untitledAdamant on his decision to quit the office of the
Congress president, Rahul Gandhi is planning to under- take a countrywide padyatra to revive the party.
While he awaits the deci- sion of the Congress Working Committee to zero in on a new chief outside the Nehru- Gandhi family, sources con- firmed that the Gandhi scion will hit the roads to spread sig- nificance of the Congress ide- ology, its nation building agen- da and the role of the party in the freedom movement.
“We believe that each household across the nation has a Congressman (either elders or young) and they have to be engaged to catapult the party to regain its glory,” said a very senior Congress leader.
Sources said Rahul will handpick a mix of young and senior leaders to assist himself in the padyatra the modalities of which will be planned short- ly. Then Congress president Sonia Gandhi too had hit the roads in run up to Lok Sabha polls in 2004 to take on the might of Atal Bihari Vajpayee- led NDA Government. Sonia led the party to an impressive win in 2004.
“After the appointment of party chief and working pres-
idents he (Rahul) will be free from the routine meetings and party works and will focus only on connecting with the people of the country. He realises that people across the country share a deep historic bond with the Congress, and all that he needed was to touch a chord with their heart to revive
the Congress,” said a senior Congress leader.
This is the reason Rahul has insisted there is no going back on his decision to quit, despite requests by leaders from his party and outside to continue in the post. “Given his plan to undertake this massive exercise to connect with the
masses, it is obvious that come what may, Rahul will not with- draw his resignation as the party president,” said a senior leader.
Congress leaders also feel that despite party’s flop show in the Lok Sabha polls, Rahul has gained tremendous sympathy and he could cash in on it by
casting himself in the role of a man of the masses.
After Rahul announced his decision to quit, many leaders of State units have followed suit and till Saturday evening about 200 office-bearers had resigned. Over a dozen office-bearers of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee resigned from their posts on Saturday continuing the spate of resignations in the party following its Lok Sabha election debacle.
Amid the spate of resigna- tions, the party said the entire organisation, in one voice, wants its president Rahul Gandhi to continue in the post.
At a Press conference, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said many party leaders have resigned, but the prevail- ing sentiment is that Rahul should continue as the party president.
He parried queries about why several senior party lead- ers had not quit their position, insisting that “people have dif- ferent ways of expressing their request” which is that, he added, Rahul should remain the Congress chief.
Several office-bearers of the Congress, including its general secretary incharge of Madhya Pradesh Dipak Babaria and Goa unit chief Girish Chodankar, had resigned on Friday.
3/4
Two years after Haryana res- ident Pehlu Khan was
lynched by cow vigilantes in Rajasthan’s Alwar district, police here have filed a chargesheet against his two sons and a truck operator for illegally transporting cattle. The issue triggered a row with AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi charging that the Congress in power was the “replica of the BJP”. Owaisi was reacting to earlier reports that Pehlu Khan was also chargesheeted.
Amid the row over the lat- est chargesheet, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday distanced himself from any role in the investiga- tion. “Investigation into the case was done during the BJP rule. If any discrepancy is found, we will get the case re- investigated,” he said.
“The Congress has not changed its stand on the issue,” he added, saying those who indulge in such killings on the pretext of “gau raksha” won’t be spared.
Although the case goes back to April 2017 when the BJP was in power in the State, the chargesheet is being filed months after the Congress took over. “The chargesheet was accepted by the court on May 24 against three persons under the Rajasthan Bovine Animal Act. Since Pehlu Khan had died, he has not been
chargesheeted,” Alwar Superintendent of Police Anil Paris Deshmukh told PTI.
However, Pehlu Khan’s name was mentioned in the summary of the chargesheet.
Police maintained that the case against Pehlu Khan, his sons Irshad Khan (25) Aarif Khan (22) and truck operator Khan Mohammad stood proved in the investigation. They were charged under the Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition of Temporary Migration or Export) Act, 1995.
Pehlu Khan and his sons were thrashed by a mob on the suspicion of cow smuggling in Alwar’s Behror on Aprli 1, 2017. Pehlu Khan died at a hospital in Alwar on April 3. The Rajasthan Police registered a case against the people who allegedly lynched Pehlu Khan and thrashed his companions.
Six men were named in the FIR which also mentioned about 200 unidentified people. A case was also registered then against Pehlu Khan and others under the Rajasthan Bovine Animal Act, which allows the transportation of cattle only after getting per- mission from the administra- tion.
1/213
Continuing their protest against carbandi in
Connaught Place’s inner circle, traders on Saturday staged protest as New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) conducted a mock drill for the pedestrian- isation of the shopping hub.
Protesting against restric- tion on entry of private cars in CP, New Delhi Traders’ Association president Atul Bhargava told The Pioneer, “The council should under- stand that CP is a shopping hub. Our business will get affected if they plan to run this project for long. During the mock drill, we have noticed that visitors were confused.”
Traders had raised objec- tion to the plan following which the NDMC had tweaked its earlier plan, which was to make the inner circle com- pletely car-free on Sunday and Monday. CP market, along with Chandni Chowk, is one of the locations initially chosen for pedestrianisation.
While carrying out mock drill, NDMC official said, “The objective of this exercise is to improve vehicular movement,
regulate parking and facilitate ease of movement for pedes- trians.”
“The major interventions during the trial run shall be restricted entry to inner circle, only CP-destined vehicle will be allowed to park in dedicat- ed parking lots and under- ground Palika parking, direct entry from radial-1 and radial- 4 to be restricted, auto/taxi will have restricted access to inner circle and will only be allowed to use middle circle for exit to outer circle and designated pick and drop facilities for taxi and auto shall be operated from six zones on the radial
roads,” said council official. While the civic body has
claimed that for convenience of commuters, the NDMC shall depute traffic police consul- tants, civic wardens and secu- rity staff from NDMC, along with traffic police, however, traders said visitors faced dif- ficulties as they seemed con- fused at the idea.
Meanwhile, the council official said this is a pilot pro- ject to be experimented on the weekend (Sunday) and a full-fledged plan will be implemented after taking fur- ther inputs from the stake- holders.
$$ 1/213
Three members of a family en route to Nainital were
killed and four others injured after the vehicle they were travelling in collided with a water tanker on the Delhi- Meerut Expressway, police said on Saturday.
“We received a call at around 12 am about the acci- dent on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway. A team reached the spot and found that the tempo traveller had rammed into the water tanker,” said DCP (East) Jasmeet Singh.
He said the seven people were rushed to hospital where the three victims were declared brought dead. The impact of the accident was such that the front portion of the vehicle was completely damaged, he said.
$$ 1/213
Days of heatwave in the national Capital are not
over yet as India Meteorological Department (IMD) marked Sunday and Monday with red color, which means Delhi people may witness heatwave like weather in the coming two days.
On Saturday, the max- imum temperature in the national Capital settled five degrees above the normal. People in Delhi woke up to a hot morn- ing with the minimum temperature settling at 30 degrees Celsius, two notches above the normal, while the maximum temperature settled at 42.3 degrees Celsius, five degrees above the normal for this time of the year. The humidity level oscillated between 28 and 55 per cent, the
MeT department said. “There is also a possibility
of heatwave conditions at few places in the city. The maxi- mum and minimum tempera- ture would be around 43 and 30 degrees Celsius,” an official of the MeT department said.
According to IMD, Delhi will witness rain or thun-
dershower on July 4 while for July 2 and
July 3, Met pre- dicted light rain.
The maxi- mum tempera-
ture will oscillate between 43 degrees




7 , ! 2 # - %2 7 + 0 89 5
2 1 6 / ! 2 5 7 : & /0 0 89 2 7 9 % ;<4= > * ( !
# 2 , !2 & - /0 & /0 9 7 # /0 !
# # * - " " ? # 1 & #* 7 99 & 1 /
6 34@A ! # # ! (# ! # # ! 6 !! %2
+,)-.#& /01
!'() 5 "0-4117
2 ' 34 5467 /81 9
C2 (% D * + # % D D
* *"+,-.,/0
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal on Saturday
said that a grand function was organized on June 25 in hon- our of the state’s Loktantra Senanis and in this series, “Bhavna Pradan” programs should be organized continu- ously besides, taking out ‘Rath Yatras’ in the state.
The Chief Minister was speaking in a function held at Rohtak.
He said that recruitment
in government jobs on the basis of the merit and other schemes of our government have become role models for other states.
All the policies and pro- grams of the Har yana Government are being appre- ciated extensively in other states. This is for the first time in Haryana's political history that people are getting jobs on the basis of merit in a fair and transparent manner, he said.
Manohar Lal further said that in the previous govern-
ments, jobs were given on the basis of nepotism, but the pre- sent State Government has taken along 2.5 crore people of the state and working in a transparent manner.
These policies of the gov- ernment have given a good message among the people of the state and this is the reason why the people have voted on the public welfare policies of the Central and the State Government in Lok Sabha elections, he said.
Referring to GST and
demonetisation, the Chief Minister said that though the opposit ion part ies had opposed these policies, but the traders have accepted them.
Manohar Lal said that it is very important to organise social programmes like Yoga Day, Environment Day, Student Day and Rahagiri.
It is necessary to pro- mote such programs to chan- nelise the energy of the youth in positive direction, he added.
02-4
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on
Saturday said that the model code of conduct for the State Assembly elections could be enforced from September 10 and the elections might be held by October 15.
“The party workers should not be over confident and should work hard for the forth- coming elections,” Manohar Lal said while speaking at a party meet in Rohtak.
He said that we have set a target to win 75 seats out of total 90 in the Haryana Assembly and all party work- ers should contribute to achieve this target.
Claiming that the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and the Congress has derailed in the state, Manohar Lal said that BJP has a strong organization- al structure and there is no comparison between the orga- nizational structure of the BJP and any other political party.
The State Government developed all the regions, sec- tions and castes equally, and fulfilled the resolution of 'Haryana Ek-Haryanvi EK'. Priority was given to the wel- fare of disadvantaged and affected people, Manohar Lal said.
He said that equitable development has been carried out in the areas of all MLAs irrespective of the fact to which party they belong.
We have opened the doors of jobs on merit basis for the youth of the state. Initiatives such as Women Police Stations, Ujjwala Scheme, Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao have been taken during our government’s tenure, he added.
Speaking on the occasion, BJP’s national secretary, Anil Jain, who is also in-charge of party affairs in Haryana asked party workers in Haryana to remain grounded to achieve victory in the October assem- bly polls.
“Victory brings arrogance.
However, without becoming arrogant, the BJP workers in Haryana should work on the ground to ensure a record- breaking victory for the party,” he said.
Referring to the BJP's vic- tory on all 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state, Jain said, “This vic- tory should be considered big but not supreme.”
“We should take everyone along," he said, stressing the need to strengthen the party at the booth level.
He asked the party leaders and workers to strive for at least 75 seats in the assembly elec- tions.
, the BJP has 48 MLAs in the 90-member State Assembly.
It was decided at the two- day meet, which concluded on Saturday, that the Chief Minister would hold a “Jan Sampark Rath Yatra” in the state. The “Rath Yatra” will be held in the state to highlight the achievements of BJP led Central and State Government.
Also, a nine-member vision document committee has been constituted under the leadership of Agriculture Minister OP Dhankar.
The party has also decided to hold a state level sammelan to strengthen the organiza- tional structure in Haryana and boost the morale of panna pramukhs appointed in the state.
During the meet, INLD's senior Rohtak leaders Satish Nandal and Surat Singh joined the BJP.
The meet was attended by all state BJP MPs, ministers, MLAs and working committee members.
Haryana BJP chief Subhash Barala while speaking at the meeting, asked party workers to enroll at least 25 new vol- unteers at every both in the state.
,- - . +/
! " #
02-4
The methodology of roping in various field Departments to plug the aban-
doned borewells worked wonders in the state with successful plugging of 2,309 abandoned borewells, KS Pannu Mission Director, Tandrust Punjab Mission said on Saturday
Pannu informed that as per the sta- tus of the compliance reports received so far, 2309 out of 2333 identified aban- doned borewells have been plugged including 1397 identified by the District Administration with the help of Agriculture Department, 553 by Tubewell Corporation and 359 by Irrigation Department.
Glance at the district-wise report shows that District Sangrur has plugged
419 followed by Amritsar with the clo- sure of 319 borewells. Bathinda closed 131,SAS Nagar 123 while Mansa closed 110.
Expressing satisfaction over the work done so far, Pannu said that with- in days of roping in the field staff of var- ious Departments, over 2000 aban- doned borewells have been successfully plugged due the concerted joint efforts of all.
He added that task is not over yet and we are trying to identify more such borewells and will plug them up at the earliest.
Notably, Punjab Government had come under fire from the opposition over the tragic death of two-year-old tod- dler Fatehveer, who had fallen into an abandoned borewell in Sangrur. The
child, had stuck in a 150-foor-deep borewell shaft at the height of 125 feet in Sangrur district, and was pulled out dead bringing nearly five-day rescue operation to a tragic end on June 11.
On June 13, a letter was written under Tandrust Punjab Mission to all the DCs to ensure that all the abandoned borewells are properly filled and plugged.
It was also proposed by the govern- ment that criminal action should be taken against any person who does not plug such borewells within a period of one month. Any mishap in such borewells should attract penalty against the owner of the land under various pro- visions of Indian Penal Code by lodging FIR against such person. Even a reward of Rs 5000 after verification of infor- mation, has been offered.
02-4
Development Corporation Limited (HRIDC) has approved the detailed project report (DPR) of ‘Haryana Orbital Rail Corridor Project’, a new double rail line of about
130 Kms route length from Palwal to Sonipat.
Giving details, a spokesman of HRIDC said that HRIDC is the joint venture company of Union Ministry of Railways and Haryana Government.
He said that in February 2019, the Chief Minister
Manohar Lal had made an announcement for completing this 130 Kms new rail line pro- ject on fast tracked basis.
This project will provide direct rail connectivity (by- passing Delhi) to all the routes originating from Delhi and passing through Haryana. This will also give connectivity to
Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) network at Pirthala, he said.
This rail corridor will have stations at New Palwal, Silani, Sohna, Dhulawat, Chandla Dungerwas, Manesar, New Patli, Badsa, Deverkhana, Badli, Mandothi, Jasaur Kheri, Kharkhoda, Tarakpur and final-
ly connect to Delhi-Ambala line at Harsana Kalan, he added.
The spokesman further said that this project will be implemented on joint venture model. The major stakeholders in this project included Union Ministry of Railways, Haryana Government, HRIDC, HSI- IDC, GMDA and Maruti
Suzuki India Limited. This project will give boost
in developing economic corri- dor along the KMP Expressway from Palwal to Sonipat and will also help in development of the proposed Panchgram town- ships, he said.
1/213
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on
Saturday met senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel here amidst ongoing 'rift' with his Cabinet colleague Navjot Sidhu, who is yet to take charge of his new portfolios, party sources said.
Sidhu had met party President Rahul Gandhi, and senior leaders Priyanka Gandhi and Patel here earlier this month and apprised them of his position after he was divest- ed of his key portfolios in a cab- inet reshuffle.
Patel was entrusted with the task of resolving the dif- ferences between the Chief Minister and his cabinet col- league.
In the reshuffle on June 6, the Chief Minister took away Sidhu's Local Government portfolio, citing his poor per- formance in local bodies cost the party dear in the general elections. He was also divested of his other charge of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, and given Power and New and Renewable Energy Sources instead.
After the reshuffle, the rift
between the Chief Minister and Sidhu came to the fore again with Amarinder Singh preferring to keep Sidhu out of crucial consultative groups that were announced to review progress and make changes, if needed, in the government's flagship programmes and schemes.
Barring four, there were changes in the portfolios of all the ministers as a result of the reallocation, which, Amarinder Singh said, would help further streamline the governing sys- tem and processes and bring more transparency and effica- cy to various departments.
Sidhu had then said his department was singled out publicly for the Lok Sabha loss, but since then, he and his wife Navjot Kaur, a former leg- islator, have not made any public comment.
He was not available for comment on Saturday despite repeated attempts.
The cricketer-turned- politician is likely to assume his new office by early next week, otherwise he would be divest- ed of his charge too, a senior leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, told IANS.
1* % 2
Haryana Police on Saturday arrested two persons,
including a woman, in con- nection with the murder of Congress leader Vikas Chaudhary in Faridabad.
“Police have arrested two persons—gangster Kaushal's wife Roshni and their servant Naresh — in the recent mur- der of Vikas Chaudhary, Haryana Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Navdeep Singh Virk said.
In a statement released on
his Twitter account, Virk said, “Roshni and Naresh made available weapons to accused Vikas alias Bhalla, a resident of village Dhanwapur, and Sachin of village Kheri in Faridabad district, involved in firing along with two other persons.”
Naresh has identified Vikas in the CCTV footage and informed that he is the same person to whom he made available the weapons, Virk added.
He said the car used in the murder of Chaudhary has also been recovered.
0# @
Khunti police have seized opium worth Rs.25 lakh
and recovered a loaded rifle and a motorcycle from four drug traffickers who were arrested during the operation, police said on Saturday.
Members of the busted gang told the police that they smuggled locally-grown opium to other states where the drug was sold at a higher price through cartels of peddlers. “Acting on a tip off from local sources, we conducted the operation on Friday late evening and arrested four traf- fickers. Opium worth Rs.25 lakh was seized from their pos- session,” said Khunti Superintendent of Police Shri Alok.
According to police sources, several Maoist groups including the Tritya Prastuti Committee are encouraging farmers in inte- riors of Jharkhand to grow opium crops for their profit.
In the interiors of Chatra, Latehar, Palamu, Bokaro, Dhanbad, Hazaribagh, Khunti and West Singhbhum districts
opium cultivation continues unabated. Opium, produced from poppy, is sold at around Rs 40,000 a kg in the market, say police sources.
This illegal trade, backed by a few splinter extremist outfits in the backyard of Jharkhand, is taking a toll on the youths, say police sources. However, it con- tinues to run as a parallel econ- omy in the interiors, they say.
“Usually, the opium pro- duced here is trafficked to other states. The catch will help us get our clutches on other similar gangs functioning in the area,” said Alok.
By now, police have destroyed poppy cultivation on several hundred acres of land in Khunti in a bid to check its pro- duction and trafficking. The Pathalgadi movement, which had its epicenter in Khunti, was also aimed at preventing the police from discovering poppy fields in the interiors of the dis- trict, police said. Under the movement, some villagers installed a stone plaque outside their village declaring it as lib- erated area and prohibited entry of the administration.
) 3D !9
Aday- long meet on the Draft National
Education Policy 2019 held here on Friday ended with a clarion call to the Government of India for focusing on the overall wellbeing of the children and upholding all rights due to them. The partici- pants stressed on quality, inclusive and safe educa- tion for every child.
The consultation organised by the National Action and Coordination Group for Ending Violence Against Children, India[NACG India] in association with PECUC was inaugurated by former Vice Chairman, CHSE, Professor Mohammad Fakiruddin. Director, Higher Education Niranjan Sahoo also spoke on the opening session. The inaugural ses- sion was chaired by chair- person NACG India Ranjan Kumar Mohanty and vice chairperson D Roshan Kumar gave vote
of thanks. Experts on the
field of child rights and education from across the country took part in the d e l i b e r a t i o n s . Former Additional Director, Higher Education and national convenor of Joint Forum for Movement on Education Dr Amiya Kuma Mohanty, national convenor, RTE Forum Ambarish Rai, national convenor , CACL P Victor Raj, coordinator, MV Foundation Y Rajendra Prashad and Razia Ismail of the India Alliance for Child Rights deliberated on the Draft National Education Policy.
Various nuances of the policy were discussed in the plenary. In the sec- ond plenary the focus was on the need of measures which ensure overall secu- rity and safety of children in the education system.
Former Chairperson, OSCPCR Kasturi
Mohapatra, former Member, Jharkhand SCPCR Sanjay Misra, for- mer Director, SCERT Dr PC Mohapatra, Country Director, Adoptions Centrum Ruby Rout and former member of the Maharastra SCPCR Suryakant Kulkarni made their presentation on the need for strengthening the component in the new Education Policy.
Parallel sessions on school education led by Dr Chiranjeeb Kakoty, high- er education led by Prof Mohammad Fakiruddin
and Manabendra Natyh Mandal , technology in education , vocational education led by Bibekananda Das and Anil Pradhan and transforming education led by CJ George and Ruby Rout came out with detailed recommendations to the Union Ministry of Human Resources Development.
Chairperson, Odisha State Commission for Protection of Child Rights Sandhyabati Pradhan graced the concluding ses- sion as chief guest.
0 1-2 -3
! " # $ %& ' " (
!" # $ % $ &'())* + ,)'-)-..(. / 0+ )*1-&.*1*** " 2 3 & 4 &. - 3 5 &6 7 8 $ 2 ! 9+ 8# 2#:#;9 # *)) 9 + # < % 3+ + =+ " 4 " + < 5 4 + $ 6+ 3 > < ; < % < ? 5 3% $&**) )) + )**&')**)'-- "" 6+ @&1* > 368$ ; " < 3 5 &)*1)* 2 + )*)&'(.,()) 4 '(.,,)) !% 6+ ' @ 5 @ A # !%&> )*> /+ )-&1'>''1&'-
* *"+,-.,/0
Elaborate discussion on the issue of migration was held
in the meeting of council of Ministers of Uttarakhand at Pauri on Saturday. The State Cabinet also held its first meeting in Pauri on the day. The Trivendra Singh Rawat Government has taken the decision to held meetings of Cabinet and council of Ministers to commemorate 50 years of establishing a separate commissionarate in Pauri.
In the meeting, the State Cabinet approved 11 out of 13 issues presented before it. Informing about the decisions of the Cabinet, senior Cabinet Minister and Government spokesperson, Madan Kaushik, said that the council of the Ministers held discussions on migration, rural development, sanitation, self-employment and skill development on the day. The Cabinet approved the
proposal to construct a lake a Llvali in Pauri and for it a budget of 6.92 crore was earmarked. A sum of 2 crore was released as first installment for this lake. On the directive of the Supreme Court (SC), the Cabinet decided to reconstitute the road safety committees. In the revamped structure, Joint commissioner, Transport, would preside over the committee. The Cabinet also
approved the proposal to hand over the task of construction of the Purukul-Mussoorie ropeway to the M/s FIL industries limited New Delhi. The company would construct the ropeway in Public Private Partnership (PPP) Mode. In one of the decisions, the Cabinet approved amendment in the advertisement policy. Kaushik said that in an attempt to provide equal opportunities
for the specially abled and for their social development, the Cabinet approved the rules and regulations as per the specially abled Act of 2016.
In another decision, the Cabinet decided to include secretar y tourism and secretaries of law, personnel and finance departments in the committee constituted to look into the issue of pay disparity of adventure sports
officer and senior adventure sports officer. The chief secretary (CS) is the chairman of this committee. Similarly, a committee, headed by CS, would determine the issue grade pay of women and child welfare department. The Cabinet on the day decided to cancel its earlier order to acquire an a plot of land adjacent to the State secretariat in Dehradun. A decision to acquire this land on payment of 26.54 was taken by the Cabinet earlier but the heirs of this property took the issue in the court. Kaushik said that the decision was reversed as the price of this land has escalated in last 15 years.
A decision to upgrade Chaukhutiya in Almora district to Nagar Panchayat was made by the cabinet. To fulf i l l the cr iter ia of population, 12 new villages would be added in this new Nagar Panchayat. It was also decided that 3.67 hectare of land would be acquired for construction of National Cadet Corps (NCC) academy at Dewal village of Sitaunsyu patti of Pauri.
"
On the occasion of completion of 50 years of
office of Commissioner in Pauri, the Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat gifted the district with projects worth 1769.70 Lakh on Saturday.
In a programme titled ‘ Sunnairu Garhwal’ the CM inaugurated projects of 1493.72 Lakhs concerned with construction of roads and schemes associated with renovation of canals and roads construction amounting to 275.98 lakhs.
The CM also released textbooks in Garhwali language for the students of classes I to V on the occasion. Rawat a lso started ‘ Mukyamantri Amrit Anchal’ scheme which would benefit 1.66 lakh children enrolled in anaganwadi centres.
Congratulating those
present for completion of 50 years of Garhwal Commissioner office in Pauri, the CM said that the Cabinet meeting was held in Pauri to bring the district into focus. Appealing the non-resident Uttarakhandis to return to their roots, the CM said their return would boost the economy of the State.
He said that such people can play an important role in local agriculture, horticulture and other industries.
The CM handed over cheques of the zero interest rate loans to some women self help groups on the occasion. Speaking on the occasion,
! ! " # !
‘Mausam Live’ App, the mobile application, being
developed by the department of meteorology for live updates on the different weather phenomenon, is yet to get developed even after more than one year.
The ‘Mausam live application’ is a project by the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) New Delhi and was started with the purpose of
giving live updates of weather includes feeds and other such services to the public, especially for North-West India.
The work on the project started in July 2018 but the App is not ready yet.
Informing about the project, the Scientist B from State Meteorological Centre MM Saklani said, “The development of the application has been pending from last year. One of the main objectives of this application
was to give updates especially regarding the Char Dham Yatra and Kailash Mansoravar Yatra.
However, due to the lack of manpower, nothing further has been done and the condition of
the application has been the same.”
State Met Centre director Bikram Singh said, “The application was a project by the
regional centre. So, there is not much we can do about it.
It is under development and we, from our part, are trying to push it for further development.”
Experts opine that lack of urgency on part of the met department on development
of such an important mobile application is surprising.
They are of the view that such an app can be useful of lakhs of tourists, pilgrims and the residents of Uttarakhand.
Light to moderate rainfall expected at isolated places
$ # ! %&"' (')* + ,"-." !/! !
The State Meteorological Centre has forecast light to
moderate rainfall and thunderstorms at isolated places, especially, in the mountainous areas on Sunday. The overall weather for the State will remain mainly clear to partly cloudy.
In Dehradun city, the sky
is likely to remain mainly clear to partly cloudy. Thunder cloud developments are likely to occur in some areas of the city.
The maximum and minimum temperatures are expected at around 37 degree Celsius (maximum) and 25 degree Celsius (minimum) respectively.
Meanwhile, the maximum
% &! ' (
In an ambitious plan, the Municipal Corporation of
Dehradun (MCD) has decided to triple its kitty from tax collection in the current financial year. Dehradun mayor, Sunil Uniyal Gama, has set up a target of 75 Crore for the MCD. He is confident that MCD is equipped with a plan which will surely result in the completion of the target on time.
The Mayor said, “Last year the target was 25 crore this year we have decided to raise it to 75 crore. Last year, 40 to 50 percent taxpayers in the 60 wards paid taxes. However, this year, we have planned to collect tax from all eligible tax payers. It will ensure a 100 percent jump in tax collection. Instructions, regarding these, have been given to our team for properly collecting both the house and commercial taxes. Also, the commercial owners have self-assessed their property which we believe can be faulty. Our teams will also check these commercial properties and also ensure that those who have not registered or paid any commercial tax at all are brought in the tax ambit. For this, the team has been given one month time to finally submit a report on this.”
Adding more about the strategy for the collection of this he said, “The strategy is simple we have added all the private schools or semi- Government schools under the category of payers this time. Only those schools will not be charged that are not in very good condition.”
MCD follow a process of issuing three notices to any of the payer who fails to submit the house tax or property tax on time. Elaborating further, he said, “If anyone fails to deposit the property tax or house tax on time, then the necessary punitive action will be taken accordingly as per the rule. If even after that the payer will fail to pay the tax then the No Objection Certificate (NOC) of the commercial property or the house can be seized.”
( ) *+ ,
With health department reporting two cases of
dengue on Saturday, the dreaded vector-brone disease has announced its arrival in the state for this season. The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Dehradun, Dr S K Gupta confirmed that samples of two patients have been found positive for the disease in the Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ( ELISA) test. The district vector borne diseases officer, Subhash Joshi informed that one patient belongs of Dhalwala area ( Near Rishikesh) of Tehri district while the other patient belongs to Haridwar. He claimed that both these patients are recuperating from the disease and are out of danger.
Meanwhile the health department has become alert on the dengue. The department has directed all medical practitioners to report the suspected cases of the disease to the district health department so that the ELISA test which is confirmatory test
for the disease is conducted. The CMO Dr Gupta said
that there is no need of panic for the disease but advised people to ensure that breeding grounds inside and in the vicinity of their houses are destroyed. He added that teams of the department teams have been asked to visit the areas or pockets where chances of spread of the disease are more. The health department is claiming that it has adequate stocks of medicines and the ELISA kits.
9
Dengue is a viral infection spread by the mosquito
Aedes Aezypti popularly known as Tiger Mosquito. The symptoms of the disease are persistent high fever, rashes,
headache and pain in the joints. In the acute cases the platelets number decrease drastically which may prove fatal for the patient. Rainy season is most conducive for rapid growth of mosquito which can lay about 1200 eggs at a time and 400- 500 larvae can emerge from these eggs that take a week’s time to hatch. The mosquito infected with virus thus can increase its number exponentially infecting large number of people in short span of time. The female tiger mosquito strikes during day time and doctors suggest that people should wear full sleeved clothes to prevent mosquito bite.
In Uttarakhand the disease is more prevalent in Dehradun, Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts.
" 2 !
. E! $ ! &" !
After a case where an 18- year-old inmate committed
suicide in Balika Niketan situated at Kedarpuram Dehradun in the month of May this year, the Department of Women Empowerment and Child Development (DWECD) Government of Uttarakhand
has arranged a training programme for the employees working in such homes to get thorough information for dealing with inmates in a better way.
The programme is scheduled for July 1 for the employees of such homes from all over the State.
Informing about the programme, an official in charge from DWECD said, “A training session has been conducted which will be attended by employees and in charge of all such shelter homes and observational homes in the
State. These training sessions are not new we conduct such sessions after a gap of three months or six months. However, the training employees about dealing with the inmates will be new learning for the employees”
Employees from Pauri, Haridwar, Nainital, Udham Singh Nagar, Tehri, Uttarkashi, Almora, Bageshwar, Pithoragarh and other districts would take part in the training programme.
The employees will be representing 19 such homes situated in all over the State.
$+1+ ! ! "
Keeping the arrival of monsoon in consideration,
a meeting chaired by the district magistrate, C Ravishankar was conducted with the executive officers of various departments here on Saturday. During the meeting various instructions were given by the DM regarding traffic management and emergency services.
Addressing the meeting, he instructed the officials to spot the areas which remain prone during monsoons and start the work in the areas immediately. He also said that the necessary work and proposals for work should also be submitted without delay. The DM instructed the officials to identify the black spots and to start the work there immediately. He gave instructions that the
crush barriers needed in mountainous areas should be installed in time.
Giving instructions about the water logging problem, he said, “The patchwork of the roads should be done in time also the cleanliness of the drains should be done properly so that people face no water logging
problem.” The Public Work
( - ))(
After assurance from authorities, the agitating
contractual health workers, belonging to the Uttarakhand Purva sainik kalyan Nigam Limited (UPNL) and Prantiya Rakshak Dal (PRD), suspended their work boycott programme on Saturday.
On third day of agitation,
the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Dehradun Dr S K Gupta assured the employees that their pending salaries would soon be disbursed.
Agitated by non receipt of salaries from last five months, these workers deployed in district hospital, Gandhi Centenar y eye hospital , Coronation, Prem Nagar hospital and many
Community Health Centres ( CHC) were on a three day work boycott.
* !
granted recognition to Shri Guru Ram Rai (SGRR) University, Dehradun.
The Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the university, Dr Pitambar Prasad Dhyani, informed that the UGC has issued the notification on June 27. He said that an eleven member
team of UGC comprising the representatives of Medical Council of India, Nursing Council of India, Dental Council of India, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Pharmacy Council of India, National Council for Teacher’s Education visited the university from March 6 to 8. On the report of the team the UGC has granted recognition to the SGRR University.
The VC added that after the recognition from UGC, the SGRR University will be able to avail grants from the various ministries and departments of the government of India for its educational & research assignments.
On this unique achievement, Mahant Devendra Dass has congratulated all the faculty members and students of the university.
2++
Congress on Saturday mocked Home Minister
and BJP president Amit Shah after he blamed first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru for the problems in Jammu and Kashmir, saying he draws his knowledge of history from WhatsApp and that the Opposition party can send him history books.
National Conference and CPI(M) too while demanding an early Assembly election in Jammu & Kashmir alleged that the Union Home Minister comments in the Lok Sabha a day ago regarding the State were “provocative” and would alienate the people further.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said while Shah keeps on his attack on Nehru and blaming the Congress for troubles in Jammu & Kashmir, the Congress wants to focus on issues like unemployment fac- ing the masses today.
He then took the Whatsapp dig at Shah.
He said before Muslim League, it was Veer Sawarkar, a reverential figure in the BJP, and Hindu Mahasabha which had propogated two-nation theory. Shah had blamed the Congress for partition.
The Left party said if the conditions were conducive for holding the Lok Sabha election in the state, there was no rea- son to believe that the same sit- uation prohibits the holding of assembly election.
“The Union Home Minister’s intervention in Parliament while moving the (resolution for) extension of President’s Rule for another six months in Jammu & Kashmir was provocative leading to fur- ther alienation of the people of the state,” the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said in a statement.
“This is not healthy for India’s unity and integrity. Alienation only feeds growth of terrorism, which the country is unitedly determined to defeat,” it added.
Shah had said on Friday that Article 370 of the Constitution, which provides
for special status to the state, was “temporary in nature” and “not permanent”.
The National Conference expressed dismay over the statement of Amit Shah on the question of conducting assem- bly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, saying the “inordinate delay” in holding the polls in the state is synonymous with “scuttling” federalism in the country.
It said the people are yearn- ing for a stable Government which could protect the iden- tity and territorial integrity of the state.
NC general secretary Ali Muhammad Sagar said on one hand, the Home minister minced no words to accentuate the peaceful conduct of urban local bodies and panchayat polls and Parliament elections in the state, but on the other hand, he is “denying” a repre- sentative government to the state.
The NC general secretary said any further delay in hav- ing an elected representative government in the state would “further increase the gap between the Government and the people”.
5 "# 1 !!6 7
1/213
Congress on Saturday took a dig at the Centre dubbing its
decision to reduce interest rate on small savings schemes as its “return gift” to voters after they gave it a massive victory in the recent Lok Sabha polls.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said his party will raise the issue in Parliament, where the budget session is currently underway, and demanded that the decision be rolled back. The government on Friday reduced interest rate on small savings schemes, includ- ing NSC and PPF, by 0.1 per cent
for the July-September quarter. Few Governments in histo-
ry have received such a mandate as has the Narendra Modi gov- ernment, and it has gone on to “punish” them by trimming the interest rate on saving schemes relied upon by a majority of peo- ple, Khera said at a press con- ference. “This is the return gift this government has given to people,” Khera said, attacking it.
During the Congress-led UPA government, interest rates on two-year deposit scheme, five-year deposit scheme, pub- lic provident fund and senior cit- izens’ saving scheme were 8.4, 8.5, 8.7 and 9.2 per cents, respec-
tively, he said. Under the BJP-led NDA government, it is 6.9, 7.7, 7.9 and 8.6 per cents respectively, he added. “India’s household savings are at a 20-year low. One of the reasons for this is the unceasing relentless pursuit of the BJP government to reduce the interest rate in small savings schemes,” Khera said. Asked that interest rates, at which loans are given, were also high- er during the UPA Government, he parried the query saying he will not join the debate with “big economists” but will say that such decisions should be taken which do not harm people if not benefit them.
1/213
Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said a clear
‘chain of command’ should be in place when multiple stakehold- ers get on-board to combat a dis- aster and Government agencies should ensure that India becomes a top-notch nation for managing such emergencies.
Officiating his first public event after taking charge of the ministry, Shah said it is impor- tant to quickly develop better resilience and capability against disasters given that India is much prone to catastrophes owing to its varied topography and expanse.
The minister was speaking at the inauguration of a two- day annual conference organ- ised here by the NDRF on capacity building of state dis- aster response forces (SDRFs) in consultation with home guards, civil defence and fire services. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is a federal force of the country and has 12 battalions based across various states for quick response to any emergency, manmade or natural.
Addressing the delegates at the meeting Shah said a chain
of command between various agencies, stakeholders and department should be decided and formed when dealing with a disaster. “This is very impor- tant as I have seen a very chaotic situation emerging in absence of this protocol and order of hierarchy,” he said, adding it is a big lacuna in the country’s bureaucratic system that no one pays heed to the other till a formal or official order is issued.
The minister said agencies like the NDRF should not rest on their past laurels but strive to do better. “This is now the time to work and ensure that India becomes the number one country in disaster manage- ment. The path to achieve this goal is long but that should be our target. It should be our effort that the world takes note from our best practices and counter- disaster models,” Shah said.
+! , - .(
The Mahatma Gandhi IT and Biotechnology Park in
Cote d’Ivoire, a dedicated free trade zone built with India’s assistance to build development capacities, has been inaugurat- ed. The Mahatma Gandhi IT and Biotechnology Park (MGIT-BP) was jointly inau- gurated by Ambassador of India and Cote d’Ivoire Vice President Daniel Kablan Duccan at a ceremony in Grand-Bassam, Cote d’Ivoire on Thursday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in statement.
MGIT-BP is a dedicated Free Trade Zone (FTZ) for IT and Biotechnology, it said. “It may be noted that Prime Minister Modi has made Africa a priority for our foreign poli- cy. PM has outlined 10 princi- ples of our engagement with Africa in July 2018 in Kampala,” the statement said.
The inauguration of the project is an important mile- stone in 150th anniversary cel- ebration of birth anniversary of
Mahatma Gandhi, it said. The ceremony showcases the com- mitment of government to expedite projects under the 100 days plan, it added. The MGIT-BP is being built with India’s assistance through EXIM Bank Lines of Credit of USD 20 million.
The MGIT-BP project con- sists of two parts firstly, archi- tectural concept and design for the buildings of FTZ and con- struction of main building to host IT enterprises.
Secondly, supply and com- missioning of equipment which included, Computer Assembly
Plant, VSAT with Satellite Earth Station, Networking Lab, Human DNA Lab, Data Storage Area Network, an Audio-Visual Lab and a power generator, the MEA said.
The MGIT-BP is expected to further consolidate the two country’s cooperation and bilateral rela- tions especially in context of transfer of technology and sharing of development expe- rience to build capacities of partner countries in Africa, to face challenges of knowledge economy in 21st century, it said.
1/213
The Centre has given States and Union Territories time
till June 30, 2020 to roll out the ‘one nation, one ration card’ system, under which benefi- ciaries can buy subsidised food- grains from ration shops in any part of the country. Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said already 10 States — Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharasthra, Rajasthan, Telangana and Tripura -- are providing portability of Public Distribution System (PDS) entitlements.
“By next June 30, 2020, ‘one nation, one ration card’ should be implemented without fail in the entire country. We have written letters to the state gov- ernment to fast track the imple-
mentation of this system,” Paswan said.
The new mechanism will ensure no poor is deprived of PDS entitlement if that person shifts from one place to anoth- er. The system will also help remove fake ration card hold- ers, he added. Paswan further said there are 11 states, includ- ing Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh, which can easily implement PDS portability within their state as Point of Sale (PoS) machines have been installed in all ration shops. This is one of the 100-days agenda of the Modi 2.0 government, he added.
Since November 2016, the government is implementing the National Food Security Act, under which foodgrains are supplied every month at highly subsidised rates of Rs 1-
3 per kg to over 80 crore peo- ple in the country.
Elaborating about the new system, Paswan said beneficia- ries are required to show their Aadhaar card to buy food- grains from any ration shop in the country. Only ration card will suffice if beneficiaries want to get their PDS entitlement only from a particular regis-
tered ration shop. So far, Aadhaar cards of
about 89 per cent of benefi- caries have been linked with the system, while 77 per cent of ration shops have installed PoS machines, he said. As many as 22 states have 100 per cent PoS coverage and there is no prob- lem in implementing the new system. Delhi had rolled out
portability of PDS entitlement a year back but later stopped, Paswan added.
Asked whether a benefi- ciary who moves to another state where PDS foodgrain is given for free is entitled for the same, a senior Food Ministry official said, “In such cases, the beneficiary will get the entitle- ment as per the rates fixed by the Centre, that is Rs 1-3 per kg.”
To ensure that one member of a family after shifting to another place does not buy the entire family quota in one go, a maximum limit of buying will be fixed, the official said. In such cases, the beneficiary will be allowed to buy maximum 50 per cent of the family quota. This will ensure other members are not deprived of their enti- tlement, he added.
The food ministry will
issue detailed guidelines in this regard soon, the official added. Besides, Paswan announced distribution of for- tified rice under the a pilot basis in one district each in 15 states from October-November.
Rice grown in Kharif sea- son of 2019 will be fortified with iron, folic acid, vitamin A and B12 at the milling stage as per the standards fixed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), he said. The scheme in this regard was approved in January.
The minister also said the Centre has given a six-month deadline to states to automate the operations of their food- grain depots in order to min- imise storage losses. The depots of Food Corporation of India (FCI) and Central Warehousing Corporation are fully automated at present.
New Delhi: The Government has prepared a draft national policy for women empower- ment with a priority on their education, food security and nutrition. The Women and Child Development Ministry has prepared the draft policy after receiving suggestions from various stakeholders, sources said. The draft policy identifies the priority areas of food secu- rity, nutrition, education, econ- omy (including agriculture industry, labour, employment, NRI women, service sector, sci- ence and technology), violence against women, governance and decision making.
According to the draft pol- icy, it aims to create an enabling
environment for women through housing, shelter and infrastructure, drinking water and sanitation, media and cul- ture, sports and social security. It states that it aims to empow- er women and envisions a soci- ety in which, women attain their full potential and are able to participate as equal partners in all spheres of life.
The draft policy also has provisions to promote environ- mental friendly, renewable, non- conventional energy, green ener- gy sources for women in rural households. It also has provi- sions for addressing all forms of violence against women and preventing trafficking at source, transit and destinations. PNS
1/213
Intelligence chatters have indicated the gang war
between Hizbul Mujahideen on the one hand and the Al Qaeda Kashmir and ISJK on the other in Jammu & Kashmir has rat- tled Pakistan’s spy agency Inter- Services Intelligence that sus- pects the former being a local outfit is leaking information about the other terror groups due to battle of supremacy.
The Hizbul is known to play double game by leaking information to security forces in the Valley and is also open to dialogue for the cause of the separatist diaspora and has also close connections with the Pakistani establishment. Such gang wars are likely to increase in the future as an ambitious Hizbul seeks to increase its utility with a view to join the dialogue process at future date in any Indian ini- tiative.
Following the Indian strikes at Jaish-e-Mohammad facility in Balakot post- Pulwama suicide hit on a CRPF convoy earlier this year, the Jaish is facing a crunch of cadres in the Valley and Hizbul is now seeking to fill that space to become more important in the eyes of the Pakistani mas- ters. Hizbul chief Syed Salahuddin is resident of the
Valley and is based in Pakistan under the patronage of the Pak army-ISI combine.
Salahuddin has been known to be beneficiary of the largesse of the Indian covert agencies with a number of his relatives being in government service. Hizbul has in the past played friendly cricket match- es with the Indian army. The Hizbul is considered a local ter- ror group with patronage from Pak army-ISI combine as part of the latter’s strategy to claim deniability after terror attacks in the Valley as also to get local recruits for other jehadi groups like the Lashkar and Jaish.
Last week, the security forces eliminated four terrorists of Al Qaeda Kashmir also known as Ansar Ghazwatul Hind---Rafi Hassan Mir of
Kralchak, Shopian, Suhail Ahmad Bhat of Batmuran, Shopian, Showkat Ahmad Mir of Rajpora in Pulwama and Azad Ahmad Khanday of Bamnoo, Pulwama. The Hijbul terrorists in the Valley are sus- pected to have leaked infor- mation leading to the elimina- tion of the four terrorists in a cordon and search operation at the Panzar area of Shopian, sources said.
In its bid to deflect atten- tion from its vested agenda in the Valley, the Hizbul Mujahideen in association with the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e- Tayyaba indulged in a fight with the international terror group Islamic State Jammu and Kashmir (ISJK) Commander in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district
on Wednesday to show soli- darity with the ISI’s designs in the trouble-torn State.
The clash between ISJK terror commander Adil Das and Hizbul terrorist Arif Hussain Bhat ensued at an apple orchard in Sirhama vil- lage in Beijbehara. While Das was killed in the shootout, Bhat was nabbed by the State police.
The ISJK operates in the Valley under the banner of Wilayah Al Hind but has been unable to gain significant trac- tion locally where even the Al Qaeda’s arm has been virtual- ly decimated with the liquida- tion of its chief Zakir Musa last month.
Sources said the gunfight is an indication of the rift between various terror groups operating in the Valley for gaining supremacy. It is also indicative of the desperation in the terror ranks following con- tinuous operations by the secu- rity forces against the ultras. The security forces have killed over 700 terrorists during the last three years including the elimination of Al Qaeda Kashmir chief Zakir Musa and Hizbul commander Burhan Wani among others. Only one key commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen Riyaz Naikoo has evaded the security forces after the Indian Army released a list
of 22 most wanted terrorists last year as part of the Operation All Out.
Hizbul had engaged in Ramzan ceasefire during Atal Behari Vajpayee regime at the Centre and the outfit’s chief Syed Salahuddin’s son was given admission in MBBS course in Sri Nagar Medical College who is now based in London. The Indian army had rescued Salahuddin’s son work- ing in Jammu and Kashmir education department who was trapped in terror siege in two separate incidents and two commissioned officers of the army had laid down their lives in saving him.
The international groups like Al Qaeda Kashmir has been seeking to respond to the ISIS attack in Colombo and making their presence regis- tered here through domination on groups like Hizbul. Feeling the heat, Hizbul has started sharing information to the forces at different levels. Both commanders and cadres are believed to be sharing inputs on other groups to the agencies in a discreet manner, sources said.
# .
The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) sealed
three more “polluting” factories “operating without consent” in the Mayapuri scrap market in west Delhi on Saturday.
This was the second such exercise carried out in the last three days in the Mayapuri industrial area, which had wit- nessed violent clashes between traders and the police person- nel accompanying a sealing team on April 13.
On the directions of the
National Green Tribunal (NGT), the DPCC had carried out a comprehensive unit-wise survey in May and found sev- eral units “operating without consent”.
Neeraj Sehgal, secretary of the Mayapuri Industrial Area Welfare Association, said the authorities sealed three more factories in D and C blocks on Saturday, taking the number of units shut down in the last three days to 15.On June 19, the authorities had served 122 notices, of which 41 were for closure of defaulting units.
1/213
In a delicate surgery, doctors at a hospital here used the
cartilage and fat from the ribs of a nine-year-old Yemeni boy to reconstruct his and twin brother’s cleft lips and nose.
Cleft lip and associated nose and palate deformities lead to problem in breathing and speech, said Dr Ajaya Kashyap, the medical director of KAS Medical Centre and MedSpa. The twins, Ahmed and Shad, were not able to breathe properly and their speech was also affected.
At school, their appear-
ance, because of their cleft lips, affected their confidence level.
The surgery, conducted around two weeks ago, was suc- cessful with no rejection or complications, Dr Kashyap said.
“Usually, to correct cleft lip deformity, that also includes reconstruction of a part of the nose and upper lips, we need to take cartilage and fats from the rib bone of a patient.
“However, in this case, one of the boys was not healthy enough for this procedure. So, we took cartilage and rib fats from one of the twins and used
on both of them. Since the donor was an identical twin, it made for a great genetic match for the recipient,” the doctor said.
Dr Preeti Pandya, consul- tant surgeon at KAS Medical Centre, said the major chal- lenge in transplant therapy is rejection, wherein the immune system of the recipient start producing antibodies against the donor cells considering it a foreign substance leading to a medical emergency.
“But the boy was lucky that he had an identical twin, who shared his genetic composi- tion,” she explained.
$ . 44
* ! !
8* *"+,-.,/0
Lucknow: As many as 35 office- bearers of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee resigned from their posts on Saturday continuing the spate of resig- nations in the party following its Lok Sabha election debacle.
The state unit's senior vice president Ranjit Singh Judev, general secretary Aradhna Mishra Mona, vice president RP Tripathi and many others have resigned taking moral respon- sibility for the party's defeat, an official release of the party said.
Others who quit party posts include media coordinator Rajiv Bakshi, joint media coordinator Piyush Mishra, Onkar Nath SIngh, Amarnath Agarwal and Mukesh Singh Chauhan, Priyanka Gupta and Ashok Singh.
More resignations are like- ly in the party state unit, a senior party leader said.
The UPCC has nearly 100 members.
After Congress president Rahul Gandhi announced his decision to quit in the wake of the party's dismal per- formance in Lok Sabha polls, many leaders of state units have followed suit.
Gandhi has reiterated that there is no going back on his decision, despite requests by leaders from his party and out- side to continue in the post.
Members from the UPCC who have resgned include Satish Ajmani, Shyam Kishore Shukla,
Hanuman Tripathi, spokesman Dwijendra Tripathi, Shiv Pandey, Pankaj Tiwari and Manju Dixit.
Earlier, state unit chief Raj Babbar had quit after the party could win only Rae Bareli seat in Uttar Pradesh and even lost it traditional stronghold of Amethi.
Party MP Vivek Tankha quit as the chairman of the party's legal and human rights cell on Thursday and urged others to do the same to give a free hand to Rahul Gandhi to restructure the party at all levels.
Party general secretary in charge of Madhya Pradesh Dipak Babaria, Goa unit chief Girish Chodankar, Delhi PCC's working president Rajesh Lilothia and Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee working president Ponnam Prabhakar have quit, as also a number of other office-bearers in various states. PTI
56 21
9+:
Jammu: Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Saturday said militancy in Jammu & Kashmir is in its final phase and expressed hope that Annual pilgrimage to the cave shrine of Amarnath will not require secu- rity arrangement from next year.
He said adequate security arrangement has been put in place this year for the 46-day yatra, scheduled to begin from the twin routes of Pahalgam in Anantnag district and Baltal in Ganderbal district on July 1, to ensure its peaceful conclusion.
"There will be no need of security for the yatra from next year as the voice of my con- science says that this is the last phase and final chapter of mil- itancy in the state," The Udhampur MP added.
The first batch of the pil- grims to the cave shrine situat- ed at an altitude of 3,880 metre will leave from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp here on Sunday. The batch of pil- grims will reach to the two base
camps in Anantnag and Ganderbal districts by evening and will stay there overnight before leaving for the yatra on Monday.
Addressing a group of Sadhus after inaugurating the registration counter for them at a Ram temple in the old city, the minister said, "Like yesteryears, adequate security arrangements have been made for the yatra to ensure its peaceful conclusion."
The counters for registra- tion of the pilgrims opened at different places in the city as vis- itors including Sadhus from across the country have started flocking Jammu ahead of the formal commencement of the yatra.
"The Amarnath yatra is part of our faith and a glaring example of our rich culture and has its own religious signifi- cance not only for this region
but for the entire country," said Singh, who is the Minister of State for Prime Minister's Office.
He expressed hope that the pilgrims would be welcomed in the valley with traditional hos- pitality.
Ram Temple at Purani Mandi is providing free board- ing and lodging facilities to the Sadhus who come from across the country for the yatra.
Praising temple mahant Rameshwar Dass for making arrangements for the Sadhus at the temple complex in coordi- nation with the district admin- istration, the minister said the administration will attend to any issue so that the Sadhus do not face any problem.
Later, Singh attended a spe- cial prayer organised in con- nection with Devika pollution abatement project under the national river conservation plan in Udhampur district.
The river, revered by Hindus as sister of the Ganga river, is being revived at a cost of over Rs 1.70 crore. It has been polluted by dumping of waste and sewage and has also wit- nessed encroachment on its banks with unlawful construc- tions over the years.
"We are happy that this sacred project is being under- taken in our rule. This river is linked to our faith and its restoration is imperative due to its religious significance," he told the gathering on the occasion.
Hindu religious scriptures including Vedas mention the sanctity of the river and con- sider it a powerful source to attain divinity. PTI
6F
( ! # ! 0 3 !(!# ),
Kanpur (UP): A 16-year-old Muslim boy was allegedly beat- en by unidentified men here for wearing a traditional skull cap and refusing to chant "Jai Shri Ram", police said on Saturday.
The incident occurred on Friday when Mohammad Taj, a resident of Barra, was returning home after offering namaz in Kidwai Nagar, the Uttar Pradesh police said.
Three or four unidentified motorcyclists stopped Taj a few hundred metres from his house for overtaking them and object- ed to him wearing the skull cap, Station House Officer (Barra) Satish Kumar Singh said.
Singh said the attackers asked the teenager to chant "Jai Shri Ram", and kicked and
punched him badly after he refused to do so.
"They removed my cap, pinned me down and beat me black and blue while asking me to chant 'Jai Shri Ram'," Taj told PTI. The 16-year-old alleged that the men told him that wearing the skull cap was "not allowed" in the area.
The teenager said he cried for help and begged a couple of shopkeepers to rescue him. Later, he added, some passers- by rushed to help him, follow- ing which the attackers fled.
An FIR has been registered under the Indian Penal Code, including Section 153A (caus- ing enmity between people of different religions), the officer said. PTI
(' 2 #
Mumbai: Heavy rains contin- ued to lash Mumbai and its neighbouring areas for the sec- ond consecutive day on Saturday.
Although the rains did not much affect the normal life in the city, at least five persons were injured in rain- related incidents, officials said.
The suburban local trains, called the lifeline of Mumbai, remained largely unaffected and were running as per their schedule.
However, in view of IMD's heavy rainfall forecast, the Central Railway (CR) can- celled some express or passen- ger trains, especially those between Mumbai and Pune.
A press release issued by the CR said, Mumbai-Pune Pragati Express, Mumbai-Pune Sinhagad Express, Bhusaval- Mumbai Passenger, Pune-
Panvel Passenger have been cancelled on Saturday and Sunday. The Bhusaval-Pune Express has been diverted through Daund-Manmad.
M u m b a i - B h u s a v a l Passenger will remained can- celled till July 1, it said.
According to the officials of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), 39 incidents of short circuit, 104 incidents of uproot- ing of trees or falling of tree branches were reported from various parts of the city.
Five persons were injured in two different incidents of wall collapse in the city, they said.
"While three persons were injured in Dadar on Friday, two others were injured in Govandi last night. They were treated in nearby hospitals and dis- charged," they said. PTI
2 # ! ! :$ 9#
Lucknow: Four police person- nel were suspended on Saturday for allegedly torturing a 14- year-old boy at an outpost here after apprehending him on sus- picion of theft, officials said.
The incident came to light when the family of the teenag- er -- who used to drive an e- rickshaw to help his father, a labourer -- contacted social workers. Pictures purportedly showing swelling and injuries on the child's legs were widely shared on social media.
The boy was picked up by the police on Thursday and taken to the Telibagh outpost under PGI police station fol- lowing an FIR over an e-rick- shaw theft by a suspected teenager, an officer said.
According to his family, the boy was tortured and forced to confess that he had committed the crime.
Senior Superintendent of
Police (SSP) Kalanidhi Naithani ordered a probe, where it was found that guidelines of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act were not followed and interro- gation was done illegally with the teenager.
After a report was submit- ted in the evening, Naithani suspended Telibagh outpost incharge Rajnesh Verma, head constables Dinesh Tripathi and Sandeep Singh, and another constable, Rajendra Patel, the police said.
The SSP said swelling and wounds were found in the medical report and the family members could lodge an FIR if they wanted. PTI
7 -. Lucknow: Congress leader
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday hit out at the Yogi Adityanath Government alleg- ing that criminals are "roaming around freely, doing whatever they wish" in Uttar Pradesh, drawing a quick retort from the police.
While the state police claimed a decline in crime, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav joined her in attacking the Adityanath gov- ernment.
"The government is manip- ulating data to drive home the point that crime is declining," Yadav said.
State Law Minister Brijesh Pathak, when asked about Gandhi's remarks, asserted that since the formation of BJP gov- ernment in the state, network of criminals has been broken.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi earlier wrote on Twitter, "In entire Uttar Pradesh, criminals are roaming around freely, doing whatever
they wish. Incidents of crime continue to happen but it has fallen on deaf ears of the BJP government. Has the Uttar Pradesh government surren- dered before criminals?"
She also tagged along with her tweet news headlines of dif- ferent crime reports in the state.
Replying to Gandhi's tweet, the state police tweeted, "UP police has initiated strict action in serious crimes. In the past two years, 9,925 criminals were arrested and 81 killed. In action under NSA (National Security Act), property worth 200 crore was seized. There has been a decline in incidents of dacoity, murder, loot and kid- napping."
"Visible policing, strong monitoring, effective action against hardened criminals & public interaction has enabled us to win the confidence of people. Crime under all major heads is down by 20-35%. We are committed to the safety and
security of citizens of the state," it added.
UP minister Pathak said, "The network of criminals has been broken in the state. Our government is acting tough on criminals. There are incidents of crime due to enmity and prompt action is taken by police wherever crime is reported."
Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party chief said the state gov- ernment's claim of crime con- trol was "hollow".
"The UP government's claim of crime control is hol- low. Everyday loot, murder and rape is happening in the state, but the government is mum. Police are taking law into their hands and harassing peo- ple," Akhilesh Yadav said.
He also alleged that a teenager accused of theft was tortured in the state capital.
"If such is the situation in Lucknow, one can imagine the state of affairs in other dis- tricts," he said. PTI
3- "
Chennai: The Madras High Court has asked the Tamil Nadu Government not to pre- vent protests highlighting the water woes in the State and said it should work with organisa- tions interested in conservation of water bodies to address the situation.
Justice N Anand Venkatesh made the observation on Friday while directing the Chennai Commissioner of Police to per- mit Arappor Iyakkam, an NGO, to hold a demonstration high- lighting the present water cri- sis in the city and the causes for it on June 30 near Valluvarkottam here.
"The issue that is sought to be projected during protest is a burning issue about which the people must be made aware. The government is making all its efforts to ensure that water is supplied to the nook and cor- ner of the city.
"However, it is important to realise as to why we have reached the present state of
affairs as a result of various water bodies that were allowed to be encroached in the past and virtually destroying the ecosystem," the judge said.
Noting that the issue requires serious consideration, he said awareness must be spread in the state and that the NGO was one of the pioneers in it.
The court also said any government in power should never take these issues as an affront and must make efforts to improve the situation and work with associations that are interested in the conservation of water bodies.
Awareness is the only way through which the situation can be brought under control and therefore, protests of this nature
should never be stopped, it observed.
On June 20, the commis- sioner of police had rejected the NGO's application seeking per- mission for the protest on the grounds that another organi- sation had sought permission on the very same day and that it would unnecessarily cause a law and order problem.
Aggrieved, the petitioner approached the high court.
Challenging the denial order, the NGO submitted that none of these reasons would stand the test of the law. By virtue of being denied to con- duct the hunger strike, the fun- damental right of the petition- er for speech and expression guaranteed by the Constitution was being denied, it said.
Several parts of Tamil Nadu, especially the state cap- ital, have been reeling under severe water shortage since last month owing to poor storage in various reservoirs following deficit rainfall. PTI
0 .2)/
Bandel/Chinsurah (WB): A local Trinamool Congress leader was gunned down on the railway tracks at Bandel station in West Bengal's Hooghly district on Saturday, police said.
Trinamool Congress has called a 12-hour shut- down in Chinsurah on Sunday in protest against the inci- dent.
Dilip Ram (40), the TMC leader who was a railway employee, was rushed to the nearby Chinsurah Imambara Hospital. From there he was referred to a hospital in Kolkata, about 45 km away and he died on the way, said Akhilesh Chaturvedi, Commissioner of Chandernagore Police.
He was shot at when he was on his way to catch train
to Naihati station, which is across the Hooghly river, to reach office, the officer said.
A case of murder has been lodged and investigation into the incident is on, he said.
TMC has alleged involve- ment of BJP in the killing. Hooghly BJP MP Locket Chatterjee and the party's state president Dilip Ghosh denied it saying "cut-money" and fac- tion fight in TMC were behind the killing.
Chinsurah TMC MLA Asit Mazumdar said Ram and wife Ritu were the main organ- isers of the party. Ram's wife is the Bandel gram panchayat head.
Ram, he said, had received a number of threat calls since May 23, the day the results of the Lok Sabha polls were declared. PTI
" 8 8 . Ahmedabad: A multi-layered
security cordon involving 25,000 personnel from differ- ent police units, CCTVs and drone cameras has been put in place for the 142nd Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra on July 4 in Ahmedabad, officials said Saturday.
The Rath Yatra will traverse a distance of 14 kilometres and will have three chariots, 19 ele- phants, 100 trucks, 30 troupes and seven motorcars.
Pradeepsinh Jadeja, Gujarat minister of state for home, chaired a meeting to the review the security and also inspected the route of the pro- cession.
He said the administration was fully prepared to ensure the massively-patronised event passed off peacefully.
The 14-kilometre has been divided into 26 zones manned by 37 teams of the state reserve police apart from 15 Quick Response Teams.
A government release said, "Over 25,000 policemen will be part of the security arrange- ment for the procession. It will include eight Inspector Generals of Police, 23 Deputy Commissioners of Police, 44 Assistant Commissioners of Police, 119 inspectors, besides Home Guards among others."
A team of five DCPs, fif- teen ACPs, 37 inspectors, and 177 police sub inspectors, supervised by Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch), will be responsible for security arrangements when the pro- cession will be on the move," the release informed.
It added that 94 CCTV cameras will be set up at 45 points for the yatra, in addition to the ones existing across the city.
They will be monitored from control rooms set up at seven police stations, it said, adding that mini-control
rooms have been created at eight police stations along the route. PTI KAOver 25k cops, CCTVs, drones to secure Guj Rath Yatra on Jul 4
Ahmedabad, Jun 29 (PTI) A multi-layered security cor- don involving 25,000 person- nel from different police units, CCTVs and drone cameras has been put in place for the 142nd Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra on July 4 in Ahmedabad, officials said Saturday.
The Rath Yatra will traverse a distance of 14 kilometres and will have three chariots, 19 ele- phants, 100 trucks, 30 troupes and seven motorcars.
Pradeepsinh Jadeja, Gujarat minister of state for home, chaired a meeting to the review the security and also inspected the route of the pro- cession.
He said the administration was fully prepared to ensure the massively-patronised event passed off peacefully.
The 14-kilometre has been divided into 26 zones manned by 37 teams of the state reserve police apart from 15 Quick Response Teams.
A government release said, "Over 25,000 policemen will be part of the security arrange- ment for the procession. It will include eight Inspector Generals of Police, 23 Deputy Commissioners of Police, 44 Assistant Commissioners of Police, 119 inspectors, besides Home Guards among others."
A team of five DCPs, fifteen ACPs, 37 inspectors, and 177 police sub inspectors, super- vised by Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch), will be responsible for security arrangements when the pro- cession will be on the move," the release informed.
It added that 94 CCTV cameras will be set up at 45 points for the yatra, in addi- tion to the ones existing across the city. PTI
9;&)<& ! /!$4!=
Chennai: The DMK on Saturday slammed the BJP-led Centre over its "compulsory retirement plan" for Central Government employees, adding that enough job opportunities were not being created for the populace of the country.
In an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Murasoli', the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) likened issues related to unemployment under the BJP rule to "threats from hun- gry wolves waiting to devour their prey".
It said non-creation of new job opportunities, increase in unemployment and not filling existing vacan- cies were the three-fold seri- ous issues on the job front under the BJP-led dispensa- tion.
"The central BJP govern- ment has ordered compulsory retirement after evaluating work (eligibility) of employees who have either put in 30 years of service or completed 55 years of age," the editorial stated. PTI
)( 21 4
! 0 !0 ;; 0# ! ! (!# ),
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his American coun-
terpart Donald Trump agreed on Saturday to re-launch the stalled negotiations to end the bruising trade war, according to the Chinese state media which said the US will not impose new tariffs on imports from China.
The move came as Trump held a lengthy meeting with Xi on the sidelines of the Group of 20 economic summit in Osaka, Japan.
During the meeting, the US said it will not add new tar- iffs on Chinese exports, China’s state-run China Daily report- ed.
Trump’s assurance that no further tariffs would be imposed on Chinese goods has come as a relief in China, which is reeling under contin- ued slowdown of the economy.
The negotiating teams from the two countries are to discuss specific issues, it said.
Trump said he harbours no hostility towards China and hopes for better relations between the two countries, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The US and China — the world’s two largest economies — have been fighting a dam-
aging trade war over the past year.
Trump is demanding China to reduce massive trade deficit which last year climbed to over $539 billion. He has also asked China to workout veri- fiable measures for the protec- tion of intellectual property rights (IPR), technology trans- fer and more access to American goods in the Chinese markets.
Trump has already slapped a 25 per cent tariff on $250 bil- lion in Chinese goods. Trump has also threatened 25 per cent tariffs on another $300 billion in goods from China.
China said will re-start “on
the basis of equality and mutu- al respect,” the media reported.
Special teams from both the sides headed by high-level officials held 11 rounds of talks to end the tariff war.
The feud escalated in the months leading up to the sum- mit, after talks between the two countries collapsed in May.
Noting that global situation and China-US relations have changed considerably in the past four decades since the establishment of diplomatic relations, Xi said that there is an unchanged fundamental fact that cooperation will ben- efit the two nations, while con- flict will injure both sides.
62 .
India has pitched strongly to deal with fugitive economic
offenders, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has flagged the issue at all global forums, the country’s Sherpa to G20 Suresh Prabhu said on Saturday.
“We strongly put forward the need for to deal with fugi- tive economic offenders. It has been a strong agenda, we have been working on tax evasion, corruption, economic offences and fugitive offenders running away (from the country). We have also been very strongly championing this,” Prabhu told a media conference, detailing about the deliberations of the meeting.
He said that Prime Minister Modi has raised these issues at all global forums.
“We strongly feel that we as a global community must act in unison to deal with such issues of people committing eco- nomic offences and running away from their national domi- cile country,” he told reporters post G20 Sherpa’s meeting.
On the query that why India didn’t join the Osaka dec- laration on digital economy, Prabhu said the reasons have been communicated to the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
But, he also clarified that India strongly believes in dig- ital economy and has taken host of measures, including a huge number of bank accounts to thrust its digital agenda.
“India has a very massive programme on digital transac- tions. We have opened bank accounts of a large number of people. Many transactions are happening through the digital forms,” he said.
/ 7
Warning that there are growing risks to the glob-
al economy, leaders of the group of 20 major economies Saturday called for a free and stable trade environment and reform of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
The G20 bloc said it will play a lead role in the global efforts to prevent fight against corruption by denying safe haven to persons sought for corruption and “work more closely” on asset recovery coop- eration.
The group also agreed to apply the recently amended Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Standards to virtual assets and related providers for anti-money laundering and countering financing of ter- rorism.
'16-
India has made a strong pitch for the export of its high
quality and organically-culti- vated tobacco to China, home to 350 million smokers, the world’s largest.
A delegation of Indian Tobacco Board (ITB) led by its Chairperson K Sunitha held talks with Zhang Jianmin, Chief Commissioner of State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA) on Friday and made out a case for China to open its market for import of tobacco from India, a Press release issued by the Indian Embassy here said on Saturday.
4 9
Terming the transition to Bharat Stage VI (BS-VI)
emission norms from April next year as “joker in the pack”, Bajaj Auto Ltd has cautioned that there could be dumping of old BS-IV stock in the domes- tic market, triggering an “unwarranted price war” in the second half of the ongoing fiscal.
In its Annual Report for 2018-19, the Pune-based firm said while its motorcycles, three-wheelers and quadricy- cles will be “fully BS-VI com- pliant not just on April 1, 2020 but some months earlier, it is difficult to anticipate the state of BS VI readiness of our com- petitors”.
“For the industry as a whole, we believe that the joker in the pack will be the tough Bharat Stage VI, or BS VI, emission norms that will come into play from 1 April 2020,” the company wrote to its share- holders.
$ 7
Russia and Saudi Arabia have agreed to extend a deal to keep
oil production low owing to abundant world supplies, President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday.
“We will extend this deal, Russia and Saudi Arabia. For how long? We will think about that. For six or nine months. It is possible that it could be up to nine months,” Putin told reporters after a G20 summit in Osaka.
The OPEC cartel and its oil-pro- ducer nation allies opted in December to trim daily crude output by 1.2 mil-
lion barrels. The Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries, a cartel of 14 countries pumping one third of the world’s oil, is holding a high-stakes meeting in Vienna on Tuesday.
The meeting comes against a background of ample global crude supplies, according to both the cartel
and the International Energy Agency (IEA).
The Paris-based IEA watchdog has cut its forecast for 2019 oil demand- growth for a second straight month and has also trimmed its second-quarter forecast.
# , 56 -
'1-3545
The new GST return filing system will enable traders
to file returns in a single format once a month instead of mul- tiple formats, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi, who heads the GoM to look into revenue shor