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Agartala, Sep 10 (IANS) The BJP government in Tripura would undertake a two-and-a-half months long campaign on good governance in every household from September 17, the birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, officials said on Saturday.

Officials said that Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha held a meeting with the senior ministers and top officials to successfully conduct the 'Proti Ghore Shushashon' (good governance in every household) campaign to take the benefits of flagship schemes of the Central government and the state government to the door steps of the people from the district to the gram panchayat level.

The campaign would continue till November 30.The Chief Minister asked the officials and other concerned to carry out the campaign in a mission and festive mood.

Information and Cultural Affairs Department Secretary Pradip Chakraborty said that as part of the good governance campaign, developmental meetings, fairs and exhibition, rallies and various other events would be organised in each block.

--IANS
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Mumbai, Sep 10 (IANS) In a counter-attack to the Bharatiya Janata Party's jibes at Rahul Gandhi's costly T-shirt, the Maharashtra Congress hit back by questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi's expensive suit, watches, shades, car and aircraft, here on Saturday.

State Congress President Nana Patole said that instead of worrying about Rahul Gandhi's T-shirt, the BJP should concern itself with PM Modi's Rs 10 lakh suit, Rs 12 lakh car, Rs 1.5 lakh shades, Rs 80,000 shawl and the Rs 8,000-crore aircraft in which he flies.

"After owning all this, he continues to call himself a 'fakir' (beggar). The BJP should worry how the Modi government has brought the 130-crore people of the country to the streets. Due to this government's miserable performance, its end is near," said Patole.

The Congress leader claimed at a media briefing that the BJP is sleepless as Rahul's Kanyakumari to Kashmir 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' is getting an overwhelming response wherever it is passing.

"The BJP has got a strong blow with the public spontaneously thronging the Yatra in large numbers and that is why it is raking up petty issues like the price-tag of Rahul Gandhi's T-shirt," Patole said.

He added that dozens of BJP ministers, leaders and spokespersons predicting that the Congress is finished and Rahul does not matter now, are ironically working full-time to criticise and defame him (Rahul) and the Yatra.

"The BJP is shaken by the response to the Yatra from day one... Rahul is fighting for the masses and raising the issues of the common man like spiralling inflation, massive unemployment, the state of the economy, the problems of farmers and workers, etc. with whom he is interacting during the long march," Patole pointed out.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra will cover 3,500 km through 12 states and 2 Union Territories in 150 days and even as it has just begun, the BJP is getting rattled and resorting to such diversionary issues, he said.

Entering Maharashtra on November 7, the Yatra will go around covering 383 km in 6 of the 48 Lok Sabha constituencies over 16 days, with a large number of people including celebrities expected to join it.

--IANS
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Chennai, Sep 7 (IANS) Indian rocket maker Agnikul Cosmos has said it has secured the patent from the Indian government for its design and manufacturing of single-piece rocket engines.

Agnilet, one such single piece engine, is the world's first single-piece 3D printed rocket engine fully designed and manufactured in India, it was successfully test-fired in early 2021.

Agnikul had recently announced the inauguration of its Rocket Factory- 1, India's first-ever rocket facility dedicated to 3D print such rocket engines at scale situated at the IIT Madras Research Park.

Commenting on the patent, Srinath Ravichandran, Co-founder & CEO, Agnikul said: "Rocket engines usually have thousands of parts in them - starting from injectors that inject fuel into the engine, to the cooling channels that cool the engine, to the igniter that is necessary to ignite the propellants."

"Designing Agnilet as a single piece of hardware has not been an easy ride, but our team has proved it to be otherwise. This patent is a testament to the world-class designed-in-India and made-in-India deep-tech engineering that the Agnikul team is able to do," he added.

Agnikul has raised a total funding of Rs 105 crore ($15 million) from Mayfield India, pi Ventures, Speciale Invest, and a host of others, including prominent angels such as Anand Mahindra and Naval Ravikant since 2019.

--IANS
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Mumbai, Sep 6 (IANS) Actress Rashmika Mandana, who is set to make her Hindi film debut with the upcoming film 'Goodbye', was totally in awe of the puppy that features in the film. In fact, she had a friendly fight with her co-actor in the film, the veteran superstar Amitabh Bachchan, over who would take the puppy home after the film's wrap up.

Interestingly , the pup has a rather surprising name: Stupid, which is quite unusual for dogs who are known for their wit and intelligence.

Speaking to the media at the trailer launch event of the film, Rashmika said, "I was completely in love with Stupid. We would spend a huge part of the day in the company of Stupid."

Opening up on her friendly tiff with Big B, the actress further said, "I and Amitabh Bachchan sir had a little nokjhonk (tiff) over, who would take Stupid home. He wanted to take him to Jalsa but eventually, I kidnapped Stupid and brought it home."

Seems like the actress has no qualms about kidnapping the pupper, after all everything is fair in love and dogs are known to invoke the feeling of love and compassion to the highest degree.

'Goodbye', directed by Vikas Bahl, will debut in theatres on October 7.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that Indias achievement of eclipsing the United Kingdom to become the fifth largest economy in the world is a pleasure of surpassing those who ruled over India for around 250 years, and which supersedes the "mere statistics of improved ranking".

Modi made these comments while interacting with teachers honoured with National Awards for Teachers.

Highlighting the appreciation received by the National Education Policy, the Prime Minister said that it is a step in the right direction.

Emphasising the need to go through the National Educational Policy more than once, he Agave the analogy of Mahatma Gandhi where he read the Bhagavad Gita again and again and each time he found a new meaning.

Modi stressed on the need to imbibe the National Educational Policy in such a way that the government document becomes the basis of the students' lives.

"Teachers played a major role in the formulation of the policy," he said, adding that teachers have a monumental role to play in the implementation of the National Educational Policy.

Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister paid homage to former President of India Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, whose birthday is commemorated as Teachers Day across the country.

He also reminded the teachers that it is all the more important to be felicitated by the current President of India, Draupadi Murmu, who is also a teacher and has taught in far-flung places of Odisha.

--IANS
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London, Sep 5 (IANS) UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss was on Monday announced the victor of the contest for the Conservative Party leader, defeating former Chancelllor of Exchequer Rishi Sunak, and paving the way for her to become the next Prime Minister.

Truss, who succeeds Boris Johnson, will be the third woman Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May, all of from her Conservative Party.

Announcing the results, 1922 Committee chief, Sir Graham Brady said Truss won 81,326 votes, or over 57 per cent, compared to Sunak's 60,399 votes.

There was a turnout of 82.6 per cent of the over 170,000 registered party voters, he added.

In her brief address on the occasion, Truss thanked the party for "organising one of the longest job interviews in history", as well as her supporters.

She praised her rivals, particularly Sunak, saying that the campaign was "hard-fought" and showed "the depth and breadth of talent" in the party.

Truss pledged to follow through on her promises to voters, saying the Tory party needs to show it can deliver over the next two years, and that she has a "bold plan" to cut taxes and grow the UK economy.

On the rising energy bills, she says she will "deliver" when it comes to crisis by not only dealing with bills but also the long term supply issues.

--IANS
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Hong Kong, Sep 5 (IANS) More than 70 Chinese cities have been placed under full or partial Covid lockdowns since late August, impacting more than 300 million people, as local authorities rush to stamp out infections at all cost in the final countdown to leader Xi Jinpings expected third term, media reports said.

Since August 20, at least 74 cities with a combined population of 313 million have imposed lockdowns that cover entire cities, districts or multiple neighborhoods, according to CNN's calculations.

They include 15 provincial capitals and Tianjin, a provincial-level municipality, CNN reported.

Many of the restrictions are still in place. According to Chinese financial magazine Caixin, 33 cities are currently under partial or full lockdowns. Experts say more cities are likely to be added in the coming weeks.

The sweeping restrictions that upend lives and businesses stand in stark contrast with the return to normal life in much of the world, where societies have mostly pivoted to living with the virus, CNN reported.

But China insists that zero-Covid is saving lives. Health officials have cited the relatively low elderly vaccination rate and inadequate rural healthcare as hurdles to relaxing restrictions, but Chinese public health experts say political factors have played an outsized role, too.

Xi Jinping, a staunch advocate for the country's uncompromising zero-Covid strategy, is poised to be anointed as the country's top leader for another five years at the 20th Party Congress, scheduled to start on October 16.

The highly choreographed affair is meant to be a moment of celebration and vindication of the achievements of the Party -- and of Xi personally over his decade in power. And severe outbreak risks are undermining that triumphant image, experts say.

"The Party wants to make sure nothing untoward, such as a major outbreak, could potentially threaten social stability, shadow the leadership transition process – and not to mention tarnish Xi's personal leadership credibility," said Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, CNN reported.

--IANS
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Chennai, Sep 5 (IANS) Tamil Nadu's special police team has started a detailed investigation into the arrest of 13 Sri Lankan Tamils arrested from Kollam, Kerala on Monday morning. Special police teams including sleuths from the elite 'Q' branch of the Tamil Nadu police are in Kollam to interrogate those who are under the custody of the Kerala police.

A senior officer with the Tamil Nadu police told IANS that the investigation is centered around two agents who were involved in bringing these people from Sri Lanka to India. The central intelligence agencies have given tip-offs about some people who have landed in Chennai and other airports of Tamil Nadu being missing even after their visit visa period had expired.

While only 13 people are under the custody of Kerala police for trying to illegally move to Australia, Tamil Nadu police suspect that there may be more people in hiding as illegal human trafficking by the sea route is not possible with 13 people.

It may be noted that a fishing boat comprising of 243 people including children and pregnant women had illegally left the shores of India from Maliyankara boat jetty near Munambam in Kochi on January 12, 2018. There was no information about the boat or its occupants including the kingpins of the racket who had also left in the boat. The intelligence bureau had then given inputs that the 243 had left for Australia but whether they have reached the shores of that country or whether they perished in the sea is still a mystery.

The central agencies and the Tamil Nadu 'Q' branch police do not want a repeat of such a situation and have already swung into action to prevent any illegal trafficking from the shores of Kollam.

Sources in Tamil Nadu police told IANS that there is proper coordination between the police of Kerala and Tamil Nadu and that the investigation is on track.

--IANS
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Dubai, Sep 4 (IANS) Former India head coach Ravi Shastri believes talismanic batter Virat Kohli looks a lot calmer after returning from the one-and-a-half break to return for Asia Cup 2022. Shastri added that the break taken by Kohli after India's tour of England ended was a much-needed one.

Kohli, in a prolonged lean patch seen from him not scoring a century in international cricket since November 2019, began Asia Cup 2022 with a crucial 35 in the thrilling five-wicket win over Pakistan in India's first Group A match. He then scored an unbeaten 59 in India's second Group A win over Hong Kong.

"Virat Kohli looks a lot calmer, he needed that break. When you are mentally tired, you are fighting against yourself. Your body tells you something to do, your mind tells you something to do, but you can't take it. The break could have helped him. The fact that he spent some time on the field would also help him," said Shastri ahead of India's Super Four match against Pakistan at the Dubai International Stadium.

Meanwhile, former Pakistan left-arm pacer Wasim Akram urged fans from both teams to not go overboard irrespective of what the result is at the end of the match. "And that's where we experts have to suggest to fans from both India and Pakistan. The teams will compete, and they will give their 100 percent, day in and day out. But in the end, it's a game of cricket. Somebody has to win, somebody has to lose.

"Any team loses, just say 'bad luck, well tried, better luck next time'. Whichever team wins, 'well played'. We (fans) just go overboard, we players, once the game is finished, we move on very quickly. We have to motivate ourselves again. So that's very important for cricket fans, both sides."

Shastri agreed with Akram's comments, conceding the India-Pakistan contest is totally "over-hyped" from the outside. "It's over-hyped from the outside. There is no love lost. The players will go at each other's throats on the field. That's how it should be."

"There's a great rivalry. It's the biggest box office when it comes to a game of cricket. You look at the first game of the Asia Cup, every time these two teams play, it's massive."

--IANS

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New Delhi, Sep 4 (IANS) Fintech major Paytm on Sunday said that the search operations by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at six different locations in Bengaluru were carried out on merchants which were independent entities, and none of them were Paytm's group entities.

In a statement, One 97 Communications Ltd, which is the parent company of Paytm, clarified that none of the funds which have been instructed to be frozen belong to Paytm or any of its group companies.

The ED said on Saturday that it carried out search operations at six different locations in Bengaluru in connection with its probe into the Chinese loan apps fraud case.

The financial probe agency said it raided the premises associated with Paytm, Razorpay and Cashfree, all payment gateways which allegedly facilitated transactions on loan apps unauthorisedly run by Chinese-owned firms.

The company said that as a part of ongoing investigations on a specific set of merchants, "the ED has sought information regarding such merchants to whom we provide payment processing solutions".

"It is hereby clarified that these merchants are independent entities, and none of them are our group entities. We are, and will continue to, fully cooperate with the authorities, and all the directive actions are being duly complied with," said the company.

Paytm further said that that the "ED has instructed us to freeze certain amounts from the Merchant IDs (MIDs) of a specific set of merchant entities".

According to the ED, during the search operation, it was noticed that the said entities were generating proceeds of crime through various merchant IDs/accounts held with payment gateways/banks.

"They were also not operating from the addresses given on the MCA website/registered address. An amount of Rs 17 crore has been seized in merchant IDs and bank accounts of these Chinese-owned entities," said the agency.

A Cashfree spokesperson said that the company extended diligent co-operation to the ED operations, providing them the required and necessary information on the same day of enquiry.

"Our operations and on-boarding processes adhere to the PMLA and KYC directions, and we will continue to do so," said the spokesperson.

A Razorpay spokesperson said that some of its merchants were being investigated by the law enforcement about a year and a half back.

"As part of the ongoing investigation, the authorities requested additional information to help with the investigation. We have fully cooperated and shared KYC and other details. The authorities were satisfied by our due diligence process," said the company.

--IANS
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