India

Mumbai, Sep 17 (IANS) Veteran actor Anupam Kher has thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his leadership and wished him good health and longevity on his birthday on Saturday.

Anupam took to Instagram where he shared a video of the Prime Minister taking oath.

He wrote the caption in Hindi: "Honourable Prime Minister Shree @narendramodi ji! A very happy birthday to you. May god bless you with longevity and good health."

"You are dutifully accomplishing everything that you had promised and you will continue to do so in the coming years. Thank you for your leadership. Happy Birthday Prime Minister #NarendraModiJi! #India #BirthdayWishes."


--IANS
dc/kvd

New Delhi, Sep 17 (IANS) India on Saturday reported 5,747 fresh Covid cases and 29 deaths in the last 24 hrs, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Saturday.

With the fresh fatalities, the death toll due to Covid rose to 5,28,302.

Meanwhile, the active caseload has marginally risen to 46,848 cases, accounting for 0.11 per cent of the country's total positive cases.

The recovery of 5,618 patients in the last 24 hours took the cumulative tally to 4,39,53,374. Consequently, the recovery rate stands at 98.71 per cent.

Meanwhile, daily positivity rate stands at 1.69 per cent, while the weekly positivity rate at 1.74 per cent.

Also in the same period, a total of 3,40,211 tests were conducted, increasing the overall tally to over 89.12 crore.

As of Saturday morning, Covid-19 vaccination coverage exceeded 216.41 crore.

Over 4.07 crore adolescents have been administered with first dose of Covid vaccine since the beginning of drive for this age bracket.

On Friday, the country had reported 6,298 infections.

--IANS
avr/svn

Hyderabad, Sep 17 (IANS) Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao stayed away from Hyderabad Liberation Day celebrations organised by Union Culture Ministry here on Saturday to mark erstwhile Hyderabad State's accession to the Indian Union.

With Telangana government celebrating September 17 as Telangana National Unity Day, the Chief Minister skipped the event organised by Government of India, where Union Home Minister Amit Shah hoisted the national flag and reviewed a colourful parade by the Central paramilitary forces.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Karnataka's Transport Minister B. Sriramulu attended the event which saw performances by 1,200 artists from the three states.

Erstwhile Hyderabad State, which was spread over Telangana and parts of Maharashtra and Karnataka, acceded to the Indian Union on September 17, 1948, following India's military operation.

For the first time, Government of India organised official celebrations to mark the occasion. Union Minister for Tourism and Culture G. Kishan Reddy had invited Chief Ministers of all the three states for the event.

Telangana government has also announced year-long celebrations to mark 75 years of Hyderabad State's accession.

Kishan Reddy said that BJP had been fighting for the last 25 years for official celebrations of the day. The Union Minister said this was the occasion people had been waiting for 74 years.

He said that 74 years after India's first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel hoisted the national flag on the soil of Hyderabad after defeating Nizam's Army, Home Minister Amit Shah unfurled the tricolour here.

He claimed that the decision of the Telangana government to organise the celebrations is a victory for the people.

"It doesn't matter what you call it but it is a matter of happiness that the national flag is being hoisted across the state," he said.

Without naming MIM, Kishan Reddy said that even the party which inherited the legacy of 'Razakars' was forced to celebrate the day by hoisting the tricolour.

--IANS
ms/kvd

Bengaluru, Sep 17 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED)'s summons to Karnataka Congress President D.K Shivakumar in connection with the Rs 74.93 crore disproportionate assets case has thrown a spanner in the party's efforts to wrestle power from the BJP in the upcoming Assembly elections.

This has come at a time when Shivakumar has announced that he will mercilessly initiate action against MLAs who are not taking up a proactive role in 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' led by former party president Rahul Gandhi. He also stated that he would not share any information with Opposition leader Siddaramaiah regarding prospective candidates.

Shivakumar, who is aspiring for the chief minister's post, has also managed to get an upperhand in the party affairs against his competitor and Opposition leader Siddaramaiah

As per party insiders, with this development Siddaramaiah camp will have an upper hand.

The ED has taken up the case filed by the CBI against Shivakumar in 2020. The CBI had raided 14 locations in Bengaluru and other places. Adding to his woes, he will also have to attend an inquiry before the Income Tax department on September 27. Shivakumar was sent to Tihar Jail in connection with this case.

Sources are drawing similarities between AAP leader Satyendra Jain and Shivakumar case. Jain, who was the Health Minister between 2015 and 2017, has been sent to jail in a disproportionate assets case. The ED had arrested Jain's wife and associates and seized Rs 4.81 crore assets.

At a time when Assembly elections are fast approaching, ED notice to Shivakumar is also said to be a setback for the Congress party and might impact 'Bharat Jodo Yatra in Karnataka.

--IANS
mka/shb/

Puri, Sep 17 (IANS) On the occasion of the 72nd birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, renowned sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik has created a sand sculpture of Modi with installation of 1,213 mud tea cups at Puri beach in Odisha.

Sudarsan has created a 5 ft high sand sculpture of the Prime Minister with a message "Happy Birthday Modi Ji" at the beach. He has used about five tonnes of sand in this sculpture. Pattnaik has created different sand sculptures of Modi ji on his birthdays.

"We have used these mud tea cups to show the journey of PM Modi's from a tea seller to Pradhan sevak of India, with millions of blessings," said the sand artist.

Recently, to pay tribute to Britain's longest-serving monarch Queen Elizabeth II, Pattnaik had created a sand sculpture with 740 real roses at the Puri beach.

So far, the Padma Shri awardee sand artist has represented India in more than 60 international sand art championships around the World and won many prizes for the country. He is always trying to create awareness through his sand art. During Covid-19, his awareness through sand arts was appreciated by the WHO.

--IANS
bbm/svn/

Bengaluru, Sep 16 (IANS) The Karnataka government will celebrate Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday on Saturday by launching a 15-day health campaign focusing on screening and creating awareness about non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

Starting Saturday, the campaign will culminate on October 2 on Gandhi Jayanti.

State Health Minister K. Sudhakar said the initiative, which will be launched in the presence of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, is aimed at creating awareness among the people about non-communicable diseases, from children to elderly citizens.

Speaking during a video conference with district health officers and top officials of the Health and Medical Education Department on Friday, Sudhakar gave instructions to the officials to focus on screening of various health parameters and diseases during the 15-day campaign at all health facilities, from primary health sub-centres to super-speciality hospitals.

The campaign will also push for children's vaccination, increase the rate of vaccination for the booster dose of Covid-19 which is currently at 20 per cent, encourage blood and organ donation, distribute Ayushman Bharat Arogya Karnataka cards and raise awareness about the importance of general check-ups and regular testing for non-communicable diseases.

"There is very little awareness among people about many diseases, government schemes and testing facilities at PHCs. A person might feel that he is fit, but awareness needs to be created so that people get tested for diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. Awareness must also be created about the facilities provided by the government at the health centres," Sudhakar said.

Sudhakar also instructed the officials to ensure that people are screened for NCDs during the 15-day campaign. Additionally, he told the officials to set targets for each ASHA worker to convince and bring in people to get screened for each disease.

--IANS
pvn/arm

Srinagar, Sep 17 (IANS) The body of a minor girl picked up by a leopard in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri border area was found, Police said.

The Police added that a minor girl identified as Munizah was putting up with her parents in a highland meadow in Bijhama forests of Uri border tehsil when a leopard attacked her and vanished with her body into the dense forest.

A Police team assisted by locals found the body of the six-year-old girl in the forest late Friday evening.

--IANS
sq/khz/

New Delhi, Sep 16 (IANS) The government on Friday cut windfall tax levied on locally- produced crude oil from Rs 13,300 per tonne to Rs 10,500 per tonne.

The government also cut tax on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) exports to Rs 8.50 per litre from Rs 9 per litre, according to a gazette notification.

Similarly, cess on export of diesel was slashed to Rs 6.50 per litre from Rs 13.50 per litre.

The decision came after the fifth fortnightly review of windfall taxes conducted by the Centre.

The notification will come into force from September 17.

--IANS
ans/vd

Samarkand, Sep 16 (IANS) The city of Varanasi has been nominated as the first-ever SCO tourism and cultural capital during 2022-2023 at the 22nd meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of State in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on Friday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the SCO summit, which is the first in-person meeting of the regional group in two years owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The nomination of Varanasi as the first ever SCO tourism and cultural capital will promote tourism, cultural and humanitarian exchanges between India and the SCO member countries. It also underlines India's ancient civilisational links with the member states of SCO, especially the Central Asian republics," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

Under the framework of this major cultural outreach programme, a number of events will be hosted in Varanasi during 2022-23, for which guests will be invited from the SCO member states. These events are expected to attract Indologists, scholars, authors, musicians, artists, photo journalists, travel bloggers apart from the invited guests.

The regulations for nominating SCO tourism and cultural capital were adopted at the Dushanbe SCO Summit in 2021 with an objective to promote cooperation between the SCO member states in the field of culture and tourism.

--IANS
avr/arm

Kohima, Sep 16 (IANS) BJP President J.P. Nadda, who was on a two-day visit to Nagaland to gear up the party for next year's Assembly elections, held a series of meetings with the state BJP leaders and its allies, besides visiting a church here on Friday.

Accompanied by state BJP President Temjen Imna Along and MP Phangnon Konyak, Nadda visited the Mary Help of Christians Cathedral in Kohima and requested the clergymen to plant saplings.

Nagaland being a Christian-majority state, the 16 feet high carved wood crucifix of the church, established in 1989, has one of Asia's largest crosses.

"It has been a great opportunity to visit the Cathedral. Really impressed with the arrangements for worship of God," the BJP leader wrote in the visitors' book of the cathedral.

Nadda then attended the all-important BJP core committee meeting and addressed the party functionaries of Nagaland.

He also chaired a meeting of BJP legislators and took part in a combined meeting of the leaders of BJP and its ally Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP).

With 42 legislators, the NDPP leads the opposition-less Nagaland government where the BJP with 12 members has been a junior partner since 2018.

The deliberations of the meetings were not yet disclosed by the state party leaders.

Nadda also took part in a special cultural show hosted by Chief Minister and one of NDPP's top leaders, Neiphiu Rio.

The BJP President then flew to Dimapur, Nagalnd's main commercial city, where he along with Deputy Chief Minister Yanthungo Patton and Temjen Imna Along led a colourful road show arranged by many well-decorated auto-rickshaws.

The road show ended at a resort in the Chumoukedima area, where Nadda attended a meeting of intellectuals and professionals from the state.

Though the solution to the Naga political issue is the top most topic in Nagaland and the state government and all political parties have been demanding to resolve the decades old issue before the elections next year, the BJP leader did not talk much on the all important issue.

While addressing a public rally at Old Riphyim in Wokha district on Thursday, Nadda had said that since 2015, work is going on to resolve the Naga political issue, just like the various accords signed in other northeastern states.

The BJP President had said: "There are certain issues of the Naga political talks. We are working on those. Peace accords were signed with militant outfits in Assam and Tripura. We are going to solve the Assam-Meghalaya border issue."

--IANS
sc/arm