India

New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) Delhi Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena has sent a legal notice to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its leaders Atishi, Durgesh Pathak, Saurabh Bhardwaj, Sanjay Singh, Jasmine Shah and others for levelling 'false allegations' against him and spreading 'fake news' and a 'motivated propaganda' to malign his image.

These leaders of AAP had recently claimed that the L-G was involved in a scam during demonetisation in 2016 in a purported ‘scam' of Rs 1400 crore by KVIC under Saxena's chairmanship.

The legal notice reads, "It may be known, that the total Khadi sale across the country during 2016-17 was Rs 2146.60 crore as per KVIC Annual Report 2016-17. There were only 7 Department Store Outlets (DSOs) of KVIC, sale from which was Rs 173.58 crore during the entire year of 2016-17, while the remaining was sale done through independent Khadi Institution stores and franchisees. Out of sale of Rs 173.58 crore from these 7 DSOs during the year, Rs 99.35 crore was through retail sales and the remaining was through whole sale and government supplies.

"Since the period under demonetisation was from 9.11.2016 to 31.12.2016, therefore on a pro-rata basis, retails sales worth approximately only Rs 14.43 crore (actual may vary) took place through these 7 DSOs during the period of demonetisation. Hence, by any stretch of imagination, whatsoever, the figure of Rs 1400 crore is not only incompatible with real and unquestionable figures duly recorded in the books of accounts but also an incomprehensible mathematical impossibility even if one were to take into account, the actual sales of the entire year which amounted to just Rs 173.58 crore, from 7 DSOs. (All figures are from the KVIC Annual Report 2016-17, available on KVIC's Website)."

The notice said that the indulgence of AAP and its leaders in such a scandalous smear campaign against Saxena, is solely with the aim of deflecting and diverting attention of the people from the gross failure of the AAP Government in Delhi, their expose in the recently unearthed excise and classroom scam coupled with the appreciation gained by the Lt. Governor for the ‘extraordinary work done by him in the past three months serving as the LG of Delhi'.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) India's external debt rose by 8.2 per cent to stand at $620.7 billion on March 31, 2022, compared to $573.7 billon on March 31, 2021.

Out of this, 53.2 per cent of external debt was denominated in US dollars, the Indian rupee denominated debt was estimated at 31.2 per cent and was the second largest, according to the status report on India's external debt 2021-22, released by the Finance Ministry on Monday.

According to the report, external debt, as a ratio to GDP, fell marginally to 19.9 per cent as on March 2022 compared to 21.2 per cent of the year ago period. Foreign currency reserves, as a ratio to external debt, stood slightly lower at 97.8 per cent as on March 2022, compared to 100.6 per cent of the year- ago period.

The long-term debt estimated at $499.1 billion, formed the largest chunk of 80.4 per cent, while the short-term debt, at $ 121.7 billion, accounted for 19.6 per cent of the total external debt amount. The short-term trade credit was predominantly in the form of trade credit (96 per cent) financing imports, the report added further.

Commercial borrowings, NRIs deposits, short-term trade credit and multilateral loans, all accounted for 90 per cent of the total external debt. While NRI deposits marginally contracted during end-March 2021 and end-March 2022, commercial borrowings, short-term trade credit and multilateral loans, on the other hand, expanded during the same period.

The rise in commercial borrowings, short-term trade credit and multilateral loans together was significantly larger than the contraction in NRI deposits, the report further said.

--IANS
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Lucknow, Sep 5 (IANS) The owners and the manager of Lucknow's Hotel Levana, where a major fire broke out on Monday morning and left four persons dead and seven seriously injured, have been detained, police said.

The owners, Rohit Agarwal and Rahul Agarwal, along with the manager, Sagar Srivastava, have been taken into custody.

The police spokesman said that an FIR was being registered in the case.

A Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) official said that several by-laws had been broken in the construction of the hotel which did not even have an emergency exit.

"We are going through the documents and strict action will be initiated at the earliest, said the official.

A major fire had broken out at the Levana hotel on Monday morning and about two dozen guests were trapped in the second and third floor of the hotel.

The fire personnel had to break the glass panes to bring out those trapped inside.

Four persons died in the incident while seven others have been hospitalised in critical condition.

Some fire personnel have also been injured.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has already ordered a probe into the incident and has directed officials to take strict action if any lapses are found.

--IANS
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Kolkata, Sep 5 (IANS) A division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Monday gave conditional permission to the three Congress MLAs from Jharkhand -- who were arrested in West Bengal with a huge amount of cash in July, to return to their native state.

The Calcutta High Court's division bench of Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Bivas Pattanayak ruled that three MLAs -- Irfan Ansari from Jamtara, Rajesh Kacchap from Khijri (ST) and Naman Bixal Kongari from Kolebira (ST) will be allowed to go back to Jharkhand only to participate at any assembly session of the state.

However, before leaving West Bengal, these three MLAs will have to inform the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of state police, and also furnish a copy of the letter from Jharkhand assembly inviting them to participate in any session as supporting evidence.

The division bench also ruled that all the three MLAs will have to come back to Kolkata within 24 hours after their participation in any session of the Jharkhand assembly is over.

To recall, on the evening of July 30, 2022, the MLAs were caught with bags of bank notes at Ranihati in Howrah district of West Bengal. When the notes were counted, the total amount was found to be Rs 48 lakh.

These three MLAs were travelling in an SUV along with two other associates.

On the basis of intelligence inputs, the West Bengal police had apprehended them.

This SUV bore the board of Jamtara MLA of Jharkhand. It was reported that the three MLAs who were taken into police custody could not give clear information about the cash found in the vehicle.

After certain rounds of legal deliberations at the Calcutta High Court, the three MLAs were granted bail on August 17. However, the court barred them from leaving Kolkata till further orders.

Recently, the three MLAs again approached the Calcutta High Court's division bench of Justice Bagchi and Justice Pattanayak with a prayer for permission to be present at the Jharkhand assembly sessions.

On the basis of that, the High Court gave conditional approval to their appeal.

--IANS
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Jaipur, Sep 5 (IANS) A BJP leader Kripal Singh Jaghina was shot dead by a few miscreants  in Rajasthan's Bharatpur district.

According to police officials, the incident took place late on Sunday night when the BJP leader was returning home in his car. At around 10.45 p.m, his car was surrounded by more than a dozen bike-borne miscreants near Jaghina Gate. Soon after, the attackers fired on him, killing him instantly.

The culprits could not be nabbed despite the police blocking all the surrounding roads.

Local sources quoted old enmity as the reason for the murder, but it could not be confirmed.

Kripal Singh's body has been kept in the mortuary of RBM Hospital, where the post-mortem will be conducted later in the day.

According to police, Jaghina was earlier the district spokesperson for BJP Kisan Morcha.

Currently, he was serving as a member of the Railway Advisory Committee.

On receiving information, Kripal Singh's friends and relatives rushed to the spot and rushed him to RBM Hospital where the doctors declared him dead..

After that the police reached the spot. MP Ranjeeta Koli and BJP District President Dr. Shailesh Singh also reached the spot.

According to Additional Superintendent of Police Anil Kumar Meena, investigation is being carried out from all angles.

Search for the accused is on.

--IANS
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Lucknow, Sep 5 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday ordered a joint probe by the Divisional Commissioner and police Commissioner of Lucknow into the hotel fire incident.

The injured will be given proper and free treatment, he added.

A major fire broke out in the Levana hotel in Hazratganj area of the state capital this morning.

More than 20 persons have been shifted to a hospital in an unconscious state, sources said.

--IANS
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Patna, Sep 5 (IANS) At least 10 persons were missing after two boats collided in the middle of Ganga River in Patna's Shahpur locality, officials said on Monday.

The incident happened late on Sunday night and rescue operation was still continuing.

Officials said that around 55 persons had gone to the Gangahara island on the other side of the river to bring vegetables and food for cattle. While returning, their boat collided with another boat.

Sharif Alam, the SHO of Shahpur police station said: "They went to Gangahara island on Sunday night and returned from there around 8 p.m. Due to the strong current, the sailors of both the boats failed to control the boats, which resulted in the collision. 45 persons managed to swim to the shore while 10 are still missing. As it was late night, the SDRF team started the rescue operation but were unable to trace the missing persons."

The missing have been identified as Khiladi Rai, Kumkum, Preeti, Aarti, Chathu Rai and others. A majority of the victims belong to the Daudpur village. Due to the monsoon session, the water level of Ganga is near the danger level mark.

--IANS
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Lucknow, Sep 5 (IANS) Lucknow,

More than 20 persons have been shifted to the hospital in an unconscious state. Hospital sources said that two women have succumbed to burn injuries. Official confirmation was awaited.

Several persons, including employees and guests have received burn injuries, even as fire tenders were trying to douse the flames.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed senior officials to personally supervise the rescue operations and provide proper treatment to the victims.

Fire personnel, meanwhile, were breaking open the glass panes to rescue those trapped inside the hotel. Several guests complained of severe suffocation since the smoke was filling the rooms.

More than 20 people were still trapped inside.

Ambulances have also been called in and nearby hospitals have been put on alert.

The hotel has a narrow approach road, which was causing problems in relief and rescue operations.

It is not yet known how the fire started.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) The Delhi Police's Special Cell arrested two Afghan nationals in Noida and recovered 5 kg of heroin worth Rs 21 crore from their possession, sources said on Monday.

The Cell shared the information with Noida police and a joint team recovered the huge quantity of heroin.

"The heroin was kept in a car that was stationed in a garage. Jitu and Ashok, two mechanics at the garage were also held from the spot. They are residents of Bulandshahr. The heroin was kept in the trunk of the car which the accused would smuggle using a different vehicle," the sources said.

A number of Afghan nationals study in Greater Noida and there are possibilities that they might have been involved in drug peddling, the sources claimed.

The names of the arrested Afghan nationals are withheld as of now.

--IANS
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Ahmedabad, Sep 4 (IANS) Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday declared that the city of Ahmedabad would soon be developed into the biggest sports city in the world.

Speaking at the unveiling function of the anthem and mascot for the 36th National Games at the EKA Arena, TransStadia here in Ahmedabad, Shah, said: "Ten years ago, when Modiji was the chief minister here, he started the Khel Mahakumbh. At that time Gujarat was nowhere in sports on the global map.

"Now, we have the Narendra Modi Stadium, the largest stadium in the world, and very soon we will have the world's biggest sports city too," Shah said, addressing over 10,000 people at the majestic venue.

The Home Minister, who is also the MP from Gandhi Nagar, led a power-packed audience at the glittering curtain-function, including Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur. The country's grandest sporting extravaganza will take place in six cities of Gujarat, from September 29 to October 12.

"Once upon a time, we Gujjus were mostly seen as just businessmen. But Modiji started Khel Mahakumbh 11 years back and that event has become so big that as many as 55 lakh youngsters took part in this edition. We even offered a whopping Rs 29 crore as prize money to the winners," Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel said.

"We are delighted that the National Games are back after 7 years and this one will be the biggest and grandest ever," Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur said.

"It normally takes years to organise an event of this scale but Gujarat did this in less than three months. It is all thanks to the efforts of the CM, with IOA supporting our initiative in a big way. Over 12,000 athletes, officials and support stage will enjoy not only the sporting extravaganza but also the Garba here," he added.

Top dignitaries from the world of politics and sport were present on the occasion.

Aptly titled Saavaj, lion in Gujarati, the mascot represents India's cultural heritage while also giving a glimpse of a rapidly growing India which is set to become a global leader again.

The anthem of the Games, encapsulating the philosophy of Judega India, Jitega India, has been rendered by Bollywood star singer Sukhwinder Singh.

The lyrics of the national sports festival's theme song inspire the youth of the country to connect and conquer historic places like the Statue of Unity and Sabarmati. Embellished with impressive sports scenes, the theme song captures the heart of how athletes triumph despite adversity.

--IANS

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