Archives for November 2022

New Delhi: Amid reports that eight former Indian Navy officers have been detained in Qatar, the Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said the Indian embassy there is making all possible efforts for the early release and repatriation of the detained nationals.

Asked about the reports about detention of the former navy officers at a media briefing, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, “We are aware of the detention of eight Indian nationals who we understand were working for a private company in Qatar.”

He said the Indian Embassy in Qatar has been in touch with Qatari authorities and mission officials had gotten consular access to the detained Indian nationals and ascertained their well being.

“The detained persons have also spoken to their family members on a few occasions. We have requested another round of consular access and we are following up with Qatari authorities on this,” he said.

“Our embassy and ministry are in touch with the families. Our embassy there is making all possible efforts for the early release and repatriation of the detained Indian nationals,” Bagchi said.

To a separate question on Twitter-owner billionaire Elon Musk’s statement that the verification blue tick in front of a user’s name that authenticates the account will be charged eight dollars per month, he said, “We will take a decision based on what finally the contours of this subscription service are as and when it happens.”

The Madras High Court

Chennai: The Madras High Court on Friday directed the Tamil Nadu police to permit the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to take out its “route marches” and hold public meetings at 44 places in the state on November 6.

Justice G K Ilanthiraiyan gave the direction, after pulling up the police department for refusing permission for the rally at 47 places in the state, relying wholly on the intelligence report, which restricted its findings with regard to very few places in Tamil Nadu.

The report contained the FIRs registered in some places more than a decade ago, that too on the reports published in newspapers and magazines, based on certain outfits, the judge pointed out.

“I do not find any material for the denial of permission to hold the rally in all the 47 places,” the judge said.

The judge, however, said that the rally cannot be allowed to be taken out at six places in the State, where the situation is not conducive. The six places are: Coimbatore, Mettupalayam and Pollachi (Coimbatore dt), Palladam in Tiruppur district, Arumanai in Kanniyakumari and Nagercoil.

The RSS sought permission to hold the events in 50 places across the state.

New Delhi,: Alarmed by hazardous pollution levels in Delhi, Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Friday ordered 50 per cent staff of the Delhi government to work from home and said an advisory will be issued to private offices to follow suit.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said primary schools will be closed from Saturday in a bid to protect children from the effects of worsening air quality.

At a press conference, Rai said schools will be asked to curtail outdoor activities of senior students.

He said the Delhi government has decided to implement the anti-pollution curbs recommended by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), including a ban on non-BS VI diesel-run light motor vehicles.

“At a meeting with departments concerned, it has been decided that 50 per cent staff of government offices will work from home from Monday and an advisory will be issued to private offices to follow suit,” Rai said.

In a bid to ramp up public transport, the government will also launch ‘Paryavaran Bus Service’ which will include 500 privately-run CNG buses.

Rai said a six-member panel chaired by the special commissioner, transport, has been set up to monitor the implementation of curbs on anti-polluting activities. It will have two members each from the transport department, traffic police and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee.

Revenue commissioners have been asked to prepare a plan for staggered timings of markets and offices.

The Delhi government will request Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to divert trucks from the entry point of peripheral expressways around Delhi.

Resident welfare associations will be asked to provide electric heaters to security staff to prevent burning of coal and firewood. Special task forces will be constituted to curb air pollution at hotspots.
Thirteen teams of the DPCC will monitor industrial areas, Rai said.

He said the odd-even car rationing scheme will be implemented if need arises and discussions on it are on.

According to a study conducted by The Energy and Resources Institute in 2018, vehicular emissions account for around 40 per cent of the PM 2.5 pollution in the capital.

The CAQM — a statutory body formed in 2021 to tackle air pollution in Delhi-NCR — had in an order on Wednesday said state governments may take a call on the closure of educational institutions, non-emergency commercial activities and plying of vehicles on odd-even basis.

Thick smog blanketed Delhi on Friday as the city’s air quality remained in the “severe” zone for the second consecutive day, primarily due to unfavourable meteorological conditions and raging farm fires in Punjab.

The overall air quality index (AQI) of Delhi stood at 445 at 2 pm. An AQI of above 400 is considered “severe” which can affect healthy people and seriously impact those with existing illnesses. Almost all air quality monitoring stations reported “severe” air quality, while 13 of them logged an AQI of more than 450.

According to the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, the concentration of lung-damaging fine particles known as PM2.5 was above 600 micrograms per cubic metre, around eight times the national standard of 60 micrograms per cubic metre, in many areas.

According to the World Health Organization, a 24-hour average PM2.5 concentration of up to 15 microgram per cubic metre is considered safe.

The 24-hour average AQI in the capital had jumped to 450, just a notch short of the ‘severe plus’ category, on Thursday, prompting authorities to invoke the final stage of anti-pollution curbs under the Graded Response Action Plan, including a ban on non-BS VI diesel-run light motor vehicles.

The entry of trucks other than electric and CNG ones in Delhi is banned too. Those carrying essential commodities are exempted.

Mumbai: In the wake of multiple incidents of Vande Bharat train colliding with cattle in Gujarat, the Railway Protection Force has started issuing notices to the heads of villages located along the route in Maharashtra’s Palghar, asking them not allow the animals roam unattended near the tracks, officials said on Friday.

The notices warned that if any cattle owner is found to be negligent, then legal action could be taken against him.

The semi-high speed express train service between the capital cities of Gujarat and Maharashtra was launched on September 30 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Since its inception, three incidents have taken place in Gujarat in which the train collided with cattle.

Talking to PTI, Western Railway chief spokesperson Sumit Thakur said notices are being issued by the Mumbai division of the RPF to the sarpanchs of the villages, in which the authorities have appealed to the local residents not to let their cattle loiter along the tracks so that such mishaps can be averted.

The notices issued to the sarpanchs are preventive in nature, Thakur said.

Last Saturday, the Mumbai-Gandhinagar Vande Bharat Superfast Express rammed into cattle near Atul station in Gujarat. It was the third such incident since the inception of the train service. Earlier, on October 6 and 7, the train had rammed into some cattle. Both the incidents had occurred in Gujarat. In all these incidents, the passengers were not hurt, although the train’s front portion suffered damages.

“Such cattle run-over incidents adversely affected the rail operations. Such incidents increase the possibility of rail accidents and can even lead to derailment. They not only cause disruption of rail traffic and loss of property of the railways, but also pose danger to passengers,” Thakur said.

In the notices issued to the sarpanchs, the RPF said that a large number of stray animals (cows and buffaloes) come on to the railway tracks and there is always a possibility that the train-cattle collision can lead to major accidents,

In the notices, the RPF has appealed to the sarpanchs to conduct an awareness campaign for villagers living near the railway tracks.

“Please catch the stray animals and send them to gaushalas (cow shelters) built by the administration or social organisations and also make the residents of the village aware of this in the gram sabha meetings,” the notice read.

The notices further warned that if any animal owner is negligent, then it is an offense punishable under the Railways Act, legal action would be taken against him.

Thakur further said that for the prevention of such cases in future, the RPF’s Mumbai division has identified various vulnerable locations. The RPF has carried out frequent awareness and sensitisation campaigns at all these locations.

“The RPF has conducted 1,023 awareness campaigns at vulnerable locations so far this year,” Thakur said.

He further said that meetings are being conducted with sarpanchs of all villages located along the railway tracks and so far more than 50 meetings have been held this year to avoid the incidents of cattle hit.

Thakur further said that dumping of garbage along the railway tracks by the people is also a cause as this attracts the cattle to graze near the railway lands/tracks. The RPF is also working in close coordination with city the local administration and police to prevent the movement of stray cattle near railway tracks.

A press release issued by the WR last week said the railway authorities are taking strict action against the violators, whose cattle are found moving in the railway land.

As per the provisions of Railways Act 1989, owners of cattle are liable to be punished under section 154 (endangering safety of persons travelling by railway by wilful act or omission, punishable with imprisonment for 1 year, or with fine or both) and under section 147 (trespass and refusal to desist from trespass, punishable with imprisonment for 6 months, or fine Rs 1,000 or both), the release said.

Amritsar/Chandigarh: Shiv Sena leader Sudhir Suri was shot dead by unidentified people in Punjab’s Amritsar on Friday, police said.

The incident took place outside a temple in the city where Suri and some other leaders of the party were holding a protest, they said.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the validity of the Employees Pension (Amendment) Scheme of 2014 but quashed the threshold limit of Rs 15,000 monthly salary for joining the pension fund.

The 2014 amendment had capped the maximum pensionable salary (basic pay plus dearness allowance) at Rs 15,000 per month. Prior to the amendment, the maximum pensionable salary was capped at Rs 6,500 a month.

A bench of Chief Justice UU Lalit and Justices Aniruddha Bose and Sudhanshu Dhulia, however, read down certain provisions of the scheme.

Employees who have not exercised the option to join the pension scheme must do so within six months, the bench said.

It added that eligible employees who could not join the scheme by the cut-off date should be given an additional chance as there was a lack of clarity on the issue in view of judgments passed by the high courts of Kerala, Rajasthan and Delhi.

The bench further held as invalid the condition in the 2014 scheme that required employees to make a further contribution at 1.16 per cent on salary exceeding Rs 15,000.

It held that the condition to make additional contribution on the salary exceeding the threshold limit to be ultra vires but added that this part of the judgment would be kept in suspension for six months to enable the authorities to generate funds.

The Employees Provident Fund Organisation and the Centre challenged the verdicts of the high courts of Kerala, Rajasthan and Delhi, which had quashed the 2014 scheme.