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Amid soaring prices, four people were arrested for allegedly stealing onions worth Rs 2.30 lakh in Junnar in Maharashtra.
PUNE: Amid soaring prices, four people were arrested for allegedly stealing onions worth Rs 2.30 lakh in Junnar in Maharashtra’s Pune district, police said on Tuesday.
The theft of 56 bags of the kitchen staple took place in Dingore village and the arrests were made on the basis of CCTV camera footage and leads, a Junnar police station official said.
Kumar also praised Modi for his initiatives in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
PATNA: Bringing the ‘Modi factor’ to the fore of the poll campaign, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday devoted his speech at a BJP rally here to development works undertaken by the prime minister for Bihar and said Narendra Modi will make it a “developed” state if the ruling NDA is voted back to power.
Lavishing praise on Modi, Kumar referred to a slew of projects to assert that the people of Bihar can never forget what he has done for the state.
“Listening to his (Modi’s) appeal, if you give the NDA one more chance to work in the state, then you take it for sure that he will transform it into a developed state. Bihar with march ahead,” he said.
Locked in a keen electoral battle with the RJD-led opposition amid a perceived anti-incumbency against Kumar’s nearly 15-year tenure as chief minister, the National Democratic Alliance is banking strongly on the ‘Modi factor’ to help it romp home.
In the state capital and several other places, BJP’s posters carrying the prime minister’s photographs and its symbol, among with that of allies, have been put up prominently, assuring voters that he will bring them jobs — a central theme of the Bihar assembly polls — and other developments in the same way he has brought them roads and electricity.
In his speech, Kumar, the JD(U) president, spoke about the Patna metro project, smart cities plan and the Ujjwala scheme among other measures to laud Modi. He has done so much for building roads and bridges in the state, the chief minister said in his brief speech.
Kumar also praised Modi for his initiatives in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Referring to the free ration scheme for over 80 crore poor in the country between April and November, the chief minister said, “This is not a small thing.”
The NDA has projected Kumar as its chief ministerial candidate.
Opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav, the chief ministerial face of his alliance, has launched an aggressive campaign around the theme of “unemployment and corruption” in the NDA government in the state and has protected himself as a harbinger of hope and change.
The NDA, on the other hand, has been raking up the issue of the “15-year-misrule” during the previous RJD regime from 1990 to 2005.
The rise, suggested officials, could be due to Dussehra and Durga Puja festivities which saw large gatherings.
NEW DELHI: Even as India on Tuesday recorded a three-month low in daily fresh Covid-19 cases, the Centre expressed worry at the rising case graph in some states such as West Bengal and Delhi. The rise, suggested officials, could be due to Dussehra and Durga Puja festivities which saw large gatherings.
The true impact of these celebrations, however, can be gauged only by coming two weeks, they added.
At a briefing on the Covid-19 situation, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said during the festive season, cases have increased in Kerala, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Delhi.
Around 58 per cent of the fresh COVID-19 deaths in the country were reported from Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka, he said, adding 49.4 per cent of the fresh coronavirus cases in the same period were reported from Kerala (4,287) West Bengal (4,121), Maharashtra (3,645), Karnataka (3,130) and Delhi (2,832), while 58% of the 488 deaths were reported from Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka.
He also said the health ministry is in contact with all these states and central teams have been sent there.
“A few teams have returned after completing the task allotted. After analysing their report further actions will be taken in formulating new strategies to be adopted for these states,” Bhushan said.
Bhushan said the Centre will this week hold meetings with the five states witnessing rise in daily Covid graph.
The officials, however, added that there has been a continuous decline in average daily new Covid-19 deaths for the last five weeks. India’s case fatality rate has declined from 1.77% on September 1 to 1.50% on October 27, Bhushan said.
Top functionaries of the government also stressed that there was no room for complacency considering several other nations in Europe and the US are experiencing a worse second waves than the first one.
“We are fortunate that we are witnessing a decline except in few states. This is more worthy as other nations continue to see severe second peaks, but we have to work harder to protect the gains,” said Dr V K Paul, member (health), Niti Aayog.
This decline is particularly noteworthy because in other countries of the northern hemisphere there is a severe increase in the intensity of the pandemic, Paul added.
The pandemic has rebounded in several countries, largely in the northern hemisphere, and a third peak has hit the US, Paul said, adding, “Becoming a bit lax. slowing down surveillance and containment strategies also must be playing a role in this.”
Stressing that the coronavirus pandemic is on a “downward trend and under control” in India, he warned that “we cannot become lax and have to stay vigilant”.
Kerala, West Bengal and Delhi are proceeding towards a third peak.
This is a matter of concern and there can be no complacency in following COVID-19-appropriate behaviour as more challenges will emerge in the coming days, Paul said.
“More festivals are ahead and wherever we have faltered in the last few days, it will show in the coming 10 to 12 days.”
Paul stressed on continuing with the test, track, trace and treat strategy.
“Looking for a super-spreading event in the case of an individual positive case is an important area of our work and we are learning that super-spreading events happen when we are together not only in very large numbers but also in medium numbers. So, super-spreading events must be avoided,” he said.
Bhushan further said a continuous decline in average daily new coronavirus cases has been observed and the figure has come down from 83,232 between September 23 and 29 to 49,909 for October 21-27.
“When we observe the number of new COVID-19 cases reported in the last 24 hours, it is only 36,470. However, the number of tests conducted during this period has not come down. If even after doing 11 lakh tests per day on an average, there is a decline in daily new cases. It surely is a very positive sign. Our number of tests per million population is more than 75,600,” he pointed out.
“India’s COVID-19 case fatality rate has declined from 1.77 per cent on September 1 to 1.50 per cent as on date. The recovery rate has increased from 76.94 per cent on September 1 to 90.62 per cent as on date,” the official said.
It should be specifically noted that many states and Union Territories have case fatality rate below the national average of 1.50 per cent.
There has also been a decline in average daily new deaths from 1,054 in September to 615 now, Bhushan said.
The health secretary said India has the highest COVID-19 recoveries in the world.
Also, the country’s number of cases as well as deaths per million population were among the lowest, he added.
“It took us 57 days to register a recovery of 10 lakhs from 1 lakhs, whereas, the latest 10 lakh recoveries have been achieved in just 13 days which is also a satisfactory sign,” Bhushan said.
To a question over the BJP’s election manifesto promising free coronavirus vaccine for everyone in Bihar, Paul said state governments have been urged to take a national approach towards engaging with companies and deciding the criteria for COVID-19 vaccination.
“In order to deliver the vaccine to priority groups, to the extent that we can foresee, there is absolutely no problem in terms of resources,” he said.
The recoveries in India have now crossed 72 lakh even as cases are above 79 lakh with the last 10 lakh recoveries registered in 13 days as against the first 10 lakh recoveries, which took 57 days.
Amid the growing concerns around air pollution in Delhi-NCR, ICMR chief Dr Balram Bhargava said that studies have proven that long-term exposure to air pollution is linked to an increased risk of dying from Covid-19.
“There have been studies from Europe and US, where they have looked at polluted areas and have compared mortality during lockdown and correlation with pollution. It is found that pollution is contributing to mortality in Covid, that’s well established by studies,” he said in reply to a query during the daily briefing.
Prime Minister will hold rallies in Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur and Patna on Wednesday ahead of the Bihar Assembly polls.
PATNA: RJD leader and Mahagatbandhan’s chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav has posed 11 questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his visit to Bihar on October 28.
Prime Minister will hold rallies in Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur and Patna on Wednesday ahead of the Bihar Assembly polls.
In a press statement, Tejashwi Yadav stated, “Tomorrow Prime Minister Narendra Modi is coming to Bihar. I want to ask these questions from the double engine government of Delhi and Patna.”
He posed 11 questions to the Prime Minister and asked, “Darbhanga AIIMS was announced in 2015 but why announcement for the start of its work was done before the polls?”
“PM is coming to Muzaffarpur. Will his combined government in Delhi and Patna speak on the Muzaffarpur shelter home case in which the Chief Minister is providing protection to the accused in the rape of 34 orphan girls?” he asked.
“The BJP-JDU government has promised a super speciality hospital in Darbhanga and Muzaffarpur but the promise was not fulfilled nor the appointment of doctors done. The government has promised to build Skill University what happened to that promise?” Yadav posed.
“Will PM also discuss flooding in Patna and regarding the work of Patna Nagar Nigam regarding the crisis,” Yadav asked.
He asked the Prime Minister to reveal to the people of Bihar that out of the 10 dirty cities of the country, six are from Bihar. “Why there is such a state of affairs in Bihar?” he asked.
“Why is Nitish Kumar such a weak Chief Minister that despite having 39 out of 40 NDA MPs, Patna University is still not given the status of a Central University?” he sought to know.
“Will PM tell, why is the state with a huge population of youth there is unemployment. How many jobs are created by the Central government in six years and by the Bihar government in the last 15 years?” Yadav asked.
he asked why migration has taken place out of Bihar and why it is increasing?
He also sought to know why students stranded in Kota and other migrant workers were stopped from coming to Bihar?
He asked the Prime Minister why the accused in the Srijan scam have not been touched by CBI yet. Why they are roaming with the NDA leaders?
Bihar Assembly elections will be held in three phases — October 28, November 3, and 7, and the counting of votes will take place on November 10.
While the BJP is fighting the elections alongside Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United (JDU) and two other parties, LJP this time parted ways from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the state level opting to field candidates on over 100 seats in the state.
The searches were carried out on Monday at 42 premises in Delhi-NCR, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa, it said.
NEW DELHI: The Income Tax Department has recovered cash and jewellery worth about Rs 5.26 crore after it carried out multi-city raids against hawala operators and individuals who prepare fake bills, the CBDT said on Tuesday.
The searches were carried out on Monday at 42 premises in Delhi-NCR, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa, it said.
The action was carried out against “a large network of individuals running the racket of entry operation (hawala like operation) and generation of huge cash through fake billing”, officials said.
During the raids, Rs 2.37 crore cash and jewellery worth Rs 2.89 crore has been found along with 17 bank lockers which are yet to be searched, the CBDT said in a statement.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is the administrative authority for the I-T department.
“The search has led to seizure of evidences exposing the entire network of the entry operators, intermediaries, cash handlers, the beneficiaries and the firms and companies involved.”
“So far, documents evidencing accommodation entries (hawala) of more than Rs 500 crore have already been found and seized,” it said.
Several shell entities and firms were used by the searched entry operators for layering of unaccounted money and cash withdrawals against fake bills issued and unsecured loans given, the Board said.
Describing the modus operandi of the tax evasion racket, it said personal staff, employees, associates had been made dummy directors and partners of these shell entities and all bank accounts were managed and controlled by these entry operators.
“Statements of such entry operators, their dummy partners/employees, the cash handlers as well as the covered beneficiaries have also been recorded, clearly validating the entire money trail,” the statement said.
“The searched persons were also found to be controller and beneficial owners of several bank accounts and lockers, opened in names of their family members and trusted employees and shell entities, which they were managing in collusion with the bank officials, through the digital media,” it said.
This is being further investigated, it added.
The CBDT further said the beneficiaries have been found to have made huge investments in real estate properties in prime cities and in fixed deposits to the tune of several hundred crores of rupees.
Although the first phase human trial of the vaccine was successfully conducted here, the institute had to do away with the plan for the second phase
BHUBANESWAR: The third phase human trial of indigenously developed COVID-19 vaccine “Covaxin” will soon commerce at the Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital in Odisha.
The institute is one of the 21 medical facilities selected across the country by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) for the third phase trial.
Although the first phase human trial of the vaccine was successfully conducted here, the institute had to do away with the plan for the second phase after the ICMR decided to reduce the number of facilities where the vaccine shots will be administered.
The principal investigator and Professor of Department of Community Medicine at IMS and SUM Hospital Dr E Venkata Rao said the vaccine developed by ICMR and Bharat Biotech has received the approval of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) for continuing trials.
After completion of the first and second phase trials with demonstrable safety profile and immunogenicity, the large scale efficacy trial involving thousands of volunteers is being planned, he said.
“The age limit and eligibility criteria would be relaxed during this phase. Several healthy volunteers would be recruited for the trial. Like the previous phases, half of the volunteers would receive placebo and the remaining half would be administered “Covaxin” in this phase. Health care workers would also be recruited for the trial. The volunteers would be followed up over a considerable period of time to look at the efficacy of the vaccine in preventing COVID-19,” Prof Rao said.
The institute has a list of individuals, who have already volunteered for the trial. Interested volunteers can also enrol themselves for the trial by registering online at www.ptctu.soa.ac.in under the section register for clinical trials.
IMS and SUM Hospital was one among 12 sites across the country where first phase trial was conducted. Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech was first to secure the approval from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to conduct clinical trials of Covaxin, making it the country’s first domestic vaccine to enter trials.
“Amid the rising cases and deaths due to Covid-19 across the country, the search for a suitable vaccine candidate has almost come to the final stage. In the first phase trial, the vaccine performed as expected. We hope after the successful third phase trial, the vaccine will get the nod for mass immunisation.
After restricting KKR to 149, Mandeep Singh and Chris Gayle chased down the total comfortably to secure their fifth win on the trot.
When these two sides last met a little over two weeks back, Kings XI Punjab were left stunned as Kolkata Knight Riders pulled off an improbable victory from right under their noses.
The Punjab skipper KL Rahul said after the match that he had had ‘no answers’ to the slump that his team was going through or how they lost that day from a winning position.
They looked down and out, but fast forward to Monday and they look like a completely different side.
This time out, the Punjab outfit thoroughly outplayed KKR to secure an eight-wicket win, and more importantly, they are now fourth in the table and firmly in contention to qualify for play-offs.
After restricting the Kolkata outfit to 149/9, Mandeep Singh (66) and Chris Gayle (51) chased down the total comfortably to secure their fifth win on the trot.
One of the primary reasons for Kings XI Punjab’s resurgence in IPL 2020 after looking down and out just a couple of weeks back is their efficiency with the ball.
On the other hand, while Kolkata Knight Riders have managed to keep their place among the playoff berths, their batting has been unpredictable and undergoing constant experimentation.
On Monday, when these two met in a crucial encounter that was even billed as a virtual qualifier, the contest between the Mohammad Shami led bowling unit and the KKR batsmen was going to have a huge say on the outcome of the match.
In what was a see-saw battle, Knight Riders posted 149/9 from 20 overs thanks largely to the efforts of Shubman Gill (57) and skipper Eoin Morgan (40).
Other than these two and Lockie Ferguson (24 n.o) who struck a few lusty blows towards the end of their innings, Kings XI bowlers kept a check on their other batsmen.
They got off the blocks in no time. Nitish Rana once again opened the innings, but got out for a golden duck in the first over from Glen Maxwell.
Shami dismissed Rahul Tripathi (7) and Dinesh Karthik (0) in the second over as Kings had their tails up.
While those early setbacks rattled Kolkata, they showed they have enough ammunition to take on any attack and Morgan and Gill started doing some counter-punching.
An 81-run stand steadied their innings and Shami was even smacked for 21 runs in an over with Gill smashing back to back sixes.
That’s when Punjab’s spinners came into the equation and got them timely breakthroughs as Ravi Bishnoi dismissed Morgan and wickets started to fall at regular intervals.
The sight of Gill opening the innings for KKR has been the one constant for their batting lineup which is constantly shuffled otherwise. And the youngster was their top scorer with a well made fifty.
Besides Arshdeep Singh, all the other Punjab bowlers got wickets with Shami getting three as they once again did a commendable job with the ball.
The Kings batsmen did the rest as Mandeep and Gayle stitched together a 100-run partnership that sealed the victory.
The application was reportedly made on the basis of ‘new evidence’, but Westminster Magistrates’ Court District Judge Samuel Goozee was not convinced to reverse previous bail rejections.
LONDON: A UK court on Monday rejected the latest bail plea of fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi, who has been lodged in a London prison since his arrest on an extradition warrant in March last year.
The application was reportedly made on the basis of “new evidence”, but Westminster Magistrates’ Court District Judge Samuel Goozee was not convinced to reverse previous bail rejections in Modi’s case.
The 49-year-old jeweller, fighting extradition to India on charges of fraud and money laundering in the estimated USD 2-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case, has made around six previous attempts at bail, at the magistrates’ court as well as at the High Court level.
However, each of the applications, which came with an offer stringent conditions akin to house arrest and a bail bond security of 4 million pounds, have been rejected each time as he has been deemed to have the financial means and motivation to abscond.
“The repeated rejection of bail application is a result of excellent coordination among the CBI, the Ministry of External Affairs and Crown Prosecution Service of the United Kingdom,” a senior CBI official said in New Delhi, commenting on Monday’s development.
At Modi’s last High Court bail hearing in March this year, Justice Ian Dove had said, “My central concern of a risk of absconding are not obviated by the measures presented.”
Modi’s legal team had offered a package of measures, which included a 24-hour electronic tag as well as a private security guard service and strictly-monitored access to gadgets and telephones.
The court has also repeatedly been told of Modi’s fragile mental health and that his psychological condition was “deteriorating with the ever-increasing detention”.
“He has increasingly suffered from severe depression and the latest assessment shows he is on the threshold of being subject to hospitalisation unless given proper treatment and his fitness to plead may be in doubt here or in the requesting state (India) given a high risk of suicide,” Modi’s barrister, Clare Montgomery, had told Westminster Magistrates’ Court last month as part of the defence arguments against inadequate prison conditions in India.
Modi is next scheduled to appear via videolink from Wandsworth Prison in south-west London on November 3, for the hearing in his extradition case when Judge Goozee will be presented with arguments to determine the admissibility of the evidence provided by the Indian authorities.
There is at least one further final hearing in the case, expected either in December or early next year, for closing submissions by both sides.
A judgment in the case is expected only after the closing submissions.
At a five-day hearing held in September, Justice Goozee presided over arguments for and against the case for his extradition brought by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), arguing on behalf of the Indian authorities, played videos in court in support of additional charges of Modi’s disruption of the CBI’s investigation by causing the disappearance of evidence and criminal intimidation of witnesses.
Assurances of adequate prison conditions were also provided by the Indian government, including additional commitments of appropriate mental health care for Modi on being extradited.
The defence team, led by Montgomery, sought to not only establish that Modi’s actions related to PNB-issued letters of undertaking (LoUs) did not amount to fraud but also deposed witnesses to highlight mental health concerns.
The defence has claimed that the conditions at Barrack 12 in Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai, where Modi is to be held on being extradited, do not meet the UK court’s human rights criteria.
The first set of hearings in the case took place back in May, with the hearings in September completing the process to establish a prima facie case and determine if the jeweller has a case to answer before the Indian courts.
The case is being heard in a partial remote setting to accommodate coronavirus-related social distancing norms.
The ten-day festival concluded on Monday with the Jamboo Savari procession. It ended in just 40 minutes.
MYSURU: The 411-year-old historic Mysuru Dasara celebrations and the Jamboo Savari procession, which usually attracts lakhs of people, was reduced to a simple ritual sans people and pomp this year amid the pandemic fear. The ten-day festival concluded on Monday with the Jamboo Savari procession. It ended in just 40 minutes.
The Dasara procession is held on ‘Vijayadashami’, signifying the victory of good over evil.
Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa performed the Nandi Dhwaja puja between 2.59 pm and 3.20 pm and prayed for the good health of the people and to protect them from Covid- 19 and floods.
He said though the government was forced to restrict the scale of the celebrations, they did not compromise on tradition.
He added that the government would celebrate Dasara in a grand manner next year.
Yediyurappa, accompanied by Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the heir of Mysuru royal family, District minister S T Somashekar and Mayor Tasneem, offered floral tributes to the presiding deity Chamundeshwari, which was placed in the golden howdah. Followed a 21-round gun salute..
The key attraction was the ‘Jamboo Savari’, the procession of the city’s presiding deity Goddess Chamundeshwari, mounted on a golden howdah (seat) on the caparisoned elephant Abhimanyu.
This was Abhimanyu’s debut and he was accompanied by other caparisoned elephants. As the elephants continued their march, there were performances of Chande Mela, stilt walking, Veeragase Kunita and Chilipili Gombe.
The Health Department’s tableau on Covid-19 was about creating awareness about the disease. And then came the Nadaswara team. Unlike the five-km-long procession from the Mysuru Palace to Banni Mantapa, the Jamboo Savari was taken out to a distance of less than 300 m within the palace premises.
What struck those watching it live on TV was the absence of cheering crowds and the general festive mood. Thanks to Covid-19, the Jamboo Savari was held in the presence of a limited audience, a handful of politicians and less than half a dozen cultural troupes.
There were no long queues, people on trees or high-rise towers as the roads around Mysuru Palace were barricaded and entry was restricted. The Covid-19 guidelines like social distance were strictly followed and only a maximum of 300 visitors were allowed. Earlier, in the day Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar took out the Vijaya Yatra to offer Banni puja at the Bhuvaneshwari temple within the palace premises.
The Congress chief stated that farmers, youth, labourers, brothers and sisters of Bihar are not just in Bihar but all over India and all over the world. Slamming the Bihar Government, Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday said, high on power and its ego, the current state government has deviated from its path. She asserted that the public is with Congress Mahagatbandhan (grand alliance).
“High on power and its ego, current Bihar Government has deviated from its path. Neither their saying nor doing is good. Labourers are helpless, farmers are anxious and youth are disappointed. The public is with Congress Mahagatbandhan and it is the call of Bihar,” said Sonia Gandhi.
“The fragile state of the economy is overshadowing the lives of the people. The sons of the soil are in serious trouble today,” she further stated.
“Dalits and Mahadalits have been left in a bad condition. Backward sections of society are also victims of this plight. The voice of the people of Bihar is with the Congress Grand Alliance. This is the call of Bihar today,” she added.
The Congress chief added that the governments of Delhi and Bihar are ‘captive governments’ – demonetisation, lockout, trade-off, economic bandit, farm-barn captive, bread-employment detention. Therefore, against the captive government, the people of Bihar are ready for the creation of a new Bihar, she added.
“Now the change is in the air because change is passion, energy, new thinking and power. Now the time has come to write something new. Bihar has qualities in its hands, skill, strength, power of construction, but unemployment, migration, inflation, starvation have given them tears and blisters in their feet,” she said.
“Words that cannot be said have to be said with tears. Policy and governments cannot be created on the basis of fear and crime. Bihar is a mirror of India, a hope. India believes, passion is passion. Bihar is the pride and pride of India,” she added.
The Congress chief stated that farmers, youth, labourers, brothers and sisters of Bihar are not just in Bihar but all over India and all over the world. Today, the same Bihar is ready for new changes in its villages, towns, cities, farms and barns for its glory and future.
“That is why I said that the wind of change is in the air. The inked finger of the vote now stands with the question. The question is unemployment, to save farming, about bread and employment. The question is about education and health. The question is of industry. The question is to stop the unbridled crime. The question is on dictatorial governance,” she said.
“That’s why today is the time – to move from darkness to light, from lie to truth, from present to future. My appeal to the people of Bihar, called the land of knowledge, is to vote for the candidates of the grand alliance and build a new Bihar,” she added.
Bihar Assembly elections will be held in three phases — October 28, November 3, and 7, and the counting of votes will take place on November 10.