Daily Current Affairs

Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 30 Knives are out in the Congress over a section of dissenters making daily public statements against the leadership, with Punjab party president Sunil Jakhar on Sunday becoming the first Congress functionary to publicly demand action against the out of line people. "The Congress president will have to draw a line somewhere. Strong action must be taken against party persons, no matter how senior, who continue to needle the leadership daily even after our president Sonia Gandhi graciously told them she bore no ill-will against anyone. These dissenters are aware that the Congress is going through difficult times. They think they are untouchables and can continue to exploit the party's predicament. They must be dealt with sternly," said Jakhar days after another veteran Ambika Soni demanded disciplinary action against letter writers in the meeting of the Congress Working Committee. Jakhar also slammed the dissenters fo...

Ahmedabad, August 31 The rise in number of Covid-19 cases should not be a cause of concern as long as the number of serious patients and deaths due to the disease remain low, say public health experts in Gujarat. They are of the view that the new cases being reported daily should be categorised as mild, moderate or severe to better understand the pandemic. "We are finding new cases every day, but the first thing we need to know is how many of them are serious," said Dileep Mavalankar, Director of the Gandhinagar-based Indian Institute of Public Health. "The government should report how many new patients have been put on oxygen or ventilator support...we are reporting low mortality," he said. The new cases should be divided into three categories- mild, moderate, if a patient needs oxygen, and severe, if he/she needs ventilator support, he said. In a recent study, Mavalankar found that between March and July, the percentage of deaths due to COVID-19 compared to ...

New Delhi, August 31 Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was admitted to the AIIMS here on August 18 for post-COVID care, was discharged on Monday morning, sources said. The AIIMS had said in a statement on Saturday that "he has recovered and is likely to be discharged in a short time". On August 2, Shah, 55, had said on Twitter that he had tested positive for COVID-19. He had undergone treatment at Medanta Hospital and was discharged after he tested negative for the disease. He was later admitted to the AIIMS following complaints of fatigue and body ache. PTI Source:- The Tribune https://ift.tt/2QGbn0Y

New Delhi, August 31 The Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce on Monday 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 August 25, 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 ...

New Delhi, August 30 The Congress on Sunday questioned the "alacrity" exhibited by the Centre in ordering a CBI probe into the Sushant Singh Rajput case and sought investigation into alleged BJP links of Sandeep Ssingh, producer of a biopic on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is under the scanner in a related drugs case. Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi asked who in the BJP is trying to "save" Ssingh, who produced "PM Narendra Modi", the posters of which were unveiled by the then Maharashtra CM, Devendra Fadnavis. Singhvi alleged that the film producer who claimed to be Rajput's close friend made 53 calls to the Maharashtra BJP office in the last few months. "Who he was seeking security from," Singhvi asked. He said political parties do not get into Bollywood matters. "But if a suspect is linked to the ruling party, the country wants to know who is he connected to and who in the BJP is trying to save Ssingh. Was Ssingh the rea...

Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 30 Knives are out in the Congress over a section of dissenters making daily public statements against the leadership, with Punjab party president Sunil Jakhar on Sunday becoming the first Congress functionary to publicly demand action against the out of line people. "The Congress president will have to draw a line somewhere. Strong action must be taken against party persons, no matter how senior, who continue to needle the leadership daily even after our president Sonia Gandhi graciously told them she bore no ill-will against anyone. These dissenters are aware that the Congress is going through difficult times. They think they are untouchables and can continue to exploit the party's predicament. They must be dealt with sternly," said Jakhar days after another veteran Ambika Soni demanded disciplinary action against letter writers in the meeting of the Congress Working Committee. Jakhar also slammed the dissenters fo...

Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 30 While most members of the ginger group that recently demanded radical organisational reforms in the Congress are busy defending their positions, at least one signatory to the letter is finding support, although marginal, to run for the post of Congress president. The Congress unit of Thiruvananthapuram has already launched a social media campaign in favour of Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor. The campaign started on August 19, just a few days after Tharoor and 22 others wrote a letter dated August 7 to Congress president Sonia Gandhi demanding a full time active party chief. The viral post inviting support for the ex-minister has since received 3.2K likes, 5.6K shares and 303 comments. Interestingly, a few comments under the Tharoor post also favour Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh as Congress president while many support Rahul Gandhi as well. Congress leaders are not amused by such a campaign of Tharoor supporters. Congress chief whip in Lok S...

New Delhi, August 30 The Congress today said once party president Sonia Gandhi had asked everyone to move on letting bygones be bygones it was not proper for anyone to comment in organisational affairs. Reacting to Ghulam Nabi Azad and Kapil Sibal consistently speaking to the media defending their letter, Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said, "I am not speaking about individuals, individual press conferences or reports. Nobody is censored to speak. But, once the Congress chief has spoken on the issue its letter and spirit must be observed in every way." — TNS Source:- The Tribune https://ift.tt/31Fjt06

New Delhi, August 30 Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his monthly radio address "Mann ki Baat" on Sunday lauded the country's canine brigade and specifically mentioned about two dogs — "Sophie" and "Vida". The two brave dogs were awarded the Chief of Army Staff's Commendation Cards on August 15. Sophie and Vida received this honour because they performed their duties diligently while protecting their country, the PM said. Military sources said Vida, belonging to an Army dog unit under Udhampur-headquartered Northern Command, was instrumental in the timely detection of five mines and one grenade buried underground, preventing possible casualties and injuries to soldiers. Sophie of the Special Frontier Force (bomb disposal squad) saved lives by sniffing out the presence of initiator/accelerant which could have been hastily used to fabricate an IED (improvised explosive device), they said. "Such canines have played a very important role in th...

New Delhi, August 30 The delimitation commission, set up to redraw the constituencies of Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, will visit the north-eastern states and the Union Territory after preparing a "broad framework" of the delimitation exercise, officials said. The commission will also seek views and inputs of its "associate members" — a group of Lok Sabha members and MLAs — after drawing up the broad framework. "First the broad framework has to be developed on carving out constituencies based on the 2011 Census. Only then would the delimitation commission visit the states to meet locals. Once the framework is drawn, it would also interact with associate members to seek their views and inputs," said an official aware of the developments. The delimitation panel will redraw the Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies of the four north-eastern states and work on increasing the Assembly seats of the Union Territory of Jamp...

New Delhi, August 30 The Supreme Court will on Monday pronounce its verdict on the quantum of punishment for activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who was held guilty of contempt of court on August 14 for scandalising the judiciary through his tweets against Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and four former CJIs. A Bench had reserved its order on August 25. A defiant Bhushan had refused to apologise, saying an insincere apology would amount to "contempt of my conscience and of an institution that I hold in highest esteem". — TNS Source:- The Tribune https://ift.tt/3b9frjL

Mumbai: Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar's building at Peddar Road has been sealed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) as a precautionary measure amid the Covid pandemic. The 90-year-old singer's family said the building was sealed as it housed many senior citizens. It said everyone was safe and the exercise was mandatory to take precautions. — PTI Source:- The Tribune https://ift.tt/2EISmZl

Kolkata: Featuring of a Sikh soldier on the homepage of the British Army website has gladdened Sikhs, many of whom are posting the link on their Facebook pages. "The Sikhs, wherever they go, leave a mark by their good work. Chamandeep's story also shows how versatile the community members are," said Jagmohan Singh Gill, Punjabi Sahitya Sabha chief. "Sikhs have been an integral part of the British Army. It is good to see the story of a Sikh soldier on the British Army homepage," said Bhupinder Singh Bashar, a poet. — TNS Source:- The Tribune https://ift.tt/2YL2M19

Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 30 Haryana withdraws lockdown order The Haryana Government has withdrawn the orders to keep shops and shopping malls, except those dealing in essential goods and services, closed on Mondays and Tuesdays after the Centre issued the guidelines for Unlock 4.0, said state Home Minister Anil Vij on Sunday. The country's Covid-19 caseload today topped 3.5 million, barely eight days after crossing 3 million infections. Setting a global record for the highest single-day surge for the second consecutive day —- with 78,761 cases on Sunday —- the Covid load has reached 35,42,733 while 27,13,933 persons have been cured. The daily cases stood at 76,472 on Saturday. The death toll has reached 63,498 with 948 people dying in the past 24 hours. In a positive sign, the case fatality rate dropped below 1.8 per cent to 1.79 per cent today with recoveries surging to 76.61 per cent. The active cases now stand at 7,65,302, which is 21.60 per cent...

Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 30 The Covid-19 outbreak has left the government with no option but to defer the completion date for conducting the first phase of the Census-2021 and the exercise to update the National Population Register (NPR). Sources said the first phase of both exercises was scheduled to be over by September 30, but now, it might be delayed by a year. They said though a final decision on new dates had not been taken yet, it was for certain that these could not be undertaken in 2020 in view of the increasing number of Covid-19 cases in the country. A senior Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) official, however, said: "At present, the government's priority is not Census. The entire machinery is involved in containing the pandemic. The delay by even a year in conducting Census and NPR would not have any adverse impact." The Indian Census is one of the largest administrative and statistical exercises in the world, with the involvement of more than ...

M Aamir Khan Tribune News Service Srinagar, August 30 Involved in attacks, radicalising youth As per police records, the killed terrorists were part of groups involved in planning and executing several terror attacks in Kashmir LeT commander Saqib Bashir, one of the slain ultras, was involved in radicalising youth and luring them into the terror fold Three militants of the Lashkar-e-Toiba outfit (LeT) and an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of the counter-insurgency unit of the police were killed during a nightlong encounter in the Pantha Chowk area on the outskirts of the city. One of the three slain militants was an LeT commander, who was active for the past year and a half. According to the police, he was involved in several attacks on the security forces besides weapon-snatching and luring youth to join militant ranks. "All three were from the LeT. One of them was their commander and he was involved in terror activities for the past year and a half," Di...

Tribune News Service Jammu, August 30 A Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) was today killed in fresh shelling by Pakistan troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Nowshera sector of Rajouri district. According to official sources, Pakistan resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violation using small arms at Khanger, Kalsian and Bhawani along the LoC. "Our troops responded to the enemy fire. In the incident, a Naib Subedar was critically injured and later succumbed to his injuries," said Lt Col Devender Anand, PRO (Defence), Jammu. The deceased soldier was identified as Naib Subedar Rajwinder Singh, a resident of Goindwal Sahib village in Amritsar's Khadoor Sahib tehsil. He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter. This is the eighth casualty due to shelling in Poonch and Rajouri over the past three months. Source:- The Tribune https://ift.tt/2YOyTNQ

New Delhi, August 30 Reacting sharply to Pakistan hailing the recent Gupkar Declaration in which six political parties of Jammu and Kashmir vowed to fight collectively against the abrogation of Article 370, National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah today asserted: "We are not anyone's puppet." He said Pakistan had always abused mainstream political parties of Jammu and Kashmir, "but now suddenly they like us". The former CM was replying to a query on Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi's statement that the declaration issued by the NC, PDP, Congress and three other parties was not an "ordinary" occurrence. "Let me make it clear that we are not anyone's puppet, neither New Delhi's nor of anyone across the border. We are answerable to the people of Jammu and Kashmir and will work for them," he said. To a question on cross-border terrorism, he said, "I would urge Pakistan to stop sending armed men into Ka...

New Delhi, August 30 Eighty years after the first unit of the Army Air Defence (AAD) was raised during the British rule in Mumbai, the Corps of the AAD has decided to change its Raising Day to match it with the date the unit was raised by the British. The AAD will now observe its Raising Day on September 15, instead of January 10. It was on January 10, 1989, that the Corps AAD was bifurcated from the Corps Artillery and was formed as a separate unit. In July 1940, Sir Claude Auchinleck, commander-in-chief of the British Indian Armed Forces, took a decision to raise anti-aircraft units in India with Indian troops. On 15 September, 1940, a group of British officers under Major RA Ronald raised the 1st Technical Training Battery. This group formed the nucleus of the 1st Indian anti-air regiment at Colaba, Mumbai. Immediately, a unit was dispatched to defend oilfields in Digboi, Assam. The remaining troops sailed to Malaya and Singapore to protect assets against the anticipated Japane...

Sukhmeet Bhasin Tribune News Service Bathinda, August 30 Modus operandi Money was charged from the beneficiary patients, whose e-cards were generated by these hospitals Two files were made — one for treatment on cash payment and the other for making claim under the scheme Also, dummy entries were made to bungle funds After Adesh Hospital, Bathinda, was delisted last week, five more hospitals have been de-empanelled for allegedly embezzling funds under the Ayushman Bharat insurance scheme. Even while charging patients, these hospitals had been wrongly claiming insurance from the government. Besides, dummy entries were made to bungle funds. The hospitals delisted are Astha Hospital (Bathinda), Akashdeep Hospital (Amritsar), Jindal Ortho Hospital (Mansa), Verma Hospital (Amritsar) and Garg Nursing Home (Moga). More hospitals are under the scanner, say sources. A notice issued to Adesh Hospital on August 22 said money was charged from a beneficiary patient, whose e...