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New Delhi, Sep 24 (IANS) The National Broadband Mission (NBM) under the Ministry of Communications on Saturday tweeted (and later deleted) that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will officially roll out the 5G services in India on October 1 -- the same day when the India Mobile Congress (IMC) kicks off which will heavily focus on 5G and related domains.

All the top telecom honchos -- including Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani and Founder and Chairman of Bharti Enterprises Sunil Bharti Mittal -- are scheduled to join the keynote address at the sixth edition of the IMC that will take place at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, from October 1-4.

"Taking India's digital transformation & connectivity to new heights, Hon'ble PM, @narendramodi, will roll out 5G services in India; at India Mobile Congress; Asia's largest technology exhibition," read the screenshot of the tweet (now deleted from the NBM handle).

The event will see participation from telecom gear manufacturers and other industry stakeholders, in the presence of IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

According to sources, the government may showcase some successful 5G testbeds being run in the country by Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea at the IMC 2022, jointly organised by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI).

During his Independence Day address from the ramparts of the Red Fort, the Prime Minister had said that the 5G services will be launched in India soon.

Vaishnaw last month said the government expects 5G services to be rolled out in the country by October 12, and the Centre will make sure that the prices are affordable for the consumers.

Vaishnaw said that installations are being done and telecom operations are busy with the seamless rollout of 5G services.

The government will ensure that the 5G plans remain affordable for the public, the minister said.

The 5G services would be rolled out in a phased manner and during the first phase, 13 cities are likely to get the 5G internet services.

The cities are Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Gandhinagar, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Jamnagar, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Pune.

Just like 3G and 4G, telcos will soon announce dedicated 5G tariff plans and according to industry experts, consumers may pay more to access the 5G services on their devices.

An immediate tariff war with the launch of 5G is unlikely, but it "will be competitive as India continues to be a price-conscious market".

--IANS
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Dehradun, Sep 24 (IANS) Outrage in Rishikesh grew over the alleged killing of Ankita Bhandari with people setting a factory of the prime accused on fire on Saturday.

Ever since the recovery of Ankita's body on Saturday morning, people are demanding death sentence for the accused.

A mob at AIIMS, Rishikesh, vandalised Yamkeshwar MLA Renu Bisht's car. Sensing the situation to be grim, Renu Bisht left the city.

The prime accused in the case is Pulkit Arya, son of former state minister Vinod Arya.

The BJP has expelled Vinod Arya and Pulkit's brother Ankit Arya from the party.

Ankit Arya has also been removed from the post of Deputy Chairman of the Uttarakhand Other Backward Classes Commission with immediate effect.

Meanwhile, the Opposition burnt Uttarakhand government's effigy and demanded strict punishment for the guilty.

On Friday, the protesters had vandalised Pulkit's resort. On the direction of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, the resort has been razed to the ground.

Expressing deep grief over the incident, Assembly Speaker Ritu Khanduri Bhushan said: "This is a heart-breaking incident that shames humanity. We have lost a daughter of Uttarakhand for which we all are sad."

She also expressed condolences to the bereaved family.

The Speaker said that the state government and she herself are with Ankita's family, assuring that justice will prevail and the gulity will be punished.

"Now we have to think as to how much the revenue police is effective in the area. Should revenue police be given policing rights. Strict decisions need to be taken about probing all the illegal resorts," she said.

Pulkit and his two aides have been sent to 14-day judicial custody.

Teams of Municipal Council and Revenue Department have reached Pulkit's place where Vinod Arya said, "We will cooperate with the administration."

--IANS
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Dehradun, Sep 24 (IANS) The body of 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari, a staffer at an Uttarakhand resort who went missing a few days ago, was found on Saturday in a canal. The discovery prompted the BJP to suspend the father and brother of the prime accused in the murder case.

The prime accused is BJP leader Vinod Arya's son Pulkit, who was arrested with two others on Friday.

The party has suspended Vinod Arya, a member of the national executive of BJP OBC Morcha, as well as his other son Ankit, a minister of state.

Ankita, a resident of Dobh in Srikot, used to work at the resort owned by Pulkit Arya in Uttarakhand's Pauri Garhwal. She went missing on September 18.

Following the recovery of the body from the Chilla canal, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has ordered an SIT probe led by DIG P. Renuka Devi to probe the murder.

Taking to Twitter, Dhami said: "Today morning, Ankita's body was recovered. Heart-broken with this heart-wrenching incident."

On directions of the Chief Minister, the resort has been razed to the ground.

Strict action will be taken against the officers who were involved in the illegal construction of the resort, Dhami said.

"It is our resolve that the those guilty of this heinous crime will not be spared," he added.

Ankita's family had lodged a missing complaint on September 21 with the revenue police and on the District Magistrate's direction, the matter was transferred to regular police the next day.

Taking cognisance of the incident, Ashok Kumar, Director General of Police, Uttarakhand, had directed the Superintendent of Police, Pauri for a speedy investigation into the incident.

Following the arrest of the accused, they told the police that after murdering Ankita, they threw her body in the canal.

Under the guidance of DGP Uttarakhand, the SDRF commenced a search operation. Deep divers were also deployed to look for the body at the bottom of the canal

The search operation resumed this morning during which the body was found.

The body has been handed over to the district police.

--IANS
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Chitradurga, (Karnataka) Sep 24 (IANS) Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday accused the opposition Congress of playing "dirty politics" in connection with its PayCM campaign in the state.

If at all there is any issue, it should be spoken directly. They should give evidence, records and it has to be investigated. Without anything in their heads they come to the session this shows their moral degradation, he said.

"This campaign is taken without any morality and mudslinging programme," he stated.

"The Congress leaders are in illusion of attaining power through carrying out dirty politics. This is not possible in Karnataka. The government would initiate legal action in this regard," CM Bommai stated.

Reacting to the charge of Health Minister Dr K. Sudhakar that Lingayat chief minister is being targetted, he said he wouldn't want to comment anything over the issue.

When asked about pre-poll surveys suggesting that ruling BJP would only get 95 to 100 assembly seats, way behind attaining majority, CM Bommai stated that each survey will throw up different numbers.

"We have been in politics for 30-35 years. We can feel the pulse of the people. This time BJP is going to attain power," CM Bommai explained.

He maintained that the state cabinet expansion would be taken up once the high command gave consent to it. Talking about the raids on PFI and SDPI leaders, he stated that the action had been initiated by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the state police department.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 24 (IANS) In a bid to prevent antisocial elements or terrorists from using cyber cafes to create disturbance, the Delhi Police has issued certain guidelines for the cyber cafe owners, asking them to maintain a register for vistors' identity.

"It has come to notice that certain criminal antisocial elements or terrorists are using these facilities to mislead the security/ investigating agencies, create panic in the public, endanger the security of VVIPs and Govt. Institutions, help in the terrorist activities directly affecting the security of the state," an official order by ACP (Lajpat Nagar) Jai Narayan Bhardwaj read.

The official said that it is necessary to take speedy measures in this behalf to prevent danger to human life and safety, to thwart and prevent terrorist activities which may affect the security of the state and disturb public order and tranquility. In view of this, the police asked the owners of Cyber Cafes in the entire area of Sub-Division Lajpat Nagar to maintain a register for the identity of the visitor.

"Make an entry in the handwriting of the visitor mentioning name, address, telephone number and identity proof. The user shall also sign the register kept for this purpose. The identity of the visitor shall be established through identity card, voter card, ration card, driving license, passport and photo credit card (any one of them)," the official order, accessed by IANS, read.

It further asked the Cyber Cafe owners to preserve the activity server log for a period of six months. "The users of Cyber Cafe are photographed on a continuous basis and records of the same will be kept properly. Scan the copies of Identity Cards of their customers while they visited the cyber cafe," the order read.

According to police, the order shall remain into force for a period of 60 days till November 15.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 24 (IANS) Sources in the National Investigation Agency (NIA) have said that the raids at the premises of the Popular Front of India (PFI) conducted earlier this week was named as 'Operation Octopus'.

The sources said that all the 300 officials who were pressed into service were asked to keep quiet during the raids as the agencies wanted to uproot the entire network of the PFI.

More than 100 PFI members were arrested and around 200 were detained under 'Operation Octopus'.

The ED and NIA has found that the PFI members were involved in anti-national activities.

These raids were conducted at the houses and offices of top PFI leaders and members in connection with five cases registered by the NIA following continued inputs and evidence that the organisation members were involved in terror funding, organising training camps and radicalising people.

The NIA has claimed that the accused were organising camps for imparting training to commit violent and terrorist acts with the objective of promoting enmity between different groups on the basis of religion.

The probe agency said that crminal violent acts carried out by PFI such as chopping off the hand of a college professor, cold blooded killings of persons associated with organisations espousing the other faiths, collection of explosives to target prominent people and places, support to the Islamic State terror group and destruction of public property have had a demonstrative effect of striking terror in the minds of the citizens.

--IANS
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Damascus/Beirut, Sep 24 (IANS) At least 73 people died from a boat that sank off the Syrian coast, the Syrian Health Ministry said.

Twenty others have been rescued and sent for medical treatment at the al-Basel hospital in the Syrian coastal city of Tartous after the boat sank in the Syrian waters, Health Minister Hassan al-Ghabbash said in a statement on Friday.

The boat set off from Lebanon on Tuesday carrying illegal migrants of various nationalities to "unknown destinations," Syrian General Director of Sea Ports Samer Kobrosly earlier said on Friday, citing testimonies from the survivors.

The latest casualties included 31 bodies found on Friday during an ongoing search and rescue mission launched by Syrian authorities, Kobrosly added.

Head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdul-Rahman cited sources as saying on Friday that the boat carried between 100 to 150 people, noting that the original capacity of the boat was only enough for 30 people.

Lebanese, Syrians and other unidentified nationalities were on the boat, the Britain-based war monitor revealed on Thursday, adding that the migrants' initial destination was Cyprus, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to Lebanese Public Works and Transport Minister Ali Hamieh, the 20 rescued migrants are five Lebanese, 12 Syrians and three Palestinians.

Hamieh said in a statement that the Lebanese Red Cross is coordinating with the Syrian Red Crescent on bringing some of the victims' bodies home.

--IANS
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Islamabad, Sep 23 (IANS) The overall death toll in Pakistan from the devastating floods has increased to 1,596, with 12,863 others injured, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said.

In the last 24 hours, 20 new fatalities were reported, reports Xinhua news agency citing the NDMA as saying.

The victims included 17 children and most of the deaths were reported in the worst-hit Sindh province.

The heavy monsoon rain-triggered flash floods since mid-June have also destroyed a total of 2,016,008 houses, while an estimated 1,040,735 livestock has perished in the rains across the country, according to the latest NDMA figures.

It further added that 12,716 km of roads and 374 bridges were damaged.

Rescue and relief operations by the NDMA, other government organisations, volunteers and NGOs were underway in the affected areas.

--IANS
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By Santosh Kumar Pathak
New Delhi, Sep 22 (IANS) The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which is the key driving force behind the country's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is a prominent organisation which has ardent followers and staunch critics in equal proportion.


However, the recent meeting of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat with Muslim intellectuals and his Tursday's meeting with the head of All India Imam Organisation at a mosque in Delhi, which was followed by a visit to a madrasa here, have drawn everyone's attention -- in the political as well as apolitical circles.

Bhagwat on Thursday visited a madrasa in the old Delhi area where he interacted with the teachers and students. Earlier, he met the chief of the All India Imam Organisation, Imam Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, at a mosque in Kasturba Gandhi Marg.

On August 22, the RSS chief had met a group of Muslim intellectuals.

The recent developments are being termed as RSS' attempt to strengthen the communal harmony in the country.

Also, the meetings, interactions and the deliberations have been happening in the backdrop of allegations by the Opposition leaders, including former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, that the BJP and the RSS are trying to fan communal tension in the country.

Several questions have been popping up of late following Bhagwat's hobnobbing with the key personalities of the Muslim community. The prominent among them are:

* Is RSS' stance towards Muslims changing?

* What could be the agenda of RSS behind these meeting?

* What exactly Mohan Bhagwat is trying to achieve?

To get a deeper insight into the recent developments, IANS reached out to RSS Prachar Pramukh Sunil Ambekar, who maintained that the Sangh has always opposed terrorism and separatism.

He said: "Everyone should strive to create a spirit and environment of cordiality by opposing extremism. This is everyone's collective responsibility."

"RSS never had any problems with anyone's ways of worship or offering prayers," he added.

Responding to questions doing the rounds around Bhagwat's meeting with the Muslim intellectuals, Ambekar said: "The RSS is always ready for holding discussions for the betterment of the society and the nation. The Sangh has always kept its doors open for this purpose. Even on the Ayodhya issue, we had held discussions with everyone."

"To promote cordiality, we always insist on holding discussions with various sections of the society. There is nothing new in this. It's part of a routine process," he said.

RSS leader and patron of Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM), Indresh Kumar, said that right from former RSS chief K.S. Sudarshan's tenure, the members of Muslim and Christian communities have been trying to understand the Sangh not through any religious or political leaders, but on their own.

"That is why an organisation like MRM came into existence," he said.

Meanwhile, sources in the know of things also said that in the coming days, the RSS chief may hold deliberations with the Christian religious leaders as well as intellectuals of the minority community.

It is being said that to communicate seamlessly with the religious leaders and intellectuals of both Muslim and Christian communities, the RSS has set up a committee of four senior Sangh leaders. Besides Indresh Kumar, the panel comprises senior leaders Krishn Gopal, Manmohan Vaidya and Ram Lal.

In fact, the RSS had initiated an effort to bring a change in the mindset of the Muslim community since the era of former Prime Minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee. However, the overall scenario was much different then as key issues such as Ram Janmabhoomi was yet to see any solution.

Also, several matters were pushed into the cold storage since the government was functioning on the back-up of alliance parties.

In fact, the MRM has held several functions wherein communications were established with the members of Muslim as well as Christian community. Sources said that those programmes have been mostly successful.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 22 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Thursday sentenced former Ranbaxy promoters Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh to 6 months imprisonment in a case connected with the sale of shares of Fortis to Malaysia-based IHH Healthcare.

A bench, headed by Chief Justice U.U. Lalit, declined to lift its stay on the open offer by IHH Healthcare Berhad for a 26 percent stake in Fortis Healthcare. It asked the Delhi High Court to issue remand in the case and also ordered a forensic audit of the Fortis-IIH deal. "Everything goes back to the executing court," it said.

The former promoters of Fortis Healthcare Ltd were embroiled in a court battle after Daiichi Sankyo, a Japanese firm, had challenged the Fortis-IHH share deal to recover the Rs 3,600 crore arbitration award that it had won before a Singapore tribunal against the Singh brothers.

Due to a legal fight between Daiichi Sankyo and the former promoters of Fortis Healthcare, the IHH-Fortis deal is stuck.

The top court also slapped the Singh brothers with a fine in the contempt case filed against them by the Japanese firm.

Daiichi Sankyo moved the court to enforce the arbitral award passed by a Singapore tribunal in 2016.

The Delhi High Court, in January 2018, ruled that the arbitration award won by Daiichi Sankyo against the Singh brothers for concealing information about the erstwhile Ranbaxy Laboratories, was enforceable in India.

In 2018, IHH Healthcare had acquired a 31 percent controlling stake in Fortis, which triggered a mandatory open offer to acquire another 26 percent of Fortis shares from the market. However, the open offer could not move forward due to ongoing legal proceedings with respect to the transaction based on a plea filed by Daiichi Sankyo.

--IANS
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