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24-year-old transgender held for dancing in campus of religious place posting clip

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BHOPAL: A 24-year-old transgender was arrested for hurting religious sentiments after he allegedly danced in a mosque’s campus here in Madhya Pradesh and uploaded the video on social media, police said on Sunday.

He said authorities of the Moti Masjid had lodged a complaint stating that the act of the transgender had hurt their religious feelings.

“The Kinnar danced in the campus of the Moti Masjid and uploaded the video on social media which went viral according to the complaint,” he said.

Kinnar was granted bail hours after his arrest from the police station as the criminal section invoked against him invites less than seven years’ imprisonment if convicted by a court of law, police said.

The Kinnar has more than one lakh followers on social media platforms, according to a police official.

COVID-19 India Update: 80,834 fresh cases in India lowest after 71 days vaccination tally crosses 25 crore mark

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NEW DELHI: India reported 80,834 fresh COVID-19 cases, the lowest after 71 days, while the daily positivity rate further dropped to 4.25 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday.

The COVID-19 death toll climbed to 3,70,384 with 3,303 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The active cases further declined to 10,26,159 comprising 3.49 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 95.26 per cent.

A net decline of 54,531 cases has been recorded in the COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

Also 19,20,477 tests were conducted on Saturday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 37,62,32,162 while the daily positivity rate has further dropped to 4.25 per cent .

It has been less than 10 per cent for 20 consecutive days, the ministry said, adding the weekly positivity rate fell below 5 per cent and was recorded 4.74 per cent.

Recoveries continue to outnumber daily new cases for the 31st consecutive day.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 2,80,43,446, while the case fatality rate has increased to 1.26 per cent, the data stated.

Cumulatively, 25,31,95,048 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 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 the one-crore mark on December 19.

India crossed the grim milestone of 2 crore on May 4.

The 3,303 fresh fatalities include 1,966 from Maharashtra, 374 from Tamil Nadu, 171 from Kerala and 144 from Karnataka.

A total of 3,70,384 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,08,333 from Maharashtra, 32,788 from Karnataka, 29,280 from Tamil Nadu, 24,800 from Delhi, 21,735 from Uttar Pradesh, 16,812 from West Bengal, 15,503 from Punjab and 13,311 from Chhattisgarh.

The 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.

In a statement, the ministry said that India has also crossed the “historic landmark” 20 crore — 20,46,01,176 — first dose administration.

It said that 18,45,201 people in the 18-44 age group received their first dose and 1,12,633 got their second dose of Covid vaccine on Saturday.

Cumulatively, 4,00,31,646 people across the country have received their first dose and 6,74,499 their second dose since the start of Phase-3 of the vaccination drive.

Bihar, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have administered to more than 10 lakh beneficiaries of 18-44 years age group their first dose of Covid vaccine, the ministry said.

The total number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has reached 25,28,78,702, according to a provisional report compiled at 7 pm.

The number includes 1,00,47,057 healthcare workers (HCWs) who have taken their first dose, 69,62,262 HCWs who have taken their second dose, and 1,67,20,729 frontline workers (FLWs) who have received their first dose, and 88,37,805 FLWs who have taken their second dose.

Besides, 7,53,56,174 and 1,19,35,606 beneficiaries in the 45-60 age group have been administered the first and the second dose respectively, while 6,24,45,570 and 1,98,67,354 beneficiaries above 60 years of age have taken the first and the second dose respectively.

As on Day-148 of the vaccination drive on Saturday, a total of 31,67,961 vaccine doses were given with 28,11,307 beneficiaries vaccinated with the first dose and 3,56,654 beneficiaries with the second dose, according to the provisional report till 7 P.M.

Karnataka sees Rs 100 per litre petrol

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NEW DELHI: Diesel price on Saturday breached the Rs 100 per litre mark in Rajasthan after yet another increase in fuel rates, which also led to Karnataka becoming the 7th state to record Rs 100 a litre petrol.

The hike — 23rd since May 4 — pushed fuel prices across the country to new historic highs.

In Delhi, petrol hit an all-time high of Rs 96.12 a litre, while diesel is now priced at Rs 86.98 per litre.

Fuel prices differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes such as VAT and freight charges.

And because of this petrol retails at over Rs 100 per litre mark in six states and union territories — Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Ladakh.

Karnataka got added to that list with many places in the state including Bidar, Bellary, Koppal, Davanagere, Shimoga and Chakmangalur recording over Rs 100 per litre petrol.

Petrol in the state capital Bengaluru is priced at Rs 99.39 per litre and a litre of diesel comes for Rs 92.27.

Sri Ganganagar district of Rajasthan near the India-Pakistan border was the first place in the country to see petrol hit Rs 100 a litre mark in mid-February and on Saturday it also earned the distinction of diesel crossing that psychological mark.

Petrol in the city is sold at Rs 107.22 a litre – the highest rate in the country, and diesel comes for Rs 100.05.

Premium or additive laced petrol in the town sells for Rs 110.50 a litre and same grade diesel at Rs 103.72.

Rajasthan levies the highest VAT on petrol and diesel in the country, followed by Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Mumbai on May 29 became the first metro in the country where petrol was being sold at over Rs 100 a litre.

Petrol now costs Rs 102.30 a litre in the city and diesel comes for Rs 94.39.

After Leh, Srinagar too is witnessing near Rs 100 a litre petrol (Rs 99.27).

Hyderabad too is in the same league with petrol costing Rs 99.96.

Petrol sells for Rs 101.73 a litre in Leh and diesel costs Rs 93.66.

The hike on Saturday was the 23rd increase in prices since May 4, when state-owned oil firms ended an 18-day hiatus in rate revision they observed during assembly elections in states like West Bengal.

In 23 increases, petrol price has risen by Rs 5.72 per litre and diesel by Rs 6.25 a litre.

Oil companies revise rates of petrol and diesel daily based on the average price of benchmark fuel in the international market in the preceding 15 days, and foreign exchange rates.

International oil prices have firmed in recent weeks in anticipation of demand recovery following the rollout of vaccination programme by various countries.

Akali Dal announces alliance with BSP for Punjab Assembly elections 2022

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CHANDIGARH: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) formed an alliance on Saturday for the 2022 Punjab Assembly election.

“Today, is a historic day….a big turn in Punjab’s politics,” he said in the presence of BSP General Secretary Satish Chandra Mishra.

He said the SAD and the BSP will jointly fight the 2022 polls and other elections together.

The Mayawati-led BSP will fight 20 of the 117 Assembly seats in Punjab, while the rest will be contested by the SAD, he said.

Among the seats which the BSP will contest are Kartarpur Sahib in Jalandhar, Jalandhar-West, Jalandhar-North, Phagwara, Hoshiarpur Urban, Dasuya, Chamkaur Sahib in Rupnagar district, Bassi Pathana, Sujanpur in Pathankot, Mohali, Amritsar North and Amritsar Central.

The SAD earlier had a tie-up with the BJP and the Badal-led party walked out of the NDA over the farm laws issue last year.

The BJP used to contest 23 seats under its alliance with the SAD.

Indian-origin journalist Megha Rajagopalan wins Pulitzer for exposing China’s Muslim detention camps

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Indian-origin journalist Megha Rajagopalan wins Pulitzer for exposing China's Muslim detention camps

New York: On Friday, the Pulitzer Board announced a Pulitzer Prize in the international reporting category for the ground-breaking investigative report done by Indian-origin journalist Megha Rajagopalan that exposed the Uyghur Muslim Concentration camps in China. 

The US’ top journalism award, the Pulitzer Prize was announced for Megha Rajagopalan’s advanced investigative reports which was done harnessing satellite technology that revealed China’s mass detention camps for Muslim Uyghurs and other minority ethnicities.

She shares the Pulitzer with two colleagues from an internet media, BuzzFeed News, it is learned. Rajagopalan and her colleagues used satellite imagery and 3D architectural simulations to support her interviews with two dozen former Uyghur prisoners from the detention camps where as many as a million Muslims from ethnic minority were unlawfully detained.

“I’m in complete shock, I did not expect this,” she said.

According to the publication, she and her colleagues, Alison Killing and Christo Buschek, identified 260 detention camps after building a voluminous database of about 50,000 possible sites comparing censored Chinese images with uncensored mapping software, a report from the National Herald revealed.

Rajagopalan, who had previously reported from China but was barred from there for the story, travelled to neighbouring Kazhakstan to interview former detainees who had fled there, BuzzFeed said.

“Throughout her reporting, Rajagopalan had to endure harassment from the Chinese government,” the publication said.

The series of stories provided proof of Beijing’s violation of Uighurs’ human rights, which some US and other Western officials have called a “genocide”.

According to the news report from the National Herald, another journalist of Indian-origin, Neil Bedi, has also won a Pulitzer in the local reporting category for investigative stories he wrote with an editor at the Tampa Bay Times exposing the misuse of authority by a law enforcement official in Florida to track children.

The Pulitzer Prizes awarded by a board at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism in New York recognising the outstanding work is on its 105th year as of 2021.

In appreciation of the proliferation of citizen journalism in the internet age, teenaged non-journalist, Darnella Frazier, was awarded a Pulitzer Special Citation for her courage in filming the killing of George Floyd, the African-American who died in police custody in Minneapolis last year.

The video clip made on Darnella Frazier’s smartphone went viral and set off sustained countrywide protests against police brutality and led to measures in many states and cities to reform policing.

Delhi man stabbed to death after fight with neighbours over parking two-wheeler

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New Delhi: A 26-year-old man was allegedly stabbed to death following a quarrel with his neighbours over parking a two-wheeler in southeast Delhi’s Badarpur area, police said on Friday.

During the scuffle, two other people also suffered stab injuries, they said, adding that a man has been arrested and his juvenile son apprehended in connection with the incident.

A quarrel broke out on Thursday night in Budh Vihar area between two neighbours over parking a two-wheeler, police said, adding that the two parties run a sweet shop on the ground floor of their residence.

The quarrel started when the victim parked his two-wheeler in front of the house of the accused, police said.

The three men who sustained stab injuries during the scuffle were taken to the Apollo hospital for treatment. One of them, Shiv Yadav, who sustained a stab injury in his chest was declared brought dead, police said.

The other two — Yadav’s brother Vikas who suffered an injury in his stomach and his cousin Ratan Lal who had minor injury on his finger — were discharged after treatment, they said.

“During enquiry, we found that on Thursday morning, an argument had taken place between Shiv Yadav and his neighbour Premvati over parking a scooter. She complained and asked him not to park his scooter on the street,” a senior police officer said.

Later in the evening, both parties tried to sort out the issues but Premvati’s husband Prempal got angry and narrated the earlier argument to his two sons, police said.

They then came out on the street and with the help of Prempal, one of his son stabbed Shiv Kumar and his brother Vikas, the officer said.

The victim’s cousin Ratan Lal also sustained minor injuries when he tried to intervene, police said.

One of the accused also sustained injuries and is being treated at a nearby hospital, police said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) RP Meena said “We have registered a case under sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 341 (Punishment for wrongful restraint) of the Indian Penal Code at Badarpur police station and investigation is in progress.”

Prempal has also been arrested and his accused son, who is a juvenile has been apprehended in the case, police said.

Siddalingaiah will be remembered for prolific writings, contributions towards social justice:PM Modi

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Siddalingaiah will be remembered for prolific writings, contributions towards social justice:PM Modi
Kannada poet Siddalingaiah

New Delhi, Jun 11: Paying tributes to noted Kannada poet Siddalingaiah, who died due to COVID-19 related ailments, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that he will be remembered for his prolific writings, poetry and contributions towards social justice.

Popularly known as “Dalita Kavi” (Dalit poet), Siddalingaiah was 67. He is survived by wife, a son and a daughter.

Modi tweeted, “Dr. Siddalingaiah will be remembered for his prolific writings, poetry and contributions towards social justice. Saddened by his passing away. My thoughts are with his family and many admirers in this hour of sadness. Om Shanti.”

Karnataka HC dismisses writ petitions of Amazon, Flipkart against CCI probe

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Karnataka HC dismisses writ petitions of Amazon, Flipkart against CCI probe

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Friday dismissed the plea by e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart on the investigation ordered by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) against them for alleged violations of provisions of competition laws.

Justice P S Dinesh Kumar passed the order, dismissing the petitions filed by the two companies.

The High Court order said that “it is expected that an order directing investigation be supported by ‘some reasoning’, which the Commission has fulfilled.”

Therefore, it would be unwise to prejudge the issues raised by the petitioners in these writ petitions at this stage and scuttle the investigation.

Therefore, the impugned order does not call for any interference,” it said.

The Court also noted that the order passed by the Commission is an ‘administrative direction’ to one of its wings departmentally and without entering upon any adjudicatory process.

It also pointed out that Section 26(1) of the Competition Act, 2002, does not mention about issuance of any notice to any party before or at the time of formation of an opinion by the Commission on the basis of information received by it.

This section is related to procedure for inquiry based on information or complaint and if the commission is of the opinion that there exists a prima facie case.

The grounds urged on behalf of the petitioners included that the impugned order by CCI is ultra vires the object and purpose of Competition Act and suffers from “non-application of mind”.

They had also noted that the petitioners were not provided with any notice.

On January 13, 2020, fair trade regulator CCI ordered a probe against Flipkart and Amazon for alleged malpractices, including deep discounting and tie-ups with preferred sellers on their platforms, following which both companies had moved the High Court, seeking quashing of the probe order.

The Karnataka High Court on February 14, 2020 granted an interim stay on the investigation ordered by the CCI.

Following this, the CCI had moved the Supreme Court, which on October 26, 2020 asked it to approach the High Court.

The CCI’s January 2020 probe order followed a complaint filed by Delhi Vyapar Mahasangh, whose members comprise many traders dealing in smart phones and related accessories.

Chinese man caught on Bangladesh border smuggled 1,300 Indian SIM cards to his country: BSF

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 A Chinese national apprehended while trying to cross the India-Bangladesh border illegally has told the investigators that he and his associates have smuggled as many as 1,300 Indian SIM cards into their country by hiding them in undergarments, the BSF said on Friday.

Han Junwe (35), a resident of China’s Hubei province, has been handed over by the Border Security Force (BSF) to the West Bengal police for “further legal proceedings”.

He was nabbed by a BSF patrol party from the Malda district of the state on Thursday.

“Junwe has been a wanted criminal and upon thorough interrogation, shocking facts have come to the fore that he has so far taken around 1,300 Indian SIMs from India to China using fake documents.

“Junwe, through his associates, used to hide the SIMs in undergarments and send these to China,” the Kolkata-headquartered south Bengal frontier of the BSF said in a statement.

These SIM cards, it alleged, were used to hack accounts and carry out financial frauds.

“Their (Junwe and his associates) purpose was to cheat people using SIMs and to get their money. His apprehension is a big achievement for the BSF,” the force said.

Junwe has told security officials that he was using the India-Bangladesh border to enter the country as he failed to get an Indian visa after his business partner Sun Jiang was arrested by the Lucknow Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in a case of fraud recently.

“Since then, the process of issuance of a Blue Notice (issued by the Interpol) against Junwe was also initiated as per procedure,” the BSF said.

A Blue Notice is generated to collect additional information about a person’s identity, location or activities in relation to a crime.

The BSF claimed that a large amount of “suspicious” electronic devices were recovered from Junwe.

The Chinese national has told the interrogators that he visited India at least four times in the past and has a hotel in Gurgaon, near Delhi.

In a video statement provided by the force on Thursday, Junwe said he entered India by “mistake” and that he wanted to “surrender” before the Lucknow ATS.

He also said he visited India in the past in connection with e-commerce business.

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