Bengaluru: India’s ambitious third Moon mission’s ‘Chandrayaan-3’ spacecraft successfully underwent another orbit reduction maneuver on Wednesday, bringing it even closer to the Moon’s surface, ISRO said.

Post its launch on July 14, Chandrayaan-3 had entered into lunar orbit on August 5.

“Even closer to the moon’s surface. Chandrayaan-3’s orbit is reduced to 174 km x 1437 km following a maneuver performed today,” ISRO said in a tweet.

The next operation is scheduled for August 14, 2023, between 11:30 and 12:30 hrs, it said.

As the mission progresses, a series of maneuvers is being conducted by ISRO to gradually reduce Chandrayaan-3’s orbit and position it over the lunar poles.

Chandigarh: Letters purportedly written by some panchayat heads in Haryana’s Mahendergarh, Rewari and Jhajjar districts “banning” Muslim traders from their villages have surfaced online, amid communal tension in parts of the state.

The almost identical letters, supposedly written by some sarpanches in these districts in recent days cite the violence in Nuh district on July 31, when mobs attacked a Vishva Hindu Parishad procession.

Five people, including two home guards, were killed in Nuh and a cleric died in an attack on a mosque in adjoining Gurugram as the violence spilled over.

District authorities said they have taken note of the letters online and are investigating the matter.

The purported letters by sarpaches of some villages said the panchayats have decided not to give “permission” to the Muslim community and miscreants to conduct any business. It specifies hawkers, cattle traders and those seeking alms.

However, when contacted, many sarpanches in Mahendergarh and Rewari denied having issued any such letters making a reference to a particular community.

Mahendergarh Deputy Commissioner Monika Gupta said no such letters have been submitted before the government officials.

“Social media is perhaps claiming that these have been submitted (by the village sarpanches) to their respective sub-divisional magistrates. However, no such matter has reached before SDMs till date as far as we know. So, nothing has been submitted to any administrative officer by any sarpanch,” Gupta told PTI over phone.

“However, what is going on in the media, we have taken suo motu cognisance of that and are inquiring into the matter,” she added.

Gupta said they have sought reports from field officers in this regard.

Ved Prakash, the sarpanch of Gomla village in Kanina block of Mahendergarh district, said, “No letter has been issued from our side to the SDM with the contents as is being claimed”.

He said what he had “written was a different matter. It does not mention name of any particular community”. However, he did not elaborate.

Another sarpanch from Mahendergarh district, however, said they are only verifying identity credentials of strangers, which he called was a general exercise having nothing to do with any community.

Chimnawas village Sarpanch in Rewari Narender Yadav said, “No such letter has been issued from my side as is being claimed.”

However, Vikas, the sarpanch of Saidpur in Mahendergarh said he had issued a letter but it was not forwarded to the SDM, nor was any resolution passed by the village. However, he did not talk about the contents of the letter.

“The atmosphere in the village, which has a population of 3,500, was surcharged after the Nuh incident and any untoward incident could have happened with any outsider,” Vikas said.

When asked whether the letter had any reference to a particular community, he said, “We are not against any community. But the kind of incident which took place in Nuh, tempers ran very high and the letter was issued so that situation does not flare up.”

He said there is no Muslim population in his village, though members from the community come for jobs.

Jhajjar Deputy Commissioner, Capt Shakti Singh, when asked about the letters going viral on social media, said some mischievous elements might have used the letter head of any panchayat and circulated that. He said they are investigating it.

Singh, however, said no such letter has been submitted to officials.

He said no gram panchayat or anybody else will be allowed to do anything which is unconstitutional or illegal.

Meanwhile, a total of 57 FIRs have been registered in connection with the Nuh violence and 188 people arrested so far, according to officials. They said an was FIR also lodged against 11 people for spreading rumours on social media on the violence.

Opposition parties in Haryana have alleged that the violence in Nuh was the result of the “failure” of the BJP-JJP government.

Haryana MLA Gopal Kanda

Gurugram: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted searches at the premises of Haryana MLA Gopal Kanda and others as part of a money laundering investigation, official sources said.

Officials of the central agency reached Kanda’s palatial house and his now defunct airline company MDLR’s office in the civil lines area of Gurugram around 6 am, police said.

The raids are being undertaken under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and some premises in Delhi and Sirsa are also being covered, as per the sources.

The case in which he is being investigated is not known. Kanda, 57, is an MLA from Sirsa from Haryana Lokhit Party — a political outfit floated by him. He has in the past been a former minister for home, industries and urban local bodies of the state.

The politician was recently acquitted by a Delhi court in the high-profile case of abetment of suicide by Geetika Sharma, a former air hostess in the MDLR airlines.

It is understood that Kanda had earlier met ED officials in connection with this probe.

Belthangady: The Belthangady Government Hospital staff members are facing allegations of negligence following the unfortunate demise of a 45-day-old girl on Tuesday. The incident has stirred concerns over the quality of care provided by the hospital.

The infant, belonging to Balakrishna and Savitha, residents of Mulikaru in Dharmasthala village, was brought to the hospital on Tuesday after developing cough. Tragically, the child passed away the same night. The grieving family has asserted that the negligence exhibited by the hospital staff contributed to the untimely death of their infant daughter.

Former legislator of Belthangady, K Vasanth Bangera, paid a visit to the government hospital to console the bereaved family. He engaged in discussions with the parents of the deceased child and also held talks with the concerned hospital officials. Bangera strongly urged the officials to thoroughly investigate the matter and take decisive action against those found culpable.

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi meets a two-wheeler rider who met with an accident near the 10, Janpath Road bungalow, in New Delhi

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday halted his carcade to help a man who fell off his two-wheeler near the 10, Janpath Road bungalow of Sonia Gandhi.

In a video, Gandhi can be seen walking away from his carcade, towards the unidentified man whose two-wheeler lay on the road next to him.

According to eyewitnesses, the incident happened when traffic was briefly halted on the road due to a VVIP movement, and he fell off his two-wheeler when it was allegedly hit by a car.

In the video, Gandhi along with security personnel on duty can be seen helping in lifting the vehicle, before it was parked by a bystander on the road side.

Gandhi shook hands with the man while gesturing at another man standing nearby, who in turned gestured with folded hands, before Gandhi returned to his carcade, on way to Parliament.