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Man beaten by Rajasthan cops dies for allegedly not giving ‘Diwali donation’, five suspended

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JAIPUR: The death of a person in police custody sparked outrage in Rajasthan’s Bundi district on Tuesday. Harji Gurjar’s family alleged he was beaten up by policemen for refusing to give ‘Diwali donation’. After the prima facie investigation, five policemen have been suspended.

According to eyewitnesses, some policemen from Ram Nagar police station reached the Kanjar slum in simple clothing in the afternoon to arrest 55-year-old Gurjar for gambling. After his family protested, they agreed to let him off if he paid ‘Diwali donation’.

When Gurjar refused, he was taken to the police station. The family alleged that when they reached there, they found him unconscious and took him to hospital where he was declared dead. The family has released some videos on social media where the policemen are seen forcefully taking away Gurjar.

The police, however, claimed Gurjar was arrested for gambling and his health deteriorated while being taken to the police station. The family members of Gurjar and others held a protest and tried to take the body to the collector’s office.

They demanded exemplary punishment for the guilty policeman. The situation came under control when senior police officers promised strict action and an autopsy was initiated by the medical board in front of judicial officers.

COVID-19 Updates India crosses 86-lakh mark, recovery rate rises to 92.79 per cent

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At present, there are 4,94,657 active cases in the country which comprise 5.73 per cent of the total caseload, the Union Health Ministry data stated.

NEW DELHI: India’s COVID-19 caseload went past 86 lakh on Wednesday, while the number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 80.13 lakh, pushing the national recovery rate to 92.79 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry’s data

With 44,281 more people testing positive for coronavirus in a span of 24 hours, the infection tally mounted to 86,36, 011, while the death toll rose to 1,27,571 after 512 new fatalities were reported, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The number of active cases dropped below five lakh.

At present, there are 4,94,657 active cases in the country which comprise 5.73 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.

The total recoveries have surged to 80,13,783, pushing the national recovery rate to 92.79 per cent, while COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.48 per cent.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23 and 40 lakh on September 5.

It went past 50 lakh on September 16, 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11 and crossed 80 lakh on October 29.

According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 12,07,69,151 samples have been tested so far with 11,53,294 samples being tested on Tuesday.

The 512 new fatalities include 110 from Maharashtra, 83 from Delhi,  53 from West Bengal, 30 from Uttar Pradesh, 28 from Kerala, 25 from Tamil Nadu, 20 each from Karnataka and Punjab.

Total 1,27,571 deaths reported so far in the country include 45,435 from Maharashtra followed by 11,430 from Karnataka, 11,387 from Tamil Nadu, 7,403 from West Bengal, 7,261 from Uttar Pradesh, 7,143 from Delhi, 6,814 from Andhra Pradesh, 4,358 from Punjab and 3,770 from Gujarat.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

“Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

NDA wins absolute majority in Bihar, RJD emerges single-largest party

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Among other parties, AIMIM has won five seats, and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has won one seat. One Independent candidate has also won.

PATNA: The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won an absolute majority in Bihar, winning 122 seats in a closely contested election that saw counting continue stretching over 19 hours and wrapping up only in the early hours on Wednesday.

The Mahagathbandhan including Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, and Left parties managed to secure 110 seats in the state’s 243-seat legislative assembly.

The first mass election in the country amidst conditions created by COVID-19 has paved the way for the return of Chief Minister Kumar for the fourth successive term in office.

The closely contestested battle saw the Mahagathbandhan narrowing the gap between the two alliances during the day with political parties in fray keeping an eye on the narrow margins.

Counting of votes, which began at 8 am at 55 counting centres, across 38 districts of the state saw BJP leading on two seats and Janata Dal-United on one seat at 3 am on Wednesday.

The counting process was slow as there were 1,06,515 polling stations this time compared to 72,723 in 2015 polls as part of preventive measures against COVID-19.

While BJP performed a stellar role in NDA’s victory winning 72 seats, RJD also gave a spectacular performance by bagging 75 seats and emerged as the single largest party in the 243-member Bihar legislative assembly.

The Congress could win only 19 of 70 seats it contested and it impacted the Mahagathbandhan tally.

Among the constituents of NDA, Janata Dal-United (JDU) bagged 42 seats. Four seats went into the accounts of the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) and 4 to Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular).

Apart from Congress and the RJD, other Mahagathbandhan allies CPI and CPI-M won two seats each while CPI(M-L) secured a win in 12 constituencies.

Among other parties, AIMIM has won five seats, and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has won one seat. One Independent candidate has also won.

Chirag Paswan led-Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) which fielded over 130 candidates only managed to secure only one seat.

RJD secured 23.1 per cent vote share, the highest in this polls, followed BJP with 19.5 per cent. JDU and Congress got vote share of 15.4 per cent and 9.5 per cent respectively.

A delegation of RJD and Congress went to the Election Commission office in Patna and alleged “tampering” in the counting of votes in some constituencies.

After leaving the ECI office, RJD leader Manoj Jha who was part of the delegation said that tampering had been done on over a dozen seats in an effort to change “people’s mandate” and added that EC has assured the delegation it will “try to address their grievances”.

“There are over dozens of seats where tampering has been done. They are trying to change the people’s mandate. Even after all such ill-intended attempts, we will form the government. EC has assured us that they will try to address all our grievances. We trust the EC but not the district administration,” Jha told reporters.

Umesh Sinha, Secretary-General, ECI said that the Election Commission has never worked under anybody’s pressure.

“All officials and machinery are working sincerely for declaration of Bihar election results,” he said.

In 2015 Assembly polls, RJD with 80 seats had emerged as the single largest party in the elections, followed by JD-U (71). BJP was reduced to 53 seats and got the largest vote share (24.42 per cent).

With indication of a NDA victory in sight, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to thank the people of Bihar whom he said clearly stated development as their priority.

“The poor in villages, farmers, labourers, merchants, shopkeepers and every section of Bihar have relied on the NDA’s mantra of sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas. I again assure every citizen of Bihar that for the balanced development of every person, every region, we will continue to work with full dedication,” he tweeted in Hindi.

“Every voter in Bihar has clearly stated that he or she is an aspirant and priority is only and only development. The blessings of the NDA’s good governance again after 15 years in Bihar shows what Bihar’s dreams are, what Bihar’s expectations are,” PM Modi said.

Other leaders like Union Ministers Amit Shah, Ravi Shankar Prasad and BJP chief JP Nadda also extended their congratulations on the poll victory.

Encounter in J&K’s Shopian, two militants killed

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Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Kutpora area of south Kashmir’s Shopian district following specific information about the presence of militants there.

SRINAGAR: Two unidentified militants were on Tuesday killed in an encounter with security forces in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said.

Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Kutpora area of south Kashmir’s Shopian district following specific information about the presence of militants there, a police official said.

He said the search operation turned into an encounter after the militants fired upon the security forces, who retaliated.

In the exchange of fire, two militants were killed, the official said.

He said their identification and group affiliation is being ascertained.

NDA will again form government under Nitish in Bihar: JD(U) on poll trends

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As per the trends available till 12.45 pm, the NDA was leading in 126 seats — the BJP in 73, the JD(U) in 47 and the VIP in six.

PATNA: The JD(U) on Tuesday exuded confidence that the NDA will again form a government in Bihar under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as trends showed the political alliance marching ahead of the RJD-led Grand Alliance.

As per the trends available till 12.45 pm, the NDA was leading in 126 seats — the BJP in 73, the JD(U) in 47 and the VIP in six.

The RJD was leading in 66 seats, the Congress in 21, the CPI(ML) Liberation in 14, the CPI and the AIMIM in three each, the LJP and the CPI(M) in two each and the BSP in one.

Independent candidates were leading in five seats.

“I have been saying this for a long time that the NDA will form the government under the leadership of CM Nitish Kumar.

The opposition ran a misleading campaign with several allurements to woo voters,” state JD(U) chief Vashishtha Narayan Singh told reporters here.

When asked whether the BJP or the JD(U) will lead the government, Singh said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief J P Nadda have made it “amply clear” on several occasions as to who will form the government.

The trio and other senior leaders had said on several occasions during campaigning that Nitish Kumar will lead the government if the NDA returns to power in the state.

Bihar BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal, however, asked the media to wait till 5 pm for comments.

Exports show signs of improvement, up 22.47 per cent in first week of November

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Sectors which recorded negative growth include petroleum, marine products and leather goods.

trade, imports, exports, import, export, trade deficit

NEW DELHI: Showing signs of improvement, the country’s exports grew 22.47 per cent year-on-year to USD 6.75 billion in the first week of November, mainly driven by healthy growth in pharmaceuticals, gems and jewellery and engineering sectors, an official said on Tuesday.

The exports during the first week of November last year was USD 5.51 billion.

Imports in November (1st – 7th) this year too increased by 13.64 per cent year-on-year to USD 9.30 billion as against USD 8.19 billion, the official said.

Imports, excluding petroleum, jumped 23.37 per cent during the week, the official added.

Trade deficit during the week stood at USD 2.55 billion.

Exports of pharmaceuticals, and gems and jewellery grew 32 per cent to USD 139.12 million and 88.8 per cent to USD 3,360.71 million, respectively.

Similarly, the outbound shipments of engineering goods increased by 16.7 per cent to USD 215.13 million during the week.

Sectors which recorded negative growth include petroleum, marine products and leather goods.

During the period, exports to the US, Hong Kong and Singapore rose by 53.91 per cent, 176.2 per cent and 90.76 per cent, respectively.

The country’s export had also recorded positive growth in September but declined 5.4 per cent to USD 24.82 billion in October.

Retail sales of two-wheelers down by whopping 27% in October over previous year

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“As we enter the last leg of festivals and with COVID-19 getting into its 3rd wave in many cities, there is a sense of cautiousness amongst customers,” Fada said
Retail sales of two-wheelers fell by a whopping 27 per cent in October even as most manufacturers reported a record rise in factory dispatches earlier this month. According to latest data issued by FADA, vehicle registration in October 2020 came down to 10,41,682 units from 14,23,394 units in October 2019.

Just for reference, India’s largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotorCorp had alone sold (wholesales) 7,91,137 units last month while total domestic sales of the top seven OEMs was recorded at around 20 lakh units.

FADA President, Vinkesh Gulati said, “October continues to see positive momentum on monthly basis but on a yearly basis the negative slide continues to increase. The 9-day Navratri period witnessed robust vehicle registrations but could not save October from going in the red as compared to last year when both Navratri and Diwali were in the same month.”

“While new launches continued to be in demand in the passenger vehicle segment, entry level motorcycles witnessed a lean demand in the two-wheeler segment. With supply side mismatch, most passenger vehicle dealers ended with limited stock of high selling items and odd variants which did not attract much demand. This, coupled with lower discounts compared to last year’s festivals, also played a spoilsport.”

Passenger vehicle registrations fell by 9 per cent to 2,49,860 units in October as against 2,73,980 units in the same month a year ago. According to estimates, passenger vehicle wholesale sales are expected to be around 3.5 lakh units in October.

FADA numbers do not have figures from Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Lakshwadeep and Telangana as all these states/UTs are not yet on Vahan 4.

“As we enter the last leg of festivals and with COVID-19 getting into its 3rd wave in many cities, there is a sense of cautiousness amongst customers,” Fada said.

Due to the lockdown announced in a few European countries, procurement of spares will also be a cause of hindrance for smooth supply of vehicles in Indian markets. This will create a supply and demand mismatch thus affecting passenger vehicle sales.

“FADA once again cautions both OEMs and dealers to keep a check on vehicle inventory as post festivals, demand may remain subdued. Since inventory levels are at their highest during this financial year, it may impact dealers’ financial health thus leading to closures and job losses,” the association said.

SCO summit: Modi, Xi to come face-to-face amid ongoing LAC standoff

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This is for the first time Modi and Xi are expected to come face-to-face, albeit virtually, since the border standoff between India and China began in eastern Ladakh in early May.

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other top leaders of the SCO member-states are set to deliberate on a plethora of pressing issues, including ways to deal with adverse economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic and rising threat of terrorism, at a virtual summit of the bloc on Tuesday.

This is for the first time Modi and Xi are expected to come face-to-face, albeit virtually, since the border standoff between India and China began in eastern Ladakh in early May.

Government sources said, the summit is expected to focus on countering the spread of terrorism including use of the internet for spreading radicalisation, as also issues relating to trade and economic activities.

Beijing-headquartered Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), seen as a counterweight to NATO, is an eight-member economic and security bloc and has emerged as one of the largest transregional international organisations.

India and Pakistan became its permanent members in 2017.

The annual summit of SCO council of heads of state deals with all the key areas of the activities of the powerful bloc including political, security, trade, economic and cultural.

Prime Minister Modi has led the Indian delegation at the annual SCO summit since India became a full member in 2017.

However, India’s association with the organisation dates back to 2005 when it became an Observer State of the grouping.

Since then, India has played a positive and constructive role in all areas of SCO activities with a special emphasis on cooperation in trade and economy, officials said.

Russia is the current chair of the SCO and President Vladimir Putin will be chairing the summit meeting which is being held for the first time in virtual format due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The summit will culminate with the release of a Moscow declaration which will reflect the broad agenda of the bloc for the next one year, sources said.

Apart from the Moscow declaration, the summit may issue separate documents on digital economy, COVID-19, countering the spread of terrorism, according to officials.

“There will also be other decisions relating to major projects and initiatives in trade and economic sphere of activities,” said a source.

Apart from India, China and Russia, the summit is scheduled to be attended by heads all other member states, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The heads of four Observer States of SCO, Iran, Afghanistan, Belarus and Mongolia will also participate.

In the summit held in Bishkek last year, Prime Minister Modi had given his vision for the SCO with the acronym HEALTH with H for health care cooperation, E for economic cooperation, A for alternative energy, L for literature and culture, T for terrorism free society and H for humanitarian cooperation.

India also participated in two in-person meetings of the SCO defence ministers and council of foreign ministers in Moscow in September.

Covid-19 test now must to attend college

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Degree   and post-graduate students and their teachers opting for regular classes in their respective colleges from November 17 onwards will have to get a Covid-19 negative certificate.

A medic takes samples from an Indian national arriving from Myanmar at Anna International Airport, during the ongoing COVID-19 nationwide lockdown, in Chennai.

BENGALURU: Degree and post-graduate students and their teachers opting for regular classes in their respective colleges from November 17 onwards will have to get a Covid-19 negative certificate. The students will also have to get a written consent from their parents for letting them attend classes in person. These are some of the standard operating protocols (SOPs) released by the State Government on Monday in preparation for offline classes for degree and postgraduate courses.

However, while colleges will now open their doors, the government has not restricted online classes, although those who opt for online classes will have contact classes for solving their doubts. While masks are mandatory for all, the teaching faculty are advised to wear masks as well as face shields. Up to 50 per cent of students can be asked to come to classrooms per batch on a rotational basis decided by the colleges.

The teaching time at colleges can be extended or modified by the teachers. However, libraries and canteens at colleges will not be allowed to open. The SOPs state that it is mandatory for teachers, students and other staff of respective institutions to undergo an RT-PCR test three days prior to starting the classes and only those testing negative will be allowed to attend offline classes. Colleges must also reserve a room for Covid- 19 emergencies with firstaid kits and pulse oxymeter.

The principal has to create a special task force of teaching and non-teaching staff to handle emergencies, while vicechancellors will have to set up similar task forces at the university level. Colleges are asked to take continuous feedback from students and encourage exercises — like yoga and pranayama with social distancing — to increase immunity. Colleges should ensure thermal scanning, social distancing at entrances and exits and install sanitising facilities.

In an elaborate 12-page SOPs, the government has laid emphasis on teaching and non-teaching staff ensuring safety protocols at the colleges, and spreading awareness about hygienic practices and mental health to keep Covid-19 at bay. A tollfree counselling helpline fo r students (0804611007) has also been set up for the purpose. The national helpline for telecounselling is 84454440632. Besides, colleges will have to ensure mapping with the nearest Primary Health Centre.

While not giving clear guidelines on person-limit per room in the hostels, the SOPs state that all categories of hostels, both private and those under the education department, have to follow health guidelines already issued by the Backward Classes and Social Welfare Departments. Each district will have a monitoring and coordination committee, chaired by the district deputy commissioner, and nine members including the Zilla Panchayat CEO, officials from transport, health, social and minority welfare and education departments.

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