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Taj Mahal to reopen for night viewing from August 21

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Taj Mahal

AGRA: After remaining closed for over a year for night viewing, the Taj Mahal will open from August 21 for visitors who want to explore the marble monument under moonlight, officials said on Friday.

Night viewing of the monument had closed on March 17, 2020 during the first lockdown due to COVID-19.

ASI Superintending Archaeologist (Agra Circle) Vasant Kumar Swarnkar told PTI that night viewing will be allowed on August 21, 23, and 24 as the monument is closed every week on Friday and the lockdown is in effect on Sunday.

He said there are three time slots for visitors.

From 8:30-9 pm, 9-9:30 pm and from 9:30-10 pm.

“In every slot, 50 tourists would be allowed as per guidelines of the Supreme Court,” he added.

“The tickets can be booked a day in advance from ASI office’s counter on 22 Mall Road in Agra,” Kumar said.

Rajeev Saxena, vice-president of the Tourism Guild of Agra, said it was a good step, but it would not attract weekend travellers until the restriction of lockdown on Sunday and curfew after 10 pm was not lifted.

“Tourists want to enjoy nightlife of the city, they don’t want to be packed in their hotels after 10 pm,” he said.

A government approved tour guide, Monika Sharma, appreciated the move and said it was a ray of hope for the revival of Agra’s tourism sector.

Taliban takeover of Afghanistan to benefit Pakistan the most: AIMIM Chief Owaisi

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HYDERABAD: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Chief Asaduddin Owaisi said Taliban takeover of Afghanistan would benefit Pakistan the most as the country’s intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) controls the terrorist outfit.

Speaking at an event here on Thursday, Owaisi said: “Pakistan has gained the most from the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. Experts are saying that Al Qaeda and Daesh have reached some areas in Afghanistan.”

“Jaish-e-Muhammad, which indulges in the acts of terrorism including the attack on Parliament, they are now in Afghanistan’s Helmand. One must remember that ISI controls the Taliban. ISI is an enemy of India, and uses Taliban as a puppet,” he added.

Owaisi also stated that China would also benefit from the Taliban takeover.

Earlier on Monday, the AIMIM chief had said India should have opened dialogue with the Taliban before it had full control of Afghanistan.

“Now that Afghanistan is in complete control of Taliban, we have no communication, no dialogue with them. All international and security experts have said talks should have been done. But, for last seven years Central government has failed to read what is happening,” he said. 

Punjab CM Amarinder Singh meets Sidhu, sets up panel for coordination ahead of assembly polls

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CHANDIGARH: Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday agrees to set up a 10-member ‘Strategic Policy Group’ for better coordination between the ruling party and the state government. 

In a move that struck a reconciliatory chord ahead of the crucial assembly elections, the two also ruled that all cabinet ministers must be be available at Punjab Congress Bhawan on rotation every day to address the public grievances.

One minister each will be available at the Congress Bhawan from Monday for three hours (11 am to  2 pm). In case, a minister is unable to make it, he or she will have to arrange a substitute. The arrangement will be in place five days in a week, from Monday to Friday, said Amarinder, adding that this will help in better coordination between his government and party functionaries in the run-up to the 2022 Assembly elections. 

Sidhu along with working president Kuljit Singh Nagra and newly appointed General Secretary (Organization) Pargat Singh called on Amarinder to discuss related issues and steps to strengthen party-government coordination. It was his second visit after becoming the party president.

In the Friday meeting, it was also decided to expeite the implementation of various government programmes and reform initiatives.

Headed by the chief minister, the Group will have Local Government Minister Brahm Mohindra, Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal and Social Security Minister Aruna Chaudhary as members, along with Sidhu, the four party working presidents; Kuljit Singh Nagra, Sukhwinder Singh Danny, Sangat Singh Gilzian and Pawan Goel, besides Pargat Singh.

The group will hold weekly meetings, in consultation with other ministers, experts as may be required. It will discuss and review the progress of the various state government initiatives already under implementation, and will also suggest measures to expedite the same.

AICC general secretary and in-charge of Punjab Affairs Harish Rawat is also expected to reach here next week.

Ashraf Ghani says ‘in talks to return’ to Afghanistan after fleeing to UAE

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ABU DHABI: Former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani said Wednesday he hopes to return home, after fleeing to the United Arab Emirates in the face of the Taliban’s rapid advance, and said he supported talks between the Taliban and top former officials.

“For now, I am in the Emirates so that bloodshed and chaos is stopped,” he said in a video message — his first appearance since leaving the capital on Sunday. He noted he had “no intention” to remain in exile. 

“I am currently in talks to return to Afghanistan.”

The United Arab Emirates announced earlier in the day that it was hosting Ghani “on humanitarian grounds”.

In his message posted to Facebook, Ghani added that he supports talks between the Taliban and top former government officials, after it emerged that Taliban members had met with former president Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah, who headed the failed peace process. 

Taliban leaders have said they have “pardoned all former government officials”, according to the monitoring group SITE.

Ghani succeeded Karzai as leader of Afghanistan in 2014.

Businesses in Sri Lanka impose self-lockdown as Covid-19 cases rise

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As per the new guidelines, only one person from a household would be permitted to go out and purchase essentials while all shopping malls have been asked to shut.

COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan government on Wednesday issued fresh guidelines restricting the movement of people even as businesses have started imposing a self-lockdown in view of the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the country.

As per the new guidelines, only one person from a household would be permitted to go out and purchase essentials while all shopping malls have been asked to shut.

These guidelines are to be in force until the end of August, the Director General Health Services Asela Gunawardena said.

Meanwhile, the health trade unions held protests to urge the government to order a total lockdown to arrest the third wave of coronavirus.

“We ask the government to lockdown the country for 10 days,” said Ravi Kumudesh, a health trade unionist.

In several areas, businesses are imposing self-lockdowns.

Shops remain shut as the number of cases have seen a rapid increase.

The government has decided to purchase nine million doses of Sinopharm and 14 million doses of Pfizer vaccines, the Cabinet spokesman and minister Ramesh Pathirana told reporters.

He said that the aim was to vaccinate all above 18 by September 30.

According to the health ministry, over 2,400 new infections were recorded on Wednesday.

With 174 more fatalities, the death toll has crossed the 6,400-mark, the ministry added.

Forty-seven killed including 30 civilians in Burkina Faso jihadist attack

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OUAGADOUGOU: Burkina Faso’s president declared three days of national mourning from Thursday after suspected jihadists killed 47 people, including 30 civilians, in an attack in the north of the country.

The assault Wednesday near the town of Gorgadji also left 14 soldiers and three militia volunteers dead, the communications ministry said.

The soldiers and militia had been “guarding civilians setting off for Arbinda,” another town in northern Burkina.

In an ensuing gunbattle, security forces killed 58 “terrorists” and put the rest to flight, according to the government. Nineteen people were also wounded, it said.

“Rescue and relief operations are continuing,” it said.

The area is in the notorious “three-border” zone where Burkina Faso meets Mali and Niger, a focus of the jihadist violence that plagues the wider Sahel region of west Africa.

It was the third major attack on Burkinabe soldiers in the past two weeks, including one on August 4 near the Niger border which killed 30 people, including 11 civilians.

President Roch Marc Christian Kabore declared three days of national mourning from Thursday for the victims of the latest attack, according to an official decree.

Flags would be flown at half-mast from public buildings and festivities banned during the period, it said.

Burkina Faso, a poor country in the arid sub-Saharan Sahel region, has since 2015 been battling increasingly frequent and deadly attacks by jihadist groups affiliated with the Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda.

On June 4-5, gunmen killed at least 132 people, including children, in the northeast village of Solhan, Burkina’s deadliest attack in the history of the insurgency.

Raids and ambushes have been concentrated in the north and east close to the borders with Mali and Niger, both of which have also faced deadly violence by jihadists.

These attacks along with inter-communal violence have left more than 1,400 people dead and forced 1.3 million to flee their homes, according to official estimates.  

Along with central Mali, the vast, arid “three-border” region straddling Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso has become the worst-hit area in the jihadists’ Sahel campaign.

Militants linked to Al-Qaeda emerged in northern Mali in 2012, prompting French military intervention. After being scattered, the jihadists regrouped and spread to neighbouring countries.

Ex-Mumbai top cop Param Bir Singh fined Rs 25,000 for not appearing before inquiry commission

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Mumbai Police chief Param Bir Singh. (File | PTI)

MUMBAI: An inquiry commission headed by a retired high court judge has imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh for not appearing before it.

The Maharashtra government in March this year formed a one-member commission of Justice (retd) Kailash Uttamchand Chandiwal to conduct a probe into corruption allegations levelled by Singh against the then state home minister Anil Deshmukh.

As Singh failed to appear before the commission on Wednesday, a fine of Rs 25,000 was imposed on him, a government lawyer said on Thursday.

During the previous hearing, the probe panel had given Singh the “last chance” to appear before it.

This is the second instance of fine being imposed on Singh.

In June, the commission had asked the senior IPS officer to pay a fine Rs 5,000 for not appearing before it despite a summons.

The amount was to be deposited in the Chief Minister’s COVID-19 Relief Fund.

Days after he was shunted out as Mumbai police commissioner and transferred to the Home Guards in March, Singh claimed in a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray that Deshmukh used to ask police officers to collect money from restaurant and bar owners in Mumbai.

Deshmukh, an NCP leader, has denied the allegations.

The Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate are probing the allegations made against Deshmukh by the senior IPS officer.

Potential first woman Chief Justice of India in elevation to Supreme Court

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NEW DELHI:  For the first time ever, three women judges were together recommended for elevation to the Supreme Court, one of whom could go on to become the first woman Chief Justice of India (CJI). They were part of the nine names cleared by the five-member Supreme Court collegium, whose decision was uploaded on Wednesday.

The recommendations are subject to approval by the Centre. Justice B V Nagarathna, the senior-most judge of the Karnataka High Court, has the chance of becoming the first woman CJI in in September 2027.

The other two women judges picked for elevation are Justice Hima Kohli, Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court and Justice Bela Trivedi, the fifth in seniority in the Gujarat High Court. Two other chief justices — Justice C T Ravikumar of the Kerala High Court and Justice M M Sundresh of the Madras High Court — were recommended for promotion by the collegium, which met on Tuesday.

Besides, senior advocate P S Narasimha has been selected for appointment directly to the bench. If his name is cleared, Narasimha would become only the sixth lawyer in India to be elevated to the SC bench directly from the Bar. The last such elevation was of Justice Rohinton F Nariman, who retired last week.

Narasimha is a former Additional Solicitor General. With the retirement of Justice Navin Sinha on Wednesday, the strength of judges in the top court came down to 24 as against a sanctioned strength of 34, including the CJI. No appointment has been made to the Supreme Court after CJI Ranjan Gogoi retired on March 19, 2019.

Will ensure safety of Afghans in Karnataka: Home Minister Jnanendra

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BENGALURU: Home Minister Araga Jnanendra on Wednesday assured citizens of Afghanistan staying in Karnataka that the State Government will ensure their safety and take up the issue of their visa extension with the Centre as the visas of many of them will expire in the coming days.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event on Wednesday, Jnanendra said there are 339 Afghan nationals in Karnataka, of which 192 are students. “It has come to my notice that they are all worried about their future after the Taliban took over their country. On humanitarian grounds, the state will extend all possible support and protection to them,” he said.

Some of the Afghan nationals had expressed concerns over their visas expiring soon. “As the Union Government decides on extension of visas, I will take up the matter with the Chief Minister and the Centre,” he said.

Meanwhile, the State Government has appointed a senior IPS officer of the rank of Additional Director General of Police to coordinate with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) for the evacuation of Karnataka residents stranded in Afghanistan. 

In a notification issued on Wednesday, the government stated that ADGP-CID Umesh Kumar, has been appointed nodal officer to coordinate with the Centre for the safe evacuation of people from Karnataka stranded in Afghanistan, as there is turmoil in that country.

“The Centre has already set up a helpline to bring back Indians stranded in Afghanistan. To coordinate with the Centre on bringing back Kannadigas safely from Afghanistan, ADGP Umesh Kumar has been appointed nodal officer,” the notification stated, adding that a control room has been established in this regard. Information may be sent to the following numbers and email – 080-22094498, 080- 22942628,9480800187, afghan_kar@ksp.gov.in, and also be furnished directly to the MEA.

Details of informant name, contact number, address, relationship, name of persons staying in Af ghani s t an, their present location, occupation/ purpose of visit, passport details, and date of arrival in Afghanistan will have to be furnished.

COVID-19 India Update: India reports 36,401 new cases 530 deaths

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NEW DELHI: India has added 36,401 new COVID-19 infections, taking the total tally of cases to 3,23,22,258, while the death toll has climbed to 4,33,049 with 530 more fatalities, according to Union health ministry data updated on Thursday.

The national recovery rate has improved to 97.52 per cent, the highest since March last year, according to the data updated at 8 am.

The ministry said that active cases have declined to 3,64,129, the lowest in 149 days, and comprise 1.13 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March last year.

A reduction of 3,286 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The ministry said that 18,73,757 tests were conducted on Wednesday, taking the total tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 50,03,00,840.

The daily positivity rate has been recorded at 1.94 per cent and it has been less than three per cent for the last 24 days, it said.

The weekly positivity rate has been recorded at 1.95 per cent and it has been below three per cent for the last 55 days, according to the ministry

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has increased to 3,15,25,080, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.34 per cent, the data stated.

Cumulatively, 56.64 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered under the nationwide vaccination drive so far.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7 last year 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19 last year.

India crossed two crore cases on May 4 and three crore cases on June 23.

The 530 fresh fatalities include 179 from Kerala and 158 from Maharashtra.

A total of 4,33,049 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 1,35,413 from Maharashtra, 37,061 from Karnataka, 34,610 from Tamil Nadu, 25,077 from Delhi, 22,787 from Uttar Pradesh, 19,049 from Kerala and 18,325 from West Bengal.

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