Archives for November 2021

RAIPUR: Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J) legislator and former MP Devvrat Singh died on Thursday following cardiac arrest, his family members said.

“Singh complained of chest pain at around 1 am following which he was rushed to a government hospital where doctors declared him dead,” Sunil Singh, a close relative of the legislator, told PTI over phone.

His final rites will be held later in the day in Khairagarh He has a son and a daughter, the relative said.

In March this year, the MLA had contracted the coronavirus infection when the budget session of the Chhattisgarh Assembly was underway.

The four-time MLA, who belonged to the erstwhile royal family of Khairagarh, was first elected as legislator in 1995 on a Congress ticket from Khairagarh and the second time in 1998, in the then undivided Madhya Pradesh.

After the formation of Chhattisgarh in 2000, he was elected for the third time in 2003.

In 2007, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Rajnandgaon parliamentary seat.

He quit the Congress in December 2017, claiming he was forced to do so as he was “neglected” and “sidelined” by senior party colleagues.

In February 2018, he joined former chief minister Ajit Jogi’s party JCC (J), months ahead of the Assembly election.

He contested the Assembly election on the JCC(J) ticket and became MLA for the fourth time from Khairagarh.

In last year’s Marwahi bypoll, necessitated due to the death of sitting legislator Ajit Jogi, Devvrat Singh supported the ruling Congress’s nominee, who won the election.

CHANDIGARH: Political strategist Prashant Kishor may be roped in to develop the election campaign of the Congress for next year’s Assembly polls, Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi has indicated.

In a short video of the party meeting, Channi is heard saying that “Harish Chaudharyji was even advising to hire Prashant Kishor”.

Channi was also seen discussing recent decision of his government to reduce power tariff and how it had received positive response from people.

There is enthusiasm among people and the party workers, Channi said.

“As per suggestions from you all, power tariff was reduced. We still have a couple of months (before code of conduct comes into effect in view of polls) and I will ensure that whatever you suggest will be done,” he said.

Earlier this year, Kishor had resigned as former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh’s principal adviser.

Kishor is currently lobbying for the Trinamool Congress (TMC) for the upcoming Goa Assembly elections.

Earlier, Kishor had crafted Amarinder Singh’s campaign in 2017 assembly polls.

The Congress had stormed to power with an overwhelming majority in the 2017 polls in Punjab.

Channi recently replaced Amarinder Singh as chief minister following the unceremonious exit of the veteran leader, who on Tuesday quit the Congress and announced the name of his own political outfit to contest the upcoming state polls.

NEW DELHI: Delhi’s Diwali started with “very poor” air quality which is predicted to take a turn for the worse irrespective of cracker bursting, according to authorities.

The 24-hour average AQI was 303 on Tuesday and 281 on Monday.

AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.

While SAFAR said the air quality may become ‘severe’ on November 5 and 6 if firecrackers are burnt, an official from the India Meteorological Department said model predictions do not indicate the AQI reaching the ‘severe’ category “even with higher emissions”.

The Ministry of Earth Sciences’ air quality forecast agency said 3,271 farm fires accounted for eight per cent of Delhi’s PM2.5 pollution on Wednesday.

It is likely to increase to 20 per cent on Thursday (Diwali) and further to 35 to 40 per cent on Friday and Saturday with the wind direction changing to northwest, it said.

Northwesterly winds carry smoke from farm fires in Punjab and Haryana towards the national capital.

Last year, the share of stubble burning in Delhi’s pollution had peaked at 42 per cent on November 5.

In 2019, crop residue burning accounted for 44 per cent of Delhi’s PM 2.5 pollution on November 1.

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai had Wednesday urged the Centre to issue an advisory to Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to completely stop stubble burning during the Diwali period so that people could breathe easy after the festival.

The contribution of stubble burning in Delhi’s PM 2.5 concentration was 32 per cent on Diwali day last year as compared to 19 per cent in 2019.

The contribution of farm fires in Delhi’s air pollution has remained low this season so far due to the record-breaking rainfall in October and “unfavourable” wind direction for transport of smoke from stubble burning.

SAFAR said “very calm” local Delhi wind conditions with little ventilation is expected for the next three days which will be unfavourable for dispersion of pollutants.

Under a zero firecracker emission scenario, Delhi’s PM2.5 concentration is predicted to be in the upper end of the ‘very poor’ category from November 4 to November 6.

“However, even if we consider 50 per cent of firecracker load of 2019, the AQI is predicted to degrade to the ‘severe’ category during the period,” SAFAR said.

The PM2.5 concentration in the national capital can surpass 500 micrograms per cubic metre on November 5.

The safe limit is 60 micrograms per cubic metre.

On October 27, the Delhi government had launched the ‘Patakhe Nahi Diye Jalao’ campaign to create awareness against the bursting of crackers.

Action is being taken under relevant IPC provisions and the Explosives Act against anyone found burning crackers under the campaign.

On September 28, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee ordered a complete ban on the sale and bursting of firecrackers in the national capital till January 1, 2022.

The Delhi police has arrested 55 people and seized over 6,000 kilograms of firecrackers since the ban on fireworks in the national capital, officials said on Wednesday.

According to police data, 56 cases have been registered against the 55 people for storing, selling and bursting firecrackers.

Out of total 6,050 kg seized crackers, 2,400 kg was recovered from Delhi Police’s north district, followed by Rohini district 1,163 kg and central district 298 kg, the data said.

Police said even though most of the manufacturing and storage units have been shut in the national capital, people engaged in the business have managed to procure firecrackers at lower prices from neighbouring states of Uttar Pradesh and Harayana in huge quantities.

On September 28, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) had ordered a complete ban on the sale and bursting of firecrackers in the national capital till January 1 next year.

In central Delhi, over 286 kg of firecrackers were seized where these crackers were being sold illegally in Chandni Chowk, Paharganj, Karol Bagh and other market areas, police said.

Firecrackers have been banned in entirety by the Delhi government, and an older ban by National Green Tribunal (and endorsed by the Supreme Court) bans the sale and use of ones made with barium-based formulations in the National Capital Region (NCR).

The Shahdara district police has nabbed four persons and seized 294 kg of illegal firecrackers.

On Tuesday, information was received regarding supply of illicit firecrackers in Anand Vihar area.

Thereafter, a trap was laid and a raid conducted at a shop in Arya Nagar village near Karkardooma.

A total of 235 kg of illegal firecrackers was recovered and shop owner Vinod Kumar (53), a resident of Karkardooma, was arrested.

He purchased firecrackers from Gurgaon in Haryana, a senior police officer said.

Later, the other teams of Shahdara district recovered 59 kg of illegal firecrackers.

The accused have been identified as Ram Avtar, Masum Ali and Harish Singhal, they said.

In another incident, police arrested 38-year-old Manish Gupta, a resident of Mayur Vihar, Phase-3, from Kalyanpuri area.

On Tuesday, police were patrolling in the Kalyanpuri area and around 2.30 pm, they reached the central market.

They saw a person selling crackers in his shop.

Twelve sacks and two cartons of crackers, a total of 236 kg, was recovered from his shop, police said.

Similarly, the northeast district police has nabbed two persons with firecrackers.

The first person, identified as Amit Mittal (36), a resident of Chajjupur, Babarpur was arrested on Tuesday after police raided the premises of Mittal and recovered crackers 32.3 kg.

Mittal revealed that he had procured the firecrackers from Dehradun in Uttarakhand for sale on Diwali, police said.

It has also apprehended a 32-year-old man from Sonia Vihar area.

On Wednesday, police conducted a raid at a house near Shiv Mandir, Chauhanpatti and recovered 81.32 kg firecrackers.

Police nabbed Imran (32), a resident of Chauhanpatti in Sonia Vihar, they said.

Imran rented the house to store the fire crackers for sale during Diwali, they added.

JERUSALEM: Palestinian families on Tuesday rejected an offer that would have delayed their eviction by Jewish settlers in a tense Jerusalem neighborhood, where protests and clashes helped ignite the 11-day Gaza war in May.

The four families in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood near the Old City said their decision springs from “our belief in the justice of our cause and our right to our homes and our homeland.” They said that rather than submit to an “unjust agreement” they would rely on the “Palestinian street” to raise international awareness of their plight.

The proposal floated by Israel’s Supreme Court earlier this month would have made them “protected tenants,” blocking any eviction and demolition order for at least the next 15 years, according to Ir Amim, an Israeli rights group that closely follows developments in the city.

The families would have still been able to argue their case in Israeli courts. But it would have forced them to at least temporarily attest to the settlers’ ownership of the properties, which could weaken the families’ case going forward, and pay rent to the settlers.

The four families are among dozens in Jerusalem who are threatened with eviction by Jewish settler organizations in several cases that have been working their way through the Israeli court system for decades.

The settlers are making use of an Israeli law that allows them to claim properties that were owned by Jews prior to the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation. Palestinians who lost homes, properties and lands in the same conflict do not have the right to recover them.

There was no immediate comment from the settlers, but Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Arieh King, a staunch supporter, said they had accepted the offer.

The families, who are originally from what is now Israel, say the Jordanian government granted them the land on which their homes were later built in exchange for their refugee status after it assumed control of the West Bank and east Jerusalem in 1948. They have been living there ever since.

Israel has portrayed the matter as a private real-estate dispute, but the Palestinians and human rights groups view it as a coordinated attempt to push Palestinian residents out of Jerusalem and change the city’s identity. The U.S. has spoken out against the evictions, saying it undermines efforts to eventually revive the long-dormant peace process.

Israel captured east Jerusalem, along with the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 war. The Palestinians want all three territories to form their future state and consider east Jerusalem their capital. Jordan supports their claims.

Israel annexed east Jerusalem shortly after the 1967 war and considers the entire city to be its capital, a claim not recognized by most of the international community.

The threatened evictions were one of the main drivers of protests that erupted in Jerusalem in April and May. The city, with major holy sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, is the emotional heart of the century-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has been the epicenter of several waves of unrest over the years.

After weeks of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police, including at a flashpoint holy site, Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers fired rockets at the city.

That set off the fourth Gaza war since Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007. Hamas has repeatedly warned Israel against evicting the families.

The families’ decision to reject the offer sends the matter back to the Supreme Court, which could approve the evictions and pave the way for them to be carried out in the coming weeks. That would risk setting off another cycle of violence.

Ir Amim says the Israeli government has various tools at its disposal to delay or halt the evictions, but so far it has shown no indication it plans to do so.

SRINAGAR:  The police in Jammu and Kashmir has registered an FIR against a senior J&K BJP 
leader and former MLC Vikram Randhawa for hate speech while the saffron party has acted against him and relieved him of all party posts and served show cause notice asking him to tender public apology or face strict disciplinary action.

Sources said an FIR No 357 of 2021 under sections 295-A and 505(2) has been registered against Randhawa at Bahu Nagar Police Station in Jammu for hurting religious sentiments and promoting enmity between religious groups

The FIR was registered after a video of Randhawa in which made derogatory remarks about the Kashmiri Muslims had gone viral. In the undated video, Randhawa was purportedly telling his supporters, “I think the agencies are doing a good job.

They are not taking celebrations in Kashmir over Pakistan’s victory over India in World T20 match casually. Since the beginning, we have been demanding that not just their (academic) degrees be cancelled, their citizenship must also be revoked. They should be beaten up and skinned alive”.

The hate speech by the BJP leader evoked strong resentment and condemnations from all sections of society. J&K BJP president Ravinder Raina said it was unacceptable that a person occupying high position in the party makes a statement, which hurts religious sentiments. 

NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Wednesday said the bypoll results in assembly constituencies show “the honours are even” today between the BJP and the parties opposed to it, as he wondered which way will the wind blow in the 2022 elections in various states.

Reacting to the bypoll results, he said here is a “thought provoking analysis of the results of by-elections in 30 assembly constituencies — BJP won seven seats and its declared allies won eight seats.

Congress won eight seats.

Non-BJP parties won seven seats of which only one seat was won by a crypto ally of the BJP, namely YSR Congress”.

The other six seats were won by parties opposed to the BJP, the Congress leader said.

“The honours are even today. Which way will the wind blow in 2022?” Chidambaram said.

The Congress on Tuesday had cited bypoll results to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him to shed arrogance, repeal the three farm laws and stop petrol and diesel “loot”.

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi had said the party’s victory is that of its workers and asked them to keep fighting hate without fear.

The terms of the legislative assemblies of Goa, Manipur, Punjab and Uttarakhand are coming to an end in March 2022, while the term of the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly is scheduled to end in May next year.

Polls are also due in Himachal Pradesh in December next year.

The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been below 20,000 for 26 straight days and less than 50,000 daily new cases have been reported for 129 consecutive days now.

NEW DELHI: India’s COVID-19 tally reached 3,43,08,140 with a single-day rise of 11,903 new infections, while the number of active cases declined to 1,51,209, the lowest in 252 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.

The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been below 20,000 for 26 straight days and less than 50,000 daily new cases have been reported for 129 consecutive days now.

The number of active cases has declined to 1,51,209, comprising 0.44 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.22 per cent, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said.

A decline of 2,567 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 case count in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.11 per cent.

It has been less than 2 per cent for the last 30 days.

The weekly positivity rate was also recorded at 1.18 per cent.

It has been below 2 per cent for the last 40 days, according to the Health Ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,36,97,740, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.34 per cent.

The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 107.29 crore.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020; 30 lakh on August 23; 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

It went past 60 lakh on September 28; 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29; 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed one crore on December 19.

India crossed the grim milestone of two crore COVID-19 cases on May 4 and three crore on June 23.

The 311 new coronavirus-linked fatalities include 187 from Kerala and 48 from Maharashtra.

Of the 187 deaths, 45 were reported over the last few days, 87 were those which were not confirmed until June 18 last year due to lack of adequate documentation and 55 were designated as COVID deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and Supreme Court directions, a Kerala government release said on Tuesday.

A total of 4,59,191 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,40,274 from Maharashtra, 38,089 from Karnataka, 36,157 from Tamil Nadu, 32,236 from Kerala, 25,091 from Delhi, 22,901 from Uttar Pradesh and 19,160 from West Bengal.

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

Parmesh Jain

The Kengeri police on Wednesday arrested a 22-year-old contract employee of BESCOM for stealing Rs 1.4 lakh bill amount from his office on Friday.

The accused has been identified as Hemanth, a native of Mandya was working as contract employee with BESCOM office situated in Kengeri 5th main.

Senior officer told media persons,Hemanth had come to give prasada to his colleague Kavitha who was on duty to collect the bill payment.

Kavitha gave the keys of the room where the cash was kept,asking Hemanth to keep the prasada so that she could eat it later .

Hemanth went to keep the Prasada and returned with the keys and left the place.

The theft came to light when Manjunath,another colleague of Kavitha who had come to receive the collections found the room was open and cash was missing.

Based on the complaint, the Kengeri police analyzed the CCTV footage and confirmed Hemanth stealing the cash.

The police on Tuesday arrested Hemanth from his native and recovered the cash and remanded him to judicial custody.

Hemanth told the police that he was in dire need of money and decided to steal said a senior officer.