Archives for June 2024

Kingstown: In a thrilling Super 8 encounter at the T20 World Cup 2024, Afghanistan secured a historic semi-finals berth by defeating Bangladesh by 8 runs via the DLS method. This victory marks Afghanistan’s first appearance in the semi-finals of a major ICC event and eliminates Australia from the tournament, who needed a Bangladesh win to advance.

The match which was hit by rain saw Afghanistan defending a low total with Rashid Khan delivering a stellar performance. Rashid took four crucial wickets and contributed a vital 10-ball 19-run cameo with the bat, pushing Afghanistan’s total beyond 100 runs. Despite a resilient half-century by Bangladesh’s Litton Das, who carried his bat to the end, Rashid Khan’s efforts ensured Afghanistan’s victory.

Batting first, Afghanistan had scored 115 for 5 in their 20 overs and then bowled out Bangladesh for 105 in 17.5 overs. The match was reduced to 19 overs per side, and Bangladesh was given a revised target of 114. Rahmanullah Gurbaz top-scored for Afghanistan with a 55-ball 43, while Rishab Hossain took 3 wickets for 26 runs for Bangladesh. In reply, Litton Das scored an unbeaten 49-ball 54 for Bangladesh. Afghanistan will face South Africa in the semi-finals on June 27.

Prof. Angomcha Bimol Akoizam, Alfred Kangam S. (Screengrab: X/@shaandelhite)

New Delhi: Alfred Kangam S., representing the Outer Manipur constituency, and Prof. Angomcha Bimol Akoizam, representing the Inner Manipur constituency, were sworn in as Lok Sabha MPs on Tuesday.

Alfred Kangam S. was the first to take the oath. As his name was announced, members of the INDIA alliance raised slogans of “Manipur… Manipur…” and “Justice for Manipur”. Alfred took the oath in the Manipuri (Meitei) language, holding a copy of the Constitution presented to him by Congress MP KC Venugopal.

Following Alfred, Prof. Angomcha Bimol Akoizam from the Inner Manipur constituency took the oath. During his oath-taking also members of the INDIA alliance raised slogans of “Manipur… Manipur…” and “Justice for Manipur…”. Prof. Angomcha Bimol Akoizam took his oath in English.

Both Lok Sabha constituencies in Manipur, which have been severely affected by riots, were won by the Congress party. Notably, the Congress’s Bharat Naya Jodo Yatra commenced from Manipur.

New Delhi: Delhi Water Minister Atishi ended her indefinite fast over the water scarcity in the national capital after she was hospitalised early Tuesday, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said.

At a press conference here, Singh said Atishi’s health deteriorated after being on fast for nearly five days. Her blood sugar level dropped to 36 mg/dL and she was admitted to the LNJP Hospital around 3.45 am, he added.

The MP said doctors insisted on her hospitalisation and even warned that her life could be in peril.

Atishi is now admitted to the ICU and tests are being conducted, so the indefinite hunger strike has been stopped, he said.

The AAP MP said he would write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide Delhi with its rightful share of water from Haryana. The issue will also be raised by AAP and its political allies, he added.

In the last three weeks, Delhi’s share in the Yamuna was reduced by Haryana by 100 MGD. However, it has started increasing over the last two days and the shortfall is only 90 MGD now, he said.

Kochi : A London-bound Air India flight received a bomb threat on Tuesday but no explosives were found, an official here said.

A man suspected of making the threatening call has been apprehended by authorities, a Cochin International Airport spokesperson said .

Security personnel conducted extensive checks on the aircraft and found no danger, allowing the flight to proceed as planned, he said in a statement here.

According to him, a bomb threat call was received by the Air India call center in Mumbai early on Tuesday for flight AI 149, scheduled to fly from Cochin to London Gatwick.

The alert was promptly communicated to Air India here and the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) at 01:22 hours.

Following established protocols, a Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) was immediately convened at CIAL.

The threat was assessed and declared specific.

Following this, thorough security checks were conducted by the Airport Security Group (ASG-CISF), airline security personnel, and inline baggage screening systems.

In accordance with the recommendations from the Cochin Airport BTAC, the aircraft was moved to an isolated aircraft parking point, and comprehensive security measures were undertaken.

The aircraft was thoroughly checked and subsequently cleared for flight.

The check-in process for AI 149 was completed by 10:30 am.

The flight is expected to depart as per schedule at 11:50 am.

Efforts were made to identify the caller who reported the threat to the Mumbai call center.

Investigations revealed the call was made by Suhaib (29), a native of Kondotty in Malappuram district, who was scheduled to travel to London on the AI 149 flight.

Suhaib, along with his wife and daughter, was intercepted by ASG at Cochin Airport’s international departure terminal during check-in.

“He has since been handed over to the police for further questioning and legal action,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar

Patna : The NDA government in Bihar has cancelled 350 contracts worth Rs 826 crore, which were awarded during the previous RJD-led ‘Mahagathbandhan’ dispensation in the state for supplying drinking water in rural areas, a minister said on Tuesday.

The decision to cancel the contracts was taken after an inquiry by the Public Health Engineering Department revealed that there were “irregularities in the process of selecting contractors”, he said.

“During the previous RJD-led grand alliance regime in the state, many contracts were awarded by the department. An inquiry by the department revealed that due process was not followed in awarding 350 contracts worth Rs 826 crore. These were related to the rural water supply, including the installation of hand pumps and mini water supply systems,” PHED Minister Niraj Kumar Singh told PTI.

The department has handed over the preliminary inquiry report to the competent authority in the state government for a thorough probe, he said.

“I recently called a meeting of senior officials of the department after getting the report, and later the cancellation order was issued,” he said, adding that strict action would be taken against those who would be found guilty.

RJD leader Lalit Yadav was the PHED minister during the previous grand alliance government in the state.

Altogether 1,160 contracts worth Rs 4,600 crore of the PHE department were awarded by the previous government in 17 months, Singh said.

“We have so far cancelled 350 contracts, the remaining are being examined,” he said.

The minister, however, refused to give details of the alleged irregularities detected by the department.

“It is not appropriate time to divulge the details as the matter is being investigated by a competent authority,” he said.

According to documents available by PTI, Banka district tops the list where a maximum of 106 contracts related to rural water supply systems have been cancelled, followed by Jamui (73), Lakhisarai (20), Aurangabad (18) and Ara (11).

Commenting on the Bihar government’s decision to cancel the contracts of the PHE department, RJD’s state unit spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwary, said, “Chief Minister and JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar and BJP leaders are scared of our leader Tejashwi Yadav. The previous ‘Mahagathbandhan’ government in the state had executed several people-friendly projects and taken major decisions like employment to 7-8 lakh youths and providing social security to the economically and socially weaker sections of the society.”

The NDA partners are also “scared” of the impact of the welfare initiatives taken by the previous government, which benefitted lakhs of people in the state, he claimed.

“RJD is not scared of any probe…let them (the NDA government) do whatever they want to,” he added.

The PHE department is responsible for ensuring the installation of hand pumps and mini water supply systems in small habitats and wards.

It may be recalled that Nitish Kumar had snapped ties with the RJD and returned to the NDA in January this year.

Soon after the formation of the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government in the state, an order was issued to review all the decisions taken by the departments headed by former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav and then two ministers of RJD — Lalit Yadav and Ramanand Yadav.

In a letter issued by the Cabinet Secretariat in February this year, officials of the health, road construction, urban development and rural works departments had been asked to review the decisions taken during the previous grand alliance government in the state.

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday stayed the trial court order granting bail to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the money laundering case stemming from the alleged excise scam.

A vacation bench of Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain said the trial court failed to appreciate the material placed before it by the Enforcement Directorate and did not apply its mind while deciding the AAP leader’s bail plea.

The judge also said the trial court ought to have given adequate opportunity to the agency to argue its case.

“The operation of the impugned order is stayed,” the bench said.

The trial court had granted bail to Kejriwal on June 20 and ordered his release on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh.

ED moved the high court the next day and contended that the trial court’s order was “perverse”, “one-sided” and “wrong-sided” and that the findings were based on irrelevant facts.

The excise policy was scrapped in 2022 after the Delhi lieutenant governor ordered a CBI probe into alleged irregularities and corruption involving its formulation and execution.

According to the CBI and the ED, irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy and undue favours extended to the licence holders.

New Delhi: AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi has been sworn in as the Member of Parliament from Hyderabad.

Asaduddin Owaisi had retained the Hyderabad constituency with a margin of over 3.38 Lakh Votes. He had defeated his nearest rival Kompella Madhavi Latha of BJP by 3,38,087 votes to record his fifth consecutive victory.

As Owaisi’s name was called for taking the oath, some MPs from the ruling dispensation raised slogans of Jai Shree Ram and Bharat Mata ki Jai

After his oath, Owaisi raised slogans of “Jai Bhim, Jai Palestine, Jai Mim, Jai Telangana, and Allahu Akbar.” The slogan of Jai Palestine did not go well with some MPs of the Lok Sabha who objected to it after which the speaker said that it would not go on record.

New Delhi: DMK leader Kanimozhi Karunanidhi has been sworn in as the Member of Parliament from Thoothukudi constituency in Tamil Nadu.

Kanimozhi Karunanidhi had contested from Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi constituency and had won with over 3,00,00 lakh votes, defeating opponents S.D.R Vijayaseelan of NDA and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (AIADMK) Sivasami Velumani.

In 2019 also Kanimozhi had contested from this seat against BJP’s Tamilisai Soundararajan and won the Lok Sabha election by a margin of 3.47 lakh votes. She had served as a Rajya Sabha member for two terms from 2007.

She is the sister of current Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and daughter of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi