![20?BD;4
?0=:09:D0AB8=67
0??8=C431B536
=Tf3T[WX)?P]ZPY:dPa
BX]VWP (''QPcRW8]SXP]
?^[XRTBTaeXRT^UUXRTafPb^]
FTS]TbSPhP__^X]cTSPb
SXaTRc^aVT]TaP[^UcWTR^d]cah³b
[PaVTbcQ^aSTaVdPaSX]VU^aRT
1B5BX]VWXbPAPYPbcWP]RPSaT
^UUXRTaP]SXb_aTbT]c[hbTaeX]V
PbcWTb_TRXP[SXaTRc^aVT]TaP[
36^UcWTU^aRTcWPcVdPaSb
^eTa%Zb^UcWT8]SXP]
Ua^]cbfXcW?PZXbcP]P]S
1P]V[PSTbW
E4A%2AE0228=4
3B4B68E4=8=8=380
=Tf3T[WX)CWTRdd[PcXeT
]dQTa^U2^eXS (ePRRX]T
S^bTbPSX]XbcTaTSX]cWT
R^d]cahbda_PbbTScWT%Ra^aT
PaZ^]FTS]TbSPhD]X^]
7TP[cWX]XbcTaP]bdZW
P]SPeXhPbPXS
?=BQ =4F34;78
India had anticipated the
Taliban takeover of
Afghanistan but was “sur-
prised” by the speed of the turn
of events, Chief of Defence Staff
(CDS) General Bipin Rawat
said here on Wednesday. He
also said the country is ready
to deal with the possibility of
terrorist activity after the latest
developments there.
His observations came a
day ahead of the all-party
meeting called by the Centre
to brief various political lead-
ers about the situation in
Afghanistan. External Affairs
Minister S Jaishankar will brief
the leaders.
Rawat asserted that any
possible terrorist activity flow-
ing out of Taliban-controlled
Afghanistan and finding its
way into India will be firmly
dealt with. He also suggested
that the Quad nations should
boost cooperation in the glob-
al war on terrorism.
He also said India was
anticipating a Taliban takeover
of Afghanistan but the time-
lines of the latest develop-
ments have surprised it, noting
that the outfit has not changed
over the past 20 years.
“From India’s perspective,
we were anticipating a Taliban
takeover of Afghanistan. We
were concerned about how
the terrorist activities from
Afghanistan could overflow
into India,” Rawat said.
“And to that extent, our
contingency planning had
been ongoing and we are pre-
pared for it. Yes, the timelines
certainly surprised us. We were
anticipating this thing hap-
pening maybe a couple of
months down the line,” he
added.
The CDS made these
remarks while addressing an
interactive session, with
Commander of the US Indo-
Pacific Command Admiral
John Aquilino, organised by
the Observer Research
Foundation.
Aquilino referred to chal-
lenges that India has been fac-
ing, specifically with regard to
“sovereignty on the Line of
Actual Control” as well as the
“foundational security con-
cerns” in the South China Sea
region, in a clear reference to
China’s aggressive behaviour.
On the latest developments
in Afghanistan, Rawat said
India is committed to ensuring
a terrorist-free environment in
the region.
“As far as Afghanistan is
concerned, we will make sure
that any activity likely to flow
out of Afghanistan and then
find its way into India will be
dealt with in the manner in
which we have been dealing
with terrorism in our country,”
he said.
?=BQ =4F34;78
In an effort to prevent the
entry of persons with doubt-
ful credentials, India will only
allow e-visas to Afghan nation-
als wanting to come here. This
development came amid
reports that some Urdu-speak-
ing people attacked the Kabul
office of an agency and took
away Afghan passports with
stamped Indian visas.
Fearing the misuse of the
Indian visas to prepare fake
passports that could help ter-
rorists enter India, the
Government on Wednesday
decided with immediate effect
to declare all the earlier visas
invalid. Those willing to trav-
el to India were asked to apply
for e-visa only, officials said,
adding it is mandatory.
“Owing to the prevailing
security situation in
Afghanistan and streamlining
of the visa process by intro-
duction of the e-Emergency X-
Misc visa, it has been decided
that all Afghan nationals
henceforth must travel to India
only on e-visa,” the Home
Ministry said.
The directive also said visas
issued to all Afghanistan
nationals, who are currently
not in India stand invalidated.
Afghanistan nationals who
want to apply for an Indian visa
can apply via the Indian
Government’s official website:
indianvisaonline.gov.in.
On the missing passports
from the office of an agency
handling visas on behalf of
India, reports said these could
be used by Pakistan-based ter-
rorists to enter India.
?C8Q 14898=6
China has established its
first diplomaticcontactwith
theTalibaninKabulafterthemil-
itant group took control of
Afghanistan and the two sides
now have “smooth and effective
communication”,aChineseoffi-
cial said on Wednesday.
TheTalibanseizedpowerin
Afghanistan on August 15, two
weeks before the US was set to
complete its troop withdrawal
after a costly two-decade war.
“China and the Afghan Taliban
have smooth and effective com-
munication and consultation,”
Chinese Foreign Ministry
spokesmanWangWenbintolda
media briefing here when asked
about the talks between the
deputy head of the Taliban’s
political office Abdul Salam
HanafiandChineseAmbassador
to Afghanistan Wang Yu in
Kabul. “Kabul is naturally an
importantplatformandchannel
for the two sides to discuss var-
ious important matters,” Wang
said, without disclosing the
details. “We always respect the
sovereignty, independence and
territorial integrity of
Afghanistan,followtheprinciple
of non-interference in
Afghanistan’sinternalaffairsand
adhere to the friendly policy for
all the Afghan people,” Wang
said.
?=BQ =4F34;78
As schools are gradually
reopening amid fear of
Covid-19 third wave and lack
of vaccines available for
schoolchildren under the age
of 18, the Government is plan-
ning to vaccinate all school-
teachers across India on pri-
ority before Teacher’s Day on
September 5.
The Government said it
will provide 2 crore addition-
al vaccine doses to States to
vaccinate teachers.
“In addition to the plan to
provide vaccines to every State
this month, more than 2 crore
vaccine doses are being made
available. We have requested all
the States to try to vaccinate all
schoolteachers on priority
before Teacher’s Day,” said
Union Health Minister
Mansukh Mandaviya.
Education Minister
Dharmendra Pradhan too has
said that vaccinating teachers
will reduce the disruption of
the sector that has been hit
severely since March last year.
:D0A274;;0??0=Q :278
Astaggering high number
of 31,445 new cases of
Covid-19 were detected in
Kerala while 215 persons suc-
cumbed to the pandemic on
Wednesday. The test positivity
rate shot up to 19.03 per cent
sending the health workers to
a state of confusion.
Minister for Health Veena
George had told early this
week that the State may see
daily cases crossing 40,000-
mark in the backdrop of the
relaxation in Onam holidays.
The Department of Health
tested 1.65 lakh samples during
the last 24 hours. Health work-
ers accounted for 123 cases on
Wednesday and this has caused
serious concern among the
medical fraternity.
As on Wednesday, 1.7 lakh
Covid-19 patients were under
treatment in various hospitals
across the State. The official
death tally stood at 19,972.
Ernakulam topped the
table of districts with the high-
est number of Covid-19
patients (4048). Thrissur
(3865), Kozhikode (3680) and
Malappuram (3502) logged
more than 3,000 new cases.
London: Britain on Wednesday
warned the Taliban against
attempts to coercively seal off
Afghanistan from the rest of the
world and urged the militant
group to keep its borders open.
Foreign Secretary Dominic
Raab said attempts by the
Taliban to shut down the coun-
try could trigger a “refugee cri-
sis” once Western forces with-
drew from Kabul airport on
August 31, as migrants make
their way to neighbouring coun-
tries. He noted that Afghan bor-
der was “rugged and wide-
ranging” and that efforts to
isolate the country from the rest
of the world would fail. PTI
4`gZU*
:?:?5:2
CC0;20B4B) !$$%'
#$!'
340C7B)#%'%$($
A42E4A43) (' %
!
02C8E4)!'!#
070)%#%'$
:4A0;0)''#!( ##$
:´C0:0)!(#!!$ !!#
C=)!%$%# $
34;78) #$$%$
?=B Q =4F34;78
The Delhi High Court has to
decide the fate
of Delhi Police Commissioner
Rakesh Asthana within
two weeks.
The Supreme Court on
Wednesday gave the two-week
time frame to the HC to dis-
pose of the petition challeng-
ing the appointment of
Gujarat-cadre IPS officer
Rakesh Asthana as Delhi Police
Commissioner, just four days
before his retirement as
chief of the Border Security
Force (BSF).
A bench of Chief Justice
NV Ramana and Justices DY
Chandrachud and Surya Kant
said since a plea has already
been filed in the High
Court, let it give its judgment
on the subject.
The SC, however, said it
would keep pending a PIL
filed by advocate Prashant
Bhushan on behalf of NGO
CPIL, till the HC has given its
final order.
Detailed report on P4
?C8Q =4F34;78
An expert committee set up
by the Delhi Disaster
Management Authority
(DDMA) has recommended a
phase-wise reopening of
schools in the national Capital,
according to sources.
In its report submitted on
Wednesday, the panel recom-
mended that students from
senior classes be called in the
first phase followed by the
middle-grade students and ulti-
mately the primary classes,
they said.
Delhi Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal said his
Government wants the schools
to be reopened as soon as pos-
sible but is evaluating all factors
to ensure the safety of students.
“The panel has submitted
its report today. The recom-
mendations include reopen-
ing of schools for all classes but
in a phase-wise manner. The
report will be studied in detail
and a final decision will be
taken soon in this regard,” a
source said.
?=BQ D108
Aday after a Mahad Taluka
court granted him bail in
the “tight-slap-slur” case,
Union Micro, Small and
Medium Enterprises Minister
Narayan Rane on Wednesday
received a further relief in the
Bombay High Court, as the
Maharashtra Government
informed the court that “no
coercive action” would be
taken against him till
September 17 in the FIR reg-
istered against him for his
remarks against Chief Minister
Uddhav Thackeray.
When the case filed by
Rane’s lawyers came up for
hearing before a HC bench of
Justices SS Shinde and NJ
Jamadar, Special Counsel for
the Maharashtra Government
Amit Desai told the court that
even in the absence of prop-
er documentation of FIRs
filed against the Union
Minister, he was willing to
make a statement at the out-
set that “no coercive action”
would be taken in the Nashik
FIR till the next hearing
scheduled for September 17.
Desai submitted to the
court that the petition filed by
Rane’s lawyers challenging
the case filed against the
Union Minister mentioned
the details of only one FIR
filed by the Nashik police,
while there was mention of
details of FIRs filed against
the BJP leaders in other police
stations in the State. In the
absence of the details of all the
cases, Desai said it would be
difficult for him to proceed in
the matter.
Earlier, advocate Satish
Maneshinde, representing
Rane, pressed for no coercive
action in the other FIRs, as he
apprehended that the police
might take action against his
client in other FIRs in the
interim period.
Maneshinde told the HC
that there were statements
issued in the press, including
by State Cabinet Ministers,
that “whatever we want to
achieve, we have achieved.”
EVcc`cWc`^2WhZ]]SVUVR]e+45D
*HQHUDO5DZDWXUJHV4XDGWRERRVW
VQHUJLQJOREDOZDURQWHUURUVDV
,QGLDVXUSULVHGEUDSLG$IFKDQJH
HQWUHWRSURYLGHFU
DGGLWLRQDOMDEVWR6WDWHV
5VgV]`a^V_eT`^Vd
RWeVc2WaRdda`ced
hZeYdeR^aVU:_UZR_
gZdRd]``eVUZ_ReeRT
FhRc_dER]ZSR_
RXRZ_dedVR]Z_X2W
`WWWc`^h`c]U
?=BQ =4F34;78
The vaccine effectiveness
among the frontline work-
ers declined from 91 per cent
to 66 per cent after the Delta
variant of Covid-19 became
prevalent in the country, said
a study by the US Centres for
Disease Control and
Prevention.
However, what came as a
relief was that despite the reg-
istered decline, the overall
vaccine effectiveness was esti-
mated to be 80 per cent in pre-
venting infection during the
study period.
The study was conducted
between December 14, 2020,
and August 14, 2021. It includ-
ed data from 4,217 partici-
pants, including healthcare
personnel, first responders,
and other frontline workers in
eight US locations across six
States. They were tested week-
ly for Covid infection using
the RT-PCR method.
At least 83 per cent of the
participants were vaccinated
with Pfizer-BioNTech,
Moderna-mRNA, and
Johnson Johnson’s Janssen
vaccines. About two-thirds of
those vaccinated had received
the Pfizer Inc-BioNTech SE
shot, 2 per cent received
Johnson Johnson’s, and the
rest received the Moderna Inc
vaccine.
The CDC said the findings
of the study should be looked
at with caution as the vaccine
effectiveness might be declin-
ing over time.
RYLGFDVHVVKRRWXSLQ
.HUDODGLHRQ:HG
EVdea`dZeZgZejcReV
*$hZeY$%%
TRdVd#$YVR]eY
h`cVcdeVdegV
3fegRTTZ_ReZ`_dY`hd
)!VWWVTeZgV_VddZ_
acVgV_eZ_XZ_WVTeZ`_
-DESRWHQFVLQNHGIURP
WRDIWHU'HOWD
VSUHDGLQ86VDVVWXG
4V_ecVa]R_de`gRTTZ_ReVR]]
dTY``]eVRTYVcdSVW`cVDVae
4YZ_RdVedfaUZa]`^ReZT
T`_eRTehZeYER]ZSR_
D4XZgVd#hVV
UVRU]Z_Ve`94
e`UVTZUV5V]YZ
e`aT`a¶dWReV
'DDIWHUEDLO5DQHJHWV
µQRFRHUFLYHDFWLRQ¶SOHGJH
RYR8`geZ_W`c^d
ZedUVTZdZ`_e`94
330Tg_Tac_P]T[
bdVVTbcb_WPbTfXbT
aTbd_cX^]^UbRW^^[
aT^_T]X]VX]3T[WX
0WTP[cWf^aZTaR^[[TRcbbfPQbP_[Tb^UPRWX[SU^a2^eXS (cTbcPcATVX^]P[
7^b_XcP[X]:d[[d^]FTS]TbSPh ?C8
,QGLDWRLVVXHRQOHYLVDVWR$I
QDWLRQDOVWRSUHYHQWXOWUDV¶HQWU
0]8]SXP]0Xa5^aRTUXVWcTaPXaRaPUc
X6! 1Xb^]^]UXaTPUcTaXcRaPbWTS
X]1PaTa^]FTS]TbSPh ?C8
CP[XQP]UXVWcTabbTPaRWPeTWXR[TPcPRWTRZ_^X]cX]:PQd[^]FTS]TbSPh 0?
D]X^]X]XbcTa=PaPhP]AP]TPSSaTbbTbP?aTbbR^]UTaT]RTPcWXbaTbXST]RTPc
9dWdX]dQPX^]FTS]TbSPh ?C8
?=BQ 347A03D=
The ongoing political drama
in Punjab took a new turn
on Wednesday as four Ministers
and three MLAs of Punjab
arrivedinDehraduntomeetthe
Congress in-charge of Punjab,
Harish Rawat. These leaders are
part of the disgruntled group
which is demanding removal of
Punjab Chief Minister captain
Amarinder Singh.
Rawat heard their issues
and assured to take up their
cause with the party high com-
mand following which these
leaders went back to Punjab. He
however told the media persons
that Amarinder Singh would
remain the CM face in Punjab.
Politicaltemperaturessoared
in Punjab as the dissident group
went into a huddle with Harish
Rawat in a hotel in Dehradun.
Thedissidentleaderswereledby
senior minister Tripat Rajender
Singh Bajwa and had ministers
Sukhvinder Singh Randhawa,
Sukh Sakaria and Charanjeet
Channi and MLAs Kulvir Jira,
Barinderjeet Pahada and
Surinder Dhiman.
After the meeting which
lastedforthreehours, Rawattold
the waiting media persons that
four ministers and three MLAs
had come to meet him as they
had some issues with the func-
tioning of the state administra-
tion. “All these leaders are hard-
core Congressmen and their
major concern is the victory of
the Congress party in the
upcomingassemblyelections.If
someCong leadersfeelinsecure
andthinkthattheadministration
can work against them then it is
a serious issue,’’ he said. Rawat
added that all these leaders
assured that they have full faith
in the party.
He said that it is necessary
thatthepartyfightstheelections
unitedly in Punjab. Talking to
the media persons, the Punjab
higher education minister
Charanjeet Channi said that
they had a very good meeting
withtheAICCgeneralsecretary
Harish Rawat. “The meeting
took place in a very conducive
environment. We informed
Rawatji about our issues and he
assuredusthathewouldtakeup
our cause with the party high
command in two to three days.
We are satisfied with the meet-
ing and going back to our
homes. If we are invited to Delhi
wewould gothere,’’Channi said.
Eµ[XQ^TdgYcdd_
@e^ZQR3_^WbUcc
UQTUbcXY`dQ^WU
5^daX]XbcTabcWaTT;0bQT[^]VX]Vc^cWT
SXbbXST]cRP_TTc7PaXbWAPfPcX]3TWaPSd]
/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$'2''1
347A03D=C7DAB30H0D6DBC !%!! *?064B !C!
DA@CE#
05A838BC0AB0B
?0:;4E4;B4A84B
m
m
H@C=5)
38=64E4AHC78=68=?F4AC4=BDA4
HDAB054CHF4;;148=6)6DC4AA4B
G5C8?E4
CE@@?BD5138
?D85B*81C8=9
! F9F139DI
@A:?:@?'
58=34?4=34=24
0=3?0AC8C8=](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/pioneer-dehradun-english-edition-2021-08-26-210826014245/85/Pioneer-dehradun-english-edition-2021-08-26-1-320.jpg)
![]PcX^]!
347A03D=kC7DAB30H k0D6DBC !%!!
3ULQWHGDQGSXEOLVKHGE$MLW6LQKDIRUDQGRQEHKDOIRI0.3ULQWHFK/WGSXEOLVKHGDW8QLJDWH*HQHUDO0HGLD3YW/WG2OG1HKUXRORQ2SS8WWDUDNKDQG-DO6DQVWKDQ'KDUDPSXU'HKUDGXQ3K0RE DQGSULQWHGDW$PDU8MDOD3XEOLFDWLRQV/WG3ORW1R+WR+6HODTXL,QGXVWULDO
$UHD'HKUDGXQ8WWDUDNKDQG(GLWRUKDQGDQ0LWUD$,5685+$5*(RI5H(DVWDOFXWWD5DQFKL%KXEDQHVZDU1RUWK/HK:HVW0XPEDL $KPHGDEDG6RXWK%DQJDORUH KHQQDLHQWUDO.KDMXUDKR'HOKL2IILFH1R%HKLQG*XODE%KDZDQ %DKDGXU6KDK=DIDU0DUJ1HZ'HOKL3KRQH
RPPXQLFDWLRQ2IILFH)6HFWRU12,'$*DXWDP%XGK1DJDU83
3KRQH /XFNQRZ2IILFHWK)ORRU6DKDUD6KRSSLQJHQWUH)DL]DEDG5RDG/XFNQRZ7HOHSKRQHV
$OWKRXJKHYHUSRVVLEOHFDUHDQGFDXWLRQKDVEHHQWDNHQWRDYRLGHUURUVRURPLVVLRQVWKLVSXEOLFDWLRQLVEHLQJVROGRQWKHFRQGLWLRQDQGXQGHUVWDQGLQJWKDWLQIRUPDWLRQJLYHQLQWKLVSXEOLFDWLRQLVPHUHOIRUUHIHUHQFHDQGPXVWQRWEHWDNHQDVKDYLQJDXWKRULWRIRUELQGLQJLQDQZDRQWKHZULWHUVHGLWRUVSXEOLVKHUVDQGSULQWHUVDQGVHOOHUVZKRGRQRWRZHDQUHVSRQVLELOLWIRUDQ
GDPDJHRUORVVWRDQSHUVRQDSXUFKDVHURIWKLVSXEOLFDWLRQRUQRWIRUWKHUHVXOWRIDQDFWLRQWDNHQRQWKHEDVLVRIWKLVZRUN$OOGLVSXWHVDUHVXEMHFWWRWKHH[FOXVLYHMXULVGLFWLRQRIFRPSHWHQWFRXUWDQGIRUXPVLQ'HOKL1HZ'HOKLRQO5HDGHUVDUHDGYLVHGDQGUHTXHVWHGWRYHULIDQGVHHNDSSURSULDWHDGYLFHWRVDWLVIWKHPVHOYHVDERXWWKHYHUDFLWRIDQNLQGRIDGYHUWLVHPHQWEHIRUH
UHVSRQGLQJWRDQFRQWHQWVSXEOLVKHGLQWKLVQHZVSDSHU7KHSULQWHUSXEOLVKHUHGLWRUDQGDQHPSORHHRIWKH3LRQHHU*URXS·VZLOOQRWEHKHOGUHVSRQVLEOHIRUDQNLQGRIFODLPPDGHEWKHDGYHUWLVHUVRIWKHSURGXFWV VHUYLFHVDQGVKDOOQRWEHPDGHUHVSRQVLEOHIRUDQNLQGRIORVVFRQVHTXHQFHVDQGIXUWKHUSURGXFWUHODWHGGDPDJHVRQVXFKDGYHUWLVHPHQWV
?=BQ 1064B7F0A
Locals are rejoicing after
Almora-based cricketer
Ekta Bisht was selected in the
Indian women’s cricket team
for the upcoming tour of
Australia. The Board of Control
for Cricket in India (BCCI) had
on Tuesday announced the
Indian team for India Women's
upcoming tour of Australia
and included the name of
Almora-based cricketer Ekta
Bisht. In this tour, the Indian
team will play three ODIs,
three T-20 matches and one test
match.
The team will leave for
Australia at the end of August
and will be quarantined in
Australia for 14 days under
Covid protocol. The three-
match ODI series will start in
Sydney from September 19.
The second match will be
played in Melbourne on
September 22 and the third
match will also be played in
Melbourne on September 24.
After this, the Indian team
will play its first day-night test
match in Perth from September
30.
The T-20 matches will be
played in Sydney on October 7,
9 and 11.
4cZTVeVc6eR3ZdYe
dV]VTeVUW`c2fdecR]ZRe`fc
?=BQ 347A03D=
The UPES School of Modern
Media has entered into an
academic partnership with
podcast creation and distribu-
tion platform Hubhopper.
Hubhopper has been named
UPES’s official podcast partner
for its podcasting course avail-
able within the modern media
curriculum.
Through this partnership,
School of Modern Media fac-
ulty will get access to exclusive
training workshops on pod-
casting conducted by the
Hubhopper experts. The stu-
dents will participate in exclu-
sive training workshops and
masterclasses by the
Hubhopper team during with
they will learn the podcasting
skillset, the evolution, future
implications, and application of
podcasts.
UPES School of Modern
Media dean Nalin Mehta said,
Hubhopper is India's premier
audio podcasting platform and
we are delighted that our stu-
dents will be learning from the
best at a time when India's pod-
casting revolution is taking
off.
The way content is pro-
duced, consumed and distrib-
uted is fundamentally changing
and this means that the next
generation of communicators
must be tech-ready with a 360-
degree industry-ready skill set.
We are very excited that our
students will learn digital audio
with Hubhopper studio tools
because this will give them a
cutting-edge in a fast-evolving
media landscape.
Talking about the associa-
tion, founder and CEO of
Hubhopper, Gautam Raj
Anand said, “I am excited
about this partnership. It is
promising to know that pod-
casting is being brought into
the Indian digital media cur-
riculum. With the content
space continuously evolving,
podcast is the next big thing,
and we are grateful to support
aspiring content creators in
starting their journey into
becoming India’s next big pod-
caster.”
83(6HQWHUVLQWRDFDGHPLF
SDUWQHUVKLSZLWK+XEKRSSHU
?=BQ 347A03D=
The Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) led Uttarakhand gov-
ernment has failed to make
even a single good government
school in the state and even the
central government uses the
images of Delhi’s school for
advertisements. This was
alleged by the members of the
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in
Uttarakhand while adding that
BJP rules in Centre as well as
in the State but it still failed to
build a good government
school. The AAP in
Uttarakhand has been promis-
ing to provide quality educa-
tion in the government schools
on the basis of Delhi’s educa-
tion model. The Delhi chief
minister Arvind Kejriwal had
also targeted the State govern-
ment on his first visit by stat-
ing that substandard education
is being provided in
Uttarakhand which is the
major cause of unemployment
and immigration here.
%-3XVHV'HOKLVFKRRO
LPDJHVIRUDGYHUWLVHPHQW
DOOHJHV$$3
?=BQ 347A03D=
THDC India Limited has
issued Secured Corporate
Bonds Series -V with a base
size of Rs 400 crore with green
shoe option of Rs 800 crore
with total issue size amounting
to Rs. 1,200 crore having a
tenor of 10 years. The bond
proceeds shall be used to part-
ly meet debt requirement of
ongoing and under construc-
tion projects.
The bidding for the above
issue was done on August 23 at
THDCIL's NCR office in
Ghaziabad in the presence of
finance director J Behera, GM
(finance) AB Goel, company
secretary Rashmi Sharma and
BSE representative Hemlata
Agarwal.
Behera thanked investors
for reposing tremendous trust
in the company's operational
and financial performance and
future growth prospects.
C7328;aPXbTbR^a_^aPcT
Q^]Sb^UC !Ra^aTfXcW
(cXTb^eTabdQbRaX_cX^]
?=B=270=3860A7
Former Haryana Chief
Minister and Leader of
Opposition, Bhupinder Singh
Hooda on Wednesday took
the “lunch diplomacy” route to
bring his bete noires and sup-
porters together and send out a
message that the party is unit-
ed. The senior Congress leader
hostedalunchforover200party
leaders at his residence here.
With the presence of the AICC
HaryanainchargeVivekBansal,
his bete noires state party chief
Kumari Selja and Kiran
Chaudhary, current MLAs, for-
mer MLAs and MPs among
other party leaders at the lun-
cheon hosted by him, Hooda
once again managed to project
himself as one of the most
influential Congress leaders in
Haryana politics. As the mon-
soon session of Haryana
Assembly concluded just a day
before, most of the party MLAs
were present in Chandigarh to
attend the lunch, where Hooda’s
son and Rajya Sabha MP
Deepender Hooda was also pre-
sent.Hooda’s “lunch diplomacy”
came at a time when the party
high command is expected to
release the list of appointments
at district and block level in the
state party unit for strengthen-
ing its organisational structure
in Haryana.
While Hooda maintained
that he hosted the lunch for
party leaders as he could not
meet them for a long time due
to COVID-19, the political
expertshavetermedthemoveas
ashowofstrength.Earlier,itwas
in January this year when
Hooda, Selja and other promi-
nent party leaders had come
together during a protest here
against central farm laws. Since
then, several protests have been
held by the Congress but both
the factions led by Hooda and
Selja have held separate demon-
strations across the state against
theHaryanaGovernmentonthe
issues of the Police paper leak
case, rising inflation, unem-
ployment and three farm laws.
Even as the factionalism in
Haryana Congress is not a new
phenomenon, the infighting
had intensified in July this year
when the MLAs loyal to Hooda
hadbeguntheircampaigntoget
the current state party chief
Selja replaced with the former
Chief Minister. MLAs, who are
Hooda loyalists had met party
general secretary KC Venugopal
and state party in-charge Vivek
Bansal in New Delhi to demand
that Hooda, who is currently
Leader of Opposition in
Haryana, be given the com-
mand of the party in the state.
+RRGD
VOXQFKGLSORPDFEULQJV
KLVULYDOVDQGVXSSRUWHUVWRJHWKHU
?=BQ 270=3860A7
Haryana Home Minister
Anil Vij on Wednesday
said that out of the total calls
received in the first 1000 hours
on “112 Emergency Response
Support System” from July 13
onwards, 66861 calls were from
people who needed help.
“Out of these 56113 emer-
gency vehicles were sent to the
spot for assistance. 52393
callers had requested for police
assistance, 5860 for ambulance
services and 455 for fire ser-
vices. Among the total dispatch
calls, there were also multi-ser-
vice dispatches in which mul-
tiple services were dispatched
by the system on a single call,”
the Minister said.
He said that Haryana
Police has fixed the time limit
to reach the caller within 15 to
20 minutes, but the policemen
posted on ERV provided
police help on an average of 16
minutes 28 seconds.
A total of 470189 callers
called for assistance through
actionable calls at the State
Emergency Response Centre,
Panchkula between July 13
and August 23, he added.
Vij urged the citizens to
immediately call on 112 for
police assistance and infor-
mation of criminal offenses at
any time. Giving more details
in this regard, he said that
positive results have been seen
from this new initiative. Due
to ERV, the police presence
has increased in the state,
due to which the sense of
security among the citizens
has been enhanced, as well as
the criminals and anti-social
elements fear police even
more.
Referring to some inci-
dents, Vij said that a car
robbed by three persons from
New Delhi was immediately
caught by the team of Haryana
112 in Jhajjar district. The
team of Haryana 112 not only
recovered the stolen vehicle but
also managed to nab the three
thieves.
?^[XRTPbbXbcP]RTaTPRWTS
$% _T^_[TX]cWTUXabc
W^dab^] !)EXY
=8B7D07090=Q
270=3860A7
In a bid to streamline the set-
ting up of ventures like
amusement parks, 5-star
hotels, resorts in agriculture
zones of the state, the BJP-JJP
led Haryana Government has
come out with a new change
of land use (CLU) policy.
The policy, approved by
the Governor, has been for-
mulated by the Town and
Country Planning
Department.
The new policy, which is
framed in continuation to
the government’s guidelines
issued last year for granting
permission for a CLU to
establish projects like drive-in
theatres, sports academies
and banquet halls outside
municipal limits, will keep a
check on haphazard growth of
illegal buildings in agriculture
zones besides boosting invest-
ments.
Keeping in view the inter-
est of landowners and
investors, who are keen to set
up such projects, the policy
defines parameters like min-
imum and maximum area for
setting up these projects,
commercial component, max-
imum ground coverage, floor
area ratio and access norms.
“After careful considera-
tion by the State Government,
the policy for granting CLU in
a controlled area for setting
up of a restaurant, motel,
hotel, resort, amusement park
and theme park in the agri-
culture zone has been framed.
For such projects, the access
permission is required from
NHAI, if the site is located on
national highway whereas if
the site is located on sched-
uled road then the permission
is required from XEN, PWD
(BR),” the policy stated.
The policy allows setting
up a resort, amusement park
or theme park in the agricul-
ture zone in a minimum area
of 2.5 acres while there is no
limit for maximum area. The
floor area ratio allowed is 0.5
and the maximum ground
coverage is 30 percent while
the commercial component
will be 15 percent.
The conversion charges
for the area under 15 per-
cent commercial compo-
nent of the amusement park
will be charged at commer-
cial rates and for the balance
area, conversion charges
applicable for recreational
use shall be charged.
For setting up a 5-star
hotel, the policy allows a
minimum area of 4 acres
while maximum area will be
10 acres. The floor area ratio
allowed is 0.75, the maximum
ground coverage is 30 percent
while the commercial com-
ponent will be 15 percent.
For motel or hotel along
the national highways and
scheduled roads with or with-
out banquet facilities, the
policy allows a minimum
area of 2000 sqm and a max-
imum of 5 acre area while
allowing floor area ratio of
1.0, maximum ground cov-
erage of 30 percent and the
commercial component of
15 percent.
Similarly, for setting up
hotels other than located
abutting national highways
and scheduled roads, mini-
mum area allowed will be
one acre, maximum would be
three acres with maximum
ground coverage of 40 per-
cent while other norms
remain the same.
The minimum area
allowed for constructing a
restaurant in agriculture zone
will be 1000 Sqm, while max-
imum is 2000 Sqm with max-
imum ground coverage of 30
percent, 1.0 floor area ratio
and commercial component
of 15 percent.
As per the policy, the
parking facility for vehicles
has to be made available
within the premises.
Notably, the State
Government had recently
released another new policy
for granting CLU for setting
up of the industrial clusters
and units in the agricultural
zones across the state.
?=BQ 270=3860A7
Sanjha-Sunehra Punjab
Manch was launched at a
function here in which
Convenor and Founder K.C.
Singh and Secretary of the
Forum Col. L.J.S. Gill, besides
14 other co-founders were pre-
sent. They are individuals from
diverse fields, in which they
have excelled and have exten-
sive experience in social uplift-
ment.
Former Ambassador K C
Singh (Krishan Chander
Singh), Indian Foreign Service
(Retd), was Envoy to the UAE
and Iran.He was also
Additional Secretary
(International Organisations)
Coordinator Counter
Terrorism in the Ministry of
External Affairs, finally rising
to the post of Secretary,
Economic Relations. Speaking
at the launch event, he said, the
Manch wants to focus on chal-
lenges facing Punjab today and
take to the people their views.
The aim is to solicit the reac-
tion of Punjab residents, both
in urban and rural areas. The
Manch, he said, hopes to voice
the outcome of this interactive
dialogue.
The critical issues facing
Punjab include, farmers’ agita-
tion against farm laws; agrari-
an crisis due to dependence on
rice-wheat cycle and its impact
on water table, environment
etc.; low agricultural growth
and deficient investment in
industry. He added, then there
are issues like poor education
facilities, healthcare facilities
and housing facilities.
K C Singh said “This plat-
form will work towards finding
solutions to the pressing issues
facing the people of Punjab. We
will offer our solutions, but
more importantly go to the
people and seek their advice.
We wish to become the voice of
all Punjabis “He said, Punjab
needs a second Green
Revolution , where new mar-
kets are created , and farmers
ensured dignity and financial
prosperity “
6DQMKD6XQHKUD3XQMDE
ODXQFKHGIRUDJROGHQ
IXWXUHRI3XQMDE
?=BQ 270=3860A7
In an unusual case of admin-
istration’s apathy in Haryana,
a family has received the death
certificate of their relative after
a wait of 25 years.
The death certificate was
issued when a family member
lodged a complaint at CM
window regarding the same.
The OSD to the Chief
Minister, Bhupeshwar Dayal,
who is monitoring the CM
window said, Dulichand, a res-
ident of village Ghoshgarh,
Farukhnagar in Gurugram dis-
trict had lodged a complaint
that on September 26, 1996, his
brother-in-law Deshraj died
in a Haryana transport bus
accident. Even after deducting
NOC, his death certificate was
not received for 25 years. He
had lodged a complaint at CM
Window regarding the same.
Dayal informed that the
complaint number 29987 of the
applicant was uploaded on the
CM window on April 1, 2021,
and taking immediate action,
the civil hospital of Gurugram
was informed in this regard.
The hospital authorities and
municipal officials searched
the records for the year 1996
and issued the death certificate
of the deceased Deshraj to the
applicant on August 16, 2021.
The complainant has with-
drawn his complaint expressing
satisfaction over the action of
the hospital and the govern-
ment. The applicant admitted
that he was tired of going to the
Civil Hospital, Gurugram and
Municipal Corporation office,
for the last 25 years. Someone
had suggested him to register
his complaint at the CM
Window.
3TPcWRTacXUXRPcTaTRTXeTSPUcTa!$
hTPabcWa^dVW7PahP]P2fX]S^f
CWT_^[XRh
P__a^eTSQhcWT
6^eTa]^aWPb
QTT]U^ad[PcTS
QhcWTC^f]P]S
2^d]cah?[P]]X]V
3T_PacT]c
7PahP]P³b]Tf_^[XRhP[[^fbbTccX]Vd_^U
$bcPaW^cT[bPdbTT]c_PaZbX]PVaXi^]T](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
Recommended
Recommended
More Related Content
What's hot
What's hot (20)
Similar to Pioneer dehradun-english-edition-2021-08-26
Similar to Pioneer dehradun-english-edition-2021-08-26 (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
Pioneer dehradun-english-edition-2021-08-26
- 1. 20?BD;4 ?0=:09:D0AB8=67 0??8=C431B536 =Tf3T[WX)?P]ZPY:dPa BX]VWP (''QPcRW8]SXP] ?^[XRTBTaeXRT^UUXRTafPb^] FTS]TbSPhP__^X]cTSPb SXaTRc^aVT]TaP[^UcWTR^d]cah³b [PaVTbcQ^aSTaVdPaSX]VU^aRT 1B5BX]VWXbPAPYPbcWP]RPSaT ^UUXRTaP]SXb_aTbT]c[hbTaeX]V PbcWTb_TRXP[SXaTRc^aVT]TaP[ 36^UcWTU^aRTcWPcVdPaSb ^eTa%Zb^UcWT8]SXP] Ua^]cbfXcW?PZXbcP]P]S 1P]V[PSTbW E4A%2AE0228=4 3B4B68E4=8=8=380 =Tf3T[WX)CWTRdd[PcXeT ]dQTa^U2^eXS (ePRRX]T S^bTbPSX]XbcTaTSX]cWT R^d]cahbda_PbbTScWT%Ra^aT PaZ^]FTS]TbSPhD]X^] 7TP[cWX]XbcTaP]bdZW P]SPeXhPbPXS ?=BQ =4F34;78 India had anticipated the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan but was “sur- prised” by the speed of the turn of events, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat said here on Wednesday. He also said the country is ready to deal with the possibility of terrorist activity after the latest developments there. His observations came a day ahead of the all-party meeting called by the Centre to brief various political lead- ers about the situation in Afghanistan. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will brief the leaders. Rawat asserted that any possible terrorist activity flow- ing out of Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and finding its way into India will be firmly dealt with. He also suggested that the Quad nations should boost cooperation in the glob- al war on terrorism. He also said India was anticipating a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan but the time- lines of the latest develop- ments have surprised it, noting that the outfit has not changed over the past 20 years. “From India’s perspective, we were anticipating a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. We were concerned about how the terrorist activities from Afghanistan could overflow into India,” Rawat said. “And to that extent, our contingency planning had been ongoing and we are pre- pared for it. Yes, the timelines certainly surprised us. We were anticipating this thing hap- pening maybe a couple of months down the line,” he added. The CDS made these remarks while addressing an interactive session, with Commander of the US Indo- Pacific Command Admiral John Aquilino, organised by the Observer Research Foundation. Aquilino referred to chal- lenges that India has been fac- ing, specifically with regard to “sovereignty on the Line of Actual Control” as well as the “foundational security con- cerns” in the South China Sea region, in a clear reference to China’s aggressive behaviour. On the latest developments in Afghanistan, Rawat said India is committed to ensuring a terrorist-free environment in the region. “As far as Afghanistan is concerned, we will make sure that any activity likely to flow out of Afghanistan and then find its way into India will be dealt with in the manner in which we have been dealing with terrorism in our country,” he said. ?=BQ =4F34;78 In an effort to prevent the entry of persons with doubt- ful credentials, India will only allow e-visas to Afghan nation- als wanting to come here. This development came amid reports that some Urdu-speak- ing people attacked the Kabul office of an agency and took away Afghan passports with stamped Indian visas. Fearing the misuse of the Indian visas to prepare fake passports that could help ter- rorists enter India, the Government on Wednesday decided with immediate effect to declare all the earlier visas invalid. Those willing to trav- el to India were asked to apply for e-visa only, officials said, adding it is mandatory. “Owing to the prevailing security situation in Afghanistan and streamlining of the visa process by intro- duction of the e-Emergency X- Misc visa, it has been decided that all Afghan nationals henceforth must travel to India only on e-visa,” the Home Ministry said. The directive also said visas issued to all Afghanistan nationals, who are currently not in India stand invalidated. Afghanistan nationals who want to apply for an Indian visa can apply via the Indian Government’s official website: indianvisaonline.gov.in. On the missing passports from the office of an agency handling visas on behalf of India, reports said these could be used by Pakistan-based ter- rorists to enter India. ?C8Q 14898=6 China has established its first diplomaticcontactwith theTalibaninKabulafterthemil- itant group took control of Afghanistan and the two sides now have “smooth and effective communication”,aChineseoffi- cial said on Wednesday. TheTalibanseizedpowerin Afghanistan on August 15, two weeks before the US was set to complete its troop withdrawal after a costly two-decade war. “China and the Afghan Taliban have smooth and effective com- munication and consultation,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesmanWangWenbintolda media briefing here when asked about the talks between the deputy head of the Taliban’s political office Abdul Salam HanafiandChineseAmbassador to Afghanistan Wang Yu in Kabul. “Kabul is naturally an importantplatformandchannel for the two sides to discuss var- ious important matters,” Wang said, without disclosing the details. “We always respect the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Afghanistan,followtheprinciple of non-interference in Afghanistan’sinternalaffairsand adhere to the friendly policy for all the Afghan people,” Wang said. ?=BQ =4F34;78 As schools are gradually reopening amid fear of Covid-19 third wave and lack of vaccines available for schoolchildren under the age of 18, the Government is plan- ning to vaccinate all school- teachers across India on pri- ority before Teacher’s Day on September 5. The Government said it will provide 2 crore addition- al vaccine doses to States to vaccinate teachers. “In addition to the plan to provide vaccines to every State this month, more than 2 crore vaccine doses are being made available. We have requested all the States to try to vaccinate all schoolteachers on priority before Teacher’s Day,” said Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya. Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan too has said that vaccinating teachers will reduce the disruption of the sector that has been hit severely since March last year. :D0A274;;0??0=Q :278 Astaggering high number of 31,445 new cases of Covid-19 were detected in Kerala while 215 persons suc- cumbed to the pandemic on Wednesday. The test positivity rate shot up to 19.03 per cent sending the health workers to a state of confusion. Minister for Health Veena George had told early this week that the State may see daily cases crossing 40,000- mark in the backdrop of the relaxation in Onam holidays. The Department of Health tested 1.65 lakh samples during the last 24 hours. Health work- ers accounted for 123 cases on Wednesday and this has caused serious concern among the medical fraternity. As on Wednesday, 1.7 lakh Covid-19 patients were under treatment in various hospitals across the State. The official death tally stood at 19,972. Ernakulam topped the table of districts with the high- est number of Covid-19 patients (4048). Thrissur (3865), Kozhikode (3680) and Malappuram (3502) logged more than 3,000 new cases. London: Britain on Wednesday warned the Taliban against attempts to coercively seal off Afghanistan from the rest of the world and urged the militant group to keep its borders open. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said attempts by the Taliban to shut down the coun- try could trigger a “refugee cri- sis” once Western forces with- drew from Kabul airport on August 31, as migrants make their way to neighbouring coun- tries. He noted that Afghan bor- der was “rugged and wide- ranging” and that efforts to isolate the country from the rest of the world would fail. PTI 4`gZU* :?:?5:2 CC0;20B4B) !$$%' #$!' 340C7B)#%'%$($ A42E4A43) (' % ! 02C8E4)!'!# 070)%#%'$ :4A0;0)''#!( ##$ :´C0:0)!(#!!$ !!# C=)!%$%# $ 34;78) #$$%$ ?=B Q =4F34;78 The Delhi High Court has to decide the fate of Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana within two weeks. The Supreme Court on Wednesday gave the two-week time frame to the HC to dis- pose of the petition challeng- ing the appointment of Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana as Delhi Police Commissioner, just four days before his retirement as chief of the Border Security Force (BSF). A bench of Chief Justice NV Ramana and Justices DY Chandrachud and Surya Kant said since a plea has already been filed in the High Court, let it give its judgment on the subject. The SC, however, said it would keep pending a PIL filed by advocate Prashant Bhushan on behalf of NGO CPIL, till the HC has given its final order. Detailed report on P4 ?C8Q =4F34;78 An expert committee set up by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has recommended a phase-wise reopening of schools in the national Capital, according to sources. In its report submitted on Wednesday, the panel recom- mended that students from senior classes be called in the first phase followed by the middle-grade students and ulti- mately the primary classes, they said. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said his Government wants the schools to be reopened as soon as pos- sible but is evaluating all factors to ensure the safety of students. “The panel has submitted its report today. The recom- mendations include reopen- ing of schools for all classes but in a phase-wise manner. The report will be studied in detail and a final decision will be taken soon in this regard,” a source said. ?=BQ D108 Aday after a Mahad Taluka court granted him bail in the “tight-slap-slur” case, Union Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Narayan Rane on Wednesday received a further relief in the Bombay High Court, as the Maharashtra Government informed the court that “no coercive action” would be taken against him till September 17 in the FIR reg- istered against him for his remarks against Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. When the case filed by Rane’s lawyers came up for hearing before a HC bench of Justices SS Shinde and NJ Jamadar, Special Counsel for the Maharashtra Government Amit Desai told the court that even in the absence of prop- er documentation of FIRs filed against the Union Minister, he was willing to make a statement at the out- set that “no coercive action” would be taken in the Nashik FIR till the next hearing scheduled for September 17. Desai submitted to the court that the petition filed by Rane’s lawyers challenging the case filed against the Union Minister mentioned the details of only one FIR filed by the Nashik police, while there was mention of details of FIRs filed against the BJP leaders in other police stations in the State. In the absence of the details of all the cases, Desai said it would be difficult for him to proceed in the matter. Earlier, advocate Satish Maneshinde, representing Rane, pressed for no coercive action in the other FIRs, as he apprehended that the police might take action against his client in other FIRs in the interim period. Maneshinde told the HC that there were statements issued in the press, including by State Cabinet Ministers, that “whatever we want to achieve, we have achieved.” EVcc`cWc`^2WhZ]]SVUVR]e+45D *HQHUDO5DZDWXUJHV4XDGWRERRVW VQHUJLQJOREDOZDURQWHUURUVDV ,QGLDVXUSULVHGEUDSLG$IFKDQJH HQWUHWRSURYLGHFU DGGLWLRQDOMDEVWR6WDWHV 5VgV]`a^V_eT`^Vd RWeVc2WaRdda`ced hZeYdeR^aVU:_UZR_ gZdRd]``eVUZ_ReeRT FhRc_dER]ZSR_ RXRZ_dedVR]Z_X2W `WWWc`^h`c]U ?=BQ =4F34;78 The vaccine effectiveness among the frontline work- ers declined from 91 per cent to 66 per cent after the Delta variant of Covid-19 became prevalent in the country, said a study by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. However, what came as a relief was that despite the reg- istered decline, the overall vaccine effectiveness was esti- mated to be 80 per cent in pre- venting infection during the study period. The study was conducted between December 14, 2020, and August 14, 2021. It includ- ed data from 4,217 partici- pants, including healthcare personnel, first responders, and other frontline workers in eight US locations across six States. They were tested week- ly for Covid infection using the RT-PCR method. At least 83 per cent of the participants were vaccinated with Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna-mRNA, and Johnson Johnson’s Janssen vaccines. About two-thirds of those vaccinated had received the Pfizer Inc-BioNTech SE shot, 2 per cent received Johnson Johnson’s, and the rest received the Moderna Inc vaccine. The CDC said the findings of the study should be looked at with caution as the vaccine effectiveness might be declin- ing over time. RYLGFDVHVVKRRWXSLQ .HUDODGLHRQ:HG EVdea`dZeZgZejcReV *$hZeY$%% TRdVd#$YVR]eY h`cVcdeVdegV 3fegRTTZ_ReZ`_dY`hd )!VWWVTeZgV_VddZ_ acVgV_eZ_XZ_WVTeZ`_ -DESRWHQFVLQNHGIURP WRDIWHU'HOWD VSUHDGLQ86VDVVWXG 4V_ecVa]R_de`gRTTZ_ReVR]] dTY``]eVRTYVcdSVW`cVDVae 4YZ_RdVedfaUZa]`^ReZT T`_eRTehZeYER]ZSR_ D4XZgVd#hVV UVRU]Z_Ve`94 e`UVTZUV5V]YZ e`aT`a¶dWReV 'DDIWHUEDLO5DQHJHWV µQRFRHUFLYHDFWLRQ¶SOHGJH RYR8`geZ_W`c^d ZedUVTZdZ`_e`94 330Tg_Tac_P]T[ bdVVTbcb_WPbTfXbT aTbd_cX^]^UbRW^^[ aT^_T]X]VX]3T[WX 0WTP[cWf^aZTaR^[[TRcbbfPQbP_[Tb^UPRWX[SU^a2^eXS (cTbcPcATVX^]P[ 7^b_XcP[X]:d[[d^]FTS]TbSPh ?C8 ,QGLDWRLVVXHRQOHYLVDVWR$I QDWLRQDOVWRSUHYHQWXOWUDV¶HQWU 0]8]SXP]0Xa5^aRTUXVWcTaPXaRaPUc X6! 1Xb^]^]UXaTPUcTaXcRaPbWTS X]1PaTa^]FTS]TbSPh ?C8 CP[XQP]UXVWcTabbTPaRWPeTWXR[TPcPRWTRZ_^X]cX]:PQd[^]FTS]TbSPh 0? D]X^]X]XbcTa=PaPhP]AP]TPSSaTbbTbP?aTbbR^]UTaT]RTPcWXbaTbXST]RTPc 9dWdX]dQPX^]FTS]TbSPh ?C8 ?=BQ 347A03D= The ongoing political drama in Punjab took a new turn on Wednesday as four Ministers and three MLAs of Punjab arrivedinDehraduntomeetthe Congress in-charge of Punjab, Harish Rawat. These leaders are part of the disgruntled group which is demanding removal of Punjab Chief Minister captain Amarinder Singh. Rawat heard their issues and assured to take up their cause with the party high com- mand following which these leaders went back to Punjab. He however told the media persons that Amarinder Singh would remain the CM face in Punjab. Politicaltemperaturessoared in Punjab as the dissident group went into a huddle with Harish Rawat in a hotel in Dehradun. Thedissidentleaderswereledby senior minister Tripat Rajender Singh Bajwa and had ministers Sukhvinder Singh Randhawa, Sukh Sakaria and Charanjeet Channi and MLAs Kulvir Jira, Barinderjeet Pahada and Surinder Dhiman. After the meeting which lastedforthreehours, Rawattold the waiting media persons that four ministers and three MLAs had come to meet him as they had some issues with the func- tioning of the state administra- tion. “All these leaders are hard- core Congressmen and their major concern is the victory of the Congress party in the upcomingassemblyelections.If someCong leadersfeelinsecure andthinkthattheadministration can work against them then it is a serious issue,’’ he said. Rawat added that all these leaders assured that they have full faith in the party. He said that it is necessary thatthepartyfightstheelections unitedly in Punjab. Talking to the media persons, the Punjab higher education minister Charanjeet Channi said that they had a very good meeting withtheAICCgeneralsecretary Harish Rawat. “The meeting took place in a very conducive environment. We informed Rawatji about our issues and he assuredusthathewouldtakeup our cause with the party high command in two to three days. We are satisfied with the meet- ing and going back to our homes. If we are invited to Delhi wewould gothere,’’Channi said. Eµ[XQ^TdgYcdd_ @e^ZQR3_^WbUcc UQTUbcXY`dQ^WU 5^daX]XbcTabcWaTT;0bQT[^]VX]Vc^cWT SXbbXST]cRP_TTc7PaXbWAPfPcX]3TWaPSd] /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=C7DAB30H0D6DBC !%!! *?064B !C! DA@CE# 05A838BC0AB0B ?0:;4E4;B4A84B m m H@C=5) 38=64E4AHC78=68=?F4AC4=BDA4 HDAB054CHF4;;148=6)6DC4AA4B G5C8?E4 CE@@?BD5138 ?D85B*81C8=9 ! F9F139DI @A:?:@?' 58=34?4=34=24 0=3?0AC8C8=
- 2. ]PcX^]! 347A03D=kC7DAB30H k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·VZLOOQRWEHKHOGUHVSRQVLEOHIRUDQNLQGRIFODLPPDGHEWKHDGYHUWLVHUVRIWKHSURGXFWV VHUYLFHVDQGVKDOOQRWEHPDGHUHVSRQVLEOHIRUDQNLQGRIORVVFRQVHTXHQFHVDQGIXUWKHUSURGXFWUHODWHGGDPDJHVRQVXFKDGYHUWLVHPHQWV ?=BQ 1064B7F0A Locals are rejoicing after Almora-based cricketer Ekta Bisht was selected in the Indian women’s cricket team for the upcoming tour of Australia. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had on Tuesday announced the Indian team for India Women's upcoming tour of Australia and included the name of Almora-based cricketer Ekta Bisht. In this tour, the Indian team will play three ODIs, three T-20 matches and one test match. The team will leave for Australia at the end of August and will be quarantined in Australia for 14 days under Covid protocol. The three- match ODI series will start in Sydney from September 19. The second match will be played in Melbourne on September 22 and the third match will also be played in Melbourne on September 24. After this, the Indian team will play its first day-night test match in Perth from September 30. The T-20 matches will be played in Sydney on October 7, 9 and 11. 4cZTVeVc6eR3ZdYe dV]VTeVUW`c2fdecR]ZRe`fc ?=BQ 347A03D= The UPES School of Modern Media has entered into an academic partnership with podcast creation and distribu- tion platform Hubhopper. Hubhopper has been named UPES’s official podcast partner for its podcasting course avail- able within the modern media curriculum. Through this partnership, School of Modern Media fac- ulty will get access to exclusive training workshops on pod- casting conducted by the Hubhopper experts. The stu- dents will participate in exclu- sive training workshops and masterclasses by the Hubhopper team during with they will learn the podcasting skillset, the evolution, future implications, and application of podcasts. UPES School of Modern Media dean Nalin Mehta said, Hubhopper is India's premier audio podcasting platform and we are delighted that our stu- dents will be learning from the best at a time when India's pod- casting revolution is taking off. The way content is pro- duced, consumed and distrib- uted is fundamentally changing and this means that the next generation of communicators must be tech-ready with a 360- degree industry-ready skill set. We are very excited that our students will learn digital audio with Hubhopper studio tools because this will give them a cutting-edge in a fast-evolving media landscape. Talking about the associa- tion, founder and CEO of Hubhopper, Gautam Raj Anand said, “I am excited about this partnership. It is promising to know that pod- casting is being brought into the Indian digital media cur- riculum. With the content space continuously evolving, podcast is the next big thing, and we are grateful to support aspiring content creators in starting their journey into becoming India’s next big pod- caster.” 83(6HQWHUVLQWRDFDGHPLF SDUWQHUVKLSZLWK+XEKRSSHU ?=BQ 347A03D= The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led Uttarakhand gov- ernment has failed to make even a single good government school in the state and even the central government uses the images of Delhi’s school for advertisements. This was alleged by the members of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Uttarakhand while adding that BJP rules in Centre as well as in the State but it still failed to build a good government school. The AAP in Uttarakhand has been promis- ing to provide quality educa- tion in the government schools on the basis of Delhi’s educa- tion model. The Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had also targeted the State govern- ment on his first visit by stat- ing that substandard education is being provided in Uttarakhand which is the major cause of unemployment and immigration here. %-3XVHV'HOKLVFKRRO LPDJHVIRUDGYHUWLVHPHQW DOOHJHV$$3 ?=BQ 347A03D= THDC India Limited has issued Secured Corporate Bonds Series -V with a base size of Rs 400 crore with green shoe option of Rs 800 crore with total issue size amounting to Rs. 1,200 crore having a tenor of 10 years. The bond proceeds shall be used to part- ly meet debt requirement of ongoing and under construc- tion projects. The bidding for the above issue was done on August 23 at THDCIL's NCR office in Ghaziabad in the presence of finance director J Behera, GM (finance) AB Goel, company secretary Rashmi Sharma and BSE representative Hemlata Agarwal. Behera thanked investors for reposing tremendous trust in the company's operational and financial performance and future growth prospects. C7328;aPXbTbR^a_^aPcT Q^]Sb^UC !Ra^aTfXcW (cXTb^eTabdQbRaX_cX^] ?=B=270=3860A7 Former Haryana Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition, Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Wednesday took the “lunch diplomacy” route to bring his bete noires and sup- porters together and send out a message that the party is unit- ed. The senior Congress leader hostedalunchforover200party leaders at his residence here. With the presence of the AICC HaryanainchargeVivekBansal, his bete noires state party chief Kumari Selja and Kiran Chaudhary, current MLAs, for- mer MLAs and MPs among other party leaders at the lun- cheon hosted by him, Hooda once again managed to project himself as one of the most influential Congress leaders in Haryana politics. As the mon- soon session of Haryana Assembly concluded just a day before, most of the party MLAs were present in Chandigarh to attend the lunch, where Hooda’s son and Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Hooda was also pre- sent.Hooda’s “lunch diplomacy” came at a time when the party high command is expected to release the list of appointments at district and block level in the state party unit for strengthen- ing its organisational structure in Haryana. While Hooda maintained that he hosted the lunch for party leaders as he could not meet them for a long time due to COVID-19, the political expertshavetermedthemoveas ashowofstrength.Earlier,itwas in January this year when Hooda, Selja and other promi- nent party leaders had come together during a protest here against central farm laws. Since then, several protests have been held by the Congress but both the factions led by Hooda and Selja have held separate demon- strations across the state against theHaryanaGovernmentonthe issues of the Police paper leak case, rising inflation, unem- ployment and three farm laws. Even as the factionalism in Haryana Congress is not a new phenomenon, the infighting had intensified in July this year when the MLAs loyal to Hooda hadbeguntheircampaigntoget the current state party chief Selja replaced with the former Chief Minister. MLAs, who are Hooda loyalists had met party general secretary KC Venugopal and state party in-charge Vivek Bansal in New Delhi to demand that Hooda, who is currently Leader of Opposition in Haryana, be given the com- mand of the party in the state. +RRGD VOXQFKGLSORPDFEULQJV KLVULYDOVDQGVXSSRUWHUVWRJHWKHU ?=BQ 270=3860A7 Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij on Wednesday said that out of the total calls received in the first 1000 hours on “112 Emergency Response Support System” from July 13 onwards, 66861 calls were from people who needed help. “Out of these 56113 emer- gency vehicles were sent to the spot for assistance. 52393 callers had requested for police assistance, 5860 for ambulance services and 455 for fire ser- vices. Among the total dispatch calls, there were also multi-ser- vice dispatches in which mul- tiple services were dispatched by the system on a single call,” the Minister said. He said that Haryana Police has fixed the time limit to reach the caller within 15 to 20 minutes, but the policemen posted on ERV provided police help on an average of 16 minutes 28 seconds. A total of 470189 callers called for assistance through actionable calls at the State Emergency Response Centre, Panchkula between July 13 and August 23, he added. Vij urged the citizens to immediately call on 112 for police assistance and infor- mation of criminal offenses at any time. Giving more details in this regard, he said that positive results have been seen from this new initiative. Due to ERV, the police presence has increased in the state, due to which the sense of security among the citizens has been enhanced, as well as the criminals and anti-social elements fear police even more. Referring to some inci- dents, Vij said that a car robbed by three persons from New Delhi was immediately caught by the team of Haryana 112 in Jhajjar district. The team of Haryana 112 not only recovered the stolen vehicle but also managed to nab the three thieves. ?^[XRTPbbXbcP]RTaTPRWTS $% _T^_[TX]cWTUXabc W^dab^] !)EXY =8B7D07090=Q 270=3860A7 In a bid to streamline the set- ting up of ventures like amusement parks, 5-star hotels, resorts in agriculture zones of the state, the BJP-JJP led Haryana Government has come out with a new change of land use (CLU) policy. The policy, approved by the Governor, has been for- mulated by the Town and Country Planning Department. The new policy, which is framed in continuation to the government’s guidelines issued last year for granting permission for a CLU to establish projects like drive-in theatres, sports academies and banquet halls outside municipal limits, will keep a check on haphazard growth of illegal buildings in agriculture zones besides boosting invest- ments. Keeping in view the inter- est of landowners and investors, who are keen to set up such projects, the policy defines parameters like min- imum and maximum area for setting up these projects, commercial component, max- imum ground coverage, floor area ratio and access norms. “After careful considera- tion by the State Government, the policy for granting CLU in a controlled area for setting up of a restaurant, motel, hotel, resort, amusement park and theme park in the agri- culture zone has been framed. For such projects, the access permission is required from NHAI, if the site is located on national highway whereas if the site is located on sched- uled road then the permission is required from XEN, PWD (BR),” the policy stated. The policy allows setting up a resort, amusement park or theme park in the agricul- ture zone in a minimum area of 2.5 acres while there is no limit for maximum area. The floor area ratio allowed is 0.5 and the maximum ground coverage is 30 percent while the commercial component will be 15 percent. The conversion charges for the area under 15 per- cent commercial compo- nent of the amusement park will be charged at commer- cial rates and for the balance area, conversion charges applicable for recreational use shall be charged. For setting up a 5-star hotel, the policy allows a minimum area of 4 acres while maximum area will be 10 acres. The floor area ratio allowed is 0.75, the maximum ground coverage is 30 percent while the commercial com- ponent will be 15 percent. For motel or hotel along the national highways and scheduled roads with or with- out banquet facilities, the policy allows a minimum area of 2000 sqm and a max- imum of 5 acre area while allowing floor area ratio of 1.0, maximum ground cov- erage of 30 percent and the commercial component of 15 percent. Similarly, for setting up hotels other than located abutting national highways and scheduled roads, mini- mum area allowed will be one acre, maximum would be three acres with maximum ground coverage of 40 per- cent while other norms remain the same. The minimum area allowed for constructing a restaurant in agriculture zone will be 1000 Sqm, while max- imum is 2000 Sqm with max- imum ground coverage of 30 percent, 1.0 floor area ratio and commercial component of 15 percent. As per the policy, the parking facility for vehicles has to be made available within the premises. Notably, the State Government had recently released another new policy for granting CLU for setting up of the industrial clusters and units in the agricultural zones across the state. ?=BQ 270=3860A7 Sanjha-Sunehra Punjab Manch was launched at a function here in which Convenor and Founder K.C. Singh and Secretary of the Forum Col. L.J.S. Gill, besides 14 other co-founders were pre- sent. They are individuals from diverse fields, in which they have excelled and have exten- sive experience in social uplift- ment. Former Ambassador K C Singh (Krishan Chander Singh), Indian Foreign Service (Retd), was Envoy to the UAE and Iran.He was also Additional Secretary (International Organisations) Coordinator Counter Terrorism in the Ministry of External Affairs, finally rising to the post of Secretary, Economic Relations. Speaking at the launch event, he said, the Manch wants to focus on chal- lenges facing Punjab today and take to the people their views. The aim is to solicit the reac- tion of Punjab residents, both in urban and rural areas. The Manch, he said, hopes to voice the outcome of this interactive dialogue. The critical issues facing Punjab include, farmers’ agita- tion against farm laws; agrari- an crisis due to dependence on rice-wheat cycle and its impact on water table, environment etc.; low agricultural growth and deficient investment in industry. He added, then there are issues like poor education facilities, healthcare facilities and housing facilities. K C Singh said “This plat- form will work towards finding solutions to the pressing issues facing the people of Punjab. We will offer our solutions, but more importantly go to the people and seek their advice. We wish to become the voice of all Punjabis “He said, Punjab needs a second Green Revolution , where new mar- kets are created , and farmers ensured dignity and financial prosperity “ 6DQMKD6XQHKUD3XQMDE ODXQFKHGIRUDJROGHQ IXWXUHRI3XQMDE ?=BQ 270=3860A7 In an unusual case of admin- istration’s apathy in Haryana, a family has received the death certificate of their relative after a wait of 25 years. The death certificate was issued when a family member lodged a complaint at CM window regarding the same. The OSD to the Chief Minister, Bhupeshwar Dayal, who is monitoring the CM window said, Dulichand, a res- ident of village Ghoshgarh, Farukhnagar in Gurugram dis- trict had lodged a complaint that on September 26, 1996, his brother-in-law Deshraj died in a Haryana transport bus accident. Even after deducting NOC, his death certificate was not received for 25 years. He had lodged a complaint at CM Window regarding the same. Dayal informed that the complaint number 29987 of the applicant was uploaded on the CM window on April 1, 2021, and taking immediate action, the civil hospital of Gurugram was informed in this regard. The hospital authorities and municipal officials searched the records for the year 1996 and issued the death certificate of the deceased Deshraj to the applicant on August 16, 2021. The complainant has with- drawn his complaint expressing satisfaction over the action of the hospital and the govern- ment. The applicant admitted that he was tired of going to the Civil Hospital, Gurugram and Municipal Corporation office, for the last 25 years. Someone had suggested him to register his complaint at the CM Window. 3TPcWRTacXUXRPcTaTRTXeTSPUcTa!$ hTPabcWa^dVW7PahP]P2fX]S^f CWT_^[XRh P__a^eTSQhcWT 6^eTa]^aWPb QTT]U^ad[PcTS QhcWTC^f]P]S 2^d]cah?[P]]X]V 3T_PacT]c 7PahP]P³b]Tf_^[XRhP[[^fbbTccX]Vd_^U $bcPaW^cT[bPdbTT]c_PaZbX]PVaXi^]T
- 3. dccPaPZWP]S 347A03D=kC7DAB30H k0D6DBC !%!! ?=BQ 347A03D= Following disruption and damage caused by heavy rain in Dehradun on Tuesday night and Wednesday, the dis- trict administration said that it will pay admissible relief amounts to about 500 families whose properties got damaged due to the flooding following incessant rain. Considering the orange alert issued by the state meteorological centre in the district till August 28, the dis- trict magistrate R Rajesh Kumar has also issued orders to shift the people residing near rivers to safer places. Due to heavy rainfall in surrounding hill areas along with the incessant rain in Dehradun, water was over- flowing on the roads in various areas of the city including IT Park, Canal Road, Kishan Nagar Chowk, Clock Tower, Sahastradhara Road, Raipur and Khabadwala among others. Due to the overflowing water streets in areas like Karnpur, Survey Chowk, Dalanwala, Salawala, Chukhuwala, Raipur Road, Hathibarkala, Rajpur and Kandoli also resulted in water entering houses in these areas late on Tuesday night. The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) also rescued about 12 people stuck in the building of the State Health Authority in IT Park due toheavy rainfall lateon Tuesday night. A cloud burst was also reported near Santala Devi temple in Khabadwala in the wee hours of Wednesday. Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and cabinet minister Ganesh Joshi visited Khabadwala on Wednesday and distributed relief material to the affected villagers. Besides this, some embankments and portionsofhomesalsocollapsed near the Rispana river in Adhoiwala and Panchpuri area due to the heavy rainfall. Overflowing streets were observed on Wednesday too in many parts of the city. The dis- aster management control room of the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) also received over 15 complaints from sever- al areas like Vijay Park, Dobhalwala, Kesarwala and IT Park among others since late night on Tuesday. According to the control room operator, most of these complaints were about waterlogged streets and the rainwater mixed with debris entering into many houses. Teams were extracting water from waterlogged streets and houses till late evening. Talking about the situation of the city on Wednesday, the Dehradun sub divisional magistrate (SDM) Gopal Ram Binwal said that all the teams are on full alert mode for any possible disaster in the city. He said that a few people living under the Bindal Bridge were also shifted to safer places. He informed that due to incessant rain since Tuesday night, water entered in about 500 houses of the city damaging some belongings of the families but there was no loss of lives and serious prop- erty damage in any area. He said that the administration has started the process of paying the quick relief amount to all such families f r o m Wednesday. The DM has also issued orders for all SDMs and city magistrates on Wednesday to start the process of shifting people residing near the rivers to safer places. He has direct- ed the officials to provide dry ration and food packets to the affected families across the district too. ?=BQ 347A03D= Even as heavy rain caused considerable disruption in Dehradun on Tuesday night and Wednesday, the state mete- orological centre has issued an alert regarding the possibility of heavy to very heavy rainfall with intense spells likely to occur at isolated places in Dehradun, Haridwar, Pauri, Nainital, Udham Singh Nagar, Champawat, Bageshwar and Pithoragarh districts on Thursday. Thunderstorms accompanied with lightning are likely to occur at isolated places in these districts. Further, light to moderate rain/thundershowers likely to occur at most places in Dehradun, Haridwar, Pauri, Nainital, Udham Singh Nagar, Champawat, Bageshwar and Pithoragarh districts and at a places in the remaining districts of the state. In Dehradun, heavy to very heavy rain/thun- dershowers are likely to occur in some areas while the maxi- mum and minimum tempera- tures are likely to be about 30 degrees Celsius and 25 degrees Celsius respectively. Meanwhile, about 89 millime- tres of rain was recorded in Dehradun from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM on Wednesday caus- ing considerable disruption in various areas of the city and suburbs. A total of 88 motor roads are blocked in various districts. According to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC), a total of eight rural motor roads are currently blocked in Dehradun district. In Uttarkashi district, the national highways to Gangotri and Yamunotri are open while three rural motor roads are blocked. The national highway to Badrinath is open in Chamoli district though the Joshimath-Malari state high- way and six rural motor roads are blocked. Two state high- ways, four main district roads and 29 rural motor roads are blocked in Pauri district while in Tehri district the Rishikesh- Srinagar/Badrinath national highway 58 is blocked by debris near Totaghati apart from nine rural motor roads also blocked in the district. Similarly, three rural motor roads are blocked in Bageshwar district and five in Nainital. The Tanakpur- Champawat national highway is blocked at Swala while four rural motor roads are also blocked in Champawat. In Pithoragarh district, three bor- der roads and nine rural motor roads are blocked. +HDYUDLQDOHUWLVVXHGIRUHLJKWGLVWULFWV ?=BQ 347A03D= The Uttarakhand Assembly passed the supplementary Budget of Rs 5,720 crore on the third day of Monsoon Session on Wednesday. The Assembly also passed supplementary Budget demands of different government departments on the day. The proceedings of the day started with the mem- bers of the Congress party demanding discussion under rule 310 on unemployment. The Speaker however allowed discussion on unemployment under rule 58. The House also passed the IMS Unison University (amendment) bill, the DIT university (amendment) bill and Uttarakhand Goods and Service Tax (GST) (amend- ment) bill 2020-21 on the day. The Congress party also brought two private member bills in the assembly on Wednesday. The Kedarnath MLA, Manoj Rawat brought a private member bill on land laws while Dharchula MLA Harish Dhami brought a pri- vate bill on Devasthanam management board. However both these bills were rejected by a voice vote. In response to a question during the question hour, the labour minister Harak Singh said that 25,327 migrants had registered in the portal of Uttarakhand government dur- ing the pandemic period. While replying to another question, Rawat said that the power department received 64,913 complaints in the year 2019-20 regarding faulty meter reading and out of them 58,584 were disposed of. He assured that the process of recovery would not be initi- ated against the consumers till their complaints on faulty bills are disposed of. On the concern of the members the minister said that a penalty would be imposed on the agency concerned if the com- plaint of faulty billing is found correct. He added that the licence of the agency would be black- listed if three complaints against it are found correct. In response to a question regarding the menace of mon- keys in the mountainous areas, the environment and forest minister Harak Singh Rawat said that the depart- ment has caught 48,000 mon- keys in the last four years and out of them 38,000 were ster- ilised. The Jhabreda MLA, Deshraj Karnwal raised the plight of the sanitation work- ers and said that since the gov- ernment has dissolved their posts they are being exploited by the contractors. The urban development minister said that more than ten thousand sanitation work- ers are working in government departments. On the sugges- tion of the Dharmanpur MLA, Vinod Chamoli that a separate cadre for the sanitation work- ers should be created in the state, the minister said that matter would be examined by the government. F¶YR_U2ddV^S]jaRddVddfaa]V^V_eRcj3fUXVe`WC(#!Tc`cV ?=BQ 9B780C7 The Joshimath-Malari state highway which leads to the Indo-China border area has not yet been reopened for traffic 12 days after it was blocked by debris in Chamoli district. The army, Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and residents of the border area are using the alternative bridle path while the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is working to reopen the highway. This important road was blocked by landslide between Suraithota and Tamak on August 14 which has also dis- rupted electricity supply to 14 villages in the border region. Reaching Joshimath from Dronagiri, the Gram Pradhan Rudra Singh said that many of the villagers are unwell. There is an ANM centre at Ruving but that is locked. The sub divi- sional magistrate Kumkum Joshi said that communications have been restored till Malari while the ANM and pharma- cist have been directed to reach their post in Dronagiri. Meanwhile, Thakur Singh Rana continued his hunger strike unto death for the third day on Wednesday demanding improvement of facilities in the border areas. He was later taken to the community health centre after his condition dete- riorated. ?=BQ 347A03D= The issue of grade pay of police personnel drew heated exchanges between the members of opposition and treasury benches on the third day of the monsoon session of Uttarakhand assembly. Raising the issue under rule 58, the leader of opposition (LoP) Pritam Singh said that the grade pay of the police personnel of the state has been reduced to Rs 2,800. The deputy leader of Congress party in Uttarakhand assem- bly, Karan Mahra also criti- cised the government for being insensitive towards the police personnel. In his response the agri- culture minister and chairman of the cabinet subcommittee on the subject Subodh Uniyal said that orders were issued on the grade pay of police per- sonnel during the Congress government and the BJP gov- ernment is trying to correct things. He said that the issue is pending in the cabinet sub- committee and the govern- ment would take the decision on the basis of the report of the committee. It is pertinent to mention here that resentment is sim- mering in the ranks of the Uttarakhand police on the issue of grade pay. Under the new plan a grade pay of Rs 1,800 would be given to Sepoy on completion of 20 years of service. Earlier a grade pay of Rs 4,600 was given to Sepoy on completion of 20 years of service. RQJDWWDFNV*RYWRQJUDGHSD UHGXFWLRQRISROLFHSHUVRQQHO ?=BQ 347A03D= The government was left red faced in the house on the third day of the monsoon ses- sion when members of the opposition pointed towards errors in the written answers provided to them. The gaffe of the officials came to the fore in the first question during the question hour when the Kedarnath MLA Manoj Rawat pointed that in answer of a question raised by him on the second day has been pasted in the sheet of the written answers in response to a dif- ferent question posed by him on Wednesday. A hassled parliamentary affairs minister Banshidhar Bhagat took time to under- stand the error. The speaker then ruled that the first ques- tion would be taken after the second one. The Manglaur MLA, Qazi Nizamuddin who asked the second question claimed that wrong data was provided by the authorities in the answer. Nizamuddin had asked about the target taken up by the state government for the procurement of paddy. In his response Bhagat said that a target of 15 lakh metric tonnes has been taken for paddy in the year 2021-22 and last year 10 lakh metric tonnes was procured. He added that the gov- ernment has set up 247 pur- chase centres for paddy in the state. Nizamuddin claimed that 247 centres cannot pro- cure 15 lakh tonnes of paddy in one month and said that either the data provided is incorrect or there is a major scam in the whole process. He claimed that a scam of Rs 290 crore has occurred in the procurement of paddy and the government should inves- tigate the issue. 4aa^aX]_aX]cTSP]bfTab PZTbBcPcT6^eTa]T]c d]R^U^acPQ[TX]0bbTQ[h ?=BQ 347A03D= In a major relief for more than 1.5 lakh of state government employees and equal number of pensioners, the Uttarakhand government has removed the freeze imposed on their Dearness Allowance (DA). The employees would now get 28 per cent DA. The Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami made the announcement in the state assembly on Wednesday. The CM said that the DA of state government employees would be increased by 11 per cent. The increased DA would be paid from September this year. It is worth mentioning here that the state government had imposed a freeze on the DA of the employees in April last year in view of the financial cri- sis precipitated by contagion of Covid -19. The union govern- ment had recently removed the freeze and had hiked the DA by 11 per cent. After this the var- ious employee organizations of Uttarakhand were demanding removal of the freeze on DA. Reacting to the development the association of secretariat employees has thanked CM Dhami. The president of the association Deepak Joshi said that the employees were demanding removal of DA from quite some time and by accepting the demand the CM Dhami has shown his qualities. EddQbQ[XQ^T7_fd bU]_fUc41VbUUjU XY[UcYdRi!! A^PSc^Q^aSTaPaTPaTPX]bQ[^RZTS^] !cWSPh ?=BQ =08=8C0; Expressing dissatisfaction at the Ministry of Civil Aviation not presenting its stand for about eight months in the Public Interest Litigation filed against pro- posed construction of a green- field airport on land of the Pantnagar university, the Uttarakhand high court has directed the ministry’s secre- tary to appear in person on September 15 and submit the response. The direction was issued by the bench of chief justice RS Chauhan and justice Alok Kumar Verma. In the PIL filed by Pantnagar resident KK Pasi, it is stated that the said airport is proposed to be built in the middle of the university. It is contended that this will not only threaten the existence of the university but also make it inconvenient for people to access the air- port. The petitioner has sought that the proposed air- port be constructed on vacant barren land either in Nainital or Udham Singh Nagar dis- trict instead. LYLO$YLDWLRQVHFUHWDU WRSUHVHQWVWDQGLQ+ 7TPehaPX]RPdbTbPY^aSXbad_cX^]X]_Pacb^U3^^] ?=BQ 347A03D= Men are generally consid- ered to indulge more often in substance abuse but there has also been a consid- erable rise in the number of women engaging in substance abuse in the past few years in Uttarakhand. Among other factors, the gender gap is also decreasing in illicit drug use along with alcohol and tobac- co consumption by women across the State. According to clinical psychologist Dr Mukul Sharma, most of the women indulging in substance abuse and consumption of other intoxicants are young and their number is constantly rising with time. He revealed that the International Institute of Psychometric Counselling (IIPC) conducted a survey across the State in the year 2017 in which no prominent issues of women involved in sub- stance abuse were discovered at that time. In 2018, the survey disclosed that seven per cent women in the State were using drugs and intoxicants like tobacco and alcohol and this percentage rose to 17 per cent in 2020. Out of these 17 per cent women, 1.3 per cent women were found to be ped- dlers too, informed Sharma. He revealed that most of the women involved in such addic- tions belong to the age group of late teens to mid-20s. Experts opined that the percentage of men involved in substance abuse is still more but women involved in such addictions appear to suffer more severe consequences physically as well as psycho- logically. They asserted that the stig- ma and prejudice against women who are involved in substance abuse are worse than those faced by the men involved in it which makes the quitting process difficult for most women. Many parents try to get their sons to recover from drug addiction and make all the possible attempts to provide them with proper counselling and other aids but the same cannot be said for women. Parents feel ashamed of such daughters and try to hide it rather than providing the proper help. They try to marry off their daughters immediately in order to maintain their image in society,” stated Sharma. Talking about the cause of the recent hike in the number of women involved in consumption of illicit drugs, alcohol and tobac- co, psychotherapist Aditi Arora said that now more women are stepping out of their homes, becoming financially indepen- dent and getting exposed to various things in society and good and bad exposure is part of the same thing. She said that today's generation wants to escape reality due to stress and certain issues in their life by using drugs and most of the women involved in drugs are part of the same generation. Arora also stated that if there is a psychological void inside a person, he or she will be attracted to drugs and might probably use them to escape reality irrespective of their rela- tionship with their parents. However, she added that parental support surely helps an addict to get better. She said that the authorities should keep running regular pro- grammes against the use of illicit drugs, alcohol and tobac- co to raise awareness among the young generation in schools and colleges. The government can run such programmes in association with some big com- panies under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to raise awareness with proper moni- toring throughout the year, said Arora. ^aTf^T]X]Sd[VX]VX]bdQbcP]RTPQdbTTeTahhTPa)Tg_Tacb CWTVT]STaVP_XbP[b^ STRaTPbX]VX]X[[XRXc SadVdbTP[^]VfXcW P[R^W^[P]Sc^QPRR^ R^]bd_cX^]Qhf^T] PRa^bbcWTBcPcT CWTD]X^]6^eTa]T]c WPSaTRT]c[haT^eTS cWTUaTTiTP]SWPS WXZTScWT30Qh _Ta RT]c
- 4. ]PcX^]# 347A03D=kC7DAB30H k0D6DBC !%!! A0:4B7:B8=67Q =4F34;78 The Union Home Ministry has directed the CRPF to take immediate action for incorporating the provision of Security Force Court “as avail- able in Acts and Rules of other CAPFS” for expediting disci- plinary action against Group ‘A’ officers. The move comes as the CRPF takes “undue long time” in finalisation of disci- plinary cases against cadre officers. In communication titled “Disciplinary action against Group A officers of CRPF” on Monday sent to the Inspector General (Personnel) of CRPF and Legal Officer of the Ministry, the Centre under- scored that the officers are gov- erned by the provisions of Central Civil Service (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965. “It has been observed that the disciplinary cases being ini- tiated against Group ‘A’ officers of CRPF take a very long time to reach the finalisation and a large number of such cases pertain to unauthorised absence/desertion from duty,” reads the communication. In forces like Border Security Force (BSF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Indo- Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), there is a provision for Security Force Court where disciplinary action is concluded in a short period of time. “Undue long time in final- isation of disciplinary cases of CRPF has been viewed seri- ously by the competent author- ity. The competent authority has, therefore, been directed that CRPF may include the provision of Security Force Court as available in the Acts and Rules of other CAPFs (Central Armed Police Forces) for initiating disciplinary action against delinquent offi- cers, so that such cases are finalised within minimum time,” the Ministry said in its letter. The Ministry directed its legal officer to coordinate with the CRPF for incorporating the provision of SFC for expedi- tious disciplinary action against the officers. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is an armed force of the Union under the Home Ministry and the Acts and Rules are akin to the defence forces which provide for an in-house court for tak- ing timely disciplinary action. While officials welcomed the move to set up the SFC, a section of other officials said it is a ploy against the cadre offi- cials liable to be exploited by the IPS officers deputed to the CRPF. Retired senior officials of the CRPF said the provision of the SFC must apply uniform- ly to the Group ‘A’ or cadre offi- cers, IPS officers and other ranks to strengthen the culture of discipline in the Force by swiftly taking action against erring officials. A section of serving offi- cials said there is an actual requirement of setting tri- bunals on the lines of the Armed Forces Tribunals for adjudication of disputes arising out of administrative deci- sions of the Force impacting the personnel. ?=BQ =4F34;78 The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Delhi High Court to decide within two weeks the plea pending before it challenging the appointment of Rakesh Asthana as the Delhi Police Commissioner. The Special Bench com- prising Chief Justice N V Ramana and justices D Y Chandrachud and Surya Kant permitted Prashant Bhushan headed NGO, ‘Centre for Public Interest Litigation’ (CPIL), to move the Delhi High Court to intervene in the pending plea against Asthana’s appointment. Supreme Court also directed to list the matter to another Bench after two weeks as the petition narrated Chief Justice’s observation against Asthana during CBI Director’s selection. The 1984-batch IPS officer Asthana was shifted to the Union cadre from Gujarat cadre and appointed Commissioner on July 27 -- four days before his superan- nuation on July 31 -- for a tenure of one year. The petition, moved by advocate Prashant Bhushan, urged the court to set aside the Centre’s order to appoint Asthana after extending his ser- vice period. The CJI Ramana expressed his inability to hear the PIL saying, “I had expressed my views during the selection of CBI Director”. “There are two issues. One is about my participation... I had expressed views about the selection of this gentleman in the CBI Director selection. Second thing...As somebody has filed a petition in the High Court, rightly or wrongly. We understand that time is of the essence of the matter. So, we will fix a time limit of two weeks for the high court to decide the case and we will have the benefit of the high court judgment also,” CJI Ramana said. Bhushan alleged foul play saying sometimes “ambush petitions” by simply resorting to “cut-paste” are filed in col- lusion with the government. The bench gave Bhushan the liberty to intervene in the pending petition or file a fresh one before the high court. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, opposed the PIL saying the matter pertained to the appointment of police chief of a state and the high court con- cerned should deal with it. He said the high court may be granted some more time instead of two weeks as so far no notice has been issued to the Centre which will have to file its response. ³3TRXSTfXcWX]!fTTZb_[TPRWP[[T]VX]V 0bcWP]P´bP__^X]cT]cPb3T[WXc^_R^_´ ?=BQ =4F34;78 The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that it will likely pass a comprehen- sive order next week on the batch of petitions related to Pegasus Snoopgate. The Bench, headed by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, said this while hearing a plea chal- lenging the decision of the West Bengal Government to set up of a two-member Commission of Inquiry head- ed by retired Supreme Court judge, Justice Madan Lokur to probe into allegations sur- rounding use of Pegasus by Government of India. “We are saying that next week we will pass a compre- hensive order,” the Bench remarked. The plea filed by a Global Village Foundation Public Charitable Trust, argued through noted lawyer Harish Salve challenged the decision of the Mamata Banerjee Government to probe Pegasus by way of a judicial commission. Judges said that they will hear the plea next week along with other petitions related to the matter seeking probe into the scandal. Salve, appearing for the trust, said that the commission of inquiry should not proceed with the probe till the Supreme Court hears the plea next week. Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the West Bengal Government, initially opposed the same. The Courtsaid that it will be passing a comprehensive order next week and if the Lokur commission proceeds in the meanwhile, then the Supreme Court will be forced to pass orders today. 6:LOOOLNHOSDVV FRPSUHKHQVLYHRUGHU RQ3HJDVXVQH[WZHHN CWTQT]RWVPeT 1WdbWP]cWT[XQTach c^X]cTaeT]TX]cWT _T]SX]V_TcXcX^]^a UX[TPUaTbW^]T QTU^aTcWTWXVW R^dac ?=BQ =4F34;78 Ahead of assembly polls in sugarcane producing states Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday increased the minimum price sugar mills pay to sugarcane growers by C5 per quintal to C 290 a quintal for the next mar- keting year 2021-22 starting from October amid protests by sugarcane grower farmers. The decision will benefit around 5 crore sugarcane farmers and their dependents, as well as about 5 lakh workers employed in sugar mills and related ancil- lary activities. The govern- ment has ruled out any imme- diate increase in the selling price of sugar. Briefing the media after the Cabinet meeting, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal said the FRP has been increased to C290 per quintal for a basic recovery rate of 10 per cent. He said a premium of C2.90/quintal will be provided for each 0.1 per cent increase in recovery over and above 10 per cent. There will be a reduction in FRP by C 2.90/quintal for every 0.1 per cent decrease in recovery. To protect the interest of farmers, Goyal said the gov- ernment has decided that there would be no deduction where recovery is below 9.5 per cent. “Such farmers will get C275.50 per quintal for sugarcane in ensuing sugar season 2021-22 in place of C270.75 per quintal in the current sugar season 2020- 21,” the minister said. The central government announces the FRP, the mini- mum price that mills have to pay to cane growers, every year before start of the sugarcane crushing season. However, many state governments, including Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, have been announcing their sugarcane rates (state advised price or SAP) over and above the FRP. The government had fixed sug- arcane FRP at C285 per quintal for the current 2020-21 mar- keting year. The cost of production of sugarcane for the sugar season 2021-22 is C155 per quintal. The FRP of C290 per quintal at a recovery rate of 10 per cent is higher by 87 per cent over pro- duction cost, he said, adding that sugar cane farming is more remunerative than other crops. ?=BQ =4F34;7 The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday said it has carried out search opera- tions at 8 premises of human hair merchants/exporters in Hyderabad and in West Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh under Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). The FEMA probe is an outcome of the Chinese online betting racket. During the money laun- dering investigation by ED against Chinese Online Betting Applications, it was noticed that hawala payments to the tune of Rs 16 crore were paid to human hair merchants. Consequently, FEMA investi- gation was initiated against the hair merchants based in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. During the FEMA investi- gation by ED, it was found that many domestic merchants were aggregating and selling the raw hair to foreign merchants based in Hyderabad, Guwahati and Kolkata. The hair was then smuggled out of India by road via points at Moreh (Manipur), Zokhawthar (Mizoram), Aizawl (Mizoram) to Mandalay (Myanmar). Ultimately, it finds its way to China, where these are labeled as domestic Chinese hair and processed, the agency said in a statement. Through such transactions, the Chinese traders were able to avoid import duty of 28 percent at the time of import and also earn 8 per cent export incen- tives at the time of export, by claiming smuggled Indian hair as Chinese hair. Many Indian exporters are also suspected to be under-valuing the exported human hair in terms of value/quality to evade import duties in the recipient country, it said. During the search opera- tion, the ED has seized 12 mobile phones, three laptops, one computer, handwritten dairies, ‘kacha’ account books and loose sheets containing incriminating information. Total unaccounted cash of Rs 2.90 crore was also seized from the possession of the hair merchants. These exporters/merchants could not explain the source of the seized cash found at their premises. Further, it was also found that two Hyderabad-based mer- chants had received Rs 3.38 crore for domestic sale to Northeast merchants through illegal Chinese App (Linkyun Technology Private Limited and Dokypay Technology Private Limited) in the compa- ny’s Paytm accounts. It was also noticed that few Myanmar citizens are perma- nently stationed in Hyderabad and are purchasing human hair locally for exporting it to Myanmar by using the IEC code of Indian persons/entities at under-valued prices. The difference amount is settled either locally or through hawala channels, it further said. The ED is analyzing the purchase and sale/export prices and quality. Prima facie it is sus- pected that human hair export- ed to Myanmar, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Austria among other such countries are under- invoiced. Evidence has further revealed that some entities have been receiving payments against sale of human hair in the bank account of their employees and subsequently cash is withdrawn and handed over to their owners. BdVPaRP]TVa^fTabc^VTcC!( _Ta`dX]cP[Ua^X[[^f]Tab 43aPXSb'_aTXbTb^U WdP]WPXaTg_^acTab ?=BQ =4F34;7 The CBI has filed a chargesheet before a desig- nated court at Jaipur against 18 accused including a Chartered Accountant, businessman, other private persons and offi- cials of Syndicate Bank besides three private firms in a bank fraud case of C209 crore. The CBI had registered a case on March 23, 2017 on a complaint from Syndicate Bank, Regional office, Jaipur against six private persons including the Chartered Accountant, a builder, two AGMs of Syndicate Bank, two Chief Managers and other unknown public servants/pri- vate persons. It was alleged in the com- plaint that 118 loan accounts were sanctioned and disbursed by three branches of Syndicate Bank. These loan accounts were housing loan accounts, term loan accounts for pur- chase of commercial property of World Trade Park (WTP), overdraft limits and Foreign Letter of Credits. It was further alleged that Udaipur-based Chartered Accountant Bharat Bomb along-with his employees and others hatched a conspiracy with the branch officials of MI Road and Malviya Nagar branches in Jaipur and anoth- er one at Udaipur and got var- ious credit facilities sanc- tioned. The accused thereby cheated the bank to the tune of C209.93 crore on the basis of forged and fabricated doc- uments, bills, quotations and certificates. It was also alleged that several of the borrowers were found to be ordinary employees in firms owned by the accused CA and others who were not eligible for such high value loans. $RWKHUV ERRNHGLQCFU EDQNIUDXGFDVH ?=BQ =4F34;78 The number of adults living with hypertension world- wide has doubled over the past three decades, with over 30 per cent of Indians suffering from high blood pressure, according to a mega study published in The Lancet journal Wednesday. What was more disturbing was that nearly half of the peo- ple studied — 41 per cent women and 51 per cent men — in 2019 were unaware of their condition, it said adding as many as 53 per cent of the women and 62 per cent of the men with the condition were not treated. The number of people suf- fering from hypertension has increased to 626 million women and 652 million men in 2019, from an estimated 331 million women and 317 million men in 1990, said the researchers after analyzing blood pressure mea- surements over three decades from more than 100 million people in 184 countries. Costa Rica, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Brazil, Turkey, and Iran were among the coun- tries that have seen significant improvements in treatment and control rates over the past three decades, the researchers said. This, according to the researchers, shows that the expansion of universal health coverage and strengthening primary care have been instru- mental in improving hyper- tension care and reducing the severity of the condition. Canada and Peru had the lowest proportion of people with hypertension in 2019 at around 1 in 4. Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, and some coun- tries in western Europe — including Switzerland, Spain, and the UK — were found to have the lowest hypertension rates among women, while Eritrea, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and the Solomon Islands had the lowest rates among men (less than 25 per cent). At the other extreme, more than half of the women studied in Paraguay and Tuvalu in 2019 were found to have hyperten- sion. Among men, this was the case in Argentina, Paraguay, Tajikistan and several countries in central and eastern Europe (i.e. Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Romania, Belarus, and Croatia). High blood pressure, one of the leading risk factors for stroke, heart disease, and kid- ney disease, is linked to more than 8.5 million deaths world- wide each year, the study said. Past studies have shown that lowering blood pressure can reduce the number of strokes by 35-40 per cent, heart attacks by 20-25 per cent, and heart failure by around 50 per cent. “Despite medical and pharmacological advances over decades, global progress in hypertension management has been slow, and the vast majority of people with hypertension remain untreat- ed, with large disadvantages in low- and middle-income countries,” Majid Ezzati, a professor at Imperial College London and the senior author of the study, said in a state- ment accompanying the study. 8]SXP]bbdUUTaX]VUa^ Wh_TacT]bX^]UX]SbbcdSh ?=BQ =4F34;78 The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Wednesday break monsoon conditions are prevailing result- ing in poor rainfall over most parts of central, western and north India. These regions are likely to see subdued rainfall in the next four days while the eastern part of the country is likely to see an increase in rain- fall activity. Month of August has seen a long ‘break’ in the 1st fort- night, depriving rainfall over the core monsoon area mostly cov- ering central parts of the coun- try. Pan India rainfall deficien- cy was on the rise throughout and has reached an alarming figure of 10%. Of the 694 dis- tricts, 250 received deficient rainfall. The number of districts that received normal rainfall is 288. The excess rainfall received by 120, 26 witnessed large excess rainfall and 16 large deficient rainfall. “The current spell of break condition will be short lived and is going to be over soon. Monsoon activity will revive shortly with a decent spread of rain over the eastern, central and northern parts of the coun- try,” the IMD said. The IMD said the entire monsoon trough lies close to the foothills of the Himalayas. It is likely to remain there till August 26. “Subdued rainfall activity is likely to con- tinue over the northwest, cen- tral India and west coast during the next four days,” the IMD said. Heavy rainfall was con- fined to some parts of East Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Sub Himalayan West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya andArunachalPradesh.Isolated locations in Tamil Nadu also experienced moderate to heavy showers. Strong southerly or south- westerly winds from the Bay of Bengal to northeast India are very likely to continue. %UHDNPRQVRRQ DFFRXQWDEOHIRU SRRUUDLQIDOO,0' ERVRTeZ`_RXRZ_deXc`fa 2`WWZTVcd4CA7e`]U
- 5. ]PcX^]$ 347A03D=kC7DAB30H k0D6DBC !%!! B0D60AB4=6D?C0Q :;:0C0 Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “hatching a design” to sell out national assets in the name of National Monetisation Pipeline. This, even as her other party colleagues warned that all such moves to alienate national property would be met with strong nationwide protests. “We condemn this shocking and unfortunate decision (to put national assets on lease),” Banerjee said wondering “who gave them the power to take sell national properties. In the name of NMP they are selling out prime assets of the country … these properties neither belong to Modi nor BJP” so that they could be sold at the “whims and fancies” of the Central Government. “This is an unfortunate inci- dent” she said adding the proceeds from the sale of national proper- ties would be used to sup- press the opposition in the coun- try. “But they s h o u l d remember that the entire country will stand together against such anti-people decision,” she said adding the BJP should be ashamed of taking such decisions. “This so-called leasing out of the national assets is another name of sale … because these assets will never return to the Government once their manage- ment goes into the hands of the privateers … this is different from what the Trinamool Congress calls Public Private Partnership… this is sheer fraud with the people of the country whose hard-earned money has gone into the building up of these assets,” TMC MP Sukhendu Roy earlier said adding “the TMC will start a countrywide protest agaisnt NMP.” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday announced Rs 6 lakh crore NMP aimed at unlocking value in infra- structure assets ranging from power to road to railways to min- ing to telecommunication. The Chief Minister also attacked the BJP for “instigating divisive” politics in Bengal by making demands for partitioning the State. “The BJP should remember that some stray demands made by some of their ministers and MPs seeking partition of the State will not lead to the break-up of Bengal … Bengal will never be divided on the wishes of the BJP ministers and MPs … those days are gone when divisive politics would arouse mass sentiments and some parties fed on it … till the Trinamool Congress is in power no such demand will be met … The BJP should know that Bengal is not for division.” `UZ8`gedV]]Z_X_ReZ`_R]RddVed+5ZUZ Kolkata:TheTrinamoolCongress leadershipwouldonceagainmove the Election Commission of India demanding early by-elections in seven Assembly seats of the State. Senior TMC MP Sukhendu Shekhar Roy on Wednesday said that “our delegation will once again approach the ECI for con- ducting early elections as the time is suitable for it to be conducted… Elections can be held before the Durga Pujas,” he said adding “the timeisalsogoodbecausecurrently corona is under control with one percent infectibility rate … we are hearing of a third wave coming … so it would be prudent to hold the elections before that.” Roy said that the “ECI should consider the fact that people of seven Assembly seats should not remainunprecedented…whichis why by-elections should be held early.” By-elections are to be held in Bhawanipore in Kolkata, Khardaha in North 24 Parganas, Jangipur and Rezinagar in Murshidabad. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who was defeated by Suvendu Adhikari in Nadigram Assembly seats in the April-May Assemblyelectionsneedsgetelect- ed to the House within six months which ends in the first week of November. Banerjee is likely to contest from her home turf Bhawanipore. D=3d_]_fU539 V_bUQbiRi`_c ?=BQ ;D2:=F The Rashtriya Lok Dal has demanded a judicial probe into the alleged Prayagraj Mahakumbh Mela-2019 scam. In a statement, RLD national spokesperson Anupam Mishra alleged that the corruption in crores of rupees spent on organising the 2019 Prayagraj Kumbh Mela was the tip of an iceberg of scams during the tenure of Yogi Adityanath’s Government. He wondered if Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath would speak on the corruption in the Kumbh Mela while releasing the book 'Prayagraj Kumbh' in which the historical, cultural, economic, environ- mental and administrative aspects of Prayagraj Kumbh 2019 had been included. The RLD leader further asked if the chief minister would recommend an impar- tial judicial inquiry into this mega-scam. Mishra said that although the State Government had left no stone unturned to hide this scam, the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) tabled during the monsoon session of UP legislature had exposed it. He said if the Government had honestly shared all the cor- rect facts related to Kumbh with the CAG, then a bigger scam would have come to the fore. “Therefore, the RLD demands that keeping in view the seriousness of the scam in Prayagraj Kumbh, the Uttar Pradesh government should constitute a committee under the chairmanship of a retired judge of the High Court to con- duct a fair investigation and submit its report within a month,” he said. ?=BQ ;D2:=F An unsavoury controversy erupted in Aligarh Muslim University with the university students slamming Vice Chancellor Prof Tariq Mansoor for mourning the death of former Chief Minister of UP, Kalyan Singh, and issu- ing a condolence message. Hate posters were put up on the uni- versity campus by the students con- demning the vice-chancellor for an “act” that they termed “shame and hurtful to the community”. The university admin- istration hurriedly removed the posters and maintained that it was being ascer- tained who put them up. On August 22, the vice-chancellor of AMU issued a press note mourning the death of Kalyan Singh through the PRO of the university. In the note, Prof Tariq Mansoor condoled the passing away of the former chief minister of UP and for- mer governor of Rajasthan and said that Kalyan Singh played an important role in public life and the development of Uttar Pradesh. He prayed to the almighty to give peace to the departed soul and his family the strength to bear this immense loss. Mansoor also expressed his con- dolences and sympathy to Kalyan Singh’s son and Bharatiya Janata Party MP Rajveer Singh. Next day, the news appeared in all local newspapers, after which hate posters were spotted at some places on the campus. The condolence of the vice chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University on the demise of ex-chief minister of UP Kalyan Singh is not only a matter of shame but also hurts religious sentiments of our community since it is against the ethos, culture and tradition of AMU. Kalyan Singh is not only the main cul- prit in the demolition of Babri Masjid but also an offender of disdain with regard to the Supreme Court order. Praying for a criminal is an unforgiving crime, the poster displayed on the varsity walls read. AMU Student’s Union president Faizul Hassan feigned ignorance about who was behind the posters. ?^bcTabR^]ST]0DE2U^a R^]S^[X]V:P[hP]BX]VWbSTPcW 5/'VHHNVMXGLFLDOSUREH LQWR.XPEK0HODVFDP ?=BQ ;D2:=F Despite registering a steady dip in the num- ber of fresh coronavirus infections, Uttar Pradesh has been testing more than two lakh samples regularly which is nearly 10 times more than the prescribed testing protocol for the State by global health body World Health Organisation. The testing protocol by the WHO for Uttar Pradesh is 32,000 tests per day, whereas the Covid testing in the State has hovered between 1.50 lakh and 2 lakh of late. A top UP Government official said, “Uttar Pradesh has come a long way from getting the first Covid test conducted from the lab at the National Institute of Virology, Pune in 2020 to crossing the milestone of seven crore tests as on date. As many as 7.10 crore samples have been tested so far that testifies the enlarged testing capacity of the state. Following the guidelines issued by the World Health Organisation, UP adopted the master strategy of ‘Trace, Test and Treat’ for Covid-19 patients to reach the last mile within the State.” On the scale of testing samples per positive case, 6.4 tests per positive case were conducted in Maharashtra, 11.5 in Karnataka, 8 in Kerala, 14 in Delhi, 12.8 in Tamil Nadu and 11.4 tests per positive case in Andhra Pradesh, whereas Uttar Pradesh has been able to test 41.6 samples per positive case and is leading by example. “Out of over 1.87 lakh samples tested in the last 24 hours, UP reported 22 fresh Covid-19 cases, with a positivity rate down to 0.01 per cent, testifying success of numerous proactive mea- sures adopted by the State Government in lim- iting the virus transmission in the densely pop- ulated state. Uttar Pradesh has been registering a steep decline in the number of active Covid-19cases as the figure has dropped from a high of 3.10 lakh in April to 345 now, a remarkable reduc- tion by 99 per cent. More than 73,000 surveillance committees have been moving across 97,941 villages in all 75 districts checking for Covid-19 cases. In fact, 70 per cent of tests since the second wave of Covid-19in the State have solely been conduct- ed in the rural regions,” the official said. In addition to spreading awareness on importance of early detection and early treat- ment, the surveillance committees have also been visiting houses in rural areas to educate the rural populace and have been repeatedly appealing to them to not hide the symptoms and rather get themselves tested. Lucknow: Aiming to improve the liv- ing standards of poor families, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath started the distribution of free cooking gas con- nections under the Ujjwala 2.0 (Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana) on Wednesday. Enabling households to cook using smoke-free fuels, the Uttar Pradesh government has set a target to provide 20 lakh free cooking gas connections to the poor families under Ujjwala 2.0. The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana under which women of below poverty line (BPL) families are being provided with clean cooking fuel was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Ballia (Uttar Pradesh) on May 1, 2016. Distributing free LPG connec- tions through a virtual programme from his official residence in Lucknow, Yogi Adityanath also interacted with the beneficiaries from as many as 10 districts, including Banda, Chitrakoot, Hardoi, Amethi, Farrukhabad, Sonbhadra, Rae Bareli, Mahoba, Budaun and Fatehpur. “There cannot be a better example of women empowerment than the Ujjwala scheme through which the Government has succeeded in ensur- ing a safe and healthy environment for women and children in poor house- holds. Women are the ones who are responsible for feeding their families. There were eight crore families in the country who did not have LPG connections. Women were forced to cook on wood and coal, which was haz- ardous for their eyes, lungs, and over- all health. To help women get rid of this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pursued the goal of 'Healthy Life, Better Life' through Ujjwala scheme. This golden scheme has taken care of the health of our mothers and sisters by freeing them from smoke on the one hand and on the other, it has given relief from the trouble of arranging fuel, the struggle of finding dry wood during monsoon and rains and hours in the kitchen,” the chief minister told the ben- eficiaries during his interaction. PNS Aligarh: A woman tried to set herself ablaze by spraying kerosene outside the SSP office on Wednesday afternoon. The security personnel posted at the gate stopped the woman on sight, after which she was produced before the SSP. The woman alleges that the Gabhana police is not taking any action in the case of molestation and assault. Here the SP Traffic heard the problem and instruct- ed the Gabhana police to investigate. A woman resident of a village in Hathras area was married 12 years ago with a youth resident of the village of Gabhanapolicestationarea.Thehusband used to run a puncture shop outside the village. According to the woman, a month ago some people from the neigh- borhood enteredthehouse,thrashedand molested her. When the woman com- plained about this to the Gabhana police station in-charge, no action was taken. :D0A274;;0??0=Q :278 Kerala, reeling under the onslaught of Covid-19 has been struck by another pan- demic in the form of the bitter memories of Mappila Rebellion, the biggest com- munal pogrom witnessed in this part of the country. The communal riots which erupted on August 21, 1921, claimed the lives of more than 2,000 persons who refused to change their religion. The year 2021 marks the centenary of this rebellion and has brought back memories of 1921 result- ing in the polarisation of com- munities. The Mappila Rebellion commenced under the garb of Khilafat Movement patronised by leaders of Muslim League to express their solidarity with the Khalifa of Turkey who had lost his pre-eminence position as the guardian of the Muslim community at the end of the First World War. Though the Khalifa had no relevance in India, as pointed out by Sir C Sankaran Nair, who has been the only Keralaite to adore the presidency of the Congress, Mahatma Gandhi chose to support the Movement in his anxiety to enlist the support of the Muslims in the freedom struggle. But the Khilafat agitation took the shape of massive com- munal pogrom in the Eranadu and Valluvanadu regions of Malabar and saw the slaughter of Hindus who refused to con- vert to another religion. Eminent Congress leaders like K P Kesava Menon and K Madhavan Nair who ques- tioned the course of the agita- tion earned the wrath of the rioters and both of them had to make a quick retreat. Both Menon and Nair had in their memoirs described the agita- tion as a communal pogrom. C Gopalan Nair, deputy collector, Malabar Province had authored a book Mappila Riots 1921 in which he has chronicled the details. The rul- ing CPI(M) claims that the Mappila Riot of 1921 was part of the freedom struggle. But they are evasive when asked why people who refused to convert were butchered. Nair, writes with documentary evi- dences that the riot was a bla- tant communal riot. “The Mappila Riot was accepted as part of the freedom movement only on December 5, 1981 by the then Government led by Indira Gandhi as part of a political accord between the Congress and the Muslim League,” said Prof C I Issac, eminent histo- rian, who studied the riots in detail and submitted a report to the Government asking for the removal of the names of near- ly 350 persons who have been listed as Freedom Fighters. “The name of Variamkunnathu Ahmed Haji, had not figured in the list of freedom fighters submitted by the Kerala Government and this was added later,” Prof Issac told The Pioneer. Annie Besant who toured the region in the aftermath of the riots wrote: “It would be well if Mr Gandhi could be taken into Malabar to see with his own eyes the ghastly hor- rors which have been created by the preaching of himself and his ‘loved brothers’ Muhammed and Shaukat Ali..” The atmosphere in Kerala got vitiated with the Minister for Tourism Mohammed Riyaz announcing the construction of a memorial for Variankunnathu Ahmed in Malappuram. “Both the LDF and the UDF Governments have refused to instal a statue of Thunchathu Ezhuthachan, the father of the Malayalam language, in his hometown of Tirur citing religious senti- ments. Then why is this special honour for a mass murderer?” asks Ali Akbar, move maker. The Government of Kerala, could have stayed away from this controversy, say many aca- demicians. D99F0;0! H^VXbcPacbSXbcaXQdcX^] ^UUaTT;?6R^]]TRcX^]b P__X[PATQT[[X^]*PR^]ca^eTabh _^[XcXRXP]bR^d[SWPeTPe^XSTS 6HOILPPRODWLRQELG RXWVLGH663¶VRIILFH F^T]QT]TUXRXPaXTbbW^fcWTXa0PSWPPa2PaSPbcWThfPXcX]P`dTdTc^aTRTXeTP2^eXS (S^bTPcPePRRX]PcX^]RT]caTX]=PSXPSXbcaXRc^]FTS]TbSPh ?C8 D?cTbcX]V^aT cWP]!;bP_[Tb ?=BQ ;D2:=F The Uttar Pradesh Sugarcane department has constructed roadsofover792kmusingplas- tic waste. This has served the dualpurposeoffacilitatingfarm- ersaswellasprotectingtheenvi- ronment. Taking a pro-environmen- tal measure, the Sugarcane departmentismullingtheuseof plasticwastefortheconstruction ofroadslinkingcanefieldstothe nearest mill or mandis for faster movement of the cash crop, thereby making the way easier for the farmers under the Rural Road Connectivity scheme. Onesuchexamplehascome forth in Belrayan of Lakhimpur district where the journey of the cane farmers on the one-kilo- metre long dilapidated road from Rakehati Banjargarh to Jholupurwa was tough earlier. The Sugarcane Development department has constructed a four-metre wide and one-kilo- metre long road with plastic waste under the Rural Road Connectivity scheme. Now, the farmersareeasilycommutingon these roads with tractors loaded with sugarcane. Such environment-friendly roads are saving both time and fuel for the farmers travelling from their fields to the mill and the market. The department has used 329 kg of plastic waste in the construction of this road, which has saved 329 kg of bitu- men. This is just one example; the Sugarcane department has constructed 792 km of roads in four years. With the aim to reduce plastic waste and make the envi- ronmentplastic-free,thedepart- ment has set a target of con- structing 76 km long roads with the help of single-use plastic in the current financial year 2021- 22. BdVPaRP]T3T_c R^]bcadRcb(! Za^PSbdbX]V _[PbcXRfPbcT C=A067D=0C70Q D108 After he got relief from the Mahad court and the Bombay High Court over his controversial remarks against Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Union Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Narayan Rane on Wednesday upped the ante against the ruling Shiv Sena by reviv- ing the controversial “suicides” by late actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s ex-man- ager Disha Salian and Tik-Tok star Pooja Chavan. Addressing a news conference hours after the Bombay High Court ruled that “no coercive action” would be taken against him till September 17, Rane — who had earlier been grant- ed bail by a Mahad court on Tuesday night in the “tight slap slur” case — said that the two court’s rulings in his favour showed that “there is rule of law in the country”. Rane said that he would resume his “Jan Ashirwad Yatra” from August 25 from Sindhudurg district. “After two days’ rest, I will resume Jan Ashirwad Yatra from Sindhudurg on August 27. I do not think there will be impedi- ments to my yatra in future”. Rane thanked the BJP national president J P Nadda, former chief min- ister Devendra Fadnavis, state BJP president Chandrakant Patil and other party leaders for supporting him after he was arrested by the Ratnagiri police on Tuesday in the “tight slap slur” case registered against him. Making it clear that he was not the one to take things lying down, Rane said that he would revive the issues relating to the mystery surrounding the deaths of Disha Salian and Pooja Chavan. Disha (28), it may be recalled, had reportedly committed suicide by jump- ing from the 14th floor of Galaxy Regent building at Malad in north Mumbai on the intervening night of June 8, 2020. Her death had taken place five days before Sushant (34) committed suicide at his rented duplex flat in Bandra in north-west Mumbai on June 14. Rane and his sons had attempted to drag the name of the CM’s son and Tourism Minister Aditya Thackeray in the entire matter. It may be recalled that Pooja Chavan (22) had allegedly committed suicide by jumping off the Heaven Park building in Pune’s Wanwadi locality on the intervening night of February 7 and 8, 2021. Following her death, the Opposition BJP had made an issue o ver Pooja’s death, by rooting for the arrest of then Shiv Sena Minister Sanjay Rathod, who was reportedly in love with the deceased woman. At Wednesday’s news conference, Rane – without taking any names – demanded to know as to who were responsible for the deaths of Disha Salian and Pooja Chavan. “How did Disha Salian die? Who was present at the crime scene? Why have the police not established the cause of her death?. What about the death of Pooja Chavan? I am not going to sit quietly, till the Ministers responsible for the two deaths are arrested. If need be I will move the court. Let me see who will protect these Ministers?” Rane asked. Dubbing the suicides by Disha and Sushant as inter-linked, Maharashtra’s former Chief Minister and BJP leader Narayan Rane had on August 4, 2020 created a sensation by claiming that both Sushant was “murdered” while his ex-manager Disha Salian was “raped” and “murdered”. Addressing a news conference here on Tuesday last, Rane indirectly had targeted Maharashtra Minister and Thackeray scion Aaditya Thackeray, by demanding to know: “Who all were there in the parties that were held on June 8 and June 13? Find them out”. He had suggested that a Maharashtra Minister too was in these parties. “The State Government is trying to shield the culprits behind the deaths of Disha and Sushant. We as opposition are efficient and we will let that happen. Parties are held in Dino Morea every day. Many ministers attend these parties. There was a party on that day as well. The same minister had gone to Sushant’s home before the actor’s suicide. The police should investigate that minister con- cerned,” Rane had alleged. Rane had alleged that on June 8, Disha Salian was raped and then murdered, while on June 14, Sushant Singh Rajput was murdered. “That Disha Salian was raped was evident from the post-mortem report,” he said. Alleging that both the incidents were linked, Rane said: “It is not dif- ficult to find out who was issuing threatening calls to Sushant Singh Rajput”. AP]Td_bP]cTQaX]Vbd_ 3XbWP?^^YPbdXRXSTb OBPhbWTf^]³caTbccX[[Rd[_aXcX]bPaTPaaTbcTS OFX[[aTbdT9P]0bWXafPSHPcaPUa^0dV! ?C8Q B8;270A0BB0 A63-year-old man was arrested for alleged- ly molesting a minor girl in Cachar dis- trict of Assam, police said on Wednesday. The accused had been engaged as the 9- year-old girl's music teacher, they said. The incident that took place at Rongpur area of Silchar town came to light when her mother lodged an FIR. Family members of the girl approached the man, after the minor complained of pain in the pelvic area and did not wish to attend the music classes. The accused admitted to committing the crime, a police officer said. Her mother also alleged that the man had offered money for not reporting the incident, he said. 4[STa[hP]PaaTbcTS U^a^[TbcX]VX]^a VXa[X]0bbP