Pithoragarh (Ukd): More than 80 per cent of high schools and intermediate colleges in Uttarakhand are functioning without principals, according to a reply to an RTI application.

The data was provided by the secondary education department in response to the RTI application filed by Pankaj Bhatt, a resident of the Tildhukri area here.

According to the data, 831 of the 910 sanctioned posts of principals are vacant in the state’s high schools. Of these sanctioned posts, 753 are for men and 78 for women.

Pauri district tops the list with 109 of the 116 sanctioned posts vacant.

In intermediate colleges, 1,180 of the 1,248 sanctioned posts of principals are vacant. Out of the total sanctioned posts, 1,043 are for men and 97 for women, the data stated.

It showed Tehri district has the highest number of vacancies with 172 of the 183 sanctioned posts vacant.

New Delhi: Krunal Pandya recorded his first fifty in IPL since 2016, helping Royal Challengers Bengaluru pull off a six-wicket win over Delhi Capitals on a challenging Feroz Shah Kotla track here on Sunday.

Krunal (73 not out of 47 balls), who has part of every IPL season since his debut in 2016, paced his innings perfectly while batting alongside chase master Virat Kohli (51 off 47).

The duo shared a 119-run stand off 84 balls as RCB chased down 163 in 18.3 overs to extend their unbeaten run away from home.

RCB bowlers put a squeeze on Delhi Capitals in the middle overs through Josh Hazlewood and the spinners to limit the home team to 162 for six.

For RCB, it was their seventh win in 10 games while DC suffered only their third loss in nine matches. Both teams are on course to make the play-offs.

At 26 for three, RCB felt the heat before Krunal and Kohli bailed them out.

In his maiden season for RCB, Krunal has made valuable contributions with both bat and ball.

Srinagar: Authorities here have demolished the houses of three alleged active terrorists in Bandipora, Pulwama and Shopian districts of Jammu and Kashmir as security forces continued their crackdown on the terror ecosystem following the Pahalgam terror attack.

With this, nine houses of suspected terrorists and overground workers of terror outfits have been razed so far since the April 22 attack in the lush meadows of Baisaran that killed 26 people and left the nation grief-stricken and fuming.

As part of the anti-terror crackdown, that picked up more steam after the Pahalgam tragedy, security forces have raided more than 500 locations in the Valley in just five days and grilled hundreds of suspects. Political parties have urged the Centre to ensure that innocent people are not targeted while it goes after terrorists.

Carrying on with the targeted demolition drive, authorities pulled down the house of Adnan Shafi at Wandina in Shopian district on Saturday night, officials said and claimed that Shafi had joined terrorist ranks last year.

The house of another suspected active terrorist Amir Nazir was pulled down in Pulwama district, they said.

In Bandipora district, the house of suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist, Jameel Ahmad Shergojri, was razed. Officials said Shergojri has been an active terrorist since 2016.

With security agencies launching a massive operation against the terror ecosystem active in Jammu and Kashmir, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said the Centre should proceed carefully and avoid alienating innocent people while hunting down terrorists.

“The Indian government must tread with caution and carefully distinguish between terrorists and civilians following the recent Pahalgam attack. It must not alienate innocent people, especially those opposing terror,” she said in a post on X.

The former chief minister alleged there were reports of “thousands being arrested and scores of houses of common Kashmiris being demolished along with those of militants”.

“I appeal to the government to direct the authorities to take care that innocent people are not made to bear the brunt as alienation aids terrorists’ goals of division and fear,” she added.

Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq also asked the Centre not to punish innocent Kashmiris in its quest for justice for the victims of the terror attack.

“While the Kashmiris collectively condemn the heinous crime at Pahalgam, and it is imperative to bring its perpetrators to justice, indiscriminate arrests and videos of houses and neighbourhoods being demolished circulating on social media is disturbing and distressing.

“I urge the authorities that in seeking justice for the innocent victims do not punish innocent Kashmiri families,” he said on X.

People’s Conference leader Sajad Lone said those handling law and order should not do anything that can reverse the mindset that has changed after the Pahalgam attack. “The mass protests against the Pahalgam killings was a rare occurrence, a first of its kind in the last 78 years… This a monumental shift, a milestone, but fragile at the same time.”

“I hope that those in charge of law and order do understand the significance of the shift and don’t do anything erroneously which impedes the shift or facilitates a return to the earlier mindset,” he wrote on X.

The former minister said there was a general feeling across the Valley that the whole family was being punished for the actions of one person. “We approached the court also and termed it a form of collective punishment, inspired by the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871, where the British were convinced of criminality and attributed it to ancestry.”

“Using collectiveness to define criminality or terrorism is a curse and will never allow reconciliation and social introspection. I hope what has been achieved in the aftermath of the heinous carnage in Pahalgam, is understood by those at the helm. And these precious gains are not frittered away,” he added.

Following the Pahalgam terror attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to hunt down the killers “to the ends of the earth” as his government linked the dastardly attack to Pakistan.

Since then New Delhi has announced a raft of retaliatory steps, including the cancellation of visas and suspension of the 1960s Indus Water Treaty, and Islamabad hitting back with a string of tit-for-tat measures, that included putting the 1972 Shimla Agreement in abeyance.

Pakistan has warned that if India actually goes through with diverting or blocking the Indus water flow, Islamabad would see it as an “act of war”.

Ranchi: The High Court of Jharkhand has observed that calling a tribal “an adivasi” will not constitute an offence under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Justice Anil Kumar Choudhary, while hearing a criminal writ filed by one Sunil Kumar, has held that in order to constitute an offence punishable under the SC/ST(POA) Act, the victim ought to be a member of a scheduled caste or a scheduled tribe.

The word “adivasi” is not a tribe as per the schedule provided in the Constitution of India, and unless the victim comes under the list of the scheduled tribes noted in the Constitution, no case under the Act can be made out against the accused, the court observed.

The court was hearing the petition of Kumar, a public servant who had challenged an FIR, registered against him with the Dumka Police Station.

The victim, who lodged the FIR, happens to be a member of the scheduled tribe.

The victim mentioned in the FIR that she had gone to meet Kumar in his office to serve an application under the Right to Information Act.

Kumar had allegedly refused to accept the application and is said to have called the victim an “insane adivasi”.

The woman also alleged that Kumar drove her out of his office and humiliated her.

Kumar’s counsel Chandana Kumari argued before the court that he had not mentioned the woman’s specific caste or tribe that she belongs to and only used the word “adivasi”.

This cannot be an offence, Kumari argued.

She also stated that the FIR has been registered under the SC/ST Act.

The court observed, in its order passed on April 8, that continuation of the criminal proceedings against Kumar, who is undisputedly a public servant, will amount to an abuse of process of law.

The court quashed the FIR and set aside the proceedings arising out of the case.

Hyderabad: Rohit Sharma scored his second successive half-century and shared a 53-run partnership with Suryakumar Yadav (40 not out) as Mumbai Indians thrashed Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets to register their fourth consecutive win in the IPL, here on Wednesday.

Chasing a below-par 143 for 8, built on the efforts of Heinrich Klaasen efforts (71 off 44 balls) and his 99-run stand with Abhinav Manohar (43 off 37 balls), Rohit was in his zone as he hit 70 off 46 deliveries to bring a swift end to the home team’s misery in 15.4 overs.

Earlier, pacers Deepak Chahar and Trent Boult led an impressive bowling show as Mumbai Indians restricted Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Chahar (2/12) and Boult (4/26) rattled SRH in their opening spells as Pat Cummins’ side were reduced to 13 for 4 in the fifth over before Heinrich Klaasen pulled things back a bit with his classy half-ton.

Brief Scores:

Sunrisers Hyderabad: 143 for 8 in 20 overs (Heinrich Klaasen 71, Abhinav Manohar 43; Deepak Chahar 2/12, Trent Boult 4/26).

Mumbai Indians: 146 for 3 in 15.4 overs (Rohit Sharma 70, Will Jacks 22, Suryakumar Yadav 40 not out).

New Delhi The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday said it has attached fresh assets worth more than Rs 1,500 crore as part of a money-laundering investigation against the Sahara Group.

A provisional order was issued by the federal probe agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to attach a total of 1,023 acres of land of Sahara Prime City Limited in 16 cities.

The total value of these plots is Rs 1,538 crore (according to the 2016 circle rate). These pieces of land were purchased through “benami” transactions, with the funds “diverted” from Sahara entities, the agency said in a statement.

These pieces of land are located in Gujarat, Odisha, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh, the statement said.

Last week, the ED attached 707 acres of land in Amby Valley, located in Maharashtra’s Lonavala, worth Rs 1,460 crore (market value).

The money-laundering case stems from more than 500 FIRs filed by various state police departments.

Three FIRs registered against Humara India Credit Cooperative Society Limited (HICCSL) and others by police in Odisha, Bihar and Rajasthan, apart from more than 500 such complaints filed against Sahara Group entities and related persons, have been analysed by the ED.

The agency alleged that the Sahara Group was running a “Ponzi” scheme through various entities, such as HICCSL, Sahara Credit Cooperative Society Limited (SCCSL), Saharayn Universal Multipurpose Cooperative Society (SUMCS), Stars Multipurpose Cooperative Society Limited (SMCSL), Sahara India Commercial Corporation Limited (SICCL), Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Limited (SIRECL), Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Limited (SHICL) and other group entities.

“The group has cheated the depositors and agents by alluring them with high returns and commissions respectively, and utilised the funds collected in a non-regulated manner without any information or control of the depositors,” the ED said.

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is heading home on Wednesday night, cutting short his visit to the United States, to attend a meeting of the party’s highest decision-making body CWC and discuss the Pahalgam terror attack.

The Congress Working Committee (CWC) will meet on Thursday to discuss the terror attack in which at least 26 people were killed.

In a post on X, party General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has cut short his US visit and will be attending in person the CWC meeting in New Delhi tomorrow at 10:30 am.”

Gandhi arrived in Boston in the US on Saturday and interacted with business and community members.

Mumbai: India has said the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) of 1960 with Pakistan will be held in abeyance with immediate effect, until Islamabad credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism.

The move on Wednesday after the killing of 26 persons, including tourists, in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday.

What could be the impact of this move?

The Indus system of rivers comprises the main river — the Indus — along with its five left bank tributaries, namely, the Ravi, the Beas, the Sutlej, the Jhelum and the Chenab. The right bank tributary, the Kabul, does not flow through India.

The Ravi, the Beas and the Sutlej are together called eastern rivers while the Chenab, the Jhelum and the Indus main are called as western rivers. Its waters are critical to both India and Pakistan.

Pradeep Kumar Saxena, who served as India’s Indus Water Commissioner for over six years and has been associated with work related to the IWT, said India, as an upper riparian country, has multiple options.

“This could be the first step towards the abrogation of the treaty, if the government so decides,” Saxena told PTI on Wednesday.

“Although there is no explicit provision in the treaty for its abrogation, Article 62 of the Vienna Convention on Law of the Treaties provides sufficient room under which the treaty can be repudiated in view of the fundamental change of circumstances which has occurred with regard to those existing at the time of conclusion of the treaty,” he said.

Last year, India sent a formal notice to Pakistan, seeking the “review and modification” of the treaty.

Listing out the steps India could take, Saxena said in the absence of the treaty, India is under no obligation to follow the restrictions on the “reservoir flushing” of the Kishanganga reservoir and other projects on western rivers in Jammu and Kashmir. The Indus Water Treaty currently prohibits it.

Flushing can help India desilt its reservoir but then filling the entire reservoir could take days. Under the treaty, reservoir filling after the flushing has to be done in August — peak monsoon period — but with the pact in abeyance, it could be done anytime.

Doing it when sowing season begins in Pakistan could be detrimental, especially when a large part of Punjab in Pakistan depends on the Indus and its tributaries for irrigation.

According to the treaty, there are design restrictions on building structures like dams on Indus and its tributaries. In the past, Pakistan has raised objections over the designs but in future it will not be obligatory to take the concerns onboard.

In the past almost every project has been objected to by Pakistan.

Notable are Salal, Baglihar, Uri, Chutak, Nimoo Bazgo, Kishenganga, Pakal Dul, Miyar, Lower Kalnai and Ratle.

After the Pulwama terror attack in 2019, the government cleared eight more hydropower projects in Ladakh.

The objections may no longer be applicable for the new projects.

There are also operational restrictions on how reservoirs are to be filled and operated. With the treaty in abeyance, these are no longer applicable.

Saxena said India can stop sharing flood data on the rivers. This could also prove detrimental to Pakistan, especially during the monsoon when rivers swell.

India will now have no restriction on storage on western rivers, particularly the Jhelum, and the country can take a number of flood control measures to mitigate floods in the Valley, he said.

The tours of Pakistan side to India, which are mandatory under the treaty, may now be stopped.

At the time of Independence, the boundary line between the two newly created independent countries — Pakistan and India — was drawn right across the Indus Basin, leaving Pakistan as the lower riparian and India as the upper riparian.

Two important irrigation works, one at Madhopur on the Ravi river and the other at Ferozepur on the Sutlej river, on which the irrigation canal supplies in Punjab (Pakistan) had been completely dependent, fell in the Indian territory.

A dispute thus arose between the two countries regarding the utilisation of irrigation water from existing facilities. Negotiations held under the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) culminated in the signing of the Indus Water Treaty in 1960.

According to the treaty, all the waters of the eastern rivers – Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi with an average annual flow of around 33 million acre feet (MAF) is allocated to India for unrestricted use while the waters of western rivers – Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab with average annual flow of around 135 MAF is allocated largely to Pakistan.

However, India is permitted to use the waters of the western rivers for domestic use, non-consumptive use, agricultural and generation of hydro-electric power. The right to generate hydroelectricity from western rivers is unrestricted subject to conditions for the design and operation of the treaty. India can also create storages up to 3.6 MAF on western rivers, the pact states.

Bengaluru: Bodies of two tourists from Karnataka who were shot dead by the terrorists in the Pahalgam terror attack were brought to the Kempegowda International Airport here on Thursday.

Manjunath Rao and Bharath Bushan were among the 26 people killed in front of their families after confirming their religious identity in Kashmir’s Pahalgam on Tuesday. Most of those killed by terrorists were tourists.

Union Minister V Somanna along with Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya accompanied the mortal remains of the tourists.

While Rao’s body was taken to his hometown Shivamogga, Bushan will be cremated in Bengaluru. 

Speaking to reporters, BJP MP Surya said that India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to retaliate to this terror attack.