India

Guwahati, Sep 17 (IANS) Assam Police on Saturday arrested at least 17 Bangladeshi nationals from Biswanath district for preaching religious activity and violating the visa norms, officials said.

Nabin Singh, Superintendent of Police of Biswanath district, told IANS that the Bangladeshi nationals were camping at the Baghmari area under the Jinjia police station in the district for the last few days.

The police officer informed that the Bangladeshi nationals entered India through the Coach Behar border in West Bengal last month. They then entered Assam and went to some places in the South Shalmara district of the state. The group was headed by a religious teacher Ashraful Alom, who is a resident of Sherpur district in Bangladesh.

According to police, the group started preaching religious activities in some remote villages in that district. But, it came under the radar of police and they were called to Fakirganj Police Station in South Salmara earlier.

Police have warned them to stop preaching religious activities there.

Singh said that the Bangladeshi nationals then agreed to conditions laid down by the police and informed that they were heading towards Ajmer Sharif.

"But after a few days, they again returned to Assam and this time started the religious activities in the riverine areas of Baghmara in the Biswanath district," he added.

The police officer further informed that the Bangladeshi group chose to carry out riverine areas as they fall in the interior part of the district.

Singh said: "Bangladeshi nationals entered India on tourist visa and were carrying out religious preaching which is a clear violation of the visa conditions. We have registered a case against them under the Foreigners Act and also initiated the process to cancel their visa.

Assam police have arrested as many as 40 persons in the last few months for allegedly running terror modules in the state. The police have claimed that the terror outfits Al-Qaida in India Subcontinent (AQIS) and Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) were trying to expand their base in Assam and North East India.

--IANS
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Gurugram, Sep 17 (IANS) With the arrest of two persons, the Gurugram police claimed to have solved a blind murder case related to the killing of a cab driver in the Pataudi area.

The accused have been identified as Pankaj Singh (25) and Hitesh (23) alias Honey, both from Rewari.

Pankaj and Hitesh had booked the cab in Behror in Rajasthan on March 24. They allegedly shot the driver dead before fleeing with his vehicle.

According to the police, Rakesh Gujjar, the cab driver who was a resident of Rajasthan's Alwar, was found dead on the roadside in Pataudi.

"The victim was shot in the head. His mobile phone location was traced to Nuh. Based on technical intelligence, teams were formed to probe the matter. A crime branch team nabbed Pankaj in Mumbai. Based on his disclosure, Hitesh was apprehended from Pataudi on Thursday," said Preet Pal Sangwan, ACP (Crime).

"During sustained interrogation, the accused revealed that they had hatched a conspiracy to book a cab and later rob the driver. But when Rakesh resisted, he was shot in the head. They threw his body on the roadside and fled with the cab. The accused had planned to rob another cab driver, but failed," Sangwan said.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 17 (IANS) A 31-year-old man, working as a labourer, was shot dead by his colleague in the national capital over the issue of sharing work, an official said Saturday.

The accused identified as Shantu (28), a resident of Delhi, was later arrested by the police.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest) Usha Rangnani said that a PCR call regarding a firing incident at Azadpur Mandi was received at Mahendra Park police station on Friday night after which the police staff immediately rushed to the spot near shed number 17, Azadpur Fruit Mandi.

At the spot, the police found one injured person, identified as Raju (31), a resident of Muzaffarpur, Bihar. "He was then immediately shifted to a hospital where doctors declared him brought dead due to gunshot injury on chest," the official said.

Accordingly, the police registered a case under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code and arrested the accused Shantu after probing the matter.

During investigation, it was revealed that both used to work as labourer for unloading fruit and vegetable trucks and the accused had an altercation with the deceased over the issue of sharing work in Azadpur Mandi few days back. "On day of incident, accused was in an intoxicated state and to take revenge, he committed the murder," the official said.

The weapon of offence, that is a country made pistol, along with two live cartridges were recovered from the possession of the accused.

Further investigation in the case is still underway, the official added.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 17 (IANS) The Uttar Pradesh government has launched a portal for issuing 'e-rent agreements' in Gautam Buddh Nagar and will soon implement the system for issuing lease deeds online in other districts of the state as well.

The 'e-rent agreements' enable tenants to get into a contract with the owner of the respective house or building online directly in a comparatively more "secure and reliable" manner.

For Gautam Buddha Nagar, www.gbnagar.nic.in portal has been developed through which a copy of the lease deed can be availed after completing the procedure of paying the stamp duty.

With e-rent agreements, the common citizens will be spared the tedious process of getting rent agreements made manually.

In the proposed online process, now the tenant will only have to access the agreement portal approved by the Uttar Pradesh government and enter the lease details by logging in through his respective details like name and mobile number.

Officials said that the system will also become a good source of revenue for the state.

Currently, in Gautam Buddha Nagar, at least 1.5 lakh lease deeds per annum are done. Through stamp duty, this process generates revenue of Rs 1.5 crore per year. At the same time, through the proposed lease deed, Rs 3,600 will be received through 2 per cent stamp duty on every monthly rent exceeding Rs 15,000. Overall, the government will receive revenue of Rs 54 crore from Gautam Budh Nagar itself. Once the system is implemented in the entire state, the government is expected to receive more revenue.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 17 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday approached a special court here challenging the bail granted to Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav in the alleged scam involving the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).

Special judge Geetanjali Goel of the Rouse Avenue Court has issued a notice on the CBI's plea seeking Tejashwi Yadav's response in the matter.

The RJD leader and his mother Rabri Devi were granted bail in the case in 2018.

In one of its contentions, the central agency has submitted that Tejashwi Yadav had threatened its officials during a press conference, thereby influencing the case.

The case dates back to 2006 when Lalu Prasad was the Railway Minister in the UPA-I government. It was alleged that there were multiple irregularities connected to IRCTC hotels' maintenance contracts with a private firm.

Two IRCTC hotels in Ranchi and Puri were involved in the bribe case.

The probe agency had earlier claimed that there was enough evidence in the IRCTC matter against Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav, among others.

On August 24, the CBI had conducted multiple raids on the premises of RJD leaders in Patna, Katihar, Madhubani, Vaishali and Sitamarhi districts. Besides that, it also conducted an investigation into another case of Urban Cubes mall in Gurugram, purportedly on the belief that Tejashwi Yadav had made investment in it.

After the raids, Tejashwi Yadav was reportedly heard saying at a press conference that "CBI officials don't have mother and children? Don't they have a family? Will they always remain CBI officers? Will they not retire? Will only this party remain in power? What message do you want to send? You should honestly discharge the duty of the constitutional organisation".

--IANS
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Bhopal, Sep 17 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that he could not visit to his mother to seek her blessings on his birthday, but she will be happy to see that thousands of mothers have gathered to bless him on the day.

The Prime Minister made the remarks while addressing the gathering of over one lakh women associated with self-help groups (SHGs) in Madhya Pradesh's Sheopur district.

Prime Minister Modi on his 72th birthday visited to Madhya Pradesh where he released eight African cheetahs into enclosure at Kuno National Park. Following which, he graced a women SHGs conference being organised in Sheopur district.

"I would have gone to my mother to seek her blessings on my birthday, if today's programmes weren't organised here. But, thousands of mothers have come to bless me here and after seeing all this, my mother would be very happy that I am getting blessings of thousands of mothers here," Prime Minister Modi said.

He was welcomed with great enthusiasm by artists who performed tribal dance and other cultural programmes organised by the state government. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister recounted several women beneficiary schemes for women under his government.

On the occasion, Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, who is a prominent political face from Gwalior-Chambal region, said that around 60 per cent area of Sheopur district have dense forest zone. "Sheopur is a very small district, however, it is filled with natural resources. There are several ancient temples of Lord Shiva and that is why this area was named Sheopur."

Notably, Sheopur has two assembly seats - Sheopur and Vijaypur, and the BJP and Congress each has one MLA. However, the fact that, Sheopur, which is the part of Gwalior-Chambal region, is also considered the most remote area in the state and has highest malnutrition cases in the state.

The women SHGs participating in the conference were those who run several initiatives being promoted under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM).

DAY-NRLM aims at mobilising rural poor households into SHGs in a phased manner and provide them long-term support to diversify their livelihoods, improve their incomes and quality of life.

On the day, the Prime Minister also inaugurated four Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) skilling centres under PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 17 (IANS) The coverage of protected areas, which was 4.90 per cent of the country's geographical area in 2014, has now increased to 5.03 per cent, with the number of such areas rising from 740 with an area of 1,61,081.62 square km in 2014 to present 981 with an area of 1,71,921 square km.

Forest and tree cover has increased by 16,000 square kms in the last four years. India is among few countries in the world where forest cover is consistently increasing.

There has also been an increase in the number of community reserves. From just 43 in 2014, their numbers are more than 100 in 2019.

India is home to 52 Tiger Reserves covering approximately 75,000 square km area in 18 states with approximately 75 per cent population of the wild tiger at global level. India achieved the goal of doubling the tiger numbers in 2018 itself, four years in advance from the targeted year 2022. The tiger population in India has increased from 2,226 in 2014 to 2,967 in 2018.

The budgetary allocation for tiger conservation has increased from Rs 185 crore in 2014 to Rs 300 crore in 2022.

The population of Asiatic lions has shown a steady increase with a population of 674 individuals with an increase rate of 28.87 per cent (one of the highest growth rates so far) from the 523 lions in 2015.

India, in 2020, had 12,852 leopards as compared to the previous estimate of 7,910 conducted in 2014, or more than 60 per cent increase in population.

--IANS
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Nashik, Sep 17 (IANS) Senior Congress tribal leader and former union minister Manikrao Gavit passed away due to age-related illness at a hospital here on Saturday, a party leader said.

Gavit - who served as MoS for Home and later Social Justice under former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh - was 87 and is survived by his son Bharat and his daughter, ex-MLA Nirmala.

Gavit was elected a record nine times from the tribal dominated Nandurbar district from 1981 till 2009, but lost the elections under the Bharatiya Janata Party wave of 2014.

In 2019, his son Bharat joined the BJP after he was denied a ticket by the Congress while two-time MLA from Igatpuri (Nashik) Nirmala joined the Shiv Sena and was defeated.

Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole expressed grief over his demise and said the state has lost a prominent and far-sighted 'people-oriented leader' who had a long experience in the social and political arena.

Born in a humble tribal family at Dhulipada village in Nawapur of Nandurbar district, Gavit plunged into social life from his youth days.

Starting with the Gram Panchayat in 1965, he was later elected to the Dhule Zilla Parishad and in 1980 bagged the Nawapur Assembly seat.

From 1981 to 2009, he was elected from Nandurbar Lok Sabha constituency a record 9 consecutive times, making it one of the main Congress strongholds in the state.

In the 15th Lok Sabha, Gavit and CPM MP Vasudev Acharya were the only two MPs elected nine times who were the star members of the lower house.

Gavit, fondly regarded as Dadasaheb by his admirers had excellent relations with all and among various responsibilities, held the post of Interim Speaker of Lok Sabha once, and served as Union MoS for Home and then Social justice in Dr Singh's government, added Patole.

"Dadasaheb's passing has caused an irreparable loss to the state social and political spheres... I pay my homage to him and also share the grief of the Gavit family," said Patole.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 17 (IANS) The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed Uttar Pradesh government to pay Rs 120 crore as fine for environmental violations, including improper solid waste management and discharge of sewage into rivers in Gorakhpur district.

The principal bench of NGT headed by its chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel noted the liability of the state for discharge of 55 MLD sewage into rivers at Gorakhpur at Rs 110 crores.

"Applying the scale of compensation followed in the case of Maharashtra, compensation comes to Rs 11.40 crore which is rounded off at Rs 10 crores. Thus, total compensation is determined at Rs 120 crore," the bench said in the recent order.

The green court was dealing the issue for consideration of the remedial action against contamination of water bodies and ground water, specially Ramgarh Lake, Ami, Rapti and Rohani Rivers in and around District Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh.

According to the applicant, contaminated water results in Entero Virus (EV) which is brain fever, similar to Japanese Encephalitis (JE) and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES). Gorakhpur has history of death of hundreds of children at BRD Medical College, Gorakhpur though majority of patients may come from different parts of eastern UP and Bihar outside Gorakhpur.

Considering the matter, the bench said, there are two issues - control of EV and control of pollution which also to some extent is source of EV, apart from other diseases. While on the issue of control of EV, report of the Committee shows significant reduction in such cases due to sustained efforts in the last five years with recommendations requiring further measures.

"From the data presented by the State itself, apart from past violations, continuing violations of discharge of untreated sewage into the drains, rivers and other water bodies is more than 50 MLD. As against reported generation of sewage in Gorakhpur to the extent of about 100 MLD, treatment is not more than 45 MLD," it further stated.

The tribunal also formed a six-member joint Committee to look into the matter. The panel will be headed by ACS, U.D, UP, with Regional Director, CPCB, Regional Officer, MoEF&CC, Member Secretary, State PCB, nominee of PCCF, (HoFF), U.P and Municipal Corporation, Gorakhpur.

"The Committee may meet within one month and update action plan for prevention and remediation of pollution so as to achieve tangible results within six months," the order said.

--IANS
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By Atul Aneja
New Delhi, Sep 17: Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed to the eight-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) countries on Friday the mantra of fusing technology with traditional assets to foster their collective rise in the post-Covid era.


With New Delhi set to hold the rotating presidency of the SCO, PM Modi nailed three areas where India can make a significant contribution to the eight countries of Eurasia - a region with which India has for thousands of years established deep commercial and spiritual links.

PM Modi cited start-ups, traditional medicine, and food security as domains where India can pioneer a collective initiative for the region.

"Today, there are more than 70,000 Start-ups in India, of which more than 100 are unicorns. Our experience can also be useful for many other SCO members. For this purpose, we are ready to share our experience with SCO member countries by establishing a new Special Working Group on Start-ups and Innovation," PM Modi said.

Referring to food security which has been disrupted due to Covid and the Ukraine war, the Prime Minister homed on to millets - a traditional grain grown in the SCO - as the "superfood" to fight hunger. The PM proposed that the SCO should hold a "Millet food festival".

"Millets are a superfood that have been grown for thousands of years, not just in SCO countries, but in many parts of the world, and is a traditional, nutritious, and low-cost alternative to dealing with the food crisis. The year 2023 will be celebrated as the UN International Year of Millets. We should consider organising a 'Millet Food Festival' under the SCO."

PM Modi also announced that India will set up an SCO working group on traditional medicine. "WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine was inaugurated in Gujarat in April 2022. This will be WHO's first and only global centre for traditional medicine. We must increase cooperation on traditional medicine among SCO countries."

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

--indianarrative