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?=BQ =4F34;78
The Rajya Sabha on Thursday
witnessed all-round chaos as
TMC MP Shantanu Sen tore off a
copy of a statement being read by
Information and Technology
Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on the
Pegasus snooping controversy.
Sources in the Government said it
will seek action against some
Opposition MPs, including Sen, and
move a motion for his suspension.
The Trinamool Congress
(TMC) members tore papers when
Vaishnaw was called to read the
statement by the Chair in the after-
noon session. As bedlam pre-
vailed, the Minister could not com-
plete his statement and instead
laid a copy of it on the table of the
House.
Deputy Chairman Harivansh
Narayan Singh tried to restore
order and asked members to desist
from unparliamentary behaviour,
before adjourning the proceedings
of the House for the rest of the day.
The pandemonium comes days
before TMC supremo and West
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee is scheduled to visit
national Capital to engage with
Opposition leaders.
Union Minister Meenakshi
Lekhi condemned the conduct of
Opposition members in the Rajya
Sabha and said it was a “new low”
in India’s Parliamentary democra-
cy. Shantanu Sen snatched papers
from Vaishnaw after TMC,
Congress and other Opposition
party members who had earlier
forced two adjournments of the
proceedings in the Rajya Sabha
rushed into the well of the House
as the Minister was called to make
a statement on the snooping row.
On his part, Sen alleged that
Union Minister Hardeep Puri
abused him in Parliament and was
on the verge of physically assault-
ing him before he was rescued by
his Opposition colleagues. Puri has
so far not commented on the issue.
Government sources said the
Leader of the House in the Rajya
Sabha Piyush Goyal and his deputy
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi reached out
to the Opposition members and
assured them that the Minister will
reply to their queries after he makes
his statement, but in vain.
The situation remained tense in
the House as the two sides engaged
in a heated exchange. Deputy
Chairman Harivansh asked the
members to desist from unparlia-
mentary behaviour, before adjourn-
ing the proceedings of the House for
the day. “Please do not adhere to
this unparliamentary practice,”
Harivansh said, adding that the
report that all MPs want to hear has
now been laid on the table of the
House and it can be discussed.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Pegasus snoopgate is getting bigger by
the day. The latest revelation shows
that at the peak of war within the CBI
in 2018, phone numbers of then
Director Alok Verma, his family and
then Special Director Rakesh Asthana,
Additional Director AK Sharma, indus-
trialist Anil Ambani and his commu-
nication department chief Tony
Jesudasan and his wife and Dassault
Rafale’s representative in India Venkata
Rao Posina were also on the Pegasus
surveillance list.
Earlier on Thursday The Wire por-
tal reported that Tibetan spiritual leader,
the Dalai Lama, and staff members of
other Buddhist clerics were selected as
targets of potential surveillance by a
client of the Israeli spyware firm NSO
Group over two years, a leaked database
of phone numbers reveals.
The staff of the 17th Gyalwang
Karmapa, Urgyen Trinley Dorji, the
third highest ranking monk in Tibetan
Buddhism, who had been living outside
India since early 2017 was also in the
targeted list. The report said Tibetan
officials were targeted from late 2017.
On the CBI tapping, The Wire has
reported, “Someone with the keys to
India’s hush-hush spyware deployment
system received authorisation to add
Verma’s numbers to an extensive list of
persons of interest that included at least
10 individuals whose phones bear the
tell-tale footprints of Pegasus.”
“Along with Verma, the personal
telephone numbers of his wife, daugh-
ter and son-in-law would eventually get
placed on the list too, making it a total
of 8 numbers from this one family,” said
the The Wire report.
The numbers of Asthana, Sharma,
Verma and his family figure in the
leaked database for a short period.
Jesudasan, considered a trouble-
shooter for Ambani’s empire in matters
of regulatory policy and the media,
appeared on the list in 2018. From mid-
2018, there were several tense periods
for the company: This includes the
Hollande controversy and tense apex
court hearings.
The number for Jesudasan shortly
stopped appearing in the records after
the Supreme Court gave its verdict. The
judgment, delivered in December 2018
by a Bench headed by then Chief
Justice Ranjan Gogoi, dismissed a batch
of petitions that called for a probe into
the affair.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Apublic promise or assur-
ance given by a Chief
Minister amounts to an
enforceable promise and the
same has to be implemented by
the Government.
Pronouncing this, the
Delhi High court on Thursday
ordered that Delhi
Government is bound by the
assurance given by Chief
Minister Arvind Kejriwal in his
Press conference of March 29,
2020 in which he said the
State Government would pay
rents on behalf of poor tenants
if any tenant is unable to pay
rent.
“This court is of the opin-
ion that the promise/assur-
ance/representation given by
the CM clearly amounts to an
enforceable promise, the
implementation of which
ought to be considered by the
Government.
Good governance requires
that promises made to citizens,
by those who govern, are not
broken, without valid and jus-
tifiable reasons,” said Justice
Prathiba M Singh.
?=BQ =4F34;78
The Union Health Ministry
on Thursday strongly
refuted reports that India’s
death count due to Covid-19
could be in the range of 3.5 to
5 millions.
The Government on
Thursday said India has a
robust and statute-based death
registration system, while some
cases could go undetected as
per the principles of infectious
disease and its management,
missing out on the deaths is
unlikely.
“This could also be seen in
the case fatality rate, which, as
of December 31, 2020, stood at
1.45 per cent, and even after an
unexpected surge observed in
the second wave in April-May
2021, the case fatality rate
today stands at 1.34 per cent,”
said the Health Ministry.
The Ministry was respond-
ing to news reports quoting
findings from some recent
studies.
BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78
After braving harsh winters,
scorching sun, and tor-
rential rain for eight months, a
group of 200 farmers, wearing
identification badges and car-
rying flags of their unions,
travelled to Jantar Mantar from
their Singhu border protest
site in four buses with a police
escort on Thursday for a sit-in
protest against the three farm
laws.
The sit-in started at 12.25
pm and went on till 5 pm.
The farmers organised a “Kisan
Sansad” after Delhi Lieutenant
Governor Anil Baijal gave them
special permission for demon-
stration at Jantar Mantar.
Around 5,000 police per-
sonnel were deployed in the
New Delhi district and four
companies of paramilitary
force around Jantar Mantar. A
water cannon and metal-detec-
tor gates have been deployed at
the site.
?=BQ =4F34;78
The Union Cabinet on
Thursday gave its nod for
the setting up of a Central
University in the Union
Territory of Ladakh.
The decision was taken at
the meeting chaired by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi with
the aim of addressing region-
al imbalances in higher edu-
cation and stimulating the
intellectual current within the
broader society of Ladakh,
said Union Minister Anurag
Thakur briefing media.
“The University will
address the regional imbal-
ances at the higher education
level and stimulate the intel-
lectual current within the
broader society of Ladakh.
This will also be instrumental
in strengthening democratic
values and promoting overall
growth and development of
Ladakh,” said Thakur.
0?Q C:H
The Tokyo Olympic organ-
ising committee fired the
director of the opening cere-
mony on Thursday because of
a Holocaust joke he made dur-
ing a comedy show in 1998.
Organising committee
president Seiko Hashimoto
said a day ahead of the open-
ing ceremony that director
Kentaro Kobayashi has been
dismissed. He was accused of
using a joke about the
Holocaust in his comedy act,
including the phrase “Let’s play
Holocaust.”
“We found out that Mr.
Kobayashi, in his own perfor-
mance, has used a phrase ridi-
culing a historical tragedy. We
deeply apologise for causing
such a development the day
before the opening ceremony
and for causing troubles and
concerns to many involved
parties as well as the people in
Tokyo and the rest of the coun-
try,” Hashimoto said.
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The political drama in the
BJP-ruled Karnataka is
heading for a climax in anoth-
er week with Chief Minister BS
Yediyurappa, while mustering
support of influential “Lingyat”
seers for himself, dropped hints
on Thursday that he might step
down after July 25 if the BJP
high command desired so.
Yediyurappa, 78, who met
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on July 17, has been
understandably told by the
party leadership to hand over
the baton to a new leadership.
“You all know that two
months ago, I had said I would
resign to make way for some-
one else. I will know the next
step only after July 25, and will
abide by the BJP high com-
mand’s decision. I will work to
strengthen the party and bring
the party back to power in
Karnataka,” said Yediyurappa
on Thursday at Bengaluru.
“When the directions
come, I’ll quit and work for the
party,” he said. Insisting that
the party leadership had said
nothing to him, he remarked:
“Let’s see what happens on the
25th”.
“I will be Chief Minister
for as long as you say. When
you say no — I will work for
the State. I am going to check
roads and storm drain. I will
do my duty till the last minute,”
he went on.
The Chief Minister, how-
ever, cancelled a scheduled
legislature party meeting on
July 26 and also a lunch with
MLAs on July 25. It was earli-
er anticipated that the CM may
step down on July 26 when he
completes two years of his
fourth term at the helm.
“Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, Amit Shah and our
national president JP Nadda
have special love and faith in
me. You should know that no
position is given to those who
have crossed 75 years of age in
the party, but appreciating my
work, they have given me an
opportunity despite the fact
that I am 78 years old,” the CM
said opening up scope of spec-
ulation on his next step.
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After a long wait the
Congress party has finally
cleared the air on its leadership
in Uttarakhand. The party has
appointed Ganesh Godiyal as
Pradesh Congress Committee
president. Godiyal would
replace Pritam Singh who
would be the new leader of
Congress Legislature Party in
the Assembly. In a move to give
wider representation the party
has made four working presi-
dents. They are Jeet Ram,
Bhuwan Kapdi, Ranjit Rawat
and Tilak Raj Behed. Former
CM and general Secretary of
AICC Harish Rawat has been
made the head of election cam-
paign committee.
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Condemning the alleged
attack on a journalist at the
farmers’ protest site at Delhi’s
Jantar Mantar, Punjab Chief
Minister Capt Amarinder
Singh on Thursday demanded
immediate resignation of the
Union Minister Meenakshi
Lekhi for dubbing the farmers
as “hooligans”.
Slamming the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) leader for
using “derogatory” language for
the farmers, who have been
peacefully agitating against the
central farm laws for the past
nearly eight months, the Chief
Minister said that it reflected the
party’s “anti-farmer mindset”.
Given the ruling party’s
brazen attempts to stifle all
voices of dissent and protest,
the fact that it had failed to
break the spirit of the farmers
was clearly rankling, said Capt
Amarinder, lambasting the
NDA Government for its con-
tinued efforts to suppress every
single voice that dares to speak
against them, as in the latest
instance of the IT raids on a
media group.
While the assault on the
journalist covering the farmers’
protest was deplorable and
action should be taken against
the guilty person, the Union
Minister’s reaction was totally
uncalled for and provocative,
said the Chief Minister.
Lekhi, he said, had no right
to defame the farmers in such
a manner. The Delhi Police
should file a case and investi-
gate the case to identify the
accused, and the law should
take its own course, he said,
adding that the BJP had no
right to condemn the farmers
in such an outrageous manner
over the incident.
Pointing to the disparaging
comments made by various
BJP leaders against the farmers
since their agitating started at
the Delhi borders, he said that
the ruling party had been try-
ing to malign the farmers and
undermine their peaceful
protests from the outset.
He recalled that BJP lead-
ers had even earlier tried to
defame the farmers with slan-
derous descriptions like ‘ter-
rorists’ and ‘urban Naxalites’.
Having failed to deter the
farmers, who had been braving
the elements with many losing
their lives in this fight for their
rights, the BJP leadership was
once again resorting to such
shameful tactics out of sheer
frustration, said the CM.
Capt Amarinder said the
simmering anger among the
farmers, who are losing their
lives and livelihoods due to the
Centre’s draconian actions, was
a matter of serious concern and
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
should immediately take steps
to resolve the crisis, which
could have serious repercus-
sions for the country.
Intelligence reports sug-
gest that pro-Khalistani ele-
ments from across the border
are looking to exploit the
resentment of the farmers
against India, he pointed out,
warning of a grave security fail-
ure if these reports are not
heeded by the Centre.
Instead of indulging in
such shameful acts in their des-
perate bid to make the farmers
to their line, the Government
of India should try
to settle the issue at the earli-
est, he stressed.
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Reiterating the Punjab Government’s
firm commitment to make the State
clean, green, and pollution-free, the
Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan on
Thursday directed the departments con-
cerned to take all necessary measures to
address water and air pollution issues
besides ensuring proper solid and plas-
tic waste management.
Mahajan, chairing the 15th meeting
of the state apex committee to review the
progress of the environment action plan,
directed the Local Government
Department to take over the sewerage
treatment plants (STPs) being operated
by the Water Supply and Sanitation
department and PSIEC by July 31.
She also asked the Department to ini-
tiate bio-remediation works in all the
drains at the earliest, where establishment
of STPs was taking time so that imme-
diate relief was provided to the citizens
of the State.
Reviewing the water pollution in
river Sutlej due to discharge of sewage
and effluents mainly from Ludhiana, the
Chief Secretary directed the Water
Resources Department to complete the
project of releasing 200 cusecs of fresh
water from Sirhind canal to Buddha nul-
lah by end of this month.
She also asked to make operational
40 MLD and 50 MLD CETPs in
Ludhiana by July 31, which will also help
to clean the Buddha Nullah, which has
become the main source of pollution in
Sutlej river.
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Taking State Government’s vision of
groundwater development and man-
agement a step further, Haryana Chief
Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday
approved the engagement of District
Implementation Partners (DIPs) for six
clusters to support the successful imple-
mentation of Atal Bhujal Yojana.
After the approval, DIPs will prepare
the village water security plans and facili-
tate the implementation of Atal Jal at the
gram panchayat level. They will also facil-
itate community engagement and social
behavioural transition.
The approval was given during the
review meeting regarding implementation
of Atal Bhujal Yojana held under the chair-
manship of Chief Minister here.
During the meeting, the Chief Minister
directed all concerned authorities to con-
verge the programme with other ongoing
water-related schemes of the state that is
Mera Paani Meri Virasat and micro-irri-
gation. He also discussed the future course
of action under this programme.
Additional Chief Secretary, Irrigation
and Water Resources Department,
Devender Singh, informed that under
Atal Jal, a total of 14 districts of Haryana
will be covered. That includes 36 ground-
water stressed blocks with a total of 1669
gram panchayats. At the compilation of the
programme, the state has a target to
reduce groundwater depletion by a mini-
mum of 50 percent, he said.
The Chief Minister was further
apprised that Atal Bhujal Yojana is a
Participatory Groundwater Management
scheme supported by the Central
Government and World Bank and imple-
mented by the Haryana Government. The
major objective of this scheme is to create
the hydrogeological data network of
groundwater resources and further build-
ing community institutions to manage the
groundwater resources in Haryana.
As a part of the programme, commu-
nity mobilisation and awareness activities,
as well as capacity building of stakehold-
ers, will take place. Initially, the water secu-
rity plan of each village will be prepared and
the same will be implemented over the next
four years.
Dr Satbir Singh Kadian, Project
Director — Atal Jal Haryana informed that
under the scheme, Jal Panchayats will take
place. During this panchayat, villagers
will take ownership of their groundwater
resources and will decide the future action
plan in consultation with the state team.
He added that this programme will rev-
olutionise the groundwater governance in
the state and will set an example for the
entire country.
CM DIRECTS DCS TO FOCUS ON
MICRO-IRRIGATION SYSTEM
The Chief Minister Manohar Lal
Khattar directed the Deputy
Commissioners to focus on micro-irriga-
tion system so as to ensure that water reach-
es every field.
While presiding over a review meeting
held here regarding micro-irrigation and
Parivar Pehchan Patra, he said that the State
Government aims to provide water to every
field located in every corner of the state.
He said that the Government is pro-
viding an 85 percent subsidy for setting up
micro-irrigation systems.
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?=BQ 270=3860A7
Haryana Home and Urban
Local Bodies Minister
Anil Vij on Thursday con-
ducted a surprise inspection of
the Municipal Corporation,
Gurugram office. By the time
he reached the Corporation
office at 10.25 am, many Joint
Commissioners, including
Commissioner of the
Corporation, Mukesh
Kumar Ahuja were absent from
the office. Vij ordered to sus-
pend two SDOs, relieve one
XEN and register an FIR against
one for negligence in work. The
MC office has been surround-
ed by controversies over many
issues, including payment of
fake bills, negligence regarding
rain water drainage. He inspect-
ed the offices located on the
three floors of the Corporation
and ordered the suspension of
two SDOs namely Rakesh
Sharma and Kuldeep Yadav
who were missing from the
office. In the case of a six-
month-old estimate, XEN
Dharambir Malik was instruct-
ed to be relieved of the said
charge. He also instructed to
deduct the salary for two hours
of the account branch’s section
officer Bhupendra Singh.
Chandigarh: Haryana
Government has given its
approval for the “Karnal-
Yamunanagar” new rail line
project. This project will fulfil a
long pending demand of com-
mon people of the region for
direct and fast rail connectivity
between these two important
cities.
An official spokesperson
said that the Karnal-
Yamunanagar rail line will
strengthen the transport infra-
structure by providing fast,
safe, economical, comfortable
and reliable mobility option to
the people of Haryana.
Haryana Government has
approved the Detailed Project
Report of the project on July 20
after incorporating all the sug-
gestions made by the Union
Ministry of Railways to the
draft report submitted earlier
in September 2019, he added.
He said the State
Government has been pursuing
this project with the Ministry of
Railways in various meetings
held by Haryana Chief Minister
with Union Minister of
Railways.
Haryana Rail Infrastructure
Development Corporation
(HRIDC-joint venture between
Ministry of Railways and
Haryana Government), has
finalised this DPR at an esti-
mated cost of C883.78 crore.
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BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78
To mark their protest against
the Centre’s new farm laws,
a group of 200 growers reached
Jantar Mantar and organised a
‘Kisan Sansad’ after Delhi
Lieutenant-Governor Anil
Baijal gave them special per-
mission to hold their demon-
stration till August 9. Though
the protest was to start at 11
AM, the farmers reached the
venue at 12:25 PM and sat till
5 PM. “The first day of
the farmers’ protest at Jantar
Mantar went peacefully. In
view of Independence Day and
the ongoing Parliament session,
we made necessary arrange-
ments to keep the protest
peaceful. We hope that we’ll get
this support and coordination
in future also,” Chinmoy
Biswal, the Delhi Police’s PRO
said.
Around 5,000 police per-
sonnel were deployed in the
New Delhi district and four
companies of paramilitary
forces have been deployed in
and around Jantar Mantar.
Water-cannons, metal-detec-
tor gates, two tankers carrying
drinking water have also been
stationed there.
“Several companies of the
CRPF and the RAF have been
deployed at the site. CCTV
cameras have also been placed
in the area,” said Deepak Yadav,
Deputy Commissioner of
Police (DCP), New Delhi dis-
trict.
Barricades along with
metal detectors have also been
placed on either sides of the
venue and two water cannons
have also been stationed.
The farmers alleged that
they were stopped by the police
at three places and their
Aadhaar cards were checked.
“This was harassment by the
Government and even buses
coming from Pakistan would
have not been checked in such
a manner,” said Shiv Kumar
Kakka, a farmer leader.
“Two of our buses broke
down en route, so police escort-
ed us in DTC buses,” he added.
During the day, the farm-
ers debated the changes in the
APMC Act in two sessions of
the ‘Kisan Sansad’. The debate
also featured women and the
elderly.
JURZHUVKROGµ.LVDQ6DQVDG¶DW-DQWDU0DQWDU
BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78
Delhi reported 49
Coronavirus cases on
Thursday while one more
patient succumbed to the dis-
ease, according to a health
bulletin issued by the Delhi
Government. As per the bul-
letin, the positivity rate stands
at 0.08 per cent while 29
patients recovered from the
infection in the past 24 hours.
“The total number of fatal-
ities stands at 25,040 , while the
cumulative case tally has
reached 1435720,” it said. At
least 58502 tests, including
4 5 , 8 9 2
RTPCR/CBNAAT/TrueNat
tests, were conducted in the last
24 hours,” it said, adding that
out of 12615 available beds in
hospitals, 251 are occupied as
on Thursday while the rest are
vacant.
As many as 14,10,095 peo-
ple have either been discharged,
have recovered or migrated
out. The case fatality rate stands
at 1.74 per cent, according to
the bulletin.
BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)
MLA from Timarpur con-
stituency Dilip Pandey’s office
has been awarded an ISO 9001-
2015 certification for quality
management.
The certificate awarded by
International Organisation for
Standardisation which is one of
the most recognised certificates
in the world. This certificate is
given to given to those institu-
tions that clear a rigorous set of
international standards.
AAP’s national convener
and Delhi Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal will present
the certificate to Dilip Pandey
on Friday.”Criminal records
and corruption dominate the
legislatures and parliaments
across the country. Questions
are rarely asked about the qual-
ifications and the work ethic of
legislative officers.
Consequently, we realised that
at the MLA office of Timarpur
that we need to set up a qual-
ity standardization system. ISO
9001 is the world’s most recog-
nised Quality Management
System (QMS) standard,” the
AAP said in a statement.
ISO aims to help organisa-
tions meet the needs of their
stakeholders more effectively.
This is achieved by building a
framework to ensure consistent
quality in the provision of
goods and/or services. The
MLA office has adopted a
structured approach towards
decentralised governance. The
passions of politics must co-
exist with reason and compe-
tence, this belief sits at the core
of the party.The standard of
certification is based on seven
quality management princi-
ples including having a strong
customer focus, the involve-
ment of top management and
a drive for continual improve-
ment. “The MLA office pre-
pared a quality manual, con-
ducted risk assessment and
thereby attained the certifi-
cate for three years. Through
grievance management soft-
ware and a brand new app,
manual intervention will be
replaced by technology and
people will receive updates on
SMS and Whatsapp,” it said.
3X[X_?P]STh´b^UUXRT
aTRTXeTbRTacXUXRPcX^]U^a
`dP[XchP]PVTT]c
5V]YZcVa`ced
%*WcVdY4`gZU
TRdVd`_VUVReY
=8:00;8:Q 270=3860A7
Punjab Chief Minister Capt
Amarinder Singh and
newly-appointedStateCongress
president Navjot Singh Sidhu
may not be on the same page,
but they will share the same
stage on Friday. Nearly three
years after the differences
between the two senior leaders
came to fore, both will come
togetherforSidhu’s“coronation”
ceremony at Punjab Congress
Bhawan. Along with Sidhu,who
would take over the charge of
Punjab Pradesh Congress com-
mittee (PPCC) president after
his appointment on July 18, four
working presidents — Kuljit
Singh Nagra, Sangat Singh
Gilzian, Sukhwinder Singh
Danny, and Pawan Goel —
would also take over the charge
of their new assignment.
The CMs acceptance of
invite came after Sidhu’s letter,
and personal invitation signed
by 58 legislators. This, followed
by tea invite by the Chief
Minister to all MLAs and MPs,
signals thaw in the long-
stretched cold relations between
the Congress party’s two tall
leaders. Notably, Nagra and
Gilzian, acting as Sidhu’s emis-
sary, extended a formal invite to
the Chief Minister at his farm-
house in Mohali’s Siswan for the
installationceremony.Theinvite
wassignedbytotal58legislators,
includingSidhuandthreerebels
of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP),
who have shifted loyalties
towards Congress.
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- 1. 20?BD;4 18;;10AB068C0C8=1H 3454=24B4AE824BBC055 =Tf3T[WX) CWT6^eTa]T]c^] CWdabSPhX]ca^SdRTSP1X[[X]cWT ;^ZBPQWPfWXRWbTTZbc^ _a^WXQXcP]hPVXcPcX^]P]SbcaXZT QhP]h^]TT]VPVTSX]cWT TbbT]cXP[3TUT]RTbTaeXRTb 8A0=1H?0BB4B7ADI BCA08CC4G?AC2AD34 CTWaP]) 8aP]^]CWdabSPhQTVP] Tg_^acX]VRadST^X[U^acWTUXabc cXTX]cWT6d[U^UP] Qh_PbbX]VcWTbcaPcTVXRBcaPXc^U 7^adi3daX]VPRTaT^]h^U cWT_a^YTRc?aTbXST]c7PbbP] A^dWP]XRP[[TScWT_[P] °bcaPcTVXR± 278=0A4942CBF7´B ?;0=CA4E8B8CFD70= 1TXYX]V) 2WX]P^]CWdabSPh RPcTV^aXRP[[haTYTRcTScWTF7³b _[P]U^acWTbTR^]S_WPbT^U R^a^]PeXadb^aXVX]caPRX]VX] FdWP]Tb_TRXP[[hc^_a^QTcWT [PQ[TPZcWT^ah ?=BQ =4F34;78 The Rajya Sabha on Thursday witnessed all-round chaos as TMC MP Shantanu Sen tore off a copy of a statement being read by Information and Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on the Pegasus snooping controversy. Sources in the Government said it will seek action against some Opposition MPs, including Sen, and move a motion for his suspension. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) members tore papers when Vaishnaw was called to read the statement by the Chair in the after- noon session. As bedlam pre- vailed, the Minister could not com- plete his statement and instead laid a copy of it on the table of the House. Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh tried to restore order and asked members to desist from unparliamentary behaviour, before adjourning the proceedings of the House for the rest of the day. The pandemonium comes days before TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is scheduled to visit national Capital to engage with Opposition leaders. Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi condemned the conduct of Opposition members in the Rajya Sabha and said it was a “new low” in India’s Parliamentary democra- cy. Shantanu Sen snatched papers from Vaishnaw after TMC, Congress and other Opposition party members who had earlier forced two adjournments of the proceedings in the Rajya Sabha rushed into the well of the House as the Minister was called to make a statement on the snooping row. On his part, Sen alleged that Union Minister Hardeep Puri abused him in Parliament and was on the verge of physically assault- ing him before he was rescued by his Opposition colleagues. Puri has so far not commented on the issue. Government sources said the Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal and his deputy Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi reached out to the Opposition members and assured them that the Minister will reply to their queries after he makes his statement, but in vain. The situation remained tense in the House as the two sides engaged in a heated exchange. Deputy Chairman Harivansh asked the members to desist from unparlia- mentary behaviour, before adjourn- ing the proceedings of the House for the day. “Please do not adhere to this unparliamentary practice,” Harivansh said, adding that the report that all MPs want to hear has now been laid on the table of the House and it can be discussed. ?=BQ =4F34;78 Pegasus snoopgate is getting bigger by the day. The latest revelation shows that at the peak of war within the CBI in 2018, phone numbers of then Director Alok Verma, his family and then Special Director Rakesh Asthana, Additional Director AK Sharma, indus- trialist Anil Ambani and his commu- nication department chief Tony Jesudasan and his wife and Dassault Rafale’s representative in India Venkata Rao Posina were also on the Pegasus surveillance list. Earlier on Thursday The Wire por- tal reported that Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and staff members of other Buddhist clerics were selected as targets of potential surveillance by a client of the Israeli spyware firm NSO Group over two years, a leaked database of phone numbers reveals. The staff of the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Urgyen Trinley Dorji, the third highest ranking monk in Tibetan Buddhism, who had been living outside India since early 2017 was also in the targeted list. The report said Tibetan officials were targeted from late 2017. On the CBI tapping, The Wire has reported, “Someone with the keys to India’s hush-hush spyware deployment system received authorisation to add Verma’s numbers to an extensive list of persons of interest that included at least 10 individuals whose phones bear the tell-tale footprints of Pegasus.” “Along with Verma, the personal telephone numbers of his wife, daugh- ter and son-in-law would eventually get placed on the list too, making it a total of 8 numbers from this one family,” said the The Wire report. The numbers of Asthana, Sharma, Verma and his family figure in the leaked database for a short period. Jesudasan, considered a trouble- shooter for Ambani’s empire in matters of regulatory policy and the media, appeared on the list in 2018. From mid- 2018, there were several tense periods for the company: This includes the Hollande controversy and tense apex court hearings. The number for Jesudasan shortly stopped appearing in the records after the Supreme Court gave its verdict. The judgment, delivered in December 2018 by a Bench headed by then Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, dismissed a batch of petitions that called for a probe into the affair. ?=BQ =4F34;78 Apublic promise or assur- ance given by a Chief Minister amounts to an enforceable promise and the same has to be implemented by the Government. Pronouncing this, the Delhi High court on Thursday ordered that Delhi Government is bound by the assurance given by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in his Press conference of March 29, 2020 in which he said the State Government would pay rents on behalf of poor tenants if any tenant is unable to pay rent. “This court is of the opin- ion that the promise/assur- ance/representation given by the CM clearly amounts to an enforceable promise, the implementation of which ought to be considered by the Government. Good governance requires that promises made to citizens, by those who govern, are not broken, without valid and jus- tifiable reasons,” said Justice Prathiba M Singh. ?=BQ =4F34;78 The Union Health Ministry on Thursday strongly refuted reports that India’s death count due to Covid-19 could be in the range of 3.5 to 5 millions. The Government on Thursday said India has a robust and statute-based death registration system, while some cases could go undetected as per the principles of infectious disease and its management, missing out on the deaths is unlikely. “This could also be seen in the case fatality rate, which, as of December 31, 2020, stood at 1.45 per cent, and even after an unexpected surge observed in the second wave in April-May 2021, the case fatality rate today stands at 1.34 per cent,” said the Health Ministry. The Ministry was respond- ing to news reports quoting findings from some recent studies. BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78 After braving harsh winters, scorching sun, and tor- rential rain for eight months, a group of 200 farmers, wearing identification badges and car- rying flags of their unions, travelled to Jantar Mantar from their Singhu border protest site in four buses with a police escort on Thursday for a sit-in protest against the three farm laws. The sit-in started at 12.25 pm and went on till 5 pm. The farmers organised a “Kisan Sansad” after Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal gave them special permission for demon- stration at Jantar Mantar. Around 5,000 police per- sonnel were deployed in the New Delhi district and four companies of paramilitary force around Jantar Mantar. A water cannon and metal-detec- tor gates have been deployed at the site. ?=BQ =4F34;78 The Union Cabinet on Thursday gave its nod for the setting up of a Central University in the Union Territory of Ladakh. The decision was taken at the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the aim of addressing region- al imbalances in higher edu- cation and stimulating the intellectual current within the broader society of Ladakh, said Union Minister Anurag Thakur briefing media. “The University will address the regional imbal- ances at the higher education level and stimulate the intel- lectual current within the broader society of Ladakh. This will also be instrumental in strengthening democratic values and promoting overall growth and development of Ladakh,” said Thakur. 0?Q C:H The Tokyo Olympic organ- ising committee fired the director of the opening cere- mony on Thursday because of a Holocaust joke he made dur- ing a comedy show in 1998. Organising committee president Seiko Hashimoto said a day ahead of the open- ing ceremony that director Kentaro Kobayashi has been dismissed. He was accused of using a joke about the Holocaust in his comedy act, including the phrase “Let’s play Holocaust.” “We found out that Mr. Kobayashi, in his own perfor- mance, has used a phrase ridi- culing a historical tragedy. We deeply apologise for causing such a development the day before the opening ceremony and for causing troubles and concerns to many involved parties as well as the people in Tokyo and the rest of the coun- try,” Hashimoto said. 9ZXYUcR^RZ_CD`gVc AVXRdfdd_``aZ_Xc`h 7003WHDUV,7 0LQ¶VSDSHUV*RYW WRPRYHPRWLRQIRU KLVVXVSHQVLRQ 0eXTf^UcWTAPYhPBPQWPSdaX]VcWT^]b^^]BTbbX^]X]=Tf3T[WX^]CWdabSPh ?C8 :_UZRcVWfeVd cVa`ce`W 4`gZUUVReYd )DUPHUVVWDUW VLWLQSURWHVWDW -DQWDU0DQWDU 2PQX]Tc]^S U^a2T]caP[ D]XeTabXch X];PSPZW [h_XRbRTaT^]h SXaTRc^aUXaTS^eTa 7^[^RPdbcY^ZT 6i43:5ZcVTe`cGVc^R 2deYR_R5R]RZ=R^R 2_Z]2^SR_Zd_``aVU 5V]ZgVc`_ac`^ZdV aRjcV_ed`_SVYR]W `WZ_cVUeV_R_ed UZcVTed9ZXY4`fce 0¶VSOHGJHPXVW EHLPSOHPHQWHGE *RYWRUGHUV+ ?=BQ =4F34;78 The political drama in the BJP-ruled Karnataka is heading for a climax in anoth- er week with Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, while mustering support of influential “Lingyat” seers for himself, dropped hints on Thursday that he might step down after July 25 if the BJP high command desired so. Yediyurappa, 78, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 17, has been understandably told by the party leadership to hand over the baton to a new leadership. “You all know that two months ago, I had said I would resign to make way for some- one else. I will know the next step only after July 25, and will abide by the BJP high com- mand’s decision. I will work to strengthen the party and bring the party back to power in Karnataka,” said Yediyurappa on Thursday at Bengaluru. “When the directions come, I’ll quit and work for the party,” he said. Insisting that the party leadership had said nothing to him, he remarked: “Let’s see what happens on the 25th”. “I will be Chief Minister for as long as you say. When you say no — I will work for the State. I am going to check roads and storm drain. I will do my duty till the last minute,” he went on. The Chief Minister, how- ever, cancelled a scheduled legislature party meeting on July 26 and also a lunch with MLAs on July 25. It was earli- er anticipated that the CM may step down on July 26 when he completes two years of his fourth term at the helm. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and our national president JP Nadda have special love and faith in me. You should know that no position is given to those who have crossed 75 years of age in the party, but appreciating my work, they have given me an opportunity despite the fact that I am 78 years old,” the CM said opening up scope of spec- ulation on his next step. Rc_eRR4 hR_eddfZeRS]V a`dZeZ`_W`cd`_d 1BH ^UUTabc^`dXcPb 2XU19? fP]cbQdc [^QQXTb;X]VhPcbTTab :Pa]PcPZP21BHTSXhdaP__PcP[Zbc^ TSXPX]1T]VP[dad^]CWdabSPh ?C8 ?=BQ 347A03D= After a long wait the Congress party has finally cleared the air on its leadership in Uttarakhand. The party has appointed Ganesh Godiyal as Pradesh Congress Committee president. Godiyal would replace Pritam Singh who would be the new leader of Congress Legislature Party in the Assembly. In a move to give wider representation the party has made four working presi- dents. They are Jeet Ram, Bhuwan Kapdi, Ranjit Rawat and Tilak Raj Behed. Former CM and general Secretary of AICC Harish Rawat has been made the head of election cam- paign committee. 2^]VP__^X]cb ?222WXTU# f^aZX]V_aTbXST]cb /CWT3PX[h?X^]TTa UPRTQ^^ZR^SPX[h_X^]TTa 7`]]`hfd`_+ fffSPX[h_X^]TTaR^ X]bcPVaPR^SPX[h_X^]TTa ;PcT2Xch E^[ $8bbdT ! 0XaBdaRWPaVT4gcaPXU0__[XRPQ[T ?dQ[XbWTS5a^ 34;78;D2:=F 17?0;17D10=4BF0A A0=278A08?DA 270=3860A7 347A03D= 7H34A0103E890HF030 4bcPQ[XbWTS '%# 51,1R5HJQ877(1*5(*'1R8$'2''1 347A03D=5A830H9D;H !!! *?064B !C! DA@CE# 8=38008C F78C4F0B7B; m m H@C=5) BHA80022DB4B8BA04;520AAH8=6 DCBCA8:4!=3C78BF44: 65597 6?BDE1D5* D189B281C9 ! F9F139DI @A:?:@?' ?460BDB60C45;84B A867C8=C6ECB5024
- 2. ]PcX^]! 347A03D=k5A830H k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·VZLOOQRWEHKHOGUHVSRQVLEOHIRUDQNLQGRIFODLPPDGHEWKHDGYHUWLVHUVRIWKHSURGXFWV VHUYLFHVDQGVKDOOQRWEHPDGHUHVSRQVLEOHIRUDQNLQGRIORVVFRQVHTXHQFHVDQGIXUWKHUSURGXFWUHODWHGGDPDJHVRQVXFKDGYHUWLVHPHQWV ?=BQ 270=3860A7 Condemning the alleged attack on a journalist at the farmers’ protest site at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday demanded immediate resignation of the Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi for dubbing the farmers as “hooligans”. Slamming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader for using “derogatory” language for the farmers, who have been peacefully agitating against the central farm laws for the past nearly eight months, the Chief Minister said that it reflected the party’s “anti-farmer mindset”. Given the ruling party’s brazen attempts to stifle all voices of dissent and protest, the fact that it had failed to break the spirit of the farmers was clearly rankling, said Capt Amarinder, lambasting the NDA Government for its con- tinued efforts to suppress every single voice that dares to speak against them, as in the latest instance of the IT raids on a media group. While the assault on the journalist covering the farmers’ protest was deplorable and action should be taken against the guilty person, the Union Minister’s reaction was totally uncalled for and provocative, said the Chief Minister. Lekhi, he said, had no right to defame the farmers in such a manner. The Delhi Police should file a case and investi- gate the case to identify the accused, and the law should take its own course, he said, adding that the BJP had no right to condemn the farmers in such an outrageous manner over the incident. Pointing to the disparaging comments made by various BJP leaders against the farmers since their agitating started at the Delhi borders, he said that the ruling party had been try- ing to malign the farmers and undermine their peaceful protests from the outset. He recalled that BJP lead- ers had even earlier tried to defame the farmers with slan- derous descriptions like ‘ter- rorists’ and ‘urban Naxalites’. Having failed to deter the farmers, who had been braving the elements with many losing their lives in this fight for their rights, the BJP leadership was once again resorting to such shameful tactics out of sheer frustration, said the CM. Capt Amarinder said the simmering anger among the farmers, who are losing their lives and livelihoods due to the Centre’s draconian actions, was a matter of serious concern and Prime Minister Narendra Modi should immediately take steps to resolve the crisis, which could have serious repercus- sions for the country. Intelligence reports sug- gest that pro-Khalistani ele- ments from across the border are looking to exploit the resentment of the farmers against India, he pointed out, warning of a grave security fail- ure if these reports are not heeded by the Centre. Instead of indulging in such shameful acts in their des- perate bid to make the farmers to their line, the Government of India should try to settle the issue at the earli- est, he stressed. 2eeRT`_[`fc_R]ZdeT`_UV^_RS]VSfe=VYZYRd_`cZXYee`UVWR^VWRc^Vcd+4Rae 0WHUPV0LQLVWHU¶VGHURJDWRU UHPDUNDVUHIOHFWLRQRI%-3¶VDQWLIDUPHU PLQGVHWGHPDQGVKHUUHVLJQDWLRQ CWT3T[WX?^[XRTbW^d[SUX[TPRPbTP]SX]eTbcXVPcTcWT RPbTc^XST]cXUhcWTPRRdbTSP]ScWT[PfbW^d[ScPZTXcb ^f]R^dabTWTbPXSPSSX]VcWPccWT19? WPS]^aXVWcc^R^]ST]cWTUPaTabX]bdRWP] ^dcaPVT^dbP]]Ta^eTacWTX]RXST]c ?=BQ 270=3860A7 Reiterating the Punjab Government’s firm commitment to make the State clean, green, and pollution-free, the Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan on Thursday directed the departments con- cerned to take all necessary measures to address water and air pollution issues besides ensuring proper solid and plas- tic waste management. Mahajan, chairing the 15th meeting of the state apex committee to review the progress of the environment action plan, directed the Local Government Department to take over the sewerage treatment plants (STPs) being operated by the Water Supply and Sanitation department and PSIEC by July 31. She also asked the Department to ini- tiate bio-remediation works in all the drains at the earliest, where establishment of STPs was taking time so that imme- diate relief was provided to the citizens of the State. Reviewing the water pollution in river Sutlej due to discharge of sewage and effluents mainly from Ludhiana, the Chief Secretary directed the Water Resources Department to complete the project of releasing 200 cusecs of fresh water from Sirhind canal to Buddha nul- lah by end of this month. She also asked to make operational 40 MLD and 50 MLD CETPs in Ludhiana by July 31, which will also help to clean the Buddha Nullah, which has become the main source of pollution in Sutlej river. 3XQMDE6EDWV IRUFOHDQJUHHQ SROOXWLRQIUHH6WDWH ?=BQ 270=3860A7 Taking State Government’s vision of groundwater development and man- agement a step further, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday approved the engagement of District Implementation Partners (DIPs) for six clusters to support the successful imple- mentation of Atal Bhujal Yojana. After the approval, DIPs will prepare the village water security plans and facili- tate the implementation of Atal Jal at the gram panchayat level. They will also facil- itate community engagement and social behavioural transition. The approval was given during the review meeting regarding implementation of Atal Bhujal Yojana held under the chair- manship of Chief Minister here. During the meeting, the Chief Minister directed all concerned authorities to con- verge the programme with other ongoing water-related schemes of the state that is Mera Paani Meri Virasat and micro-irri- gation. He also discussed the future course of action under this programme. Additional Chief Secretary, Irrigation and Water Resources Department, Devender Singh, informed that under Atal Jal, a total of 14 districts of Haryana will be covered. That includes 36 ground- water stressed blocks with a total of 1669 gram panchayats. At the compilation of the programme, the state has a target to reduce groundwater depletion by a mini- mum of 50 percent, he said. The Chief Minister was further apprised that Atal Bhujal Yojana is a Participatory Groundwater Management scheme supported by the Central Government and World Bank and imple- mented by the Haryana Government. The major objective of this scheme is to create the hydrogeological data network of groundwater resources and further build- ing community institutions to manage the groundwater resources in Haryana. As a part of the programme, commu- nity mobilisation and awareness activities, as well as capacity building of stakehold- ers, will take place. Initially, the water secu- rity plan of each village will be prepared and the same will be implemented over the next four years. Dr Satbir Singh Kadian, Project Director — Atal Jal Haryana informed that under the scheme, Jal Panchayats will take place. During this panchayat, villagers will take ownership of their groundwater resources and will decide the future action plan in consultation with the state team. He added that this programme will rev- olutionise the groundwater governance in the state and will set an example for the entire country. CM DIRECTS DCS TO FOCUS ON MICRO-IRRIGATION SYSTEM The Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar directed the Deputy Commissioners to focus on micro-irriga- tion system so as to ensure that water reach- es every field. While presiding over a review meeting held here regarding micro-irrigation and Parivar Pehchan Patra, he said that the State Government aims to provide water to every field located in every corner of the state. He said that the Government is pro- viding an 85 percent subsidy for setting up micro-irrigation systems. 9RcjR_R4Raac`gVdV_XRXV^V_e`W5Zde :^a]V^V_eReZ`_ARce_VcdW`c'T]fdeVcd ?=BQ 270=3860A7 Haryana Home and Urban Local Bodies Minister Anil Vij on Thursday con- ducted a surprise inspection of the Municipal Corporation, Gurugram office. By the time he reached the Corporation office at 10.25 am, many Joint Commissioners, including Commissioner of the Corporation, Mukesh Kumar Ahuja were absent from the office. Vij ordered to sus- pend two SDOs, relieve one XEN and register an FIR against one for negligence in work. The MC office has been surround- ed by controversies over many issues, including payment of fake bills, negligence regarding rain water drainage. He inspect- ed the offices located on the three floors of the Corporation and ordered the suspension of two SDOs namely Rakesh Sharma and Kuldeep Yadav who were missing from the office. In the case of a six- month-old estimate, XEN Dharambir Malik was instruct- ed to be relieved of the said charge. He also instructed to deduct the salary for two hours of the account branch’s section officer Bhupendra Singh. Chandigarh: Haryana Government has given its approval for the “Karnal- Yamunanagar” new rail line project. This project will fulfil a long pending demand of com- mon people of the region for direct and fast rail connectivity between these two important cities. An official spokesperson said that the Karnal- Yamunanagar rail line will strengthen the transport infra- structure by providing fast, safe, economical, comfortable and reliable mobility option to the people of Haryana. Haryana Government has approved the Detailed Project Report of the project on July 20 after incorporating all the sug- gestions made by the Union Ministry of Railways to the draft report submitted earlier in September 2019, he added. He said the State Government has been pursuing this project with the Ministry of Railways in various meetings held by Haryana Chief Minister with Union Minister of Railways. Haryana Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation (HRIDC-joint venture between Ministry of Railways and Haryana Government), has finalised this DPR at an esti- mated cost of C883.78 crore. 9RcjR_RRaac`gVd µRc_R]JR^f_R_RXRc¶ _VhcRZ]]Z_Vac`[VTe EXYR^]SdRcbbda_aXbT X]b_TRcX^]^U2 6dadVaP^aSTabc^ bdb_T]S!B3b BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78 To mark their protest against the Centre’s new farm laws, a group of 200 growers reached Jantar Mantar and organised a ‘Kisan Sansad’ after Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal gave them special per- mission to hold their demon- stration till August 9. Though the protest was to start at 11 AM, the farmers reached the venue at 12:25 PM and sat till 5 PM. “The first day of the farmers’ protest at Jantar Mantar went peacefully. In view of Independence Day and the ongoing Parliament session, we made necessary arrange- ments to keep the protest peaceful. We hope that we’ll get this support and coordination in future also,” Chinmoy Biswal, the Delhi Police’s PRO said. Around 5,000 police per- sonnel were deployed in the New Delhi district and four companies of paramilitary forces have been deployed in and around Jantar Mantar. Water-cannons, metal-detec- tor gates, two tankers carrying drinking water have also been stationed there. “Several companies of the CRPF and the RAF have been deployed at the site. CCTV cameras have also been placed in the area,” said Deepak Yadav, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), New Delhi dis- trict. Barricades along with metal detectors have also been placed on either sides of the venue and two water cannons have also been stationed. The farmers alleged that they were stopped by the police at three places and their Aadhaar cards were checked. “This was harassment by the Government and even buses coming from Pakistan would have not been checked in such a manner,” said Shiv Kumar Kakka, a farmer leader. “Two of our buses broke down en route, so police escort- ed us in DTC buses,” he added. During the day, the farm- ers debated the changes in the APMC Act in two sessions of the ‘Kisan Sansad’. The debate also featured women and the elderly. JURZHUVKROGµ.LVDQ6DQVDG¶DW-DQWDU0DQWDU BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78 Delhi reported 49 Coronavirus cases on Thursday while one more patient succumbed to the dis- ease, according to a health bulletin issued by the Delhi Government. As per the bul- letin, the positivity rate stands at 0.08 per cent while 29 patients recovered from the infection in the past 24 hours. “The total number of fatal- ities stands at 25,040 , while the cumulative case tally has reached 1435720,” it said. At least 58502 tests, including 4 5 , 8 9 2 RTPCR/CBNAAT/TrueNat tests, were conducted in the last 24 hours,” it said, adding that out of 12615 available beds in hospitals, 251 are occupied as on Thursday while the rest are vacant. As many as 14,10,095 peo- ple have either been discharged, have recovered or migrated out. The case fatality rate stands at 1.74 per cent, according to the bulletin. BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Timarpur con- stituency Dilip Pandey’s office has been awarded an ISO 9001- 2015 certification for quality management. The certificate awarded by International Organisation for Standardisation which is one of the most recognised certificates in the world. This certificate is given to given to those institu- tions that clear a rigorous set of international standards. AAP’s national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will present the certificate to Dilip Pandey on Friday.”Criminal records and corruption dominate the legislatures and parliaments across the country. Questions are rarely asked about the qual- ifications and the work ethic of legislative officers. Consequently, we realised that at the MLA office of Timarpur that we need to set up a qual- ity standardization system. ISO 9001 is the world’s most recog- nised Quality Management System (QMS) standard,” the AAP said in a statement. ISO aims to help organisa- tions meet the needs of their stakeholders more effectively. This is achieved by building a framework to ensure consistent quality in the provision of goods and/or services. The MLA office has adopted a structured approach towards decentralised governance. The passions of politics must co- exist with reason and compe- tence, this belief sits at the core of the party.The standard of certification is based on seven quality management princi- ples including having a strong customer focus, the involve- ment of top management and a drive for continual improve- ment. “The MLA office pre- pared a quality manual, con- ducted risk assessment and thereby attained the certifi- cate for three years. Through grievance management soft- ware and a brand new app, manual intervention will be replaced by technology and people will receive updates on SMS and Whatsapp,” it said. 3X[X_?P]STh´b^UUXRT aTRTXeTbRTacXUXRPcX^]U^a `dP[XchP]PVTT]c 5V]YZcVa`ced %*WcVdY4`gZU TRdVd`_VUVReY =8:00;8:Q 270=3860A7 Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and newly-appointedStateCongress president Navjot Singh Sidhu may not be on the same page, but they will share the same stage on Friday. Nearly three years after the differences between the two senior leaders came to fore, both will come togetherforSidhu’s“coronation” ceremony at Punjab Congress Bhawan. Along with Sidhu,who would take over the charge of Punjab Pradesh Congress com- mittee (PPCC) president after his appointment on July 18, four working presidents — Kuljit Singh Nagra, Sangat Singh Gilzian, Sukhwinder Singh Danny, and Pawan Goel — would also take over the charge of their new assignment. The CMs acceptance of invite came after Sidhu’s letter, and personal invitation signed by 58 legislators. This, followed by tea invite by the Chief Minister to all MLAs and MPs, signals thaw in the long- stretched cold relations between the Congress party’s two tall leaders. Notably, Nagra and Gilzian, acting as Sidhu’s emis- sary, extended a formal invite to the Chief Minister at his farm- house in Mohali’s Siswan for the installationceremony.Theinvite wassignedbytotal58legislators, includingSidhuandthreerebels of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), who have shifted loyalties towards Congress. DSWDLQWRDWWHQG3FKLHI 6LGKX¶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
- 3. dccPaPZWP]S 347A03D=k5A830H k9D;H !!! DQGLG1RWHV 1h6PYT]SaPBX]VW=TVX B0AC.28CH 0b^]b^^]R[^dSbPaTd][TPbWX]V cWTXaUd[[UdahX]cWT7XP[PhP]bcPcTP WdVTWdTP]SRahXbQTX]VaPXbTS Ua^ePaX^db`dPacTabPbP]hPaTPb ^U_a^eXbX^]P[bcPcTRP_XcP[3TWaPSd] PaTVTccX]VX]d]SPcTSfXcWfPcTa Pa^^]TSX]fPcTaP]hR^_[PX]TS PQ^dccWTSTVaPSPcX^]cWTRXchWPb V^]TcWa^dVWP]ScWThQ[PTcWT PdcW^aXcXTbU^aUPX[X]VXbTaPQ[hX] _dccX]VX]_[PRTP]TUUTRcXeTSaPX]PVT bhbcTSTb_XcTb_T]SX]VRa^aTb^U ad_TTbP]SadTX]VcWPcR^aad_cbhbcTP]Sh^_XR_[P]]TabWPeT R^]eTacTS^]RTR[TP]VaTT]P]SQTPdcXUd[3^^]X]c^P]daQP]TbbC^ PSSc^cWTXaXbTaXTbP]=6RPTd_fXcWPbcPac[X]VaTeT[PcX^]cWPc fPcTaQTX]Vbd__[XTSX]P]h_Pacb^UcWTRXchXb]^cUXcU^aSaX]ZX]VCWT bdUUTaX]VST]XiT]b^U3^^]bW^d[Sbc^_R^_[PX]X]VP]SUX]Sb^[PRTX] cWTUPRccWPc3TWaPSd]XbcWTaTRX_XT]c^UcWTQTbcbPacRXchX]cWT R^d]cahPfPaSU^acWThTPa!!P]SfPbP[b^W^]^daTSU^a_a^eXSX]V R[TP]SaX]ZX]VfPcTac^XcbaTbXST]cb 00?´B2 8cP__TPabcWPccWT0P0PSX?Pach00?Xb_[PhX]VPVPT^UfXcbfXcW 2^[^]T[aTcS0YPh:^cWXhP[CWTSTR^aPcTSb^[SXTafW^VPX]TS_^_d[PaXch X]DccPaPZWP]SU^aWXbbTaeXRTbX]:TSPa]PcWaTR^]bcadRcX^]f^aZbP]S cWTbdRRTbbWTPRWXTeTSX]caPX]X]Vh^d]VbcTabU^acWTPaTSU^aRTb^U cWTR^d]cahPSTPVaP]ST]cahX]cWT00?P]STeTah^]TQT[XTeTScWPc cWT_Pachf^d[SPZTWXXcbRWXTUX]XbcTaXP[UPRT7^fTeTa00?fWXRW XbSTb_TaPcT[hcahX]Vc^RaTPcTP_^[XcXRP[]XRWTU^aXcbT[UX]cWTbcPcTWPb ]^chTc^UUXRXP[[hSTR[PaTScWTU^aTaR^[^]T[PbXcb2RP]SXSPcTC^ R^]cX]dTcWTVdTbbX]VVPTUdacWTacWT3T[WX2X]WXbeXbXcc^cWT 3TWaPSd]bZXacTS`dTbcX^]b^]cWTXbbdTP]SbPXScWPccWT]PTf^d[SQT STR[PaTSPcP]P__a^_aXPcTcXTfWX[TWXbST_dchP]XbWBXb^SXPSdaX]V WXbA^^aZTTbc^_^eTaeXacdP[[hSTR[PaTS:^cWXhP[PbcWT_Pach³bUPRTX]cWT bcPcT8cXb[TPa]ccWPccWT_PachXbW^_X]Vc^PccaPRcb^T^aT_^[XcXRP[ XVaP]cbX]XcbU^[SQTU^aTXc[TcbcWTRPc^dc^UcWTQPVP]SWT]RTXb _[PhX]VPVPT^USTRT_cX^]fXcW:^cWXhP[fW^bcX[[XbPVaTT]W^a]X] _^[XcXRb 74A2D;4B70A8B7 CWTbZX[[bTgWXQXcTSQh7PaXbWAPfPcX]S^dbX]VcWTUXaTcWPcWPS cWaTPcT]TSc^bRP[ScWTVaP]S^[S_PachX]cWTbcPcT^U?d]YPQWPbTgP[cTS WXbbcPcdbfXcWX]cWT2^]VaTbb_Pach7XbSTUcWP]S[X]V^UcWTbXcdPcX^]Xb bPXSc^WPeT_aTeT]cTSPb_[XcX]cWT_PachX]cWTbcPcTfWTaTXcXbX]_^fTa P]SaTbd[cTSX]T[TePcX^]^U=PeY^cBX]VWBXSSWd^]cWT_^bc^U?22 _aTbXST]cSTb_XcTbcXUUaTbXbcP]RTUa^20PaX]STaBX]VW0UcTa _PbbX]VcWT?d]YPQcTbcfXcWU[hX]VR^[^dabcWT2^]VaTbbbcP[fPacbTTb c^WPeTWXbfPhX]WXbW^TbcPcTc^^PbcWT2^]VaTbbWXVWR^P]S WPbSTRXSTSc^PZTWXcWTWTPS^UcWTRadRXP[RP_PXV]R^XccTTX] DccPaPZWP]S8]PR[TPaX]SXRPcX^]cWPcWTXbcWTaTP[Q^bb^UcWT_PachX] 7XP[PhP]bcPcTcWT2^]VaTbb_PachXbbTcc^aT^eTWXbQ~cT]^XaT ?aXcPBX]VWUa^cWTR^eTcTS_^bc^U?22_aTbXST]cP]SP]^X]c6P]TbW 6^SXhP[®P_a^c|V|^U7PaXbWAPfPcX]WXb_[PRT ?=BQ 347A03D= The State Health Department reported 56 new cases of the novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) and death of two patients from the disease in Uttarakhand on Thursday. The department also reported 48 recoveries from the disease in the state on the day. The cumulative count of Covid-19 patients in the state is now at 3,41,629 while a total of 3,27,606 patients have recovered from the disease so far. In the state 7359 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 positivity rate on Thursday was at 0.23 per cent in the state. The authorities collect- ed 24,129 samples in different parts of the state on Thursday. The state health depart- ment reported 18 new patients from Dehradun, ten from Pithoragarh, nine from Nainital, six each from Almora and Uttarkashi, three from Tehri, two from Haridwar and one each from Chamoli and Champawat on Thursday. No new cases of Covid 19 were reported from Rudraprayag and Bageshwar districts on the day. One patient each was reported dead at Sushila Tiwari gov- ernment hospital Haldwani and district hospital Pithoragarh on Thursday. The state now has 649 active patients of the disease. Dehradun district is at top of the table in the list of active cases with 266 patients while Haridwar in the second posi- tion with 67 active cases. Pithoragarh has 51, Nainital 50, Champawat 49, Udham Singh Nagar 43, Chamoli 34, Rudraprayag 27, Uttarkashi 21, Almora and Pauri 13 each, Tehri 10 and Bageshwar five active cases of the disease. The state reported no new cases of Mucormycosis (Black fungus) and death of one patient from the disease on Thursday. A total of 548 patients of Black Fungus have been reported till date in the state and out of them 121 have died. The ongoing vaccination drive 41,968 people were vac- cinated in 597 sessions held on the day. RYLGQHZSDWLHQWVWZRGHDWKVLQ8¶NKDQG ?=BQ 347A03D= Health expert and founder of Social Development for Communities (SDC) founda- tion Anoop Nauytiyal has sug- gested that the state govern- ment should focus on more coordination with the private testing labs, provide Covid-19 kit to the suspected patients without waiting for the test report and prevent black mar- keting of medicines and equip- ment to deal with the probable third wave of the disease. In a letter written to the health minister Dhan Singh Rawat, Nautiyal has suggested a ten point formula on which the health department should work to tackle the third wave of the pandemic effectively. In the letter he pointed out that when people were finding beds for their near and dear one in the hospitals the website of the health department was giving wrong information about bed availability. He sug- gested that the website should be updated continuously and the department should take the services of web masters for the purpose. In the letter sugges- tions on availability of oxygen, ambulances, taking help of civil society, counselling of patients and arrangement of food for infected families have been given. “We experienced many problems during the sec- ond wave and now we should take the benefit of our experi- ences to deal with the third wave of the disease,’’ he said. DXYbTgQfU*5h`Ubd 1^__`ceWWUcdc dU^`_Y^dV_b]eQ ?=BQ 347A03D= The Uttarakhand Congress organised a march in protest against the alleged Pegasus software spying case in Dehradun on Thursday. On the day, a large number of party workers and leaders gathered at the busy Dilaram Chowk and proceeded for a march towards Raj Bhawan. The police however stopped the march near Hathibadkala. A minor skirmish broke out between the agitated workers and police when they tried to scale over the barricades. The police arrested many leaders and workers and took them to the police lines where they were released later in the day. Addressing the party workers, the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Pritam Singh said that com- plete moral degradation of BJP has occurred. He said that instead of providing relief to the people suffering from the Covid-19 pandemic the party is engaging in the heinous game of snooping. The PCC president said that the shocking revelation proves that the BJP government is hell bent to weaken the democracy in the country. He said that people have started calling BJP as Bharatiya Jasoos Party due to the activi- ties of Modi- Shah Duo. Singh said that the Congress party would take the issue to the peo- ple of the country. The vice president of Uttarakhand Congress, Surya Kant Dhasmana said that ear- lier the BJP leaders used to act as spies of British and now they are engaged in snooping the phones of the people. He said that the phones of politicians, journalists and other personalities were snooped on by the government which proves that the govern- ment wants to crush democra- cy in the country.Congress leaders Dinesh Agarwal, Ramyash Singh, Rajkumar, Sanjay Paliwal and others attended the protest march. AVXRdfddajZ_X+4`_XY`]Udac`eVdeZ_5``_ ?=BQ 347A03D= The Bharatiya Janata Party State President Madan Kaushik said that the Congress often brings up fake issues to defame the BJP and the nation. The Congress is searching for political ground by spreading rumours but it has lost the trust of the public due to its nega- tivity. He said that Congress needs to check its own record as during the term of the UPA, there were many cases of snooping whereas this time no such case connected to the Central government has come to light. Kaushik opined that the Congress is making Pegasus a tool for political motives with its protest march towards the Raj Bhawan being nothing more than a political drama. The propaganda being spread in the name of Pegasus is base- less, he averred. He said, “The Congress raised this issue vocif- erously just before the mon- soon session of the parliament to enable disruption of the house proceedings. So far there is no evidence in this case which can be linked to the gov- ernment. The Congress also needs to look into its own past. Information received under RTI in 2013 has proved that the UPA government used to snoop on 9,000 phones and 500 e-mails every month. In Congress governed Rajasthan, the MLAs have alleged that their phones are being tapped. In 2009, the West Bengal chief minister Mamta Banerjee had alleged that her phone and e- mails were being snooped upon. In 2010, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had acknowledged such activities. However, the current situation is dif- ferent as there is no proof to support the allegations.” The BJP state president further said that, the Congress is looking to establish its polit- ical relevance and is unable to understand what to do. In such a situation, the more disinfor- mation the Congress spreads, the further it gets from the pub- lic. This time too, the propa- ganda of the Congress will elicit a befitting reply from the public, said Kaushik. 3XEOLFGRHVQ¶WWUXVWOLHV VSUHDGERQJUHVV.DXVKLN ?=BQ AA:44 Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader, Manish Sisodia asked the people of Uttarakhand who should be the Chief Minister of the State- a patriot like Colonel (retd) Ajay Kothiyal or leaders like the cur- rent Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. He raised this questions during his one day visit to Roorkee on Thursday. On arriving in Roorkee, Sisodia first participated in Shree Shatchandi Mahayagya at Jeevandeep Ashram and later interacted with the media. He said that he was in the State to participate in Mahayagya but he also used this opportunity to interact with various groups of locals in Roorkee. I asked them whether a CM should be a patriot and honest person like Ajay Kothiyal or corrupt and useless like BJP's chief ministers Trivendra Singh Rawat or Pushkar Singh Dhami, stated Sisodia. He said that people responded positively towards AAP's leader Kothiyal and he wished to ask the same question to everyone. However, on the question of whether Kothiyal will be the chief ministerial candidate in Uttarakhand from AAP in the assembly elections 2022, Sisodia did not clarify and just added that this is what he is asking Uttarakhand's public. Talking about the party's plan for Uttarakhand, Sisodia said that AAP will develop the State like Delhi. He said that unlike Delhi's government schools, Uttarakhand has inef- ficient education system which is also the main reason for migration of locals from moun- tainous regions in the State. Many people do not get edu- cation in such areas and those who do, receive substandard education, asserted Sisodia. He said inefficient education is the main cause of unemployment and migration in the State. Moreover, he also clarified that the party is not in talks with othermembersoftheopposition parties at present but any leader who is honest and non corrupt is welcome to join the party. He also made it clear that the Aam Aadmi Party will contest on all seats in Uttarakhand assembly elections. 6KRXOG.RWKLDOEH 0RI8WWDUDNKDQG DVNV6LVRGLD PWTbW9^bWXPST bTRaTcPah^UD´ZWP]S2^]V ?=BQ 347A03D= The Pradesh Congress Committee(PCC)president Pritam Singh has appointed senior leader Mahesh Joshi as secretary of the state unit of the party. Singh said that Joshi is an active and dedicated member of the party and his appointment would help in strengthening the Congress party in Uttarakhand. ?=BQ 347A03D= Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami chaired a video conference with senior officials and district magis- trates on Thursday evening to review arrangements being made for protection from Covid-19. Seeking informa- tion from all district magis- trates about the arrangements in their districts, Dhami direct- ed them to ensure proper arrangement of oxygen, oxygen supported beds, ICU beds along with separate oxygen and ICU beds for children. All the district magistrates should ensure these arrangements by July 31, he directed. Arrangements will be made wherever doctors or funds are needed to ensure the needful, he added. Dhami said that both test- ing and vaccination are very important for protection from Covid. He directed the officials to make sure that necessary arrangements are made on time to deal with the possible third wave of Covid. Stating that there had been a drop in new Covid cases in the recent past, he stressed on the need for still observing precautions against the virus. Adequate oxygen, oxygen supported beds, ICU, ventilators and sep- arate wards for children should be ensured in all district hos- pitals, community health cen- tres (CHCs) and primary health centres (PHCs). The chief minister said that he will talk to the Union Defence minister and Home minister for additional beds and vac- cines in military hospitals of the state for treatment of Covid patients. The chief minister further directed that all the dis- trict magistrates should evalu- ate the arrangements to be made in all the hospitals so that when needed, the load is not exerted only on one hospital. He also stressed on the impor- tance of raising public aware- ness for this purpose. The chief secretary Sukhbir Singh Sandhu directed the dis- trict magistrates to remain pre- pared to tackle the challenge of the third wave of Covid-19. This will enable the govern- ment to succeed in enhancing the health infrastructure. He said that focus should also be laid on how these facilities can be used after the Covid pan- demic. Coordination should be established among all depart- ments to resolve problems in a better manner, he added. The Health secretary Amit Singh Negi informed in detail about the arrangements made for protection from Covid-19 in the state. Information was also presented about the arrangements made by all the district magistrates at their level. Additional chief secretary Anand Bardhan, secretaries Pankaj Kumar Pandey, Ranjit Sinha and other departmental officials were also present in the meeting. ?=BQ 347A03D= As part of its attempts to make the city stray-cattle free, the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) is currently providing shelter to about 1,500 stray cattle most of whom were picked during the Covid cur- few. Within the first two months of this year, the cor- poration collected revenue of over Rs two lakh from the owners of cattle who left them in public places. Most of these cattle were donkeys, pigs, mules, horses and lactating cows for which people returned and deposited penal- ties to take their animals back. However, most of the cat- tle which are presently living under various animal shelters like Kanji House and Gau Sadan are cows and bulls which are either old or sick. According to the senior vet- erinary officer of the corpo- ration, Dr DC Tiwari, 90 per cent of these 1,500 cattle include mostly cows and bulls who are old and sick. We did not leave any cattle on roads during the Covid curfew and provided shelter to them. People mostly leave such cows on streets who have become old, stopped giving milk or are suffering from any serious disease for which the owners do not want to spend money. The bulls in shelters are most- ly the calves that grow older on streets after people abandon them after birth as they are not commercially useful to them, informed Tiwari. He revealed that there are about 800 bulls in the cattle shelters of the cor- poration, most of whom are injured, sick and old. The corporation is pro- viding proper fodder and treatment to these cattle, informed Tiwari. According to him, the corporation picks up the stray animals because they might pose a threat to commuters and pedestrians on roads but people who domesticate them should also act humanely. We want to make the city stray cattle free but people also need to be sympathetic and caring towards the ani- mals they domesticate rather than abandoning them on streets, stated Tiwari. Meanwhile, the officials informed that the corporation is also planning to take action under Uttarakhand Protection of Cow Progeny Act against the owners who leave cows and their progeny on roads and take them in only to milk them. ?=BQ 347A03D= In view of the safety of slum dwellers living alongside the rivers in Dehradun during the monsoon, the district magis- trate R Rajesh Kumar directed the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun to ensure regular cleaning near such rivers and bridges to prevent waterlog- ging. The DM issued this order after his inspection of slums located near Bindal bridge and Gandhi Gram on Thursday evening. He also ordered MCD officials and the sub division- al magistrate to prepare plans for these slums in case of emergencies. He asked the corporation to regularly pick the garbage like plastics from the areas near rivers and bridges in order to avoid obstruction in the flow of water during heavy rainfall that might cause waterlogging. Kumar asked the officials con- cerned to be prepared in case of emergency situations in such areas. Besides the DM, the senior municipal health officer and district disaster manage- ment officer were also present during the inspection on Thursday. !% cdbQi SQddUY^=34c Q^Y]QcXUdUbc 5^cebUQ3_fYTQbbQ^WU]U^dc Y^X_c`YdQcRi:ei#!*3= 4=_bTUbc=34d_SUQ^WQbRQWU ^UQbbYfUbcV_bce]ccQVUdi ]PaaXeX]VX] A^^aZTTBXb^SXP UXabc_PacXRX_PcTSX] BWaTTBWPcRWP]SX PWPhPVhPPc 9TTeP]STT_ 0bWaPP]S[PcTa X]cTaPRcTSfXcWcWT TSXP ?=BQ 70;3F0=8 Despite the rivers swelling due to the rains, some people are still going to the rivers to bathe for fun. This ten- dency proved fatal for two young brothers who drowned in the Gaula river here on Thursday. The incident occurred near the Anwla Chowki gate. The superinten- dent of police (city) and Tehsildar reached the area along with their teams on being informed about the inci- dent. The police divers were able to retrieve the bodies of both the youngsters. Romins and Rohan Srivastava had gone to bathe in the Gaula river on Thursday evening. However, they were unable to stay in control and drowned in the river. The locals nearby informed the authorities about the incident. It is learnt that when the younger of the two began to drown, his elder brother entered the river to save his sib- ling but both of them drowned. The police sent the bodies for post mortem examination. %URWKHUV GURZQLQ *DXOD CWTX]RXST]c ^RRdaaTS]TPa 0]f[P2W^fZX VPcT
- 4. ]PcX^]# 347A03D=k5A830H k9D;H !!! ?=BQ =4F34;78 The CPI(M) alleged on Thursday that the Pegasus spyware scandal is not just a case of violation of privacy and illegal, but is a part of the “larg- er architecture” to consolidate the “authoritarian Hindu regime”, “intimidate” and even “blackmail” the functionaries of constitutional bodies. In the lat- est editorial of its mouthpiece, Peoples Democracy, the Left party said the bigger picture of the issue must not be obscured. “The Pegasus usage is part of the larger authoritarian architecture that has been built up over the past seven years. The message is that any means can be adopted to establish and consolidate the authoritarian Hindutva regime....Like the UAPA, the hacking of com- puters of the accused in the Bhima-Koregaon case to plant malware as evidence, the use of the Enforcement Directorate and other central agencies to intimidate and incarcerate, the Pegasus is a cyber weapon against potential opponents and threats,” it said. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) also said the purpose and pattern in the use of the spyware is evident and that it is designed to “protect those in power and to desta- bilise the opposition and mon- itor the investigative voices in the media”. It said the targeting of the 11 phone numbers linked to the woman who com- plained of sexual harassment by the then Chief Justice of India was “ominous”. “It is meant to protect someone in a vital position and probably use the information collected as leverage to bring the judiciary to heel. There is constant talk of the under- mining of constitutional bod- ies under the (Narendra) Modi regime. The targeting of Ashok Lavasa, the dissenting Election Commissioner on certain deci- sions of the Commission favouring Modi, shows how spyware is used to intimidate and, if required, even blackmail functionaries of the constitu- tional bodies,” it said. DajhRcVRZ^VURe TV^V_eZ_X9Z_Uf cVXZ^VdRjd4A ?=BQ =4F34;78 The Indian SARS-CoV2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) said on Thursday that the genome sequencing of samples from across the country have showed that Delta variant continues to be the dominant lineage causing Covid-19 and there are strong evidence to suggest that vaccination offers high level of protection. “There is currently no evidence of any new Delta sub-lineage that is of greater concern than Delta, it said. “Delta continues to be the dominant lineage for new cases across all parts of India in recent samples and remains the most rapidly ris- ing lineage globally that is responsible for multiple out- breaks, including across Southeast Asia, which shows the fastest growth in new cases globally,” the INSACOG said. Regions with high vacci- nation and strong public health measures, such as Singapore, continue to do well, it noted. The Delta variant was behind the deadly second wave of the coronavirus in India that killed thousands and infected lakhs during March to May. The INSACOG said a study by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has confirmed that most of the clinical cases in vaccine breakthrough were infected with the Delta vari- ant but only 9.8 per cent cases required hospitalisa- tion, while fatality was found to be restricted to 0.4 per cent. It added that the data for higher infectivity of Delta continues to grow with the secondary attack rate in household contacts being almost double for Delta, when compared to Alpha (Public Health England, July 9 update). The other VoC con- tinues to be very low in India and are declining relative to Delta globally. “Public health measures to reduce transmission and vac- cination remain critical,” the INSACOG stressed. No cases of the Lambda variant have so far been reported in the country, it added. In data from the UK, Lambda is still seen primarily in travellers or their contacts and is not grow- ing relative to Delta. A growing spectrum of mutations is seen in the Delta background in the UK, the US and India. ³3T[cPePaXP]cbcX[[S^X]P]c[X]TPVT QTWX]Sb_aTPS^U2^eXS (´ ?=BQ =4F34;78 As farmers’ unions started their ‘Kisaan Parliament’ at Jantar Mantar to pay trib- ute to those who died during the ongoing agitation, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Thursday yet again urged them to leave the path of agi- tation and come for talks. Tomar said farmers across the country have favoured the three farm laws. Tomar said, “I want to tell through you (media) that farmers should leave the path of protest and come for dia- logue. We are ready for talks if they come with issues in the bills point wise. If they come with their proposal, we are ready to discuss,” he said. Asserting that the gov- ernment is sensitive towards farmers, the minister said in the last seven years under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, major steps have been taken in the agri- culture sector, the benefits of which are reaching cultivators across the country. “Country has witnessed that these farm laws are ben- eficial and are in favour of farmers. We have had discus- sions about these laws. If they express their issues with the laws point-wise, we can dis- cuss it,” Tomar added. Tomar, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, had reiterated that the government will remain open to discussions with protesting farmers’ unions to resolve issues over the three agriculture laws passed by Parliament in September last year. After getting special per- mission from Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal, a group of 200 farmers reached Jantar Mantar — adjacent to the Parliament Complex — in central Delhi to protest against the Centre’s three contentious farm laws amid the ongoing Monsoon session of Parliament. They have got permission to protest till August 9 amid heavy securi- ty. 2^TU^a cP[ZbC^Pa daVTbUPaTab ?=BQ =4F34;78 Terming the abduction of the daughter of the Afghanistan to Islamabad as a “very shock- ing” incident, India on Thursday said Pakistan’s denial of the victim’s version is “stoop- ing to a new low”. This strong statement came after Pakistan’s Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed described the incident as a “conspiracy linked to India’s security agencies. Selsela Alikhil, the 26-year- old daughter of Afghanistan Ambassador Najibullah Alikhil, was abducted and held for sev- eral hours by unidentified men in Islamabad last Friday. She reportedly suffered injuries due to alleged torture. “This is a very shocking incident,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said here at a media briefing, while pointing out that it is a matter involving Afghanistan and Pakistan. “However, since the Pakistan interior minister has dragged India into it, I would only like to say that even by their standards, Pakistan’s denial of the victim’s account is stooping to a new low,” he said. “As regards the security of the Indian High Commission and our personnel in Pakistan, I would not like to get into spe- cific security-related mea- sures,” he added. Pakistan’s Interior Minister said the woman was not abducted according to investi- gations and urged her to come forward and join the probe. Two days after the inci- dent, the Afghanistan govern- ment recalled its ambassador and senior diplomats from Islamabad over concerns relat- ing to their safety and securi- ty. ?=BQ =4F34;78 Against the backdrop of the threat for an indefi- nite strike by over two lakh Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) employees, the Government on Thursday introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha seeking to prohibit any agitation and strike by anyone engaged in the essen- tial defence services. This Bill comes weeks after the corporatisation of the OFB, against which employees of more than 40 ordnance factories all over the country have threatened to go on indefinite strike from July 26. The Essential Defence Services Bill, 2021, intro- duced by Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt, seeks to replace an ordinance issued in June. The Statement of Objects said the ordinance issued on June 30 defines the expressions “essential defence services” and “strike”. It also empowers the central government to prohibit strike in essential defence services and pro- vides for disciplinary action, including dismissal, against employees participating in strike. It also provides for penalties for “illegal strikes, instigation thereof and pro- viding for financial aid to such illegal strikes.” Indian Ordnance Factories is the oldest and largest industrial set up which functions under the Department of Defence Production of the Ministry of Defence. The ordnance factories form an integrated base for indigenous production of defence hardware and equip- ment, with the primary objective of self-reliance in equipping the armed forces with the state-of-the-art bat- tlefield equipment. In order to improve autonomy, accountability and efficiency in ordnance supplies, the government decided to convert the OFB into one or more one hun- dred per cent government- owned corporate entity or entities to be registered under the provisions of the Companies Act, 2013. The recognised federa- tions of the employees gave a notice for an indefinite strike. The conciliation pro- ceedings initiated by the government at the level of Chief Labour Commissioner failed in the meeting held on June 15. On June, 16, the government decided to con- vert the Ordnance Factory Board into seven Defence Public Sector Undertakings. 7_fdRbY^Wc2Yd_ `bUfU^d?62 U]`_iUUcµcdbY[U ?=BQ =4F34;78 The Income Tax Department on Thursday conducted searches across several States against prominent media group Dainik Bhaskar and an Uttar Pradesh-based television news channel Bharat Samachar for alleged tax evasion, eliciting condemnation from Opposition parties that termed the development a measure to stifle and scare the media. The Government, however, said there was no interference and the agencies were doing their work. The IT Department searched at least 30 locations across Bhopal, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Noida and other places at the premises of the Dainik Bhaskar media con- glomerate which has significant presence in 12 States. The searches began early morning at around 5.30 am and continued till going to the press. The group publishes 65 editions of newspapers and 211 sub-editions in Hindi, Gujarati and Marathi, as per information posted on the website of its par- ent company DB Corp Ltd. It also operates 30 radio stations in seven States besides having online presence with six web portals and four mobile phone apps. “The group is also involved in textiles and mining busi- nesses and the IT department is also looking into related trans- actions,” an official said. Both the IT Department and its regulator, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), remained tightlipped on the searches against the promoters and staffers of the two entities that faced the searches. As the searches continued, the issue was raised in the Rajya Sabha that faced adjourn- ments twice. The development came in for wide condemnation from various Opposition lead- ers, including Chief Ministers of West Bengal, Rajasthan and Delhi, Mamata Banerjee, Ashok Gehlot and Arvind Kejriwal respectively, among others. In response to criticisms from various quarters, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said, “Agencies are doing their own work and there is no interfer- ence in them.” Articulating the Government’s stand, Thakur further said, “One should take complete information and sometimes many issues come up that are far from truth.” In the run up to the IT Department action, both Dainik Bhaskar and Bharat Samachar have been critical of the handling of Covid-19 crisis through numerous stories high- lighting the shortcomings of the authorities and the consequent distress of people during the deadly second wave of the pan- demic. In Lucknow, the premises of Bharat Samachar and its promoters and staffers were searched. Bharat Samachar TV said on its official Twitter han- dle that searches are being con- ducted at the “house of its Editor-in-chief Brajesh Mishra, state head Virendra Singh, houses of some employees and the channel office”. Interestingly, premises linked to BJP MLA of Harraiya Assembly constituency Uttar Pradesh, Ajay Singh and his associates were also searched during the day. However, it could not be ascertained if the searches were linked to those of the media groups. On its website, the Dainik Bhaskar posted a message in Hindi saying the government was scared of its true journal- ism. From bodies in the Ganga to Corona deaths, the Group that brought the real numbers in front of the country is being raided by the government. The group said the raids were carried out at the homes of many staffers. The mobile phones of those in office were seized and they were not being allowed to go out, it further said. “Officials involved in the raids said this was part of the process and they will be released after panchmana proceedings are done,” the Group said, adding that the digital team working on the night shift was released only at 12.30 pm. The Group alleged that the IT Department’s search teams had no women members when they raided its Bhopal and Ahmedabad digital wing offices where women staffers were pre- sent. Senior income tax officers in the team have not clarified the reason for these searches till now, it said. ERicRZUdRe`WWZTVd`W 5RZ_Z3YRdRc8c`fa ?=BQ =4F34;78 The Centre has requested the Kerala Government to provide 152.25 acres of land “free of cost and free from all encumbrances” for increas- ing the length of the Kozhikode airport runway from 150 metres to 280 metres, constructing embankments and building a runway-end safety area. In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha on whether the Centre has taken any steps to ensure safety at the Kozhikode airport after the August 2020 plane crash there, Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh told Parliament on Thursday said a committee was formed to “suggest additional safety mea- sures at some airports includ- ing Calicut (Kozhikode)”. An Air India Express flight from Dubai with 190 people on board, including a six- member crew, overshot the tabletop runway during land- ing at the Kozhikode airport in heavy rains on August 7 last year. It fell into a valley 35 feet below and broke into pieces, killing 21 people, including both pilots. Singh said the committee has suggested various mea- sures, including exploring the feasibility of providing a 280- metre runway strip instead of 150 metres at present. It has also suggested construction of a runway-end safety area at both ends of the runway to reduce the payload restric- tions on the aircraft. The minister said the committee has recommended filling, levelling and construc- tion of embankments at the airport. “The government has requested the state govern- ment of Kerala to provide 152.25 acres of land free of cost and free from all encum- brances for executing the works as per recommenda- tions made by the committee,” he said. Five days after the plane crash last year, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB) had formed a five- member panel to inquire into the circumstances of the acci- dent. The panel is yet to sub- mit its report. Captain S S Chahar, a for- mer DGCA-designated exam- iner for pilots of the B737NG aircraft, is the investigator-in- charge in the panel. He is assisted by operations expert Ved Prakash, senior aircraft maintenance engineer-B737 Mukul Bhardwaj, aviation medicine expert Y S Dahiya and AAIB Deputy Director Jasbir Singh Larhga. 2T]caTPbZb:TaP[P 6^ecc^_a^eXST[P]S U^aPXa_^acTg_P]bX^] 0QSdRcX^]^U0UT]e^h´b SPdVWcTa)?PZbc^^_X]V c^]Tf[^fbPhb8]SXP ?=BQ =4F34;78 CongressRajyaSabhaMPKC Venugopal on Thursday moved a privilege motion against Minister of State for Health Bharti Pravin Pawar for “misleading” Parliament by say- ing “no deaths were reported by any State or UT because of Oxygen shortage”. Pawar had in a written reply a couple of days ago said, “Detailed guidelines for report- ing of deaths have been issued bytheUnionHealthMinistryto all states and UTs. Accordingly, all states and UTs report cases and deaths to the Union Health Ministry on a regular basis. However, no deaths due to lack of oxygen have been specif- ically reported by states and UTs.” But there was an unprece- dented surge in demand for medical oxygen during the sec- ond wave and it peaked at near- ly 9,000 MT compared to 3,095 MT in the first wave following which the Centre had to step in tofacilitateequitabledistribution among the states, she said. ET]dV^_P[^eTb_aXeX[TVT^cX^]PVPX]bc X]U^aXb[TPSX]V]PcX^]^]2^eXSSTPcWb ?=BQ =4F34;78 The Ministry of Electronics andInformationTechnology on Thursday informed ParliamentthatTwitterwasnon- compliant with the IT rules on May 26 when the new regula- tions came into effect but the microbloggingplatformhassub- sequentlyappointedachiefcom- pliance officer and a resident grievanceofficerasacontingent arrangement. In another reply, theministrysaidthatcloseto140 phishing incidents were observedbyCERT-Induringthe first half of 2021. In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, , Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekharsaidthat Twitter has also informed the IT Ministry about its physical con- tact address in India, and has published a compliance report for June 2021. Chandrasekharalsosaidthe statement made by Twitter ear- lier in May expressing concerns over potential threat to freedom of expression and staff safety. New Delhi:Twelve BJP MLAs from Maharashtra on Thursday moved the Supreme Court challenging their one-year sus- pension from the State Legislative Assembly for alleged misbehaviour with the presid- ing officer. On July 5, these 12 MLAs were suspended from the Assembly for one year after the state government had accused them of “misbehaving” with presiding officer Bhaskar Jadhav in the Speaker’s cham- ber. Advocate Abhikalp Pratap Singh said he has filed the peti- tion in the apex court on behalf of these MLAs and they have challenged the resolution passed by the Assembly to sus- pend these lawmakers for one year. The 12 suspended mem- bers are- Sanjay Kute, Ashish Shelar, Abhimanyu Pawar, Girish Mahajan, Atul Bhatkhalkar, Parag Alavani, Harish Pimpale, Yogesh Sagar, Jay Kumar Rawat, Narayan Kuche, Ram Satpute and Bunty Bhangdia. RYR=2d ^`gVD4RXRZ_de dfdaV_dZ`_ CfXccTaU[^dcTS 8Cad[Tb^] Ph!%)X] ^eTc^bRPaTTSXP)__*6^ecST]XTbRWPaVT
- 5. ]PcX^]$ 347A03D=k5A830H k9D;H !!! :D0A274;;0??0= Q :278 Veteran physicians threw up their hands in despair as the Covid-19 pandemic continued its big strides unabated across Kerala on Thursday. The pandemic claimed 122 lives during the 24 hours ended on Thursday taking the death toll across the State till date to 15,739. The day also saw 12,818 new persons getting diagnosed with Covid-19 with an average Test Positivity Rate of 12.38 per cent. But the release issued by the office of the Health Minister said there were 271 regions in the State where the TPR was above 15 per cent necessitating triple lock down in the specific areas. On Thursday, health officials subjected 1,03543 persons for test- ing which thre up the figure of 12, 818. On Wednesday the State had diagnosed 17,481 new patients when 1.45 lakh persons were test- ed for the pandemic. The TPR which was 11.9 per cent on Wednesday shot up further by Thursday. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told the people not to get upset with the hike in TPR and asked them to maintain safety norms specified by the doctors. But physicians in Kerala who are working in the Government ser- vice said the people themselves are to be blamed for the state of affairs. “But for the vaccines provid- ed by the Union Government, Kerala would have become a graveyard by this time. I am extremely sorry to say that the peo- ple in the State are indifferent to the pleas made by the Chief Minister in his media interactions. Most of the people who turn up in hospitals do not wear face masks or observe the standard regula- tions. If we gently remind them to wear face masks, they shout at us and even try to physically attack us,” said a senior physician in a Government Hospital in Ernakulam district. 78C:0=370A8Q 90D Lt-Gen YK Joshi, GOC-in-C Northern Command Headquarters, Thursday embarked on a very special journey commemorating 22 nd Kargil Vijay Diwas and 75 years of Independence. During Kargil War Lt-Gen Joshi was the Commanding Officer of Param Vir Chakra awardees Captain Vikram Batra and Rifleman Sanjay Kumar of 13 JAK Rifles. A kargil war veteran, Lt-Gen Joshi has been regularly attend- ing the annual event but this year he decided to hit the road and cover the journey along with fellow riders to immor- talize the supreme sacrifice made by the soldiers. The bike rally was flagged off from Dhruva War Memorial by Param Veer Chakra awardee Subedar Sanjay Kumar. The Army Commander Northern Command will be joined by the three Corps Commanders of 14, 15 and 16 Corps Lt-Gen PGK Menon, Lt-Gen DP Pandey, and Lt - Gen MV Suchindra Kumar respectively. In addition, two Major Generals, Four Brigadiers, Sixty two officers, Six ladies,One JCO and fifteen Other Ranks will also be form- ing part of the ride along with six ladies and four wards. According to a Defence spokesman, the main segment of the ride comprises 25 Jawa Classic Legend riders launched from Udhampur.Alongside this main ride, there will be sub- sidiary rides launched from Naushera, Srinagar and Karakoram Pass making it to a total of 75 bikes marking 75 years of India’s Independence. The segment covering the icy heights of Karakoram will tra- verse through Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) Darbuk Leh and Kargil to converge with the main seg- ment at Kargil War Memorial, Drass on 23 Jul 2021 where the entire ride is culminating to further participate in the Kargil Vijay Diwas 2021. At the time of Flag Off of Ride, the Northern Command Army commander said, The Indian Armed Forces will defeat any nefarious design of the adversary with resolve, courage and bravery unparal- leled in history. In the last two years we have made steady progress and the violence para- meters have ebbed considerably indicating a paradigm shift in the common Kashmiri mind- set which today is driven to seek peace and prosperity for the future generations. Let me assure each one that Indian Army shall walk with you in step towards a prosperous and better future. Be it Ladakh or JK our commitment to the local population is complete and comprehensive where we shall share their burden with equanimity and cheer”. He also added, “Operation Vijay is testimony to the fact that there has never been and there will never be a compro- mise on the territorial integri- ty of the nation and any such far-fetched idea will remain a pipe dream. “Despite and in spite of challenges the soldier will always stand steadfast in his vigil to protect the nation and will go beyond the duty to make the supreme sacrifice without batting an eyelid. Operation Vijay may have ended 22 yrs back but the bat- tle here in Jammu Kashmir still rages on. There is no grat- ification in violence and the life of a terrorist from the day he picks up a weapon to the day he is neutralized is not more than two months. I would exhort the parents to ensure that their children are not mis- guided and lured as cannon fodder by the Deep State and Nexus who sit in comfort and decadence to see your children act at their behest.” !' ']TfR^a^]P RPbTbX]:TaP[P EXbXc^abSdaX]VWTPehaPX]PcCPYPWP[X]0VaP^]CWdabSPh ?C8 B0D60AB4=6D?C0 Q :;:0C0 Aday after attacking the Centre for running Spygiri and surveillance raj in India calling upon all opposition parties to unite against the Narendra Modi Government, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday claimed that Pegasus spyware was used to record one of her pre-poll meetings with poll strategist Prashant Kishor and her nephew and MP Abhishek Banerjee. “PK has given his phone for auditing and it has been revealed that one of my pre-poll closed-door meetings was recorded by using the Pegasus spyware … in that meeting PK, Abhishek and my State presi- dent Subroto Bakshi was pre- sent … this means that by snooping on one person they are snooping on many others in that person’s touch,” Banerjee said. Branding the Pegasus con- troversy as a “bigger scandal than Watergate” she said “this Hitler-style totalitarian regime cannot be allowed to function for eternity … this is worse than Watergate, this is a Super Emergency,” and asked “how long can you muzzle people like this … the more you will stop them the more they will protest.” The Chief Minister who was likely to meet the Prime Minister when she would visit the Capital on July 28 said, “the entire civil society, the intelli- gentsia, students, workers … everyone should come up in protest against this dirty snoop- ing in people’s private lives … they will not spare anyone … they will keep a watch when you are speaking to you wife or with your close associates or any one.” Now the situation had come to such a spot that “either you put your handset inside the deep freezer or simply consign it to the funeral pyre … because instead of serving your purpose it is being used to harm you … Now we have been told that contrary to our earlier belief even WhatsApp is not safe.” Saying that the Centre was trying to brush the issue under the carpet she wondered “why the Prime Minister is not com- ing out with a statement on the issue … why there is no state- ment on who purchased the Pegasus from the Israeli con- cern NSO because no one else than the Government can pur- chase it.” This was a Government of “jumla and jolumbaji,” she said. µjacVa`]]^VVehZeYAhRdcVT`cUVU¶ Kolkata: Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday condemned the Income Tax raids on the premises of a national Hindi daily saying the people of the country and the “entire media world should unite to protest against this act of dictatorship.” “They are trying to control the judiciary, they are gagging the media, let alone the oppo- sition parties they are not even sparing their own party leaders, government officials and are even spying on a section of the RSS men,” she said adding the newspaper house that had been raided had “fearlessly raised its voice against the UP Government’s pandemic poli- cy … it had questioned the way the bodies were being dis- posed of in Ganges … it had also raised its voice against Pegasus and now they are try- ing to muzzle its voice by con- ducting a raid … but we will not allow this and we are all behind this media house.” She said the Centre had reduced all the government agencies to servility adding how the CBI, ED and now I-T was being used to suppress the opposition voices. 'LGLVODPV,7UDLGRQ%KDVNDU 1XZTaP[[hWT[Sc^_PhW^PVTc^:PaVX[Pachab C=A067D=0C70Q D108 In a major setback to Maharashtra’s former Home Minister Anil Deshmukh refus- es to quash the First Information Report (FIR) filed against him by the CBI under the Prevention of Corruption Act, after holding that Deshmukh’s petition deserved to be “dismissed”. Hearing a petition filed by Deshmukh, a HC of Justices SS Shinde and NJ Jamadar held that for reasons cited in the judge- ment, the plea by the State’s for- mer Minister deserved to be dis- missed, and asked the Registrar General to return the investiga- tion papers to the CBI. After hearing both sides, the HC bench had reserved the ruling in the case for ruling on July 12. It had directed the CBI to submit its report on the inves- tigation conducted so far. On his part senior Advocate Amit Desai representing Deshmukh, prayed for a stay on the effect of the order passed by thecourtasitinvolvedimportant questions of law which required to be studied for taking appro- priate steps. However, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for CBI,opposedpetitioner’srequest. stating that no question of law was involved. The HC bench rejected Desai;s request for stay on the effectoftheorder,byusayingthat no substantial question of law was involved. Seeking the quashing of FIR filed by the CBI, Deshmukh – who has been charged with cor- ruption and criminal conspira- cy, told the court that the inves- tigating agency had failed to obtain requisite sanction prior to registering the FIR, as he was a public servant at the time of reg- istering offence. Desai told the court that before filing the FIR against Deshmukh, the CBI should have applied for permission from the Maharashtra government as required under the Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, after completing the Preliminary Enquiry ordered by the high court. Obtaining consent from the Maharashtra Government was essential considering that the allegations made against him by Mumbai’s former police com- missioner Param Bir Singh could easily have been a “false” allega- tion, Desai said. Among other things, Desai told the court that the high court had relied two documents – a complaint made by Dr Jaishree Patil and a letter written by the by Param Bir Singh – did not contain first hand informa- tion which was necessary to ini- tiate investigations, but con- tained mere “suspicions, whis- pers and allegations”. Contending that Deshmukh was trying to revisit the HC rul- ing ordering PE into the allega- tions against Deshmukh, Additional Solicitor General Aman Lekhi appearing for CBI opposed the petition, by saying that the Court’s order had been upheld by the Supreme Court Lekhi argued that the alle- gations that the CBI was inves- tigation was not based not hearsay because Deshmukh had asked now suspended and incar- cerated Mumbai police officer Sachin Vaze to exhort money from hotels and bars. The court that requirement of sanction under Section 17A was deemed unnecessary the moment the Court ordered the enquiry based on a thorough consideration of the material before it. The section 17A could not be used as a shield to protect a wrongdoer, he told the court. In his petition filed by him challenging the FIR, Deshmukh had also told the high court that the CBI had based its FIR on the “vagueallegations”andthatthere was no case of allegations of ‘ille- gal gratification’’ under section 7 of PCA or criminal conspiracy under section 120-B of the IPC. In his petition filed on May 5 he had also told the court that the CBI had not taken the Maharashtra government’s con- sent to register the FIR against him which he said was necessary since he was a minister when the alleged offence took place. 72aTUdbTbc^`dPbW21858APVPX]bc3TbWdZW C=A067D=0C70Q D108 The Covid-19 daily deaths dropped to 120 and infec- tions dipped to 7,302 in Maharashtra on Thursday, even as 7756 patients were discharged after full recovery from various hospitals in the State. A day after the state logged 165 deaths and 8,159 infec- tions, the deaths came down by 45 and infections dipped by 857.With 120 deaths reported on Thursday, the total number of deaths increased from 1,30,753 to 1,31,038, while the infections —with 7,302 new cases — climbed from 62,37,755 to 62,45,057 As 7,756 were discharged from the hospitals across the state after full recovery, the total number of people dis- charged from the hospitals since the second week of March last year increased from 60,08,750 to 60,16,506 The recov- ery rate in the State rose from 96.33 per cent to 96.34 per cent. The total “active cases” in the state increased marginally from 94,745 to 94,168. The fatality rate in the State stood static at 2.09 per cent Mumbai recorded 10 deaths and 389 infections. As a result, the Covid-19 toll in the metropolis increased from 15,800 to 15,810, while the infected cases in Mumbai went up from 7,32,582 to 7,23,971. Pune with 15,869active cases emerged as the first in the state in terms of maximum number of “active cases” in the state, while Thane with 11,710 stood second, fol- lowed by Sangli ( 10,737), Mumbai (10,710) Kolhapur (10,701) and Satara (7210). Of the 4,62,64,059 samples sent to various laborato- ries across the state so far, 62,45,057have tested positive (13.5 per cent) for Covid-19 until Thursday. RYRUVReYdUZae`#! 6Xa[cWaPbWTS^eTaX]bXbcT]RT ^]fTPaX]VYTP]bSXTbX]D? New Delhi: A PIL was filed in the Supreme Court on Thursday seeking Uniform Code for Religious and Charitable Endowments and referred to the control of author- ities on Hindu temples across the country, unlike certain other groups which are allowed to manage their own institutions. The plea filed by advocate and BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay contended that Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs should have similar rights to establish, manage and main- tain their religious places like Muslims, Parsis and Christians, and the State cannot abridge this right. “It is submitted that the right to manage institutions conferred under Articles 26 is a natural right for all communi- ties. But Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs have been denied this privilege,” said the plea filed through advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey. The PIL stated that there are approximately four lakh temples out of nine Lakh temples across the country which are under Government control. PTI ?=BQ ;D2:=F In a bizarre case, a class ninth girl student was beaten to death by her kin after she insist- ed on wearing jeans against her family members’ wishes in Deoria on Tuesday. The family members were alsoaccusedoftryingtodispose of the body by throwing it fromPatanwabridgeonDeoria- Kasya in Rampur Karkhana area but the body got stuck in the railings. On being informed by some locals that the body of a teenage girl was hanging from the bridge railing, the police rushedtothespotandsentitfor post-mortem. The victim was later identified as Neha Paswan (17)ofSeorahiKharginDeoria. When the cops contacted the family members, the girl’s mother claimed that she suf- fered head injuries when she was beaten up and it led to her death. The autopsy report also confirmed severe injury and fracture in the head. The girl's mother filed a complaint against 10 people, includingthegirl'sgrandparents and her uncles. A case was reg- istered under sections pertain- ing to causing disappearance of evidence of offence, murder and other provisions. The grandparents were arrested and were being interrogated. Thevictim’syoungerbroth- er, Vivek, told reporters that on Monday evening, his uncle Arvind started beating Neha after she insisted on wearing jeans. She was seriously injured after which the perpetrators and his brothers took her to the district hospital but she died on the way after which they threw her body from Patnawa Bridge but it stuck in a hook of the rail- ing. ?=BQ ;D2:=F In a gruesome crime in the City of Taj, a woman and her three children were brutally murdered in Kucha Sadhuram area in Kotwali police station area and the incident came to light on Thursday morn- ing. After being informed by neigh- bours, top police officers rushed to the spot and later quizzed the woman's husband who lived sep- arately. As per reports, Rekha Rathore (36) of Kucha Sadhuram separat- ed from her husband, Sunil Rathore, two years back after which the estranged husband started liv- ing in Maithan. Rekha lived with her three children Tuktuk (12), Paras (10) and Mahi (8). On Thursday morning, around 9 am, the neighbours saw the door of Rekha's house ajar. When they went inside to enquire, they found to their horror the bodies of Rekha and her chil- dren lying in pools of blood on the room floor. They immediately raised an alarm and called the local police. After preliminary investiga- tion, the police maintained that Rekha and the three children were murdered by slitting their throats with a sharp-edged weapon. The police said that the cabinets in the room were open and her belong- ings were scattered on the floor. The victim and her children were last seen on Wednesday after- noon. The role of a tantric was also being enquired behind the grue- some murders as sliced lemons and a plate of worship was found in the room. The police are scanning CCTV cameras installed in the area. Later, the canine squad was pressed into service to pick up a scent but nothing positive came out. A forensic team also visited the site for collecting any possible evi- dence. Police are also trying to figure out the identity of visitors to the woman's house. Her husband was also detained for questioning. Meanwhile, the mastermind in the kidnapping of an Agra surgeon, was killed in an encounter in the city on Thursday. Surgeon Dr Umakant Gupta was honey trapped by a woman and later kidnapped by notorious criminal Badan Singh and taken to Dholpur in Rajasthan on July 13. A demand for a ransom of C 5 crore was also made to the victim’s fam- ily for his release. ?=BQ ;D2:=F The Covid-19 is on the ebb in Uttar Pradesh as eight districts have been declared coronavirus- free while 53 new positive cases were confirmed during the last 24 hours on Thursday and 56 patients recovered during this period. Additional Chief Secretary (Information) Navneet Sehgal said here on Thursday that there was not a sin- gle case of coronavirus infection in eight districts of the state, namely Aligarh, Balrampur, Basti, Etah, Mahoba, Lalitpur, Hathras and Shravasti. The positivity rate is 0.02 per cent and the recovery rate in the state is 98.6 per cent. At present, there are 1,028 active Covid cases in the state. Not a single new case of infection was found in 44 districts, while Covid-19 patients were found in single digits in 31 districts, Sehgal said. So far more than 6.33 crore Covid samples have been tested. In the last 24 hours, 2.34 lakh Covid samples were tested. Till July 21, more than 4.20 crore vaccine doses have been administered in the state. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday directed that ‘Ghar Ghar Par Dastak Abhiyan’ should be effectively carried out for the identification and treatment of active patients of TB, dengue, filariasis, malaria and encephalitis. During the campaign, people should be made aware about the importance of cleanliness, sanitisation, and nutritious food. Children up to 2 years of age should be vaccinated against Japanese encephalitis in regular immunisation sessions. After this campaign, from July 26, a special campaign should be carried out to make gold- en cards under the Ayushman Bharat scheme,” the chief minister said. :RPDQWKUHHFKLOGUHQ IRXQGPXUGHUHGLQ$JUD (LJKW83GLVWV QRZRYLGIUHH ?[TPX]B2bTTZb D]XU^a2^STU^a AT[XVX^db2WPaXcPQ[T 4]S^fT]cb ?=BQ ;D2:=F Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu and sev- eral other party leaders were taken into custody after a face- off between Congress workers and the police while they were on their way to Raj Bhawan to submit a memorandum on the snooping on party leader Rahul Gandhi (Pegasus spyware row) on Thursday. Earlier,CongressLegislature Party leader Aradhana Mishra, MLC Deepak Singh were put under house arrest. Despite being under house arrestsinceWednesdayevening, Lallu managed to sneak out and joined Congress workers as they took out a march from Parivartan Chowk to demand a judicial probe into the Pegasus spyware issue by marching towards Raj Bhawan. ?=BQ ;D2:=F Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra slammed Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday, say- ing that people had the right to their views and abusing power to intimidate them was a “heinous crime” and reminded him that the property on which he was sitting could be taken away by the people. She was responding to a Chief Minister’s tweet through which he appealed to the youth of the State not to be misled by anyone stressing that no one could do wrong today and whoever wanted to get his property confiscated, he could indulge in doing wrong. In a series of tweets in Hindi posted on Thursday, Priyanka said, It is a constitu- tional right to raise your voice, to demonstrate and to agitate for your demands in this coun- try. D?2^]VRWXTUP]h f^aZTabPaaTbcTS ?=BQ ;D2:=F Ateam of police and admin- istrative officials from Uttar Pradesh demolished a Rohingya camp built on 2.10 hectares of land of Irrigation department of Uttar Pradesh in Madanpur Khadar area in Delhi and restored possession on Thursday. The estimated cost of this land is C150 crore. The UP Irrigation department has lands in Okhla, Jasola, Madanpur Khadar, Aali, Saidabad, Jaitpur, Molarvand and Khureji Khas area of Delhi. A top official in Lucknow said on Thursday that the Yogi Adityanath Government vacat- ed a large tract of land of Irrigation department in Madanpur Khadar area of Delhi and a Rohingya camp illegally built on this 2.10 hectares land tract was demol- ished with bulldozers. Ironically, all Government facilities were being provided to the Rohingya refugees by the Delhi government. Ration material was also being provided in these camps during the lockdown by the Delhi Government and Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan. 3ULDQNDKLWV RXWDWRJL A^WX]VhPRP_^]8aaXVPcX^] ST_c[P]SX]3T[WXST^[XbWTS