Pioneer dehradun-english-edition-2021-07-18

1. ?=BQ =4F34;78
Amidst heightened tension
between the two countries
on the issue of Taliban,
Afghanistan on Saturday
claimed that the 26-year-old
daughter of its Ambassador to
Pakistan was kidnapped and
tortured in Islamabad.
Issuing a strong statement
in this regard, the Afghanistan
Government also demanded
enhanced security for its diplo-
matic staff and a thorough
probe into the incident.
Reports said the incident
took place on Friday at 2.00 pm
Pakistan time in the commer-
cial hub of Islamabad when she
was returning from the Jinnah
commercial complex in the
Bule Area. The Afghanistan
Foreign Ministry said in a
statement Silsila Alikhil, the
daughter of Afghan envoy
Najibullah Alikhil, was held for
several hours by the unidenti-
fied persons who kidnapped
her on Friday.
“The Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of the Islamic Republic
of Afghanistan states with deep
regret that on July 16, 2021, the
daughter of the Afghan
Ambassador to Islamabad
Alikhil, was abducted for sev-
eral hours and severely tortured
by unknown individuals on her
way home,” the statement said.
“After being released from the
kidnappers’ captivity, Alikhil is
under medical care at the hos-
pital,” it said.
The Afghanistan Foreign
Ministry said it “strongly con-
demns this heinous act and
expresses its deep concern over
the safety and security of diplo-
mats, their families, and staff
members of the Afghan polit-
ical and consular missions in
Pakistan”.
Afghanistan called on the
Pakistan Government to “take
immediate necessary actions to
ensure full security of the
Afghan Embassy and con-
sulates as well as the immuni-
ty of the country’s diplomats
and their families in accor-
dance with international
treaties and conventions”.
She was allowed to go by
her abductors after five or six
hours with her hands and feet
tied, reports said. There were
injury marks on her wrists
and ankles. The incident took
place in the backdrop of
Afghanistan time and again
charging Pakistan with helping
Taliban. Moreover, Kabul has
repeatedly said Pakistan is not
doing enough to prevail upon
Taliban to have peace talks.
Afghanistan Vice President
Amrullah Saleh on Thursday
alleged that the Pakistan Air
Force is providing air support
to Taliban. Amrullah Saleh
had said in a tweet, “The
Pakistan Air Force has issued
official warning to the Afghan
Army and Air Force that any
move to dislodge the Taliban
from Spin Boldak area will be
faced and repelled by the
Pakistan Air Force.”
Afghanistan President
Ashraf Ghani said at a confer-
ence in Uzbekistan capital
Tashkent that Islamabad is
triggering violence in
Afghanistan.
0?Q C:H
The first resident of the
Olympic Village has tested
positive for Covid-19, Tokyo
Olympic organisers said on
Saturday. Officials said it was
not an athlete with the Games
opening in just under a week
on July 23.
Tokyo officials, including
Seiko Hashimoto, the president
of the organising committee,
confirmed the case and said the
positive test was on Friday.
Organisers said for confiden-
tiality purposes they can only
offer a vague description and
few details.
“In the current situation,
that positive cases arise is
something we must assume is
possible,” said Toshiro Muto,
the CEO of the Tokyo orga-
nizing committee.
The person is identified
simply as a “games-concerned
personnel.” The person is also
listed as a non-resident of
Japan. Tokyo officials said the
person was placed in a 14-day
quarantine.
The Olympic Village on
Tokyo Bay will house about
11,000 athletes during the
Olympics and thousands of
other staff.
IOC president Thomas
Bach said this week there was
“zero” risk of athletes in the vil-
lage passing on the virus to
Japanese or other resident of
the village.
Organisers said since July
1 and as of Saturday, 45 people
under their “jurisdiction” have
tested positive. Only one
involves a person in the village
and most are identified as
“contractors” for Tokyo 2020
and “games-concerned per-
sonnel.” The list includes one
athlete — who tested positive
on July 14 — and three mem-
bers of the media.
Of the 45, only 12 are list-
ed as “non-resident of Japan.”
Organisers said athletes
and staff who have been away
from Tokyo at training camps
are excluded from this list and
their accounting.
Tokyo officials said they
could not give an estimate of
the number of people in the vil-
lage as of Saturday.
New Covid-19 cases on
Saturday were reported at
1,410.
They were 950 one week
ago, and it marks the 28 straight
day that cases were higher
than a week previous. It
was the highest single day
since 1,485 on January 21.
IOC president Thomas
Bach, as he has done all week
in Tokyo, again asked the
Japanese to support the
Olympics. Opinion polls,
depending how the question is
asked, show 50-80 per cent
want the Olympics postponed
again or canceled.
“We are very well aware of
the skepticism, obviously that
a number of people have here
in Japan,” Bach said on
Saturday in his first large brief-
ing of the Olympics at the main
press center in Tokyo. “My
appeal to the Japanese people
is to welcome these athletes.”
?=B344?0::D?A4C8Q
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Raising many eyebrows,
National Congress Party
(NCP) chief Sharad Pawar met
with Prime Minister Narendra
Modi at the latter’s residence
for a nearly one hour on
Saturday ahead of the
Monsoon Session of
Parliament and amidst talk of
him being a Presidential can-
didate.
This was also the first one-
on-one meeting of Pawar, 80,
with Modi, 70, since 2019.
Modi and Pawar share
interesting relationships with
both praising and criticising
each other from time to time.
It is the Modi Government
which awarded Padma
Vibhushan to Pawar in 2017
and the same Government set
Enforcement Directorate probe
against him in 2019 during
Maharashtra Assembly elec-
tions. The said probe has now
taken a backseat.
The meeting at the request
of the NCP strongman comes
two days ahead of the
Monsoon Session of
Parliament and reports of a
strain in the “Maha Vikas
Aghadi” Government led by
the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra,
of which the NCP is a key con-
stituent. Previously, Pawar was
huddled-up with political
strategist Prashant Kishor with
reports that he could be a
nominee for the Presidential
election slated next year.
Pawar had denied report that
he is a candidate for the
“Rashtrapati Bhawan”.
On Friday, Defence
Minister Rajnath Singh met
Pawar and another former
Defence Minister AK Antony
to brief on the situation on the
Line of Actual Control. On the
same day, Pawar was also part
of a meeting held by newly-
appointed leader of Rajya
Sabha and Union Minister
Piyush Goyal before the com-
mencement of the Monsoon
Session in July 19.
Following the meeting,
Pawar, in a tweet, said, “Met
the Prime Minister of our
country Narendra Modi. Had
a discussion on various issues
of national interest.”
The NCP has denied
“speculations” linked to
Pawar’s meeting with Modi.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Amid a surge in
Tuberculosis (TB) cases,
the Union Health Ministry on
Saturday directed its recom-
mendations on TB screening
for all Covid-19 positive
patients and Covid-19 screen-
ing for all diagnosed TB
patients.
States/UTs have been asked
for convergence in efforts for
better surveillance and case
finding of TB and Covid-19, as
early as August 2020, it added.
However, the Health
Ministry has also clarified that
so far there is not enough evi-
dence to suggest that there has
been an increase in TB cases
due to Covid-19.
The Centre has further
issued multiple advisories and
guidance that reiterate the
need for bi-directional screen-
ing of TB-Covid and TB-
ILI/SARI.
Due to the impact of
Covid-19 related restrictions,
case notifications for TB had
decreased by about 25 per
cent in 2020 but special efforts
are being made to mitigate this
impact through intensified
case finding in OPD settings as
well as through active case
finding campaigns in the com-
munity by all States, the direc-
tive stated.
The dual morbidity of
Tuberculosis (TB) and Covid-
19 can be further highlighted
through the facts that both the
diseases are known to be infec-
tious and primarily attack the
lungs, presenting similar symp-
toms of cough, fever and dif-
ficulty in breathing,
although TB has a longer incu-
bation period and a slower
onset of disease, it adds
Furthermore, TB bacilli
can be present in humans in a
dormant state and has the
potential to start multiplying
when the individual’s
immunity is compromised for
any reason.
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The turbulent political winds
blowing across Punjab
Congress on Saturday showed
signs of abating, but the heat
wave continued. Captain
Amarinder Singh, who reiter-
ated his earlier stand on abid-
ing by Delhi’s decision, also
made it clear that he is still the
monarch.
The Captain told Punjab
party affairs in-charge Harish
Rawat, who flew on Saturday
morning from Delhi, that his
position in the party should not
be undermined and he should
be consulted in all decisions of
importance — thereby sig-
nalling his approval to Navjot
Sidhu’s elevation. Reports said
Captain Amarinder has also
sought public “apology” for
Sidhu’s “150 odd derogatory
tweets targeted at him”.
Cricketer-turned-politician
Sidhu, on the other hand, made
sure that the practice ses-
sions were on for the new
innings, by huddling with the
party’s senior leaders and
“seeking guidance” from
them.
The much-awaited
announcement of Sidhu’s
coronation as the Punjab
Pradesh Congress Committee
(PPCC) chief during Rawat’s
Chandigarh visit did not come
after all. In fact, the CM said
he had raised “certain issues”
with Rawat, which the latter
would take up with the party
supremo Sonia Gandhi.
Sources told The Pioneer
that the CM, during an hour-
long meeting with Rawat, reit-
erated that he would abide by
the party president’s decision.
Expressing displeasure
over “leakage” of reports
regarding Sidhu’s elevation in
the media before taking him
in confidence, Amarinder
underlined that the Congress
central leadership should
always involve him in impor-
tant decision-making process-
es in the party and regarding
the Government, including
next year’s Assembly elec-
tions. It has been learnt that
the CM maintained that
Sidhu’s appointment should
complement his efforts in
returning the party to power
in 2022 State Assembly polls.
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Even as the Congress is fac-
ing trouble in Punjab,
Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh,
Maharashtra is yet to settle
down, problem is
brewing in for the JMM-
Congress coalition
Government in Jharkhand.
Eight MLAs from ruling
Congress are camping in
Delhi to flag their concern
before the party high com-
mand.
While party sources said
they are to request the high
command for an audience to
present their grievances, polit-
ical sources said a section of
legislators are in the national
Capital to look for other
options. The BJP has set an
eye to stage a comeback just
like they did in Madhya
Pradesh.
“They (MLAs) are party
members and have every right
to visit their leadership to dis-
cuss anything including griev-
ances, if any,” said a Congress
Rajya Sabha MP. The unusual
movement of Congress MLAs
from Jharkhand to Delhi comes
a month after Chief Minister
Hemant Soren had to return
from Delhi after making futile
attempts for five days to meet
top Congress leadership.
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Change of guards in the BJP
Government in Karnataka
is expected with the central
leadership indicating to the
incumbent Chief Minister BS
Yediyurappa that he needs to
step down.
Yediyurappa on Saturday
set his own conditions before
the top leaders for his exit from
the helm. Sources said
Yediyurappa wants his sons to
be suitably accommodated at
the Centre before
he steps down.
Yediyurappa, who met
Union Home Minister Amit
Shah, Defence Minister Rajnth
Singh and party president JP
Nadda, denied that he has
offered to resign and insisted
that the top leadership wanted
him to “work hard” to form a
full BJP majority Government
in the State in 2023
and win maximum Lok Sabha
seats in 2024 .
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Registrations for undergrad-
uate courses at Delhi
University will start on August
2 and registrations for Master’s
and doctorate programmes will
begin from July 26, Delhi
University (DU) authorities
confirmed it on Saturday.
DU is likely to announce
the first cut-off list between
September 7 and 10, acting
Vice Chancellor PC Joshi
announced on Saturday. The
registration process for 20,000
postgraduate (PG) seats and for
the Delhi University Entrance
Test (DUET) courses will begin
on July 26, he said.
The last date for registra-
tion of PG programmes is
August 21 and for UG pro-
grammes is August 31.
“To make the admission
process hassle-free, a dedicat-
ed portal for admissions will be
launched soon. This will facil-
itate students to fill the forms,
pay fee and check all details
without any problem from the
comfort of their home,” the act-
ing VC said.
0?Q ?0A8B
France will allow interna-
tional travellers who
have had AstraZeneca’s
Indian-manufactured vaccine
(Covishield) into the country
starting Sunday.
At the same time, France
is tightening border checks to
control the spread of the delta
variant and protect hospitals,
according to a statement from
the Prime Minister on
Saturday.
The move to accept visi-
tors vaccinated with
AstraZeneca’s vaccine made
by India’s Serum Institute
came after a global outcry
over the fact that the
European Union’s Covid-19
certificate only recognises
AstraZeneca vaccines manu-
factured in Europe.
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The Uttar Pradesh
Government, after inter-
acting with the Kanwar asso-
ciations, has decided that this
year there will be no Kanwar
Yatra due to the coronavirus
epidemic. Earlier, Chief
Minister Yogi Adityanath had
directed Additional Chief
Secretary (Home) Awanish
Awasthi and Director General
of Police Mukul Goyal to hold
talks with other States in view
of the Kanwar Yatra.
Additional Chief Secretary
(Information) Navneet Sehgal
confirmed here on Saturday
night that after an appeal by the
State Government, the Kanwar
Sangh had accepted the
Government’s decision to post-
pone this year’s
Kanwar Yatra. It may be noted
that last year the Kanwar
Sanghs had themselves post-
poned the Yatra after talks with
the Government. This time
also the Government had
taken this decision only with
the consent of the associations.
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2. QWhat is your role in TV’s
Ghar Ek Mandir - Kripa Agrasen
Maharaja Ki?
I play Manish, Kundan
Agarwal’s eldest son. He is bright
person and is the one whom
Kundan looks up to in terms of
managing his business, but Manish
has his own dreams. He wants to get
out of the family business of making
handmade jewellery and set up a
business of his own or maybe take
up a job in an MNC. He is
influenced by his maternal uncle,
Ratanji because he is the CEO of a
big jewellery house. Manish aspires
to become like him. Hence, there’s
a slight friction between him and
his father in terms of going ahead
in separate ways. But, that doesn’t
mean he disrespects his father. He is
often left disheartened by his father’s
words whenever he tries to voice his
opinions. He is from a community
where the elders are given a lot of
respect and the younger people
have to follow the traditions to the
T.
QWhat made you take up the
role?
The difference of opinion and
the internal strife that Manish goes
through, his dreams, aspirations and
the way he wants to go ahead in his
career, despite the fact that the
power of decision making is
in the hands of his father
only, is what attracted me
to play the character.
His urge to not
disrespect his father,
but at the same time
do something for his
wife and child is
something that
makes this
character even
more interesting.
Q Was acting
always a first
choice?
C o m i n g
from a South
Indian family
who values
e d u c a t i o n
more than
anything else,
I was probably
the first person
in my family
or even the community to enter this
industry. So, there was always a slight
ego hassle with my father, because I
wanted to become an actor and he
didn’t approve of it. I
wanted to break
free from the
mould and hence,
somewhere I can
relate with my
character also. I
finished an MBA
as per my family’s
wishes and then I
told them to let
me give
acting a
shot. I began modeling and acting
was a natural choice for me. I am
happy that my parents are happy with
my progress, though they aspire to
see me in a much better position in
terms of popularity, but I am working
hard for it.
QHow did you get your first break?
My first break was after one-and-
a-half-year of struggle. The moment
I finished my college, I started doing
theatre. I used to a corporate job
during the day; attend my MBA
classes in the evening and at night,
whatever time I used to get, I spent
it doing theatre. For one-and-a-
half-year I have gone to almost
every casting director, I have given
four auditions every day whether it
was for films, TV or even ads. I used
to travel a lot because I lived far away
from the audition hub of the city. It
was only after a long time of
following this routine that I got Balaji
Production’s Bayttaab Dil Kee
Tamanna Hai. And that’s how my
journey began.
QHow has your journey been thus
far? What has been your toughest
moment?
My journey so far has been a
mixed bag. As I mentioned before,
after one-and-a-half-year of struggle
I landed my first role. My show went
off air in six months and then I had
to wait for another six months to get
a show. It was Ram Milaayi Jodi for
Zee TV. After that, I did a few shows
but I wasn’t getting what I wanted in
terms of a good show and a character.
It was again a struggle because I
wasn’t getting the creative
satisfaction. After about three years,
I landed Qubool Hai on Zee TV
again, which gave me some
popularity. But after that there was
a phase when I thought of
whether I should stay in this
industry or not, of course, acting
was my passion, but I was
married and I had
responsibilities. People told me
why I am not doing something
else that will give my popularity
and that got me thinking. I
started questioning my beliefs
and craft. After doing a film Second
Marriage Dot Com in 2012, I thought
may be movies will come to me, but
things didn’t work as I thought they
would. But, with the support of my
family and wife Preet Kaur, who is an
actor herself, I sailed through that
phase. Gradually, I started getting
better shows and projects.
QWhen you look back, do you
think there’s something that you
should have done differently?
Like I mentioned, I had both
highs and lows in my career, the lows
were in fact very bad. So much so,
that people in my family were
questioning my talent and capability.
But, I have always believed that you
have to stick to what you want to do
in life. It’s a tough fight, but I sailed
through it. Sometimes, I think,
because I was good in Maths, I would
have been doing well in the insurance
or the mutual funds market. So, if I
wouldn’t have been an actor, maybe
I would have been a finance guy, but
still I am passive about it.
QIs there a change that you would
like to see in the industry for
actors and other working
professionals?
The only change that I expect is
that of late there has been a lot of
typecast happening, probably if you
play one negative role, then people
call you for that kind of roles only.
So, it’s a request to casting managers
that you should look at an artist from
a character’s point of view, whether
he fits the character or not because
many people have the potential to
play different shades of characters on
screen. I hope to see that change of
not getting typecast.
QHow do you think TV has evolved
over the years? Do you think it is
yet to break from the tag of
regressive?
Thanks to the advent of OTT
platforms and the real ground
breaking shows that are happening
on OTT and are being showered with
love by the audience, TV is now
slowly evolving. I remember doing
shows which were regressive and
absolutely illogical, but now there’s
a lot of thought behind the characters
and the stories. We are moving
towards realism and it’s a challenge
for people in the TV industry
because there’s a lot of competition.
Being an actor from the TV industry,
we ourselves are hooked and hitched
to apps like Amazon, Zee 5 and many
others. But, yes TV is slowly and
steadily evolving.
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CReVU+' !
I
t appears that director Rakeysh
Omprakash Mehra and Farhan
Akhtar work well together. This is
the second time that the two have
worked together. First being Bhaag
Milkha Bhaag back in 2013. Any film
based on sports is interesting to
watch; there is something about a plot
where a person from nowhere rises up
and makes a name for himself. Of
course, the path is not a bed of rose
petals; there are thorns on the way.
And the storyline of Toofan is no
different.
This is where the director
floundered. The story has nothing new
to say or add. There is nothing here
that one has not already seen. The
scenes are familiar as well. The body
building frames are a reminder of what
one has seen in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag
and Sultan. While this was a wow
factor in Sultan, here, one just wished
it was over so that the story could
move forward. Also, the 2 hour 40
minutes of running time could have
been reduced somewhat. The
repetitiveness of the punches, a couple
of songs that make no sense in a sports
movie drag the movie in parts taking
away from an otherwise engaging plot
even if it is fictional.
There was a lot of hype around
this Farhan Akhtar project and kudos
to the actor for being spot on with his
acting. His transformation from a
street-smart Aziz Ali gangster to that
of a boxer is amazing. His
performance is effortless. The
moments of vulnerability, fun,
emotion and love are beautifully dealt
with. As Aziz Ali the gangster and then
a box, he is awesome and mind-
blowing. It is good to see chemistry
between him and Mrunal Thakur. She
moves across the canvas like a fresh
breath.
Even the Hindu-Muslim angle, a
major chunk of the film, has been
tackled well; it is something that
exists — an act of terror that killed
Paresh Rawal’s onscreen wife. His
anger is there for all to see; his
condescending attitude that Aziz Ali
is from Dongri, a reference that only
Mumbaikars will understand, is open.
And yet, his love for the sport – boxing
overrides everything. As Nana Prabhu
his performance is awesome all
through. First as a coach, then a father
and finally grandfather. Vijay Raaz,
Supriya Pathak and Darshan Kumaar
give a good performance as well.
Overall, Toofan is a movie that
needs to be watched for Farhan
Akhtar’s performance.
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347A03D=kBD=30H k9D;H '!!
?=BQ 347A03D=
In view of the recent propos-
al passed in the board meet-
ing of the Municipal
Corporation of Dehradun
(MCD) according to which a
person will have to plant five
saplings for each tree felled, the
experts opine that this decision
lacks planning and is bound to
fail. Dehradun mayor Sunil
Uniyal 'Gama' recently
announced that the corpora-
tion will not issue any No
Objection Certificate (NOC)
for free like earlier and the new
applicants will have to abide by
some rules to obtain NOC. The
applicants will now have to pay
Rs 2,000 to MCD for each tree
which is to be cut down for res-
idential use of land besides
planting five trees in the city
before getting the NOC. In case
the tree is being cut for com-
mercial use of land, applicants
will have to pay Rs 10,000 for
each tree felled besides planti-
ng 10 trees. The applicants will
be asked to submit the pho-
tographs of the planted saplings
in MCD as proof with their
application, informed the
mayor. He also clari-
fied that those who
do not have any land
to plant the trees can
provide the saplings
to the corporation for
plantation.
Talking about
this decision, an
activist and secretary
of a Citizens For
Green Doon (CFGD),
Himanshu Arora opined that
this decision of the corporation
lacks proper planning as it is
not a practical decision to fol-
low to save the environment.
When such big trees get
burned or destroyed in forests
due to various factors includ-
ing climatic conditions then
how will the saplings survive?
Several people plant thousands
of saplings on occasions like
environment day or Harela
festival but how many actual-
ly grow and survive is not
monitored, said Arora. There
is a certain season for planta-
tion, so does that mean people
will cut down trees only during
that time or they will plant the
tree without considering
whether it grows to be a healthy
tree or not? There are several
factors which have been
ignored by the corporation
while making this decision,
asserted Arora. However, he
also suggested that rather than
asking applicants to plant
saplings, MCD should ask
them to provide tree guards
which will help in saving the
saplings during harsh weather
conditions. He also said that
space is also an issue in the city
for planting trees. Public Works
Department (PWD) should
also leave some space while
making roads to plant trees
rather than concretising them
from edge to edge, said Arora.
Dehradun based activist
and human rights lawyer
Reenu Paul also called this
decision of the MCD imprac-
tical. She said that probably if
the corporation marks a spe-
cific land in the city where trees
can be planted making it like a
city forest then it is possible. A
person who will cut trees from
his or her land rather than
accommodating it cannot be
trusted for tree plantation and
then taking care of them.
Certain organisations dedicat-
ed to this work in the city
would do better work, said
Paul. She also expressed her
scepticism regarding MCD's
decision as according to Paul
only the forest department has
the authority to allow the cut-
ting of trees.
Responding to such reser-
vations about MCD’s plan, the
municipal commissioner Vinay
Shankar Pandey said that the
corporation will just provide
the NOC to the eligible appli-
cants as per the rules with the
new conditions but the final
decision will be taken by the
forest department. He further
added that the corporation has
taken this decision after prop-
er planning to make people
more responsible towards the
environment here.
?=BQ 347A03D=
The State Health depart-
ment reported only 32 new
cases of the novel Coronavirus
(Covid-19) and death of one
patient from the disease on
Saturday.
The department also
reported 66 recoveries from the
disease in Uttarakhand on the
day. The cumulative count of
Covid-19 patients in the state
has now increased to 3,41,433
while a total of 3,27,412
patients have recovered from
the disease so far. In the state
7356 people have lost their lives
to Covid -19 till date. The
recovery percentage from the
disease is now at 95.89 and the
sample positivity rate is at 5.73
per cent in the state. The
authorities collected 23,795
samples in different parts of the
state on Saturday.
The department reported
eight new patients from
Nainital, five each from
Dehradun, Haridwar and
Pithoragarh, two each from
Udham Singh Nagar and
Uttarkashi and one each from
Almora, Chamoli, Pauri,
Rudraprayag and Tehri on
Saturday. No new cases of the
disease were found from
Bageshwar and Champawat
districts on the day. Death of
one patient of the disease was
reported from Sushila Tiwari
government hospital on
Saturday. The state now has
only 656 active patients of the
disease. Dehradun district is at
top of the table in the list of
active cases with 254 patients
while Haridwar in the second
position with 72 active cases.
Pithoragarh has 45, Udham
Singh Nagar 44, Champawat
39, Chamoli and Rudraprayag
35 each, Nainital 31, Pauri 30,
Uttarkashi 27, Tehri 25, Almora
13 and Bageshwar six active
cases of the disease.
The state reported six new
cases of Mucormycosis (Black
fungus) and death of four
patients from the disease on
Saturday.
A total of 542 patients of
Black Fungus have been report-
ed till date in the state and out
of them 114 have died.
In the ongoing vaccination
drive, the health department
vaccinated 50,417 people in 546
sessions held on Saturday.
3_fYT!)*#^UgSQcUc
bUS_fUbYUc_^CQdebTQiY^Eµ[XQ^T
?=BQ347A03D=
In view of the probable third
wave of the pandemic of
Covid-19,anoxygenplantbased
on Pressure Swing Adsorption
(PSA)isbeingsetupatAllIndia
Institute of Medical Sciences
(AIIMS) Rishikesh. The 1,000
litre per minute capacity plant is
being set up with the help of
Defence Research and
Development Organisation
(DRDO) and is expected to
become operational within a
month. The Director of AIIMS-
Rishikesh,DrRaviKantsaidthat
at present, AIIMS has a liquid
oxygen storage plant with a
capacity of 30,000 litres which is
equivalent to 25 million litres of
oxygengas.Hesaidthatwiththe
helpofthenewoxygenplant,the
production of oxygen gas will
also start in the premises itself.
He added that the plant is being
set up under the PM Care Fund.
The Dean Hospital
Administration, Dr U B Mishra
said that 64 ventilators can be
operated at the same time at 15
liters per minute oxygen supply
from PSA Oxygen Plant.
?=BQ 347A03D=
Moving ahead with the free
electricity promise made
recently to the people of
Uttarakhand by Arvind
Kejriwal, the Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP) in Uttarakhand has
started a campaign to reach 15
lakh households of the state on
Saturday.
The party claims that
under the campaign ten thou-
sand workers of the party have
fanned out in all 70 assembly
constituencies of the state with
its unique ‘free electricity guar-
antee card’.
Delhi CM Kejriwal had
recently promised 300 units of
free electricity every month,
waiver of old bills, uninter-
rupted electricity supply and
free electricity to farmers if the
party is voted to power in
Uttarakhand.
Talking with the media
persons in charge of the
Uttarakhand unit of AAP,
Dinesh Mohaniya said that
10000 workers of AAP would
take the four guarantees given
by Kejriwal to every household
of the state. He said that under
the campaign people would be
digitally registered for the elec-
tricity guarantee. Mohania said
that the AAP workers would
also set up registration camps
under the campaign. People
can also register themselves on
http://www.kejriwalbijliguar-
antee.in for the free electrici-
ty campaign.
Mohania said that the reg-
istration would commence on
July 18 and end on August 1.
Senior leader of AAP, Col
( Retd) Ajay Kothiyal said that
Uttarakhand is suffering from
political disaster from the last
20 years and the successive gov-
ernments here have focussed
on the well being of themselves
instead of providing relief to the
people.
He said that some parties
are terming free electricity as
freebee but if chief minister,
ministers and MLAs can get
free electricity why it cannot be
provided to the common pub-
lic. He said that it is unfortu-
nate that the state which is pro-
ducing electricity for others as
well cannot provide it free to its
people.
The president of
Uttarakhand unit of AAP, S S
Kaler exhorted the party work-
ers to carry the message of
Kejriwal to every household.
?=BQ 347A03D=
The failure of the Congress
leadership to douse the
political fire in Punjab is exert-
ing its impact on Uttarakhand
as well. Since the party is
focussing on Punjab, the party
high command has kept the
leadership issue in Uttarakhand
on hold. Despite the latest
statement of the Punjab chief
minister Amarinder Singh,
political observers point out
that all is not as well as it seems.
The general secretary of
All India Congress Committee
(AICC) and former Chief
Minister Harish Rawat who is
the key player of Congress in
Uttarakhand is also embroiled
in Punjab in his capacity as in
charge of the Punjab unit of the
party. In Punjab, a bitter fac-
tional fight is going on between
chief minister Captain
Amarinder Singh and cricketer
turned politician Navjot Singh
Siddhu.
In Uttarakhand, the
Congress is yet to find a leader
of its Legislature party after the
demise of Indira Hridayesh.
After deliberating for two
days in Delhi, the Congress
Legislature Party (CLP) had
passed a one line resolution on
June 28 authorising the
Congress high command to
take the decision on CLP
leader. It is learnt that the
party has made up its mind to
remove Pritam Singh from the
post of Pradesh Congress
Committee (PCC) president
and make him the CLP leader.
However both the camps head-
ed by Rawat and Pritam Singh
are insisting that a person from
their choice should be made
the new PCC chief.
Ganesh Godiyal, a
Brahmin from Garhwal is said
to be frontrunner among many
probable candidates for the
coveted post of PCC president.
The Congress has made up its
mind to make Harish Rawat as
the chairman of the all impor-
tant election campaign com-
mittee of the Congress in
Uttarakhand. The party is
also likely to relieve him from
the responsibility of Punjab
once the dust is settled there.
When contacted by The
Pioneer, Manglaur MLA and
secretary of AICC, Qazi
Nizamuddin said that the party
high command would soon
appoint a new CLP in
Uttarakhand.
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00?c^RPaahUaTTT[TRcaXRXch_a^XbT^U:TYaXfP[c^ $[PZWW^Tb
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The patron of Chinhit Rajya
Andolankari Sanyukt
Samiti and Vice President of
Uttarakhand Congress,
Dhirendra Pratap has said that
effigies of state government
would be burned in all the 13
districts of the state for three
days in protest against regis-
tering of cases on statehood
activists on July 14.
Addressing the media per-
sons at Uttarakhand Sadan in
Delhi on Saturday, Pratap said
that cases were registered on
statehood activists when they
organised a Raj Bhawan
Gherao programme.
He said that protests would
be organised in all the districts
of the state on July 18, 19 and
20. Pratap said that
Uttarakhand was created due to
the sacrifice of the statehood
activists and it is unfortunate
that the state government has
started targeting them along
with opposition parties. He
said that instead of providing
10 per cent reservations to
statehood activists in govern-
ment jobs and giving them
pensions the government is
registering cases on them.
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cdQdUX__TQSdYfYcdc*@bQdQ`
?=BQ347A03D=
A95 year old woman has
successfully undergone
surgery for implantation of
pacemaker in Dehradun. The
nonagenarian was operated by
a team of doctors at Kailash
hospital here. The senior con-
sultant and Head of department
of Cardiology of the hospital,
Dr Raj Pratap Singh who led a
team said she is probably the
oldest person in Uttarakhand to
have successfully undergone
pacemaker implantation
surgery.
The surgery involved
inserting passive leads into the
heart through a blood vessel
running under the collarbone.
“Given the patient’s age, we pre-
pared in a manner that time on
the operation table was as less
as possible to reduce any com-
plications or infections during
or post-surgery.
She was discharged four
days after surgery and resumed
her day-to-day life soon,’’ he
said. Dr Singh is the first doc-
tor in Uttarakhand and adjoin-
ing region to perform world’s
smallest pacemaker (MICRA)
and heart valve replacement
without surgery (TAVI).
The director of Kailash
Hospital, Pawan Sharma and
Medical Superintendent Dr
Atish Sinha congratulated the
team of doctors on their suc-
cess.
?=BQ 347A03D=
ChiefMinisterPushkarSingh
Dhami stressed that the
Rishikesh-Karnprayag rail pro-
ject should be completed by
2024. He issued this instruction
when officials of the Rail Vikas
Nigam Limited (RVNL) met
him and informed him in detail
about the works being under-
taken as part of the project. The
officials also invited him to visit
the sites to inspect the project
works.
During the interaction, the
Chief Minister sought detailed
information from the RVNL
officials about the Rishikesh-
Karnprayag rail project, Char
Dham rail project and the final
location of the Tanakpur-
Bageshwar broad gauge rail line.
He directed that the Rishikesh-
Karnprayag project be com-
pleted by 2024. Dhami stressed
that the state government will
provide all required cooperation
for completion of Uttarakhand’s
importantrailprojectsforwhich
the officials concerned have
also been issued directions.
He said that he had also
talked to the Union Railway
Minister regarding the railway
projects in the state and that he
had requested the minister for
expediting the work on these
projects. RVNL chief project
manager for the Rishikesh-
Karnprayag project, Himanshu
Badoni informed the Chief
Minister that work on this pro-
ject is being executed at a swift
pace.
Though the pace of work
had been affected by the Covid-
19 pandemic, the pace of exe-
cution has picked up again now.
Work on construction of about
10 kilometres of tunnel has
been completed so far, he said.
The project geologist Vijay
Dangwal, deputy general man-
ager Bhupinder Singh and oth-
ers were also present during the
meeting.
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ac`[VTe`_eZ^V+45YR^Z ?=B Q 347A03D=
Chief Minister Pushkar
Singh Dhami inaugurated
the Mukhyamantri
Mahalakshmi Yojana (MMY)
on Saturday. Along with the
Woman Empowerment and
Child Development minister
Rekha Arya, he presented
Mahalakshmi kits to the eligi-
ble women on the occasion. A
total of 16,929 persons in all the
districts will benefit under this
scheme.
Speaking on the occasion,
Dhami said that Prime
Minister Narendra Modi had
initiated the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti
Padhao’ campaign. He said
that it was due to the farsight-
edness of the PM that the
campaign resulted in wide-
spread public awareness. An
improvement in the gender
ratio had also been seen as a
result of this campaign. He said
that the Nanda-Gaura Devi
Kanyadhan Yojana is an impor-
tant scheme or encouraging
girls. The Mukhyamantri
Vatsalya Yojana (MVY) will
also be started soon, he added.
Speaking on the occasion,
Arya stressed on the need for
eradicating double standards to
enable girls to progress further.
Men and women are equally
important in a society, she
said while reiterating the need
for eradicating the mentality of
discrimination.
According to officials,
under the MMY aimed at
ensuring nutrition and addi-
tional care of mothers after
delivery and their daughters,
the Mahalakshmi kit is being
provided to mothers and their
infant daughters after the birth
of first two daughters/twin
daughters. Those wanting to
apply for benefit under this
scheme need to be registered at
the Anganwadi centre and pre-
sent a copy of a private or gov-
ernmental MCP card.
Institutional delivery certificate,
a copy of the family register, self
attested declaration regarding
birth of first, second/twin
daughters and certificate
regarding not being a regular
government/semi-governmen-
tal employee and income tax-
payer are also needed to ben-
efit under this scheme.
0XNKDPDQWUL0DKDODNVKPL
RMDQDODXQFKHG
?=BQ 347A03D=
In a step aimed at helping
resolve the pending issue of
the employees of Uttarakhand
Transport Corporation (UTC),
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh
Dhami approved a sum of Rs
34 crore for their salaries and
other expenses. Dhami said
that the state government is
committed to the interests of
the employees and eager to
resolve all of their problems.
It is pertinent to mention
here that due to buses not being
operated during the Covid-19
pandemic, the salaries of the
corporation employees were
not being paid due to the loss
suffered by UTC. This issue
was discussed in detail during
the cabinet meeting on July 14
and the chief minister was
authorised to take a decision
for providing assistance to
resolve the issues of the
employees. Following up on
that decision, Dhami approved
a sum of Rs 34 crore for the
salaries and other expenses of
UTC employees.
C#Ra^aTP__a^eTSU^a
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?=BQ 347A03D=
Most parts of the state are
likely to experience a rainy
Sunday. The State meteorolog-
ical centre has issued an alert
about the possibility of heavy
rainfall at a few places with very
heavy to extremely heavy rain-
fall at isolated place in districts
of Kumaon region on Sunday.
Further,heavytoveryheavy
rainfall is also likely to occur at
isolated places in Chamoli,
Rudraprayag, Dehradun and
Pauri districts of the state today,
the meteorological centre
warned. Apart from this, light to
moderate rain/thundershowers
are likely to occur at most places
in the state on Sunday.
For the provisional state
capital Dehradun, the meteoro-
logical centre has forecast the
possibility of heavy rain/thun-
dershowers with the maximum
and minimum temperatures
likely to be about 29 degrees
Celsius and 24 degrees Celsius
respectively.
The maximum and mini-
mum temperatures recorded at
various places on Saturday were
30.6 degrees Celsius and 23.5
degrees Celsius respectively in
Dehradun, 35.5 degrees Celsius
and 25.5 degrees Celsius in
Pantnagar, 21.8 degrees Celsius
and 15.5 degrees Celsius in
Mukteshwar and 25 degrees
Celsius and 19.2 degrees Celsius
respectively in New Tehri.
Meanwhile, according to
the State Emergency Operation
Centre (SEOC) a number of
roads have remained blocked in
various districts following rains
and landslides among other fac-
tors. In Chamoli district while
theRishikesh-Badrinathnation-
al highway 58 is open for traf-
fic, eight rural motor roads are
blocked. Six rural motor roads
areclosedtotrafficinDehradun
district whereas two state roads
and five rural motor roads are
blocked in Pauri district. In
Uttarkashi district, the
Rishikesh-Gangotri national
highway 108 and Rishikesh-
Yamunotri national highway
94 are open while two rural
motor roads are blocked.
Similarly, four rural motor
roads are blocked in the Tehri
district. In the Kumaon region,
three rural motor roads are
blocked in Bageshwar district
while six rural motor roads are
blocked in Champawat district.
In the Pithoragarh district two
border roads and six rural
motor roads are blocked. Efforts
are underway to restore traffic
flow on all the blocked roads.
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?=BQ =08=8C0;
Hearing on a public inter-
est litigation challenging
the government ordered ban
on slaughter houses in
Haridwar district, the
Uttarakhand high court has
questioned the validity of this
decision. The court has not
ordered an immediate stay on
the government’s order and set
July 23 for detailed hearing of
this case. The matter was
taken up for hearing by the
division bench of chief justice
RS Chauhan and justice Alok
Verma.
According to the case
details, the state government
had issued a government
order in March 2021, shutting
down slaughter houses in the
entire Haridwar district.
Earlier, the prohibition was
applicable only in religious
places.
Manglaur resident Iftikar
and others filed a PIL chal-
lenging this decision of the
state government. They have
contended that the govern-
ment can prohibit the sale of
meat in religious places but
not in the entire district. The
petitioner has sought a stay on
this order of the government
considering the occasion of
Bakri Eid on July 21. The high
court division bench set the
case for detailed hearing on
July 23.
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088BAc^WPeTXcb
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4. 347A03D=kBD=30H k9D;H '!! ]PcX^]#
?=BQ =08=8C0;
Nature Bio Foods and Fair
Farming Foundation,
Sonipat has started a soil test-
ing centre for organic farming
at Chorpani in Ramnagar. This
centre provides testing facility
for major plant nutrients like
nitrogen, phosphorus and
potassium along with micro-
nutrients. Nature Bio Foods
launched this facility to pro-
mote organic farming in the
state.
Project in-charge Ashish
Srivastava said that the soul of
organic farming is healthy soil
and for healthy soil, testing it
is the first step.
Organic farming is not just
a method of agriculture, but a
way of healthy living and the
best solution for a safe future.
Bahadur Singh Bajwal, the
chairman of farmer’s society in
the project welcomed the ini-
tiative.
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?=BQ 347A03D=
Trainer, counsellor and
research and development
expert Kanchan Negi of
Dehradun has received
Outstanding Global Training
Professional award given by the
Global Education Summit 2021
in the field of education. She
has also been bestowed with
the Rashtriya Gaurav Puraskar
which is given for outstanding
work in the fields of education,
health, social service and entre-
preneurship.
1HJLUHFHLYHV
WZRDZDUGV
?=BQ 270=3860A7
Haryana Chief Minister
Manohar Lal Khattar on
Saturday said that the supply of
drinking water will be
increased by 60 MLD in
Faridabad city from August 1.
“For this, the Municipal
Corporation has already set up
six rainy wells which have
been started by FMDA. The
number of rainy wells in the
city will now increase to 22 and
the drinking water supply will
reach 180 MLD. The city will
get 30 per cent additional
water,” said the Chief Minister
while interacting with media-
persons after the second meet-
ing of the Faridabad
Metropolitan Development
Authority (FMDA) in
Faridabad.
Union Minister of State for
Power and Heavy Industry,
Krishan Pal, Haryana
Transport Minister Mool
Chand Sharma were also pre-
sent in the meeting.
The Chief Minister said
that the city bus service has
received excellent response in
Faridabad and now the officers
have been directed to find new
routes in the busy areas of the
city and increase its frequency.
Along with this, intercity bus
service will also be started
between Faridabad and
Gurugram. This will benefit
thousands of people commut-
ing between the two industri-
al cities, he said.
He further said that the
water problem has always been
there in the three underpasses
built under the railway lines of
the city. To solve this problem,
FMDA has increased the num-
ber of motors here.
Instructions have also been
given to dispose of the water
here in one of the main drains,
he added.
Khattar said that a large
number of tankers supply water
to the city. These include the
industrial sector as well.
Directions have been given to
FMDA that separate feeder
stations should be prepared for
filling water in tankers, he
said. The Chief Minister also
said that both the National
Highways connect the city
from north to south. Now, a
proposal has been prepared to
build two roads to connect the
city. One of these will connect
Ankhir to Manjhawali via
Sector-28 and the other will
connect Greater Faridabad via
Sohna Road.
In order to improve the
financial condition of FMDA,
instructions were given to give
one percent stamp duty and
now a notification has also
been issued by the Town and
Country Planning Department
in this regard. Capital will be
raised for FMDA from many
other sources including EDC,
license fee and CLU, he said.
FPcTabd__[hc^X]RaTPbTQhX]5PaXSPQPS):WPccPa
?=BQ 270=3860A7
Slamming Punjab Chief
Minister Captain
Amarinder Singh on his state-
ment that Prime Minister
Narendra Modi should talk to
the farmer leaders to end the
ongoing agitation as Khalistani
terrorists are trying to woo
them, the Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP) Punjab state president
and MP Bhagwant Mann on
Saturday said that Captain
Amarinder had always been
trying to derail the farmers’
movement.
In a statement issued,
Mann said that Captain
Amarinder should refrain from
defaming the farmers by call-
ing them extremists or
Khalistanis.
He said that Captain had
never once directly told PM
Modi that these farm laws
were wrong and should be
repealed in the interest of the
farmers’ but had been making
such statements to suppress the
movement.
Mann said that both
Captain and Modi were hand
in glove and were working to
suppress the farmers’ move-
ment by opting various tactics
and maneuvers. “Why is
Captain Amarinder blaming
the farmers when there is no
connection between the farm-
ers’ movement and cross bor-
der terrorism?” he added.
Further questioning the
Chief Minister, Mann said
whether any action taken by the
farmers so far proved to
Captain, that they were pro-
Khalistan or pro-terrorist. He
said that in fact, Captain
Amarinder was trying to cre-
ate a rift between the farmers
and the common man by intim-
idating the people of Punjab in
the name of extremism.
Taking a dig at Captain
Amarinder, Mann said, “If half
of the number of rounds that
Captain has made to save his
seat in the Delhi Darbar; would
have been made to Modi, then
the issue of the farmers could
have been resolved.”
The AAP leader said that
Captain was playing poor pol-
itics just to garner good self in
regard with the ongoing farm-
ers' movement, while in reali-
ty he can go to any length to
'torpedo' the farmers' move-
ment.
Mann further said that the
Aam Aadmi Party has been
raising the voice of the farmers
from the very beginning and
the issues of the farmers would
be raised loudly during the
upcoming session of
Parliament.
?=BQ 270=3860A7
Haryana Power Minister
Ranjit Singh on Saturday
said that the state has been
ranked second in the ninth
Discoms integrated ratings
released by the Central
Government.
This has been possible due
to the fundamental changes
introduced by the present State
Government in the power sec-
tor. The integrated ratings are
based on the performance of 41
power distribution companies
across the country, the Minister
said.
Giving details, Singh said
that Haryana Bijli Vitran
Nigam has been ranked second
in the country in these ratings
for the financial year 2019-20.
This has been the finest per-
formance of Haryana Discom
so far in the history of the state.
The Union Ministry of
Power monitors the work of
various power companies
across the country in collabo-
ration with ICRA, Analytics
Limited and Care Advisory
Research and Training Limited.
The first such ranking in the
country was done in the finan-
cial year 2012-13, he said.
Singh informed that
Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran
Nigam Limited has got A+
grade along with four compa-
nies of Gujarat and Uttar
Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam has
got A grade. In the perfor-
mance of all the states of the
country, all the four companies
of Gujarat have got the first
place and Haryana has been
ranked second overall.
The Power Minister fur-
ther said that several parame-
ters are considered for such rat-
ings. Listing out the parame-
ters, he said that the first is the
operational and reform para-
meter, for which 43 marks
have been fixed. This includes
power purchases for loss, cost
efficiency, RPO compliance,
corporate governance. Its sec-
ond external parameter has15
marks wherein the marks of
regulatory and government
support are given. Similarly,
third is the financial parame-
ter of 42 marks, which includes
cost coverage ratio, interest
coverage ratio, audit, sustain-
ability, receivables etc, he said.
Both the Power Utilities of
Haryana have been given out-
standing ranking on the basis
of very high operational and
financial performance capa-
bility, he added.
Singh also said that the
government is continuously
moving towards the goal of
providing 24 hours power sup-
ply to every village and city of
the state.
?=BQ 270=3860A7
Haryana Deputy Chief
Minister Dushyant
Chautala on Saturday said that
with an aim to encourage and
promote small industries in the
rural areas, the State
Government will soon intro-
duce One Block, One Product
scheme.
Under this scheme, the
State Government plans to
connect every block of Haryana
with some industrial vision, he
said.
The Deputy Chief Minister
informed that in the last one
year, Haryana's 'One District,
One Product' scheme which is
being implemented under
MSME (Micro, Small and
Medium Enterprises) has come
up as a model across the coun-
try. Moreover, it has been
adopted by the Central
Government in its budget as
well, he said.
Dushyant said that the
State Government is planning
to introduce “One Block, One
Product” in 137 blocks of the
state, wherein arrangements
for common services, lab test-
ing, packaging, transportation,
accountancy etc. will be set up
in the cluster itself.
With this, the small entre-
preneurs working in rural areas
would be able to compete with
large industries, he said.
The Deputy Chief Minister
further said that about two
weeks ago, the State
Government had given a target
to the team of officers consti-
tuted with regard to imple-
mentation of this scheme. The
team had started work on the
selection of products by segre-
gating 137 blocks, he added
He also said that the State
Government will boost the
ethnic Indian handicraft indus-
tries under the “One Block,
One Product” scheme.
2P_cPX]0PaX]STabW^d[S
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UPaTab)1WPVfP]cP]]
8QbiQ^QbQ^[UT
cUS_^TY^TYcS_]c
Y^dUWbQdUTbQdY^Wc
7ahc^X]ca^SdRT
³]T1[^RZ]T
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3dbWhP]c2WPdcP[P
?=BQ 270=3860A7
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)
president Sukhbir Singh
Badal on Saturday urged
President Ram Nath Kovind to
withdraw the report submitted
by the Chancellor’s high level
committee on governance
reforms in association with
the Panjab University besides
ensuring the territorial juris-
diction of the University was
not curtailed in any manner.
He also urged that the
Governor of Punjab be restored
as ex-officio Chancellor of
Panjab University besides call-
ing for the ouster of Vice
Chancellor Dr Raj Kumar.
In a letter to the President,
Sukhbir urged him to person-
ally intervene and assuage the
sentiment of Punjabis world-
wide which had been wound-
ed by the attempted brazen cul-
tural and administrative inva-
sion and takeover of the Panjab
University.
He said Punjabis were
deeply disturbed by conspira-
cies to submerge their culture
into a nameless set of ideas, val-
ues and cultural ethos quite
alien to this region and its
proud people in the garb of
governance reforms.
The SAD chief said as per
the will and vision of the
founders of the University, this
institution was created for the
people of Punjab to preserve
and promote their academic,
intellectual and cultural her-
itage. However at the time of
reorganization of the state, the
University was classified as an
“inter-state body corporate”
and the term “government” in
the Act was changed from the
“government of Punjab” to
“government of India” effec-
tively taking away the institu-
tion from the State.
“Subsequently another amend-
ment was affected to make the
Vice President the Chancellor
of the varsity instead of the
Punjab Governor,” he added.
Briefing the President
about the latest blow to the
University, Sukhbir said in
November 2020, the University
Grants Commission (UGC)
sought suggestions on gover-
nance reforms in line with the
New Education Policy of that
year.
He said Vice President
Venkaiah Naidu, who was the
ex-officio Chancellor of Panjab
University, formed an 11-mem-
ber High Level Committee
(HLC) in February 2020 with-
out nominating a single mem-
ber from its senate or syndicate.
The committee recommended
drastic reduction in the territo-
rialjurisdictionoftheUniversity
disaffiliatingover200collegesin
Punjab besides calling for abo-
lition of the Registered
Graduates elected Constituency
and its replacement with four
members to be nominated by
the VC, he said. “This con-
stituency originally sent eight
people from Punjab alone out of
the total 15. This symbolizes the
total elimination of Punjabis
from the running of the
University,” he added.
Sukhbir said the committee
recommendations also made it
clear that now all powers would
rest not with the elected repre-
sentativesofthealumnibutwith
an autocratic Vice Chancellor.
“This elimination of Punjabis
fromtheuniversityissealedwith
the third recommendation by
HLC which says that the
Syndicate shall have only ex-
officioandnominatedmembers
instead of elected representa-
tives,” he said.
He further said the recom-
mendationsconstitutedapainful
distrust of the people of Punjab
through their elected members
and it also amounted to humil-
iating their voice and pushing
them out of the national main-
stream. Punjabis were further
saddened that both centrist par-
ties, the Congress and the BJP,
were hands in glove over such
anti-Punjab and anti-federal
and therefore anti-national
moves. It comes as no surprise
thattheCongressgovernmentin
Punjab has maintained an eerie
silence on this issue. In their
case, silence is consent, he
added. The SAD president also
urgedthePresidenttogiveaper-
sonal audience to the alumni of
Panjab University in this regard
while asserting that the SAD
would wage a relentless fight to
preserve and promote Punjab,
Punjabi and Punjabiyat and
considerednopricetoohigh for
the achievement of this noble
objective.
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?=BQ 270=3860A7
Punjab Chief Secretary Vini
Mahajan on Saturday said
that major infrastructure devel-
opment projects worth Rs
69,000-crore are underway to
give boost to the agriculture
and industrial development in
the state.
She was chairing a meeting
with the administrative secre-
taries of various departments
and deputy commissioners to
review the progress of the
ongoing work on the infra-
structure development pro-
jects.
The Chief Secretary direct-
ed the concerned departments
and all the deputy commis-
sioners to expedite the present
pace and ensure time-bound
completion of all the major
infrastructure projects in the
state. Mahajan asked to execute
8 major infrastructure devel-
opment projects, under Project
Monitoring Group (PMG),
which include Rajpura-
Bathinda and Bhanupali-
Bilaspur railway line, and con-
struction of a dedicated freight
corridor, involving an invest-
ment of Rs 69,000 crore on a
war footing.
These projects hold the key
to future agricultural as well as
industrial growth in the agrar-
ian state. They would act as a
fresh lifeline for Punjab, which
is otherwise landlocked, opined
Mahajan, while asking the offi-
cial machinery to be more
proactive in implementation of
these projects. Giving out a
detailed presentation of various
projects, Principal Secretary
Public Works (BR) Vikas
Pratap informed the Chief
Secretary that eastern dedicat-
ed freight corridor from
Sahnewal (Punjab) to Dankuni
(West Bengal) with a length of
1,856-km was being construct-
ed which shall facilitate high-
speed movement of freight from
Punjab to the ports on the
eastern as well the western
coasts of India. The length of
this corridor in Punjab is 88-km
and it also involves construction
of 26 railway over and under
bridges. This project shall be
beneficial for smooth and fast
movement of food grains, and
industrial goods from Punjab to
other states, he said. The meet-
ing also reviewed the progress
of major ongoing national high-
way projects in Punjab, which
include Delhi-Amritsar-Katra
expressway to connect
Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar,
Kapurthala Sangrur, and Patiala
to the national capital Delhi.
Apart from this, other key pro-
jects, including Amritsar-
Bathinda greenfield highway,
Jalandhar and Ludhiana bypass,
Ludhiana-Ropar greenfield
highway through Kharar, and
Malout-Abohar-Saduwali high-
way, were also reviewed with the
NHAI and the PWD
officials. The Chief Secretary
directed all the deputy com-
missioners to coordinate with
the PWD (BR) and the NHAI
officialsconcernedtoresolvethe
issues of land acquisition, shift-
ing of utilities and forest clear-
ances, if any, to ensure the time-
bound completion of these
major highway projects as well.
The Principal Secretary PWD
informed that four retired offi-
cers have been appointed as
dedicated arbitrators to adjudi-
cate any challenge being pre-
ferred by the landowners to the
compensation awarded by the
land acquisition collectors.
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Haryana Government has
got in-principle approval
from the Central Government
to set up a 'Cultural Centre' in
Kurukshetra
Apart from this, the
Centre and Haryana
Government will work joint-
ly to expand and develop the
famous ‘International
Surajkund Craft Mela’ into a
grand affair for which a com-
prehensive plan has been for-
mulated.
Both the issues were dis-
cussed during a meeting
between Union Tourism
Minister G Kishan Reddy and
Haryana Chief Minister
Manohar Lal Khattar on
Saturday in New Delhi.
The meeting also reviewed
the progress of various ongo-
ing tourism projects in
Haryana. During the meeting,
the Union Tourism Minister
appreciated the ongoing
tourism projects being pur-
sued by the Haryana
Government.
The Union Minister
assured that all possible coop-
eration and help will be
extended by the Ministry of
Tourism for various tourism
projects of the state.
The State Government is
implementing various pro-
jects to develop 'Kurukshetra'
as a Religious Tourism Centre.
Likewise, the Government also
plans to develop 'Kurukshetra'
as a 'Cultural Centre',
said an official
spokesman.
In-principle approval to
set up a 'North Zone Cultural
Centre' in Kurukshetra has
also been given by the Central
Government. Presently, ‘North
Zone Cultural Centre’ is in
Patiala (Punjab), he
said.
Among other projects in
Kurukshetra, the detailed pro-
ject description of the muse-
um to be established at Jyotisar
in Kurukshetra has been sub-
mitted by the Haryana
Government to the Union
Ministry of Tourism. This will
be the first world class muse-
um in the country with state-
of-the-art technology to be
established in Kurukshetra,
the spokesman
said.
He also said that the
Centre and Haryana
Government plans to work
jointly by formulating a plan
for expanding and making
the 'International Surajkund
Crafts Mela' a grand affair.
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Haryana Government on
Saturday directed the
Deputy Commissioners to
complete the work of proper-
ty registration of the Lal Dora
free villages at the earliest.
Financial Commissioner
and Additional Chief Secretary,
Revenue and Disaster
Management and
Consolidation Department,
Sanjeev Kaushal gave these
directions while reviewing the
SVAMITVA Scheme through
video conferencing from
Chandigarh.
Kaushal asked the officers
to organise a special fortnight
(pakhwada) for ‘property reg-
istration’ and organise special
camps in villages so that this
work can be completed soon.
He also asked them to complete
this work by September 15.
The Additional Chief
Secretary further asked the
officers to expedite the work of
identifying Nishandehi, drone
mapping and cover maximum
villages on a daily basis. He also
suggested taking assistance
from other departments to
complete these tasks
swiftly. The work of identifying
the fixed land of Panchayat
such as Chaupal, Panchayat
Ghar, Mandir and open lands
like ponds, parks and vacant
land in villages should be com-
pleted at the earliest, he said.
Kaushal further said that
Haryana is doing exceptional-
ly well when compared to other
states of the country. This
scheme has been implemented
by the Government of India in
the country as SVAMITVA
Scheme, he added.
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Union Home Minister Amit
Shah on Saturday said
India’s security policy was either
“influenced or was overlapping”
withtheforeignpolicyanditwas
only after Narendra Modi
became Prime Minister that the
country got an independent
security strategy.
The assertions came while
Shah was delivering the
“Rustamji memorial lecture”
that was attended by Border
Security Force (BSF) personnel
and also top intelligence chiefs.
Addressing the largest bor-
der guarding Force, the Home
Minister also declared that his
governmentisworkingtoensure
that there “will be no gap in the
fencing”alongIndia’sbordersby
next year.
The unfenced gaps along
India’s over 7,500-km-long land
border will be sealed by the end
of this year, covering vulnera-
bilities that lead to infiltration
and smuggling of arms and
narcotics.
About three per cent of the
country’s border was unfenced,
atpresent,andthishaslefta“big
space” for infiltration of terror-
ists and other border crimes like
smugglingofarms,ammunition
and narcotics, he said.
India will soon develop
indigenous counter-drone tech-
nology. This is being done by
technical organisations like the
DRDO and some other agen-
cies, he said.
His comments came in the
backdrop of the first drone
strike on the IAF station in
Jammu late last month in which
bombs were dropped through
UAVs.
The security and technolo-
gy development establishment
was also working on artificial
intelligence and robotic tech-
nologies to counter attacks
through such precision mecha-
nisms, he said.
At the annual event of
investiture ceremony and
memorial lecture, Shah also
gave away gallantry medals to
serving personnel and for those
killedinthelineofdutyfromthe
country’s largest frontier force.
On the security policy, the
Home Minister said, “I used to
think if there is a security poli-
cy of this country or not? Till
Narendra Modi became the
Prime Minister, we did not have
any independent security poli-
cy.”
“It was either influenced by
foreign policy or it was over-
lapping with the foreign policy,”
he said.
Shah said that after
Narendra Modi became prime
minister, the country got an
independent security policy
which is a “big achievement.”
“Our idea is to have peace-
ful relations with all, but if
someone disturbs our borders,
if someone challenges our sov-
ereignty, the priority of our
security policy is that such an
attempt will be replied in the
same language,” he asserted.
The nearly 2.65-lakh per-
sonnel strong BSF is the desig-
nated paramilitary to secure
the over 6,300 km of Indian
frontier with Pakistan and
Bangladesh.
The memorial lecture and
investitureceremonyisanannu-
al affair to remember the con-
tribution of its first chief or
director general (DG) K F
Rustamji.
An officer of the 1938-
batch of the British-time
Imperial Police, Rustamji head-
ed the BSF for nine years. He
died in 2003.
Shah“Iassurethattherewill
be no gap in our fencing from
2022. I believe that (ensuring)
border security is (ensuring)
national security,” Shah said
adding the agencies are devel-
oping a “new model” of the bor-
der fence that cannot be cut or
broken.
To buttress the pace of for-
tification of border security
under the Modi government,
Shah also dished out figures
related to border infrastructure
related works.
As against 3,600 km of bor-
der roads made from 2008-14,
thesamehasspiraledupto4,764
km. The budget for this job was
enhanced from Rs 23,000 crore
to 44,000 crore. A total of 14,450
metres of bridges were made
during 2014-20 as compared to
7,270metresmadeduring2008-
14, he said.
Whileonebordertunnelfor
transportation was made earli-
er, six tunnels have been made
inthelastoneyearwhile19such
structures are in the pipeline,
Shah said.
Likewise, a total of 170 km
of border roads were resur-
faced during 2008-14 and it was
enhanced to 380 km after the
Modi government came to
power.
The cutting and formatting
of roads along the China border
has now been enhanced to 470
km per year as compared to the
earlier 230 km per year. Shah
said the government has sanc-
tioned 32 more border roads
measuring about 683 km for the
Indo-China frontier.
During the event, Director
General of BSF Rakesh Asthana
said the Force has made 61
drone sightings and unearthed
four tunnels along the western
front in the last one year.
Junior Home Ministers
Nityanand Rai and Ajay Kumar
Mishra, Union Home Secretary
Ajay Bhalla, Intelligence Bureau
Director Arvind Kumar and
chief of Research and Analysis
Wing Samant Goel attended
the event.
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The Centre on Saturday gave
the go-ahead for the new
academic sessions for colleges
following which the University
Grant Commission (UGC)
issued the examination guide-
lines and academic calendar for
the new session of 2021-22
which announced to begin the
first-year classes from October
1 adhering to the Covid-19 pro-
tocols.
In a letter sent to Vice-
Chancellors of universities and
principals of colleges, UGC
Secretary Rajnish Jain informed
them about fresh guidelines on
examination and academic cal-
endar in view of the COVID-
19 pandemic. The UGC direc-
tives came after Union
Education Minister
Dharmendra Pradhan reviewed
the situation with stakeholders
of the higher education and
asked to issue necessary direc-
tions to begin the new acade-
mic session offline/online
depending on the pandemic sit-
uation during that time.
The commission directed
all the universities and colleges
to complete the admission
process for undergraduate and
postgraduate courses by
September 30. While the class-
es for the first semester will
begin on or before October 1,
the last date to fill the vacant
seats is October 31, said the
UGC notification.
The notification further
states that the documents for
the new admissions can be
submitted by December 31,
2021. In case of delay in decla-
ration of qualifying (class 12)
result, the higher
education institute may plan the
new academic session from
October 18.
“Higher Education
Institutions may plan for class-
es, breaks, conduct of exami-
nations, semester break etc.
during the period October 1,
2021 to July 31, 2022 following
necessary protocols/guide-
lines/directions/advisories
issued by the Central/State
Governments and competent
authorities from time to time,
in view of the COVID-19 pan-
demic,” the UGC notification
mentioned.
Considering the financial
hardships being faced by many
parents due to the pandemic,
the commission urged the uni-
versity authorities to not charge
any cancellation fees/ migration
fees from students up to
October 31, 2021, for the aca-
demic session 2021-2022 as a
special case.
The university regulator
also directed the higher educa-
tion institutions to ensure that
the admission process for
undergraduate courses/pro-
grammes for the academic ses-
sion 2021-2022 commences
only after the declaration of
results by the CBSE, ICSE, and
state boards.
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The Enforcement
Directorate on Saturday
arrested a Dutch national,
Shivlal Pabbi, at the Indira
Gandhi International Airport
here on money laundering
charges while he was trying to
flee from the country by board-
ing a flight to Paris.
Pabbi, originally a resident
of Phagwara, Punjab, had
migrated to the Netherlands in
1981 and became a Dutch
national in 1984.
The ED had initiated a
money laundering investiga-
tion against Pabbi and others
on the request of the
Netherlands Government.
Money laundering investi-
gation by the ED revealed that
Pabbi committed cheating and
forgery in the Netherlands on
the basis of fraudulent docu-
ments prepared in connivance
with his Indian associates.
“Pabbi ran an underground
banking /banking without
permit / hawala business in the
Netherlands under the garb of
trading in readymade gar-
ments. The proceeds of crime
generated by Shivlal Pabbi were
laundered through Pakistani
individuals based in Dubai,
who transferred the money to
Shivlal Pabbi and his brother’s
NRE accounts in Phagwara,”
the agency said in a statement.
The proceeds of crime
were invested in the develop-
ment and construction of
Mayfair Resorts and Cabbana
Resort Spa situated in
Phagwara on the Jalandhar -
Ludhiana highway. Cabbana
Resort Spa, spread over sev-
eral acres is a renowned venue
known mainly for hosting lux-
urious weddings and corporate
events, it said.
After his arrest, he was pro-
duced before the Special PMLA
Court, Mohali. The Court has
granted his custody to the ED
till July 23.
The Court noted that in its
considered opinion the remand
of the accused was necessary
and justified for fair and com-
plete investigation of the mat-
ter. Further investigation in the
matter is underway, it added.
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New Delhi: Supreme Court
judge Justice DY Chandrachud
said on Saturday that the exam-
ple of Greta Thunberg, one of
the strongest voices against
climate change, shows that
“nobody is too young to effec-
tuate big change”.
Chandrachud was speak-
ing virtually on the topic
‘Students as the Constitution’s
Vanguards’ at a programme
organised by the Shikshan
Prasarak Mandali (SPM) on the
occasion of the 101st birth
anniversary of his father late
Justice Y.V. Chandrachud, who
was the longest-serving Chief
Justice of India.
“In viewing our
Constitution, as a primary spir-
it to counter majoritarianism,
we can equip ourselves with a
unique lens to view the world
and balance competing inter-
ests,” Chandrachud said.
Speaking on climate
change, Chandrachud empha-
sised that the world is in the
midst of an accelerating climate
change crisis and the Covid-19
pandemic has shown that eco-
logical disruptions increase the
existing inequalities.
He added that to combat
this crisis, a collective global
action is required.
Chandrachud further said
that Greta Thunberg, who is
one of the strongest voices in
the civil society against climate
change, began her journey as
a lone 15-year-old sitting out-
side the Swedish Parliament
demanding government action
against the imminent risks of
global warming.
“Her example, in addition
to that of many others, shows
us how nobody is too young or
insignificant to effectuate big
change. My learning for life, at
my age, is also that you are
never too old to be the
change,” said Chandrachud.
IANS
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With the acceptance of
the first two MH-60R
multi-role helicopters(MRH)
from the US Navy, the Indian
Navy’s aviation capabilities
besides detection of enemy
submarines have been
enhanced.
The two countries have
inked a deal for 24 such ver-
satile helicopters manufac-
tured by Lockheed Martin.
The contract is worth 2.4 bil-
lion dollars.
The helicopters are com-
ing in through foreign mili-
tary sale route(FMS). It means
the US government stands
guarantee for the all terms and
conditions of the contract as
it was inked between the two
governments.
Giving details of the first
two helicopters, Navy officials
said here on Saturday the US
Navy on Friday handed over
the helicopters in a ceremony
North Island, San Diego. The
ceremony marked the formal
transfer of these helicopters
which were accepted by
Indian ambassador to
Washington Taranjit Singh
Sandhu.
The ceremony also wit-
nessed exchange of helicopter
documents between Vice
Admiral Kenneth Whitesell,
Commander Naval Air Forces,
USN and Vice Admiral
Ravneet Singh.
The MH-60R helicopters
manufactured by Lockheed
Martin Corporation, USA is
an all-weather helicopter
designed to support multiple
missions with state-of- the
art avionics and sensors.
The helicopters would
also be modified with several
India Unique Equipment and
weapons. In order to exploit
these potent helicopters, the
first batch of Indian crew are
presently undergoing training
in USA.
The induction of these
MRH would enhance Indian
Navy’s three- dimensional
capabilities, officials said.
The Indian ambassador
said the induction of the all-
weather multi role helicopters
is an important milestone in
India-US bilateral defense ties.
“India US friendship
Touching the Skies!” he said in
a tweet. He noted that the
bilateral defence trade has
expanded to over 20 billion
dollars in the last couple of
years.
Going beyond defence
trade, India and the US are
also working together on co-
production and co-develop-
ment of defense platforms, he
said.
Sandhu also highlighted
reform measures that have
been undertaken by India in
the defense sector in recent
times that have opened up
new opportunities for foreign
investors.
According to the
Department of Defense, the
proposed sale will provide
India the capability to perform
anti-surface and anti-subma-
rine warfare missions along
with the ability to perform
secondary missions including
vertical replenishment, search
and rescue, and communica-
tions relay.
India will use the
enhanced capability as a deter-
rent to regional threats and to
strengthen its homeland
defence. India will have no
difficulty absorbing these heli-
copters into its armed forces,
it had said in a communica-
tion to the Congress in April
2019.
The Indian cabinet had
cleared the purchase of the
helicopters in February 2020,
weeks before the then US
President Donald Trump’s
visit.
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Rajya Sabha Chairman M
Venkaiah Naidu on
Saturday urged Parliament to
stand by the people in the light
of the situation caused by
Covid-19 and discuss all relat-
ed issues to dispel the gloom
caused by it in the country.
He chaired a meeting of
leaders of various parties and
groups in the Rajya Sabha
ahead of the monsoon session
beginning from Monday next.
Naidu stressed that “a dys-
functional Parliament adds to
the prevailing gloom and hence,
all sections of the House should
ensure a smooth and produc-
tive session as it offers an
opportunity to address the con-
cerns of the people affected by
COVID-19.”
The RS chairman further
said that the second wave
sprang several surprises and
severely tested the health infra-
structure in the country and
Parliament is the right forum
for updating ourselves with
various aspects of fighting the
disease with the benefit of the
ground level experiences of
leaders and members of the
House and of different States as
well in the context of the third
wave being talked about.
Regarding the agenda for
the monsoon session, Minister
of Parliamentary Affairs
Pralhad Joshi informed the
meeting that the Government
has identified 29 Bills including
six Ordinance replacing Bills
and two items of financial busi-
ness for the session. He sought
the cooperation of all parties for
enabling a smooth session.
Leader of the Opposition in
the Rajya Sabha Mallikharjuna
Kharge proposed issues of
broader concerns for discussion
in the House. These include; the
situation caused by COVID-19
including its impact on the
economy and employment,
poverty, strong potential of a
third wave and preparedness,
ongoing farmers’ agitation,
issues relating to cooperative
federalism, China’s actions
along the border, J K issues
etc.
While NCP chief Sharad
Pawar suggested a discussion
on situation in Afghnistan fur-
ther to withdrawal of US troops
and it’s implications, TMC
leader Derek O’Brien called
for more scrutiny of Bills by the
Parliamentary Committees.
Other leaders while stress-
ing on the need for smooth
functioning of the House sug-
gested adequate time allocation
for State specific issues and
more time for regional and
small parties. In all, leaders of
20 parties spoke in the meeting
and made various suggestions.
They also sought cooperation of
the Government in taking up
various issues of wider public
concern.
In his opening remarks,
Naidu complimented Union
Minister Piyush Goyal on being
nominated as the Leader of the
House in Rajya Sabha.
Responding to the obser-
vations and suggestions of the
leaders, Naidu urged the
Ministers of Parliamentary
Affairs and other ministers to
reach out to leaders of various
parties before the commence-
ment of the proceedings of the
House for better coordination
and smooth functioning of the
House.
Naidu assured the region-
al and small parties that a cer-
tain improvement has been
ushered in time allocation for
them and further improve-
ment will be considered.
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Day after the Jalgaon crash,
a Cessna aircraft crashed
in the Dhana area of Madhya
Pradesh’s Sagar district. The
two occupants of the aircraft-
the trainer and the trainee- are
reportedly safe. The single-
engine aircraft is owned by
Dhana-based Chimes Aviation
Academy, skidded off the run-
way before take-off. The inci-
dent has come a day after a
helicopter crashed in
Maharashtra’s Jalgaon killing
the flight instructor and injur-
ing the trainee co-pilot.
Responding to the news of
the crash, Civil Aviation
Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia
said, “ Just got the news of a
crash of a Cessna aircraft (solo
flight) that belonged to the
Chimes Aviation Academy in
Sagar, Madhya Pradesh.
Fortunately, the trainee is safe.
We are rushing an investigation
team to the site.”
This is the second time a
trainer aircraft has crashed in
the last 18 months. In January
2020, another trainer aircraft
had crashed on the runway,
killing the two occupants.
In 2009, another trainer
aircraft had crashed and
plunged in Bagri dam on
Narmada River.
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The Monsoon rainfall has
shrunk by eight per cent
due to the break during the
peak time, derailing the sow-
ing of kharif crops in per-
centage. Barring sugarcane
and jute, the coverage of all
kharif crops is lower than last
year. The decline in area of
crops such as rice, pulses,
oilseeds and cotton is in dou-
ble figures.
Data provided by the
Ministry of Agriculture
showed that a total of 612
lakh hectares had been cov-
ered till date compared with
692 lakh hectare during the
same period a year ago -
down 11.5 per cent year-on-
year. While the acreage is 80
lakh hectare lower than last
year, it is also down by near-
ly 25 lakh hectare than the
normal sowing registered
during 2016-20.
As per the ministry’s data,
planting of rice, the key sum-
mer crop, stood at 161.97
lakh hectare as compared to
171.44 lakh hectare in the
previous year. In the case of
rice, the acreage has been
dragged by Odisha (4.26 lakh
hectare), Chhattisgarh (3.99
lakh hectare), Bihar (2.83
lakh hectare), Assam (2.28
lakh hectare) and Haryana
(1.14 lakh hectare) among
others.
India has received 293.1
mm rainfall as against the
normal of 318.4 mm so far. At
least 22 states are facing defi-
cient rainfall. Due to uneven
rainfall, some states could
not sow due to excess rainfall
while some failed to do so due
to shortage of rainfall across
the country.
In the case of coarse cere-
als, the drop in area is 25 per-
cent compared with the nor-
mal sowing and 24 per cent
compared with last year.
Sowing of coarse cereals is
also surprisingly lower since
farmers opt for the hardy, less
water consuming crops when
monsoon plays truant.
Barring sugarcane and
jute, the coverage of all kharif
crops is lower than last year,
Oilseeds coverage is down
nearly 14 per cent mainly in
key States of Madhya Pradesh
and Rajasthan, which have
reported substantial drop in
the acreage. However, the
area is up in Maharashtra and
Gujarat.
The pulses’ crop coverage
is also seeing a decline of 10
lakh hectare despite hopes of
a higher acreage in view of
high prices that prevailed last
season (July 2020-June 2021).
Sugarcane planting was
almost unchanged at 5.3 mil-
lion hectares. India is the
world’s second-biggest sugar
producer.
The decline in sowing
crops comes after the coun-
try’s rain pattern for the mon-
soon season has dipped,
impacting the farm and agri-
culture sector directly.
India is the world’s biggest
exporter of rice and top
importer of edible oils.
A drop in
production could not only
limit rice exports, but also
boost imports of edible oils
such as palm oil, sunflower oil
and soyaoil.
Sowing of monsoon-sown
crops normally begins in late
May and peaks in July while
harvesting starts in late
September.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Union Housing and Urban
Affairs Minister Hardeep
Puri said on Saturday that more
than 7,300 families have been
conferred ownership rights
while over 4.1 lakh people have
registered till date for the PM-
Unauthorised Colony in Delhi
Awas Adhikar Yojana (PM-
UDAY).
A total of 4,19,485 people
have registered under the PM-
UDAY and 7,329 families in
unauthorised colonies in Delhi
have been conferred ownership
rights till date, Puri, the Minister
for Housing and Urban Affairs,
tweeted in Hindi.
He also shared a Delhi
Development Authority (DDA)
video in two parts that offers a
step-by-step explanation for
people to do the registration
online. PM-UDAY was
launched on October 29, 2019,
to confer ownership rights to
residents of 1,731 unauthorised
colonies (UCs) in Delhi. The
registration process for this
scheme is totally online.
In the video, it is mentioned
that if a person is unable to do
it at home, then he or she could
go to the nearest Common
Service Centre (CSC) or contact
a registered agency empanelled
to assist people in doing the reg-
istration, on payment of a nom-
inal fee.
The DDA has been made
the nodal agency for the
scheme, which delineates the
boundaries of these UCs with
the help of the Survey of India
and the Revenue Department of
the Delhi government using
satellite imageries of 2015. Puri
said, “We had made a promise,
we kept the promise.”
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