CHANDIGARH:  The police on Sunday said that they had solved the murder case of an 11-year-old boy who was found dead inside a madrassa in Haryana’s Nuh and apprehended a 13-year-old student.

“The accused student did not want to study in the madrassa and with the intention of defaming it, he made a plan and strangled Sameer,” a senior police official said.

Sameer, a resident of Ted village in Nuh, was found dead inside the madrassa on Monday.

According to the police, the juvenile said he chose Saturday for the murder of his fellow student due to the large crowd in the madrassa for Friday prayers.

He took Sameer to a room in the basement of the madrasa, killed him and buried him in the sand, the police said.

Nuh’s Superintendent of Police Varun Singla said during investigation, it came to fore that the accused boy and the deceased student used to play together and get along well.

However, when police teams visited the madrassa for investigation and questioned some students, he got scared, he said.

During interrogation, the accused confessed that he carried out the incident on Saturday, September 3, the police official said.

The decomposed body of Sameer was recovered by police on September 5 and an FIR was registered at Pinangawa police station.

According to the complaint filed by Sameer’s uncle Iqbal, he used to study Urdu and Arabic in Dargah Wala Madrassa in Shah Chaukha village since 2021 and was also staying there.

It was on September 3, one of the villagers Haji Akhtar informed the family that Sameer went missing from the madrassa.

Haridwar: Five people died and several others were hospitalised in two villages here on Saturday allegedly after consuming liquor that was distributed by a panchayat poll candidate, police said.

Some of those hospitalised are stated to be in serious condition, they said.

Two people have been arrested in connection with the incident. The station house officer of Pathri police station, under which the two villages — Phoolgarh and Shivgarh — come, has been suspended, the police said.

A report from the Chief Minister’s Office, however, said initial inquiries have ruled out consumption of illicit liquor as the cause of death. The state government has ordered a magisterial probe into the matter.

Three people — Raju, Amarpal and Bhola — died in Phoolgarh village and two others — Manoj and Kaka — died in Shivgarh village after consuming liquor, Senior Superintendent of Police, Haridwar, Yogendra Yadav said.

Some other people have been hospitalised, he said.

The quality of the liquor is being examined. It is also being ascertained whether the cause of death was over-drinking, the SSP said.

There is information that a panchayat poll candidate distributed the liquor among the villagers, Yadav said, adding that efforts are on to identify him.

Two people have been arrested in connection with the incident and the SHO of Pathri police station Ravindra Singh has been suspended, he said.

A report from the Chief Minister’s Office quoting Haridwar District Magistrate Vinay Shankar Pandey said initial inquiries indicate that consumption of illicit liquor is not the cause of death in this case.

The deaths were attributed to old age and illness in one case, injuries sustained in a fight between two people in another and over-drinking in a third case, the report said.

The exact cause of death, however, will be known after a post-mortem examination and a magisterial inquiry, Pandey said.

Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Haridwar, Pooram Singh Rana will conduct a probe into the matter and submit a report within 15 days.

In 2019, 40 people died in five villages in Haridwar after consuming illicit liquor.

New Delhi: Gulam Ali, a Gurjar Muslim from Jammu and Kashmir, was on Saturday nominated to Rajya Sabha by the government.

This is perhaps for the first time a Gurjar Muslim from the region has been sent to the Upper House as a nominated member.

In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-clause (a) of clause (I) of article 80 of the Constitution of India, read with clause (3) of that article, the President is pleased to nominate Shri Gulam Ali to the Council of States to fill the vacancy caused due to the retirement of one of the nominated members, a notification issued by the Union Home Ministry said.

The move is considered to be significant as before the abrogation of Article 370, the community had little representation in legislative bodies.

The Modi government abrogated Article 370 in August 2019 and bifurcated the erstwhile state into two Union Territories Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

The article gave a special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

MUMBAI: Rebel Shiv Sena MLA Sada Sarvankar allegedly fired a round during a clash between workers of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena and Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s camp early on Sunday, following which police registered a case against him, his son and some others, officials said.

Sarvankar, who represents the Mahim Assembly constituency, however, denied opening fire and claimed his rivals were trying to malign him.

He also said if police call him for questioning, he will cooperate with them.

Police also arrested five Sena workers from the Thackeray camp, who were later released on bail, they said.

The workers from both the sides first clashed in Prabhadevi area of central Mumbai shortly after Saturday midnight before indulging in a scuffle outside the Dadar police station some time later, where Sarvankar fired the round from a weapon, police said.

Both the groups lodged complaints against each other, following which the police registered First Information Reports (FIRs) against 10 to 20 members of both sides, they said.

The incident took place around 12.30 am in New Prabhadevi area, in which Sena functionary Santosh Talavane was allegedly attacked by Mahesh Sawant and 30 others, police said.

Talavane is part of the Shinde camp, while Sawant belongs to the Thackeray-led Sena.

The workers from both the camps again came face to face outside Dadar police station.

MLA Sarvankar, who was present there, fired one round, a police official confirmed.

After that, the legislator, his son Samadhan Sarvankar, Telavane and others were booked under sections of the Arms Act.

They were also charged for rioting and under other relevant sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC), he said.

As the rival groups lodged complaints against each other, the Dadar police registered two FIRs, including one against Sarvankar, an official said.

“There was a scuffle between two groups in Dadar in the early hours. Initially, one FIR was registered. Now, another FIR has also been registered under sections of rioting and the Arms Act,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Pranay Ashok said.

Based on a complaint by Talavane, the Dadar police arrested five Sena workers, including Mahesh Sawant, another official said, adding that they were later released on bail.

The case against them was registered under various Indian Penal Code Sections including 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation), he said.

Following their release, Sawant and other party workers went to ‘Matoshree’ to meet Uddhav Thackeray.

Party leader Aaditya Thackeray, who was present there, said Shiv Sainiks were the party’s “Brahmastra”, a reference to the newly-released movie.

“In the Prabhadevi incident, Shiv Sainiks showed they were the party’s ‘Brahmastra’ and no one is bigger than them,” he said.

The Shiv Sainiks sat next to Uddhav Thackeray, while Aaditya sat on the ground with some others.

“Shiv Sainiks are the real strength of the party and Shiv Sena is a family,” he said.

Shinde camp’s spokesman Naresh Mhaske later took a dig at Uddhav Thackeray saying that he found time from his afternoon nap to meet the persons released on bail following their arrest for attacking the member of the rival faction, and take a picture with them.

Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant, who supports former chief minister Thackeray, demanded action against Sarvankar under the Arms act for allegedly firing in public at the clash spot.

After meeting officials at Dadar police station following the arrest of workers of the Uddhav Thackeray faction, the parliamentarian said if those arrested are not released and action is not against Sarvankar, his party will take to streets and people will know which is the “real Shiv Sena”.

He said after the Ganesh immersion, there was an argument and workers of the two Sena factions clashed around midnight.

Arvind Sawant alleged that Sarvankar verbally abused the rival group and fired twice in public.

The Sena spokesperson also claimed that police were a witness to it.

“When our workers went to Dadar police station to lodge a complaint, it was not accepted,” he said.

Leader of Opposition in the state Legislative Council Ambadas Danve, who was present with Arvind Sawant at Dadar police station, told reporters that one-sided action by police cannot be tolerated.

“If both sides are at fault, action should be against both. We lodge a complaint, it is ignored. But when the other side complaints, our people are arrested at night,” Danve said.

Kiran Pawaskar, the spokesman of the Shinde group, rejected the allegations against Sarvankar.

“Sarvankar has Y category security and it is impossible that he will fire in public,” Pawaskar said, adding that such allegations were “childish”.

Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray has dared the rebel MLAs who have joined the faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to resign and face elections.

Speaking at an event, the Worli MLA hinted that housing, quality education, healthcare, roads, and public transport will be the “focus areas” of Shiv Sena in the upcoming elections to the Mumbai civic body.

“Why did you backstab us when we gave you everything and why have you not resigned yet to face elections as it happens in a democracy,” the former state minister asked while speaking at the CNN-News18 Town Hall on Saturday night.

Aaditya dismissed claims by the dissidents that he and his father Uddhav Thackeray, who was the chief minister in the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi government, remained inaccessible.

He also denied that Shiv Sena’s succession plan was meant to favour him.

“I have always been around. I was allotted the portfolios (Environment and Tourism) that no one opts for otherwise. But when you have ambitions and pressure that can’t be spoken of, you jump the ship,” he said.

The rebellion by Shinde and 39 of the 55 MLAs of Shiv Sena led to the collapse of the tripartite MVA government led by Uddhav Thackeray in June this year.

“They (rebels) shifted the goalpost left, right and centre. They blamed our allies (NCP and Congress) for ruining their political fortunes. They spoke about Hindutva. Tomorrow they may blame me for wearing a blue shirt every single day,” Aaditya said.

He challenged the Shinde camp and the Bharatiya Janat Party (BJP), which is part of the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government, to face elections immediately.

“Let’s face the BMC election now, no problem. Resign and face elections. We will accept the public mandate. Mumbaikars know what we have done for the city during the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

The BJP has launched an aggressive campaign for the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Council (BMC) elections against the Shiv Sena, which has been ruling the civic body for over two decades.

Listing the works done by the then Uddhav Thackeray government, Aaditya said: “The Hindmata region and Gandhi market area in Mumbai did not flood this year (in monsoon) due to the rainwater harvesting and percolation pits created by us. This is a proud moment for the BMC as well”.

He said Mumbai’s progress rate must not be compared with Shanghai or Singapore.

Speaking about the main issues in Mumbai, he said, “Cities are growth centres and it is up to us to promote the ease of living and define what urbanism is. I think our main focus areas would be housing, quality education, healthcare, roads and public transport”.

Aaditya also spoke about how Shiv Sena tackled civic issues when in power.

“I used to hold meetings every week with 16 different agencies for the betterment of schools, parks, and the coastal road. In my opinion, either make a single authority for Mumbai or simply just get together and take swift action,” he added.

Speaking about Shiv Sena’s opposition to the construction of the metro car shed in Mumbai’s green lung Aarey Colony, Aaditya said the issue is not just about a particular land or trees.

“It is a living, breathing forest. We only stopped the work at Aarey. There are some faults with that line. Rs 10,000 crore escalation in cost was assessed before December 2019 (the MVA government came to power in November 2019),” he said.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had alleged the previous MVA government’s move to stop work at the Aarey Colony had led to the escalation of cost.

Reversing the previous government’s decision to shift the metro car shed to suburban Kanjurmarg and restoring it to the Aarey Colony was one of the first decisions taken by the new government.

VARANASI: The district court here is expected to pronounce its orders on Monday on the maintainability of the plea in the Gyanvapi mosque-Shringar Gauri case, sources said.-ADVERTISEMENT-Ads by 

Five women had filed the petition seeking permission for daily worship of Hindu deities whose idols are claimed to be located on an outer wall of the Gyanvapi mosque.

The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee has said the Gyanvapi mosque is a Waqf property and has questioned the maintainability of the plea.

District Judge A K Vishvesh had last month reserved the order till September 12 in the communally sensitive matter.

Madan Mohan Yadav, a lawyer of the Hindu side, had claimed that the mosque was constructed after demolishing the temple.

The case is being heard by the district court following an apex court order.

Earlier, a lower court had ordered a videographic survey of the complex.

The survey work was completed on May 16 and the report was presented in the court on May 19.

The Hindu side had claimed in the lower court that a Shivling was found during the videographic survey of the Gyanvapi mosque-Shringar Gauri complex but it was contested by the Muslim side.

Police Commissioner A Satish Ganesh had on Sunday said prohibitory orders have been clamped in the Varanasi commissionerate area and officers have been asked to interact with religious leaders in their respective areas to ensure that peace is maintained.

To maintain law and order, the entire city has been divided into sectors which have been allocated police force as required, he said, adding directives for flag march and foot march in sensitive areas have also been issued.

Checking has been intensified in the district’s border areas, hotels and guest houses, while an eye is being also kept on social media, the police officer said.

VARANASI: The district court here is expected to pronounce its orders on Monday on the maintainability of the plea in the Gyanvapi mosque-Shringar Gauri case, sources said.-ADVERTISEMENT-Ads by 

Five women had filed the petition seeking permission for daily worship of Hindu deities whose idols are claimed to be located on an outer wall of the Gyanvapi mosque.

The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee has said the Gyanvapi mosque is a Waqf property and has questioned the maintainability of the plea.

District Judge A K Vishvesh had last month reserved the order till September 12 in the communally sensitive matter.

Madan Mohan Yadav, a lawyer of the Hindu side, had claimed that the mosque was constructed after demolishing the temple.

The case is being heard by the district court following an apex court order.

Earlier, a lower court had ordered a videographic survey of the complex.

The survey work was completed on May 16 and the report was presented in the court on May 19.

The Hindu side had claimed in the lower court that a Shivling was found during the videographic survey of the Gyanvapi mosque-Shringar Gauri complex but it was contested by the Muslim side.

Police Commissioner A Satish Ganesh had on Sunday said prohibitory orders have been clamped in the Varanasi commissionerate area and officers have been asked to interact with religious leaders in their respective areas to ensure that peace is maintained.

To maintain law and order, the entire city has been divided into sectors which have been allocated police force as required, he said, adding directives for flag march and foot march in sensitive areas have also been issued.

Checking has been intensified in the district’s border areas, hotels and guest houses, while an eye is being also kept on social media, the police officer said.

Bangladesh PM Sheikh HasinaBangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina (Photo | PTI)By Yeshi SeliExpress News Service
NEW DELHI: On a four-day visit to India beginning Monday, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina hopes to enhance trade and strategic ties with New Delhi. Given strong political and diplomatic ties, she and her delegation are hoping to achieve a lot from the visit.

After landing in Delhi, Sheikh Hasina first visited the Nizamuddin Dargah. She later met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and is expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Draupadi Murmu tomorrow. On the last day of her visit, she will visit the dargah at Ajmer. Her delegation includes Minister of Commerce Tipu Munshi, Railway Minister Md Nurul Islam Sujan and Liberation War Minister AKM Mozammel Haq.

Sources said river water-sharing, long-term supply of fossil fuel from India, removal of anti-dumping duty on jute exports from Bangladesh, enhancing rail, road and waterway connectivity and border security management are some of the issues that are likely to come up for discussion. The last time Sheikh Hasina came to India was in 2019. Bangladesh today is reeling under the impact of Covid, inflation, food crisis and lower job rates. “This visit is critical for Bangladesh and the visiting delegation hopes to resolve some of the economic and political issues,” said a source.

Bilateral trade between Bangladesh and India has been increasing over time. In 2021, the volume was over $ 14 billion. India has provided duty-free market access to Bangladesh under the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) arrangement, which helped Bangladesh to increase its exports. In 2021, Bangladesh’s export to India was about $2 billion. Sources say Bangladesh’s trade deficit with India is rising, and the country is yet to benefit from India’s large import demand, which it fulfils from the global market.
A joint study by India and Bangladesh has highlighted new means for cooperation through the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). This is expected to help realize opportunities in areas of trade, transport and investment connectivity.

Bangladesh is also hoping to get financial support from India under Lines of Credit arrangement in order to go ahead with developmental projects. India has extended $2 billion worth of assistance under LoC, out of which $1 billion has been disbursed. Development projects cover sectors like railways, roads and transport, power generation, petrochemicals, economic zones and ports and shipping among others. However, Dhaka says that in 2010, India had committed to lending about $ 7.86 billion under three LoCs. The funds disbursal is slow as a result of which the desired result hasn’t been achieved.

ON bangla PM’S Agenda

Several pacts, including a water-sharing deal for Kushiyara river
Talks on agreement on the Teesta river water-sharing dispute
Long-term supply of fossil fuel from India, removal of anti-dumping duty on jute
Offering prayers at the famous Khwaja Gharib Nawaz Dargah in Ajmer

BENGALURU: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has assured IT companies about a discussion on the estimated loss of Rs 225 crore due to rain and waterlogging in Bengaluru.-ADVERTISEMENT-Ads by 

He said that he will call and discuss the damages and compensation borne by them due to rain and waterlogging in the state capital.

“We will call the IT companies and speak with them related to the issues that they are facing due to waterlogging. We’ll also discuss the compensation and other related damages that have been caused due to rain,” Bommai told ANI. It comes after the IT companies asked the Chief Minister to solve the outer ring road issue.

Earlier on Monday, Bengaluru reeled under severe waterlogging, as incessant heavy rainfall lashed the city.

Waterlogging led to traffic jams and disruptions in the lives of normal people in several parts of Bengaluru including Koramangala. One of the locals said that waterlogging had taken place due to heavy rainfall, making driving very difficult.

“Too much rain has taken place. We woke up in the morning and saw that waterlogging had started. Water on the road had come up to the level of the divider. After that, we started pumping water out of the road and basement. My whole basement has got submerged under water,” a local resident told ANI.

Another local said that this situation happens yearly and they have to pump out water due to a poor drainage system.

“This happens every year, waterlogging takes place after the rain and we have to pump out water. There is no permanent solution. When the road was being made, the drainage system wasn’t prepared well. It leads to many difficulties for the public, many women have actually slipped and fallen into the water,” another local said.

Earlier in July, Karnataka suffered heavy floods due to rains, after which rescue missions and relief work had to be carried out. Chief Minister Bommai also had to seek financial assistance from the Centre. 

CHANDIGARH:  Last April-May, Arshdeep Singh was trending every time he had the white kookaburra in his hands. At the Indian Premier League (IPL), a grand stage where even the best in the world can wilt under pressure, the 23-year-old left-arm seamer was delivering yorkers for fun. Such was his precision considered the most difficult art to practice in the game that his economy rate in the end overs was better than that of even Jasprit Bumrah.

It was this outstanding ability that made Punjab Kings to retain him ahead of the last player auctions. And the possibility of pairing up with Bumrah at the end overs, where they could be terrorising batters at the T20 World Cup, was the reason why India picked him for the Asia Cup. Yet all it took was one dropped catch–that of Asif Ali in the 17th over of Pakistan’s chase against India at Dubai–for Arshdeep to face abuses on social media.

From being called accused of single-handedly costing India the win, Arshdeep was subjected to abuse by trolls.  During last year’s T20 World Cup, pacer Mohammed Shami faced a similar attack on social media, which led to Virat Kohli coming down heavily on the trolls. This time too there is an outpouring of support for Arshdeep with many former cricketers including Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Abhinav Mukund and Aakash Chopra tweeting in his support.

Punjab’s minister for sports and youth affairs Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer threw his weight behind Arshdeep and spoke to his mother in Dubai. Former Punjab CM Capt. Amarinder Singh on his Facebook page, “It’s unfortunate that Arshdeep Singh is being mocked this much for only dropping one catch…”