Pioneer dehradun-english-edition-2021-07-19

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The Monsoon Session of
Parliament on Monday will
begin in the shadow of a lurk-
ing telephone tapping scandal
that could see days of disrup-
tion and provide powerful
ammunition to the Opposition
to target the Prime Minister
Narendra Modi Government.
Throughout Sunday, social
media was abuzz with specu-
lation about the worldwide
release of a report that showed
that telephones of India’s top
Ministers, Supreme Court
judges, journalists and others
were tapped between 2018 and
2019.
“Strong rumours that this
evening IST, Washington Post
London Guardian are pub-
lishing a report exposing the
hiring of an Israeli firm
Pegasus, for tapping phones of
Modi’s Cabinet Ministers, RSS
leaders, SC judges, journal-
ists,” tweeted senior BJP leader
Subramanian Swamy.
In addition, the Opposition
has lined up a range of issues
including the mismanagement
of the Covid-19 situation by the
Government and issues of ris-
ing prices.
A day before the com-
mencement of the Monsoon
Session, the Government on
Sunday held an all-party meet-
ing attended by floor leaders of
various political parties.
Narendra Modi assured that his
Government was ready for a
“healthy, meaningful discus-
sion” in Parliament on various
issues. More than 40
leaders from 33 parties attend-
ed the all-party meeting and
suggested the subjects to be dis-
cussed in the first Parliament
session post the second Covid-
19 killer wave.
The Opposition is raring to
put the Government on the
mat on a host of issues – rang-
ing from its handling of the
contagion, vaccine shortage,
farmers’ agitation, manage-
ment of the economy, jobless-
ness , border tension with
China and the resurfacing of
the Rafale jets’ purchase con-
troversy in France.
A0:4B7:B8=67Q =4F34;78
The Pakistani deep State led
by its covert agency Inter-
Services Intelligence (ISI) has
been persuading the Taliban
Islamists to target infrastruc-
ture developed and financed by
India in the war-ravaged
Afghanistan.
India has invested over US
$3 billion towards reconstruc-
tion efforts in Afghanistan.
The move to target Indian
assets in Afghanistan comes
weeks after the ISI forged an
alliance between its terror affil-
iates like Lashkar-e-Tayeba
(LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad
(JeM) with the Taliban.
The ISI has reportedly
already sent 10,000 Pakistani
fighters to Afghanistan to aid
the Taliban in the violent
takeover of territories from
Ashraf Ghani-led
Government’s control amid the
pull out of the US troops.
As reported earlier by The
Pioneer, the Taliban had devel-
oped an understanding with
the JeM and LeT for such
attacks in Helmand and
Kandahar provinces at the
behest of the ISI.
While the LeT is assisting
the Taliban in Helmand, the
JeM is operating in Kandahar
where India had to evacuate 50
diplomatic staff and ITBP com-
mandos last Sunday.
On July 16, Afghan
President Ashraf Ghani had
told a Central and South Asia
connectivity conference, also
attended by Pakistan Prime
Minister Imran Khan, in
Tashkent that 10,000 jehadi
fighters have entered
Afghanistan during the last
one month and had blamed
Islamabad for this.
“The LeT and Jaish terror-
ists besides thousands of other
Pakistani jehadis fighting along
with Taliban have been specif-
ically instructed to target
Indian assets. The aim is to sys-
tematically destroy the good-
will India has generated
through massive reconstruc-
tion efforts and also gain con-
siderable leverage with the
Taliban that is seeking to oper-
ate independently,” experts
tracking the development said,
adding Islamabad is also eye-
ing the billion-dollar drugs
trade originating from that
country.
While over 10,000
Pakistani fighters entered
Afghanistan through the
porous borders in the last one
month alone, several jehadis
were staying in Afghanistan for
many years to aid Taliban in
fighting the US and allied
forces there.
?=BQ ;D2:=F
The Uttar Pradesh
Government has now made
it mandatory for the passengers
travelling to UP from States
with a high positivity rate to
produce a negative RT-PCR
(Covid-19) report before enter-
ing the State.
Additional Chief Secretary
Information Navneet Sehgel
said the UP Government in
order to prevent rise in Covid
cases has directed that report of
negative RTPCR should be
made mandatory for people
coming to UP from States with
more than 3 per cent positivi-
ty rate.
“This report should not be
more than four days old,” he
said. The new rule will be
applicable to anyone travelling
to UP via air, road, or rail
routes. People entering Uttar
Pradesh in their personal vehi-
cles will also have to follow this
protocol. He said people com-
ing to UP from such States
should start the journey only
after getting their Covid test
done. Those who have received
both doses of vaccination may
be exempted.
The decision was taken by
a team of nine top officials of
the UP Government in a meet-
ing with Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath on Sunday. The
move aims to contain the
spread of Covid-19 in Uttar
Pradesh.
Meanwhile, fresh Covid
19 cases in Uttar Pradesh came
down to 56 on Sunday and 69
patients have recovered. Now a
total of 7 districts have been
declared free from corona in
the State.
=8:00;8:Q 270=3860A7
Amid voices of opposition,
the Congress High
Command late on Sunday
evening announced the eleva-
tion of Navjot Singh Sidhu as
the new party president of the
Punjab unit, ending the
impasse prevailing within the
party for over a month. Sidhu
would be assisted by four work-
ing presidents — Sangat Singh
Gilzian, Sukhwinder Singh
Danny, Pawan Goel, and Kuljit
Singh Nagra (all legislators).
Sidhu replaced Sunil Jakhar
who was appointed State party
chief in 2017.
Nagra is considered close
to Congress vice president
Rahul Gandhi, and Danny
would be representing the
young leaders. Besides, MLA
Pawan Goel's appointment was
made to give representation to
the Dalit and Hindu commu-
nity.
The appointment came at
time after days of stand-off
between the Chief Minister
Captain Amarinder Singh and
Sidhu camps.
Almost all parliamentarians
had on Sunday came out in
Amarinder’s support, even as
Sidhu attempted to make a
foray into the Patiala royal’s bas-
tion while meeting his loyalists
in his home constituency.
Just a day earlier,
Amarinder had taken a softer
line on Sidhu’s anticipated
appointment as Punjab
Congress chief, but with the
rider of a “public apology” for
his derogatory tweets — had
sent signals that the announce-
ment of Sidhu’s new role was
just a matter of time.
But hours later,
Amarinder invited his bête
noire Partap Singh Bajwa and
others to a meeting —
indicating that he was in no
mood to mend fences
with Sidhu.
Amarinder’s dinner diplo-
macy with his known critic
Bajwa seems to have raised
another issue before the party
High Command as it came on
the day when Sidhu went to
meet Sunil Jakhar, former party
presidents including Bajwa,
Cabinet Ministers and several
MLAs.
C=A067D=0C70Q D108
As many as 33 people were
killed and several others
injured on Sunday, after a vir-
tual cloudburst and conse-
quent heavy rain that
ravaged the metropolis and
the neighbouring areas coming
under the Mumbai
Metropolis Region (MMR)
affecting the rail, road and air
services in the country’s com-
mercial capital.
On Sunday morning,
Mumbaikars woke up to heavy
rains accompanied by lightning
and thunder and inundation in
several low-lying areas of the
city suburbs.
The intensity of the rain
that Mumbai received could be
gauged from the Island city
recorded a rainfall of 196.8 mm
and the suburbs received a
rainfall of 234.9 mm during the
24 hours ending at 8.30 am on
Sunday.
?C8Q C:H
Three athletes, two of them
staying at the Olympic
Village, have tested positive for
Covid-19, the Games
Organising Committee
announced on Sunday, the
development adding to the
scepticism around the troubled
event which opens on July 23.
It is the first instance of
athletes staying at the village
catching the infection. Their
identities have not been
revealed by the organisers. The
third infected athlete is staying
at a designated Games hotel.
A total of 10 cases were
detected on the day, including
five “Games concerned per-
sonnel”, one contractor, and a
journalist, according to the
Covid-19 Positive Case List
uploaded by the OC here.
The total number of
Games-related Covid cases has
now risen to 55 as per the OC
records.
“When there is a positive
Covid 19 case — it means
action. There is a clear proce-
dure to identify close contacts.
A case is not just data in a
spread sheet but leads to action,
including immediate follow-up
testing,” International Olympic
Committee’s (IOC) Games
Executive Director Christophe
Dubi stated.
“We can safely say that
40,000 Covid 19 tests have
been carried out before coming
to Japan for 18,000 Games
participants. Then there is the
screening on the airport fol-
lowed by regular screening,
testing for athletes every day,”
he added.
The organisers did not
specify whether the two infect-
ed athletes staying at the village
will be quarantined elsewhere.
“Since 1 July more than
18,000 games participants
arrived from overseas. All of
them had at least 2 negative
tests before arrival. When they
arrived, they had another test.
When they are here, there is a
strict testing regime in place,”
said Pierre Ducrey, IOC Games
Operations Director.
“The participants of the
Olympic Games are the most
controlled population in the
world,” he added.
The development comes a
day after a non-athlete at the
Village tested positive for the
dreaded virus and was shifted
out of the premises.
“...We believe we have the
situation under control. As
such, properly if cases are
found, the individuals are iso-
lated and we trace all close con-
tacts if there are any other
cases, that’s what is most
important,” Hide Nakamura,
chief Games delivery officer for
Tokyo 2020, said in a press con-
ference.
“Even with all
measures fully taken, there
will be some positive (coron-
avirus) cases. Under the coro-
navirus situation which encom-
passes the entire world, so it is
inevitable that there will be
cases.
“What is important is that
when such cases arise, we prop-
erly systematically isolate them
so that there will be no further
transmissions.”
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?C8Q =4F34;78
An evaluation by global
money laundering and ter-
rorist financing watchdog
Financial Action Task Force
(FATF) to analyse the effec-
tiveness of India’s anti-money
laundering moves and coun-
tering terrorist financing
regime has been postponed
for the second time due to the
ongoing Covid-19 pandemic
and is now slated to be initiat-
ed next year, officials said.
The scheduled assessment
for the country by the Paris-
headquartered watchdog was
originally slated for September-
October, 2020.
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?=BQ 270=3860A7
Punjab’s Forests and Wildlife
Preservation Department
on Sunday announced reopen-
ing of Chhatbir Zoo and four
small zoos at Ludhiana,
Bathinda, Patiala, and Neelon
from July 20, 2021, with strict
adherence of COVID-19
appropriate behaviour.
“The Chhatbir Zoo would
be open to the public six days a
week (Monday closed). Entry
for visitors will be allowed from
9:30 am to 4:30 pm (instead of
9 am to 5 pm) to ensure opti-
mal carrying capacity, stag-
gered entry, and social distanc-
ing. The number of visitors will
be allowed in three slots,” said
an official spokesperson.
“Only a limited number of
timed tickets will be available in
different slots till the normalcy
returns in the Zoo,” the
spokesperson said, adding the
entry tickets will be valid only
for two hours after the entry.
The tickets for zoo entry
and other facilities can be
booked through online book-
ing, the link for which has been
provided on the zoo website
(chhatbirzoo.gov.in). Apart
from this, QR code system
and PoS machines facilities
will also be available in ZOO
booking counter for those vis-
itors who are unable to do
online booking.
Free Wi-Fi hotspot facility
is available in the entry area of
Chhatbir Zoo for hassle-free
online booking of entry tickets,
he added.
Spokesperson also stated
that the tickets for Battery
Operated Trolleys (BOTs) will
be available at the site, which
will be allowed only for the
group visitors or family mem-
bers, who may reserve a full
BOT vehicle at the prescribed
rate with strict social distance
norms and safety measures.
To ensure the safety of vis-
itors, some facilities such as
Wildlife Safari (lion safari and
deer safari), Reptile House, and
Nocturnal house will be closed
for visitors till the normalcy
returns.Tocontainthespreadof
contamination and to maintain
self-hygiene, medicated foot
mat, touch-free sensor-based
hand wash facilities have been
provided in zoo entry and other
strategic points like toilets,
drinking water points, rain shel-
ters, leisure points etc.
Single-use plastic items will
not be allowed inside the zoo,
andonlywaterbottlesandmed-
icine containers may be allowed
after screening, said the
spokesperson. Pertinently, the
zoo will be opened at 9:30 am
with a maximum entry of 1,800
visitors between 9:30 am and
11:30 am followed by a sanitisa-
tion break from 11:30 to 12
noon. Maximum 1,800 visitors
can enter between 12 noon and
2 pm with another sanitisation
break from 2 pm to 2:30 pm.
Anotherlotofmaximumvisitors
can enter the zoo from 2:30 pm
and 4:30 pm the zoo entry will
be closed.
4YYReSZcK``e`cV`aV_Wc`^EfVdURj ?=BQ 270=3860A7
With Covid-19 cases seeing
the declining trend,
Haryana Government on
Sunday announced more relax-
ations, including increase in the
timings of bars and restaurants,
while extending the partial
lockdown till July 26.
The night curfew will
remain in force daily from 11
pm to 5 am, an order
by the Chief Secretary Vijai
Vardhan said.
According to the order,
“the Mahamari Alert-Surakshit
Haryana is extended for anoth-
er week, that is from July 19 (5
am onwards) to July 26 (till 5
am) in the state of Haryana.”
The State Government has
termed the Covid-induced
lockdown as “Mahamari Alert-
Surakshit Haryana (Epidemic
Alert-Safe Haryana)”.
The restaurants and bars,
including those in malls, are
allowed to open from 10 am to
11 pm with 50 per cent capac-
ity and home delivery of food
is allowed till 11 p.m. Similarly,
the club houses, restaurants and
bars at golf courses will also be
allowed to open from 10 am to
11 pm with 50 per cent capac-
ity with adherence to requisite
social distancing and other
COVID-19 appropriate safety
norms, the order said.
The gyms are allowed to
open from 6 am to 9 pm with
50 percent capacity, it added..
According to earlier relax-
ations, all shops are allowed to
open from 9 am to 8 pm while
the malls from 10 am to 8 pm.
Spas will open from 6 am to 8
pm with 50 percent capacity,
swimming pools are allowed to
open only for such athletes or
swimmers who are competing
or practicing for a competitive
event. Cinema halls are allowed
to open with maximum 50 per-
cent seating capacity with
adherence to COVID-19 pro-
tocol.
Notably, Haryana
Government had imposed the
lockdown in the State
on May 3.
A government spokesper-
son on Sunday said that the
state’s recovery rate has
improved by 0.15 per cent
from 98.50 per cent on June 22
to 98.65 per cent on July 17.
However, the fatality rate has
increased by 0.04 per cent
from 1.21 per cent on June 22
to 1.25 per cent on July 17.
There are 318 deaths
reported in 27 days from June
21 to July 17, he said.
He shared that the positiv-
ity rate has declined from 0.46
per cent on June 22 to 0.14 per
cent on July 17.
Meanwhile, the adminis-
tration of vaccine is also being
done at a fast pace in the state
and 1,05,24,837 beneficiaries
have been vaccinated of which
85,22,732 beneficiaries were
administered the first dose and
20,02,105 beneficiaries have
been administered the second
dose, the spokesperson added.
?=BQ 270=3860A7
Newly appointed Haryana
Governor Bandaru
Dattatreya on Sunday said that
Kurukshetra would be devel-
oped into a world class pil-
grimage city.
The Central and State
Government aims to develop
Kurukshetra as a tourist, reli-
gious and cultural city, said
Dattatreya while talking to the
mediapersons during his visit
to Kurukshetra.
Earlier, the Governor
planted sandalwood and
Rudraksh saplings in the
premises of International Guest
House in Kurukshetra
University. Thereafter, the
Governor offered prayers to
Lord Venkateswara, Lakshmi
Devi and Gowda Devi at the
Tirupati Balaji temple.
After this, the Governor
reached the Brahmasarovar
Purushotampura Bagh and
offered prayers at the Brahma
Sarovar and worshiped the
waters of the Brahma Sarovar.
He also visited Kurukshetra
Geeta Sthali Jyotisar and Maa
Bhadrakali temple and offered
prayers to Maa Kali.
Dattatreya said that after
taking over as Governor, the
first place he has visited is the
land of heroes i.e. Kurukshetra.
Kurukshetra, the land of
Mahabharata and ancient her-
itage, is an invaluable gift of
Indian culture. The essence of
the holy book Gita and our
Indian traditions should be
imbibed by the youth in their
lives. Therefore, Kurukshetra is
being developed as a world
class pilgrimage site, he said.
The Governor further said
that he will attend board meet-
ings regarding the ongoing
project in Kurukshetra. Work
has been done to give interna-
tional status to Kurukshetra
and bring this holy place on the
world map from the point of
view of tourism and spiritual-
ity, he said.
To develop the city as a
tourist destination, it has been
included in the Krishna circuit,
he added.
Notably, former Himachal
Governor Dattatreya had on
Thursday sworn in as the 18th
Governor of Haryana, suc-
ceeding Satyadeo Narain Arya,
who has moved to Tripura.
?=BQ ;D3780=0
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on
Sunday got a major boost
when a senior Akali leader,
considered close to the Badals,
Chaudhary Madan Lal Bagga
joined the party along with a
large number of associates and
supporters.
AAP’s national spokesper-
son and Punjab affairs co-in
charge Raghav Chadha, Leader
of Opposition in Vidhan Sabha
Harpal Singh Cheema, Deputy
Leader of Opposition Saravjit
Kaur Manuke, among others
formally inducted Bagga and
his associates into the party.
Welcoming Chaudhary
Bagga and his associates, on
behalf of party supremo Arvind
Kejriwal and the entire leader-
ship, Chadha said that with
their joining, AAP has become
stronger not only in Ludhiana
but in the whole of Punjab.
Cheema said that the
Badals and SAD in Ludhiana
had been wiped out with
Madan Lal Bagga, who became
part of AAP’s family after being
impressed by Kejriwal’s pro-
people development model.
He said that the Aam Aadmi
Party is all set to form a gov-
ernment in Punjab in 2022.
Bagga said that he is
unconditionally embracing the
AAP, as he was impressed by
the revolutionary work done by
the Arvind Kejriwal govern-
ment in Delhi.
Notably, Chaudhary Bagga
was a member of Akali Dal’s
PAC and senior vice president
of the Trade and Industry Wing.
He has also been the vice chair-
man of the Board of Commerce
Punjab under the status of
Minister of State in the previous
SAD-BJP government, presi-
dent of SAD Ludhiana Urban
and councillor twice.
The AAP leader Raghav
Chadha also said that after 10
years of the Badals’ mafia rule,
the Capt Amarinder Singh
Government had left every
section of the state helpless in
its four and half years tenure.
“At such a critical juncture,
AAP is the only brightest hope
for Punjab today,” said Chadha.
He said that Punjab and
the state’s politics are going
through a very bad period. “On
one hand, the Badals have
squandered SAD’s all dignity
and principles of and turned it
into a private limited company,
which is hated by everyone
today; the Congress, on the
other hand, is a party that is not
fighting for justice in sacrilege,
for the rights of farmers-
labourers, against unemploy-
ment and drugs, for the digni-
ty of women and elderly,
against power, sand mafias but
only for the Chief Ministership
and the presidency,” he added.
?=BQ 270=3860A7
Shiromani Akali Dal’s Hindu
leaders and workers from
across Punjab on Sunday
expressed their gratitude to
party president Sukhbir Singh
Badal for deciding to nominate
a representative from the com-
munity as a Deputy
Chief Minister if the
SAD-BSP alliance comes to
power in the State.
Even as the SAD president
was profusely honoured by
the community members on
the occasion, Sukhbir
announced that he would
rather lay down his life than let
anyone spoil peace and com-
munal harmony in the State. “I
am committed to Parkash
Singh Badal’s policy to do the
utmost to ensure amity and
brotherhood among all sec-
tions of people and to take
everyone along in the path
towards progress and pros-
perity,” he said.
Sukhbir also assured that
the forthcoming SAD-BSP
government would revive trade
and industry in the State by
making investment-friendly
policies besides reducing
power tariff for the trade and
industry sector.
“We will also restart devel-
opment of towns and cities as
was taken up earlier during the
SAD-led Government when
sewerage and water supply
facilities were created in 135
towns and cities. Infrastructure
in towns and cities will be
upgraded to the next level,” he
announced.
Sukhbir said that the
Congress Government in the
State was not only pursuing a
policy of divide and rule but
was helmed by the worst Chief
Minister in the history of
Punjab. “In Capt Amarinder
Singh, we have a leader who
has sworn false oaths on the
holy Gutka Sahib and reneged
on them. We also have a leader
who is oblivious to the suffer-
ing of the people and did
nothing to help them when
they needed power to maintain
their paddy crop or run their
factories and shops. We also
have an utterly insensitive
leader who orders the brutal
assault of government employ-
ees rather than give them an
audience and listen to their
grievances,” he said.
The SAD chief said that
now the Congress is trying to
indulge in another drama by
replacing its ‘failed’ Chief
Minister with former Minister
Navjot Sidhu who was known
more for theatrics rather than
administration. “Everyone
knows Navjot Sidhu’s record as
local bodies minister during
the course of which he did
nothing to uplift the condition
of any town or city in the State,”
Sukhbir added.
?=BQ 270=3860A7
Lashing out at the Congress
Government, Aam Aadmi
Party’s (AAP) Punjab unit pres-
ident Bhagwant Mann on
Sunday said that the Congress’
internal feud for the seat alone
had done a great disservice to
Punjab, Punjabis, and
Punjabiyat and now the
Congress would have to pay the
price with interest in the
upcoming assembly elections.
Mann said that the only
agenda for all the Congress
leaders, big or small, was to
occupy the seat. “Someone is
fighting to save the chair and
someone is trying to grab the
chair,” he added.
“While this appetite for
the chair has kept Punjab,
Punjab’s farming, youth, busi-
ness, women and the elderly,
schools, health services, law
and order and financial crisis
at bay; on the other hand, it had
also exposed many big
Congressmen, whose target
was the chair, but made state-
ments in the name of Punjab,”
he said asking if the Chief
Minister Capt Amarinder
Singh and the entire Congress
was a little worried about this.
Mann also asked about the
manner in which Harish Rawat
had misused the Government
chopper by violating the rules
like the previous Badal
Government.
0DQQDWWDFNVRQJUHVVRYHU
VLPPHULQJLQWHUQDOIHXG
?=BQ 270=3860A7
JC Bose University of Science
and Technology, YMCA,
Faridabad has come forward
with yet another social initia-
tive to help Thalassemia
patients in association with
Rotary Blood Bank, Faridabad.
Vice Chancellor YMCA
Professor Dinesh Kumar, while
appreciating the joint initiative
of the University and Rotary
Blood Bank said that after suc-
cessful launch of government
programmes like oxygen refill-
ing management system and
Jivisha helpline in the district,
YMCA has launched another
social initiative.
The Vice Chancellor said
that Thalassemia is a genetic
blood disorder that affects the
body’s ability to produce
hemoglobin and red blood
cells. Such patients require fre-
quent blood transfusions to
survive. The University along
with Rotary Blood Bank,
Faridabad has decided to start
a registration drive for
Thalassemia patients to meet
their blood requirement. The
team of student volunteers
from the university, recog-
nized as ‘Team Umeed’, will
work to help the needy people
and provide them timely assis-
tance, he
added. He called upon the stu-
dents to engage in social cause
and make best use of technol-
ogy for the betterment of the
society.
Elaborating on this initia-
tive, programme coordinator
Dr Rashmi Chawla said that
patients of Faridabad district
will have to register them-
selves through a Google link
(https://forms.gle/ti2ZwQ44ijB
woKAv9) to join the cam-
paign. After this the registra-
tion number will be given to
the patient.
?=BQ 270=3860A7
Haryana Chief Minister
Manohar Lal Khattar is
just a tweet away from the peo-
ple of the state. Living up to this
statement, the official Twitter
handle of Chief Minister’s
office, @cmohry came to the
rescue of Hari Om, a resident
of Faridabad’s Parvatiya
Colony, Bal Kalyan Pocket.
The resident had tweeted
on the CM’s Twitter handle on
July 15 that his daughter was to
get married on July 18 and
apprized about the ongoing
problem of water logging in the
residential area.
Giving details, IT
Consultant to Chief Minister,
Dhruv Majumdar said that as
soon as the complainant Hari
Om tweeted, the team of CM’s
official Twitter handle, Social
Media Grievance Tracker,
swung into action and a team
of Municipal Corporation
reached the spot.
He elaborated that the
tankers were present in the area
to do the needful from 6 am till
the wedding was on to ensure
that the functions were carried
out smoothly and the team of
MC officials were present on
the spot.
The father of the bride,
Hari Om, a driver, expressed
gratitude to the Chief Minister
for being easily accessible to
laymen and resolving their
woes. He also thanked the
entire team of Chief Minister’s
office and Municipal
Corporation officials for help-
ing him in ensuring proper
arrangements for the wedding
which was to be held in the
area, Majumdar said.
Earlier this year, a bride-to-
be had also tweeted on the
CM’s handle to resolve the
water logging issues in this area
as she was to get married. The
SMGT team had coordinated
with relevant district officials to
ensure this was resolved to the
satisfaction of the complainant.
The issues of water logging had
been recurring in this area, and
the State Government is taking
appropriate measures to pro-
vide a long term solution to the
matter, he added.
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?=BQ 270=3860A7
Sultry weather conditions
persisted in Haryana and
Punjab on Sunday, with max-
imum temperatures hovering
above normal limits at most
places. Despite rains during the
day in Haryana’s Narnaul, Hisar
and Bhiwani, their maximum
temperatures settled at 40
degrees Celsius, 39 degrees
Celsius and 37.1 degrees
Celsius respectively, accord-
ing to the Met Department.
Among other places in
Haryana, Gurugram and
Rohtak registered their maxi-
mums at 36.8 degrees Celsius
and 36 degrees Celsius respec-
tively.
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3. dccPaPZWP]S
347A03D=k=30H k9D;H (!!
?=BQ 347A03D=
Uttarakhand's youths are a
bundle of energy that must
beutilisedforthereformationof
theStatemakingitanidealplace
for everyone. The AAP leader
colonel(retd)AjayKothiyalstat-
ed this in the first executive
meetingoftheyouthwingofthe
party, Aam Aadmi Party Yuva
Morcha(AAPYM)inDehradun
on Sunday.
Inthemeeting,themembers
pledged to fight for reformation
oftheState,stronglandlawsand
employmentopportunities.The
president of the youth wing,
Digmohan Negi said that one of
the main demands of today's
youth is the introduction of
stronglandlawsaspeopleofthis
State must have the first right to
acquire any land here. The
AAPYM will fight for strong
land laws in the State as it is the
basicrightofeveryUttarakhand
resident, asserted Negi.
Q 0=CA8?0C7H60DA0E:D0A
Effective use of social media is an
opportunity and a challenge in con-
temporary competitive corporate land-
scape. Today, effective use of social
media is inevitable. If we are not using
it, we are in crisis; if using it ineffectively
then we are definitely in crisis. So, the
only way out is to use social media effec-
tively. Today the power of social media
is just a click away, new and emerging
communication platforms have made
dissemination of information very easy
and effective. Constant and collabora-
tive communication via social media is
key to participative management,
employee engagement and public sec-
tor undertakings are no exception.
The Unique Selling Point (USP) of
social media is the role of User
Generated Content (UGC) in its oper-
ation which makes it user friendly, inter-
active and inclusive.
Today, Indian PSUs have moved
ahead from the era of physical files in
terms of official working and have shift-
ed to e-office platform in order to boost
employee efficiency and enhance trans-
parency in the official working. This has
promoted paperless culture and virtu-
al office space. This has literally brought
the office just a click away and proved
very evident during Covid times when
offices have to function by maintaining
social distancing. There are many
processes that exist in our PSUs’ work
culture such as managing human
resource data, analysing financial per-
formance, online approval of files etc by
way of using various software like
HRMS, FMS and SAP. Further, the use
of bulk SMS and voice call service has
made internal communication mecha-
nisms more prudent and employee
friendly. Bulk message and voice call
service saves time, paper, money and
manpower and reaches within no time.
Intranet online platforms like collabo-
rative knowledge desk are also intro-
duced in which employees can log in
and share their experiences which can
help in process improvement and
knowledge upgradation of employees.
Best case studies, learnings are available
online for employees for future refer-
ence.
Feedback is quintessential for con-
tinual improvement. Suggestion Mela is
organised in many PSUs which is yet
another illustration of a strong and cost
effective tool of employee engagement.
Employees of the corporation give
their suggestions which reach the top
management and many of the workable
suggestions have been implemented
which gives a strong sense of ownership
to the employees. Suggestions are also
invited through an online portal for
encouraging paperless culture.
To encourage the culture of cap-
turing photographs and making videos
among employees, to project the cor-
poration in a better light many PSUs
have established a photography and
videography club. The effort is to iden-
tify employees having interest in cam-
eras and to develop them as in-house
photographers/filmmakers so that a
bank of good multimedia products can
be developed by using internal resources
and later on uploaded social media plat-
forms. Regular photography and
videography workshops are also organ-
ised to create awareness and to hone the
skills of the employees and their fami-
ly members.
Human capital is the most essential
asset for any organisation and in con-
temporary competitive scenarios the
survival of organisations predomi-
nantly depends only if they recognise
the importance of efficient management
of this precious capital. The employee
has been indicated as the significant
stakeholder in the social media action
plan of many PSUs. When the PSU fra-
ternity addresses the employee as their
significant stakeholder they mean it in
the plural sense not the singular one.
Employees with the family members
constitute their definition of the sig-
nificant stakeholders. The biggest lib-
erty that social media has provided is
speed and cost effectiveness.
In a mixed economy set up like
India, the Central Public Sector
Enterprises (CPSE) have time and
again proved that they are the growth
engine of our development. Public sec-
tor undertakings believe in prudent use
of public money and that is why they
have moved towards frequent and fair
use of social media effectively.
(Tripathy is the deputy general
manager of HRPR, Kumar is the
PR manager and social media officer
at THDCIL)
6D4BC2;D=
B^RXP[TSXP°PRPcP[hbcU^aT_[^hTTT]VPVTT]c
?=BQ 347A03D=
Chief minister Pushkar
Singh Dhami has granted
his approval to hiking the
stipend of MBBS intern doctors
of the State’s medical colleges
from Rs 7,500 per month to Rs
17,000 per month.
Taking the decision on
Sunday, the chief minister said
that the doctors and paramed-
ical staff have played a com-
mendable role during the
Covid-19 pandemic to mitigate
the impact of the pandemic and
ensuring swift treatment along
with necessary medical facili-
ties to the patients.
It is pertinent to mention
here that the monthly stipend
of Rs 7,500 which was being
provided to the MBBS intern
doctors had elicited demands
for hiking the amount from the
interns and the general public
also.
Recently, while hearing on
public interest litigations relat-
ed to Covid-19 and health
facilities in the state, the
Uttarakhand high court had
also asked the state government
to consider hiking the stipend
amount provided to the intern
doctors.
The chief minister’s deci-
sion to more than double the
stipend of the intern doctors is
expected to boost their morale
at a time when the state is
preparing itself for a possible
third wave of Covid-19 as pre-
dicted by experts.
4Z_TcVRdVddeZaV_U`WZ_eVc_U`Te`cde`(
?=BQ 347A03D=
TheStatemeteorologicalcen-
trehasissuedanalertregard-
ing the possibility of heavy to
very heavy rainfall at isolated
places in the state on Monday.
Extremelyheavyrainisalsolike-
ly to occur at isolated places in
Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital
and Pauri districts.
Apart from this, light to
moderate rain/thundershowers
arelikelytooccuratmostplaces
in Uttarakhand. Dehradun is
forecasttoexperienceagenerally
cloudyskywiththepossibilityof
heavy to very heavy rainfall
with intense spells.
The maximum and mini-
mum temperatures are likely to
be about 24 degrees Celsius and
21 degrees Celsius respectively
here on Monday.
Meanwhile, intermittent
rainfall since Saturday night
along with a few heavy spells in
some areas caused the water in
RispanaandBindalriverstorise
inDehradunapartfromcausing
water logging in some areas.
In various districts of the
state, a number of roads have
remained blocked due to land-
slides and other factors.
According to the State
Emergency Operation Centre
(SEOC), in Chamoli district,
theRishikesh-Badrinathnation-
al highway 58 is open though
nine rural motor roads are
closed.InDehradundistrictone
stateroad,onemaindistrictroad
and 13 rural motor roads were
blocked. Only one rural motor
roadwasreportedblockedinthe
Rudraprayag district, whereas
one state road, three other dis-
trict roads and five rural motor
roads were blocked in the Pauri
district. Similarly, two rural
motor roads were blocked in
Uttarkashidistrictandfourrural
motorroadswereblockedinthe
Tehri district.
IntheBageshwar,ninerural
motorroadswereblockedwhile
two rural motor roads were
blocked in the Nainital district.
Whereas one rural motor road
was blocked in the Champawat
district, two border roads and
seven rural motor roads were
blocked in the Pithoragarh .
?=BQ 347A03D=
In order to facilitate immedi-
ate relief during heavy rains
and other disasters, chief min-
ister Pushkar Singh Dhami
has approved helicopter
deployment in Pithoragarh for
two months.
He also directed that when
the helicopter is not needed for
disaster relief works, it should
be used as alternative transport
for the general public at sub-
sidised rates.
This should be done only
when the helicopter is not
needed for disaster relief works,
he stressed. For use of the
helicopter as alternative trans-
port for the general public in
hours apart from the hours in
which it is used for disaster
relief, the chief minister also
approved the rate of Rs 3,000
per person.
In another decision, Dhami
also approved Rs 1.60 crore for
rehabilitation of 38 disaster
affected families in Dharchula,
Munsyari, Tejam and
Bangapani areas of Pithoragarh
district. He gave the approval
following the nod of the state
level rehabilitation committee.
?=BQ 347A03D=
In the last two days, several areas in Dehradun experienced
waterlogging due to spells of heavy rain.
The rain also caused damage to roads and embankments in
some areas but according to the Dehradun district administra-
tion, everything is under control as the teams are continuously
monitoring the situation in the city.
Many streets and drains were flooded after a heavy down-
pour in areas like Saharanpur Road, Prince Chowk, Dharmpur
Road, Haridwar Road, Chakrata Road, Darshan Lal Chowk and
Raipur Road in the wee hours on Sunday.
The disaster control room of the Municipal Corporation of
Dehradun (MCD) that operates 24 hours a day also received calls
regarding the waterlogging issues after 2 AM on Sunday from
the areas like Haridwar Road and Dharmpur. As per the infor-
mation provided by the control room operator, the corporation
has received about eight complaints till Sunday evening about
the waterlogging issue in the city. Moreover, the water level of
Rispana and Bindal rivers also increased due to heavy downpours
but according to the officials, the situation is under control in
such areas too.
The sub divisional magistrate (SDM) of
Dehradun, Gopal Ram Binwal said that the admin-
istration is regularly monitoring the situation in the
city. All the main areas with issues like water over-
flowing on roads and stagnant water in drains and
potholes among others were resolved by the admin-
istration. Concerned departments were informed to
tackle the situation like extracting water or clearing
out rubble in areas like Teacher's Colony and near-
by areas of Rispana and Bindal River, stated Binwal.
On the question of shifting those living along-
side these rivers due to safety concerns, the SDM said
that the situation is not that extreme that requires
shifting of people. However, if the need arises, the
administration has made all the arrangements to shift
these people, added Binwal. About 45 places are
selected in the city to shift people in an emergency
situation. All the arrangements have been made and
the administration is ready to tackle the worst, stat-
ed the SDM. Meanwhile, the cabinet minister
Ganesh Joshi along with the SDM also visited
Neelkanth Vihar and Badrinath Colony in Dehradun
where streets and embankments were damaged due
to heavy downpour. Joshi directed the administra-
tion to start repairing the affected embankments and
roads soon to avoid obstruction to the daily life of
locals.
?=BQ 347A03D=
In a clear indication that con-
tagion of the Covid-19 has
lost its sting in Uttarakhand
only 19 new cases of the disease
were reported in the state on
Sunday. In fact all the districts
of the state barring Dehradun
reported four or less number of
cases on the day. Dehradun
reported six cases while
Almora, Bageshwar,
Champawat and Uttarkashi
reported no case of the disease
on Sunday. The department
also reported 52 recoveries
and no death from the disease
on the day.
The data suggests that the
week ending on July 17 had a
positivity rate of 0.18 percent
which is the lowest weekly
rate ever since the first case of
the disease was reported in
March last year. During the
period (July 11 to 17) only 296
samples were found positive
out of a total 1,65,693 tested.
The cumulative count of
Covid-19 patients in the state
has now increased to 3,41,452
while a total of 3,27,464
patients have recovered from
the disease so far.
In the state 7,356 people
have lost their lives to Covid -
19 till date. The recovery per-
centage from the disease is now
at 95.90 and the sample posi-
tivity rate is at 5.72 per cent in
the state. The authorities col-
lected 17,149 samples in dif-
ferent parts of the state on
Sunday.
The state now has only 623
active patients of the disease.
Dehradun district is at top of
the table in the list of active
cases with 256 patients while
Haridwar in the second posi-
tion with 66 active cases.
Pithoragarh has 46, Udham
Singh Nagar 43, Champawat
and Rudraprayag 39 each,
Chamoli 34, Tehri 26, Nainital
23, Uttarkashi 21, Pauri 13,
Almora 11 and Bageshwar six
active cases of the disease.
The state reported one new
case of Mucormycosis (Black
fungus) and death of one
patient from the disease on
Sunday. A total of 543 patients
of Black Fungus have been
reported till date in the state
and out of them 115 have died.
In the ongoing vaccination
drive, the health department
vaccinated 33,030 people in 311
sessions held on Sunday.
?=BQ 347A03D=
Cycling has numerous health
benefits and it can improve
the physical as well as mental
wellbeing of a person in today's
hectic life if pursued regularly
in daily life.
This was stated by 26 year
old cyclist Sonam Rana who
recently completed his 1,400
kilometres journey from
Dehradun to Leh in 12 days on
a bicycle. Rana who works in
the Youth Welfare and Prantiya
Rakshak Dal department in
Dehradun stated that he basi-
cally hails from Harshil in
Uttarkashi district.
He started cycling in the
year 2019 after he was trans-
ferred to Dehradun. He men-
tioned that he initially started
cycling to stay fit but then he
started enjoying cycling which
later turned into a passion.
Sharing about his cycling jour-
ney, Rana said, I have started
all my main journeys from
Dehradun so far. My first three
journeys were to Kedarnath
temple, Manali and Nainital
from Dehradun and each was
completed in two days. I also
recently travelled to Leh in
Ladakh from Dehradun cov-
ering about 1,400 kilometres
and explored various destina-
tions. I explored Chitkul village,
Spiti Valley and Lahaul Valley
of Himachal Pradesh during
my journey to Ladakh. I even
visited Komic, the highest vil-
lage in the world, the highest
post office in the world in
Hikkim village and the highest
bridge in Asia, Chicham Bridge
in Himachal Pradesh.
Apart from using a bicycle
to travel to distant destinations,
Rana said that he also rides a
bicycle in his daily life to trav-
el locally.
He asserted, I ride my
bicycle to stay fit and travel in
local areas too. I ride it to go to
my office rather than using a
motorcycle. I cover at least 40
to 50 kilometres daily on my
bicycle and about 100 kilome-
tres on weekends. Cycling is the
best way to stay fit physically as
well as mentally and people
should pursue this practice in
daily life.
However, he also stressed
that cycling on the main roads
of Dehradun sometimes feels
risky due to which many feel
reluctant to travel by bicycles
locally.
Though the trend of peo-
ple cycling in Dehradun has
increased in recent times, con-
struction of cycling tracks on
roads will help and motivate
more people to use the bicycle
regularly. This will also moti-
vate parents to allow their chil-
dren to use cycles to go to
schools, said Rana.
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Worried over the increase
in Covid 19 cases, the
Indian Medical Association
(IMA) on Sunday asked the
Kerala Government to with-
draw its decision to ease Covid
restrictions ahead of Baqrid,
terming it “unwarranted and
inappropriate” at a time of a
medical emergency. Kerala has
reported 13,956 new fresh cases
and 81 deaths in the last 24
hours.
The IMA issued a state-
ment here, saying while many
northern states have stopped
traditional and popular pil-
grimage yatras in view of the
pandemic, it is unfortunate
that Kerala took a decision
which will pave the way for
mass gatherings. The apex doc-
tors’ organisation said it would
knock the doors of the
Supreme Court if the Kerala
government does not enforce
Covid-appropriate behaviour
to curtail the rising menace of
the viral disease by withdraw-
ing this decision.
“The IMA is pained to see
amidst the rise of cases and
seropositivity, the Kerala gov-
ernment has issued an order to
ease out lockdown followed in
the state on the pretext of reli-
gious gatherings of Bakrid. It
is unwarranted and inappro-
priate at this time of medical
emergency,” the statement
read.
In the larger interest of the
country and the well-being of
humanity, the IMA strongly
demands that the order be
withdrawn and zero-tolerance
towards violation of Covid
norms enforced, the medical
body said.
Kerala Chief Minister
Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday
said that in view of Bakrid
(Eid-ul-Azha) being celebrat-
ed on July 21 in the state, tex-
tiles, footwear shops, jewellery,
fancy stores, shops selling
home appliances and elec-
tronic items, all types of repair-
ing shops and shops selling
essential items shall be allowed
to open on July 18, 19 and 20
from 7 am to 8 pm in catego-
ry A, B and C areas. In D cat-
egory areas, these shops can
function only on July 19, he
said.
Areas with a Test Positivity
Rate of less than five per cent
are included in category A,
those with five to 10 per cent
are included in category B,
areas with 10 to 15 per cent in
category C and those above 15
per cent will be in category D.
Places of worship can be
allowed with a maximum of 40
people on special occasions of
celebration, the chief minister
said.
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The BJP on Sunday claimed
that “anti-india’’ elements
in league with foreign forces
are part of a conspiracy to
defame the country and tar-
get the Modi Government.
Addressing a press con-
ference here, BJP spokesperson
Sambit Patra cited media
reports and alleged foreign
funding of the portal
Newsclick is to create disin-
formation and confusion
against the current dispensa-
tion.
He drew attention to
media reports about
Enforcement Directorate probe
into the Newsclick, and said
that it received FDI of C9.59
crore and foreign funding of
another C 28.46 crore for dubi-
ous purposes.
Money was diverted to
various people, including
activist Gautam Navlakha, an
accused in the Bhima
Koregaon case, he alleged, say-
ing this was a ‘’price tag’’ to
foment anti-india sentiments,
‘’abuse’’ Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and do pro-
paganda for foreign forces.
‘’Anti-India forces are doing
this conspiracy in league with
foreign forces,’’ he said, alleg-
ing that the portal wore the
disguise of a media house to
demean India.
Some mainstream politi-
cians of India and foreign
forces are also with such por-
tals, and they have been work-
ing as a gang in a planned way,
he alleged.
Whenever any ‘’good’’
happens in the country, be it
the Covid vaccination policy or
the Central Vista project, some
people targeted it, alleged the
BJP spokesperson.
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Vice President M Venkaiah
Naidu on Sunday asked the
Defence Ministry to look into
issue of closing of public roads
in the Secunderabad
Cantonment causing difficulty
to several people living in the
surrounding areas.
Naidu flagged this issue
when newly appointed
Minister of State for defence
Ajay Bhatt called upon him
here. Officials said the Vice
President suggested to the min-
ister to look into the closure of
public roads in detail and take
steps to mitigate the hardship
faced by the people.
In this context, Naidu also
mentioned about a recent let-
ter written by the Telangana
government to Defence
Minister Rajnath Singh on the
issue. Bhatt assured the Vice
President to examine the mat-
ter and address the concerns of
the people.
Naidu took up the issue as
there are restrictions on using
the road passing through the
cantonment for the last few
months leading to unrest
amongst the colonies. The
restrictions were imposed by
the Local Military
Authority(LMA). The issue
even reached the Supreme
Court last year.
Use of roads by public in
the cantonments have led to
controversies in the past too.
In order to sort out
this issue, then Defence
Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
in June 2018 announced the
decision to open the roads for
common public.
She had said the decision
was taken after a detailed
review was carried out and
feed back taken from the
local military
authorities(LMA).
She, however, clarified
the decision was only for
cantonments where civil and
military personnel live
together. Sitharaman said the
rule did not apply to military
bases and military stations.
Sitharaman also said a
list of all the roads closed was
drawn up by the Director
General Defence Estates
(DGDE) which was then sent
to local military authorities of
all cantonment boards to cor-
roborate.
“After this exercise we
have come to know 850 roads
were under closure in 62 can-
tonments…. From among the
850, 119 were close whenev-
er they were without follow-
ing the laid down procedure.
So, in a way the complaints
which were coming from
elected representatives have
some reason somewhere,” she
had said. Even after the deci-
sion from the 119 roads only
80 have been
opened and 24 still remain
closed, she stated.
The opening of roads was
criticized by several military
families who claimed their
security would be affected.
In fact, wives of some
officers had also started a sig-
nature campaign in 2018
against opening of the roads.
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Ahead of parliament
Monsoon Session begin-
ning on Monday, Congress
president Sonia Gandhi has
reconstituted the party’s
Parliament groups for both
Houses for effective function-
ing of the party. Putting all
speculation to rest, the party
decided to continue with Adhir
Ranjan Chowdhury as leader of
the party in the Lok Sabha.
In the Lok Sabha, the group
has Adhir Ranjan Choudhury,
Gaurav Gogoi, Manish Tewari,
K. Suresh, Manickam Tagore,
Shashi Tharoor and Ravneet
Bittu.
While in the Rajya Sabha,
Mallikarjun Kharge nominated
as LoP, Anand Sharma, Jairam
Ramesh, Ambika Soni,
Digvijaya Singh, P.
Chidambaram and K.C.
Venugopal will lead the charge
against the Government.
“I have decided to recon-
stitute the Lok Sabha and Rajya
Sabha groups to facilitate and
ensure effective functioning of
our party in both Houses of
Parliament,” Sonia Gandhi, as
Chairman of the Congress
Parliamentary party, said in a
letter issued on Sunday.
The letter says they will
meet regularly during the ses-
sion and afterwards whenever
required, and Kharge has been
authorised to convene joint
meetings.
Party sources said Congress
has decided to raise issues of
inflation, fuel price hike, Covid
mismanagement, and the bor-
der issue with China in the
upcoming Monsoon Session.
The party strategy group
for Parliament, chaired by party
chief Sonia Gandhi, had met
last week and the members
were also of the view that it
should raise the Rafale issue
after the recent development in
France, where a probe in alleged
kickbacks has been initiated.
Coordination with other
opposition parties has been
entrusted to Rajya Sabha leader
Mallikarjun Kharge as the
party wants joint opposition
strategy in the house to corner
the Government.
“Congress party will raise
the issue of high inflation in the
forthcoming Session of
Parliament and demand a full
discussion on the subject as
well as substantial relief for the
people of India,” said former
Union Minister P.
Chidambaram.
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After intense heat for the last
four days, light to moder-
ate rainfall on Sunday evening
has brought some relief from
hot and humid weather condi-
tions in some parts of north
India. The India Meteorological
Department (IMD) has pre-
dicted intense rainfall activity
over north India from July 19-
21 and over the west coast till
July 23 over north India where
the heavy rain belt has checked
in afresh. The onset of mon-
soon has brought incessant
rains in several parts of the
country, including Mumbai
where massive overnight
downpour led to at least 25
deaths and six injured and
massive damage following
landslides on Sunday morning.
Several parts of the
Maharashtra capital reported
waterlogging while rainwater
entered many houses.
Union Minister of State
(Independent Charge) Science
Technology; Minister of
State (Independent Charge)
Earth Sciences, Dr Jitendra
Singh on Sunday visited
Mausam Bhavan and reviewed
the Monsoon trends at the
India Meteorological
Department (IMD) headquar-
ters. The Minister spent over an
hour, personally studying the
Southwest monsoon trends.
He also went to the exclusive
Satellite and Radar Sections,
and discussed the process of
procurement of data on a real-
time basis. He was informed
that monsoon rainfall was 10%
above normal in June and 26%
deficient till date in July.
According to the IMD,
rainfall activity is likely to
increase over North-West India
with fairly widespread to wide-
spread rainfall with isolated
heavy to very heavy falls along
the hills (Jammu, Kashmir,
Ladakh, Gilgit, Baltistan,
Muzaffarabad, Himachal
Pradesh and Uttarakhand) and
adjoining Punjab, Haryana,
Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and
north Madhya Pradesh from
July 18 to 21. Satellite pictures
on Sunday morning showed
intense clouds over the north-
ern parts of the country spread
across Jabalpur, Bhopal,
Saurashtra, Udaipur, Kota,
Jaipur, Allahabad, Lucknow
and Delhi, among others. Rain-
battered Mumbai remains
cloudy but can expect thun-
dershowers from noon. There
will be decrease in rainfall
activity over the same regions
thereafter.
“The active monsoon is
propped up by the crucial
land-based monsoon trough
with its western end at the nor-
mal position and expected to
move further north to host an
intense wet session over North
India,” said officials.
The IMD said moderate to
severe thunderstorms with
lightning are very likely at iso-
lated places over Uttar Pradesh,
Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and
east Rajasthan during the next
24 hours. “They may cause
injuries leading to casualties to
people and animals staying
outdoor,” the IMD cautioned.
Isolated, extreme heavy
rainfall is also very likely over
Uttarakhand on July 18 and 19
and over northwestern parts of
UP on July 19. Moderate to
heavy rainfall at isolated places
are also very likely over Delhi
and Chandigarh on July 18 and
19. Western and southern India
is also expected to receive
heavy rains. Widespread rain-
fall with isolated heavy to very
heavy rains are very likely to
continue over the western coast
and adjoining inland areas
during the next 5-6 days. Heavy
rains have been battering parts
of Maharashtra.
The IMD said isolated,
extremely heavy falls are also
very likely over Konkan region
and Goa adjoining the ghat
areas of central Maharashtra,
coastal and south interior
Karnataka during July 18 to 19
and over Gujarat region on July
18. Isolated heavy falls are like-
ly over east and adjoining cen-
tral India from July 22 onwards.
The IMD turned the alert from
‘orange’ to ‘red’ for Mumbai in
the backdrop of the heavy
rains.
According to officials, its
Doppler radar has captured a
cloud top height of nearly 18
kms or 60,000 feet. The storm
described as “massive” and
“monstrous”, formed initially
over Raigad district late
Saturday, then slowly moved
north along the west coast till
it reached south Gujarat.
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Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on Sunday advised
NDA leaders to have maxi-
mum participation during dis-
cussions in the Parliament. He
asked the parliamentarians and
ministers to come to the
Parliament with utmost pre-
paredness and well in time
before the debate even as he
asked the coalition’s floor lead-
ers to ensure presence of all
NDA MPs during presentation
of Bills and their passage.
Besides, Modi stressed on
better floor coordination in the
Parliament, and asked the lead-
ers to remain present as much
as possible. NDA MPs were
sought to present well-
informed views before the
Parliament and not to make
casual comments.
His advise came as he
chaired a meeting of the
National Democratic Alliance
(NDA)floor leaders on Sunday,
a day before the Parliament ses-
sion begins and discussed the
strategy to be adopted vis-a-vis
the Opposition.
The NDA met after some
of its key allies, including JDU
and Apna Dal (S), have been
given a much -delayed repre-
sentation in the union council
of ministers on July seven
when the Prime Minister
undertook a major overhaul.
The exit of Shiv Sena and
Shiromani Akali Dal and pass-
ing away of union Minister
Ramvilas Paswan, created
vacancies for the allies and were
pending to be filled.
Besides Modi, Defence
Minister Rajnath Singh, Home
Minister Amit Shah and BJP
president J P Nadda were pre-
sent in the meeting. Leaders of
NDA constituent parties were
in attendance in strength.
These included Apna Dal
leader Anupriya Patel, JD(U)
leader Ram Nath Thakur,
AIADMK leader A
Navaneethakrishnan, RPI
leader Ramdas Athawale and
LJP leader Pashupati Paras
among others.
Around 29 bills are expect-
ed to be moved during the ses-
sion. The meeting was called to
finalise the floor strategy for the
session. The Monsoon session
of Parliament is scheduled to
continue till August 13.
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New Delhi: Prime Minister
Narendra Modi has lauded
retired Army Major Pramila
Singh for taking care of help-
less stray animals by spending
her, as well as her father’s, per-
sonal funds during Covid-19
crisis.
A resident of Rajasthan’s
Kota, Pramila, along with her
father Shyamveer Singh,
arranged food for and treat-
ment of the stray animals
roaming on the streets.
Praising Pramila, the Prime
Minister has described her
efforts as an inspiration for the
society for understanding the
pain of animals and coming
forward to help them.
“In the last almost one
and a half years, we have faced
unprecedented situations with
fortitude. This is such a his-
torical period that people will
not forget for the rest of their
lives. This is a difficult period
not only for humans but also
for many creatures living in
close proximity of humans.
“In such a situation, it is
commendable for you to be
sensitive to the pain and needs
of destitute animals and to
work with full potential at the
individual level for their wel-
fare,” the Prime Minister wrote
in a letter to her.
Modi also mentioned in his
letter that in this difficult time,
many such examples have been
seen which have given us a
cause to feel pride in humani-
ty.
He expressed hope that
Major Pramila and her father
will continue to inspire people
with their work by spreading
awareness in the society with
their initiatives.
Earlier, the former army
officer had written a letter to
the Prime Minister informing
that the work of taking care of
animals, which she started dur-
ing the lockdown, is still con-
tinuing. IANS
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The Central paramilitary
forces are all set to soon
implement a software-based
rotational transfer policy
between hard and soft posting
of their personnel. The idea is
the brainchild of Union Home
Minister Amit Shah.
While the Central
Industrial Security Force
(CISF), Indo-Tibetan Border
Police (ITBP) and Sashastra
Seema Bal (SSB) have readied
the software, the Central
Reserve Police Force (CRPF),
Border Security Force (BSF)
and Assam Rifles are in the
advanced stage of develop-
ment of the application.
Shah’s direction for devel-
opment of a software-based
rotational transfer policy was
communicated to the para-
military forces in January last
year but the development of the
application was delayed due to
the onset of the Covid-19 in
early 2020.
With considerable lapse of
time following the Home
Minister’s directive, the Union
Home Ministry had decided to
review the progress of the
development of the software in
a meeting under the chair-
manship of the Secretary
(Border Management) of the
Union Home Ministry on July
15 but the meeting could not be
held as scheduled and a fresh
date for the same is likely to be
notified soon, officials said.
“During the meeting, rep-
resentatives of CISF, ITBP
and SSB will be required to
organize a live demonstration
of their software being used in
rotational transfer in compli-
ance of Shah’s directives to the
effect,” officials said.
The CRPF, BSF and
Assam Rifles will be required
to indicate the progress made
in implementation of the
directive and development of
the software for facilitation of
the rotational transfer policy
within their ranks.
“A fair transfer mecha-
nism through a software
application is not only expect-
ed to cut the unnecessary
delays in approvals of transfer
but will also do away with
whimsical decisions of the
seniors. The move is also
expected to lead to a reduction
in stress of the personnel
deployed in hard postings
with inherent travails amid
vagaries of nature and dynam-
ic security challenges besides
being away from their fami-
lies. Besides timely grant of
leave, transfer from hard to
soft posting has been a major
grievance of the forces’ per-
sonnel, especially the lower
rung staffers,” a senior official
in a paramilitary said.
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Atotal of 326 cases were reg-
istered in the country
under the controversial colo-
nial-era penal law on sedition
between 2014 and 2019 in
which just six persons were
convicted.
The Supreme Court last
week observed that Section
124 (A) of the IPC — offence
of sedition — has been enor-
mously misused and asked
the Centre why it was not
repealing the provision used
by the British to “silence” peo-
ple like Mahatma Gandhi to
suppress the freedom move-
ment.
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Prof M U Rabbani, Chairman, Department of
Cardiology, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College
(JNMC), Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has been
elected as the President of the Cardiology Society of
India-UP Chapter.
He has attributed his success to AMU Vice
Chancellor, Prof Tariq Mansoor and said, “It has been
possible only because of Vice Chancellor’s policy of
excellence in academics and work culture.
Prof Rabbani is a Fellow of European Society of
Cardiology, American College of Cardiology,
American College of Chest Physicians, Indian Society
of Cardiology and International College of Angiology.
He has been the Vice-President of the
Cardiological Society of India-UP chapter (2008 to
2010) and Clinical Secretary, Indian Medical
Association, Aligarh (2003 to 2005).
Prof Rabbani has over three decades of teaching,
research, clinical and administrative experience. He
has authored medical books and contributed numer-
ous articles in peer-reviewed journals.
?C8 Q :0=?DA
An inquiry was ordered after
images of a scuffle between
a sub-inspector and a woman,
who alleged that she was
dragged to the ground and
assaulted by the cop, appeared
on social media, though the
police here refuted her claim
citing video clips of the inci-
dent.
SI Mahendra Patel was
taken off active duty on
Saturday night to ensure a free
and fair probe, officials said.
Superintendent of Police of
Kanpur Dehat, Keshav Kumar
Choudhry, said that a photo-
graph of the SI allegedly over-
powering a woman in
Durgadaspur village of Kanpur
(Rural) on Saturday went viral
on social media.
The officer said an inquiry
was ordered as it was alleged by
the woman that the SI pulled
her to the ground and hit her
after sitting on top of her as she
did not agree to his demands
for sparing her husband who
was to be arrested. The SP,
however, said that images of the
incident showed the woman
caught hold of the SI's collar
after which he fell on her. Circle
Officer (Akbarpur) Arun
Kumar Singh has been asked to
probe the matter properly and
submit a report at the earliest,
the SP said and added that fur-
ther action would be taken on
the basis of the findings.
Yadav was allegedly gam-
bling with his few friends and
was caught by the police but his
mother and wife got him
forcibly freed which led to a
scuffle between the SI and the
women, said another senior
official who did not wish to be
named.
?C8 Q =4F34;78
More than two years after the
Lokpal came into being, the
Centre is yet to appoint a director
of inquiry for conducting prelim-
inary inquiry into graft complaints
sent by the anti-corruption
ombudsman, according to an RTI
reply.
The Lokpal, the apex body to
inquire and investigate graft com-
plaints against public functionar-
ies, came into being with the
appointment of its chairperson
and members in March 2019.
According to the Lokpal and
Lokayuktas Act, 2013, there shall
be a director of inquiry, not below
the rank of joint secretary to the
government of India, who shall be
appointed by the central
Government for conducting pre-
liminary inquiries referred to the
Central Vigilance Commission
(CVC) by the Lokpal.
Although Director of Inquiry
has not been appointed by Govt. of
India, cases are being received in
the Commission for conducting
preliminary inquiries, the CVC
said in its reply to an RTI query
filed by this journalist.
Forty-one cases have been
received for preliminary inquiry as
of March 2021. Out of these,
reports in 36 cases have been sent
to the Lokpal of India, the com-
mission said in its reply dated July
5.
The CVC was asked to provide
details of the director of inquiry
and cases referred to it by the
Lokpal for conducting prelimi-
nary inquiries, among others.
According to the latest official
data, the Lokpal received 12 com-
plaints of corruption, including
eight against senior Government
officials, between April and June
this year.
As many as 110 complaints,
including four against Members of
Parliament (MPs), were received by
the Lokpal during 2020-21, a
decline of over 92 per cent from
1,427 plaints received in
2019-20. Of the total of 12 com-
plaints received in the first three
months of the ongoing fiscal, eight
were against Group A or B officials
and four were against chairperson/
member/officer/employee in any
body/board/corporation/authori-
ty/company/society/trust/autonom
ous body wholly or partially
financed by the central government
or controlled by it, according to the
Lokpal data.
Nagpur: The Enforcement Directorate conducted
searches at two residences of former Maharashtra
home minister Anil Deshmukh in Nagpur district
on Sunday as part of a probe into a money laun-
dering case, a police official said.
Two separate teams of the ED searched
Deshmukh's house in Katol town, located about 60
km from here, and his ancestral home at Wadvihira
village near Katol, he said.
The searches started at around 6 am, he said.
The official said the search is still on at the Katol
premises of Deshmukh, while the search at
Wadvihira concluded around 12 noon.
The ED is conducting a probe into the money
laundering case related to an alleged multi-crore
bribery-cum-extortion racket that led to
Deshmukh's resignation from the post of home
minister in April this year.
The central agency recently arrested
Deshmukh's personal secretary Sanjeev Palande
(51) and personal assistant Kundan Shinde (45)
after it carried out raids against them and the NCP
leader in Mumbai and Nagpur.
Deshmukh had earlier skipped ED's summons
for questioning in the case. PTI
Lucknow: Congress General
Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra
on Sunday said her party is open-
minded about forging an alliance
with other political parties for the
Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.
Asked whether the Congress
will go it alone on all the 403
Assembly seats in the State or align
with some political party, the party
general secretary told reporters in
an informal meeting here, It is too
early to say.
On whether she is ruling out
an alliance or not, she said, I do
not rule out (alliance). We are
absolutely not closed-minded. We
are having an open mind.
Our aim is to defeat the BJP,
she said, adding that other politi-
cal parties should also be open-
minded. She added that the
organisation is also her area of
focus, and a lot of work have been
done on it, and in a silent manner.
I have an open mind, but my
priority is my party, she said. To
a question on the party becoming
active in her presence and tending
to become inactive as soon as she
leaves the state, the Congress leader
said, When I come (here), there is
the media focus and you pay atten-
tion. But when I am not here, you
do not give any attention. But our
work is going on.
We have done the maximum
work during the Covid that we are
the ones who have raised issues.
Congress is no longer confined to
garlanding photographs. Our party
has been out of power for 30-32
years, and it has become weak.
However, full efforts have been
made, and a lot of energy has come
(into the party), she added.
Priyanka Gandhi also said that
plans are afoot to revamp the
Congress Seva Dal in the state.
She also slammed the BJP over
its statement that she was a polit-
ical tourist.
Stating that she is not a polit-
ical tourist, the Congress general
secretary said that the BJP's pro-
paganda is to show her and her
brother Rahul Gandhi as non-
serious politicians.
Later, Priyanka Gandhi inter-
acted with senior party leaders of
the state, including UP Congress
chief Ajay Kumar Lallu, co-
incharge of Uttar Pradesh Dheeraj
Gurjar, UP Congress spokesperson
Ashok Singh and Naseemuddin
Siddiqui, a Congress leader
said. PTI
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The BJP has dared the Opposition par-
ties to prove Minister of State Nisith
Pramanik’s Bangladeshi origin even as the
Trinamool Congress and Left on Sunday
joined chorus with the Congress seeking
probe and immediate resignation of the
Union Minister.
A day after Assam Pradesh Congress
president and MP Ripun Bora demand-
ed a probe into Pramanik’s alleged
Bangladeshi background citing media
reports on the “matter of grave concern
that a foreign national is … Union
Minister,” and the Trinamool Congress
expressing its “shock”, the Bengal BJP
spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said,
“Instead of making noise on flimsy issues
the Opposition should prove its point …
We would request the TMC Ministers and
the Congress leaders to furnish evidence
to back their case.”
Earlier Bengal Indranil Sen said he
was shocked and stunned to learn that
Union Minister Nishith Pramanik might
be a citizen of Bangladesh.” Similarly
Education Minister Bratya Basu that the
Congress MP was asking the right ques-
tion adding “the matter should be inves-
tigated,” because it was a matter of
national security.
Bora had written a letter to Prime
Minister Narendra Modi referring to
some media reports suggesting Pramanik
was originally from Harinathpur in
Palashbari police station of Gaibandha
district in Bangladesh and that he had
come to India to study computer science.
The report said that the people of his
ancestral village had rejoiced at his being
appointed as the Home Minister of India.
“It's a matter of grave concern that a
foreign national is an incumbent Union
Minister,” Bora wrote to the Prime
Minister seeking inquiry into it. The
report had appeared in a Bangladeshi face-
book post.
Wading into the controversy North
Bengal MLA Partha Pratim Roy said that
“if the post is false then the Government
should take legal action against the FB
page and if it is true then it knows what
it should do.”
The 35-year-old Pramanik, one of the
youngest Union Ministers ever in the
country has shown Dinhata in Cooch
Behar district as his birth place. He was
earlier a Trinamool member and later
joined the BJP.
Though Pramanik maintained silence
on the issue Bengal BJP general secretary
Sayantan Basu hit out at the TMC and
Congress for “false and raising flimsy
issues,” even as he said “they are making
false and unsubstantiated allegations …
if they have any proof then they should
go and submit them before the President
of India … the onus of proof lies on the
person who claims.”
B0D60AB4=6D?C0 Q :;:0C0
After her thumping victory
in the Bengal Assembly
elections, Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee is planning to
carry her swords to the enemy
camps — right in the backyards
of Prime Minister Narendra
Modi and BJP to be specific—
ahead of the 2024 general elec-
tions.
Accordingly, the Trinamool
Congress supremo who is
scheduled to deliver her first
July 21 TMC Martyr’s Day
speech from Constitutional
Club in Delhi has made plans
to get herself heard in all the 32
districts of Gujarat, many dis-
tricts of Uttar Pradesh, Tripura,
Assam, Jharkhand, Punjab and
not the least Tamil Nadu where
she is likely to be publicized as
“Mamata Amma,” senior party
men said.
This apart, the party is
ready with a digital plan to
promote Banerjee as a possible
claimant of the Prime Minister’s
chair for which the party MPs
have been asked to lobby in
Parliament too.
Accordingly in 2024 Lok
Sabha elections the TMC will go
campaigning in Bengal with the
slogan “Bangla nijer meye kei
Pradhan Mantri chai (Bengal
wants her daughter as the Prime
Minister).”
Back to July 21programme,
the TMC would erect 50 giant
screens in 32 districts of Gujarat
where Banerjee’s speech would
be shown. Similar giant screens
would be put up in various dis-
tricts of UP, Jharkhand, Assam,
Tripura and Tamil Nadu said a
senior party leader reminding
how TMC national general sec-
retary Abhishek Banerjee had
earlier said that “this time we
will go to other States not to
fight elections but to win them.”
On whether the Chief
Minister’s Delhi visit was a part
of her lobbying with the nation-
al leaders on her party’s future
plans Trinamool spokesperson
Kunal Ghosh said “when a
national leader like Mamata
Banerjee goes to Delhi there is
certainly some movement and
naturally many leaders will
come and discuss issues with
her.”
Mumbai: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena
chief Raj Thackeray and BJP state president
Chandrakant Patil met in Nashik on Sunday.
Patil later told reporters that he and
Thackeray only exchanged pleasantries and
nothing more, as they share warm and
friendly relations since their student days.
Both the leaders are in Nashik to take
stock of the preparedness of their respective
parties for civic elections.
Nashik is among 10 civic bodies where
polls are due next year.
The two leaders met when Thackeray's
convoy entered a guest gouse while Patil was
leaving the premises. They spoke to each
other for a few minutes, moving away from
their aides and security staff.
Later, Patil said, We both were in the stu-
dents' wings of our respective parties and
share a friendly relation since the last 40
years, he said. Asked if the friendship will
bear fruit in the forthcoming civic polls, Patil
said, Friendship and politics are two differ-
ent things. Even though I am the state BJP
president, our leader Devendra Fadnavis will
take the final decision. PTI
:D0A274;;0??0=Q :278
Saturday marked the begin-
ning of Ramayana Month in
Kerala with all Hindu homes
reverberating with recitation of
the lyrics from Adhyatma
Ramayanam, authored by
Thunchathu Ramanujan
Ezhuthachan, considered as
the father of Malayalam lan-
guage.
For the next 30 days, the
early mornings and late
evenings see elders in the fam-
ily reciting the Ramayana
slokas as the younger ones sit
listening to the lyrics coated
with philosophical aspects of
life. “After the recitation, the lis-
teners are sure to get a choice
of sweets including ‘payasam’
and this could be one of the
reasons behind the rapt atten-
tion,” said Poojappura
Krishnan Nair, an authority on
Ramayana.
Observation of Ramayana
Month ( Malayalam month of
Karkkidaka which synchs with
Aashada and Sravana) has been
in vogue for centuries though
it took a systematic form dur-
ing the last four decades.
“People in Kerala are not famil-
iar with Valmiki Ramayana
because Adhyatma Ramayana
was more popular among the
Malayalam speaking popula-
tion. The puritans of the epic
prefer Valmiki Ramayana,” said
Prof Nair.
Ezhuthachan was born in
Tirur of Malappuram district
sometime in 16th century.
There are no details about his
date of birth but the place he
was born is known as
Thunachan Parambu, where
thousands gather every Vijaya
Dasami day for initiating their
children into the world of let-
ters. Ezhuthachan Prize is the
highest literary award in Kerala
and carries with it a cash prize
of C5,00,000/- and is rated as
the zenith of one’s literary
career.
Sadly enough, the author-
ities and representatives of
people in Tirur do not allow
the installation of a statue of the
Father of Malayalam language
anywhere in the district.
“Statues of a non-Muslim is
against Islamic laws and there
is no possibility of Ezhuthachan
statue being installed here. The
district has a massive Muslim
population and people do not
like the idea of the Statue,” said
Ali Akbar, noted movie maker.
The long standing demand
for installing the statue of the
Father of Malayalam language
is likely to remain on paper as
religion has taken the driver’s
seat in the district.
Kolkata: Tributes poured in for
Kadambini Ganguly, one of
Indias first two women doctors
on Sunday, her 160th birth
anniversary.
Along with Anandi Joshi,
Ganguly became the first
woman in colonial India to
study medicine and earn a
degree in 1886. While Joshi
studied at Womans Medical
College of Pennsylvania in the
US, Ganguly pursued western
medicine at Calcutta Medical
College (CMC).
Born Kadambini Bose in
Bhagalpur, she was the daugh-
ter of well-known Brahmo
Samaj reformer Braja Kishore
Basu and was deeply influenced
by the ongoing Bengal renais-
sance. She fought a long battle
to be admitted to the Calcutta
Medical College before quali-
fying as a practicing doctor,
after becoming along with
Chandramukhi Basu, one of
Calcutta Universitys first
women graduates.
Among others, Google
Doodle honoured the countrys
first woman doctor with a spe-
cial graphic on her. The doodle,
a portrait of Ganguly with the
image of the main building of
Calcutta Medical College, now
officially called the Kolkata
Medical College and Hospital
in the background, has been
designed by Bengaluru-based
artist Oddrija, and it was wide-
ly shared across the country.
Social media saw an out-
pouring of tributes that hailed
Ganguly as a champion of
womens rights in India.
After her marriage with
Brahmo reformer Dwarkanath
Ganguly, the couple battled
CMCs prohibition on women
studying there, and Kadambini
joined the medical college on
June 23, 1883 despite strong
criticism from the colonial
society.
She was awarded the
Graduate of Medical College of
Bengal (GMCB) degree in
1886, which even attracted the
attention of Florence
Nightingale who enquired
about Ganguly from a friend in
a letter in 1888. Ganguly later
studied in Britain.
A champion of womens
rights, Ganguly was among
the six members of the first all-
women delegation to the 1889
Indian National
Congress.Among other move-
ments, Kadimbini Devi as she
was popularly called, PTI
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Ahead of the 2022 Uttar
Pradesh Assembly elec-
tions, Bahujan Samaj Party
supremo Mayawati on Sunday
announced the launch of a
campaign from Ayodhya to
reach out to Brahmin voters
and assured the community
that its interests would be safe-
guarded if her party came to
power.
Mayawati announced to
hold a ''Brahmin sammelan'' on
July 23 in Ayodhya to connect
with the community.
“A campaign, led by BSP
general secretary Satish
Chandra Mishra, will be start-
ed from Ayodhya on July 23 to
awaken the Brahmin commu-
nity once again. I am fully con-
fident that members of the
Brahmin community will not
get misled by the Bharatiya
Janata Party and will vote for
the BSP in the upcoming elec-
tions,” Mayawati said on
Sunday.
“The Brahmins will be
assured that their interests will
remain safe under
the BSP regime,” the former
Chief Minister and Dalit leader
said.
“The Brahmin communi-
ty should support her party like
the Dalit community which has
remained loyal to her party
despite BJP’s money power
and other methods to influence
them,” she said.
The BJP and Congress
used all means to influence
Dalits. They used money
power, people say, they made
false promises and even used
media to influence the Dalit
community. But the good thing
is that Dalits have not been
misled by these fake promises.
Though we lost the last
Assembly election, the vote
percentage from the Dalit com-
munity has been intact. It has
not even gone to the Samajwadi
Party, Mayawati said.
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