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Varanasi, Sep 12 (IANS) Prohibitory orders under Section 144 have been imposed in Varanasi, ahead for the verdict by the district judge on the maintainability of the suit seeking worshiping right at Shringar Gauri and other deities in Gyanvapi mosque compound, filed by five women plaintiffs.

Varanasi Commissioner of Police (CP) A. Satish Ganesh said that a fool proof security plan is in place for Monday.

He said that police and paramilitary forces will also be deployed in and around areas having mixed population.

Claiming that patrolling vehicles will be positioned at strategic points, the official said quick reaction teams have been formed to act in case of eventuality. Any bid to disturb the law-and-order situation would be dealt with strictly, Ganesh said, appealing to people not to get misled by rumours.

Following the directive of the Supreme Court to decide the maintainability of the case 693/2021 on priority, the district judge had started the hearings on May 20.

With final submissions by Anjuman Intezamia Masjid -- the mosque management committee -- and advocates of the five women plaintiffs seeking worshipping rights at Shringar Gauri in Gyanvapi mosque compound on August 24, the hearing on maintainability of case 692/2021 Rakhi Singh vs state of Uttar Pradesh and others had concluded at the court of district judge Ajay Krishna Vishvesha.

--IANS
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Bhopal, Sep 11 (IANS) Prominent Hindu seer -- Shankaracharya of Jyotish, Dwarka and Sharda peeth -- Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati died at his ashram in Madhya Pradesh's Narsinghpur district on Sunday.

The 99-year-old seer -- perhaps the oldest surviving Shankaracharya, passed away following prolonged illness.

As per the information, the seer breathed last at around 3.30 p.m. after a mild heart attack at the Jhoteshwar Paramhansi Ganga Ashram.

Just a few days ago, the seer had celebrated his 99th birthday on the occasion of Hartalika Teej.

Narsinghpur MLA and former MP Vidhan Sabha Speaker N.P. Prajapati (who is among the Shankaracharya's disciples), informed that his Samadhi (symbolic funeral) will take place at 4 p.m. on Monday near the hillside Ashram in the same Narsinghpur district.

Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati was born at a village known as Dighori in Seoni district in Madhya Pradesh in 1924.

He was born in a Brahmin family and his childhood name was Potiram Upadhyay. He had left home when aged just nine years only in pursuit of god.

He was a direct disciple of Shankaracharya Brahmananda Saraswati of Jyotir Math and of Shankaracharya (disputed) Krishnabodha Ashrama of Jyotirmath.

In 1950, his Guru Brahmananda made him a Dandi Sanyasi. He became the president of Akhil Bhartiya Ram Rajya Parishad established by Swami Karpatriji.

On Krishnabodha Ashrama's demise in 1973, the title of Shankaracharya (disputed) of Jyotir Math, Badrinath passed to Swami Swaroopanand. Nine years later in 1982, he also became the Shankaracharya of Dwarka Peeth.

When aged just 18, he had become a part of the country's freedom movement and was known as "Revolutionary Sadhu" for taking part in the 1942 Quit India Movement. He was jailed for it and served a prison sentence for around a year and half.

He not only was a veteran Hindu seer, but also held strong opinion on host of other issues, spanning from Ganga pollution, Uniform Civil Code, Abrogation of Article 370 of Indian Constitution, cow and bull slaughter, women worshipping Shani, on Shirdi Sai Baba and on the RSS and coming to power of the Narendra Modi-led BJP in the 2014 general elections.

He had also claimed that the Bhoomi Pujan of the proposed Ram Temple in Ayodhya by PM Modi on August 5, 2020 was done in an inauspicious muhurt.

He had countless disciples spread all over the country, including key politicians, among them former MP CM Digvijaya Singh.

The nonagenarian Shankaracharya's demise sent shock waves across the country, with many politicians and public personalities, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, union home minister Amit Shah, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, ex-MP CM Digvijaya Singh and MP Congress chief Kamal Nath, UP CM Yogi Adityanath, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, besides film actor Ashutosh Rana, taking to the Twitter to condole the death of the seer.

Politicians, including Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and MP Congress chief Kamal Nath expressed their condolences to the demise of the Shankaracharya.

"The news of the death of Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati, the revered Shankaracharya of Paschim Amnaya Shri Shardapeeth, established by Lord Shankaracharya, is very sad. Your incomparable contribution to the Indian knowledge tradition will be remembered by the whole world for eternity," Shivraj Singh Chouhan tweeted.

Madhya Pradesh Congress Commitee head and former chief minister Kamal expressed his condolence sharing a photograph of his meeting with the seer during his 99th birthday.

"Just a few days ago, by attending his 99th Praktyotsav and Centenary Entrance Year Festival, bowing down to his feet and blessing him," Kamal Nath tweeted.

--IANS
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Hyderabad, Sep 11 (IANS) It's finally official. Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will soon launch a national political party.

During a meeting with former Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy here on Sunday, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) President stated that the formation of the national party and formulation of policies will soon take place.

KCR, as Rao is popularly known, has been holding discussions with intellectuals, economists, and experts from various fields to work out an alternative national agenda.

KCR told the Janata Dal-Secular leader that TRS party leaders from the village level, district, and state level Presidents and Secretaries are also adopting resolutions to float a national party.

--IANS
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New York, Sep 11 (IANS) Several drugs used to treat Covid-19 patients -- including remdesivir, dexamethasone, and antibiotics for associated bacterial infections -- persist through wastewater treatment and may occur in waterways at levels high enough to negatively affect aquatic organisms, finds a new study.

According to researcher Heather Preisendanz from Penn State, over-the-counter and prescription-strength pharmaceuticals, including antibiotics and pain relievers, are excreted by humans, and many are known to persist through wastewater treatment plants and into nearby waterways, where they can negatively affect aquatic organisms.

"This knowledge spurred concerns that increased use of pharmaceuticals during the pandemic could also lead to increased concentrations of these drugs in wastewater treatment plant effluent and potentially harm aquatic life," said Preisendanz.

For the study, published in the Journal of Environmental Quality, the team collected weekly influent (incoming) and effluent (outgoing) samples from two wastewater treatment plants in central Pennsylvania between May 2020 and May 2021. One of the sites includes a hospital in its service area.

The researchers analysed the influent at both wastewater treatment plants for the virus SARS-CoV-2, as well as the influent and effluent for a variety of medications that may have been used to treat Covid-19.

In their study, the researchers examined two over-the-counter fever reducer/pain relievers (acetaminophen and naproxen), five antibiotics (ampicillin, doxycycline, ofloxacin, sulfamethoxazole, and trimethoprim), two Covid-19 therapeutic agents (remdesivir and dexamethasone, which is used to reduce severe upper respiratory inflammation in patients on ventilators), and hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug that was ultimately shown in clinical trials to be ineffective for treating Covid-19.

The team found that remdesivir concentrations were correlated with the number of hospitalised Covid-19 patients, while dexamethasone concentrations were associated with the number of hospitalised patients on ventilators.

Specifically, influent to the wastewater treatment plant servicing the hospital had concentrations of remdesivir and dexamethasone of 28 per cent and 31 per cent, respectively, while the average removal efficiencies by the wastewater treatment plant for these drugs were 39 per cent and 56 per cent, respectively.

Hydroxychloroquine was not detected in any of the influent samples collected at either treatment plant.

According to Preisendanz, although risk to aquatic organisms from remdesivir could not be calculated, as no research has yet been done to determine the concentrations that could pose a risk, dexamethasone was detected in quantities that could pose a low acute risk to fish.

--IANS
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San Francisco, Sep 11 (IANS) Tech giant Google is bringing a new app review policy to make app ratings and reviews as genuine as possible in the Play Store.

The latest change will hold up user-submitted reviews and ratings by around 24 hours before they go public, assuming they're from real people, reports Android Central.

As per the report, the tech giant aims for the new policy to detect suspicious ratings and reviews on Android apps.

"To allow us to automatically detect suspicious Ratings or Reviews activity, we are introducing a delay of around 24 hours from when users submit Ratings or Reviews to when those submissions are published," Google was quoted as saying in an advisory.

"In this period, you will still be able to help your users by seeing Reviews and replying to them, but these won't be immediately public," it added.

The report mentioned that the new policy might help to reduce the spread of fake reviews on online products.

The tech giant warned against posting the same review multiple times, as well as reviews for the same content from multiple accounts, the report said.

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched an investigation into Google and Amazon last year to determine whether they "may not have done enough" to combat fake reviews on their respective platforms.

--IANS
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Srinagar, Sep 11 (IANS) Former senior Congress leader, Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Sunday that he has not promised restoration of Article 370 in his new political agenda because he doesn't believe in making false promises.

Addressing a public meeting in north Kashmir's Baramulla town, Azad said, "To restore Article 370 would need around 350 votes in the Lok Sabha and 175 votes in the Rajya Sabha.

"This is a number no political party has or is likely to ever get. The Congress has shrunken to less than 50 seats and if they speak of restoring Article 370, they are making false promises."

He said his political agenda includes restoration of statehood, land and jobs for the locals as these are achievable objectives.

"Some people have blamed me for voting in favour of the Article 370 abrogation motion brought in by the home minister.

"I have voted against the abrogation and these people who have no idea about the working of Parliament are saying that I voted against Article 370," he said.

He said when he was the chief minister of the state, he arrested 13 police personnel for staging a fake encounter in which three persons were killed.

"The arrested persons are in jail for the last 15 years," he said.

He spoke of the developmental works and creation of districts during his tenure as the chief minister.

"Four new districts were created in the Valley and three in the Jammu division during my tenure as the chief minister. I got new medical colleges during that period.

"Whether I get four votes or lakhs of votes during the elections, I will never deceive the people," he assured the public gathering.

This was Azad's first public meeting in Kashmir after he resigned from the basic membership of the Congress party.

--IANS
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Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 11 (IANS) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who has embarked on a the Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir from September 8 has commenced his 19-day Kerala leg from Parassala bordering Tamil Nadu.

The Congress scion reached Parassala on Saturday night and started the journey in the morning. He was accorded a warm welcome with people thronging on both sides of the road to shower petals on him.

Party General Secretary (Organisation) K.C. Venugopal, who is coordinating the Yatra, and former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and party general secretary, Digvijaya Singh were walking along with Rahul Gandhi.

Gandhi will be reaching Thiruvananthapuram city on Monday and will address a public meeting there. The Congress leader is covering around 25 km on foot per day.

Kerala Pradesh Congress committee President K. Sudhakaran, Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly and senior Congress leader V.D. Satheeshan, coordinator for the Kerala leg of the Yatra, Kodikkunnil Suresh MP, Thiruvananthapuram District congress president Palode Ravi and senior leader Manacaud Suresh were also present with Rahul Gandhi as he beagn his Kerala leg padyatra.

--IANS
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By Ajay Kumar
Patna, Sep 11 (IANS) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's recent three-day visit to Delhi to unite the opposition parties to contest against the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections seems to have had a deep impact on the saffron brigade.


Now, the question is whether Nitish Kumar is dreaming of being the main challenger to Narendra Modi in the next general elections.

Political experts believe that Nitish Kumar has one of the sharpest brains among the political leaders in the country. He is completely aware of his strengths and weaknesses and hence he is not pitching himself as the Prime Ministerial candidate of the opposition parties.

"The BJP's Bihar unit is dragging his name in the race for opposition PM candidate with the aim of creating differences among other opposition leaders. Nitish Kumar is backed by his fellow political commanders such as JD-U national president Lalan Singh, state ministers Ashok Chaudhary, Vijay Chaudhary, among others, who always say that he has all the abilities to be the next Prime Minister, but he is not in the race," said Rajnish Singh, a Bihar-based political expert.

While interacting with mediapersons in Delhi, Nitish Kumar had denied that he is in the race to be the next Prime Minister.

"Our idea is to unite the opposition against the BJP. The opposition parties have enough strength to challenge the BJP and defeat it. I am not in the race to be the prime ministerial candidate of the opposition parties in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections," he had said.

The opposition parties know how the BJP is attempting to corner them, and that may be the reason why they are showing a positive intent towards Nitish Kumar's initiative to unite the forces opposing the saffron camp. This may have something to do with BJP national President J.P. Nadda claiming in Patna recently to achieve the target of an opposition-free government.

The BJP in the recent past had successfully toppled governments in the states of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra to assume power. But in Bihar, it was Nitish Kumar who severed ties with the BJP and forged an alliance with the RJD, Congress and Left parties to form a Mahagathbandhan government, much to the dismay of the saffron camp.

After severing ties with the BJP, JD-U's Lalan Singh had said that the BJP has 16 Lok Sabha MPs in Bihar, 17 MPs in West Bengal and 11 MPs in Jharkhand.

If Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav manage to reduce the BJP to zero in Bihar, and the same is achieved by Mamata Benerjee in West Bengal and Hemant Soren in Jharkhand, the BJP would automatically come down below the majority mark of 272 in the Lok Sabha, which is possible, Lalan Singh had said.

He had also suggested that the opposition leaders should adopt the poll strategy of the BJP to defeat the BJP.

The actual idea is to take poll benefits in crunch situations. The BJP has an advantage of double engine government on this count in states where it is in power.

Opposition leaders like Nitish Kumar, Mamata Banerjee, Hemant Soren, K. Chandrashekher Rao, Ashok Gahlot, Raman Singh, Naveen Patnaik and M.K. Stalin should look at cashing in on the anti-incumbency factor against eight years of BJP rule at the Centre.

If these leaders manage to conduct free and fair elections in their respective states, the BJP may be up against a tough competition.

Following Nitish Kumar's three-day visit to Delhi, the BJP top brass reportedly gave a message to its Bihar unit to attack Nitish Kumar, sources said.

Hence, statements were issued by Sushil Kumar Modi, Giriraj Singh, Sanjay Jaiswal, Vijay Kumar Sinha, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Tarkishore Prasad, among others, against Nitish Kumar.

Sushil Modi said, "Nitish Kumar had humiliated George Fernandes, Sharad Yadav and R.C.P. Singh in the past. He will do the same with Lalan Singh and Upendra Kushwaha. However, Lalan Singh and Kushwaha said sorry to Nitish Kumar and remained in JD-U while the others were removed."

Reacting to Sushil Modi, Lalan Singh said: "No one gets humiliation better than what you are undergoing. Despite all your efforts and statements against Nitish Kumar and JD-U, your party has not given any post to you. Still, our good wishes are with you."

--IANS
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By Vishal Gulati
Shimla, Sep 11 (IANS) The saffron brigade soldiers are depending upon their General to win the electoral battle for them in Himachal Pradesh.


Facing strong winds of anti-incumbency, the BJP leadership in the state led by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur seems banking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "charisma", instead of flashing its own achievement card.

The party is holding a mass public meeting of Modi on September 24, the first of the three rallies planned ahead of the poll announcement, in Mandi town, the home turf of the Chief Minister, with an expected gathering of over one lakh youths.

Normally in every public meeting, Thakur, who is currently on an inauguration spree by travelling to every nook and corner of the state, is missing no opportunity to remind the public about PM Modi's special bond and love for the people of the state where he spent a few years as the in-charge of the state's affairs in the late 90s.

Getting nostalgic by speaking often in the local dialect, even Prime Minister Modi in his public addresses became vocal about his emotional bond and connection with the state that he says has had a very positive impact in shaping and giving direction to his life.

"The Prime Minister has always bestowed his blessings on Himachal by offering so many developmental projects in the past five years. It is his charisma and the local connection with the masses which the state BJP is going to rely on to retain power," senior Cabinet minister Suresh Bhardwaj told IANS on Saturday, adding, "What is wrong in seeking votes on the name of the 'pradhan sevak' who devoted his life to the welfare of the people and good governance."

Modi last visited the state on May 31 to address beneficiaries of the Central government's schemes to mark the eighth anniversary of his government from the historic Ridge -- once the promenade of the British colonial rulers when Shimla was their summer capital.

He will be coming to the hill state again on September 24. This time he is coming to Mandi, the district with 10 assembly segments, the state's second highest, to launch the BJP's campaign for elections slated for the end of this year for the 68-member BJP-ruled assembly.

Earlier, he addressed a rally in Mandi on December 27, 2021, to mark the fourth anniversary of the state government.

According to Bhardwaj, the legislator from Shimla, in the last five years there is a double-engine government in the state and at the Centre and the speed of development and the implementation of schemes has gained momentum.

"Himachal proposes projects and the Centre approves the funds. Recently, the Centre approved a bulk drug park for Himachal, a major achievement for a small state. There are several projects and schemes that Himachal has benefitted from. If I talk about urban development, Shimla and Dharamsala have benefitted from the Smart City Mission while AMRUT-I and AMRUT-II are there for other cities."

"Not only this, Modi-ji wears a Himachali cap during his foreign sojourns, which also brands the state across the globe," an optimistic Bhardwaj added.

For Chief Minister Thakur, who is quite younger to Modi, Himachal is the second home of "our Prime Minister and he is always excited to visit it".

Expressing gratitude to Modi for sanctioning a bulk drug park in Haroli tehsil of Una district, Thakur, in full page newspaper advertisements last week, said Himachal is the only northern state to get this prestigious project.

"The bulk drug park will not only accelerate the pace of industrialization in the state but will also generate employment opportunities, thereby leading to a significant boost in the prosperity of the region," said Thakur.

Apart from Himachal Pradesh, housing Asia's biggest pharmaceutical hub, the Department of Pharmaceuticals has given 'in-principle' approval to the proposals for pharma parks in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.

Thakur in a recent interview to IANS said it is due to the 'double-engine government' that the state has got six government medical colleges and one in the private sector, apart from the completion of the Atal Tunnel and sanctioning a PGIMER Satellite Centre in Una and AIIMS in Bilaspur.

He said the government is spending over Rs 1,300 crore annually on providing social security pension to the needy as compared to only Rs 400 crore spent by the previous state government.

"Our HIMCARE, Sahara Yojna, Ghrihini Suvidha Yojna and Shagun Yojna have been providing much needed relief to the needy and poor," he added.

Thakur said the Prime Minister has visited the state seven times. "Under his leadership, we will start electioneering with renewed energy," he said while inaugurating developmental projects in his Seraj assembly constituency in Mandi district on Friday.

Political observers told IANS the focus of Modi's September 24 rally ahead of the Assembly polls, which are slated later this year, is to keep his party's 'double engine government' on track by recapitulating the milestones the state achieved through the Centre's welfare schemes.

Aiming to make it one of the biggest rallies of the Prime Minister, state BJP chief Suresh Kashyap told IANS that over one lakh people below the age of 40 will attend the rally.

"Youths at the booth level will be mobilised to participate in the rally, while others would also join virtually," he said.

Despite the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) striving hard to make inroads ahead of the polls, the political scenario in Himachal Pradesh seems so far largely bipolar -- a tug-of-war between the two conventional arch rivals -- the Congress and the BJP.

Himachal Pradesh was traditionally dominated by the Congress and saw its first non-Congress chief minister, Shanta Kumar, in 1977, when the Janata Party came to power.

The Congress appointed its three-time MP Pratibha Singh, the widow of six-time chief minister Virbhadra Singh, as the state unit president in April.

Unlike her husband who had a direct connect at the grassroots, Pratibha Singh has spearheaded the poll campaign in a bid to oust the incumbent Jai Ram Thakur-led government by saying people are highly upset with its poor performance.

She often blames the BJP for banking on the popularity of Modi to win the polls as it did nothing for the people's welfare.

The Congress is banking on its promise to bring back the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) that will benefit 225,000 employees, a crucial vote bank.

The Congress is banking mainly on an anti-incumbency wave against the ruling dispensation. It won three Assembly and one parliamentary seat in the October 2021 by-polls.

Chief Minister Thakur believes good governance with zero corruption, which is essential for economic growth, and no witch hunting are the mantras for his success. Unprecedented development will remain the party's main poll plank for the forthcoming polls.

The BJP had won a majority in the 2017 Assembly polls with 44 seats in the 68-member Assembly.

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

--IANS
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By Haresh Jhala
Ahmedabad, Sep 11 (IANS) As Gujarat approaches the assembly elections, each party's social media teams are sharpening their strategies to give an edge to their party's election campaign. Social media experts believe this platform can shape the perception and mindset of voters.


When it comes to spread and reach, negative messages spread like wildfire and in minutes and hours travel to thousands and lakhs of social media users, but positive messages trickle only like drops. Their speed is very slow, but the effect is much more than negative messages, is the experience of social media experts as well as party I.T and social media cells.

The Bharatiya Janata Party is exploring this platform since 2012. The party mostly uses it to send positive messages about development work carried out by their state and central governments. The party's campaigns have achieved their goals, claimed Manan Dani, convener of BJP social media.

Dani cited the BJP's examples of social media campaign, 'Uncho Vikas, Unchu Gujarat' (High Development, Gujarat to achieve new peak) or the campaign in civic polls like 'Gujarat che Makkam, Bhajap che Adikham' (Gujarat is confident, BJP is resolute).

If any political opponent is making false claims, the BJP social media team counters with facts, this helps in building the image of the party. The media is not for immediate results.

It is all about perception management, how effectively the party message is conveyed and whether it is reaching the targeted audience or not and creating an appeal, is the basic focus of the social media team, explained Keyur Shah, chairman of the Gujarat Congress I.T. Cell.

Citing the Congress social media's successful campaign, Keyur cited, "Recently the party has launched it campaign, 'Congress nu Kam Bole chhe' (Congress party's work speaks) it was trending on Twitter, this campaign compelled the BJP to launch a counter campaign, 'BJP nu Kam Dekhay Chhe', (BJP's work is visible) and then they launched a series of colleges, universities and other works, which were trolled and questioned by social media users."

In the run up to the 2017 assembly election 'Vikas Gando Thayo chhe' (Development has gone mad) was so trending, that the BJP had to counter it with the campaign, 'Hu Vikas Chhu' (I am development).

The AAP's social media campaign is "One Chance to Kejriwal". whereas its social media team is more active in exposing the ruling party's claims.

Social media expert Jaydip Parikh said it is said in the documentary, "The Social Dilemma' the platform has the ability to manipulate the people's views, emotions, behaviour and spread disinformation." It helps a party to find it's audience and helps in reaching them, it actually is able to change the perception."

---IANS
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