India

Mainpuri (Uttar Pradesh), Feb 10 (IANS) Nearly 21 students fell ill and seven others were hospitalised after allegedly drinking contaminated water at the Government Engineering College in Mainpuri district.

The matter came to light when district health officials learnt that a large number of students from a college in the district were admitted to a hospital.

P.P. Singh, the Chief Medical Officer of Mainpuri (CMO) and Madan Lal, Centres for Medicare and Medical Services (CMS) of Maharaja Tej Singh District Hospital immediately reached the district hospital to gather information and review the condition of the students.

Madan Lal (CMS) said it was found that at least 21 students pursuing engineering courses in the Government Engineering College were admitted to a hospital since February 9, with symptoms of vomiting and dysentery.

At present, seven students are undergoing treatment at the hospital while others have been discharged.

The condition of 21 engineering college students worsened after drinking water from the water cooler on Thursday night.

"Everyone was brought to the district hospital where seven students were admitted. Others were discharged after first aid," he said.

"Water samples from water tanks, purifiers and cooler machines have been sent to the Public Health Engineering (PHE) department for clinical testing. Prima facie, it seems like contaminated water could be the cause of the illness," the health official said.

A teacher from the college said that the administration also got alerted after the condition of engineering college students deteriorated.

The Food and Safety Department team reached the college and sealed the sample of contaminated water for examination.

The health officials said that further investigation is underway.

--IANS
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Agartala, Feb 10 (IANS) The ruling BJP in Tripura is using money and muscle power to win the February 16 Assembly elections in the state, CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said on Friday.

Addressing the media in Agartala, Yechury said since the saffron party sensed that the people are desperate to vote it out of power, the BJP had been desperately trying to this tactic.

"The BJP, Centre, state government nexus coupled with the police and the other authorities hatched a serious conspiracy to rig the elections. Three days before the polling, there could be serious law and order problems staged by the BJP," he claimed.

The CPI-M leader said it is not a question who will win or lose the election, democracy and rule of law must prevail as the reign of terror and deep-rooted corruption that started after the BJP-led government came to power in Tripura have worsened.

Demanding protection of voters from their homes to the polling stations, Yechury said that "the BJP and their goons have already started their threats and intimidations" specially to those who support the opposition.

"The Election Commission must take pro-active appropriate steps to allow the voters to come to the polling stations and cast their votes fearlessly. Our delegation would meet the Election Commission on Friday to apprise it on the prevailing situation in Tripura," said the Left leader, who has been campaigning for CPI-M candidates in state for the past few days.

He said that the gross misuse of administration by the BJP and violation of democratic rights must be stopped and the election must be held under the supervision of the Central Armed Police Force.

CPI-M Tripura state Secretary Jitendra Chowdhury said that no democratic environment is prevailing now in Tripura.

"Before the 2018 Assembly polls, the BJP had made 299 assurances but nothing was implemented. On Thursday, BJP President J.P. Nadda announced 24 promises and most of them are unrealistic. The BJP is expert in fooling the people," Chowdhury said.

He said that in their election manifesto -- Sankalp Patra 2023 -- nothing was mentioned about unemployment, job creation and for the interest of the government employees.

--IANS
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Lucknow, Feb 10 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the three-day Uttar Pradesh Global Investors Summit 2023 in Lucknow on Friday.

Top industrialists, including Aditya Birla group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla and Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, participated in the event.

Hailing Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led government, Birla said it has taken several measures regarding ease of doing business, helping it emerge as an attractive state for investors. He appealed to the industrialists to invest in the state.

Birla industries has a 70-decade-old relationship with UP and his group has more than seven businesses in the state wherein 13,000 people work, he added.

Ambani, while speaking at the event, said that UP had become a centre of hope for New India due to improvement in law and order conditions and ease of doing business.

He added that the state had been fulfilling the conditions of industries and cooperation needed for the development of a state.

On the occasion of the launch, Yogi tweeted that investors, policy-makers, delegations from the corporate world and academicians would participate in the three-day UP Global Investors Summit in the 'New Uttar Pradesh' of 'New India'.

The CM said that investment is being done simultaneously in 75 districts of the state for the first time.

The summit will fulfill the resolution of making the state a $1 trillion economy as well as making the country a $5 trillion economy.

Five big pandals and tent cities have been erected on the lines of 5-star hotels in 25,000 square metres at the Defence Expo Ground in the city.

Patrolling has been increased along the borders of Nepal and neighbouring states.

--IANS
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Kolkata, Feb 10 (IANS) Actor-turned-politician and Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member from Asansol, Shatrughan Sinha's overwhelming praise of Rahul Gandhi's speech on the floor of Parliament relating to crash in the prices of stocks of Adani Group seems to have come as a shocker for his own party.

On Friday, Sinha issued a Twitter message overwhelmingly praising Gandhi for his "fiery" speech in the matter. At the same time, Sinha also ridiculed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not giving a proper answer to the questions raised by Gandhi in the matter.

"We all heard the hon'ble PM @narendramdi 1.5hrs long speech in Parliament, but unfortunately it lacked substance & didn't answer any of the questions raised by the dynamic, youth icon @RahulGandhi. People are all praise for Rahul Gandhi as it's being said that it's one of his best & one the best in Parliament. Watch it for your understanding & enlightenment. Jai Hind," Sinha's Twitter message read.

He also tagged the official Twitter handles of All India Trinamool Congress and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee with that message.

An embarrassed Trinamool Congress leadership has started distancing itself from the observations of Sinha. According to Trinamool Congress's Rajya Sabha Dr Santanu Sen, Sinha's comments are his personal observations and do not necessarily reflect the stand of Trinamool Congress in the matter.

"All we have to say to the Congress is that while it is good that they have organised Bharat Jodo Yatra, at the same time the leadership should attempt to keep the party united," Sen said.

This is not the first time that Sinha's praises about Rahul Gandhi have put the Trinamool Congress in embarrassment. On January 9, the actor-turned-politician showered similar praises over Rahul Gandhi while speaking to media persons and said that Gandhi has emerged as a youth icon and a serious leader and has been able to destroy the image of him that his opposition tried to project.

Although Trinamool Congress was requested to participate in the Bharat Jodo Yatra, the party leadership refused that. So, political observers feel that Sinha's praises about Bharat Jodo Yatra have posed discomfort for the Trinamool Congress leadership.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) The Supreme Court has granted anticipatory bail to an accused, who is 85 per cent disabled, in a case pertaining to allegations of cheating and criminal breach of trust.

A bench comprising Krishna Murari and Ahsannuddin Amanullah said: "Without entering into the merits of the contention and having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case, we are of the considered opinion that the petitioner is entitled for anticipatory bail. In such circumstances, it is hereby provided that in case the petitioner is arrested, he shall be released forthwith subject to such conditions which the trial court/investigating agency finds fit to impose"

The allegations against the accused were that he entered into an agreement to sell a piece of land and obtained a sum of Rs 16 lakh in lieu of the same. However, he did not execute the sale deed and sold the property elsewhere.

Advocate Namit Saxena, representing the accused Prem Singh, argued that the FSL report indicates that the signatures of the accused are forged. Saxena further pointed out that the accused is 85 percent permanently disabled and that he is entitled to the benefit of pre-arrest bail.

Rajasthan government counsel vehemently contended that the petitioner is not entitled for any anticipatory bail in as much as he is not cooperating with the investigation and has not appeared before the investigating officer to give his specific signature for being sent for forensic examination.

Saxena said his client is a disabled person and is unable to move freely and thus he could not appear. "It is also pointed out that in the cross FIR the signature of the petitioner was sent for the FSL examination and the report is that the signatures are forged," noted the bench.

The apex court, in its order, said: "It is further provided that the investigating agency shall follow the procedure prescribed under the Code of Criminal Procedure for investigation against the disabled person. It is also directed that the petitioner shall also cooperate with the investigation. With the aforesaid observations and directions, the Special Leave Petition is disposed of. Pending applications, if any, shall stand disposed of."

The Rajasthan High Court had refused to grant the benefit of anticipatory bail to the accused.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Friday allowed urgent listing of the plea moved by the police against the Saket court's order dated February 4, discharging former JNU student and activist Sharjeel Imam, co-accused Asif Iqbal Tanha and nine others in a case related to the incidents of violence at Jamia Millia Islamia in December 2019.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta mentioned the matter before a division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad, which allowed it to be heard on February 13.

Seeking urgent hearing, the Delhi Police on Tuesday moved the High Court against the discharge order.

On February 4, Additional Sessions Judge of Saket Court Complex, Arul Verma, while discharging 11 accused, pulled up the police saying that they were unable to apprehend the actual perpetrators behind the commission of the offence, but surely managed to rope in the above-mentioned accused as 'scapegoats'.

The violence had erupted after a clash between the police and people protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in December 2019.

Judge Verma had said that the protesters were surely there in large numbers and it cannot be denied that some anti-social elements within the crowd created an environment of disruption.

However, the moot question remains as to whether the accused persons herein were even prima facie complicit in taking part in that mayhem, Verma had asked.

"The answer is an unequivocal 'no'. Marshalling the facts as brought forth from a perusal of the charge sheet and three supplementary charge sheets, this court cannot but arrive at the conclusion that the police were unable to apprehend the actual perpetrators behind the commission of the offence, but surely managed to rope in the persons herein as scapegoats," he had said.

A second supplementary charge sheet was filed before the court against 11 other accused persons, namely Sharjeel Imam, Asif Iqbal Tanha, Mohammad Qasim, Mahmood Anwar, Shahzar Raza Khan, Mohd Abuzar, Mohd Shoaib, Umair Ahmad, Bilal Nadeem, Chanda Yadav and Safoora Zargar, who have been discharged in the matter.

"To allow the persons charge-sheeted to undergo the rigmarole of a long-drawn trial does not augur well for the criminal justice system of our country," Verma had said.

He had added that such police action is "detrimental to the liberty" of the citizens who choose to exercise their fundamental right to peacefully assemble and protest.

The court had said that before embarking on galvanising the judicial system against the 11 accused persons, the investigative agencies should have incorporated the use of technology, or have gathered credible intelligence.

--IANS
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Lucknow, Feb 10 (IANS) The court of additional district judge-I (ADJ-I) Prafull Kamal has allowed Hindu litigants to appeal in a lower court for a survey of the Teele Wali Masjid in Lucknow.

The ADJ court quashed the contention of Muslim litigants that the case is not maintainable.

The Hindu litigants had claimed that the Teele Wali Masjid was 'Lakshman Teela' constructed by Lakshman, younger brother of Lord Ram.

The court of additional civil judge (junior division) will hear the case on February 17.

Lawyer Hari Shankar Jain had filed this case in the civil court in Lucknow in 2013, seeking a survey of the mosque. The case has been pending since then.

Muslim litigants had challenged the case in the court of an additional district judge, stating that it is not maintainable.

"The court of additional district judge has permitted Hindu litigants to appeal in the lower court for survey of Teele Wali Masjid," said Madhu Sen, a lawyer who represented the Hindu litigants, along with another lawyer Shekhar Nigam.

During the hearing of the case, the Hindu litigants urged the court to allow a survey of the mosque campus, especially the area that was allegedly annexed by the mosque committee in 2013 by erecting a boundary wall.

--IANS
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By Vishal Gulati
New Delhi, Feb 6 (IANS) India's economy is already 10 per cent more energy efficient than both the global and G20 average. India took less time to go from half to full electricity access than other major economies, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Monday.


Just hours ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurating the three-day India Energy Week in Bengaluru to showcase India's rising prowess as an energy transition powerhouse, the IEA said the adoption worldwide of the kinds of actions and measures targeted by LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment), including behavioural changes and sustainable consumer choices, would reduce the annual global carbon dioxide emissions by more than 2 billion tonnes in 2030.

The LiFE initiative was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at COP26 in Glasgow in November 2021.

It aims to encourage the adoption of sustainable lifestyles in India and internationally to tackle the challenges of environmental degradation and climate change.

A new report, "LiFE Lessons From India", by the IEA looks at how India's G20 Presidency this year could strengthen the LiFE initiative internationally to help reduce emissions, energy bills, and inequalities in per capita energy consumption and emissions between countries.

According to the LiFE initiative, the global adoption of such measures would also save consumers globally around $440 billion in 2030.

LiFE measures can also help lower inequalities in energy consumption and emissions between countries. The reductions the measures could deliver in per capita carbon dioxide emissions in advanced economies by 2030 are three to four times greater than in emerging market and developing economies, it says.

The report says already the third largest national market globally for renewables, India has recently seen the growth of consumer-centric solutions like distributed solar PV take off, with rooftop solar growing 30-fold in less than a decade.

Supportive policies and awareness campaigns in India have also driven electric passenger vehicles to a market share of almost five per cent in 2022 - with sales tripling from 2021.

India's example shows the importance of behavioural change and consumption choices in driving energy transitions.

The IEA has analysed the impact of measures like those proposed by the LiFE initiative, such as buying an EV or taking public transport, as part of comprehensive energy transition strategies.

IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol told IANS, "India's G20 Presidency this year represents a unique opportunity to globalise the LiFE initiative -- providing a knowledge-sharing platform for other leading economies to realise the impact that LiFE's recommendations can have in the fight against climate change, air pollution and unaffordable energy bills.

"Since the G20 makes up nearly 80 per cent of global energy demand, meaningful changes by its members can make a big difference."

The International Monetary Fund estimates that India will be the world's third-largest economy by 2027, and India is already on course to become the most populous country this year.

Its critical challenge is to ensure secure and affordable energy for growth while advancing its net-zero transition over the coming decades.

To meet these challenges, India has embarked on a dynamic new phase in its energy transformation, which spans three broad areas.

Firstly, it has launched important initiatives to bring down the prices and increase the supply of clean energy. These include a target of non-fossil fuel sources contributing to 50 per cent of India's power generation capacity by 2030; a National Green Hydrogen Mission with the ambition of establishing annual renewable hydrogen production of 5 million tonnes (Mt) by 2030; and biofuel mandates that target 30 per cent blending of ethanol in petrol by 2030.

Secondly, India seeks to domesticate parts of the global supply chains that will be critical to its new energy economy. This includes the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme that promotes the domestic manufacturing of solar PV, advanced batteries and electric vehicles.

Thirdly, the government has focused on demand-side measures, including taking the first steps towards the creation of a national carbon market, an energy efficiency trading scheme for industries, incentivising the purchase of electric vehicles, bulk procurement of electric buses for public transport, standards and labelling of appliances, and most recently, the Lifestyles for Environment (LiFE) initiative that aims to nudge behaviours and individual consumption choices towards cleaner alternatives.

These measures have immense potential but need global support. The IEA estimates that India will need $145 billion per year until 2030 in clean energy investment to put it on a path towards net-zero emissions by 2070. This is triple the current level of annual clean energy investment in India.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)

--IANS
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Jammu, Feb 5 (IANS) Jammu and Kashmir is all set to revolutionise its fruit industry with introduction of the High-Density Plantation (HDP) system and production of quality planting material.

The UT's Department of Horticulture, in collaboration with Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST) and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Central Institute of Temperate Horticulture (ICAR-CITH), have got together to provide technological intervention for the new project.

The project aims to enhance the production capacity of planting material to 111 lakh in the first five years, develop 390 hectare of nurseries in public and private sectors, rejuvenate 2,000 hectare of orchard areas, and produce planting material to cover 5,500 hectare under HDP of 12 fruit crops.

Additionally, the project aims to strengthen plant testing and quality control, tissue culture, and virus indexing labs besides building capacity by training 5,000 farmers and 150 technical manpower from SKUAST and the Department of Horticulture. The project shall create 200 new enterprises in the form of HD nurseries and provide potential jobs to 25,000 persons.

"The current lack of quality planting material in the region limits the potential of the fruit industry and costs the region approximately Rs 500 crore in imports, which also brings in new pests and diseases," Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture Production, Atal Dulloo, said.

"The mission of the project is to domestically produce quality planting material, reduce imports, prioritize high-density plantation of fruit crops, transform old orchards into more productive orchard systems, and diversify the JK fruit industry to capture the national and international market," he added.

"Production of Designer Plants for Promotion of High-Density Plantation and Rejuvenation of Orchards" is one among the 29 projects, which were approved by the Jammu and Kashmir administration after being recommended by the UT Level Apex Committee for holistic development of agriculture and allied sectors.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Feb 5 (IANS) Ahead of Delhi's mayoral election scheduled to be held on Monday, all 135 councillors of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday wrote to the presiding officer of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), seeking debarment of Aldermen from voting in the election for Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Standing Committee members.

The Councillors in the letter have underlined that nominated councillors can not vote as per the Constitution and the DMC Act.

The councillors unequivocally stated that any attempt on the part of the Aldermen to vote in the election would be a direct affront and insult to the mandate of the people of Delhi.

"This is to reiterate that as per Article 243 R of the Constitution of India and as given in the Provision to Section 3 (b) (i) of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957, the nominated members (Aldermen) are not entitled to vote in the above mentioned elections," the councillors mentioned in the letter.

Highlighting the Article and Section from the Constitution in the letter, the Councillors said: "It is therefore the bounden duty of the Protem Speaker of MCD to respect the law of the land, the Constitution of India and ensure that these laws debarring the nominated members from voting are implemented in letter and spirits in the ensuing election to the post of Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Standing Committee of the MCD."

The letter further read: "So far, as the events leading to this proposed election, the actions of the BJP Councillors clearly show their ill intention to influence and manipulate the election of Mayor, Deputy Mayor Standing Committee Members of MCD. This is unacceptable to AAP and by extension to the voters of Delhi which had rejected BJP in the last MCD election.

"We, therefore, request you that circumstances, the nominated members (Aldermen) be allowed to vote in the upcoming elections," the letter concluded.

--IANS
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