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?=BQ =4F34;78
After the Centre’s refusal to
field a detailed affidavit in
the Pegasus snooping scandal,
the Supreme Court on Monday
said it will pass an interim
order in the matter soon.
Chief Justice NV Ramana
told Solicitor General Tushar
Mehta that the interim order
will come in two-three days
and the Centre can re-think on
filing a detailed affidavit before
that time.
“We are reserving order.
We will pass some interim
order. It will take two-three
days. If you have some re-
thinking on this, you can men-
tion the matter before us,” the
bench, also comprising justices
Surya Kant and Hima Kohli,
told Mehta.
“You (Solicitor General)
have repeatedly been saying
that the Government does not
want to file an affidavit. We also
do not want any security issues
to be put before us. You say that
a committee will be formed and
the report will be submitted...
We have to look into the whole
issue and pass an interim
order,” the bench said, adding,
“Mr Mehta, you have been
beating around the bush and
that is not the question here”.
The petitions before the
courts are related to reports of
an alleged snooping by the
Government agencies on emi-
nent citizens, politicians and
journalists by using Israeli firm
NSO’s spyware Pegasus. On the
last date of hearing, the SC sug-
gested that the Government
might consider filing an affi-
davit on the limited question if
the phones of such persons
were “tapped.”
During the hearing, Mehta
told the bench that the
Government has “nothing to
hide” and that is why the
Centre has on its own said that
it will constitute a committee of
domain experts who will look
into these allegations. Mehta
told the bench that report of the
committee of domain experts
will be made available to the
apex court.
The Solicitor General said
the issue whether a particular
software is used or not by the
Government cannot be a sub-
ject matter of public discourse
as it has its “own pitfalls” and
it would be better if the target
groups, like terror outfits, does
not know what is being used to
combat their activities.
“The insistence that it
must come in public domain,
please appreciate the harm it
may cause. Suppose, I say this
particular software I am not
using, it would alert all poten-
tial targets. It can be terror
groups, it can be any other
groups. If I say yes, I am using
it, there would be different
consequences,” he said.
“Your lordships are aware
that every technology has its
own counter technology to
protect the system from being
examined by the security agen-
cies. Therefore, the only dis-
tinction is instead of the peti-
tioners insisting that every-
thing must come in public
domain by way of an affidavit,
I am saying let the experts go
into it and place it before your
lordships,” Mehta told the
bench.
05?Q :01D;
The Taliban co-founder and
now Deputy Prime
Minister of Afghanistan
released an audio statement
Monday saying he was alive
and well after news of his sup-
posed demise went viral on
social media.
Abdul Ghani Baradar, who
was last week named as a num-
ber two to Mullah Mohammed
Hassan Akhund, blamed “fake
propaganda” for the death
rumours in an audio message
posted by the Taliban.
Taliban spokesperson from
Qatar office Suhail Shaheen
tweeted: “Mullah Bradar
Akhund, Deputy PM, Islamic
Emirate of Afghanistan in a
voice message rejected all those
claims that he was injured or
killed in a clash. He said it is lies
and totally baseless.”
Social media has been in a
frenzy over the speculation —
particularly in India, where
rumours swirled that he had
been mortally wounded in a
shootout between rival Taliban
factions at the presidential
palace.
“There had been news in
the media about my death,”
Baradar said in the clip.
“Over the past few nights
I have been away on trips.
Wherever I am at the moment,
we are all fine, all my brothers
and friends.
“Media always publish fake
propaganda. Therefore, reject
bravely all those lies, and I 100
percent confirm to you there is
no issue and we have no prob-
lem.”
It was not possible to
authenticate the message, but it
was posted on official Taliban
sites — including that of the
spokesman of the political
office of the new Government.
The Taliban’s supreme
leader, Hibatullah
Akhundzada, was also
rumoured to have died for
several years before the group’s
spokesman said he was “pre-
sent in Kandahar” two weeks
after they took power.
Chatter in Pakistan and
Afghanistan had suggested he
had contracted Covid or been
killed in a bombing.
Afghanistan news outlets
such as TOLO News also tweet-
ed about the audio clip, saying:
“Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar,
deputy prime minister of the
Taliban govt, in an audio mes-
sage confirmed he was alive and
said he was not injured. The
message, tweeted by Taliban
spox Mohammad Naeem, fol-
lows reports that Baradar was
injured or killed in clashes
among the Taliban.”
E8A4=3A0=0C7170CCQ
;D2:=F
After five years of split in
2017, Chacha Shivpal
Yadav and Bhatija Akhilesh
Yadav are expected to bury the
hatchet and join hands to take
on the BJP in 2022 UP
Assembly polls. The patch up
is likely to be announced on the
birthday of Samajwadi Party
(SP) patriarch Mulayam Singh
Yadav in November. After sev-
eral failed attempts, Mulayam
has brokered the deal and like-
ly to succeed.
Political observers have
been batting for this alliance if
the mighty BJP were to be
given any competition in the
upcoming polls. On January
15, 2017, then Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister Akhilesh wrest-
ed control of the SP from his
father Mulayam and uncle
Shivpal, putting an end to a
four-month family feud which
came to the fore in October
2016.
This happened day after
Mulayam was forced to revoke
Akhilesh’s expulsion, along
with that of Akhilesh support-
er Ram Gopal Yadav. SP mem-
bers gathered in thousands in
Lucknow’s Janeshwar Mishra
Park for an emergency nation-
al executive meeting.
Ram Gopal had called the
meeting to counter what he
called unprecedented, uncon-
stitutional actions by Mulayam
where Akhilesh was expelled
from the party.
?=BQ =4F34;78
In what could be the good
news for those who have
taken Covaxin shot, the World
Health Organisation (WHO) is
likely to give nod to India-
made Covid-19 vaccine in this
week, according to sources. In
yet another good news, cumu-
lative jabs administered in the
country crossed 74 crore on
Sunday.
The Union Health
Ministry said all adult people
in Sikkim, Dadra and Nagar
Haveli, Himachal Pradesh,
Goa, Ladakh and Lakshadweep
have received at least one dose
of Covid vaccine.
Over 52 lakh vaccine doses
were administered on Sunday,
according to data from the
CoWIN portal.
“Congratulations to these
States and Union Territories for
administering the first Covid-
19 vaccine dose to 100 per cent
of the adult population. Special
appreciation for the health
workers in these regions for
their diligence and commit-
ment, the office of Union
Health Minister Mansukh
Mandaviya tweeted.
Along with the tweet, the
office of the Union Health
Minister also put up a chart
which stated that Dadra and
Nagar Haveli and Daman and
Diu (6.26 lakh doses), Goa
(11.83 lakh doses), Himachal
Pradesh (55.74 lakh doses),
Ladakh (1.97 lakh doses),
Lakshadweep (53,499 doses),
and Sikkim (5.10 lakh doses)
are the States and UTs with
100 per cent eligible popula-
tion vaccinated with the first
dose of the vaccine.
Regarding the proposed
approval to the indigenous
vaccine Covaxin which is
manufactured by Hyderabad-
based manufacturer Bharat
Biotech, sources said that an
emergency approval from the
WHO will allow Bharat
Biotech to export Covaxin
and also ease international
travel of people who have
received this vaccine.
?=BQ =4F34;7814=60;DAD
Veteran Congress leader
Oscar Fernandes (80), a
former Union Minister and
Rajya Sabha member, died at a
private hospital in Mangaluru
in Karnataka on Monday.
Fernandes was hospitalised in
July after he suffered a head
injury due to a fall while prac-
tising yoga at his home. He had
also undergone a surgery to
remove a clot in his brain.
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi expressed anguish at the
death of Fernandes. “Saddened
by the demise of Rajya Sabha
MP Oscar Fernandes JI. In this
sad hour, my thoughts and
prayers are with his family
and well-wishers. May his soul
rest in peace.”
Congress president Sonia
Gandhi, former party chief
Rahul Gandhi, senior party
leaders too condoled the
demise of Fernandes and all
remembered him as a guide
and mentor. Rahul and
Priyanka described Fernandes’
death as a “personal loss”.
BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78
The Centre’s WAPCOS
reported that 90 per cent of
farmers stated that stubble
decomposes in 15-20 days after
spraying of bio-decomposer,
claimed Delhi Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal said on
Monday and urged the Central
Government to ask neigh-
bouring States to distribute it
for free among farmers. He
added that the agency found
the Pusa bio-decomposer, a
microbial solution for stubble
management, highly effective.
Kejriwal will soon meet
Union Environment Minister
Bhupendra Yadav and will urge
him to ask the States to stop
stubble burning using bio-
decomposers.
While stubble burning in
Delhi’s neighbouring States in
October is a major factor
behind high level of air pollu-
tion according to SAFAR and
other agencies, the Aam Aadmi
Party (AAP) Government
approached the Chief Ministers
of Punjab and Haryana.
Kejriwal said there is no
point blaming and penalizing
farmers when the State
Governments have done noth-
ing to curb the stubble burning.
Citing Water and Power
Consultancy Services (WAP-
COS’) report, Kejriwal said 90
per cent farmers say stubble
decomposes in 15 -20 days after
spraying of bio-decomposer.
“Fields are now ploughed
once or twice instead of 6-7
times, the amount of organic
carbon increased by 42 per
cent, nitrogen in the soil
increased by 24 per cent, bac-
teria content 7 times, the
sprouting of wheat increased by
17-20 per cent and the yields
increased by 8 per cent,” he said
while briefing the media
online.
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The Centre on Monday cited
diplomatic relations and
“trans-border” implications for
the continuation of restric-
tions at Nizamuddin Markaz.
A ban on public entry was
imposed in the adjoining
masque following uproar over
gathering of Tablighi Jamaat
members at the Markaz and a
huge number of them testing
positive for Covid-19 more
than a year ago.
“Since about 1,300 for-
eigners were found to be resid-
ing on the said premises and
cases against them have cross-
borders implications and
involves nation’s diplomatic
relationship with other coun-
tries, it is necessary and incum-
bent on the part of the respon-
dent to preserve the said
premises for the purpose of
Section 310 of CrPC,” the
Ministry of Home Affairs said.
The MoH was responding
to a petition filed by Delhi
Waqf Board for easing of
restrictions at the Markaz.
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The Tamil Nadu Assembly
on Monday adopted a Bill
to dispense with the National
Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test
(NEET) and provide for admis-
sion to medical courses based
on Class XII marks to ensure
social justice.
The Bills adopted in 2017
for the same purpose during
the AIADMK regime did not
get the President’s assent.
The Bill’s passage comes
against the backdrop of the sui-
cide of a medical aspirant fear-
ing outcome of the national test
he was to take and the incident
echoed in the House, with the
main opposition AIADMK tar-
geting the government.
Chief Minister MK Stalin
introduced the Bill and all
parties, including the main
opposition AIADMK and its
ally PMK, besides others like
Congress, supported it and it
was passed by a voice vote.
It seeks to provide for
admission to UG courses in
medicine, dentistry, Indian
medicine and homeopathy on
the basis of marks obtained in
the qualifying examination,
(Class XII).
The Opposition BJP
staged a walkout, protesting
against the Government
move.
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As part of the 119th Nanda
Devi Mahotsav, Monday
was spent carving out the idols
of goddesses Nanda and
Sunanda from plantain stems.
The depictions of the god-
desses will be opened for the
devotees to pay obeisance in
the wee hours on Tuesday. The
devotees will be able to pay
their obeisance to the god-
desses here till the immersion
of their idols slated to be done
on September 17.
The idols of the goddesses
were prepared on Monday by
traditional artisans connected
to the festival’s organisers- Shri
Ram Sevak Sabha. After the
artisans carved out the idols,
they were painted by female
devotees. At the same time a
Mandap was also erected in the
Naina Devi temple where the
goddesses will be installed rit-
ually after special prayers. The
Shri Ram Sevak Sabha head
Manoj Sah, general secretary
Jagdish Chandra Bwadi and
others were also present on the
occasion.
,GROVRIJRGGHVVHVSUHSDUHG
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?=BQ B78;0
Himachal Chief Minister Jai
Ram Thakur on Monday
said that the hill state became
the first in the country to
administer the first dose of the
Covid-19 vaccine to 100 per-
cent of its adult population but
the task was not easy.
“Over 74 lakh doses have
been administered to the peo-
ple including the first and sec-
ond dose so far. The task of
achieving cent percent vacci-
nation was not easy keeping in
view the topography of the
state. Lahaul and Spiti was the
first district in the State achiev-
ing 100 percent first dose at
vaccination followed by
Kinnaur,” the Chief Minister
said while addressing a video
conference organized here at
Civil Hospital, Palampur.
He said that the State
Government made special
arrangements for vaccination at
Bara Bhangal by sending chop-
per. Malana is another difficult
terrain, where special arrange-
ments were made. He thanked
the Corona warriors for ren-
dering yeoman services during
this critical period.
The Chief Minister also
thanked Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and the Union
Government for extending all
possible help to the state in the
fight against Corona.
Thakur said that today,
there are only 1,500 active
cases in Himachal as the State
Government has been working
24X7 to overcome the threat of
Corona.
Earlier, the state had only
11 dedicated Corona health
centres with 440 beds and 32
ICU facilities. Today, the State
has 80 such centres with 8,765
beds having 880 ICU beds,
which can be enhanced up to
11,000 if required, he said.
The Chief Minister on
Monday dedicated the newly
installed PSA oxygen plant at
Civil Hospital, Palampur under
PM Care Fund which would
support 100 beds. This plant
has been built at a cost of Rs 2
crore. He also dedicated the
augmented PSA Oxygen plant
at Zonal Hospital,
Dharamshala, built at a cost of
Rs. 1.5 crore through video
conference. This oxygen plant
already functioning at Zonal
Hospital, Dharamshala since
March this year with a capac-
ity of 300 LPM has been
upgraded to 800 LPM recent-
ly under CSR. It would support
the 175 oxygen supported
indoor block of the Zonal
Hospital.
Taking a dig at the oppo-
sition, Thakur said that it
believed in criticism only as it
had been forgetting the state of
the health sector during its var-
ious regimes extending over 50
years. There were only two oxy-
gen plants in the state at IGMC,
Shimla and Rajendra Prasad
Medical College, Tanda. But,
today Himachal has raised its
guard against this deadly virus
and has over 2,200 oxygen
concentrators at various health
institutions in the state, he
added.
eTa#[PZWS^bTb^U2^eXS (WPeTQTT]
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?=BQ 270=3860A7
Taking a significant leap for-
ward towards providing
best and affordable healthcare
services, Punjab Chief Minister
Capt Amarinder Singh on
Monday virtually dedicated Rs
125 crore projects including the
state-wide Radio Diagnostic
and Laboratory Services and
the revamped 108 Ambulance
Emergency Response System to
the people of Punjab.
Launching the ambitious
projects from Batala and
Mohali on the auspicious occa-
sion of the 534th marriage
anniversary (Vyaah Purb) of Sri
Guru Nanak Dev Ji, Chief
Minister also dedicated the
first-of-its-kind ‘CM e-Clinic
facility’ pilot at Batala to effec-
tively address shortage of spe-
cialist medical counselling and
treatment in rural areas.
“There can be no better
day than the Babe-Da-Vyah
Utsav, which is being celebrat-
ed today, for the launch of these
facilities, Capt Amarinder said,
extending his greetings to the
people of Punjab on the pious
occasion.
“The highly-specialised
medical services to be rolled
out across the State by end
November will prove to be a
boon for people, especially the
poor sections for whom expert
private sector medical care is
out of their reach,” said Capt
Amarinder.
For this project, Punjab has
been divided into six parts in
which one MRI each and 25
CT Scan facilities for one each
for every district hospital at a
cost of Rs 80 crore besides one
Reference Lab, 30 District
Laboratories and 95 collection
centres would be covering 23
state districts at a cost of Rs 25
crore to ensure round the clock
medical services to our people,
the Chief Minister disclosed
adding that five percent of
total cases will be provided free
diagnostic facilities to provide
help to needy and poor.
The projects entail an
employment generation poten-
tial for 750 people who would
be trained as technicians.
The innovative e-Clinic
facility, set up at Batala would
greatly leverage the concept of
tele-consultation with medical
specialists of patients in rural
areas, the Chief Minister said,
adding that the success of
this pilot project would be
replicated across the state in
near future. The projects
would be launched by the
State Government on a
Public Private Partnership
(PPP) mode in collabora-
tion with Krsnaa Diagnostics
Limited.
Under the revamped
‘Dial 108’ Ambulance
Emergency Response System
Service, innovations in
Information Technology have
been co-opted into the existing
104 and 112 medical helplines
further streamlining the SOS
service delivery mechanism.
Af_[RS4]Rf_TYVdYVR]eYTRcVac`[VTed
?=BQ 270=3860A7
Three leaders who were asso-
ciated with BJP and INLD
in Haryana joined the
Congress on Monday in the
presence of state party chief
Kumari Selja and state party
affairs in-charge Vivek Bansal
in New Delhi.
Those who joined the
Congress included Haryana-
based industrialist Ashok Goel
Mangaliwala, former BJP
leader Pawan Beniwal and for-
mer INLD leader Kanwaljit
Singh. Ashok Goel had sought
BJP’s ticket from Hisar Lok
Sabha in the last elections but
could not get it while Pawan
Beniwal had contested on
Ellenabad assembly seat on a
BJP’s ticket in 2014 and 2019
and had lost both times.
Beniwal is likely to be
Congress’ candidate from
Ellenabad assembly seat, where
byelection is due to be held.
Ahead of the 2014 assembly
polls, Beniwal had quit INLD
and joined BJP. However,
Beniwal also quit BJP in April
this year as a mark of solidar-
ity towards the farmers’ protest.
INLD’s Abhay Chautala
had also resigned from the
Ellenabad assembly seat in
support of the ongoing farmers’
agitation. Kanwaljit Singh is the
son of former Member of
Parliament Tara Singh, who
was elected to 10th Lok Sabha
from Kurukshetra. Kanwaljit,
too, had been associated with
INLD for long before quitting
the party.
After welcoming the three
leaders into partyfold, Vivek
Bansal claimed that the winds
are blowing in favour of the
Congress and against the BJP
in Haryana.
Kumari Selja said these
leaders have quit the saffron
party and come into the
Congress fold due to the BJP's
anti-people policies.
There are leaders who
understand that the Congress
is the only viable option to the
BJP which has proved to be a
failure in all spheres of gover-
nance in Haryana, she said.
7KUHH+DUDQDOHDGHUVIURP
%-3DQG,1/'MRLQRQJUHVV
?=BQ 270=3860A7
Haryana BJP chief OP
Dhankar on Monday
alleged that the ongoing farm-
ers’ agitation against three cen-
tral farm laws has become
“totally political” and has left its
original agenda behind.
“Be it the statements of
Rajewal ji or Ugrahan (farmers
leaders). It is evident now that
the farmers
had started
with a specif-
ic agenda
which they
have left
behind now.
They have
political ambi-
tions and
want to con-
test elections,”
Dhankar said
while talking
to the media-
persons here.
“The gov-
ernment has
kept its doors
open for
farmers even
today for
talks,” he
added
Dhankar
said that the
BJP govern-
ment in
Haryana is
working for
the welfare
and uplift-
ment of farm-
ers. If they
(protesting
f a r m e r s '
unions) want
to do welfare
of farmers,
they should
ensure it in neighboring Punjab
and Rajasthan also. We are giv-
ing maximum compensation to
farmers, they should get the
same in Punjab too. They
should ensure Bajra is procured
at the same rate in Rajasthan as
done in Haryana,” he added.
Commenting on lath-
icharge on farmers in Karnal
last month, the BJP state chief
said that the State Government
is functioning with patience
and it is our priority that no
incident of confrontation takes
place. Even those who are
protesting should stay within
their limits, he said.
20 lakh letters of appreci-
ation to be sent to PM Modi
Dhankar while giving
details of programmes to be
organised by the party’s
state unit coinciding with
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s birthday celebra-
tions said that 20 lakh let-
ters written by beneficiaries
of various central schemes
expressing their gratitude
will be sent to the PM.
He said that at least 100
such letters of gratitude
will be collected from
20000 booths each as part
of the “Thank you cam-
paign” for the Prime
Minister.
Apart from this, the
party state unit will plant
71,000 saplings in the state
on the occasion of 71st
birthday of PM Modi on
September 17, he said.
5PaTabPVXcPcX^]Xbc^cP[[h_^[XcXRP[]^f)?3WP]ZPa
=8B7D07090=Q
270=3860A7
The government job aspi-
rants in Haryana without
Parivar Pehchan number or
Aadhaar number will have to
pay a double amount for com-
mon eligibility test (CET) pro-
cessing fee as compared to
those having either of the two
documents. As per the new
rules notified by Haryana
Government for common eli-
gibility test for recruitment to
group C and D posts, the male
residents (general category,
children of ex-servicemen) of
Haryana who provide Parivar
Pehchan number (PP num-
ber) or Aadhaar number dur-
ing registration will have to pay
the processing fee of Rs 500
while those without any of the
two documents will have to
shell out Rs 1000.
The applicants including
females, ex-servicemen, dis-
abled persons and those
belonging to scheduled caste,
backward class, economically
weaker sections, who provide
PP number or Aadhaar num-
ber will have to pay the fee of
Rs 250 while those who do not
provide PP number or
Aadhaar will have to pay Rs
500.
Similarly for non-residents
of Haryana, those who provide
Aadhaar number will be pay-
ing Rs 500 exam fee while
those who fail to furnish the
details of Aadhaar will have to
pay Rs 1000. The State
Government has recently noti-
fied The Haryana Parivar
Pehchan Act 2021 aimed at
creating a unique identification
number for each family in
Haryana, and preparing a data-
base enabling the families to
access various government ser-
vices and schemes in the state.
Around 64 lakh families
have already completed their
registration under PPP.
According to the rules for CET,
the applicants who have neither
Parivar Pehchan number nor
Aadhaar number shall be eli-
gible for the registration but will
have to pay more for exam fee.
The registration for CET is
currently ongoing on Haryana’s
one-time registration portal.
CW^bTfXcW^dc??]dQTa^a0PSWPPaX]
7PahP]PWPeTc^_Ph^aTU^a24CUTT
=8:00;8:Q 270=3860A7
Slow and steady wins the race
is a maxim that does not
work well in politics for
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)
president Sukhbir Singh Badal.
After the initial setback of
being ally to a party that script-
ed controversial farm laws —
the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP)
— besides still being under the
scanner for sacrilege incidents,
Sukhbir has virtually being
playing “fastest finger first” to
finalise the candidates for 2022
state assembly polls in Punjab.
At the time when the state’s
all other major political parties
are struggling to keep their
house in order, the Akali Dal
has already announced more
than half of its candidates for
the ensuing polls, scheduled to
be held early next year.
On Monday, the party has
released its first list of candi-
dates with 64 names, of which
22 were already announced by
Sukhbir during a series of ral-
lies and public meetings he
addressed before Punjab’s farm-
ers’ outfits imposed a virtual
ban on holding huge political
gatherings in the state before
the polls were officially
announced.
SAD is contesting 97 of the
117 assembly seats in alliance
with the Bahujan Samaj Party
(BSP), which has also
announced its candidates on
three seats, out of 20 in its
share. SAD snapped its
decades-old ties with the old
ally BJP over the contentious
farm laws, and announced its
alliance with BSP in June.
SAD and BSP had earlier
contested the 1996 Lok Sabha
elections in alliance in Punjab.
6$'DQQRXQFHVILUVWOLVWRI
FDQGLGDWHVIRU3XQMDESROOV](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
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- 1. 3A>=4B5A34;8E4AH 5E0G)82A64CB=3 =Tf3T[WX) CWT2XeX[0eXPcX^] X]XbcahbPXS^]^]SPhcWPcXc WPSVaP]cTSR^]SXcX^]P[_TaXb bX^]c^cWT8]SXP]2^d]RX[^U TSXRP[ATbTPaRW82Ac^dbT Sa^]TbX]0]SPP]P]S=XR^QPa 8b[P]SbP]X_daP]S=PVP[P]S c^ST[XeTaePRRX]TbQTh^]ScWT eXbdP[[X]T^UbXVWc EE8?27??4AB340; 022DB4374;31H43 =Tf3T[WX) CWT4]U^aRTT]c 3XaTRc^aPcT43WPbPaaTbcTS APYXeBPgT]PfW^XbP[b^P] PRRdbTSX]cWTC%Ra^aT EE8?RW^__TabSTP[RPbT^eTa ^]Th[Pd]STaX]V[X]ZTSc^P] P[[TVTSQP]ZUaPdS^UUXRXP[bbPXS ^]SPhCWThbPXSBPgT]PfX[[ QT_a^SdRTSQTU^aTPR^dacWTaT c^bTTZWXbRdbc^ShBPgT]PP] P[[TVTSXSS[TP]X]cWT RW^__TabSTP[bRPbTfPbQPbTS X]3dQPXP]SfPbST_^acTSQh 8]SXPUa^cWTD04^]9P]dPah ! (P]SPaaTbcTSQhcWT PVT]RhX]cWTRPbT 20?BD;4 ?=BQ =4F34;78 After the Centre’s refusal to field a detailed affidavit in the Pegasus snooping scandal, the Supreme Court on Monday said it will pass an interim order in the matter soon. Chief Justice NV Ramana told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that the interim order will come in two-three days and the Centre can re-think on filing a detailed affidavit before that time. “We are reserving order. We will pass some interim order. It will take two-three days. If you have some re- thinking on this, you can men- tion the matter before us,” the bench, also comprising justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, told Mehta. “You (Solicitor General) have repeatedly been saying that the Government does not want to file an affidavit. We also do not want any security issues to be put before us. You say that a committee will be formed and the report will be submitted... We have to look into the whole issue and pass an interim order,” the bench said, adding, “Mr Mehta, you have been beating around the bush and that is not the question here”. The petitions before the courts are related to reports of an alleged snooping by the Government agencies on emi- nent citizens, politicians and journalists by using Israeli firm NSO’s spyware Pegasus. On the last date of hearing, the SC sug- gested that the Government might consider filing an affi- davit on the limited question if the phones of such persons were “tapped.” During the hearing, Mehta told the bench that the Government has “nothing to hide” and that is why the Centre has on its own said that it will constitute a committee of domain experts who will look into these allegations. Mehta told the bench that report of the committee of domain experts will be made available to the apex court. The Solicitor General said the issue whether a particular software is used or not by the Government cannot be a sub- ject matter of public discourse as it has its “own pitfalls” and it would be better if the target groups, like terror outfits, does not know what is being used to combat their activities. “The insistence that it must come in public domain, please appreciate the harm it may cause. Suppose, I say this particular software I am not using, it would alert all poten- tial targets. It can be terror groups, it can be any other groups. If I say yes, I am using it, there would be different consequences,” he said. “Your lordships are aware that every technology has its own counter technology to protect the system from being examined by the security agen- cies. Therefore, the only dis- tinction is instead of the peti- tioners insisting that every- thing must come in public domain by way of an affidavit, I am saying let the experts go into it and place it before your lordships,” Mehta told the bench. 05?Q :01D; The Taliban co-founder and now Deputy Prime Minister of Afghanistan released an audio statement Monday saying he was alive and well after news of his sup- posed demise went viral on social media. Abdul Ghani Baradar, who was last week named as a num- ber two to Mullah Mohammed Hassan Akhund, blamed “fake propaganda” for the death rumours in an audio message posted by the Taliban. Taliban spokesperson from Qatar office Suhail Shaheen tweeted: “Mullah Bradar Akhund, Deputy PM, Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in a voice message rejected all those claims that he was injured or killed in a clash. He said it is lies and totally baseless.” Social media has been in a frenzy over the speculation — particularly in India, where rumours swirled that he had been mortally wounded in a shootout between rival Taliban factions at the presidential palace. “There had been news in the media about my death,” Baradar said in the clip. “Over the past few nights I have been away on trips. Wherever I am at the moment, we are all fine, all my brothers and friends. “Media always publish fake propaganda. Therefore, reject bravely all those lies, and I 100 percent confirm to you there is no issue and we have no prob- lem.” It was not possible to authenticate the message, but it was posted on official Taliban sites — including that of the spokesman of the political office of the new Government. The Taliban’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, was also rumoured to have died for several years before the group’s spokesman said he was “pre- sent in Kandahar” two weeks after they took power. Chatter in Pakistan and Afghanistan had suggested he had contracted Covid or been killed in a bombing. Afghanistan news outlets such as TOLO News also tweet- ed about the audio clip, saying: “Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, deputy prime minister of the Taliban govt, in an audio mes- sage confirmed he was alive and said he was not injured. The message, tweeted by Taliban spox Mohammad Naeem, fol- lows reports that Baradar was injured or killed in clashes among the Taliban.” E8A4=3A0=0C7170CCQ ;D2:=F After five years of split in 2017, Chacha Shivpal Yadav and Bhatija Akhilesh Yadav are expected to bury the hatchet and join hands to take on the BJP in 2022 UP Assembly polls. The patch up is likely to be announced on the birthday of Samajwadi Party (SP) patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav in November. After sev- eral failed attempts, Mulayam has brokered the deal and like- ly to succeed. Political observers have been batting for this alliance if the mighty BJP were to be given any competition in the upcoming polls. On January 15, 2017, then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh wrest- ed control of the SP from his father Mulayam and uncle Shivpal, putting an end to a four-month family feud which came to the fore in October 2016. This happened day after Mulayam was forced to revoke Akhilesh’s expulsion, along with that of Akhilesh support- er Ram Gopal Yadav. SP mem- bers gathered in thousands in Lucknow’s Janeshwar Mishra Park for an emergency nation- al executive meeting. Ram Gopal had called the meeting to counter what he called unprecedented, uncon- stitutional actions by Mulayam where Akhilesh was expelled from the party. ?=BQ =4F34;78 In what could be the good news for those who have taken Covaxin shot, the World Health Organisation (WHO) is likely to give nod to India- made Covid-19 vaccine in this week, according to sources. In yet another good news, cumu- lative jabs administered in the country crossed 74 crore on Sunday. The Union Health Ministry said all adult people in Sikkim, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Ladakh and Lakshadweep have received at least one dose of Covid vaccine. Over 52 lakh vaccine doses were administered on Sunday, according to data from the CoWIN portal. “Congratulations to these States and Union Territories for administering the first Covid- 19 vaccine dose to 100 per cent of the adult population. Special appreciation for the health workers in these regions for their diligence and commit- ment, the office of Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted. Along with the tweet, the office of the Union Health Minister also put up a chart which stated that Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (6.26 lakh doses), Goa (11.83 lakh doses), Himachal Pradesh (55.74 lakh doses), Ladakh (1.97 lakh doses), Lakshadweep (53,499 doses), and Sikkim (5.10 lakh doses) are the States and UTs with 100 per cent eligible popula- tion vaccinated with the first dose of the vaccine. Regarding the proposed approval to the indigenous vaccine Covaxin which is manufactured by Hyderabad- based manufacturer Bharat Biotech, sources said that an emergency approval from the WHO will allow Bharat Biotech to export Covaxin and also ease international travel of people who have received this vaccine. ?=BQ =4F34;7814=60;DAD Veteran Congress leader Oscar Fernandes (80), a former Union Minister and Rajya Sabha member, died at a private hospital in Mangaluru in Karnataka on Monday. Fernandes was hospitalised in July after he suffered a head injury due to a fall while prac- tising yoga at his home. He had also undergone a surgery to remove a clot in his brain. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed anguish at the death of Fernandes. “Saddened by the demise of Rajya Sabha MP Oscar Fernandes JI. In this sad hour, my thoughts and prayers are with his family and well-wishers. May his soul rest in peace.” Congress president Sonia Gandhi, former party chief Rahul Gandhi, senior party leaders too condoled the demise of Fernandes and all remembered him as a guide and mentor. Rahul and Priyanka described Fernandes’ death as a “personal loss”. BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78 The Centre’s WAPCOS reported that 90 per cent of farmers stated that stubble decomposes in 15-20 days after spraying of bio-decomposer, claimed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday and urged the Central Government to ask neigh- bouring States to distribute it for free among farmers. He added that the agency found the Pusa bio-decomposer, a microbial solution for stubble management, highly effective. Kejriwal will soon meet Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav and will urge him to ask the States to stop stubble burning using bio- decomposers. While stubble burning in Delhi’s neighbouring States in October is a major factor behind high level of air pollu- tion according to SAFAR and other agencies, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government approached the Chief Ministers of Punjab and Haryana. Kejriwal said there is no point blaming and penalizing farmers when the State Governments have done noth- ing to curb the stubble burning. Citing Water and Power Consultancy Services (WAP- COS’) report, Kejriwal said 90 per cent farmers say stubble decomposes in 15 -20 days after spraying of bio-decomposer. “Fields are now ploughed once or twice instead of 6-7 times, the amount of organic carbon increased by 42 per cent, nitrogen in the soil increased by 24 per cent, bac- teria content 7 times, the sprouting of wheat increased by 17-20 per cent and the yields increased by 8 per cent,” he said while briefing the media online. D]X^]7^TX]XbcTa0XcBWPWR^]VaPcd[PcTb]Tf2WXTUX]XbcTa^U6dYPaPc 1Wd_T]SaP?PcT[SdaX]VPbfTPaX]VX]RTaT^]hPcAPY1WPeP]X]6P]SWX]PVPa^] ^]SPh ?C8 D4cVdVcgVd`cUVc`_ AVXRdfdd_``aZ_X RXUWJLYHV*RYW PRUHGDVDV LWUHIXVHVWRILOH GHWDLOHGDIILGDYLW RYHUVHFXULWLVVXH ,¶PDOLYH%DUDGDUDXGLR TXDVKHVGHDWKUXPRXUV DaVTf]ReZ`_hRd cZWVeYRe2WXYR_ 5VafejAUZVU Z_RdY``e`fe 9`fdVRU`aed 3Z]]RddefUV_e¶d dfZTZUVVTY`Vd Z_2ddV^S]j H9@_`UW`c4`gRiZ_eYZd hVV,(TcdY`edXZgV_ !SXTX]W^dbTRPeTX] Cf^cTT]PVTabfTaTZX[[TSPUcTaPU^dabc^ahQdX[SX]VR^[[P_bTSX]=^acW3T[WXb BPQiXP]SXPaTP^]^]SPh^UUXRXP[bbPXS8cXbbdb_TRcTScWPccWaTTc^U^da^aT _T^_[TPaTcaP__TSd]STacWTSTQaXbPbT]X^a_^[XRT^UUXRTabPXS AP]YP]3XaXk?X^]TTa 3XVDELRGHFRPSRVHU YHUHIIHFWLYH.HMULZDO 0ZWX[TbWBWXe_P[Ph QdahWPcRWTcc^cPZT ^]19?XVWcX]!!! 4`_X]VRUVc 7Vc_R_UVd aRddVdRhRj ! NQRRS ?=BQ =4F34;78 The Centre on Monday cited diplomatic relations and “trans-border” implications for the continuation of restric- tions at Nizamuddin Markaz. A ban on public entry was imposed in the adjoining masque following uproar over gathering of Tablighi Jamaat members at the Markaz and a huge number of them testing positive for Covid-19 more than a year ago. “Since about 1,300 for- eigners were found to be resid- ing on the said premises and cases against them have cross- borders implications and involves nation’s diplomatic relationship with other coun- tries, it is necessary and incum- bent on the part of the respon- dent to preserve the said premises for the purpose of Section 310 of CrPC,” the Ministry of Home Affairs said. The MoH was responding to a petition filed by Delhi Waqf Board for easing of restrictions at the Markaz. 4fcSd`_RcRk ?ZkR^fUUZ_+8`ge UVWV_UdZeTZeVd UZa]`^ReZTeZVd ?C8Q 274==08 The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Monday adopted a Bill to dispense with the National Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test (NEET) and provide for admis- sion to medical courses based on Class XII marks to ensure social justice. The Bills adopted in 2017 for the same purpose during the AIADMK regime did not get the President’s assent. The Bill’s passage comes against the backdrop of the sui- cide of a medical aspirant fear- ing outcome of the national test he was to take and the incident echoed in the House, with the main opposition AIADMK tar- geting the government. Chief Minister MK Stalin introduced the Bill and all parties, including the main opposition AIADMK and its ally PMK, besides others like Congress, supported it and it was passed by a voice vote. It seeks to provide for admission to UG courses in medicine, dentistry, Indian medicine and homeopathy on the basis of marks obtained in the qualifying examination, (Class XII). The Opposition BJP staged a walkout, protesting against the Government move. C=^_cb^dc^U=44C U^aTSXRP[PSXbbX^] /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=CD4B30HB4?C414A #!! *?064B !C! @?6J* 6ECC2742:;0=3A42A3B 145A4?033H?A2DA44=C m m H@C=5) 278=00B:BDBFA;3 CBC4?D?083C05 C14G55454 E@99@ 51BI*;?89 !C@?BD @A:?:@?' F74=0AC8BCBCDA=43 8=C2D=8BCB
- 2. ]PcX^]! 347A03D=kCD4B30H k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·VZLOOQRWEHKHOGUHVSRQVLEOHIRUDQNLQGRIFODLPPDGHEWKHDGYHUWLVHUVRIWKHSURGXFWV VHUYLFHVDQGVKDOOQRWEHPDGHUHVSRQVLEOHIRUDQNLQGRIORVVFRQVHTXHQFHVDQGIXUWKHUSURGXFWUHODWHGGDPDJHVRQVXFKDGYHUWLVHPHQWV ?=BQ =08=8C0; As part of the 119th Nanda Devi Mahotsav, Monday was spent carving out the idols of goddesses Nanda and Sunanda from plantain stems. The depictions of the god- desses will be opened for the devotees to pay obeisance in the wee hours on Tuesday. The devotees will be able to pay their obeisance to the god- desses here till the immersion of their idols slated to be done on September 17. The idols of the goddesses were prepared on Monday by traditional artisans connected to the festival’s organisers- Shri Ram Sevak Sabha. After the artisans carved out the idols, they were painted by female devotees. At the same time a Mandap was also erected in the Naina Devi temple where the goddesses will be installed rit- ually after special prayers. The Shri Ram Sevak Sabha head Manoj Sah, general secretary Jagdish Chandra Bwadi and others were also present on the occasion. ,GROVRIJRGGHVVHVSUHSDUHG LQ1DQGD'HYL0DKRWVDY ?=BQ B78;0 Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Monday said that the hill state became the first in the country to administer the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine to 100 per- cent of its adult population but the task was not easy. “Over 74 lakh doses have been administered to the peo- ple including the first and sec- ond dose so far. The task of achieving cent percent vacci- nation was not easy keeping in view the topography of the state. Lahaul and Spiti was the first district in the State achiev- ing 100 percent first dose at vaccination followed by Kinnaur,” the Chief Minister said while addressing a video conference organized here at Civil Hospital, Palampur. He said that the State Government made special arrangements for vaccination at Bara Bhangal by sending chop- per. Malana is another difficult terrain, where special arrange- ments were made. He thanked the Corona warriors for ren- dering yeoman services during this critical period. The Chief Minister also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union Government for extending all possible help to the state in the fight against Corona. Thakur said that today, there are only 1,500 active cases in Himachal as the State Government has been working 24X7 to overcome the threat of Corona. Earlier, the state had only 11 dedicated Corona health centres with 440 beds and 32 ICU facilities. Today, the State has 80 such centres with 8,765 beds having 880 ICU beds, which can be enhanced up to 11,000 if required, he said. The Chief Minister on Monday dedicated the newly installed PSA oxygen plant at Civil Hospital, Palampur under PM Care Fund which would support 100 beds. This plant has been built at a cost of Rs 2 crore. He also dedicated the augmented PSA Oxygen plant at Zonal Hospital, Dharamshala, built at a cost of Rs. 1.5 crore through video conference. This oxygen plant already functioning at Zonal Hospital, Dharamshala since March this year with a capac- ity of 300 LPM has been upgraded to 800 LPM recent- ly under CSR. It would support the 175 oxygen supported indoor block of the Zonal Hospital. Taking a dig at the oppo- sition, Thakur said that it believed in criticism only as it had been forgetting the state of the health sector during its var- ious regimes extending over 50 years. There were only two oxy- gen plants in the state at IGMC, Shimla and Rajendra Prasad Medical College, Tanda. But, today Himachal has raised its guard against this deadly virus and has over 2,200 oxygen concentrators at various health institutions in the state, he added. eTa#[PZWS^bTb^U2^eXS (WPeTQTT] PSX]XbcTaTSX]7XPRWP[)29PXAPCWPZda ?=BQ 270=3860A7 Taking a significant leap for- ward towards providing best and affordable healthcare services, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday virtually dedicated Rs 125 crore projects including the state-wide Radio Diagnostic and Laboratory Services and the revamped 108 Ambulance Emergency Response System to the people of Punjab. Launching the ambitious projects from Batala and Mohali on the auspicious occa- sion of the 534th marriage anniversary (Vyaah Purb) of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, Chief Minister also dedicated the first-of-its-kind ‘CM e-Clinic facility’ pilot at Batala to effec- tively address shortage of spe- cialist medical counselling and treatment in rural areas. “There can be no better day than the Babe-Da-Vyah Utsav, which is being celebrat- ed today, for the launch of these facilities, Capt Amarinder said, extending his greetings to the people of Punjab on the pious occasion. “The highly-specialised medical services to be rolled out across the State by end November will prove to be a boon for people, especially the poor sections for whom expert private sector medical care is out of their reach,” said Capt Amarinder. For this project, Punjab has been divided into six parts in which one MRI each and 25 CT Scan facilities for one each for every district hospital at a cost of Rs 80 crore besides one Reference Lab, 30 District Laboratories and 95 collection centres would be covering 23 state districts at a cost of Rs 25 crore to ensure round the clock medical services to our people, the Chief Minister disclosed adding that five percent of total cases will be provided free diagnostic facilities to provide help to needy and poor. The projects entail an employment generation poten- tial for 750 people who would be trained as technicians. The innovative e-Clinic facility, set up at Batala would greatly leverage the concept of tele-consultation with medical specialists of patients in rural areas, the Chief Minister said, adding that the success of this pilot project would be replicated across the state in near future. The projects would be launched by the State Government on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode in collabora- tion with Krsnaa Diagnostics Limited. Under the revamped ‘Dial 108’ Ambulance Emergency Response System Service, innovations in Information Technology have been co-opted into the existing 104 and 112 medical helplines further streamlining the SOS service delivery mechanism. Af_[RS4]Rf_TYVdYVR]eYTRcVac`[VTed ?=BQ 270=3860A7 Three leaders who were asso- ciated with BJP and INLD in Haryana joined the Congress on Monday in the presence of state party chief Kumari Selja and state party affairs in-charge Vivek Bansal in New Delhi. Those who joined the Congress included Haryana- based industrialist Ashok Goel Mangaliwala, former BJP leader Pawan Beniwal and for- mer INLD leader Kanwaljit Singh. Ashok Goel had sought BJP’s ticket from Hisar Lok Sabha in the last elections but could not get it while Pawan Beniwal had contested on Ellenabad assembly seat on a BJP’s ticket in 2014 and 2019 and had lost both times. Beniwal is likely to be Congress’ candidate from Ellenabad assembly seat, where byelection is due to be held. Ahead of the 2014 assembly polls, Beniwal had quit INLD and joined BJP. However, Beniwal also quit BJP in April this year as a mark of solidar- ity towards the farmers’ protest. INLD’s Abhay Chautala had also resigned from the Ellenabad assembly seat in support of the ongoing farmers’ agitation. Kanwaljit Singh is the son of former Member of Parliament Tara Singh, who was elected to 10th Lok Sabha from Kurukshetra. Kanwaljit, too, had been associated with INLD for long before quitting the party. After welcoming the three leaders into partyfold, Vivek Bansal claimed that the winds are blowing in favour of the Congress and against the BJP in Haryana. Kumari Selja said these leaders have quit the saffron party and come into the Congress fold due to the BJP's anti-people policies. There are leaders who understand that the Congress is the only viable option to the BJP which has proved to be a failure in all spheres of gover- nance in Haryana, she said. 7KUHH+DUDQDOHDGHUVIURP %-3DQG,1/'MRLQRQJUHVV ?=BQ 270=3860A7 Haryana BJP chief OP Dhankar on Monday alleged that the ongoing farm- ers’ agitation against three cen- tral farm laws has become “totally political” and has left its original agenda behind. “Be it the statements of Rajewal ji or Ugrahan (farmers leaders). It is evident now that the farmers had started with a specif- ic agenda which they have left behind now. They have political ambi- tions and want to con- test elections,” Dhankar said while talking to the media- persons here. “The gov- ernment has kept its doors open for farmers even today for talks,” he added Dhankar said that the BJP govern- ment in Haryana is working for the welfare and uplift- ment of farm- ers. If they (protesting f a r m e r s ' unions) want to do welfare of farmers, they should ensure it in neighboring Punjab and Rajasthan also. We are giv- ing maximum compensation to farmers, they should get the same in Punjab too. They should ensure Bajra is procured at the same rate in Rajasthan as done in Haryana,” he added. Commenting on lath- icharge on farmers in Karnal last month, the BJP state chief said that the State Government is functioning with patience and it is our priority that no incident of confrontation takes place. Even those who are protesting should stay within their limits, he said. 20 lakh letters of appreci- ation to be sent to PM Modi Dhankar while giving details of programmes to be organised by the party’s state unit coinciding with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday celebra- tions said that 20 lakh let- ters written by beneficiaries of various central schemes expressing their gratitude will be sent to the PM. He said that at least 100 such letters of gratitude will be collected from 20000 booths each as part of the “Thank you cam- paign” for the Prime Minister. Apart from this, the party state unit will plant 71,000 saplings in the state on the occasion of 71st birthday of PM Modi on September 17, he said. 5PaTabPVXcPcX^]Xbc^cP[[h_^[XcXRP[]^f)?3WP]ZPa =8B7D07090=Q 270=3860A7 The government job aspi- rants in Haryana without Parivar Pehchan number or Aadhaar number will have to pay a double amount for com- mon eligibility test (CET) pro- cessing fee as compared to those having either of the two documents. As per the new rules notified by Haryana Government for common eli- gibility test for recruitment to group C and D posts, the male residents (general category, children of ex-servicemen) of Haryana who provide Parivar Pehchan number (PP num- ber) or Aadhaar number dur- ing registration will have to pay the processing fee of Rs 500 while those without any of the two documents will have to shell out Rs 1000. The applicants including females, ex-servicemen, dis- abled persons and those belonging to scheduled caste, backward class, economically weaker sections, who provide PP number or Aadhaar num- ber will have to pay the fee of Rs 250 while those who do not provide PP number or Aadhaar will have to pay Rs 500. Similarly for non-residents of Haryana, those who provide Aadhaar number will be pay- ing Rs 500 exam fee while those who fail to furnish the details of Aadhaar will have to pay Rs 1000. The State Government has recently noti- fied The Haryana Parivar Pehchan Act 2021 aimed at creating a unique identification number for each family in Haryana, and preparing a data- base enabling the families to access various government ser- vices and schemes in the state. Around 64 lakh families have already completed their registration under PPP. According to the rules for CET, the applicants who have neither Parivar Pehchan number nor Aadhaar number shall be eli- gible for the registration but will have to pay more for exam fee. The registration for CET is currently ongoing on Haryana’s one-time registration portal. CW^bTfXcW^dc??]dQTa^a0PSWPPaX] 7PahP]PWPeTc^_Ph^aTU^a24CUTT =8:00;8:Q 270=3860A7 Slow and steady wins the race is a maxim that does not work well in politics for Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal. After the initial setback of being ally to a party that script- ed controversial farm laws — the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) — besides still being under the scanner for sacrilege incidents, Sukhbir has virtually being playing “fastest finger first” to finalise the candidates for 2022 state assembly polls in Punjab. At the time when the state’s all other major political parties are struggling to keep their house in order, the Akali Dal has already announced more than half of its candidates for the ensuing polls, scheduled to be held early next year. On Monday, the party has released its first list of candi- dates with 64 names, of which 22 were already announced by Sukhbir during a series of ral- lies and public meetings he addressed before Punjab’s farm- ers’ outfits imposed a virtual ban on holding huge political gatherings in the state before the polls were officially announced. SAD is contesting 97 of the 117 assembly seats in alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which has also announced its candidates on three seats, out of 20 in its share. SAD snapped its decades-old ties with the old ally BJP over the contentious farm laws, and announced its alliance with BSP in June. SAD and BSP had earlier contested the 1996 Lok Sabha elections in alliance in Punjab. 6$'DQQRXQFHVILUVWOLVWRI FDQGLGDWHVIRU3XQMDESROOV
- 3. dccPaPZWP]S 347A03D=kCD4B30H kB4?C414A #!! ?=BQ 347A03D= Though a single cadaveric donation has the potential to save the lives of at least seven to eight people, it is still a dis- tant reality in Uttarakhand. A nephrologist in Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences (HIMS) Dehradun, Dr Vikas Chandel said that organ trans- plantation from living donors is performed in the state but people are quite reluctant toward organ donation after death known as a cadaveric donation. He said that hospitals here perform organ transplants from living donors who are mostly the relatives of the patient but due to various fac- tors, the number of cadaveric donations is almost non-exis- tent. He asserted that the state is not even at its starting phase of organ donation as nothing is being done by authorities at any level to educate people about their misleading perception of organ donation. The whole North India mostly performs transplantation from living donors due to the lack of cadaveric donations. In Uttarakhand, factors like super- stitions and spiritual beliefs, lack of proper education about the process and no concrete initiative taken by the author- ities on organ donation play a key role in such a low number of donors, stated Chandel. He said that the state does not have even 0.5 per cent of people as organ donors. He said that it is crucial for the authorities to make proper laws, provide adequate infrastructural facil- ities and work towards raising awareness among people in association with medical teams to break the myths that the public have regarding organ donation. Chandel shared that about 18 transplantations were done during the Covid-19 pandem- ic in HIMS but all were through living donors. He also revealed that more than 90 per cent of living donors in the state are generally women who donate kidneys. He said, Most of the time men say that they cannot donate a kidney because they have to stay more active than women for work purposes due to which, women are mostly pressurised or asked to donate a kidney. Such myths can be debunked by educating people through awareness pro- grammes by authorities.” µDGDYHULFGRQDWLRQDOPRVW QRQH[LVWHQWLQ8WWDUDNKDQG¶ ?=BQ 347A03D= The protesting members of Nagar Vikas Karmchari Mahasangh (NVKM) organ- ised a one-day strike against the state government and demand- ed issuance of pending pay- ments of municipal employees besides fulfilling their other demands. They have also warned the government of going on indefinite strike from next week suspending all the sanitation-related work if the government fails to comply with their demands. The protesting members also staged a protest in the premises of the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD). The NVKM president Nam Bahadur said that the municipal employees in all the municipal bodies held a one-day strike on Monday and they will gradually intensify their protest throughout this week. The government has not cleared our pending pay- ments for years. We are not being given other allowances and services as per the central government. There is no prop- er implementation of any health scheme for us by the state gov- ernment. Fourth class employ- ees are not being given any chances of promotions. We have appealed to the govern- ment multiple times regarding our issues but nothing was done, stated Bahadur. He said that there are over 5,000 sani- tation workers in Dehradun alone and no sanitation work will be done in the state if the government fails to consider their demands by the end of this week. As per the official sources, the municipal commissioner Abhishek Ruhela has already sent a letter to the state admin- istration regarding the issues of municipal employees but they are still insistent on intensifying their protest. =e^YSY`QcdQVVcdQWU cdbY[UgQb^_Vcec`U^TY^W cQ^YdQdY_^g_b[ ?=BQ 347A03D= The Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) is planning to establish an electric crematorium for animals in the beginning of next year. The officials had started planning the crematorium when many councillors raised the issue in a board meeting in December that many locals are forced to bury their domestic animals and pets in secluded lands or even leave their bodies to rot in open due to insufficient means of cremation in the city. The senior veterinary officer of the corporation, Dr DC Tiwari informed that the corporation has been planning the project for months and a team is cur- rently working on preparing a detailed project report (DPR) for the same. He said that after preparing a final DPR, the MCD will send it to the admin- istration and will also analyse the budget requirements. A DPR was made earlier too but we needed to make some amendments to it. The crematorium estab- lishment is being planned very meticulously by the corpora- tion and it is still in its initial stage. Due to this, it will take at least six months to go through all the procedures to set up an electric crematorium in MCD’s animal shelter in the Shankarpur area, stated Tiwari. He said that the cre- matorium will be operated under the public-private part- nership (PPP) mode and own- ers will be charged on the basis of pet's or animal's body weight. All stray animals including cattle, cats and dogs will be cre- mated in the crematorium too, added Tiwari. He also informed that the owners will be able to cremate their pets or animals through priests too to perform last rites. =34`Q^cd_UcdQRYcX Q^Y]QSbU]Qd_bYe]^UhdiUQb ?=BQ 347A03D= Seemingly alarmed by the aggressive poaching cam- paign unleashed by the ruling BJP, the Congress party has come into an alert mode. On Monday all the four top lead- ers of the Uttarakhand Congress, the head of cam- paign committee and former chief minister Harish Rawat, the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Ganesh Godiyal, the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Pritam Singh and former PCC president Kishore Upadhyaya were in Delhi. The presence of these lead- ers in Delhi triggered specula- tion that the party high com- mand has summoned these leaders to discuss the strategy to counter the ‘Operation Lotus’ said to have been start- ed by the BJP. It is learnt that the party high command has taken the recent defection of Purola MLA Rajkumar to the BJP seriously. The party lead- ership is also concerned about the speculation that some more Congress leaders would join the saffron party in the coming days. The party is believed to be working on a two pronged strategy which envisages block- ing the possible attempts by the BJP to poach its leaders and undertake a counter offensive to make dent into the BJP by wooing the disgruntled leaders. The recent restlessness shown by the leaders of Congress background in the BJP and the voices of dissent within the BJP over importing leaders just ahead of assembly elections has given hope to the Congress that some fence sitters in BJP can switch sides. On Monday the CLP leader Pritam Singh met in charge of the Uttarakhand Congress Devendra Yadav in Delhi and Harish Rawat was scheduled to meet general sec- retary K C Venugopal. When contacted, Yadav told The Pioneer that the party has not summoned any leader of Uttarakhand to Delhi. Incidentally Monday was the birthday of Yadav. The spokesperson of Congress party Garima Dasauni too claimed that central leadership has not summoned any leader from Uttarakhand to Delhi. She said that Harish Rawat would meet K C Venugopal to discuss the Punjab issue. 4`_XSVT`^VdR]Vcee`3;A¶da`RTYZ_XReeV^aed 7PaXbWAPfPc ?aXcPBX]VW 6P]TbW6^SXhP[ :XbW^aTD_PSWhPhP X]3T[WX ?=BQ 347A03D= With an eye on the ex-ser- vicemen voters which constitute an influential vote bank, the BJP government would embark upon a ‘Shaheed Samman Yatra in the first week of October. On Monday, the chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami directed the officials to complete all preparations for the Yatra. He said that the route chart of the Yatra would be pre- pared soon. Dhami said that Uttarakhand is a state where the armed forces personnel and their families reside in good numbers and soldiers have never hesitated to lay down their lives for the coun- try. He said that the Yatra would be a grand affair and would be held for paying respects to the martyrs. The CM also presided over a high level meeting at his camp office to discuss the proposed ‘Sainya Dham’. He said that a time bound programme for con- struction of the memorial should be prepared. He said that the Sainya Dham would be made grand and suggested that martyrs' memorials of different states should be visited for ideas relating to Sainya Dham in Uttarakhand. He said that a handful of earth would be taken from the households of the martyred soldiers during the proposed Shaheed Samman Yatra. The CM added that the Sainya Dham would be a sym- bol of valour and bravery of the soldiers of the state. The Sainik Kalyan Minister Ganesh Joshi, chief secretary S S Sandhu, additional chief sec- retary Anand Bardhan, princi- pal secretary L Fainai, secretary Amit Negi, V Shanmugam, Major General ( Retd) Sammi Sabharwal, district magistrate (DM) of Dehradun and others officers were present in the meeting. 06KDKHHG6DPPDQDWUDWR FRPPHQFHIURP2FWILUVWZHHN ?=BQ 347A03D= Agitated by the non fulfil- ment of its various demands the Uttarakhand Secretariat Association has threatened to go on an indefi- nite strike. The association has said that the announcement of the strike would be made on October 11 in a general meet- ing. The powerful association of secretariat employees has also released a detailed pro- gramme for its agitation. The president of the asso- ciation Deepak Joshi said that the phased agitation would commence from October 16. In the first phase the employees would visit different sections to take a follow up of the action taken on their demands. He said that from September 20 to 22, the employees would work while wearing black armbands. On September 23 and 24, the employees would hold agitation at the secretariat gates. Joshi said that from September 29 to October 1, the employees would undertake a work boy- cott of two hours which would increase to a work boycott of four hours from October 4 to 6. On October 7 all the employ- ees would be on a mass leave. Joshi said that the associa- tion has decided to burn the copies of the government order on the golden card scheme if the issue of removing the dis- crepancies in the scheme is not taken up in the cabinet meet- ing of September 24. The sec- retariat employees are demand- ing the benefit of old Assured Career Progression (ACP), restoration of old pension scheme, HRA to both husband and wife in case they are in gov- ernment service and removal of discrepancies in the golden card scheme. CUSbUdQbYQd U]`_iUUc_^Q gQb`QdXgYdX7_fd ?=BQ 347A03D= The state health department reported only 19 new cases of the novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) and 37 recoveries from the disease on Monday. No death from the disease was reported on the day in the state. The cumulative count of Covid-19 patients in the state is now at 3,43,242 while a total of 3,29,495 patients have recov- ered from the disease so far. In the state, 7389 people have lost their lives to Covid -19 till date. The recovery percentage from the disease is at 95.99 while the sample positivity rate on Monday was 0.12 per cent. The state health depart- ment reported five new patients of Covid -19 from Chamoli, four from Uttarkashi, three from Dehradun, two each from Haridwar, Nainital and Pithoragarh and one from Rudraprayag district on Monday. No new cases of the disease were reported from the Almora, Bageshwar, Champawat, Pauri, Tehri and Udham Singh Nagar districts on Monday. The state now has 293 active cases of Covid-19. Dehradun with 148 cases is at the top of the table of active cases while Pauri has 28 active cases. Tehri district has only one active case of the disease. In the ongoing vaccination drive 65,379 people were vac- cinated in 1043 sessions in the state held on Monday. As per the data of the state health department 70,39,895 people in the state have received the first dose of vac- cine while 23,92,459 have received both doses of the vac- cine. RYLGQHZFDVHVUHSRUWHG LQ8WWDUDNKDQGRQ0RQGD ?=BQ 1064B7F0A Saffron, one of the most expensive spices in the world, will now be cultivated in each of the 11 blocks of Almora district. The Horticulture department has procured five quintals of saffron bulbs from Kashmir for plantation in the district. Initially, the depart- ment had facilitated saffron cultivation in three blocks as an experiment. After the successful exper- iment of saffron cultivation in three blocks started as a trial last year, the department has intensified its efforts to facili- tate saffron cultivation in every block of the district. Departmental officials said that as the experiment of saf- fron cultivation in three blocks has been successful, farmers across the district will also be motivated for commercial cul- tivation of saffron. Saffron was being cultivat- ed in Tadikhet, Hawalbagh and Lamgada blocks of Almora district. Last year, the exercise of saffron production was start- ed in these blocks as a trial with eight farmers being associated with saffron cultivation. Extending saffron farming to all blocks of the district will also help augment the income of farmers considerably as it is one of the most expensive spices. It fetches a price of about Rs three lakh per kilogramme. Saffron is used to add color and flavour to food items apart from also being used for medicinal pur- poses. The botanical name of saffron is crocus sativus and it is a small plant of the Iridaceae family native to south Europe. This member of the Iris fami- ly is found in about 80 sub- species in different parts of the world. The Almora chief hor- ticulture officer TN Pandey said, “Saffron was cultivated successfully in three blocks of the district last year on a trial basis. After successful saffron production, this time prepara- tions have been made for saf- fron production in every block of the district. We are aiming to facilitate planting of the bulbs within this month itself. 6DIIURQWREHJURZQLQDOO EORFNVRI$OPRUDGLVWULFW ?=BQ 347A03D= Agroup of 64 personalities including politicians, lawyers, environmentalists, researchers, scientists, acade- micians and others have writ- ten to the Prime Minister and Minister of Environment rais- ing concerns at the planned resumption of the construc- tion of seven under construc- tion hydro electric projects (HEPs) in Uttarakhand name- ly Tehri II, Tapovan- Vishnugad, Vishnugad- Pipalkoti, Singoli Bhatwadi, Phata Bhyung, Madhmaheshwar, and Kaliganga II referring to the severe repercussions that will follow. The concerned citizens have cited the findings of the Supreme Court directed Expert Body- 1(EB-1) which had con- cluded that HEPs can cause irreversible environmental damage. One of the prime issues is that six out of seven projects (except Tehri stage II) proposed, lie in para-glacial zones or near it. According to the reports of the EB-1 and var- ious other scientific researchers, the construction of dams in such areas is accident- prone. They cited the recent examples of the destruction of Rishiganga and Tapovan Vishnugad HEPs in February 2021. The Madhmaheshwar and Kaliganga HEPs are proposed on virgin rivers in a para- glacial zone which causes prob- lems because small para-trib- utaries are more destructive than big rivers. One of the most severe destructions was caused in June 2013 and following which Madhmaheswar and Kaliganga rivers are clogged with sediments. These sedi- ments can get mobilised dur- ing the hydro-meteorological events and impact the Singoli- Bhatwari HEP, causing disaster. The reconstruction of Phata Bhyung and Tapovan Vishnugad would require new investigations, DPRs, and clear- ances since the situations are changed from their original construction timeline. Also, the construction of Tehri II would recycle the river water that emerges out of Tehri I dam without allowing the Ganga to revive itself. In the age of cheap and effective solar power, the cost of fresh designs, damages suf- fered and reconstruction that will come with Phata-Bhyung and Tapovan-Vishugad make such projects obsolete, they said. Given all the examples and reports the reconstruction of such dams would prove to be a serious error. The loss of life caused by earlier environ- mental devastations should be taken as a warning. India has been cautioned to be one of the hardest hit in the climate change crisis according to the IPCC and if change is not implemented now, it could be too late. The signatories to the letter further state that in its earlier decision, the PMO on February 25, 2019 had stopped all new or existing construction of the HEPs and a similar decision is wanted by the group of 64 presently. The signatories include Banaras Hindu University chancellor Justice Giridhar Malviya, his- torian Shekhar Pathak, Rajya Sabha MP Pradip Tamta, Supreme Court appointed expert body (2013) chairman Ravi Chopra, activist Rajendra Singh, Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati of Ganga Sewa Abhiyanam, ex-secretary of MoWR and GR, Shashi Shekhar and others who have endorsed the letter including environmentalist Medha Patkar, historian Ramchandra Guha, former RSS ideologue and founder of Bharak Vikas Sangam, KN Govindacharya among others. ?=BQ 347A03D= Nine food samples including dairy products and spices of various prominent brands in Dehradun have failed the qual- ity test in the recent food safe- ty surveillance drive of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The food safety officer PC Joshi informed that the food samples are generally sent to Rudrapur lab for testing food samples but the central gov- ernment has recently given a mobile testing lab to the state which was used for testing the samples here. He said that FSSAI con- ducted a five-day drive in the city and collected 58 different food samples through various business operators and locals. The food analyst tested all 58 samples in the mobile lab out of which, nine samples were not found as per the standard. The collected food samples includ- ed 14 dairy products like pack- aged milk from prominent brands and open milk from local dairies. Milk samples from brands like Amul, Paras, Milk India and Aveena Milk Private Limited failed the quality test. These samples have less nutri- tional value than the prescribed one due to which, they failed the test, stated Joshi. He also informed that the nutritional value in four samples of open milk from local dairies was also found to be less than the pre- scribed value. This may be due to the dilution of milk with water or mishandling of milk. Lack of nutritional value in milk can cause deficiencies of calci- um and other micronutrients in the body of a person who con- sumes it regularly, informed Joshi. He informed that some samples of coriander and chilli powder were also found sub- standard. He said that these samples will be sent to Rudrapur lab for testing once again. He disclosed that the department will soon send notices to the manufacturing companies and sellers of the products that failed the test to stop the sale of the products till they improve the quality of their tested products. 5h`UbdcgbYdUd_@=QWQY^cd bUce]`dY_^_VcdQUT85@c 1aP]STS_a^SdRcbUPX[`dP[XchcTbc 5BB08c^bT]S]^cXRTbc^R^_P]XTb ?=BQ 70;3F0=8 Uttarakhand Congress pub- licity committee head Sumit Hridayesh said that he will undertake the Indira Vikas Sankalp Yatra to facilitate com- pletion of stalled development works in the Haldwani Assembly constituency. He will establish direct communication with the pub- lic and focus on getting pub- lic welfare works completed with the support of the citi- zens. Addressing the media three months after the demise of his mother and former leader of opposition Indira Hridayesh, he said that he will strive to complete the unfulfilled dreams of his mother including the con- struction of ISBT in Haldwani, a zoo and ring road. He opined that Haldwani and other parts of the Kumaon region were now lagging behind in devel- opment. If the stalled devel- opmental works are complet- ed, it will create major scope for employment and self employment at the local level. He also said that the demise of his mother had left a gap hard to fill in both the Congress and the Haldwani region. 7aXSPhTbWc^WTPS8]SXaPEXZPbBP]ZP[_HPcaP
- 4. ]PcX^]# 347A03D=kCD4B30H kB4?C414A #!! ?=BQ =4F34;78 Haryana-based industrialist Ashok Goel Mangaliwala, BJP leader Pawan Beniwal and INLD leader Kanwarjit Singh on Monday joined the Congress in the presence of AICC State in-charge Vivek Bansal and PCC chief Kumari Selja.Bansal claimed that the winds are blowing in favour of the Congress and against the BJP in Haryana and hoped those who have joined will contribute in strength- ening the party further. Selja said these leaders have quit the saffron party and come into the Congress fold due to the BJP's anti-people policies. There are leaders who under- stand that the Congress is the only viable option to the BJP which has proved to be a failure in all spheres of governance in Haryana, she said. She alleged that the BJP has become a paper leak government as many examination papers were leaked in the state.Welcoming Goel, Beniwal and Singh in the Congress, Selja said the BJP, both at the Centre and Haryana, is anti-farmer and anti- labourer, and the Congress will work unitedly to oust this regime. She also hoped the joinees will work effectively with Congress workers to strengthen the party. The joining of these leaders is also a clear reflection of which way the wind is blowing -- in favour of the Congress.Goel said he was attracted by the policies of the Congress for upliftment of common people. He said it was like a home- coming for him as his grandfather, Jugal Kishore Goyal, was the first Rajya Sabha member from Haryana, and had worked closely with Jawaharlal Nehru.Vivek Bansal said due to heavy rains in Haryana, several crops have suffered damage, and demanded adequate compen- sation for the farmers. He also deplored the language used by the Karnal SDM while ordering the lathi-charge on farm- ers protesting the three agri laws. Beniwal was BJP's candidate fom Ellanabad constituency in the last assembly polls after he contested unsuccessfully against INLD's Abhay Chautala. Kanwarjit Singh is the son of former Congress MP Tara Singh. ?=BQ =4F34;78 With the objective of further strengthening defence and strategic ties, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will host his coun- terparts from African nations in the next India– Africa Defence Dialogue on the sidelines of the DefExpo to be held at Gandhinagar, Gujarat in March next year. The broad theme of this India Africa Defence Dialogue will be ‘India – Africa: Adopting Strategy for Synergizing and Strengthening Defence and Security Cooperation, ’ defence ministry officials said here on Monday. India and Africa share a close and historical relationship. The foundation of India–Africa defence relations are based on the two guid- ing principles namely ‘SAGAR’, Security and Growth for All in the Region’ and ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, The World is One Family. The first-ever India Africa Defence Ministers Conclave (IADMC) was held in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh in conjunction with DefExpo in February last year co- organised by the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of External Affairs. This was the first in the series of Pan Africa events at the Ministerial level in the run-up to India Africa Forum Summit IV. A Joint Declaration, ‘Lucknow Declaration’ was adopted after conclusion of IADMC 2020 as an outcome docu- ment of the Conclave. In furtherance of the declaration and in consultation with stakehold- ers, India proposes to institutionalise the India Africa Defence Dialogue during successive DefExpos to be held once every two years. Institutionalisation of the India Africa Defence Dialogue will help building on the existing partnerships between African countries and India and to explore new areas of conver- gence for mutual engagements including areas like capacity build- ing, training, cyber security, mar- itime security and counter terrorism. It was also decided that Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses(IDSA) shall be the knowl- edge partner of India Africa Defence Dialogue and will assist in provid- ing necessary support for enhanced defence cooperation between India and Africa. ?=BQ =4F34;78 India's foodgrain production is likely to touch a new record of over 150 million tonnes in the Kharif season of the 2021-22 crop year (July- June) due to good rains. The Agriculture Ministry is expecting foodgrain produc- tion to be more than 150 mil- lion tonnes in the Kharif sea- son this year, higher than 149.56 million tonnes achieved in the same season of the 2020- 21 crop year. We have received good rains so far this year. Total Kharif foodgrain production was 149.56 million tonnes last year as per the fourth estimate. As there is likely to be an increase in area under pulses and paddy, foodgrain produc- tion will definitely be much higher than last year's Kharif season, Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agarwal said on Monday. Sowing of Kharif (sum- mer) crops like paddy, which begins with the onset of the Southwest monsoon from June, will get over by the end of this month. Harvesting in most of the parts will commence from October. The first estimate of the country's overall foodgrain production for this Kharif sea- son will be released around September 15, he said. Agarwal said Kharif foodgrain production has been pegged higher despite area sown to summer crops so far remaining lower by 10 lakh hectares com- pared to the year-ago period, as the ministry is expecting the gap in the coverage to get reduced by the end of September. Total area sown to Kharif crops reached 1,096.70 lakh hectares till September 10 this year as against 1,106.57 lakh hectares in the year-ago peri- od, he said. The secretary said there has been a slight increase in the coverage of paddy and pulses, while a major drop in area under crops such as coarse cereals, cotton and groundnut. However, the gap in coverage is getting reduced as sowing in some parts will get over by the end of this month. Looking at the current situation, we are definitely expecting better pro- duction this time, he asserted. Agarwal also said that the states have been asked to take necessary steps for procure- ment of Kharif crops as in some states the arrival of crops has begun. For instance in Karnataka, arrival of pulses crop has begun and permission to the state government has been given for procurement of about 40,000 tonne, he said. The Secretary also men- tioned that he will hold a meet- ing with Punjab and Haryana in preparation for addressing the stubble burning issue. “Funds of around Rs 491 crore have been released to three states of Punjab Haryana and Uttar Pradesh ahead of har- vesting of Kharif crops for tackling the stubble burning issue,” he said. The stubble burning in northern India has long been a major cause of air pollution even as the central government has spent Rs 2,245.17 crore to address this issue in the last four years. Agarwal said the states have also been asked to allow gram sabhas to open custom hiring centres so that small farmers can have access to machines and equipment used in the management of crop residue. ?=BQ =4F34;78 Grounded for over two years, Jet Airways is expected to resume domestic operations in the first quarter of 2022. The airline plans to restart operations with a flight from New Delhi to Mumbai. The air- line also would now be head- quartered in Delhi instead of Mumbai. After the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) cleared Jalan Kalrock consortium's plan to revive Jet Airways, the airline is working closely with authorities and air- port coordinators to finalise slot allocations among other things. Jet Airways had ceased operations in April 2019 and has become the first Indian car- rier to be revived under the bankruptcy laws. In its new avatar, Jet will be based in Delhi NCR and not Mumbai like Jet Airways 1.0. In a statement, Murari Lal Jalan, Lead Member of the Jalan Kalrock Consortium and the proposed non-executive chairman of the airline, said, Jet Airways 2.0 aims at restart- ing domestic operations by Q1-2022, and short haul inter- national operations by Q3/Q4 2022. Our plan is to have 50- plus aircraft in three years and 100 plus planes in five years, which also fits perfectly well with the short-term and long- term business plan of the Consortium, he noted. The aircraft are being selected based on competitive long term leasing solutions. It is the first time in the history of aviation that an airline grounded for more than two years is being revived and we are looking forward to being a part of this historic journey, Jalan said. The Consortium's state- ment read that the revival plan for Jet Airways is being imple- mented as approved by NCLT and all the creditors will be set- tled according to the plan in the coming months. The process of reviving the grounded carrier is on track with the existing Air Operator Certificate (AOC) already under process for reval- idation, it mentioned. “It is the first time in the history of aviation that an air- line grounded for more than 2 years is being revived and we are looking forward to being a part of this historic journey. The brand Jet Airways has a huge loyalty-base and we are confident that with industry stalwarts like Capt Gaur, we will be able to capitalize and create new benchmarks,” he said. The revival plan for Jet Airways is being implemented as approved by NCLT and all the creditors will be settled as per the plan in the coming months, the consortium said in a statement. ?=BQ =4F34;78 The Congress on Monday raised objections over the proposed disinvestment in the Container Corporation of India Ltd (CONCOR), a railway PSU and Navratna company. Congress spokesperson Prof Gaurav Vallabh alleged a scam and questioned the dis- investment in a zero-debt, prof- it-making PSU after the Centre gave its nod to sell 30.8 percent out of its 54.8 per cent holding in CONCOR and management control to strategic buyers. The Congress also ques- tioned how the government can hand over railway land acquired from farmers of our country at a concessional rate or free of cost to a private party for commercial use in a “back- door arrangement”. Vallabh emphasised that the land should be returned to the farm- ers if the Railways have no use for it. “It is of more significance when Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ), says ‘Acquiring CONCOR will be a breeze’ and ‘It can easily acquire strategic target CON- COR.’ The same group already has ports and airports; if CONCOR and its dry ports also go to them, they will have a monopoly over the export- import of the entire country. What ensures us to believe that they will not exploit this monopoly for commercial gains?” Prof Gaurav Vallabh said while addressing AICC Press conference. Vallabh said that from its humble beginnings, CONCOR is now an undisputed market leader having the largest net- work of 60 Inland Container Depots (ICD), of which 24 are situated on the railway land. Railway Board policy dated March 19, 2020, notified a Land Licensing Fees (LLF) regime for industrial use of its land and extended the same to CONCOR. The LLF being charged by the transporter now is six per cent of land value in the first year of license; the rate will increase at a rate of seven per cent annually to fac- tor in inflation. “Modi government is con- sidering a change in the lease rate to two per cent-three per cent from the current level of six per cent. This policy may extend the land lease period from 5 years to 35 years or more. In other words, the gov- ernment is considering the proposal to lease Railway land for 35 years by receiving an upfront 99 per cent of lease rentals,” he alleged. For this, CONCOR will require about Rs 3,500 crore debts after utilizing Rs 2,500 crore of cash reserves, the Congress leader added. Following the long-term lease, CONCOR will not be paying any land licensing fees (LLF) to the Railways. Is the proposal to reduce LLF an indirect way to hand over developed government land to private parties for the long term, Prof Vallabh demanded from the Centre. He further pointed out that to pay 99 per cent upfront lease, CONCOR has to raise debts of Rs 3500 crore and these debts will directly hurt the valuation. “Is the entire transaction is planned to reduce the valuation of CON- COR?” he questioned. ?=BQ =4F34;78 The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Monday granted conditional exemp- tion of usage of drones from the existing rules for ICMR to allow it to experiment delivery of Covid-19 vaccines in inac- cessible and rough terrains of regions of Andaman and Nicobar, Mizoram and Nagaland. The system is already in use in Telangana on a trial basis in areas that are inaccessible. Similarly, the Indian Instituteof Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) has received drone use permission for research, devel- opment and testing of drones in its own premises. According to a statement from the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), allowed conditional exemption from Drone Rules, 2021 granting the two premier institutes in the country to use the ultra manned vehicles . “The permission has been granted to ICMR for conduct- ing experimental Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) vaccine delivery in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Manipur, and Nagaland upto a height of 3000 meters using drones. “This exemption shall be subject to the terms and con- ditions of the said airspace clearance and shall be valid for a period of one year from the date of approval of the said air- space clearance or until further orders, whichever is earlier,” said the statement. On September 11, Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia had launched the 'Medicines from the Sky' project in Telangana's Vikrabad, under which vac- cines and other essential prod- ucts will be transported to remote areas using drones. During the trial flight, vac- cines were delivered in 9 min- utes, Balfour Manuel, the man- aging director of Bluedart, had said. The project, which seeks to deliver medicines, vaccination, and units of blood to remote, rural areas by means of drones, is a collaboration of the Telangana government, World Economic Forum, HealthNet Global and NITI Aayog. ?=BQ =4F34;78 Convalescent plasma does not reduce the risk of intu- bation or death in Covid-19 patients, according to a study which found that people receiv- ing the therapy experienced more serious adverse events than those getting standard care. Intubation is a procedure where a tube is inserted into the windpipe to make it easier to breathe. The research, published in the journal Nature Medicine, also found that the antibody profile in the blood of people who have had the virus is extremely variable and this may modify the response to the treatment. Convalescent plas- ma therapy uses blood from people who have recovered from an illness to help others recover. India had dropped conva- lescent plasma therapy (CPT) from its national clinical man- agement protocol for Covid-19 in May itself. The Canadian researchers also found that patients receiv- ing convalescent plasma expe- rienced significantly more seri- ous adverse events than those receiving standard care. The majority of those events were an increased need for oxygen and worsening res- piratory failure, they said. However, the rate of fatal inci- dents was not significantly dif- ferent from the control group of patients who did not receive the blood. The clinical trial, called CONCOR-1, included 940 patients at 72 hospitals in Canada, the US, and Brazil. The trial found that con- valescent plasma had highly variable donor antibody con- tent due to the highly variable immune response to the virus. Different antibody profiles in the convalescent plasma were observed to significantly impact whether or not patients experienced intubation or death. Unfavourable antibody profiles, meaning low anti- body titres, non-functional antibodies or both, were asso- ciated with a higher risk of intubation or death. “These findings may explain the apparent conflict- ing results between randomised trials showing no benefit, and observational studies showing better outcomes with higher titre products relative to low titre products, said study co- principal investigator Jeannie Callum, an associate scientist at the Sunnybrook Research Institute in Canada. It appears that it may not be that high-titre convalescent plasma is helpful, but rather that low-titre convalescent plas- ma is harmful, Callum said. The researchers noted that the harm may come from the transfusion of convalescent plasma containing poorly func- tioning antibodies. ?=BQ =4F34;78 The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrest- ed Rajiv Saxena in a money- laundering case linked to an alleged bank fraud. Saxena is also an accused in the Rs 3,600-crore VVIP choppers deal case. The agency will produce him before a competent court to seek his custody, officials said. Saxena, an alleged mid- dleman in the AgustaWestland VVIP choppers deals case, was based in Dubai and was deported to India from the UAE on January 31, 2019. Following his deportation, the agency arrested him in a chop- per deal case. The helicopter deal was subsequently scrapped by the Centre in 2014 after allegations of payment of kickbacks sur- faced. Saxena is a hawala opera- tor who runs accommodation entry business in Dubai through numerous companies, known as Matrix group com- panies, and has laundered pro- ceeds of crime in the cases of AgustaWestland chopper scam (linked to purchase of VVIP choppers by India) and Moser Baer bank fraud case, the ED had earlier said. “Saxena created structures for laundering proceeds of crime generated by accused of both cases either for the kick- backs in AgustaWestland case or defrauding banks by mis- utilising the loans given to Moser Baer India Ltd and its subsidiaries,” the ED had alleged, adding his role was under investigation in a num- ber of other cases. DBB_TRXP[?aTbXST]cXP[4]e^hU^a2[XPcT9^W]:TaahSdaX]VcWT[Pd]RW^U2[XPcT0RcX^]5X]P]RT^QX[XbPcX^]3XP[^VdT 2053d]STa8]SXPDB2[XPcT2[TP]4]TaVh0VT]SP!?Pac]TabWX_Pc?PahPePaP]1WPfP]X]=Tf3T[WX^]^]SPh AP]YP]3XaXk?X^]TTa :4C::E3R]]`hVUfdV e`cVRTYc`fXYeVccRZ_d E0228=434;8E4AH1H3A=4B 9Tc0XafPhb[XZT[hc^QTVX]S^TbcXR^_bUa^UXabc`dPacTa^U´!! )RRGJUDLQRXWSXWOLNHOWRWRXFK UHFRUGPQWRQQHVWKLVHDU ?=BQ =4F34;78 In a first, the Centre has decided to cross check land records before the procure- ment of paddy from next month in a bid to ensure the MSP reaches farmers and not traders. Most procuring states, barring Assam and Uttarakhand as well as Jammu and Kashmir, are ready and have also integrated digital land records with the Centre's nodal procurement agency Food Corporation of India (FCI) for this purpose. Asserting that this new mechanism is in the interest of farmers, Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said the crop cultivated by farmers whether in their own land or in rented land will be procured by the government. It is not nec- essary for farmers to own the land or not. If farmers have cul- tivated any land, that will be procured, he said. The whole idea is to cross check how much crop has been cultivated in what area and accordingly procure it, he said, adding this is where dig- ital land records integrated centrally with FCI will help during the procurement process. The main objective behind this mechanism is that the government procures the crop from genuine farmers and not from traders. According to the Secretary, MoststatesincludingPunjabare in complete readiness. Many states like Uttar Pradesh and Odisha had already integrated their land records, while some stateshadnotdoneandthey are doing this year, he added. The Centre procured 3,449 lakh tonne of paddy at a MSP value of Rs 6,02,156 crore between 2016-17 and 2020-21, while 1,627 lakh tonne of wheat at MSP value of Rs 2,85,071 crore in the same period. This is much higher than 2,495 lakh tonne of paddy at a MSP value of Rs 2,88,871 crore between 2009-10 and 2013-14, while 1,395 lakh tonne of wheat at MSP value of Rs 1,68,223 crore in the same period. 2T]caTc^Ra^bbRWTRZUPaTab³ [P]SaTR^aSbQTU^aT_PSSh _a^RdaTT]cUa^Rc^QTa ´3_^fQUcSU^d`Qc]Q T_Uc^_dbUTeSUbYc[ _VTUQdXY^3_fYTfUµ $JXVWD:HVWODQGDFFXVHG 5DMLY6D[HQDDUUHVWHGLQ PRQHODXQGHULQJFDVH 2^]Vb[Pb2T]caTb_a^_^bTSSXbX]eTbcT]cX]2=2A 2:@94UQTUbcY^TecdbYQYcd Vb_]8QbiQ^QZ_Y^3_^WbUcc 8]SXP®0UaXRPSTUT]RTcP[Zc^QTWT[SP[^]VbXST3TU4g_^ Y CWT8]SXP]8]bcXcdcT^U CTRW]^[^Vh1^QPh88C1 WPbaTRTXeTSSa^]TdbT _TaXbbX^]U^aaTbTPaRW STeT[^_T]cP]ScTbcX]V^U Sa^]TbX]Xcb^f]_aTXbTb Y0RR^aSX]Vc^PbcPcTT]cUa^ cWTX]Xbcah^U2XeX[0eXPcX^] ^20P]S3XaTRc^aPcT 6T]TaP[^U2XeX[0eXPcX^] 3620P[[^fTSR^]SXcX^]P[ TgT_cX^]Ua^3a^]TAd[Tb !! 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- 5. ]PcX^]$ 347A03D=kCD4B30H kB4?C414A #!! :D0A274;;0??0=Q 2810CA4 Resentment is brewing up among thousands of organ- ic and natural farmers spread across the districts of Coimbatore, the Nilgiris, Tirupur, Erode and Dindigul following the announcement by the DMK Government that the headquarters of Tamil Nadu Organic Certification Department at Coimbatore would soon be shifted to Chennai. The TNOCD was launched with the objective of ensuring sustainable productivity with- out the use of artificial external inputs such as agro chemicals, fertilizers and pesticides, said G K Nagaraj, president of the Agricultural Wing of Tamil Nadu BJP, who is a lead farmer in the region. He said the deci- sion to shift the head quarters comes at a time when the entire Kongu region consisting of the seven districts were on the verge of switching over to organic and natural farming. “The farming community in this region would be put to difficulties once the State administration shifts the TNOCD to Chennai where there is no kind of natural farming. All of us may have to commute to Chennai to meet our needs for natural farming at this critical juncture,” said Nagaraj who along with hun- dreds of farmers handed over a representation to the District Collector pleading with the government not to go ahead with the shifting. “This is yet another proof of the indifference of the Tamil Nadu Government towards the problems faced by people in the western region. More than 30 per cent of the tax revenue of Tamil Nadu is generated from this region and we need a fair deal from the Government in Chennai,” Vanathi Srinivasan, who represents Coimbatore South in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. Srinivasan who is also the national president of the BJP’s women’s wing said that instead of shifting the TNOCD from Coimbatore, the Government should have mod- ernised the centre by incorpo- rating the new technologies that would benefit natural and organic farming. ?A0344?B0G4=0Q 0;860A7 Before the arrival of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Aligarh today, a ruckus has been created in the name of Jinnah's portrait in Aligarh Muslim University. A Bharatiya Janata Party work- er put the picture of the founder of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah in a public toilet. However, it was removed after being informed. BJP said action will be taken against the miscreants. On Monday, in a viral video, a BJP worker, identified as Shivang Tiwari, is seen putting Jinnah's poster in the toilet and trampling it with his feet. Tiwari is the media in- charge of BJP Vishnupuri mandal. Shivang Tiwari has demanded that the picture of Jinnah in the union hall of AMU should be removed. A few days before this, he along with his colleagues had also sent a letter written in blood to PM Modi demanding the removal of Jinnah's portrait from the Union Hall of AMU. Tiwari put many posters of Jinnah in the toilet of Gandhi Park Bus Stand and made photos and videos viral on the internet media. Shivang says that this is the place for the poster of the person who broke the country. We will continue protesting till the picture is removed. BJYM District President Mukesh Lodhi said that BJP is a disciplined party, there are many ways to protest, it should not have been done like this. BJP Metropolitan President Dr. Vivek Saraswat said that he does not know Shivang Tiwari. The executive committee of the Mandal is big, so such a name has never surfaced. In the past, the mat- ter has also heated up several times regarding Jinnah's pic- ture in the Union Hall of AMU. BJP MP Satish Gautam had written a letter to the management to remove the picture from the hall, which was opposed by the students. Even after this many times BJP workers have raised the matter to remove the picture. But the picture is still in the union hall. Under the pressure of the students, the manage- ment could not remove it. B0D60AB4=6D?C0Q :;:0C0 The BJP and the CPI(M) on Monday fielded Priyanka Tibrewal and Srijib Das respec- tively from the high-profile Bhawanipore Assembly con- stituency against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. While the Chief Minister is a qualified lawyer the two contestants field- ed by the BJP and the Left are legal practioners too making the Bhawanipore by-elections an all-advocates affair so to say. While Das is a complete green-horn in terms of con- testing elections, Tibrewal a vocal BJP leader and a Calcutta High Court lawyer unsuccess- fully fought the April-May Assembly polls losing to TMC leader and minister Javed Khan from the Entally constituency in central Kolkata. When reminded of the towering personality she is contesting against Tibrewal said “there is nothing called a superstar in the field of elec- tions because the voters of a democratically conscious con- stituency like Bhawanipore always weigh up the issues more than anything else.” The BJP candidate who was earlier referred to as a “Bacchha” (a kid) by Banerjee’s election-manager Firhad Hakim also said that “some people look like Bacchha but have explosive qualities … let the time come and the Mr Hakim will understand whether I am a bacchha or a veteran.” The BJP would give the Chief Minister a taste of Nandigram --- where Banerjee was defeated by her onetime protégé-turned-BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari by 1,900 votes --- Tibrewal said. “Here the people of Bhawanipore has got a chance to give the Chief Minister a taste of Nandigram … I think they will not miss out on that opportunity.” State BJP president Dilip Ghosh on the other hand said that “the BJP has come to fight the elections with high spirits as we are the principal opposition party in Bengal … we will go all out to win the elections about which we are pretty confident… the TMC should remember that no one becomes a star overnight … even Mamata Banerjee was a newcomer when she created history by defeating in her first election a political heavy-weight like Somnath Chatterjee in 1984.” Apparently the BJP’s con- fidence stems from the sizeable population of non-Bengali peo- ple residing in the area. Bhawanipore has a whopping 42 percent population of Hindi-speaking voters includ- ing Gujaratis, Marwaris, Punjabis and those from Bihar and UP. “If the Left manages to retain its own support base of about 15-20 percent then the BJP has a fairly good chance,” said a State party leader. The Left Front candidate who has been working silent- ly --- away from political lime- light --- said that “the main issue in Bengal is inflation, ris- ing price of oil, gas and lack of jobs for which the people have to go to outside states … they have seen the 10-year rule of Mamata Banerjee and 7-year rule of Modi in the Centre … now they may start think dif- ferently … we are taking our plans and programmes without much political fanfare to them and they are quietly listening to us … we are expecting to put up a good show.” The Congress which was likely to contest the elections with the backing of the Left however chose to withdraw following a decision taken by its national leadership. On whether the Congress “betray- al” would hurt its alliance with the Left CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member Bikash Bhattacharya said “such small deviations here and there do not affect broader alliances.” 80=BQ ?0C=0 On the first death anniver- sary of Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) founder and former Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, his son and LJP chief Chirag Paswan tried to iron out differences by inviting leaders from all parties in Patna except Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who skipped the programme. Leaders from various par- ties gathered on this occasion except Nitish Kumar or any top Janata Dal (United) leader who chose to skip this event. This has fuelled speculation about the JD(U) leaders maintaining a distance from Chirag Paswan. It is speculated that Nitish Kumar wants to maintain a dis- tance from LJP's Chirag Paswan under any circum- stances. The big question is whether relations can turn so sour in the course of political enmity that old relations are sidelined. Chirag's uncle and Union Minister Pashupati Paras of LJP (Paras) faction attended this programme and paid tributes to his brother Ram Vilas Paswan. He said that even if he had not been invited, he would still have come. Though Nitish Kumar paid tributes to Ram Vilas Paswan, he did not attend the event hosted by Chirag Paswan. Political experts are view- ing this feud from different viewpoints. Political critic Ajay Kumar says, Even if Nitish Kumar had attended this pro- gramme, he would not have suffered any political loss but instead he would have benefit- ed. This is the beginning of a wrong tradition in politics. Manoj Chaurasia, who knows the politics of Bihar from close quarters, says, Nitish Kumar's absence from this event gives a clear indica- tion that he is not interested in mending ties between the JD(U) and the LJP but wants to further maintain a distance from LJP. He said the JD(U) became the third largest party in the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections. JD(U) leaders hold the LJP responsible for their party's poor performance so Nitish Kumar does not seem to be in any mood to forgive LJP leader Chirag Paswan. JD(U) believes that Chirag's strategy and politics are responsible for reducing the party's position in Bihar, says Manoj Chaurasia. On the other hand, by attending this event, BJP lead- ers have expressed that even though LJP (Paras) Chief Pashupati Kumar Paras has been made a Union minister, the saffron party will continue to support Chirag Paswan as well. Chirag has been continu- ously targeting Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and even alleged that the JD(U) was involved in breaking the LJP into two fac- tions. Political experts consid- er this gesture as a revenge by the LJP. The LJP has split into two factions, one led by Chirag Paswan and the other by Pashupati Paras. Both the fac- tions claim to represent the real LJP. ?=BQ =4F34;78 Minister of Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw, on Monday visited SMVD Katra and laid the foundation stone for enhanced infrastructure and passenger amenities at the Sri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra station. He reviewed the ongo- ing work on the Udhampur- Srinagar-Baramulla-Rail-Link Project (USBRL). Vaishnaw boarded the VandeBharatExpresstrainfrom SMVD Katra for Jammu. He interacted with the passengers while on the train. Sh. Ashutosh Gangal, General Manager Northern Railway, Chief Administrative Officer, USBRL Project, Sh. S.K. Jha, Divisional Railway Manager, Firozpur, Dr. SeemaSharmaandotherofficials ofNorthernRailwayandUSBRL were present on the occasion. The Minister was briefed about the progress of work of the USBRL project which is to link Jammu to Srinagar by the USBRL Engineers. The project which is to Link Jammu to Srinagar Valley through an all- weather rail line is being built at a cost of C 27,949 crore. Shivamogga (Karnataka): The Karnataka police have arrested 12 persons, including a gram panchayat secretary, in con- nection with the burying of 150 stray dogs alive at a village of Shivamogga district, sources said on Monday. The horrifying incident came to light on September 7. The police arrested persons who allegedly injected poison into the stray dogs, two mem- bers of gram panchayat, a JCB operator, and secretary and bill collector of the Kambadalu- Hosur gram panchayat. The gram panchayat gave the task of catching and sterilis- ing stray dogs within panchay- atlimitstoprivatecontractors.It wasproposedinthemeetingand theemolumentratewasfixedfor the exercise. The contractor was supposedtocatchstraydogsand release them after the neutering exercise. The members of panchay- at, including the secretary and others conspired, planned and executed the plan of injecting the dogs allegedly with poison and burying them alive, police said. The villagers and animal activists lodged a complaint. The police have got the post- mortem conducted on 60 dogs. IANS ?=BQ =4F34;78 Leaving Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel 'unhap- py'', first-time MLA Bhupendra Patel was on Monday sworn-in as the 17th Chief Minister of Gujarat by Governor Acharya Devvrat in place of Vijay Rupani, who resigned a year ahead of next Assembly elec- tions in the State. The 59-year-old Bhupendra Rajnikant Patel, the first Ahmedabadi Chief Minister of Gujarat, is also a first-time MLA, first-time Minister and first 'Kadva Patel' to take the CM's chair seat. He will announce his Cabinet after two-day, sources said. This is the fourth change of Chief Minister in the BJP- ruled States after shifting of B S Yediyurappa (Karnataka) and -Tirath Singh Rawat- and Trivendra Singh Rawat (Uttarakhand). The hand-picking by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of a lightweight 'Patidar' for the top post has made Deputy- Chief Minister Nitin Patel, a many-time hot contender for the top post unhappy'' and disgruntled. The new Chief Minister met Nitin Patel, also a 'patidar' leader, to soothe his ruffled feathers. Patel was sworn-in in the presence of union Home Minister Amit Shah. Modi congratulated Patel saying, I have known him for years and have seen his exem- plary work, be it in the BJP Organisation or in civic administration and commu- nity service. He will certainly enrich Gujarat's growth tra- jectory.. Madhya Pradesh and Goa Chief Ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Pramod Sawant were on stage for the oath-tak- ing ceremony of Patel. Nitin Patel did not try to hide his hurt feelings for being sidelined as a CM can- didate and said while addressing a gathering in his home turf Mehsana on Sunday, that he had seen many ups and downs, and asserted that nobody can throw him out as he lives in people's heart. The outgoing CM Rupani, however, kept his own counsel and dismissed opposition barb on the Modi-government for removing him. I do not care what the opposition has to say....this sort of a smooth transition of power is possible only within the BJP....I will continue to work for the party, said Former Gujarat CM. On his part Modi said that former Rupani worked tire- lessly for all sections of the soci- ety. During his five years as CM, Vijay Rupani Ji has under- taken many people-friendly measures. He worked tireless- ly for all sections of society. I am certain he will continue to contribute to public service in the times to come, said Prime Minister. Rupani who comes from a numerically smaller commu- nity of Jains, was said to have been found short of expecta- tions while handling the Covid19 pandemic in the state. %-3ZRUNHUSXW -LQQDK VSKRWR LQSXEOLFWRLOHW 3;A4A:TR_UZUReVdWZ]V _`^Z_ReZ`_RXRZ_de5ZUZ 170F0=8?A41H4;42C8= ?=BQ ;D2:=F An eight-year-old girl was raped in Basti district while in Etawah two sisters returning from a Mahila police station were abducted by three men and gang-raped during the last 24 hours. In Basti, a 16-year-old boy and also a distant relative forced himself on the minor girl while her family members were not at home in a village in Dhubulia police station area on Sunday evening. When the family members returned home shortly after, the victim narrated her ordeal after which her father called up the local police station. A police team immediately rushed to the location and admitted the girl to a clinic for treatment where her condition was stated to be sta- ble. A case was registered under Section 376 of IPC and provisions of POCSO Act and a hunt was underway for the juvenile accused. In Etawah, a young woman accompanied by her sister visit- ed the Mahila police station to lodgeacomplaintagainstherhus- band on Sunday evening. While they were returning to their native village at Saifai, a stranger offered them lift. On the way he stoppedatahotelandcalledone of his aides. Later one of them forcedthesisterstodrinkalcohol andlatertooktheintoxicatedsis- ters to a shop and gang-raped themafterdowningtheshutters. Thesisterswerealsobrutallybeat- enupbytheaccusedsothatthey didnotcomplainaboutthecrime to the police. The accused abandoned the sisters in the shop and were trying to flee when a police patrol asked them to stop. As they started fleeing, the police team chased and nabbed them. The police said that while the arrests were made, they heard wails from a nearby shop that was half-closed. The police team entered the shop only to findtheinjuredandscantilyclad victims weeping. On learning about their ordeal, the victims were rushed to Etawah district hospital for medical examina- tion.Thevictimslaterlodgedan FIR in this connection at Saifai police station. ?=BQ ;D2:=F Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, on Monday, took on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, saying that only time would tell which party --Congress or BJP-- had lost exis- tence in the country's politically most crucial State- Uttar Pradesh. Priyanka Vadra, who is touring her mother Sonia Gandhi's Prliamentary constituency Rae Bareli and the lost bastion of Amethi, was responding to UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya's claim that the State had got rid of Congress. A day earlier, on Sunday, she had taken a jibe at a Government adver- tisement claiming that fake develop- ment had been highlighted by the BJP in the name of ‘Transforming UP’. “We fulfilled what we promised to the public,” Priyanka Vadra asserted while saying that the people would reply to the BJP for cheating them with false promises of ‘achhey din’ and for even depriving the public of two meals by snatching their jobs or through unemployment besides a steep hike in prices of all essential commodities, including petroleum products, edible oils and other edible items. Meanwhile, Congress Pradesh Election Committee (PEC) chairman Salman Khurshid reiterated a well- known fact that Congress would con- test the 2022 UP polls under the lead- ership of Priyanka Vadra. MakingitclearthatCongresswould not stitch an alliance with any party and would go it alone in the UP polls, Khurshid said that his party had not yet decided on its chief ministerial candi- date but it would field candidates on all 403 assembly constituencies in UP. Khurshid, who was in Agra to take people'sfeedbackforthepartymanifesto, stressedthatthemanifestowouldinclude voicesofthecommonpeoplebyvisiting assembly constituencies toget a sense of the problems being faced by the locals. This will make people happy and they can say that this manifesto is their own, the Congress leader said. We have visited other districts such as Ayodhya, Jhansi, Gorakhpur, and others and on Sunday in Agra, we interacted with the natives of Tora vil- lage. People complained about sever- al issues such as pension for widows and old people, Khurshid said. Meanwhile, Priyanka Vadra on Monday, left for Delhi after wrapping up her five-day tour of the state dur- ing which she exhorted party workers to work round-the-clock for the 2022 UP assembly polls. ?=BQ =4F34;7814=60;DAD Veteran Congress leader Oscar Fernandes, who passed away on Monday, was one of those personalities who had virtually no enemy in the cut- throat world of politics both within and outside the Congress. He was hospitalised a couple of months ago after suffering a fall at his house while doing his regular exercise and had to be operated upon. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed anguish over the death of the veteran Congress leader saying: Saddened by the death of Rajya Sabha MP Shri Oscar Fernandes ji. In this sad hour, my thoughts and prayers are with his family and well wishers. May his soul rest in peace. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too condoled the death of his for- mer cabinet colleague and remembered him as a pleasant personality and peo- ple's man and one of the tallest leaders of the Congress. Describing him as 'Ajaathashatru' (a person who has no enemy), former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda said, Let almighty bestow peace on his soul. While Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai hailed the service of Oscar Fernandes to the state and nation, former CM H D Kumaraswamy said Oscar Fernandes looked up to the Congress as a mother figure and loved all. It is a personal loss for me. He was a guide and mentor to many of us in the Congress party. He will be missed and fondly remembered for his contribu- tions, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet. The Chief Ministers of Congress ruled States as well CMs of other parties also condoled the death of Congress leader. Fernandes was a sitting member of the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka. He had been a five-time Lok Sabha MP and a four-time Rajya Sabha member. He had entered politics as a member of the Udupi Municipal Council and was elect- ed to Lok Sabha for the first time in 1980. Fernandes became the parliamentary secretary to the prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in December 1984 and then the AICC general secretary in 1985. Thereafter, he went on to assume sever- al key positions in the party and Government. )LUVWWLPH0/$%KXSHQGUD3DWHO VZRUQLQDVWKHWK0RI*XMDUDW )DUPHUVLQZHVWHUQ71 DJLWDWHGRYHUVKLIWLQJRI RUJDQLFIDUPLQJFHQWUH ?ZeZdY4YZcRXWVfUT`_eZ_fVd`_CR^ GZ]RdARdhR_dUVReYR__ZgVcdRcj KHOGIRU EXULQJ VWUDGRJV DOLYHLQ. WDND C]jZ_]Rjd W`f_UReZ`_W`c V_YR_TVUZ_WcR ReRecRdeReZ`_ ?=BQ ;D2:=F Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the founda- tion stone of Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh State University and also inspect exhibition models of Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor and Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh State University in Aligarh on Tuesday. The Prime Minister’s visit is being viewed as yet another move by the Bharatiya Janata Party to placate the Jat commu- nity of western UP which has beenseethingoverthethreenew farm laws, no hike in cane price and high input costs of farming. The ruling party is looking to send a message to the Jats that none of the previous regimes bestowed any honour on the ‘most powerful Jat king in the way he deserved. While campaigning for by- elections for assembly seats Tundla in Firozabad and Iglas in neighbouring Hathras in 2019, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had announced the setting up of a State university after Raja Mahendra Pratap, who once donated land to Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). The Chief Minister had then said that even though the Jat king donat- ed land for the AMU, his name was never engraved on its walls and hence, the BJP Government would set up a university to honour the Raja, who was a great freedom fighter, educa- tionist and social reformer. The university will be set up in an area of over 92 acres in Lodha village and Musepur Kareem Jarouli village of Aligarh's Kol tehsil and once operational, it will provide affiliation to 395 colleges of Aligarh division. Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh’s great grandson Charat Pratap Singh, who had earlier sent a legal notice to the AMU over lease expiration of the land donated by the Hathras royal, expressed satisfaction at the move. “We are happy with the government decision. I would say ‘der aaye durust aaye’ bet- ter late than never). The fam- ily is very happy and we wel- come the decision. This is a his- torical step. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has played an important role in setting up this new university. I personally congratulated him after this decision. He recognised the contribution of Raja Mahendra Pratap in the field of education. Some people are relating this decision with politics but we are not relating it with Jat pol- itics,” he said. )jc`]UXZc]cRaVUSj ^Z_`cZ_#dZdeVcd XR_XcRaVUZ_FA 2A840608=BCF4= ?c^[PhU^d]SPcX^]bc^]T ^UPWT]SaP?aPcP_BcPcT D]XeTabXchX]0[XVPaWc^SPh 2QOWLPHZLOOWHOOZKLFK SDUWKDVORVWH[LVWHQFH LQ833ULDQNDWHOOV%-3 bRPa5Ta]P]STb)0[TPSTafW^ WPS]^T]TXTbX]_^[XcXRP[f^a[S