India

New Delhi, Dec 18 (IANS) Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi will jointly address a rally in Rajasthan's Alwar on Monday, where they will raise the issue of Chinese PLA's trangsressions across the LAC.

Party sources said that after being denied from raising the issue in Parliament, the party is likely to raise the issue in the public meeting.

Gandhi on Friday had said that China is constantly preparing for war while theIndian government is asleep.

"Our government is hiding the information on the preparations of China. The Government of India does not work strategically, it works on an event basis. When it comes to geopolitics, events do not work there. Foreign Minister's statements keep coming, but he needs to deepen his understanding," he said at a press conference.

Gandhi also expressed his surprise saying that no one, including the media, is asking questions on China, despite it occupying Indian territory and martyring 20 Indian soldiers.

--IANS
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Bhopal, Dec 18 (IANS) The Congress' Madhya Pradesh Congress unit has announced that it would reintroduce the farm loan waiver scheme, which was part of its manifesto in the 2018 Assembly polls, if voted to power in the 2023 elections.

State chief and former Chief Minister Kamal Nath made this announcement last evening, saying that the farm loan of every farmer in the state would have been cleared by now if his government was still at the helm.

Ahead of the 2018 polls, then Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had promised to implement a farm loan waiver scheme in the state if the party came to power. "On this day (Dec 17), the order for loan waiver of the farmers of the state was issued. Had the democratically elected Congress government been in power now, the loan of each and every farmer of the state would have been waived by now," Nath tweeted.

The party delivered on its promise as Kamal Nath signed the file for waiving loans of up to Rs 2 lakh soon after taking oath as the Chief Minister in December 2018.

Nath assured that the loan of farmers would be waived if Congress returns to power in the state. "There is nothing to worry about. As soon as the Congress government is formed next year, this order will be issued again and the loan of each and every farmer brother will be waived," he said in another tweet.

Earlier, Nath has also announced plans to re-introduce the old pension system to state government employees. The elections in Madhya Pradesh are scheduled at the end of 2023.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Dec 18 (IANS) The Parliament's Standing Committee on Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Food Processing will be briefed by Animal Husbandry Department officials on the Lumpy Skin Disease, affecting the county's cattle.

"Briefing by the Representatives of the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying (Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying) on the Subject - Spread of Lumpy Skin Disease in Cattle in the Country and issues related therewith," the schedule of the committee, headed by BJP Lok Sabha member Parvatagouda Chandanagouda Gaddigoudar, said.

Cattle deaths due to the isease in the country during 2022 totalled 1,55,366, while the number of cases and vaccinations was 29,45,863 and 6,28,84,366, respectively, in this year.

Rajasthan was the worst-hit and reported the highest toll. Cases were also reported from Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, and J&K.

--IANS
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Lucknow, Dec 18 (IANS) Senior BJP leader and ex-cabinet minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Sunday that for decades, Muslim votes are being "chewed like chewing gum" and "chucked like castaway".

Addressing ‘Minorities Rights Day' programme, organised by Uttar Pradesh Minorities Commission in Lucknow, Naqvi said that the "crook contractors of votes" have committed "cruel, communal, criminal conspiracy" against the minorities to "hijack" their socio-economic and educational empowerment.

Naqvi added, "Today, India has become the flagbearer of inclusive empowerment by crushing the curse of communalism."

Naqvi said that the "treacherous traders of votes" are responsible for economic, educational and social backwardness of some sections of the Muslim community.

Naqvi added that today the time has changed, the environment has changed and mood of the country has changed.

The ‘Modi Magic' has replaced the ‘praxis of polarisation' with ‘politics of prosperity', he said.

Along with majority communities, the minority communities have been benefitted equally by the positive atmosphere of "development with trust" in the governments led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Uttar Pradesh minister of state for minority welfare, Danish Azad, UP minorities commission chairman Ashfaq Saifi, BJP UP minority morcha president Basit Ali and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

--IANS
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By Sanket Pathak
New Delhi, Dec 18 (IANS) Fake currency notes, with face value of crores of rupees are being caught every year, indicating an increase in their circulation in the country.


This creates trouble for the common people and poses a big challenge for the government and the police.

According to sources, police and other security forces have seized fake currency worth the face value of Rs 137 crore in the last three years.

The seized counterfeit new notes of Rs 2000 are also amount to crores in face value.

Fake currency is mostly traded or smuggled from Pakistan and is sent to India across the border among other routes, sources said.

The Border Security Force (BSF) and the police forces have been successful in seizing such notes to an extent, but a lot still remains to be done.

The Central government claimed to curb fake currency by demonetisation, whereas statistics reveal a starkly different reality.

According to data provided by the Union Home Ministry, fake notes of face value Rs 137,96,17,270 crore were caught from 2019 to 2021.

As many as 3,10,066 lakh fake notes were seized in 2021, whose face value was Rs 20,39,27,660 crore.

A total of 8,34,947 lakh fake notes with face value of Rs 92,17,80,480 crore were confiscated in 2020, apart from 2,87,404 lakh fake notes of face value Rs 25,39,09,130 crore in 2019.

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), fake currency of the denominations of Rs 2000 and Rs 500 were seized in large amounts in the last three years.

In 2021, the face value of seized fake notes of the Rs 2000 denomination was Rs 4,84,78,000 crore, while the seized notes of Rs 500 had face value of Rs 12,57,99,000 crore.

As many as 2,44,834 lakh notes of Rs 2000 in 2020 and 90,566,000 notes in 2019 were seized.

Apart from this, fake notes of Rs 500 denomination have also been seized in lakhs from across the country over the years.

The MHA apprised that the figures did not indicate any specific pattern regarding the circulation of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN).

The government claimed that the intelligence and security agencies of the Central and state governments had been keeping a keen eye on the elements involved in the spread of FICN and took action against reported violations.

Several steps are being taken by the MHA to thwart the same.

According to the government, an FICN Coordination group had been constituted by the Home Ministry for sharing information among the security agencies of the state and Centre to combat the problem.

A Terror Funding and Fake Currency (TFFC) Cell has been constituted in the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to conduct focused investigation of terror financing and fake currency cases.

The government claimed to have strengthened the international border security by deploying additional men for round-the-clock surveillance, by setting up surveillance posts along the border, erecting fences and intensive patrolling.

An MoU has been signed between India and Bangladesh to prevent and combat smuggling and circulation of counterfeit currency notes, while training programmes have been organised for state police officers as well as those of Nepal and Bangladesh to make them aware about the problem.

The Reserve Bank of India has prepared a strategy to curb counterfeit notes, reportedly taking various measures, including raising security standards on bank notes, to make counterfeiting difficult and costly and organising awareness programmes for the public.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Dec 18 (IANS) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will on Monday introduce The Appropriation (No 4 & 5) Bills, 2022, in the Rajya Sabha for consideration, and for returning to the Lok Sabha, where they have already been passed.

The Appropriation (No 5) Bill, 2022, is to authorise payment and appropriation of certain further sums from and out of the Consolidated Fund of India for the services of the financial year 2022-2023.

The Appropriation (No 4) Bill, 2022, is to provide for authorisation of appropriation of moneys out of the Consolidated Fund of India to meet the amounts spent on certain services during the financial year ended on the March 31, 2020, in excess of the amounts granted for those services and for that year, as passed by Lok Sabha.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Dec 18 (IANS) The Congress has questioned the Central government's silence on the issue of Chinese transgressions.

Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh on Sunday said, "There are reports that Chinese intrusions have become bigger and more frequent in the Eastern Sector. Previous governments had the confidence to take journalists and MPs to the front in 1965, 1971 and Kargil 1999. Even Doklam was discussed in the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence. What is the PM hiding from the people of India? Why is he running away from a discussion?"

He said after two years of a protracted "disengagement" what emboldened the Chinese to try and take over the Indian post in the Yangtse area of Tawang? India has dominated Yangtse since Late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi deployed forces there in 1986 during the Sumdorong Chu confrontation. And, "How have the Chinese dared to open a new front?" he asked.

Ramesh alleged that after 16 rounds of military-level talks, the Chinese remain ensconced 18 km deep in Depsang. Indian patrols are unable to access hundreds of square kilometres of territory in this critical strategic area.

"Why do critical gaps in our capabilities persist despite a rising China threat? The Indian Air Force chief has stated on the record that he is 12 squadrons short of the desired fighter strength of 42 squadrons. While the UPA ordered 6 Scorpene submarines, Project 75I for 6 more submarines faces repeated delays. Army recruitment under the Agnipath Scheme has sharply dropped," he asked.

The Congress leader asked, "Some time ago the Prime Minister expressed brotherhood and closeness for President Xi Jinping and described the relationship as 'plus one'.

"You said that Xi ne 'adhyayan karake rakha tha akhir Modi cheez kya hai'. Is China's renewed aggressiveness the result of such a close study? Could it be, as you said in 2013, 'The problem is not at the border, the problem is in Delhi'.?" Ramesh said.

--IANS
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Dehradun, Dec 18 (IANS) The 500-page charge sheet has been prepared in Ankita Bhandari murder case, which will be presented in the court on Monday.

According to ADG Law and Order, V. Murugashan, it took 90 days to file the 500-page charge sheet, after examining around 100 witnesses.

Bhandari was allegedly murdered by Pulkit Arya, the son of now expelled BJP leader Vinod Arya.

The 19-year-old victim worked at a resort owned by the accused in Uttarakhand's Pauri district.

Inspection of the crime site and interrogation of resort workers revealed that the victim left the place with accused Pulkit Arya, the resort's manager Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Arya at around 8 p.m. on September 18, 2022.

The accused confessed to the murder and throwing her body in the canal after
they were strictly interrogated.

In connection with the murder, IPC sections 302, 201, 120B were added and the accused were sent to jail on September 23.

The victim's body was recovered on September 24 from Chilla canal.

Since the murder was an instance of heinous crime committed against woman, an SIT team led by Director General of Police, Law and Order, P. Renuka Devi was constituted on September 24.

The statements of several witnesses were recorded in the court under section 164 CrPC, along with procurement of reports by expert doctors and documents related to prosecution.

The accused have been charged under IPC sections 302, 201, 120B, 354A and Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956.

Narco test of the accused is also being discussed by the police officials.

--IANS
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Ayodhya, Dec 18 (IANS) To give it a distinct identity, the temple town of Ayodhya will soon have a uniform colour coding for various establishments.

The Ayodhya Development Authority is finalising the scheme of colours to be used in buildings of different nature.

There will be a dedicated colour each for commercial, residential, religious and historical buildings.

The colour of the temples leading to Ram Janmabhoomi site will be saffron.

There will be a uniformity of colour in different buildings and pavements in their vicinity.

Ayodhya Development Authority vice-chairman Vishal Singh said, "There will be different types of colour choices for commercial, residential, religious and for the buildings of archaeological importance. We are yet to finalise which shades of colours to be painted on which type of buildings. However, the colour of the temples leading to the Ram Janmabhoomi site will be saffron."

According to the sources, other than the temples on the Ram Mandir way, all the private buildings - from Saadatganj area of the Faizabad city to the banks of Saryu - will also have the same colour.

Besides, agencies involved in the construction of the grand Ram temple are taking special cognisance of the security of Ram Janmabhoomi complex. A double-layer security wall with a 50-metre foundation will ensure permanent security for the temple, said Anil Mishra, member of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Dec 18 (IANS) The Customs officials on Saturday said that they have arrested a Guinea national and recovered 82 capsules containing cocaine -- which were ingested by her -- valued at Rs 15.36 crore.

The woman was held at Indira Gandhi International Airport while her operation to retrieve cocaine capsules was performed at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.

The official said that the woman who travelled from Conakry to Addis Ababa had further arrived at Terminal-3, IGI Airport on December 7.

She was intercepted by the Customs on the basis of specific information after she had crossed the Green Channel and was approaching towards the exit gate of international arrival hall of T-3.

Upon questioning, she finally divulged that she had swallowed capsules of Narcotics substance.

"Since it was an impending medical emergency, she was admitted to hospital. Under expert medical supervision, ejection process was carried out. The entire ejection process lasted over several days during which Customs Officers maintained round the clock vigil," the official said.

Finally, 82 capsules were recovered which yielded a total of 1,024 gm white powdery substance.

"The woman had violated provisions of section 8 of the NDPS Act, and had committed offence punishable under Section 21, Section 23 and Section 29 of NDPS Act. Accordingly, she was placed under arrest. The powdery substance which is cocaine has been seized along with concealing material under section 43(a) of NDPS Act," said the official.

--IANS
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