India

Mumbai, Dec 30 (IANS) Bollywood actress Urvashi Rautela has shared a cryptic post after learning about Indian wicketkeeper- batsman Rishabh Pant's horrific car accident.

Urvashi took to Instagram, where she shared a picture of herself dressed in an all white dancer outfit.

She captioned it: "Praying" and added a white heart and a white pigeon in the caption.

Early on Friday morning, Pant, 25, suffered multiple injuries when his car collided with a road divider and caught fire on the Delhi-Dehradun highway.

He has been admitted to Max Hospital in Dehradun after being initially taken to Saksham Hospital Multispecialty and Trauma Centre. Pant was on his way to his hometown Roorkee in the state of Uttarakhand from New Delhi.

Pant has suffered two cuts on his forehead, apart from a ligament tear in his right knee, abrasion injuries on back, and hurt his right wrist, ankle, and toe, said Jay Shah, the Honorary Secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), in an official statement on Friday.

Pant was part of the India Test squad that sealed a 2-0 series victory over Bangladesh a couple of days ago in Dhaka, where he hit a match-winning 93 in the first innings of the second Test at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. He was not named in India's T20I and ODI squads for matches against Sri Lanka starting on January 3.

It was in 2018, when dating rumours about Pant and Urvashi started doing the rounds. The two were spotted entering and leaving restaurants. However, a year later, Pant dismissed all rumours and shared that he is in a relationship with girlfriend Isha Negi.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Dec 30 (IANS) A Special PMLA court in Bengaluru on Friday awarded various jail terms to a technician in Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology (CIPET), Ministry of Chemical and Fertilizers, and his wife in connection with a Prevention of Money Laundering case pertaining to government fund misuse.

The court awarded four years rigorous imprisonment to Arvind with a fine of Rs one lakh while it awarded three years imprisonment to his wife Binu with a fine of Rs 50,000.

The ED initiated probe into this matter on the basis of an FIR lodged by the CBI under various sections of IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act, against Arvind, for siphoning off a sum of Rs 1,25,71,209 when he was a technician with CIPET in Mysuru, Karnataka.

Recently, the probe agency attached assets worth Rs 24 lakh and filed a prosecution complaint (charge sheet) before Special Court in Bengaluru.

After going through the documents and hearing the argument the court convicted Arvind and his wife for offences committed under Section 3 and punishable under section 4 of Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The attached properties have also been confiscated by the court.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Dec 30 (IANS) Senior RSS leader and chief patron of the Muslim Rashtriya Manch Indresh Kumar on Friday condoled the demise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mother Heeraben and termed the loss "unbearable and irreplaceable".

In his condolence message, Kumar said that the death of the Prime Minister's mother is very sad and that Heeraba stood as a symbol of courage, simplicity, honesty and hard work. "Hundreds of salutations to her".

"At this difficult hour, I extend my deepest condolences to him and his family," he said.

The relationship between a mother and son runs very deep. For a son, nothing is above a mother's love and the loss of a mother is an unbearable, unimaginable, irreparable loss.

Indresh Kumar said, "Lord Shri Ram should give place to the departed pious soul in his holy feet, May Heera Ba, the mother of crores of Indians, remain immortal."

The Prime Minister's mother, admitted to UN Mehta Hospital in Ahmedabad, breathed her last at 3.30 a.m. As soon as the news of her demise surfaced, tributes started pouring in.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Dec 30 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday arrested an Integrated Financial Advisor (IDAS-98), an Accounts Officer, Junior Translator working in South Western Command, Jaipur and four others on the allegations of bribery.

The CBI also conducted searches at nine different places, including Jaipur, Jind, Bathinda, Ganga Nagar which led to recovery of Rs 40 lakh in cash, various property documents relating to public servants and incriminating documents.

A senior CBI official said that a case was lodged against Uma Shankar Prasad Kushwaha, IFA South Western Command, Jaipur, accounts official Ram Roop Meena, Junior Translator, Vijay Nama, and Sunil Kumar, of Hitech Security Services Pvt Ltd, Jind(Haryana), Prabjinder Singh Brar of ESS PEE Traders, Sri Ganganagar(Rajasthan), Dinesh Kumar Jindal, of D.K.Enterprises, Bhatinda(Punjab), Rajendra Singh, of Tanushree Services, Jhotwara(Jaipur) on the allegations of bribery.

The accused of three private firms entered into a conspiracy and were obtaining all works related to outsourcing of conservancy services for various locations in South Western Command.

It was further alleged that the said IFA in connivance with Accounts Officer, Junior Translator, PCDA, South Western Command as well as a private person of a Jaipur based company (who was acting as the middlemen for the public servants), were demanding and obtaining illegal gratification from the private contractors.

The arrested accused will be produced before the Competent Court in Panchkula later in the day.

--IANS
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Srinagar, Dec 30 (IANS) Fresh snowfall in mountains and the season's first in the plains of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday broke the month-long dry spell in the Valley.

A pristine white blanket of snow has covered the ground in Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonmarg hill stations bringing cheer to dozens of tourists who have come here to celebrate the new year eve.

Long Pine and Cedrus trees in the mountains now wear a picture postcard look as their snow laden branches droop towards the ground in majestic splendour.

Highways like the Mughal Road, Srinagar-Leh highway, Gurez road and other such roads passing through mountain passes are closed.

Srinagar-Jammu highway, however, remains open for vehicular traffic despite inclement weather.

There have been dozens of fire incidents across the Valley recently due to the continuing dry spell.

The dry spell has now broken. Perennial water resources like springs, streams, lakes and wells were running at their lowest ebb as people feared the possibility of water scarcity.

Snow in the higher reaches will now replenish the perennial water reservoirs that sustain rivers, lakes, streams, wells and springs during the summer months.

Children wearing warm clothes were seen playing with fresh snow in the streets while some were trying to build snowmen gathering whatever little snow had fallen in the plains during the night.

Authorities reacted promptly to the exigencies created by the fresh snowfall. Police rescued 52 stranded tourists in central Budgam district.

Emergency control rooms and helplines have been set up in every district of the Valley while officials have been directed to remain present 24X7 to attend to emergencies.

Weather office has forecast dry weather till January 5.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Dec 30 (IANS) Days after Congress General Secretary, K.C. Venugopal wrote a letter to Home Minister Amit Shah claiming lapses in Rahul Gandhi's security in the Delhi leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, the Delhi Police has also submitted its report alleging that Gandhi was seen breaking the cordon.

According to sources, the report submitted to MHA stated that Gandhi did not follow the security protocol, and that there were complete security arrangements.

"Delhi Police's security, traffic, and special branch units have submitted their reports," said the sources.

"Police had also deployed many policemen in plain uniform, and made a security cordon for Congress MP," said the sources.

On Thursday, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) had said that necessary security arrangements were made for Rahul Gandhi as per the guidelines, but he violated the rules 113 times and was duly informed of the same.

CRPF deployed in Gandhi's security responded to the question raised by the Congress regarding the lapse in his security and the letter written by the party to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

The CRPF, in its reply submitted to the MHA, said that Gandhi violated the fixed security instructions several times since 2020, including during Bharat Jodo Yatra.

It added that the violations had been brought to the leader's notice from time to time.

According to CRPF, the arrangements were made in coordination with the state police and security agencies, after advanced communication regarding security before each tour, in addition to Advanced Security Liaison (ASL) that was done for Gandhi's security before the Yatra entered Delhi.

According to CRPF, the Delhi Police informed that security personnel were deployed adequately, and that the security arrangements made for the protectee work when the person himself follows the prescribed guidelines.

--IANS
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By Saiyed Moziz Imam Zaidi
New Delhi, Dec 30 (IANS) "I have opened the shop of love in the marketplace of hatred." This line has been echoing throughout the Congress outreach programme, which commenced from Kanyakumari and ends at Srinagar on January 23. But the Congress is not planning to sit back after the Yatra comes officially to an end.



On January 26, the party will start the 'Haath Se Haath Jodo Abhiyan', which will continue for the next two months. To make it a success, the party has not left any stone unturned, appointing senior leaders to oversee the programme in each state.

Buoyed with the success of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, the Congress is also planning to reach every voter through booth level convention. Senior functionaries of the party will be attending the programmes, and the party has deputed Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to lead the all-women march and there is work in progress on this. The party's 'haath jodo' programme will start from January 26 and the Congress programme will be telecast live on giant screens and will be shown at important places across each state.

Priyanka will lead an all-women march in each state capital and read out a 'women's manifesto' as the Congress gears up to take the Bharat Jodo Yatra to booth level. The party has started its preparatory meetings for this at the state level and then district and block level.

The party has reached out to like-minded leaders to join the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Some have already joined and some have agreed to join like Mehbooba Mufti and Farooq Abdullah. The party activists will distribute letters written by Rahul Gandhi and a charge sheet against the BJP government to every person.

After the yatra, a block level convention will be held in each district to be attended by the state president and senior state Congress leaders.

Congress General Secretary K.C. Venugopal said: "The Bharat Jodo Yatra has become a movement, you people know about that. Lakhs of people are participating in this yatra every day. Starting from Kanyakumari, till today, crores of people have participated."

Venugopal added: "Apart from Congress leaders, general people enthusiastically participated in the yatra ... their involvement is huge in this yatra, which will resume form January 3."

The party general secretary also said as this yatra emerged as a greatest movement in this country, a proper follow-up is needed, and that is why, the Congress Steering Committee decided for a 'Haath Se Haath Jodo Abhiyan' from January 26 onwards.

This, he said, will be a two-month massive campaign at the grassroots level. Two months of continuous padyatra will be there at the block level under the leadership of senior leaders, while state units will assign two leaders for each block to conduct the yatra.

The yatra will be undertaken by the leadership of the Block Congress Committee, but two leaders deputed by the state unit will be there to lead the yatra.

Along with this yatra, there will be village-level sabhas, and interaction with influential people in the villages and massive district level workers' convention. Then, the culmination of this yatra will happen with a massive rally in the state capital, in which Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge or Rahul Gandhi will participate, he said.

The party is saying that the critics now accept that the yatra is successful. The BJP's alliance partner in Haryana, Dushyant Chautala, too has been heard praising the kind of effort Rahul Gandhi is putting in the Yatra. Ramdev also praised the Gandhi scion for taking up 3,570-km yatra.

The former Congress President Rahul Gandhi seems to enjoy the show as donning a T shirt in chilly Delhi winter he attacked the BJP and said that they are fanning hatred and divisiveness but the Congress will not allow it.

Rahul Gandhi in Alwar also recited a poem by Makhdoom Mohiuddin -- "Hayat leke chalo kainat le ke chalo, chalo to sare zamane ko saath le ke chalo" -- and said that this is how he is taking everyone along.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Dec 28 (IANS) After the Centre re-started random testing of incoming passengers amid the rising scare of Covid-19 in several countries, a total of 39 international travellers have been found Covid positive across different airports of the country.

The random testing for Covid infection at airports was started on December 24.

In the last three days, a total of 498 international travellers have been screened at different airports. Out of that, 39 have tested positive and all the samples have been sent for genome sequencing, a source said on Wednesday.

It also includes four foreign nationals who tested positive at the Gaya airport on Tuesday. They had come to attend the Dalai Lama's religious programme in Gaya.

As per the source, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya is also expected to visit Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport to review the situation on Thursday.

Meanwhile, India reported 188 fresh Covid cases in the last 24 hrs, against 157 cases reported the previous day, according to the Union Health Ministry. The active caseload in the country presently stands at 3,468, accounting for 0.01 per cent of the country's total positive cases.

Amid a possible Covid surge, the Centre has asked the states to ramp up genome sequencing to track the new variants. The hospitals across the country on Tuesday conducted mock drills to ensure operational readiness of the health facilities for the management of Covid-19.

In view of a possible surge, the Centre had asked the states to carry out mock drills with focus on the geographically representative availability of health facilities covering all districts, bed capacities like isolation beds, oxygen-supported isolation beds, ICU beds and ventilator-supported beds along with and optimal availability of human resources.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Dec 25 (IANS) Remembering Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his birth anniversary, the Congress attacked the BJP for denying a discussion on China in Parliament.

Jairam Ramesh, Congress General Secretary said, "Today is the birth anniversary of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He was a first-term MP when he co-signed a letter to Nehru requesting for Parliament to be convened earlier than scheduled to debate the Chinese invasion. Nehru agreed. Now MPs can't even discuss ongoing Chinese incursions."

In the just concluded winter session of Parliament, the opposition despite all its efforts could not persuade the government for a discussion on the Chinese transgression issue.

The regular adjournment notice in Lok Sabha was rejected by the Speaker and the suspension of business in the Rajya Sabha was also not entertained by the chair. The Congress has been pushing for discussion on the issue to 'expose' the government but in vain.

This time with the new chairman in the Upper House the opposition could not press for an adjournment except for a few occasions and brief timings. Similar pattern was repeated in the Lower House as well.

Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge many times repeated that, "the discussion should take place in the House and the whole nation should watch it."

--IANS
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Chennai, Dec 25 (IANS) The Kerala CPI(M) was likely to constitute a party commission on the allegations revealed by the party state committee member, P. Jayarajan against the state Left Front convenor and senior leader, E.P. Jayarajan.

P. Jayarajan has in the recent CPI(M) state committee meeting raised an allegation that E.P. Jayarajan's son Jaison and his wife, P.K. Indira were holding stakes in an Ayurveda resort in the party stronghold, Morazha in Kannur district.

In the allegation, P. Jayarajan stated that Jaison was holding maximum shares in a director board of 13 persons and had a capital of Rs 10 crore.

The CPI(M) stronghold of Anthoor Panchayat -- where the party candidates get elected unopposed -- granted sanction to the resort. It is to be noted that the Anthoor Panchayath president, P.K. Shyamala is the wife of M.V. Govindan, CPI(M) state secretary.

Jaison and a businessman from Thalassery - the hometown of Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, K.P. Ramesh Kumar were the founder directors of the resort.

The CPI(M) state secretary, M.V. Govindan on assuming office after the demise of Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, had told the mediapersons after a CPI(M) state committee meeting that the party will not allow any of its cadre or leader to get away with graft allegations. He has also said that the party will take stringent action against those indulging in nefarious activities, including consuming liquor.

P. Jayarajan while speaking to the mediapersons at Kannur on Saturday said that the party would not allow any deviation from the core principles. However, he said that, E.P. Jayarajan was a senior leader of the party and that the media was distorting facts.

The open stand taken by P. Jayarajan in the party state committee meeting in which Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was present, shocked the party leadership. E.P. Jayarajan is a central committee member of the party and a powerful leader from the red fort of the party, Kannur. Pinarayi Vijayan, M.V. Govindan and P. Jayarajan are also from Kannur district.

E.P. Jayarajan has been sulking ever since M.V. Govindan assumed office as the state secretary of the party as he had a grouse that being senior to Govindan he could have been considered for the party state secretary post. E.P. Jayarajan, who is the former industries minister of Kerala is now the LDF convenor and has been on medical leave from the party for the past month.

--IANS
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