SRINAGAR:  A prominent Kashmiri Pandit businessman, who had not left the Valley even after the militancy erupted in 1990, was among three people killed by militants on Tuesday.

A police officer said militants targeted Makhan Lal Bindroo, the owner of Srinagar’s famous chemist shop Bindroo Medicate, at his pharmacy at Iqbal Park area in uptown Srinagar in the evening.

The militants fired from a point blank range, leaving Bindroo in a pool of blood, and escaped from the highly secured area. 

Bindroo, 65, was rushed to the SMHS Hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. SMHS medical superintendent Dr Kanwaljeet Singh told this newspaper that Bindroo was hit by four bullets.

“One of the bullets hit him on eyebrow,” he said.

Immediately after the militant attack, police, CRPF and army personnel rushed to the area and launched a combing and search operation.

The area where the attack took place is highly secured as police and paramilitary personnel remain stationed.

A police station is barely a few hundred meters away from the pharmacy and a paramilitary CRPF camp is also not far off.

Unlike others of his community, Bindroo had stayed back with his wife and operated his pharmacy. Bindroo Medicate is one-stop shop for patients as the medicines unavailable anywhere else can be found there. 

An hour after Bindroo’s killing, militants shot dead a non-local street vendor at Lal Bazar area in downtown Srinagar.

The deceased, who was selling his ware in a handcart, was identified as Virender Paswan of Bhagalpur from Bihar.  

In the third attack, militants shot dead a civilian in Hajin area of north Kashmir’s Bandipora district in the evening. Militants fired from blank range at Mohammad Shafi, a civilian, in Shahgund Hajin area.

He was also declared brought dead by doctors.

The killings drew widespread condemnations from all the political parties. J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha strongly condemned the killings and said perpetrators of these heinous acts would be brought to justice very soon.

KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will take oath as an MLA on October 7 and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has written to Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar inviting him to administer the oath of office to the party supremo at the State Assembly instead, informed Partha Chatterjee, General Secretary of Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday.

Speaking to ANI, Chatterjee said, “We suggested and requested the Governor to come down to Assembly and administer the oath of office on October 7.”

“Raj Bhawan response on the administration of Oath/Affirmation to the Members elected to the WBLA in bye-election from 159-Bhabanipur A/C, and the adjourned poll in 56-Samserganj and 58-Jangipur A/Cs held on 30 September 2021. Once Gazetted Governor would take call,” tweeted the official Twitter handle of the West Bengal Governor.

Earlier on October 3, following TMC’s poll victory in Bhabanipur, Jangipur and Shamsherganj, a request was made to the Governor by the state that the Bengal assembly speaker be given the responsibility to administer the oath to the newly-elected MLAs on October 4.

Responding to a question on the Governor’s decision to conduct the oath-taking ceremony in the Governor house, Chatterjee said, “It is our desire and request to the governor that the oath-taking be conducted in the Assembly.”

Answering a query on TMC and other opposition leaders not being allowed in the Lakhimpur Kheri district in Uttar Pradesh following violence that broke out after a car hit protesting farmers, Chatterjee said, “This is their (BJP) culture. They are scared of TMC and Mamata Banerjee.”

Bhabanipur gave its verdict for Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee as she won the assembly constituency by-polls with a margin of over 58,000 votes.

According to the Election Commission of India, Mamata Banerjee secured 85,263 votes which are around 71.90 per cent of the total votes connected in the by-elections.

NEW DELHI: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday said that 70 per cent of India’s adult population has been administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

“Strong Nation, Rapid Vaccination: India has administered the first dose of #COVID19 vaccine on 70% of the population. Under PM, India is achieving new landmarks in the fight against the pandemic. Keep it up India, let us fight Corona,” the minister said in a tweet.

This has been achieved through 88,05,668 sessions held across the country, the ministry said.

According to officials, 25 per cent of the population has been administered both the doses.

More than 5.67 crore (5,67,37,905) balance and unutilised vaccine doses are still available with the states and UTs to be administered.

According to government data, the average daily doses administered in a month has increased from 19.69 lakh in May to 39.89 lakh in June, then further to 43.41 lakh in July and to 59.19 lakh in August.

The average daily vaccination in September has been 79.08 lakh per day.

New Delhi: The cent per cent cut-offs of Delhi University colleges have left many aspirants who have scored above 90 per cent dejected and are now scouting for alternatives as they feel that their dream of getting admissions into DU might not become reality.

DU on Friday announced its first cut-off list for undergraduate admissions with prominent colleges like Shri Ram College of Commerce and Hindu College pegging the cut-offs at 100 per cent for various courses.

Bhavika, a Chandigarh-based aspirant, has 95.5 per cent in her best of four and wants to pursue BA (Honours) Economics from either Lady Shri Ram College or Shri Ram College of Commerce.

“Seeing the cut-offs, DU looks like a distant dream at the moment. I have applied under the ECA quota, for which the admissions will happen after seats under the various cut-offs are filled. There is a lot of time to go for that. As a backup plan, I have taken admission in Symbiosis Law School, Pune but DU is my first preference,” she said.

Her friend Ishita Mehra, who has scored 93.6 per cent in best of four, has taken admission in SD College, Chandigarh as a backup option.

“They should have held the central universities common entrance test for aspirants. I didn’t get enough marks and had there been exams, I am sure I would have scored 96 per cent or 97 per cent. I want to get into BCom(Honours) in a good North Campus college. I will wait for the remaining cut-offs but I won’t settle for a lesser college in DU,” she said.

Roshni Zahoor, a resident of Rataul in Uttar Pradesh, has 94.75 per cent in her best of four subjects and wishes to pursue BA(Honours) History at a prominent North Campus college.

“The cut-offs are quite high and I won’t be able to make it in the first list in the campus colleges. However, I am meeting the cut-offs in Deshbandhu College and Aryabhatta College. I will take admission in Deshbandhu College and then migrate to the college I want if I manage to meet the scores in any of the subsequent lists,” Zahoor said.

Riya Sharma, who has scored 94.8 per cent in her Best of Four, wants to pursue BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science, which is offered in three colleges — Acharya Narendra Dev, Bhaskaracharya College of Applied Sciences and Shaheed Rajguru College of Applied Sciences.

“At Bhaskaracharya, the cut-off for the course is 99 per cent while at Acharya Narendra Dev it is 97 per cent. I am meeting the eligibility at Shaheed Rajguru where the cut-off is 94 per cent. I will take admission to that college and wait for the cut-off at Acharya Narendra Dev to come down,” she said.

Another DU aspirant Prishya Jain, who has scored 98.25 per cent in best of four subjects, wants to pursue BCom Honours in Shri Ram College of Commerce and Lady Shri Ram College but the high cut-offs have put a spanner.

“I will wait for the subsequent cut-offs for these colleges. I have taken admission in a college in my hometown as a backup option,” Jain said.

The Delhi University Teachers’ Association treasurer Abha Dev Habib said students should not lose heart and wait for subsequent cut-offs.

Dr Babli Moitra Saraf, the principal of Indraprastha College For Women, said students should not be in despair even if they are not able to meet the cut-offs in the first list.

“The first and the second cut-offs are higher because colleges do not want to run the risk of excessive admissions. The rule is that everyone within the cut-off has to be accommodated irrespective of the number of seats,” she said.

Saraf added that there are many colleges and universities in Delhi like the Indraprastha University and Ambedkar University.