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Lucknow : Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday hit out at the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh, saying crime cases are now being reported in "safe and secure" areas of the state like Gautampalli where a double murder took place. According to police, a "depressed" minor daughter of a senior railway official allegedly shot dead her mother and brother at their residence in the high-security Gautampalli area, which is a few kilometres away from the official residence of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. "Now, crime has entered the so-called most secured and important area of Gautampalli with a double murder. Now, the people of the state are telling stories to their children that sometime ago, there was law and order in the state," the former chief minister said in a tweet in Hindi. The SP chief also attacked the government over rising coronavirus cases in the country. "The BJP government is sitting silently, blindfolded in the cas

Srinagar : Three militants and an assistant sub-inspector of Jammu and Kashmir Police were killed in a gunfight on the outskirts of the city on Sunday, police said. Militants fired on a joint ''naka'' of police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) at Pantha Chowk area late on Saturday night, a police official said. He said the joint parties of the forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation there. During the searches in the area, the militants again fired on the search party of the forces, who retaliated, leading to an encounter, the official said. A tight cordon was maintained throughout the night and the firing resumed this morning, he said. He said three militants were killed in the gunfight. An assistant sub-inspector of Jammu and Kashmir Police, Babu Ram, was also killed in the operation, the official added. The operation is going on and further details were awaited, he said. from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/3gGj9T3

New Delhi : The government is discussing the possibility of having a common electoral roll for Lok Sabha, assembly and local body elections to avoid discrepancies and bring uniformity in the voters list, officials said on Saturday. At present, the Election Commission prepares the electoral roll or voter list for Lok Sabha and assembly polls. The state election commissions, which are altogether separate bodies as per constitutional provisions, hold elections for local bodies such as municipalities and panchayats in their respective states based on their own voter lists. Several state election commissions use the draft voter list of the EC to formulate their own rolls. The draft EC roll is often divided into wards for local body elections. Now, the Centre is exploring the possibility of having a single voter list for Lok Sabha, assembly and local body polls as this can help bring in uniformity and also save costs involved in an entire exercise getting repeated for making separate vote

New Delhi : The Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce on 31 August its verdict on the quantum of sentence to be awarded to activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan, convicted for contempt of court over his two tweets against the judiciary. A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra will pronounce its verdict against Bhushan, who faces simple imprisonment of up to six months or with a fine of up to Rs 2,000 or with both as punishment under Contempt of Court Act. On 25 August, the top court was urged by senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan to show "judicial statesmanship" and not make Bhushan a "martyr" by punishing him for contempt over his tweets criticising the judiciary, after the activist-lawyer rejected fresh suggestions from the court for an apology. As the top court reserved its verdict on the sentence to be awarded to Bhushan, Justice Arun Mishra, who presided over a three-judge bench, at the fag end of the nearly three-hour-long hearing had asked why he cannot seek an apol

Chandigarh : Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar on Saturday said the “letter-politics” seeking changes in the party reflected “insecurities and political ambitions” of some of its signatories. Twenty-three Congress leaders, including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kapil Sibal and Shashi Tharoor, had written to party chief Sonia Gandhi earlier in the month, seeking organisational changes. The issues raised by the leaders were discussed during the Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Monday. During the marathon seven-hour meeting, it was decided that Sonia Gandhi will continue as the party's interim president and effect necessary organisational changes while an AICC session will be called at the earliest to start the process of electing a new chief. Jakhar in a statement said as Sonia Gandhi had clearly stated that the party organisation and its president would be elected in six months but it was unfortunate that some leaders continued making unwanted statements. Such statements become even m

New Delhi: India has decided to withdraw from a multilateral war game in Russia next month, government sources said on Saturday, a week after New Delhi had confirmed its participation in the exercise that is also expected to be attended by the Chinese and Pakistani troops. Last week India had conveyed to Russia that it will participate in the strategic command-post exercise to be held in the Astrakhan region in southern Russia from 15 to 26 September. Though no reason has been cited officially about India reversing its decision, people familiar with the development said that China's participation in the exercise was a major factor behind the review. "A decision has been taken to not participate in the exercise," said a source. It is learnt that the decision was taken following deliberations between the top brass of the military and the ministry of external affairs. Indian and Chinese troops have been engaged in a bitter standoff in several areas along the Line of Ac

New Delhi: Limiting number of people in lifts and longer halting time for trains at stations to allow commuters to board and alight with social distancing norms, are among the measures the Delhi Metro will take to ensure safer travel for its passengers, when services resume on 7 September. The guidelines issued by the Central Government on resumption of metro services next month came on a day when Delhi recorded its highest single-day spike of 1,954 COVID-19 cases in August till now. The Delhi Metro has been closed since 22 March in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. "As per the latest guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs under Unlock 4, the Delhi Metro will be resuming its services for public from September 7 onwards in a calibrated manner," the DMRC said in a statement on Saturday. Further details on the metro functioning and its usage by the general public will be shared once the detailed standard operating procedure (SOP) is issued by the Ministry of Hou

In the many years that I have lived in Mumbai, I have perfected a method of walking from the Western Express Highway metro station in Andheri East to my apartment, a kilometre away. First, I sprint to cross the road. Then I use the momentum to jump onto a footpath. A little ahead, 90 percent of the footpath is encroached by a shop. So, I turn to my right, extend my arms, and maintain balance as if the footpath were a surfing board. Then I leap over a variety of automobile parts placed for display in front of shops. Like me, 1.5 crore people sprint-jump-surf-leap on footpaths every day in Mumbai. Despite the hurdles, walking is the most preferred means of transportation, with about 25.74 percent of the city's working population walking to work. Others walk to auto rickshaws, buses, taxis, and trains. But Mumbai is tough on its pedestrians. It was ranked 27th among 30 Indian cities evaluated on their ‘walkability’ by the Clean Air Initiative, an organisation involved in assessing

The Union Home Ministry on Saturday issued the Unlock 4.o guidelines under which metro trains will be allowed to resume services from 7 September in a graded manner, while political, social and religious congregations of up to 100 people will be permitted from 21 September. Any area that falls under a containment zone will follow the same lockdown rules applicable up till now, until 30 September. In a significant directive, the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a directive that state governments shall not impose any local lockdown outside the containment zones without prior consultation with the Central Government. The guidelines also said that there shall be no restriction on inter-state and intra-state movement of persons and goods iether. And that no separate permission/ approval/ e-permit will be required for such movements . Schools and colleges to remain shut till end of September However, schools, colleges, educational and coaching institutions will remain closed for students

The Central Railway has released a notification for recruitment of contract-based paramedical staff in Group C as staff nurse, pharmacist, lab and X-ray technicians. Candidates can apply by sending email to persbrbsl@gmail.com along with scanned copies of their documents or certificates in PDF by 2 September till 6 pm. The engagement will be on full-time basis for three months, or up to 31 December 2020, for COVID-19 ward at Divisional Railway Hospital in Bhusawal. As per a report by Times Now , the recruitment drive is carried out to fill 26 posts of staff nurse, three pharmacists, 10 lab technicians and nine X-ray technicians. Instead of walk-in interviews, Central Railway will be holding recorded conference calls on WhatsApp/Skype from retired staff nurses, pharmacists, lab technicians and X-ray technicians or of Railways. The interviews on WhatsApp/Skype are scheduled between 4 to 10 September. The timings are 10 am to 5 pm. According to a report by The Times of India , can

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was admitted to AIIMS-Delhi on 18 August for post-COVID care, has recovered and is likely to be discharged in a short time, hospital authorities said on Saturday. "Amit Shah, Union Home Minister, is admitted at AIIMS, New Delhi for post-COVID care. He has recovered and is likelyto be discharged in a short time," the AIIMS said in a statement. On 2 August, Shah, 55, had said on Twitter that he had tested positive for COVID-19. He had undergone treatment for the coronavirus infection at Medanta Hospital and was discharged after he tested negative for the disease. According to an earlier statement by AIIMS, he was admitted to the hospital on 18  August following complaints of fatigue and body aches, days after his discharge. from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/3lwgLlu Press Trust of India

Robbers attacked cricketer Suresh Raina's relatives' home in Punjab's Pathankot, killing his 58-year-old uncle while four other members of his family sustained injuries. The deceased has been identified as Ashok Kumar, a government contractor. According to police, the incident took place at Thariyal village in Punjab's Pathankot on the night intervening 19 and 20 August. Kumar's elder brother Shyam Lal confirmed that the victim was the cricketer's uncle. He said Raina is expected to visit the village. Earlier, a senior police official had said they can't confirm the victim's relationship with the cricketer. According to police, three to four members of the notorious 'Kale Kachhewala' gang had come with an intention to loot, attacked Ashok Kumar and his family members at their house in Thariyal village near Madhopur of Pathankot. At the time of the attack, they were sleeping on the terrace of their house. Ashok Kumar suffered head injuries a

New Delhi: The Border Security Force (BSF) has detected a tunnel just beneath the India-Pakistan international border fence in Jammu, officials said on Saturday. The force has launched a major search operation in the area to look for other such hidden structures that aid infiltration even as it is analysing the spotted structure, they said. Pakistan made sand bags with Shakargarh/Karachi written were also found at the mouth of the tunnel to hide it. The place of opening of tunnel is around 170 Mtrs from IB towards Indian side in the field of a local farmer. pic.twitter.com/PrD0LpeAGk — BSF (@BSF_India) August 29, 2020 BSF Director General Rakesh Asthana has directed his frontier commanders to ensure that the anti-infiltration grid is intact and there are no gaps along this front, they added. The tunnel, about 50 metres from the border fence on the Indian side, was located by a BSF patrol on Thursday in the Samba sector of Jammu.The force later examined the tunnel and found pl

Union Minister of Education Ramesh Pokhriyal, on Saturday, told News18 that the Central Government has come to the decision to conduct National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) and Joint Entrance Exam (Main) after careful and due consideration. Speaking to the news channel, Pokhriyal said: "Health of our students is the topmost priority but their education is a close second, which is why we have made every arrangement at (an exam) centre to hold exams in a safe and secure manner. You are saying exams can wait, but we all know that JEE was scheduled to be held in April but looking at the situation we pushed it back by four months. Likewise, NEET was to be held in May which is now being held in September. So we took these decisions after carefully looking at the situation." "It is true that it has been difficult but we do not know how long will this coronavirus last. We have to learn to live with this and move forward. That is why Supreme Court is also sayi

The All India Law Entrance Test (AILET) this year will be held on 26 September. The National Law University Delhi (NLUD) on Saturday released the exam schedule on its official website. The entrance examination will be organised by the National Testing Agency (NTA) in more than 100 exam centres across the nation. According to Hindustan Times , the test will follow the computer-based test (CBT) methodology and will begin at 11 am. The one-and-a-half-hour exam will conclude at 12.30 pm. Candidates appearing for the AILET 2020 can seek admission to BA LLB (Honours), LLM and PhD courses offered by the National Law University Delhi, reported Times of India . The report added that the test centres managed by the NTA will adhere to all “public health and safety measures” in view of the novel coronavirus. Detailed instructions regarding the same will be issued later. Students seeking admission in law colleges other than NLUD need to appear and qualify the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT

The National Testing Agency has released the Admit Card  for the Delhi University Entrance Test (DUET) examinations 2020. Candidates appearing for the entrance examination can download their hall tickets from the official site at https://www.nta.ac.in/DuetExam . The entrance exam will act as the door to securing a seat in the colleges under Delhi University for UG, PG, M Phil and PhD courses. The DUET will be a computer-based test and the admit cards need to be downloaded online as these won't be sent to individual applicants by post, reported The Times of India . Here is how you can download the DUET admit card 2020 Step 1: On your preferred search engine, enter the name of the official site of NTA DUET Step 2: Open the portal at http://ntaexam2020.cbtexam.in/candidateportal/LoginPage.aspx Step 3: Fill in details in the space given for successful candidate login (form number and date of birth in the YYYYMMDD format) Step 4: Press Log in Step 5: A new page will open with the

Raipur : Heavy rains battered several parts of Chhattisgarh over the last two days, creating a flood-like situation in some areas of at least four districts and causing rivers, including the Mahanadi, to flow above the danger mark, officials said. Nearly 12,000 houses in various districts of the state were partially or completely damaged due to the incessant rainfall and thousands of people were shifted to relief camps, they said. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel chaired a meeting on Friday night with all district collectors and Superintendents of Police (SPs) through video-conferencing to assess the situation and take stock of relief measures being undertaken in flooded areas, a public relations department official said on Saturday. "Flood-like situation has been created in many districts of the state due to incessant downpour, which has sent rivers and rivulets in spate. Settlements in low-lying areas have also been inundated in several urban areas," the official quoted the

New Delhi : India has received the highest rainfall in the month of August in the last 44 years, IMD data shows, as several parts of the country have witnessed floods. Until 28 August, the month recorded a 25 percent surplus rainfall. It has also surpassed the previous highest rainfall in August, which was recorded in 1983. In that year, August had recorded a 23.8 percent excess rainfall. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) data shows that in August 1976, the country had recorded a 28.4 percent excess rainfall. The country has so far recorded nine percent more rainfall than normal. Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Goa have recorded excess rainfall while Sikkim has recorded a large excess. Many states have seen floods after the swelling of rivers. According to the Central Water Commission (CWC), the overall storage position of the reservoirs in the country till 27 August is better than the corresponding period of last year. It is also better than the aver

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has issued the exam day guidelines for the National Council of Hotel Management and Catering Technology Joint Entrance Examination (NCHMCT JEE). Students set to appear for the exam need to adhere by the COVID-19 health guidelines. These instructions have been detailed in the document provided along with the Admit Card, said the advisory. Apart from the general exam rules like entering and leaving the hall within the stipulated time, the board has also advised candidates to come visit the exam centre a day in advance to “see the arrangements at the centre, so that they do not face any problem on the day of examination”. According to Careers 360 , NTA will ensure that all possible steps are taken at the test centres so that the candidates can be safe from the scope of any infection. Social distancing, wearing of masks and thermal checking will be followed. Proper frisking will be conducted before letting an examinee inside the hall and the NTA mentio

Actress Rhea Chakraborty, who is accused of abetting the suicide of film star Sushant Singh Rajput , reached the DRDO guest house in Mumbai for the second consecutive day on Saturday for questioning by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), an official said. A vehicle carrying Rhea Chakraborty (28) reached the DRDO guest house in suburban Santacruz, where the probe team is stationed, around 1.30 pm. She was escorted by a police van. Based on the request made by the CBI, the Mumbai Police provided security to Chakraborty, an official said on Saturday. The CBI officials, who are in Mumbai to probe the actor's death case, made the request to the city police on Saturday, he said. The CBI had on Friday questioned the actress at the DRDO guest house in suburban Santacruz in connection with the case. "On the request made by the central probe agency, we have provided security to Rhea," the police official said. Recently, she had said in a social media post that there wa

The Delhi University will conduct the second phase of online open book exam (OBE) exams from 14 September. Students of final-year undergraduate and postgraduate courses, who could not appear in the first phase or have failed to upload and submit the scanned images of the answer scripts, can take the exam. The university in its notice said that the examination is a one-time measure in view of COVID-19 pandemic. The first phase started on 10 August and will continue till 31 August. The varsity said that students under the PWD category who have appeared in the first phase of the exam but wish to improve their performance in selected papers can also appear for the second phase. "The best grade/marks secured by the student based on the two examinations shall be taken into consideration for the preparation of results," it said. The exam will be conducted in both offline and online-mode. Students in their exam forms will have to specify the mode of receiving question papers an

  Future Apple AirPods might come with different controls with the company trying to shift to a capacitive touch system from the existing force sensor. A recent patent application , titled 'Portable Listening Device with Sensors' that surfaced online, reveals that the Cupertino-based firm is working on introducing a greater number of gesture-based controls. Instead of the usual strong taps or long squeezes, a simple swipe will answer the calls or skip music tracks for you. The newly teased touch sensors would cover the better part of the exterior of the AirPod, reports GSM Arena and the rest is dependent on the way the data will travel to the device via the sensor. While most of the device description in the patent application matches with the description of existing AirPods or AirPods Pro, the only novel factor seems to focus on the sensor setup of the earpods, reported Apple Insider . The application reads that the AirPods will have an “exterior surface that defines a s

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Friday announced that it will provide free transport and accommodation to candidates appearing in the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) in the first week of September. This was announced by Chief Secretary AK Tripathy. "Keeping in view the prevailing pandemic as well as flood situation in the state, the government will provide free transport and accommodation to candidates of the JEE," he told reporters. The chief secretary said that as many as 37,000 candidates are likely to appear in the examination from 26 centres spread across seven different towns including Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. The JEE examination will be held between 1 and 6 September. "The district administrations, police and regional transport officers are directed to facilitate the movement, transportation and lodging of all the candidates and their guardian," he said. He urged JEE aspirants to share details with nodal ITI principals by 31 August so that necess

Srinagar : Three militants and a soldier were killed in a gunbattle in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Saturday, officials said. Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the Zadoora area of Pulwama district in south Kashmir during the night following specific information about the presence of militants there, a police official said. He said the search operation turned into an encounter after the militants fired upon a search party of the security forces. In the exchange of firing, three militants were killed, the official said. Incriminating material, including arms and ammunition, was recovered from the encounter site, he added. Srinagar-based Defence spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia said one soldier was critically injured during the gunfight and later he succumbed to the injuries. The operation is going on, the official said. from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/2QAkz6R Press Trust of India

Mumbai/Delhi: Activist Anna Hazare on Friday said it was "unfortunate" that the Delhi BJP should ask him to join in its agitation against the AAP government when it has a huge cadre of its own and wields power in the Centre. His going to Delhi would not make any difference as he did not believe any party can give the country a bright future, Hazare said in a letter to Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta. Gupta had on Monday written to Hazare, urging him to join his party's "mass movement" against the Arvind Kejriwal government, which he had claimed was "a new name of social, political and economic corruption". Reacting to Hazare's response, Gupta on Friday said "the Delhi BJP has a strong organisation and is capable of leading all kinds of mass movements but wanted the symbolic presence of the social activist because the AAP was born out of the movement led by him". Several senior Delhi BJP leaders criticised Gupta for bringing "embarra

In 2017, images of a frothing Bellandur lake — Bengaluru’s largest water body — were widely broadcast. Incredulous viewers saw giant clouds of foam drifting and accumulating through the city. As citizens complained of the unbearable stench rising from the water, environmental groups came down hard on the industries responsible, even taking the matter to the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which initiated a rejuvenation process. It is a different matter that the approach towards the revival of the lake faces severe criticism from environmentalists, activists, and academics alike. A couple of years on, with the desilting of Bellandur lake underway , tucked some 50 kilometers away in Bidadi Taluk, Byramangala lake confronts a similar reality. However, removed from the oft simplistic urban dialogue on climate change as well as the media gaze, farmers and herders from neighbouring villages push on even as toxic froth from the 1018-acre reservoir spills along the shoreline, impacting their

09:07 (IST) Coronavirus Outbreak in India LATEST Updates  Chidambaram pulls up Centre over economic mismanagement before COVID-19 Taking a swipe at the central government over mismanagement of the economy, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday said: "If the pandemic is an 'Act of God', how do we describe the mismanagement of the economy during 2017-18 2018-19 and 2019-20 before the pandemic struck India? Will the FM as the Messenger of God please answer?" 08:38 (IST) Coronavirus Outbreak in India LATEST Updates  All Lok Sabha MPs to get tested for COVID-19 48 hours before start of the session: Speaker  Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has requested all MPs willing to participate in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament to undergo RT-PCR test. At a preparatory meeting, chaired by Birla on Friday, it was decided that the RT-PCR test that usually takes 24-48 hours to come up with the results will be conducted. 08:28 (IST) Coronavirus Outbreak in