Gurugram: A Pataudi court Wednesday sent alleged cow vigilante and Bajrang Dal activist Monu Manesar to 14-day judicial custody in an attempt to murder case.

He was produced in the court after the completion of his four-day police remand on Wednesday.

The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Tarannum Khan sent Mohit Yadav alias Monu Manesar in judicial custody in Bhondsi jail.

“Monu Manesar was produced in the court today and sent to judicial custody while further probe is underway,” Pataudi Assistant Commissioner of Police Harinder Singh said.

Police said Monu Manesar will now appear in court on October 25 through video-conferencing due to security reasons.

Earlier on October 7, the Gurugram Police was granted his four-day production warrant. He was taken to Kanpur to recover the weapon used in the attempted murder case which was registered at Pataudi police station against him on February 7 this year.

In an application submitted before the court, the police said that during the remand they recovered a white Scorpio, a rifle and four cartridges at his instance.

“They have recovered a white bulletproof Scorpio, two empty shells of the bullets fired from the rifle used by the accused in the crime and four live cartridges of a .315 bore rifle were recovered,” police said in the court.

According to police, the case is related to a brawl between two groups in Pataudi’s Baba Shah Mohalla on February 6 when Manesar was there along with his group. A complaint was filed by Mubin Khan, a resident of the same locality, who alleged his son was shot at during firing between two groups.

Following the complaint, an FIR was registered under section 307 (attempt to murder) against Manesar at Pataudi police station.

“In the above case, two accused Lalit and Rakesh, residents of Pataudi, were arrested by Gurugram Police and sent to jail. The third accused Sunil alias Sulli had joined the investigation as per the order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Mohit alias Monu Yadav, a resident of Manesar, was wanted in this case and he was sent to judicial custody by the court. Further probe is underway,” ACP Singh said.

Manesar was arrested in connection with the abduction and killing of Nasir and Junaid whose charred bodies were found in a vehicle on the Rajasthan-Haryana border on February 16 after they were allegedly abducted by some vigilantes who accused them of cow smuggling.

New Delhi: Pakistani presenter Zainab Abbas, part of the ICC digital team covering the ODI World Cup, on Monday left India after facing backlash on social media over her alleged anti-India posts in the past but the sport’s governing body insisted that she left the country due to personal reasons.

Zainab left India from Hyderabad where she was deputed to cover Pakistan’s three World Cup games in the city. The 35-year-old was present at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad for Pakistan’s World Cup opener against the Netherlands on October 6.

Posts from her unverified X account, formerly Twitter, had gone viral after she announced that she would be covering the ICC mega event in India.

As speculation on social media intensified over her departure from India in the middle of the tournament, the International Cricket Council clarified that Zainab was not deported from the host country.

“Zainab has not been deported, she has left for personal reasons,” an ICC spokesperson told PTI.

The presenter, who arrived in Hyderabad last week, was supposed to travel to cities where Pakistan are scheduled to play, including Bengaluru, Chennai and Ahmedabad.

Former Pakistan players Rameez Raja and Waqar Younis are in India as part of the commentary panel for the ODI showpiece, which began on October 5 and will end on November 19.

The Pakistan cricket team got a rousing reception at the Hyderabad airport on September 27, marking its arrival to the country after seven years.

The cricketers, including skipper Babar Azam, have acknowledged the overwhelming support they have been getting in India since their arrival.

Bhopal: In a shocking incident, Chhatarpur deputy collector Nisha Bangre was allegedly assaulted and forcefully detained by the police during her ‘Nyay Pad Yatra’ in Bhopal on Monday.

The confrontation reportedly occurred near Bhopal’s Board Square, where Bangre, accompanied by some Congress leaders, intended to garland the statue of Dr Ambedkar.

Bangre, who was marching from Amla to Bhopal, was demanding the government to accept her resignation as she intended to contest in upcoming elections. The situation escalated when she reached Board Square. Witnesses reported that the police charged at her and forcibly attempted to detain her, leading to a physical confrontation. During the incident, Bangre’s clothes were torn.

Expressing her dismay, Bangre said, “I was stopped from offering prayers to all religions. I want to take the whole society with me. The state government is working with a fundamentalist ideology.”

Congress MLA PC Sharma and Bhopal Congress District President Monu Saxena were also part of the demonstration. Both Nisha Bangre and Monu Saxena were detained by the police following the incident. Saxena, in his statement, accused the police of tearing Bangre’s clothes. In the midst of the chaos, a photo of Ambedkar was also torn.

Mangaluru: In light of the ongoing war tensions in Israel, Dakshina Kannada District Deputy Commissioner Mulai Muhilan has issued a notice urging Indian citizens from the district who are currently in Israel for various purposes such as business, education, or employment to immediately provide their information.

Citizens are requested to contact the control room at the D.K. District Collector’s Office in Mangaluru at Phone No: 1077/ 0824-2442590 to provide the required details without delay.

Additionally, individuals can also reach out to the state government’s emergency numbers at 080-22340676 and 080-22253707 to provide the necessary information.

Gangtok: Nearly 400 tourists, including 13 from Bangladesh, were rescued by the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Army from the Lachen and Lachung towns in North Sikkim on Monday, officials said.

The MI-17 and Chinook helicopters of the IAF conducted 10 sorties, moving 354 tourists out of the disaster-hit areas, they said.

These tourists were brought to Pakyong airport, they added.

The Army shifted 45 tourists from Lachen to Mangan on helicopters, officials said.

These tourists were stranded in Lachen and Lachung after a cloudburst over Lhonak Lake in Mangan district on Wednesday caused a flash flood in Teesta river, devastating several towns and villages across the Himalayan state, they said.

The operation to rescue tourists stranded in the affected areas will resume again on Tuesday, officials said.

Mumbai: Federal Bank, the largest and the oldest private sector lender in Kerala, will completely stop funding for thermal power projects by 2030, according to a senior bank official.

As a first step towards its de-carbonisation initiative, the Kochi-headquartered bank will halve its exposure to the thermal power sector by 2025.

The bank’s green power sector exposure is Rs 5,083 crore across seven to eight projects, mostly solar and wind areas.

“We have internally set a target of completely stopping funding thermal power projects/traditional energy sector by 2030. As a first step towards achieving our decarbonisation efforts, we will be halving our exposure to this polluting sector by 2025,” Ashutosh Khajuria, the chief mentor at the bank, told PTI here.

Currently, the bank’s green loan book is Rs 5,083 crore and the sanctioned book of Rs 7,490 crore. “We see our green book crossing Rs 13,000 crore by 2025,” Khajuria, who retired recently as an executive director of the bank, said.

On the overall growth, he is confident of the bank continuing to clock 20 per cent credit disbursal growth this fiscal driven by home, business and gold loans.

The bank’s home loan and LAP (Loan Against Property) books are worth Rs 35,000 crore. Out of the total, around Rs 15,000 crore is LAP and the gold loan book is Rs 22,000 crore, which is more than 10 per cent of its Rs 1.96 lakh crore assets.

According to Khajuria, the fall in remittances in the first quarter was nothing but reflection of the exchange rate fluctuations and expressed confidence in continuing to maintain the more than 20 per cent market share in the segment.

Last year, the country netted USD 107 billion in remittances and 21 per cent of the total amount was through the bank’s channels, Khajuria said.

The market share remains same despite the marginal fall in the inflows due to the exchange rate volatility of recent months and that the year will close with over USD 100 billion inflows.

Khajuria also said a funding of Rs 980 crore from the IFC will be reaching the bank’s coffers anytime as all the approvals, including that of the RBI are in place now.

The World Bank arm IFC was awaiting RBI nod to invest Rs 980 crore in the bank for some time now.

In July, the bank had concluded a successfully Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) issue for Rs 3,000 crore, Khajuria said.

Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann Monday said players from the state, who won medals at the recently concluded Asian Games in China, will be given cash incentives after their return.

Punjab gives Rs 1 crore for gold medal, Rs 75 lakh for silver and Rs 50 lakh for bronze.

At the Hangzhou Asian Games, 33 players from Punjab won 19 medals — eight gold, six silver and five bronze.

Addressing a gathering during interaction with coaches here, the chief minister said earlier governments had “not bothered to felicitate medal winner players” but his government will give top priority to it, according to an official release.

Mann said his government will ensure that the medal winners get the cash and other incentives soon after their arrival in the country.

It is heartening to note that out of 48 players from the state, who participated in the Asian Games, 33 won a total of 19 medals, the chief minister said, adding that this is the biggest tally of Punjab in the history of Asiad during the post-Independence era.

Lauding the coaches for their roles in a player’s life, Mann said they also play an important role in grooming the players for the national and international events.

Players excel in fields due to the hard work and confidence infused by coaches, he said.

On the performance of the state players in the Asian Games, Mann said Punjab is blessed with immense talent which has been proved in these games where players won various medals.

On one hand the credit goes to dedication of players and on other, the role of coaches cannot also be denied, he noted.

Mann congratulated players and coaches for this display of remarkable sportsmanship in the Asian games.

He said the state government is committed to revive the sports culture in the state for which coaches can play a pivotal role.

The state government is making concerted efforts for wiping out the menace of drugs from the state for which sports is being encouraged, he added.

Coaches can act as a catalyst in making Punjab a drug-free state by promotion of sports, he said.

He said the state government is incentivising players with cash awards and other facilities to encourage them to perform in national and international events.

For the first time, the state players are being given financial assistance to prepare for international events, the chief minister claimed.

New Delhi: If global temperatures rise by 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, around 2.2 billion (220 crore) people living in the Indus River Valley in northern India and eastern Pakistan may experience extended periods of heat that exceed human tolerance, according to a new research.

The research, published in the peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), indicates that in such a scenario, northern India, eastern Pakistan, eastern China and Sub-Saharan Africa would predominantly encounter high-humidity heatwaves.

Heatwaves with higher humidity levels can be more perilous because the air cannot efficiently absorb excess moisture. This limitation restricts the human body’s ability to evaporate sweat and affects the moisture content of certain infrastructure like evaporative coolers.

These regions are also home to lower-to-middle income countries, meaning that many affected individuals may lack access to air-conditioning or effective ways to mitigate the adverse health effects of extreme heat, the researchers explained.

Humans can endure specific combinations of heat and humidity, but when these thresholds are surpassed, individuals become susceptible to heat-related health issues, including heatstrokes or heart attacks. With climate change driving global temperatures upward, billions of people could find themselves pushed beyond these limits.

The Earth’s global surface temperature has already increased by approximately 1.15 degrees Celsius, with the rise closely linked to the release of carbon dioxide (CO2), primarily by developed countries, into the atmosphere since the onset of the industrial revolution.

In 2015, 196 countries signed the Paris Agreement, aiming to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

However, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an organisation composed of the world’s leading climate scientists, the world is on course for a temperature increase of around 3 degrees Celsius by the end of this century under a business-as-usual scenario.

The IPCC emphasises that to avert extreme, destructive and likely irreversible effects of climate change, the world must cut emissions by half by 2030 compared to the 2019 levels to limit the rise in the global average temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius relative to pre-industrial levels.

According to global agencies, the last four months (June, July, August and September) have been the hottest on record, with 2023 poised to become the warmest year ever.

The research team conducted modelling for global temperature increases ranging from 1.5 degrees Celsius to 4 degrees Celsius, the latter considered a worst-case scenario where warming would accelerate. This allowed them to identify areas where warming would lead to heat and humidity levels surpassing human tolerance.

“To understand how complex real-world problems like climate change will affect human health, you need expertise in both planetary science and human physiology,” said co-author W Larry Kenney, professor of physiology and kinesiology and the Marie Underhill Noll Chair in Human Performance at the Pennsylvania State University.

The research suggests that the ambient wet-bulb temperature limit for young, healthy individuals is approximately 31 degrees Celsius, as indicated in a study published last year by Penn State researchers. However, the specific threshold for any individual at a given moment also depends on factors, such as exertion level and other environmental variables, including wind speed and solar radiation.

In recorded human history, instances of temperatures and humidity exceeding human limits have been limited and occurred only briefly in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, according to the researchers.

If global warming continues to reach 3 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the researchers argue that areas such as the Eastern Seaboard and the middle of the United States — from Florida to New York and from Houston to Chicago — would begin to experience heat and humidity levels exceeding human tolerance. South America and Australia would also face extreme heat at this level of warming.

While the United States is projected to experience more heatwaves at current warming levels, these heatwaves are not expected to consistently exceed human limits as frequently as in other parts of the world.

To halt the rising temperatures, the researchers stress the need for significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion. Without these changes, middle-income and low-income countries are likely to be the hardest hit, the researchers cautioned.