulars
and IT Act among others,”
said Bhushan seeking a thor-
ough probe in the matter.
There is a file in the name
of one Salve linked to Advaita
India Energy Ventures and
Advaita India Ventures in
Guernsey Island, London and
other tax havens. As per the
documents and letters from
Desai Associates the firms
named as Advaita’s directors are
Salve (also chairman), John
Forry, Robert Paul King, Kiran
Vadlamani and
Narasimharamulu Pantam. As
per the Desai Papers, these
firms have offices in the UK,
Mauritius and Guernsey Island,
apart from offices in India.
Sequoia and KP Balaraj
are already under the radar of
the ED for their funding in for-
mer Finance Minister P
Chidambaram’s family related
ventures like Vasan Eye Care.
Anil Ambani’s Reliance
ADG group’s communications
show Desai Associates advising
it to delink certain shell firms
like Yarmouth Enterprises and
Summerhill in tax havens. The
legal and tax consulting firm
talks about “Indian tax impli-
cations” about Reliance
Globalcom BV floated in
Netherlands and Gateway Net
Trading Pte Limited.
Discussion notes were shared
between Reliance ADAG and
the Desai Associates about
shell firms like Ewave World
Ltd, Yipes Holdings Inc, Vanco
Group Limited, Flag Telecom,
Flag Pacific registered in tax
havens across the world and
Europe and Uganda-based firm
Anupam Global Soft Limited.
It also talks about $1,040 mil-
lion worth preference shares
allotment between R Com and
its Netherland registered firm
Reliance Infocomm BV.
Interestingly advice was
given to Bengaluru-based 2i
Capital Asset Management
Company Limited on how to
float a real estate fund named
Zameen-e-Hind Modarba, an
Islamic Sharia funding model
by registering in Mauritius.
In his petition Bhushan
said, “One set of documents
contained in the said original
Hard Disk, inter alia, revealed
that a prominent Real Estate
Group, which also figures as
part of the revelations in the
aforementioned “Paradise
papers”, apparently had
approached the Law and Tax
advisory firm, M/s Nishith
Desai Associates (hereinafter,
NDA), for advice
on the creation of a corporate
structure to bring its offshore
wealth to India and escape the
“anti-avoidance provisions of
the ITA”.
Another set of documents,
Bhushan said, contained in the
said original Hard Disk, inter
alia, reveal that a very influen-
tial individual approached the
tax consultant for advice
regarding his corporate entities
“[...] specifically in connec-
tion with a health check on the
structural and operational
aspects of KPB Cayman and
KPB Investments, to ascertain
the risk that KPB Cayman or
KPB Investments may be con-
sidered to be an Indian resi-
dent, or liable to tax in India on
account of a presence in India”.
The tax consulting firm then
conducted an audit on behalf of
the said entities and submitted
its report with specific advice
on the creation of a complex
and opaque offshore corporate
structure in various tax havens
designed specifically to evade
taxation in India.
(ZUdR^`_X
(Z]]VUSj
]ZXYe_Z_XZ_FA
ACR[Z_#%Ycd
From Page 1
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on Monday also
expressed grief over the deaths
of 20 people due to lightning
strikes in different parts of
Rajasthan on Sunday.
Over 10 more persons were
reported to suffer injuries.
Taking to Twitter, PM Modi
wrote in Hindi, which loosely
translated to English reads,
“Many people have lost their
lives due to lightning in some
areas of Rajasthan. This is very
saddening. I express my deep-
est condolences to the families
of the deceased.”
Meanwhile, Rajasthan
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot
has announced a compensation
of Rs 5 lakh each for the fam-
ily members of those who died
in lightning strikes.
According to UP Relief
Commissioner Ranvir Prasad,
41 people died and 30 injured
across 16 districts due to light-
ning strikes. Prayagraj report-
ed 14 deaths, five deaths each
were reported in Kanpur and
Fatehpur districts. In
Kaushambi, four people died
due to a lightning strike while
Firozabad, Unnao and Rae
Bareli reported two deaths
each. Hardoi, Sonbhadra,
Hamirpur, Pratapgarh,
Mirzapur and Jhansi also
reported one death each.
Besides, 250 animals died and
20 injured across the State. The
State Government announced
4 Lakh ex-gratia each will be
provided to the kin of the
deceased.
In Rajasthan, 23 people,
including 12 in Jaipur, were
killed and 27 injured in light-
ning strikes. In a major tragedy
in Jaipur, 12 people, mostly
youngsters, were killed and 11
injured in an incident of light-
ning strike at the iconic watch-
tower near the Amber Fort, the
officials said. Some of them
were taking “selfies” on the
watchtower, while the others
were on the hill nearby, they
said, adding that those on the
tower fell on the ground when
the lightning struck late on
Sunday evening.
Besides Jaipur, the deaths
were reported from six other
districts -- Kota, Jhalawar,
Baran, Dholpur, Sawai
Madhopur, and Tonk.
“Twenty-three people, includ-
ing seven children, were killed
in lightning strikes in seven dis-
tricts of the State on Sunday
and 27 were injured,” Anand
Kumar, Principal Secretary,
Disaster Management and
Relief Department, said.
Besides, 16 livestock animals,
including 11 goats, also died in
lightning strikes and the figure
is likely to rise.
Not only Rajasthan, but
lightning also claimed seven
lives in different districts of
Madhya Pradesh on Sunday. Of
these, two people were from
Sheopur district and two from
Gwalior district. One person
died in Shivpuri district along
with one each in Anuppur and
Betul districts, respectively.
Over 10 more people have
been reported to suffer injuries.
In 2019, there were 2,876
deaths due to lightning.
Lightning strikes have killed
nearly 2,000 people every year
in India since 2004, which is
nearly twice the number of
deaths recorded since the late
1960s. According to the India
Meteorological Department
(IMD), it’s a trend of increas-
ing danger from the weather
phenomenon.
As per the data, lightning
strikes have caused 1,771
deaths between April 1, 2019
and March 31, 2020. During
this period, Odisha has report-
ed 1,483,349 cases of lightning
strikes, Madhya Pradesh
1,445,368, Maharashtra
1,241,905, Uttar Pradesh
1,000,949, Karnataka 941,801,
Jharkhand 819,638, Rajasthan
815,070, West Bengal 807,097,
Andhra Pradesh 642,422, Tamil
Nadu 574,640, Gujarat 528,446
and Bihar 501,640.
Even among States, only
Andhra Pradesh, Bihar,
Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand,
Karnataka, Kerala,
Maharashtra, and Odisha have
declared lightning to be a State-
specific disaster. “There are
three forms of lightning: inter-
cloud, intra-cloud, and cloud-
to-ground. Lightning of the last
variety kills humans, as well as
wild animals and livestock,
and can substantially damage
property,” officials said. The
Odisha-West Bengal-
Jharkhand belt is more prone
as lightning strikes originate
from Chota Nagpur Plateau
and extend to Bangladesh to
the Patkai plateau of
Meghalaya.
?=BQ 270=3860A7
Taken hostage by the
protesting “farmers” since
Sunday afternoon in a house
without power and water sup-
ply in Patiala district’s Rajpura
town, the Bharatiya Janata
Party’s 12 local leaders were
rescued in the wee hours on
Monday after a “late night”
intervention of the Punjab and
Haryana High Court and also
the Union Home Ministry.
The “rescued” leaders
blamed the farmers for the
unlawful act on the pretext of
protesting against the three
farm laws enacted by the
Central Government, and
blamed the State Congress
Government for supporting
the farmers.
The leaders, including
Punjab unit general secretary
Subhash Sharma and Patiala in-
charge Bhupesh Aggarwal,
were “detained” for nearly 12
hours by the protesting farm-
ers at a BJP worker’s house.
It was only after the BJP
leaders moved the High Court
through their lawyer, claiming
that they were illegally detained
by a mob at a house in Rajpura,
these leaders were released.
In an emergency midnight
hearing through video-con-
ferencing, the bench of Justice
Suvir Sehgal on Sunday night
directed the Punjab Police to
ensure the petitioners are pro-
vided with a safe exit with ade-
quate security and no harm is
caused to them. The court also
asked for a report to be sub-
mitted by 2 pm on Monday.
At the same time, the
“detained” party leaders
remained in touch with BJP’s
State and Central leaders, mak-
ing several calls. Besides, party’s
national president JP Nadda,
the Union Home Minister
Amit Shah also intervened.
“It was only after we
apprised the Union Home
Minister of the situation and
the Home Ministry’s interven-
tion that the local police swung
into action...they were earlier
acting as a mute spectator,
doing nothing,” a BJP leader
told The Pioneer, requesting
anonymity.
The police had to use mild
lathicharge to disperse the
farmers, who had gathered
outside a house at Guru Arjan
Dev Colony in Rajpura town,
45 km from Patiala, and took
away Punjab BJP spokesman
Bhupesh Aggarwal and gener-
al secretary Subhash Sharma,
Patiala rural BJP unit president
Vikas Sharma and Rajpura
unit workers, under tight secu-
rity at 4 am.
The things took an ugly
turn after the protesting farm-
ers allegedly disrupted a dis-
trict-level BJP meeting at
Rajpura on Sunday.
Before that, a group of
farmers, protesting against the
Centre’s new agri-marketing
laws, had also chased
away a local BJP leader Shanti
Sapra, allegedly manhandling
him.
On the other hand, the
farmers alleged that the BJP
workers used inappropriate
language against the protesters,
including women farmers, and
made objectionable gestures
for which they demanded an
apology from the BJP. Besides,
they also alleged that security
personnel of BJP leader
Bhupesh Aggarwal brandished
a pistol at them.
Even as Patiala Deputy
Commissioner Kumar Amit
and Punjab Police Deputy
Inspector General (DIG)
Vikramjit Duggal made fervent
appeals to the protesting farm-
ers to release the detainees, and
also made hectic efforts to
resolve the confrontation
between the two sides, the
farmers remained adamant on
apology by BJP leaders.
#3;A]VRUVcdeRV_Y`deRXVSjWRc^VcdcVdTfVUZ_Af_[RS
?=BQ 270=3860A7
Punjab Chief Minister
Captain Amarinder Singh
on Monday evening ordered an
immediate withdrawal of all
power regulatory restrictions
that were imposed on indus-
tries across the state to meet the
power crisis.
The crisis was triggered by
a delayed monsoon and an
unprecedented surge in
demand from both agricul-
tural and domestic sectors.
Reviewing the power situ-
ation in the state after the
resumption of generation at
one of the three non-func-
tional units at Talwandi Sabo
Thermal plant, the Chief
Minister directed the Punjab
State Power Corporation
Limited (PSPCL) to ease off all
power regulatory restrictions
on industrial consumers across
the State with immediate effect.
The CM was informed that
the plant at Talwandi Sabo
had resumed 660 MW pro-
duction, improving the power
situation in the State.
The decision on the com-
plete withdrawal of restric-
tions was taken by the Chief
Minister soon after PSPCL
announced a similar but partial
withdrawal in districts falling
in central and border zones.
The PSPCL had allowed all
industries, except those using
continuous power, to operate at
full capacity from today.
However, after the Chief
Minister’s intervention, all
industries across the state,
including those using contin-
uous power round the clock
(textile, chemicals, and spin-
ning mills etc), can now oper-
ate to full capacity.
It may be recalled that
owing to unprecedented rise in
demand of power, the PSPCL
had, as a temporary measure,
ordered restrictions on indus-
trial consumers of the State in
order to provide continuous
power supply to domestic con-
sumers and eight hours power
supply to the agriculture sector
for paddy operations.
Continuous process indus-
tries were allowed to operate at
50 percent of their load, a
spokesperson from the Chief
Minister’s office said.
Significantly, despite the
high demand for consumption,
the PSPCL had not imposed
any restrictions on small and
medium supply industrial con-
sumers, rice shellers, cattle
feed units, call centres, mush-
room farms, food processing
units and other essential
Industries or services from the
beginning, the spokesperson
further revealed.
Punjab has 99,834 small
power industrial consumers
besides 30,176 medium power
consumers upon whom no
usage restriction has been
levied at all despite rising
demand for power across
domestic sector.
To meet up shortage, only
large supply consumers (5071
in number) which use 1000
KVA SCD had been asked to
use 100 KVA for 12 hours a day.
Large supply arc furnaces of
which 282 operate in state, had
been restricted to 5% of SCD
only. Spokesperson said that
despite the failure of TSPL
Plant, PSPCL had successfully
met highest ever energy
demand of 3066 lakh units on
July 1. The day’s demand had
surpassed the earlier record of
3018 lakh units of power sup-
ply in a single day in the state.
6ECDBC2?4=B0C4
CA034AB5A;BB4B
3D4C?F4A
B7AC064)00?
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)
youth wing president and MLA
Meet Hayer, targeting Punjab
Government on power issue,
said that the people of Punjab
were suffering in spite of get-
ting more expensive electrici-
ty than the rest of the country.
“Akaya has to be kept
closed,” said Hayer adding that
earlier, the costly power deals
made by the Badals and the BJP
Government with the private
companies had forced the peo-
ple of Punjab to pay exorbitant
electricity bills but now the
power cuts have made life dif-
ficult for the people.
Garhshankar MLA Jai
Kishan Singh Rori said that due
to the non-availability of com-
plete power supply, the crop has
to be operated by generator by
purchasing expensive diesel to
irrigate the crop. “Punjab
Government should also
impose a penalty on power
companies to get rid of unan-
nounced power cuts,” he added.
2P_c^aSTabaT^eP[^UP[[_^fTaaTbcaXRcX^]b
^]X]SdbcaXTbfXcWXTSXPcTTUUTRc
?=BQ 270=3860A7
In a clear-cut departure from his earlier
stance of taking on his own party’s
Government and the Chief Minister Capt
Amarinder Singh over the issue of sacri-
lege cases, the Congress’ firebrand leader
Navjot Singh Sidhu on Monday shifts his
focus of attack to the Badals.
Taking to Twitter, Sidhu said that no
action was taken by the Badal Government
during two years in sacrilege cases before
the 2017 elections, while addressing them
as “the real culprits”.
Sidhu wondered why no proper
inquiry was conducted by the Badal
Government into the theft of “Bir of Guru
Granth Sahib” at Burj Jawahar Singh
Wala village on June 1, 2015, which led to
sacrilege, followed by a series of protests
and firing incidents in October 2015.
In a series of tweets, Sidhu said that no
action was taken by the Badal Government
during two years in sacrilege cases before
the 2017 elections. “Why No action taken
by Badal Govt during two years in sacrilege
cases before 2017 Elections, despite Justice
(Retd.) Zora Singh Commission Inquiry
Report and SIT led by Ranbir Singh Khatra
pointing the needle of suspicion to Dera
sacha sauda men?” he tweeted.
“Why no action against fabrication of
evidence in Behbal Kalan firing incident?
How an escort gypsy of SSP Charanjit
Sharma was taken to workshop of Pankaj
Bansal with gun of Sohail Brar bullet
marks planted on jeep - to show police
fired in self defence? Who ordered this?”
Sidhu said in a series of six back to back
tweets.
“What were the actions taken against
officers who falsely implicated two broth-
ers, Rupinder Singh and Jaswinder Singh
for sacrilege?”
He said that he had asked every rele-
vant question over the past few months on
‘be-adabi’ issue to everyone, who should
be held accountable in the last six years.
“Have asked every relevant question on
Beadbi issue to everyone who should be
held accountable over the past few months
and in the last 6 Years ... What is the point
in repeating but questions must be asked
to the real Culprits, the Badals!”
6DFULOHJHLVVXH6LGKXVKLIWVKLVIRFXVRIDWWDFNWR%DGDOV
3ULQWHGDQGSXEOLVKHGE$MLW6LQKDIRUDQGRQEHKDOIRI0.3ULQWHFK/WGSXEOLVKHGDW8QLJDWH*HQHUDO0HGLD3YW/WG2OG1HKUXRORQ2SS8WWDUDNKDQG-DO6DQVWKDQ'KDUDPSXU'HKUDGXQ3K0RE DQGSULQWHGDW$PDU8MDOD3XEOLFDWLRQV/WG3ORW1R+WR+6HODTXL,QGXVWULDO
$UHD'HKUDGXQ8WWDUDNKDQG(GLWRUKDQGDQ0LWUD$,5685+$5*(RI5H(DVWDOFXWWD5DQFKL%KXEDQHVZDU1RUWK/HK:HVW0XPEDL $KPHGDEDG6RXWK%DQJDORUH KHQQDLHQWUDO.KDMXUDKR'HOKL2IILFH1R%HKLQG*XODE%KDZDQ %DKDGXU6KDK=DIDU0DUJ1HZ'HOKL3KRQH
RPPXQLFDWLRQ2IILFH)6HFWRU12,'$*DXWDP%XGK1DJDU83
3KRQH /XFNQRZ2IILFHWK)ORRU6DKDUD6KRSSLQJHQWUH)DL]DEDG5RDG/XFNQRZ7HOHSKRQHV

3. 347A03D=kCD4B30H k9D;H !! dccPaPZWP]S
?=BQ 347A03D=
Not in the mood to take a
chance, the State
Government has yet again
extended the ongoing Covid-
curfew in Uttarakhand by one
more week.
The Covid-curfew which
was to end on Monday will
remain in force in Uttarakhand
till 6 am on July 20. While most
of the relaxations and restric-
tions have remained
unchanged from the past phas-
es of the Covid-curfew, con-
sidering the Covid risk and
negative publicity being elicit-
ed by irresponsible tourism, the
State Government has specifi-
cally directed the district
administration to ensure Covid
appropriate behaviour by
tourists and take necessary
action against those violating
the guidelines.
Further, considering the
crowd of tourists at popular
destinations on the weekend,
the district magistrates have
been authorised to fix the limit
for tourists depending on the
holding capacity and geo-
graphical condition of tourist
destinations.
As in the past, a maximum
of 20 cases will be heard per
day in revenue court with
Covid safety protocol. The
markets will remain open daily
from 8 am to 7 pm. The week-
ly closure will be decided as per
the date decided earlier accord-
ing to the Labour department
orders.
While some observers are
questioning the recurring
extension of the Covid curfew
despite the substantial drop in
new Covid cases, many opine
that the Covid-curfew is more
of an official formality being
maintained to provide the
authorities a valid reason to
penalise those violating the
guidelines. It is also important
to prevent the public from
throwing all caution to the
wind considering the possible
third wave of Covid.
?=BQ 347A03D=
The positive atmosphere
resulting from the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s
developmental works and the
party’s booth level workers will
ensure that the party will win
more than 60 seats in the 2022
Assembly election under a
young leader.
The youth leader of the
party and 60 plus will be the
party’s slogan for the 2022
elections, said BJP State presi-
dent Madan Kaushik in
a party meeting held on
Monday evening.
He said all office-bearers of
the party, including Ministers
and MLAs, will tour ten days
in a month so that public
grievances can be resolved.
This programme will be con-
ducted for two months in all
the 70 Assembly constituencies,
he said.
Kaushik recalled that the
party’s roadmap for the 2022
elections has been prepared
during the recently held
Chintan Shivir. This has to be
implemented seriously. He
claimed that the result of the
Salt Assembly bypoll had
proved the party’s stand and the
public’s appreciation of the
Government’s development
works.
Under its young leader
and Chief Minister Pushkar
Singh Dhami, the party will
win more than it did in the
2017 elections and win more
than 60 seats. The youth are
enthusiastic with Dhami being
made the Chief Minister and
this is definitely benefitting
the party, said Kaushik.
The Opposition is strug-
gling for survival while some
new parties are using gim-
micks but all these are failing
in front of the atmosphere in
favour of the BJP, he averred.
Speaking on the occasion,
CM Dhami said in the State
and nation, the BJP
Governments are working with
complete transparency while
the party workers are doing
their bit to take the govern-
mental schemes to the public.
Stating that he can go to any
extent to serve the interests of
the public, Dhami said his pri-
orities will remain the public
and public welfare.
?=BQ 347A03D=
The recruitment regimen for
the faculty positions in the
universities and colleges has
witnessed a major change from
July 1 this year. From this date,
the University Grants
Commission (UGC)
Regulations 2018 have been
enforced in the country accord-
ing to which a PhD degree is
now mandatory for recruit-
ment in the position of
Assistant Professor and assis-
tant librarians.
It is worth mentioning here
that thousands of faculty posi-
tions in different varsities and
colleges are lying vacant and
the new guidelines would have
a bearing on their recruitment
process.
The recruitment in the
universities and colleges before
July 1, 2021, was being guided
by the UGC regulations of the
year 2010 which mandates the
compulsion of National
Eligibility Test (NET) con-
ducted by UGC, CSIR or SLET/
SET certificate for the post of
Assistant Professor.
Giving information about
the new pattern, the registrar of
Doon University Dr Mangal
Singh Mandarwal told The
Pioneer that in the UGC regu-
lation 2018 many ambiguities
in the selection process of
Assistant Professor, Associate
Professor and Professor have
been removed.
“Earlier a good academic
record coupled with a NET cer-
tificate was basic eligibility cri-
teria for Assistant Professor and
50 per cent weightage was on
academic and research experi-
ence, 30 per cent in teaching
skill and only 20 per cent was
for the actual interview. Now
PhD has been made compul-
sory and the candidates would
be called for interviews after a
process of screening. The inter-
view would now carry 100 per
cent weightage,” he said.
Mandarwal further
explained that in recruitment of
Associate Professors, the con-
dition of experience of doctoral
guidance has been removed
which would resolve the issue
of lesser number of eligible can-
didates for these positions.
However, a requirement
of at least seven research pub-
lications in UGC listed journals
has been introduced. The aca-
demic and research score has
been reduced from 300 to 75 in
the new methodology for
recruitment of Associate
Professors.
?=BQ 347A03D=
After Uttarakhand Chief Minister
Pushkar Singh Dhami formally inau-
gurated Mukhyamantri Vatsalya Yojana
(MVY) this week, the State Government
will issue C3,000 each to the eligible ben-
eficiaries of the scheme. Women
Empowerment and Child Development
(WECD) Minister Rekha Arya stated this
during a review meeting of four welfare
schemes in Uttarakhand on Monday.
While discussing the first scheme
Nanda Gaura Yojana (NGY), the district
programme officers (DPOs) of all districts
demanded a budget of about C200 crore
from the department to ensure its prop-
er implementation across the State. Arya
said the department will soon allocate the
required amount to all the districts.
Moreover, the preparations of
Mukhyamantri Mahalakshmi Kit Yojana
(MMKY) were also reviewed in the
meeting. Under this scheme, women will
be given kits worth C3,500 each on the
birth of the first two daughters which
include items like dry fruits, clothing,
soaps, bedsheets etc that can be used by
new mothers and daughters.
The Minister said all the kits have
reached the Anganwadi centres across the
State and will be distributed among the
eligible beneficiaries soon. She also dis-
closed that the CM will officially launch
this scheme this week which is set to ben-
efit at least 50,000 women in Uttarakhand.
Talking about Mukhyamantri
Vatsalya Yojana (MVY), the Minister said
the district administrations have marked
over 2,000 beneficiaries under this scheme
but the WECD department has received
only about 600 applications which have
been thoroughly verified under the dis-
trict magistrates.
“All the district probation officers
have been directed to speed up this
process in order to provide intended ben-
efits to the beneficiaries soon. We have
also instructed the DMs to ensure the
completion of at least 80 per cent of work
under the scheme by July 15,” stated Arya.
She also revealed that the CM will for-
mally inaugurate MVY soon, possibly on
July 17 after which all the eligible bene-
ficiaries will start getting the benefits
under this scheme including C3,000 in
their bank account among others.
Besides this, Arya informed that the
department is getting a great response for
its sanitary napkin programme in which
adolescent girls and women of rural areas
can buy a pack of sanitary pads with six
pads for C6 only as it is the main part of
women hygiene.
“We have received demands for more
sanitary napkins from all the districts for
rural women and girls which will be ful-
filled soon,” Arya said.
The WECD Minister stated that she
has also directed the secretary of the
department to create an online portal
through which the public can also get the
information regarding the schemes like
total applications received and budget
allocation which will bring transparency
to the system.
?=BQ 347A03D=
The Dehradun district admin-
istration has asked the resi-
dents of Uttarakhand to approach
the administration to register the
names of martyrs from the first
and second World Wars to
inscribe their names at Sainya
Dham which is currently under
construction in Guniyal Gaon.
As informed by Dehradun
district soldier welfare officer,
Vijay Singh Thapa, the names of
all the martyrs from Uttarakhand
will be inscribed in Sainya Dham.
The names of martyrs of first
and second world wars from the
State will be inscribed too but
there are very few verified records
of those who fought in both the
world wars from here as it has
been over 100 years since the first
war, stated Thapa.
Due to this, the soldier welfare
officer has asked people to submit
the names of their ancestors or rel-
atives who were martyred in the
first or the second World War.
Such people can submit the details
of the martyr with concrete proof
that associates him with any of the
World Wars in Sainik Welfare and
Rehabilitation Office of Dehradun
district.
?=BQ 347A03D=
The voices from within the
Congress have started ema-
nating over the inordinate delay
in settling the issue of leader-
ship of the party in
Uttarakhand ahead of the cru-
cial Assembly elections.
The party leadership is yet
to take a decision on the new
Congress Legislature Party
(CLP) leader in the State. In a
letter written to Congress pres-
ident Sonia Gandhi, senior
leader and former member of
All India Congress Committee
(AICC) ,Yogendra Khanduri
has said delay in taking deci-
sions is taking a toll on the
image of the party.
“Indira Hridayesh, the CLP
leader, lost her life on June 13,
2021. Since her death till today,
the party has not taken the
decision on CLP leader. Owing
to this chaos is prevailing in the
state congress party because it
is affecting the position of
congress president of
Uttarakhand also. Hectic activ-
ities of Congress leaders are
going on for managing these
posts in their favour,” he said in
the letter.
Khanduri requested
Gandhi to take a prompt deci-
sion on CLP leader and party
president of Uttarakhand.
Meanwhile, Pradesh
Congress Committee (PCC)
president Pritam Singh was
invited by the party leadership
to Delhi on Monday. On the
question of CLP leader, Singh
said the Congress high com-
mand would take a decision on
it and every one would accept it.
?=BQ 347A03D=
The regional transport office
(RTO) of Dehradun has
started accepting applications
for all kinds of services without
fixing any online appointment
except for the learning license
(LL) from Monday.
Informing about this deci-
sion, the regional transport
officer (administration) Dinesh
Pathoi said though there is a
considerable decline in Covid-
19 positive patients, the back-
log of pending applicants con-
tinued to increase in the RTO.
Due to this, the transport
office decided to accept the
applications for all kinds of ser-
vices provided by RTO without
any online registration from
Monday. Pathoi informed that
no appointment is necessary
anymore for the services like the
renewalofdrivinglicense,fitness
certificate of vehicles, tax and
registration of vehicles besides
challans and permit work.
However, Pathoi made it
clear that online registration is
still compulsory for a learning
license and permanent license
while adding that only those
candidates can register online
who had applied earlier for the
license but could not give the
drivingtestduetoCovidcurfew.
“There is a backlog of
thousands of learning licenses
considering which, new appli-
cations are not being enter-
tained yet,” stated Pathoi.
He also said that though the
RTOisworkingwith50percent
of employees in the office as per
the State Government’s guide-
lines, some employees have
been directed to be present in
the office during the crisis.
Meanwhile, Pathoi also
instructed the RTO employees
to give preference to the senior
citizens that arrive on the
premises irrespective of the
availability of required online
registrations for LLs and DLs
by them.
?=BQ 347A03D=
The clamour to ban the pro-
posed Kanwar Yatra is gath-
ering momentum in
Uttarakhand.TheYatrainwhich
lakhs of followers of Lord Shiva
visit the State is scheduled to
commence from July 26. The
experts have warned that if
held, the Kanwar Yatra could
cause a spike in the contagion of
Covid-19 in the State.
Some of them have specif-
ically said that amid the loom-
ing spectre of a third wave of the
disease, the Kanwar Yatra could
prove to be a super spreader
eventfivetimesmoredangerous
than the Kumbh Mela.
The Uttarakhand chapter
of Indian Medical Association
(IMA), the powerful associa-
tion of private medical practi-
tioners, has written a letter to
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh
Dhami and requested him to
suspend the Yatra this year.
Secretary of the IMA, Dr
Ajay Khanna said every year a
large number of pilgrims go to
different parts of Uttarakhand
carrying Kanwars. He recalled
that after Kumbh in Haridwar
the number of cases of Covid-
19 increased exponentially and
many lives were lost. He said it
would be very difficult for the
authorities to enforce the Covid
protocols during the Kanwar
Yatra so the Yatra should not be
held this time.
Founder of Social
Development for Communities
(SDC) foundation, Anoop
Nautiyal, said even if the SoPs
for Covid-19 are issued for the
Kanwar Yatra, it would be
impossible to enforce them.
“We have seen this during
Kumbh and more recently in
the hill stations after relaxation
in lockdown,” he said. Nautiyal
said more than 70 lakh people
visited Haridwar during
Kumbh in one month. He
added many times more peo-
ple than Kumbh are expected
to visit during one fortnight for
Yatra which means that the
Yatra could prove to be more
dangerous than Kumbh.
Nautiyal added the State
will not be able to withstand the
spike in contagion after Kanwar
and any decision on the Yatra
should be taken while keeping
the probable third wave of
pandemic in mind.
Medical superintendent of
Government Doon Medical
College (GDMC) hospital Dr
NS Khatri said ideally the State
should refrain from Yatra
because the delta plus variant
has already made its appear-
ance here.
CM Dhami said safety of
the citizens is the Government’s
top priority. The final decision
on the Kanwad Yatra will be
taken considering the situation
at the time and in consultation
with other States.
2 E 8 3 (
?=BQ 347A03D=
The State health department
reported 51 new cases of
the novel coronavirus and
death of two patients from the
disease in Uttarakhand on
Monday. The department also
reported recovery of 205
patients from the disease
on the day.
The cumulative count of
Covid-19 patients in the State
has now increased to 3,41,230
while a total of 3,26,968
patients have recovered from
the disease so far. In the State,
7,341 people have lost their
lives to Covid-19 till date. The
recovery percentage from the
disease is now at 95.82 and the
sample positivity rate is at 5.85
per cent in the State. The
authorities collected 23,269
samples in different parts of the
State on Monday.
The department reported
15 new patients from
Dehradun, 11 from Nainital,
seven each from Uttarkashi
and Haridwar, three from
Bageshwar, two each from
Champawat, Pithoragarh and
Udham Singh Nagar and one
each from Chamoli and Pauri
on Monday. No new cases of
the disease were found in
Almora, Tehri and
Rudraprayag districts on the
day.
The State now has only 932
active patients of the disease.
Dehradun district is at top of
the table in the list of active
cases with 306 cases while
Nainital is in the second posi-
tion with 123 active cases.
Chamoli has 86, Pithoragarh
67, Haridwar 59, Udham Singh
Nagar 52, Rudraprayag 50,
Pauri 44, Uttarkashi 40, Tehri
35, Champawat 34 and Almora
and Bageshwar 18 active cases
each of the disease.
One patient each of Covid-
19 was reported dead at
Government Doon Medical
College (GDMC) and All India
Institute of Medical Sciences
(AIIMS) Rishikesh on Monday.
The State reported only
three new cases of
Mucormycosis (Black fungus)
and deaths of two patients
from the disease on Monday. A
total of 526 patients of the dis-
ease have so far been reported
in the state out of which 106
have died.
In the ongoing vaccination
drive, the health department
vaccinated 24,361 people in 346
sessions held on Monday. A
total of 9,99,959 people have
been fully vaccinated so far in
the state while 39,27,757 have
received the first dose of the
vaccine in the State.
4fcWVhVieV_UVUSjRhVVRXRZ_
2E832DA54FF7827F0BC
4=3==30HF8;;A408=
8=5A248=DCC0A0:70=3
C8;;%0=9D;H!
QHZFDVHVGHDWKVUHSRUWHGLQ6WDWH
6XVSHQG.DQZDUDWUD
([SHUWVWR8¶NKDQG*RYW
FPa]cWPcHPcaPR^d[SQTR^TPbd_Tab_aTPSTaTeT]c
[XZT:dQWP]ScaXVVTaPPY^ab_XZTX]2^eXSR^]cPVX^]
'HODLQDSSRLQWPHQWRI
/3OHDGHUKXUWLQJ
LPDJHRIRQJ.KDQGXUL
S CWT_Pach[TPSTabWX_XbhTcc^
cPZTPSTRXbX^]^]cWT]Tf
2^]VaTbb;TVXb[PcdaT?Pach
2;?[TPSTaX]cWTBcPcT
S 8]P[TccTafaXccT]c^2^]VaTbb
_aTbXST]cB^]XP6P]SWXbT]X^a
[TPSTaP]SU^aTaTQTa^U
0[[8]SXP2^]VaTbb2^XccTT
0822H^VT]SaP:WP]SdaXWPb
bPXSST[PhX]cPZX]VSTRXbX^]bXb
cPZX]VPc^[[^]cWTXPVT^UcWT
_Pach
S TP]fWX[T?aPSTbW2^]VaTbb
2^XccTT?22_aTbXST]c
?aXcPBX]VWfPbX]eXcTS
QhcWT_Pach[TPSTabWX_c^3T[WX
^]^]SPh
S ]cWT`dTbcX^]^U2;?[TPSTa
BX]VWbPXScWT2^]VaTbbWXVW
R^P]Sf^d[ScPZTPSTRXbX^]
^]XcP]STeTah^]Tf^d[S
PRRT_cXc
H^dcW[TPSTa%c^QT19?´b^cc^U^a!!!):PdbWXZ
F8;;6C0=H4GC4=CCB4AE4?D1;828=C4A4BCBB0HB2
CE@deRcedac`gZUZ_X
dVcgZTVdhZeY`fe
`_]Z_VRaa`Z_e^V_ed
1RZ3K'PXVWIRU
IDFXOWSRVWVLQYDUVLWLHV
UgbUWeQdY_^gXYSXRUSQ]UUVVUSdYfU
Vb_]:ei!g_eTXQfUQRUQbY^W_^
bUSbeYd]U^d`b_SUccY^dUQSXY^W`_cdc
_VS_UWUcQ^Te^YfUbcYdYUc
5VYcRUf_
RU^Z_dVVd
_R^Vd`WH`c]U
HRc^Rcejcd
1T]TUXRXPaXTbc^aTRTXeTC:d]STaEHUa^]TgcfTTZ

4. ]PcX^]#
347A03D=kCD4B30H k9D;H !!
?=BQ =4F34;78
Ahead of the Monsoon ses-
sion of the Parliament, set
to commence from next week,
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla
on Monday assured that all
Covid norms will be followed.
The Speaker also informed
that a new mobile app is
being developed on which a
live telecast of the Parliament
House proceedings and data
on the question and answers
will be made available for the
registered users.
Addressing a Press con-
ference after reviewing the
arrangements for the Session
in Parliament, Birla said all
Covid-related protocols will
be followed during the
Monsoon Session of
Parliament scheduled to begin
from July 19. He said those
who have not been vaccinat-
ed against coronavirus will be
requested to undergo an RT-
PCR test before entering the
parliament premises during
the session.
Birla informed that 323
MPs have been fully vacci-
nated against the virus, while
23 have not been able to take
their first jab due to some
medical reasons. Parliament
sources said 218 members of
the Rajya Sabha have report-
edly been vaccinated against
Covid-19.
Birla said both the Houses
will sit simultaneously and
proceedings will start from 11
am.
The Monsoon Session of
parliament will begin from
July 19 and conclude on
August 13.
Birla also said that prepa-
rations are underway to bring
proceedings of Parliament and
all state assemblies on a sin-
gle digital platform and live
telecast of the proceedings of
the Houses can be seen on a
mobile app.
He also informed that the
proceedings of 11th to 17th
Lok Sabha have now been
added on this digital platform
whereas the proceedings and
documents right from year
1854 to 10th Lok Sabha will be
added soon. This will include
material like questions and
answers, reports and later on
there is also a plan to add the
old proceedings of state
assemblies too.
“This platform will be
useful for MPs, concerned
officials and the media where
the contents of proceedings
can be found by name and
date too,” Birla said.
He also said that MPs
were being encouraged to file
e-notices and questions.
In the last session around
92 percent members gave e-
notices and questions online
while this time it is expected
to be 100 percent, he added.
Since the pandemic
began, three sessions of
Parliament were curtailed
while the winter session last
year had to be cancelled.
The Monsoon Session,
which usually starts in July,
had begun in September last
year owing to the pandemic
situation.
`_d``_DVddZ`_`WARc]e`SVXZ_hZeYeZXYe4`gZU_`c^d+3Zc]R
?=BQ =4F34;78
Even as the nationwide
tally of new cases remain
low, the R-factor, which indi-
cates the speed at which the
infection is spreading in the
country, has risen recently
leading to a sluggish pace in
the decline of active cases
while Kerala and northeast
states have emerged as
regions of concern, as per an
analysis by researchers at the
Institute of Mathematical
Sciences in Chennai.
This has raised concern
about the Covid-19 pandem-
ic rearing its head again.
According to sources, R-
factor has increased slightly
to 0.88 in June-end after
being at its lowest-ever value
of 0.78 from mid-May till late
last month. This comes amid
the unlocking process by
many States trying to restore
a semblance of normalcy as
the deadly second wave,
which infected lakhs and
killed thousands during its
peak in April-May, shows
signs of ebbing.
Sitabhra Sinha, who led
the team of researchers, said
the 'R' for India is still below
one, so the number of active
cases is decreasing at a much
slower rate.
The same trend of slow-
ing down in the rate of
decline in active cases is also
seen in many states.
Kerala showed a brief
spike in cases and its R con-
tinues to hover close to 1. The
northeast region is of great
concern. Manipur, Arunachal
Pradesh and possibly Tripura
are showing a rise in the
number of cases, Sinha
pointed out.
When the second wave of
the Covid-19 infection was at
its peak, the overall R-value
in the country was estimated
to be 1.37 between March 9
to April 21. It declined to 1.18
between April 24 to May 1
and then to 1.10 between
April 29 to May 7, according
to the analysis.
Between May 9 and 11,
the R-value was estimated to
be around 0.98. It then to 0.82
from May 14 to May 30. The
R-value was 0.78 from May
15 to June 26 and 0.88 from
June 20 to July 7. In Kerala,
the R-value is estimated to be
around 1.10.
As for the northeastern
states, the analysis said, the R
for Manipur is 1.07,
Meghalaya 0.92, Tripura 1.15,
Mizoram 0.86, Arunachal
Pradesh 1.14, Sikkim 0.88,
Assam 0.86.
Rising Covid-19 cases in
Kerala, coupled with the
recent outbreak of the Zika
virus, is a matter of concern
for the health authorities as
the southern state battles to
bring down daily new infec-
tions.
The state had reported
14,087 fresh Covid cases on
Saturday and 109 fatalities
taking the caseload to
30,39,029 and the death toll
to 14,380.
Active cases in the state
have touched 1,13,115.
While on June 1 this year,
Kerala reported 19,760 pos-
itive cases, there was a slight
decline for a week with 9,313
new cases being recorded on
June 7.
?=BQ =4F34;78
The worsening situation in
Afghanistan will figure
prominently during the forth-
coming Shanghai Co-operation
Organisation(SCO) meeting in
Tajikistan. External Affairs
Minister S Jaishankar will
attend the two-day meet there
starting Tuesday. During the
SCO meet in Dushanbe,
Jaishankar will also come face
to face with his Pakistani coun-
terpart Shah Mahmood
Qureshi. Incidentally, this will
be the third time this year that
Qureshi and Jaishankar will be
participating in an interna-
tional meet. However, the two
ministers are not likely to have
bilateral talks even though
Jaishankar will have similar
interaction with other foreign
ministers.
The SCO foreign ministers’
meet will primarily focus on
the prevailing situation in
Afghanistan after the US with-
drawal and the Taliban now
controlling a major part of the
country. Chinese foreign min-
ister Wang Yi will also be there.
The SCO contact group on
Afghanistan will also evolve a
strategy for the future of
Afghanistan. A joint statement
will also be issued by the SCO
contact group on Afghanistan.
The External Affairs
Ministry said here on Monday
Jaishankar is going to Tajikistan
at the invitation of its foreign
minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin.
The SCO will discuss the
achievements of the organisa-
tion as it celebrates the 20th
anniversary of its formation
this year. It will also assess
preparation for the upcoming
SCO Council of Heads of States
on September 16-17 in
Dushanbe and exchange views
on current international and
regional issues, the ministry
said.
It also said Jaishankar will
participate in the SCO Contact
Group on Afghanistan.
After the Tajikistan visit,
Jaishankar will go to Tashkent,
Uzbekistan, on July 15 and 16
for an international connec-
tivity summit named Central
and South Asia: Regional
Connectivity. Challenges and
Opportunities.
Uzbekistan President
Shavkat Mirziyoyev had invit-
ed all regional players for the
conference and Afghanistan
President Ashraf Ghani,
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran
Khan and the US special rep-
resentative on the peace process
Zalmay Khalilzad will take
part in the meet.
The conclave will have
three main points of discussion
including - economy, security,
culture. The summit will focus
on historical ties between
Central and South Asia.
Leaders from Russia, Iran,
China, the US, and the
European Union (EU) will also
be participating in the summit.
1VWXQ^cYdeQdY_^d_VYWebU
`b_]Y^U^diY^C3?]UUd
?=BQ =4F34;78
The National Investigation
Agency (NIA) has con-
ducted searches at Meerut,
Uttar Pradesh and arrested an
arms trafficker in a case relat-
ed to extortion by Khalistani
terrorists for which a probe was
originally initiated at Moga,
Punjab.
The searches at alleged
arms trafficker Mohd. Asif
Ali’s premises yielded certain
incriminating materials like
two country-made pistols of
0.315 bore, 10 live rounds of
ammunition 0.315 calibre, a
mobile phone, two SIM cards
and one memory card, the
agency said.
Subsequently, the NIA
arrested the arms trafficker
Mohd. Asif Ali late on Saturday.
Following this, the agency
on Sunday conducted search-
es at the premises of another
arms trafficker Paramjit Singh
alias Mangal of Dudhali
Khadar village under
Hastinapur police station in
Meerut.
During the search, cash
amounting to C9 lakh, mobile
phones and incriminating doc-
uments were recovered, it said.
The searches were con-
ducted at the premises of
Mohd. Asif Ali, 32, at Kayastha
Baddha village under Kithour
police station in Meerut.
The case was originally reg-
istered on May 22, 2021 at
police station Mehna, Moga,
Punjab relating to information
received by Punjab Police that
Arshdeep Singh alias Arsh,
Charanjit Singh alias Rinku and
Ramandeep Singh alias Jajj, all
currently abroad had formed a
gang and are threatening and
extorting money from busi-
nessmen of Punjab.
The NIA had re-registered
the case on June 10, 2021 and
took over the investigation.
“Investigation has revealed
thatarrestedaccusedGagandeep
Singh used to purchase arms
and ammunition from accused
Mohd. Asif Ali and further sup-
plied them to the other arrest-
ed accused Kamaljeet Sharma
alias Kamal and his associates.
These weapons were used in
faith-based targeted killings and
for threatening and extorting
money from businessmen of
Punjab,” the NIA said in a state-
ment.
=80PaaTbcb^]T
Ua^TTadcX]
Tgc^acX^]RPbT ?=BQ =4F34;78
Agroup of former civil ser-
vants of the All India and
Central Services have written
an open letter criticizing the
Yogi Adityanath Government
in Uttar Pradesh for the “bla-
tant violation of rule of law”
and the “complete breakdown”
of governance.
In its four-page open letter,
the former bureaucrats have
alleged Uttar Pradesh’s use of
criminal charges to crush dis-
sent, extrajudicial killings in the
state, misuse of anti-conversion
laws against minority com-
munities, , targeting of Muslim
men with the law against love
jihad, alleged misuse of the
National Security Act in the
name of cow slaughter and
against dissenters and short-
comings in Covid-19 manage-
ment.
Pointing out that they have
no affiliation to any political
party but “are committed to the
Constitution of India”, the 87
signatories of the letter go on
to say that they are writing to
convey their “deep anguish at
what we see happening in UP”.
The group of former
bureaucrats highlighted the
ordinance of love jihad issue in
the state. Within a month after
the ordinance promulgated, 86
people were booked in 16 cases
alleging conversion for love.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Providing hope for the per-
sons suffering with
Parkinson’s disease, a Delhi
University professor and his
team have identified a special
protein, which makes it possi-
ble to treat the debilitating
neurodegenerative disorder.
Over 10 million people
worldwide are affected with
this disease with no drug avail-
able for its treatment. The
prevalence in India was rough-
ly 10% of the global burden,
that is, 5.8 lakhs.
Professor D S Rawat of
Department of Chemistry of
the DU and his Team of seven
other people were working on
this project for the past eight
years with McLean Hospital,
Boston as a partner.
The primary reason for
this disease is the death of neu-
ron cells in the substantia nigra
(SN), which is located in the
midbrain, and it causes defi-
ciency of dopamine, which
plays several important roles in
the brain and body. The com-
mon symptoms of PD are
tremor, rigidity, slowness of
movement, and difficulty in
walking, which causes cogni-
tive and behavioral problems
such as depression, anxiety,
and apathy.
Prof Rawat said, “There are
some proteins that are essential
for the survival of dopamine
neurons. All it requires is to
have healthy dopamine neu-
rons to overcome this disease
and Nurr1 protein maintains
the healthy dopamine neurons
and also protects the neurons
from inflammation in case of
PD and other neurodegenera-
tive diseases. So we thought this
could be a target for the devel-
opment of a drug for
Parkinson’s disease.”
Rawat said, “All we needed
was a molecule that can activate
the Nurr1 protein which in
turn can maintain healthy
Dopamine neurons.”
A research group led by
Prof Rawat started a collabo-
ration with Prof Kim at
McLean Hospital, Boston and
in 2014 this work was funded
by MJ Fox Foundation. A mas-
sive synthetic programme was
initiated at Delhi University
and over 650 new compounds
were synthesized by the team
members namely Mohit
Tripathi, Sunny Manohar, Satya
V. Pavan, Rohit Kholiya,
Shameer, and Anuj Thakur.
All these compounds were
screened for their Nurr1 acti-
vation potential. Interestingly,
these compounds activate the
Nurr1 protein that is essential
for the good health of
dopamine neurons, hence
reducing the chances of
Parkinson’s disease. These mol-
ecules, along with chloroquine
and amodiaquine, which were
identified in the initial screen-
ing, were experimentally
demonstrated to bind and acti-
vate the Nurr1 and improve the
PD-related symptoms in a rat
model to a great extent without
any toxicity.
The University of Delhi
and McLean Hospital have
signed a technology transfer
agreement with NurrOn
Pharmaceuticals, Boston, for
the development of these mol-
ecules as novel disease-modi-
fying drugs for the treatment of
Parkinson’s disease.
AXbTX]AUPRc^aaPXbTbR^]RTa]b
PQ^dc_P]STXRaTPaX]VWTPSPVPX]
?=BQ =4F34;78
The southwest Monsoon
rains reached the desert
district of Jaisalmer and
Ganganagar, its last outposts,
on Monday, but gave Delhi and
parts of Haryana a miss. In
2002, monsoon reached Delhi
on July 19. This is the most-
delayed monsoon in the city
since then.
Meanwhile, flash floods
and cloudbursts were reported
near Bhagsunag in Himachal
Pradesh’s Dharamshala and
landslides in the hill state’s
Kangra district. At least six
houses were swept away and
over 10 people are feared
trapped after the landslide hit
Kangra. The India
Meteorological Department
(IMD) has predicted heavy
rainfall in north India.
According to the IMD, it
rained in the periphery of
Delhi -- Aligarh in Uttar
Pradesh and Karnal in Haryana
-- but clouds hovered over the
national capital, without giving
any relief from the heat. The
rains also covered west
Rajasthan, Punjab and other
parts of Haryana. Overall,
Delhi has so far received 67 per
cent less rainfall than normal,
putting it in the category of
large deficient states.
IMD Director General
Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said
the Southwest Monsoon clouds
are hovering over the national
capital since Saturday, even the
wind pattern has changed and
easterlies have brought moist
winds. But it has not rained so
far. This is a very peculiar sit-
uation, he said.
Mohapatra said the arrival
of monsoon over Delhi will be
declared as soon as it rains since
the other conditions have been
fulfilled.
The IMD had earlier said
monsoon would hit Delhi on
June 15, which would have
been 12 days early, but the wind
system entered a break phase.
In early June, the Met office said
the conditions will become
favourable for monsoon to
advance to Delhi and other
parts of northwest India by July
7. Later, it said Delhi will get its
first monsoon rains around
July 10.
The weather department
revised the prediction yet again
on Saturday, saying monsoon,
the most delayed in 19 years,
may reach the capital in the
next 24 hours. But it kept the
city residents waiting on Sunday
and there has hardly been any
rainfall on Monday too.
B^dcWfTbc^]b^^]
bcX[[T[dSTb3T[WX
_Pacb^U7PahP]P
4GQPQdbaP_
H^VX6^ec
^eTaXbad[T
3DcTPUX]Sb^[TRd[TbTUUTRcXeTX]caTPcX]V?PaZX]b^]´b
?=BQ =4F34;78
TheCBIhasbookedunnamed
Government officials and
three individuals for empan-
elling six newspapers for
Government advertisement on
the basis of forged documents.
The case is an outcome of a
surprise check conducted by
the CBI at the Directorate of
AdvertisingandVisualPublicity
(DAVP), now known as Bureau
of Outreach and
Communication (BOC), in
2019.
The private individuals
booked in the case are Harish
Lamba,hiswifeArtiLambaand
Ashwani Kumar for allegedly
getting the newspapers empan-
elled for Government adver-
tisements on the basis of false
and fabricated documents.
In one of the cases, it was
foundthatsixnewspapers--two
editionseachoftheArjunTimes,
the Health of Bharat and the
Delhi Health — were empan-
elled with the DAVP for getting
government advertisement.
Duringtheinternalprobeof
the agency, it was found that no
such newspaper was being pub-
lished from the address of the
printing press mentioned in the
newspaper. Even the chartered
account had not issued any cer-
tificate.
The documents submitted
for securing government adver-
tisements were forged, the CBI
has said in its FIR.
The CBI has alleged that
these newspapers fraudulently
and dishonestly got empanelled
with the DAVP and received
advertisements of Rs 62.24 lakh
from 2016 to 2019.
Duringtheenquiry,theCBI
team visited the printing press
located at Jhandewalan and met
its proprietor Darshan Singh
Negiwhoinformedthemthatno
suchnewspaperswerepublished
from his place.
During the enquiry, the
agency found that in its papers
submitted in 2017 for the Arjun
Times, Ashwani Kumar was
shown as the publisher.
Accused Harish Lamba is
the owner or proprietor of the
newspaper. The CBI has alleged
that Negi denied ever meeting
Lamba or Kumar and also said
the newspaper was never print-
ed from his press.
The contract allegedly
between the publisher and the
printer, and the form of decla-
ration submitted with the appli-
cation, purportedly issued by
Negi, were forged as those were
never issued by him.
The CBI enquiry further
revealed that the chartered
accountant certificate was also
forged purportedly showing the
number of copies printed per
publishing day as 25,800.
However, no copy of the news-
paper was ever printed from
Dolphin Pictography.
The newspapers had
claimedthatitpublished1.5lakh
copies consisting of eight pages
per day, the CBI said, adding,
however,thatduringitsprobe,it
was found that the combined
strength of these publications
was not more than 100 to 150
copies.
218Q^^Zb6^ec^UUXRXP[bU^aUP[bT
T_P]T[T]c^U]Tfb_P_TabU^aPS
?=BQ =4F34;78
Union Education Minister
Dharmendra Pradhan on
Monday announced the new
dates for the medical entrance
exam NEET to be conducted on
September 12. The NEET test
conducted by National Testing
Agency (NTA) was earlier
scheduled for August 1 after it
was rescheduled in the peak of
the corona pandemic between
April and June.
Pradhan took to social
mediatoannounce:TheNEET-
UG 2021, will be held on 12th
September across the country
following COVID-19 protocols.
The application process will
begin from 5 pm Tuesday
through the NTA website.
To ensure adherence to
Covid-19 protocols, face mask
willbeprovidedtoallcandidates
atthecentre.Staggeredtimeslots
during entry and exit, contact-
less registration, proper saniti-
sation, seating with social dis-
tancing etc. Will also be
ensured, he said.
TheEducationMinisterfur-
ther said that in order to ensure
social distancing norms, the
number of cities where exami-
nations will be conducted has
been increased from 155 to
198. The number of examina-
tion centres will also be
increasedfrom3,862usedinthe
previous exams.
Pradhan's predecessor
Ramesh Pokhriyal a day before
he resigned as Minister had
announced the new dates for
JEEIIT,alsoconductedbyNTA.
Both the entrance tests along
with several other exams all
scheduledformonthsofAprilto
June had to be cancelled/post-
poned by the Centre when the
country was struggling in the
wake of the second wave of pan-
demic.
?`h?66Ee`SVYV]U`_DVae#
CWT]dQTa^U
TgPX]PcX^]RT]caTb
fX[[P[b^QT
X]RaTPbTSUa^'%!
dbTSX]cWT_aTeX^db
TgPb