LIVE! Maha logs lowest Covid cases since May, 2020

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Fri, 05 November 2021

Maha logs lowest Covid cases since May, 2020

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22:51 Maha logs lowest Covid cases since May, 2020

Maharashtra on Friday reported 802 new COVID-19 cases, the lowest daily count since May 2, 2020, and 17 fresh fatalities, a health department official said.

With these additions, the tally of COVID-19 cases in the state increased to 66,16,101, while the death toll rose to 1,40,362, he said.

The state has witnessed a dip in new COVID-19 cases, a tally which came on the back of less than 60,000 tests, and also fatalities as compared to Thursday, when it had logged 1,141 COVID-19 cases and 32 deaths.

At 802, Maharashtra has reported the lowest number of COVID-19 cases since May 2, 2020, when it had logged 790 infections cases and 36 fatalities.

The official said 886 patients were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, pushing the number of recovered cases to 64,57,149.

The state now has 14,959 active cases.

He said 1,49,126 people are currently in home quarantine and another 994 in institutional quarantine.

Maharashtra's COVID-19 recovery rate stands at 97.6 per cent, while the fatality rate is 2.12 per cent.

The cumulative number of tests in the state climbed to 6,31,04,874, of which 57,290 were conducted in the last 24 hours, the lowest in recent times, the official said.

10 districts and nine municipal corporations did not report any new COVID-19 cases.

The health department, however, did not release separate cases for districts and areas under municipal corporations.

'For the period November 4 to 7, due to Diwali festival daily positive cases are shown as district figures and their distribution between district and municipal corporation has not been shown,' it stated.

Mumbai reported the highest 236 new infections, followed by Ahmednagar district at 103.

Among the eight regions of Maharashtra (each consisting of a set of districts), the Mumbai region reported the highest 364 new COVID-19 cases, followed by the Pune region at 252.

Among the other regions, the Nashik region reported 131 new cases, Aurangabad and Latur 19 each, Kolhapur 10, Akola five and the Nagpur region two.

The Mumbai region reported the highest 11 fatalities among the eight regions, followed by three in Nashik, two in Pune and one in the Kolhapur region.

Latur, Aurangabad, Nagpur and Akola regions, however, did not report any fatality in the last 24 hours.

The official said Mumbai witnessed 236 new COVID-19 cases and four deaths, while Pune city's data was unavailable.

Among 14,959 active cases in the state, Mumbai district has the highest at 4,114, he said.

The official said among the 64,57,149 recovered patients across the state, the highest -- 11,32,727 -- were from Pune district.

Coronavirus figures for Maharashtra are as follows: Total cases 66,16,101; new cases 802; total deaths 1,40,362; total recoveries 64,57,149; active cases 14,959; total tests 6,31,04,874. -- PTI

The Chairman of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Mukesh Ambani, and his family have no plans to relocate or reside in London or anywhere else in the world, clarified RIL on Friday.

In an official statement issued by RIL on Friday, the company stated that a recent report in a newspaper has led to unwarranted and baseless speculation in social media regarding the Ambani family's plans to partly reside in Stoke Park, London.

RIL's statement read, 'The Reliance Industries Limited will like to clarify that the Chairman and his family have no plans whatsoever to relocate or reside in London or anywhere else in the world.'

It further stated, 'Further, RIL group company, RIIHL, which acquired Stoke Park estate recently, would like to clarify that its acquisition of the heritage property is aimed at enhancing this as a premier golfing and sporting resort, while fully complying with the planning guidelines and local regulations.'

'This acquisition will add to the fast-growing consumer business of the group. Simultaneously, it will also expand the footprint of India's famed hospitality industry globally,' it added. -- ANI

Ocugen Inc., Bharat Biotech's partner for United States and Canada for COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin on Friday said it has submitted a request to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) of the jab for paediatric use.

The submission is based on results of a Phase 2/3 paediatric clinical trial conducted by Bharat Biotech in India with 526 children 2-18 years of age, which bridged immunogenicity data to a large, Phase 3 safety and efficacy clinical trial in nearly 25,800 adults in India, Ocugen said in a regulatory filing.

"Filing for Emergency Use Authorisation in the U.S. for paediatric use is a significant step toward our hope to make our vaccine candidate available here and help combat the COVID-19 pandemic," Shankar Musunuri, Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Ocugen said.

Some research suggests that people are seeking more choices when selecting a vaccine, especially for their children.

Having a new type of vaccine available will enable people to discuss with their child's physician the best approach for them to lower their child's risk of contracting COVID-19, he further said.

"The inactivated virus platform has been used for decades in vaccines for the paediatric population and, if authorised, we hope to offer another vaccine option to protect children as young as two years," he added.

A Phase 2/3, open-label, multi-center study was conducted in India from May 2021 to July 2021 to evaluate the safety, reactogenicity and immunogenicity of the whole-virion inactivated Vaccine in healthy volunteers in the 2-18 age group.

Covaxin was evaluated in three age groups: 2-6 years, 6-12 years and 12-18 years. All participants received two doses of the vaccine 28 days apart, it said.

Covaxin was recently awarded Emergency Use Listing by the World Health Organisation. -- PTI

The United States set to lift all restrictions for fully vaccinated international travellers, including from India, from November 8 but they will have to show proof of a negative coronavirus test before boarding a flight to the country, according to an official statement.

The travel guidelines included protocols around testing.

To further strengthen protections, unvaccinated travellers -- whether US Citizens, lawful permanent residents (LPRs), or the small number of accepted unvaccinated foreign nationals -- will now need to test within one day of departure.

And fully vaccinated travellers will continue to be required to show a pre-departure negative test taken within three days of travel to the US prior to boarding, the statement said.

Unvaccinated minors will need to test at the same time as the adults with whom they are travelling -- three days with vaccinated adults and one day with unvaccinated adults, it said.

According to the statement, passengers will need to show their vaccination status, and the airlines will need to match the name and date of birth to confirm that the passenger is the same person reflected on the proof of vaccination; determine that the record was issued by an official source (e.g., public health agency, government agency) in the country where the vaccine was given and review the essential information for determining if the passenger meets CDC's definition for fully vaccinated such as vaccine product, number of vaccine doses received, date(s) of administration, site (e.g., vaccination clinic, health care facility) of vaccination.

Airlines must deny boarding to passengers who do not meet these requirements or those who test positive for COVID-19, it said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has determined that for purposes of travel to the United States, vaccines accepted will include FDA approved or authorised and World Health Organisation (WHO) emergency use listed (EUL) vaccines.

The American travel industry has been asking for President Biden to lift the ban. -- PTI

20:38 BJP national executive meets on Sunday

The recent bypoll results, which were a setback for the Bharatiya Janata Party in some states, have added new dimension to the party's national executive meeting on Sunday as its top brass is likely to cast a fresh look at its affairs in places like West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan while deliberating its strategy for the upcoming assembly polls.

All 'important' issues will be up for deliberations, a BJP leader said of the meeting, adding the party is also likely to laud the central government for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the vaccination drive, and hail Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his development initiatives and successful foreign visits.

The robust revival in economic activities with the record GST collection last month following a slump due to the pandemic is also likely to come up for deliberation at the meeting.

However, it is the bypoll results in three Lok Sabha and 29 assembly seats spread across 13 states and a union territory that may weigh on the minds of the party leadership as it meets for the first time in a physical meeting following the pandemic's outbreak last year.

Known for laying great store by every popular verdict, however materially insignificant it may be in the broader context, the BJP leadership may review the party's affairs in West Bengal, where its fortunes have been sliding since the high of the 2019 Lok Sabha poll, and Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan, two states where the Congress has put up an impressive performance.

The BJP is in power in Himachal and as such the Congress's complete sweep of the bypolls in a Lok Sabha and three assembly seats there has caused concerns in the party.

The party has, however, registered a strong show in Assam, where it won all five seats with its ally, and Madhya Pradesh, where it won the lone Lok Sabha and two of the three assembly seats at stake.

A party leader said price rice may have been a factor and added that the Modi government has done the course correction by slashing the petrol and diesel prices followed by the BJP-ruled states giving further relief to people by slashing the Value Added Tax on the fuel prices.

That the opposition-ruled states have not done so may come handy for the BJP leaders in attacking the rivals when they meet.

Modi is likely to deliver the valedictory address at the national executive meeting in which he is expected to shape the party's stand on a variety of key issues and set the tone for its preparedness as it gears up for the assembly polls early next year in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur.

BJP president J P Nadda will deliver the inaugural address. -- PTI

19:34 Sameer Wankhede not to probe Aryan Khan case

Sameer Wankhede -- the Narcotics Control Bureau officer leading the investigation into the Aryan Khan drugs case, and against whom allegations of a ₹ 8 crore payoff and extortion have been made -- has been removed from the investigating team.

"Total six cases of our zone will now be investigated by Delhi teams (of NCB), including Aryan Khan's case and five other cases.

"It was an administrative decision," Mutha Ashok Jain, Deputy DG, South-Western Region, NCB, said on Friday.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik, who has levelled multiple allegations against Wankhede recently, tweeted, 'Sameer Wankhede removed from 5 cases including the Aryan Khan case. There are 26 cases in all that need to be probed. This is just the beginning... a lot more has to be done to clean this system and we will do it.' -- with ANI inputs

Image only for representation

19:10 Farmers confine BJP leaders inside temple

Some Bharatiya Janata Party leaders were on Friday confined inside a temple complex in Haryana's Rohtak for hours as several farmers and villagers staged a protest outside, with heavy police deployment at the site trying to resolve the matter.

A police official said former Haryana minister Manish Grover was among the leaders present inside the temple complex.

Senior officials of the district administration, police from Rohtak and some neighbouring districts were at the site to prevent escalation of the situation.

According to police, Grover accompanied by some local BJP leaders had gone to the temple in Kiloi village to watch Prime Minister Narendra Modi's live telecast from Kedarnath temple.

When the villagers came to know about the BJP leaders' presence, they reached the spot and formed a cordon around the temple, and prevented the leaders from coming out.

Media reports claimed that the farmers wanted Grover to apologise to them over some issue.

Farmers protesting against the Centre's three new farm laws enacted last year have been opposing programmes of leaders of Haryana's ruling BJP and Jannayak Janta Party.

Hundreds of farmers are camping at Delhi borders since November last year demanding that the government repeal the three agri laws -- Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

They claim that these laws will leave them at the mercy of corporates.

They are also demanding a new law to guarantee minimum support price (MSP) for their crops.

The Centre, which has held 11 rounds of talks with the farmers to break the deadlock, has maintained that the new laws are pro-farmer. -- PTI

19:07 Portals of Gangotri closed for winter

With the onset of winter, the sacred portals of the Gangotri shrine in Garhwal Himalayas of Uttarakhand were closed on Friday amid Vedic hymns and elaborate rituals.

Gangotri Mandir Samiti co-secretary Rajesh Semwal said the temple gates were closed at 11.45 am.

The idol of Goddess Ganga was then taken on a palanquin decked with flowers for Mukhba village, her winter abode, he said.

Over 32,948 pilgrims visited Gangotri this season after the temple was opened for devotees in September amid Covid restrictions such as a limit on the number of devotees.

The daily limit was lifted in October by the Uttarakhand high court following a drop in Covid-19 cases.

The portals of the shrine, which draws a large number of devotees from all over the country, are closed in October-November every year due to snow all around.

The portals of Kedarnath and Yamunotri will be closed on Saturday and that in Badrinath on November 20.

The shrines of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri are commonly known as Char Dham. -- PTI

The Centre has no proposal to extend distribution of free ration via the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKAY) beyond November 30 in view of recovery in the economy and good disposal of foodgrains in the open market under the OMSS policy, Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said on Friday.

The PMGKAY was announced in March 2020 to ameliorate distress caused by Covid-19.

Initially, the scheme launched for the April-June 2020 period but later was further extended till November 30.

"Since the economy is also reviving and our OMSS (open market sale scheme) disposal of foodgrains has also been exceptionally good this year. So, there is no proposal to extend PMGKAY," Pandey told reporters during a press briefing.

Under the PMGKAY, the government supplies free ration to 80 crore ration card holders identified under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).

The free ration is given over and above the subsidised grains distributed to them via ration shops.

The government has been giving rice and wheat to bulk consumers under the OMSS policy to improve availability in the domestic market and check prices. -- PTI

India is set to host the regional security dialogue on Afghanistan on November 10, a meeting that will be conducted at the national security advisor (NSA) level, sources said on Friday.

NSA Ajit Doval will chair the meeting next week.

India had formally invited the NSAs of Russia, Iran, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan for the conference.

According to sources, there has been an overwhelming response to India's invitation.

Several countries including Russia and Iran have confirmed participation in the meeting, in which, not just Afghanistan's immediate land neighbours are invited but also Central Asian countries are invited.

The enthusiastic response is a manifestation of the importance attached to India's role in regional efforts to promote peace and security in Afghanistan, sources said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has declined the invitation to the regional countries' national security advisors meeting on Afghanistan being hosted by India.

"Pakistan's decision is unfortunate, but not surprising. It reflects its mindset of viewing Afghanistan as its protectorate. Pakistan has not attended the previous meetings of this format. Its media comments against India are an unsuccessful attempt to deflect attention from its pernicious role in Afghanistan," sources said.

Aside from Pakistan, another country that is yet to respond to India's invitation is China.

Two earlier meetings in this format have been held in Iran in September 2018 and December 2019.

The third meeting in India could not be held earlier due to the pandemic.

The high-level participation in next week's meeting hosted by India reflects the widespread and growing concern of regional countries about the situation in Afghanistan and their desire to consult and coordinate with each other, sources said.

India has an important role to play in this process, they added. -- ANI

17:11

Covid situation in India this year, till November 5.

17:10 Karnataka govt withdraws night curfew

The Karnataka government on Friday withdrew the night curfew and gave the nod to holding horse racing in strict adherence to the COVID-19 appropriate behaviour.

With COVID-19 cases coming down significantly in the state, Karnataka Chief Secretary P Ravi Kumar issued an order to this effect.

The order said, 'Night curfew, which is being imposed from 10 pm to 5 am is herewith withdrawn.'

Regarding horse racing, the order said, 'Number of racing patrons attending horse racing shall be strictly as per the seating capacity of the venue and only fully vaccinated people with COVID-19 vaccine will be allowed entry into such premises.'

The night curfew was imposed from July 3 onwards at the end of the two-month lockdown when the second wave hit the state starting from the April-end.

The state reported 261 fresh COVID-19 cases, five deaths and 8,267 active cases on Thursday. -- PTI

Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday informed that he has taken back his resignation as the president of the party's Punjab unit.

"I have taken back my resignation (as Punjab Congress chief) and I categorically state that the day new Advocate General will be appointed and a new panel will come, I will take charge of my office. It was not any personal ego," Sidhu said while addressing a press conference in Chandigarh.

On September 28, Sidhu resigned as the chief of the Punjab Unit of Congress.

He was reportedly upset over the bureaucratic setup and his commands not being followed after the Cabinet expansion in Punjab.

He was appointed as the president of the Punjab Congress on July 23 this year following months of turmoil in the state Congress unit.

After the tussle in Punjab Congress between Sidhu and Captain Amarinder Singh escalated in August, the party had appointed Sidhu as the Congress chief apparently against the wishes of then chief minister.

Amarinder Singh had in September stepped down as the chief minister and recently tendered his resignation from the primary membership of Congress which has also been accepted by party interim chief Sonia Gandhi.

The former chief minister has launched a new party 'Punjab Lok Congress'. -- ANI

15:45 Petrol price further cut by Rs 8 in BJP states

Petrol price has been further reduced by as much as Rs 8.7 per litre and diesel by Rs 9.52 in Bharatiya Janata Party ruled states and UTs -- from Ladakh to Puducherry -- as they matched the central government's announcement of a cut in excise duty with slashing of local sales tax (VAT) rates.

Buckling under pressure, the Union government had on Wednesday cut excise duty on petrol by Rs 5 per litre and that on diesel by Rs 10 a litre to give reprieve to consumers battered by record-high retail fuel prices.

This announcement was matched by 22 states and Union Territories cutting VAT rates in different proportions.

This has led to BJP and its partner ruled states witnessing steeper reductions in petrol and diesel prices in comparison to Maharashtra, Delhi, West Bengal and other states that are governed by other political parties, according to a price chart of different locations prepared by state-owned oil firms.

The additional reduction, on top of the excise duty cut, is the lowest in Uttarakhand because of lower duty cuts and the highest in UT of Ladakh.

On petrol, the price reduction over-and-above excise reduction ranges from Rs 1.97 per litre in the case of Uttarakhand to Rs 8.70 in the case of UT of Ladakh.

For diesel, the additional reduction warranted by VAT cuts, ranging from Rs 17.5 a litre in Uttarakhand to Rs 9.52 in the case of Ladakh.

The states and UTs that extended additional VAT benefits are Karnataka, Puducherry, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Assam, Sikkim, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Chandigarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Ladakh.

Karnataka saw Rs 8.62 a litre cut in petrol price due to VAT reduction and Rs 9.40 in diesel rates, while Madhya Pradesh gave its citizens an additional Rs 6.89 price relief on petrol and Rs 6.96 on diesel.

Uttar Pradesh lowered VAT on petrol by Rs 6.96 and diesel by Rs 2.04 a litre.

States that have so far not lowered VAT include Congress and its allies ruled Rajasthan, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu, Aam Aadmi Party-ruled Delhi, Trinamool Congress-governed West Bengal, Left-ruled Kerala, Biju Janata Dal-governed Odisha, Telangana Rashtra Samiti-led Telengana and Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress-ruled Andhra Pradesh.

Wednesday's excise duty cut had translated into a reduction in the price of petrol in the range of Rs 5.7 to Rs 6.35 per litre across the country and diesel rates by Rs 11.16 to Rs 12.88.

Since states charge local sales tax or VAT not just on the base price but also on the excise duty levied by the Centre, the total incidence of price reduction was higher than Rs 5 a litre cut in excise duty on petrol and Rs 10 per litre cut in diesel.

The reduction was larger in states with higher VAT. In Delhi, the reduction in petrol price was Rs 6.07 per litre, and that on diesel was Rs 11.75, according to the price chart.

After duty changes, the costliest petrol is sold in Rajasthan at Rs 111.10 per litre (Jaipur), followed by Mumbai (Rs 109.98) and Andhra Pradesh (Rs 109.05).

The fuel is below Rs 100-a-litre-mark in most BJP ruled states baring Karnataka (Rs 100.58), Bihar (Rs 105.90), Madhya Pradesh (Rs 107.23) and Ladakh (Rs 102.99).

Similarly, the costliest diesel is now sold in Rajasthan at Rs 95.71 a litre (Jaipur), followed by Andhra Pradesh (Rs 95.18) and Mumbai (Rs 94.14).

The cheapest diesel is in Mizoram at Rs 79.55 a litre.

Petrol costs Rs 103.97 per litre in Delhi, and diesel is sold for Rs 86.67 per litre. VAT rates differ from state to state, leading to differential rates of fuel.

The excise duty cut announced on Wednesday night was the highest-ever reduction in excise duty. It rolls back a part of the Rs 13 and Rs 16 per litre increase in taxes on petrol and diesel effected between March 2020 and May 2020 to avoid passing on to consumers the sharp fall in international oil prices at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

That hike in excise duty had taken central taxes on petrol to their highest level of Rs 32.9 per litre and that on diesel to Rs 31.8 a litre.

The tax cut follows an unrelenting hike in international oil prices, pushing pump rates across the country to their highest-ever levels.

While petrol soared to above Rs 100-a-litre-mark in all major cities, diesel had crossed that level in more than one-and-a-half dozen states.

The total increase in petrol price since the May 5, 2020, decision of the government to raise excise duty to record levels had totalled Rs 38.78 per litre.

Diesel rates have, during this period, gone up by Rs 29.03 per litre.

The relentless increase in fuel prices had been severely criticised by the Opposition parties, particularly Congress, which had demanded that the government reduce its excise duty.

Based on April to October consumption numbers, the loss of revenue to the government due to the excise duty cut will be Rs 8,700 crore per month.

This totals to an annual impact of over Rs 1 lakh crore, industry sources said.

For the remainder of the current fiscal, the impact would be Rs 43,500 crore.

Data available from the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) in the Union Ministry of Finance showed excise duty collections during April-September 2021 surged to over Rs 1.71 lakh crore, from Rs 1.28 lakh crore mop-up in the same period of the previous fiscal.

For the full 2020-21 fiscal, excise collections were Rs 3.89 lakh crore and Rs 2.39 lakh crore in 2019-20, the CGA data showed.

After the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, excise duty is levied only on petrol, diesel, ATF and natural gas.

All other goods and services are under the GST regime.

Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Rameswar Teli had in July told Parliament that the Union government's tax collections on petrol and diesel jumped by 88 per cent to Rs 3.35 lakh crore in the year to March 31, 2021 (2020-21 fiscal) from Rs 1.78 lakh crore a year back.

Excise collection in the pre-pandemic 2018-19 was Rs 2.13 lakh crore. -- PTI

Publishers Pan Macmillan India said that they have taken 'immediate steps to comply with' Bombay high court's order restraining sale, circulation and distribution of aviator-industrialist Vijaypat Singhania's autobiography titled 'An Incomplete Life'.

'On the evening of 4 November 2021, the Bombay High Court restrained Pan Macmillan India from publication, sale and distribution of the book titled An Incomplete Life by Vijaypat Singhania.

'An intimation and a copy of the high courts order have been sent to us and we have taken immediate steps to comply with the order,' the publishers said in a release.

Vijaypat Singhania, 83, former chairperson of the Raymond Group, is embroiled in a legal battle with his estranged son Gautam Singhania and the Raymond Company over the release of the book.

In 2019, Raymond Ltd and its chairman Gautam Singhania had filed suits in a Thane district sessions court and a civil court in Mumbai, seeking injunction against the book claiming its contents were defamatory.

In April 2019, the Thane court had granted an injunction on the release of the book.

The company on Thursday approached the high court seeking urgent reliefs claiming Vijaypat Singhania had 'surreptitiously' released the 232-page book on Sunday (October 31).

On Thursday, a vacation bench of Justice S P Tavade heard Raymond's plea and passed an order restraining further sale, distribution and circulation of the book.

In their statement after on Friday, the publishers said, 'We want to clarify that Pan Macmillan India was not party to any proceedings in the Thane district court in 2019 between Raymond and the authors previous publishers.

'As such, we were also not made aware of any injunction by the sessions court at Thane regarding any prior version of the book.'

'The contents of the manuscript submitted to us were vetted by a legal expert and we believe the book published by us to not be defamatory.

'While we are fully complying with the order of 4 November 2021 passed by the Honourable high court, we are seeking legal advice as to the remedies available to Pan Macmillan India,' the statement read.

The petition, filed through advocates Kartik Nayar, Rishab Kumar and Krish Kalra, claimed Vijaypat Singhania and the publishers had breached an April 2019 order issued by the sessions court in Thane district by which an injunction was issued on release of the autobiography.

'The high court and the Thane sessions court had passed several orders between February 2019 and April 2019 restraining Vijaypat Singhania from publishing or releasing his autobiography,' Nayar said.

'However, the respondents (Vijaypat Singhania and publishers) in wilful disregard to the orders have already published the book titled 'An Incomplete Life' and put it for sale in the market,' he said.

The petition said it had to approach the high court directly as the Thane sessions court was shut for Diwali vacation.

Justice Tavade, after hearing the matter, passed an order restraining Vijaypat Singhania and the publishers from selling, circulating or distributing the book.

'Persons shall cease and desist from advertising, displaying, writing, editing, printing, authoring, selling, offering for sale, further distribution, or otherwise making available the book directly or indirectly,' the court said.

As per the company's petition, the autobiography infringes upon its right to privacy, defames the firm and also discusses its business operations and other confidential information.

'The book is also believed to be containing information and details about the confidential arbitration proceedings and other legal proceedings that are on-going between the petitioner's (Raymond) chairman Gautam Singhania and Vijaypat Singhania,' the plea said. -- with PTI inputs

Tripura police have registered a case against four Supreme Court lawyers under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and various sections of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly promoting communal disharmony with their social media posts about the recent violence targeting Muslims, a senior official said on Friday.

The lawyers have also been served notices asking them to appear before police by November 10 for questioning, Superintendent of Police of West Tripura district Manik Das said.

"A group of Supreme Court lawyers visited Tripura on Tuesday last and after their visit we noticed that several posts were made in social media expressing their discontent regarding the recent communal incidents. Police has registered a case and wants to know if the posts were made by them or were fake posts," Das told PTI.

The case was registered at West Agartala police station on November 3 under various Sections of the IPC including 153 (a) and (b) related to promoting disharmony, enmity or feelings of hatred between different groups on the grounds of religion, race etc, 469 (forgery), 504 (intentional insult, provocation), 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy), besides section 13 of the UAPA.

If convicted under the tough UAPA, an offender may face imprisonment up to seven years.

The lawyers belong to different organisations including Lawyers for Democracy, National Confederation of Human Rights Organisation (NCHRO) and the People's Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL)

Notices were served to Estesham Hashmi, lawyer of the Supreme Court of India, advocate Amit Srivastav, Coodinator of Lawyers for Democracy, NCHRO national secretary Ansar Indori and PUCL member Mukesh Kumar.

They were alleged to have claimed that the Muslim community was targeted, including women, and a mosque was vandalised.

The team demanded appropriate police action against the attackers, those who spread rumours and officials who remained inactive during attacks that occurred in the aftermath of violence against Hindus in Bangladesh during Durga Puja.

A mosque was vandalised and two shops were set ablaze at Chamtilla during the October 26 Vishva Hindu Parishad rally which was called to protest against the communal violence in neighbouring Bangladesh.

Three houses and a few shops, reportedly owned by Muslims, were also ransacked in nearby Rowa Bazar, North Tripura Superintendent of Police Bhanupada Chakraborty had said.

The state government had on October 29 alleged that a group with vested interest from outside had hatched a conspiracy against the administration to create unrest in Tripura and malign its image by uploading fake photographs of a burning mosque on social media after the October 26 incident.

In a video message on Wednesday, DIG (Southern Range) G K Rao said, 'Some mischievous incidents are happening in the state since the last few days. There was some minor loss of property and some incidents of disturbance occurred. Tripura Police registered 11 cases including 4 in North Tripura, 3 in West Tripura, one in Gomati district and three cases in Sepahijala district.'

In the notice to the lawyers, police asked them to delete the social media posts and appear before the investigators by November 10.

The Trinamool Congress, which is seeking to make a political foray into the state, approached the National Human Rights Commission with a complaint about the incidents of violence.

The human rights panel has forwarded its complaint to Tripura Chief Secretary Kumar Alok and Director General of Police V S Yadav, and asked them to submit an 'action taken report' within four weeks.

In its complaint to the NHRC on October 28, the TMC alleged that despite reports of violence against people from the religious minority community, the state government didn't take proper action.

Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb recently announced compensation for losses incurred by the victims of the violence. -- PTI

IMAGE: Social Democratic Party of India supporters stage a protest against the Tripura Government demanding to stop the violence against the minority community near Tripura Bhawan, in New Delhi on Friday. Photograph: Rahul Singh/ANI Photo

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan, who was granted bail in the drugs-on-cruise case, appeared before Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), to mark his weekly (every Friday) presence before the agency.

On October 29, Bombay high court had issued a detailed bail order of Aryan Khan which stated that he should appear before NCB every Friday and was asked to surrender his passport.

The court had asked all three bail applicants -- Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant, Munmum Dhamecha -- to appear before the NCB Mumbai office every Friday, between 11 am to 2 pm to mark their presence.

The court granted bail to Aryan, Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha on October 29.

Aryan Khan was arrested on October 3.

An NCB team busted an alleged drugs party on the Cordelia Cruise ship which was on its way to Goa at mid-sea on October 2.

A total of 20 people, including two Nigerian nationals, have been arrested so far in the case. -- ANI

More than 116.50 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses have been provided to states and union territories so far, out of which, over 15.54 crore balance and unutilised COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with them to be administered, the ministry of health and family welfare said on Friday.

'More than 116.50 crore vaccine doses have been provided to states and Union Territories (UTs) so far through the central government's free of cost channel and through the direct state procurement category,' said the ministry.

'More than 15.54 crore balance and unutilised COVID vaccine doses are still available with the states/UTs to be administered,' it added.

Meanwhile, India reported 12,729 fresh COVID-19 cases and 221 deaths in the last 24 hours. -- ANI

12:12 Decade belongs to Uttarakhand: PM in Kedarnath

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that several infrastructure projects have been planned for Uttarakhand which will boost tourism in the state.

"A number of infrastructure works are planned for Uttarakhand including road connectivity to Char Dhams and ropeway near Hemkund Sahib to facilitate devotees. This decade belongs to Uttarakhand. In the next 10 years, the state will receive more tourists than it did in the last 100 years," the prime minister said while addressing people at Kedarnath in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand.

"Work has also started on a cable car, so that more devotees can visit Kedarnath," the prime minister added.

Lauding the efforts of the state government, he said, "The Uttarakhand government is working proactively connecting Char Dham with well-constructed roads and highways which will help in boosting tourism initiatives and employment in the state."

The prime minister today offered prayers at Kedarnath Temple.

He also inaugurated various re-development projects worth Rs 130 crores including Saraswati Retaining Wall Aasthapath and Ghats, Mandakini Retaining Wall Aasthapath, Tirth Purohit Houses and Garud Chatti bridge on river Mandakini.

Speaking on the occasion, the prime minister said, "It is an auspicious day to lay the foundation of not only new projects but opening a gateway of development for this 'Dev Bhoomi' to maximise the safety measures for devotees."

The prime minister also unveiled the 12-feet statue of Adi Shankaracharya at the premises of the Kedarnath Temple in Rudraprayag district.

This is the prime ministers' second visit to the temple during his term; the last time he visited the Kedarnath temple was in 2019.

Located on the bank of the Mandakini river, Kedarnath Temple is the of the four ancient pilgrimage sites referred to as 'Char Dham' which also include Yamunotri, Gangotri and Badrinath.

Built in the 8th century AD by Jagad Guru Adi Shankaracharya, Kedarnath Temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. -- ANI

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11:02 25% fewer fire incident calls this Diwali: Delhi Fire Service

The Delhi Fire Service on Friday said it received 152 fire-related calls on Diwali, which was less than 25 per cent from last year and the lowest so far on the festival.

No major fire incident or casualty was reported, Director of Delhi Fire Service, Atul Garg, said.

Out of the 152 calls, four-fire related calls were suspected due to crackers while other calls were related to short-circuit, fire in garbage and due to lighting of earthen lamps, they said.

"There has been no major fire-related incident this Diwali and no casualty was reported due to fire. In total, we received 152 calls which is less than 25 per cent from last year and the lowest so far on Diwali," Garg said.

The fire department had responded to 205 fire-related calls on Diwali last year, recalled officials.

According to fire officials, around 3,000 fire fighters were on duty for the last two days and Delhi Fire Service teams were deployed in over 30 specific locations across the capital to tackle any incident.

Fire tenders were deployed at 22 locations across the national capital including Bara Tooti Chowk, Tilak Nagar, Lajpat Nagar (Central Market), Lal Kuan Chowk, Lahori Gate, Nangloi, South Extension, Sonia Vihar, Mehrauli, Ghitorni metro station, among others.

Motorcycles fitted with fire-fighting equipments were also deployed in the streets and narrow lanes at six other locations, including Ambedkar Nagar, Kapashera, Chandni Chowk, Sabji Mandi, Ghanta Ghar, Paharganj, Shiela Cinema and Shadipur depot, a senior fire official said.

Another set of fire-fighting vehicles were also at deployed in the lanes of another six locations, including Connaught Circus, Hari Nagar, Geeta Colony, J Road and Paschim Vihar, he said.

ANI Photo

10:30 New Covid cases below 20,000 for 28 straight days

India logged 12,729 new coronavirus infections taking the country's total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,43,33,754, while the active cases increased to 1,48,922, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.

The death toll climbed to 4,59,873 with 221 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.

The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been below 20,000 for 28 straight days and less than 50,000 daily new cases have been reported for 131 consecutive days now.

The active cases comprise 0.43 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.23 per cent, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said.

A rise of 343 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23.

ANI Photo/Twitter

09:43 Modi unveils Shankaracharya statue at Kedarnath

Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the statue of Shri Adi Shankaracharya at Kedarnath in Uttarakhand.

ANI Photo/Twitter

09:15 Modi arrives in Kedarnath, prays at Shiva Temple

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Kedarnath on Friday morning and offered prayers at the Shiva temple there.

The prime minister is scheduled to unveil a 12-foot statue of Adi Guru Shankaracharya and inaugurate the rebuilt samadhi of the eighth century seer.

The historic visit will also see him inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of reconstruction projects worth over Rs 400 crore at the Himalayan temple.

Work on the Shankaracharya statue, weighing around 35 tonnes, had begun in 2019.

Modi was received at the Dehradun airport by Uttarakhand Governor Lt Gen Gurmit Singh (retd), Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and his cabinet colleagues Subodh Uniyal and Ganesh Joshi, besides Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker Premchand Aggarwal.

Unveiling of the statue will be streamed live at the 12 jyotirlingas, four Shankaracharya mutts (monasteries), his birthplace and several prominent temples across the country.

Kedarpuri reconstruction is considered the prime minister's dream project whose progress is reviewed personally by him at regular intervals.

Senior TMC leader and West Bengal minister Subrata Mukherjee will go down in history as a man for all seasons who sailed through the state's politics both as a deft politician and an able administrator for more than 50 years.

Seventy-five-year-old Mukherjee, who held the panchayat and rural development portfolios, passed away after prolonged illness at a state-run hospital in Kolkata on Thursday evening.

Born in 1946 in South 24 Parganas district, Mukherjee was the eldest of five siblings.

A stalwart in Bengal politics, his political career spanned more than five decades, beginning in the tumultuous 1960s as a student leader.

After being baptised in politics as a student leader of Bangabasi College in 1967, when West Bengal had its first non-Congress government, Mukherjee, through his organisational and oratory skills, quickly rose through the ranks and became one of the most popular leaders of the Congress, along with late Union minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi and former state Congress president Somen Mitra.

Dasmunsi and Mitra died in 2017 and 2020 respectively.

Mukherjee's organisational skills were noticed by Dasmunsi, who took him under his wings. The pair crisscrossed the length and breadth of West Bengal, fighting the two-front ideological and political battle with the Naxalites and the Left.

His oratory and organisational skills had also earned him praise of then prime minister Indira Gandhi.

Mukherjee's first brush with electoral politics came in 1971 when he became the youngest MLA in the West Bengal Assembly from the Ballygunge seat at 25.

His political career reached a new high when in 1972, he became the youngest minister in the Siddhartha Shankar Ray cabinet after the Congress returned to power with a massive mandate. He was made the minister of state for information and culture.

He was often criticised for suppressing the press during the Emergency period from 1975-77.

Although he lost the elections in 1977, it failed to stop his rapid growth in the party, and he was back in the Assembly after the 1982 polls from the Jorabagan seat. He remained a member of the Assembly till the last day of his life, from the Ballygunge seat.

According to veteran politicians of the state, Mukherjee was the political mentor of Mamata Banerjee during her initial years in Chhatra Parishad in the late 1970s and early 1960s.

Mukherjee had proposed Banerjee's name as the Congress candidate against then CPI(M) stalwart Somnath Chatterjee from the Jadavpur Lok Sabha seat in 1984 parliamentary polls. Banerjee went on to defeat Chatterjee to emerge as a giant killer in state politics.

One of the most colourful politicians in the state, Mukherjee was also known for his sense of humour and as someone who was at ease when it came to shifting camps.

He also acted in a television serial alongside Moon Moon Sen in the late 1980s.

He switched over to the newly-formed TMC in 1999, although he remained an MLA of the Congress from the Chowranghee seat.

His acumen as an able administrator was widely praised during his tenure as the mayor of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation from 2000 to 2005.

But in 2005, due to differences with Banerjee, he left the TMC and formed an alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party.

Mukherjee's desertion dealt a heavy blow to the TMC, leading to its defeat in the 2005 KMC election.

Furious over his betrayal, Banerjee had nicknamed him "tormuj" (watermelon), describing him as someone who was a Congress activist in public but was hand in glove with the CPI (M).

Though one of the Left Front regime's fiercest critics, Mukherjee was known for maintaining close ties with CPI(M) leaders, including the then chief minister Jyoti Basu.

He later went back to the Congress in 2005 only to desert it again just ahead of the 2010 KMC polls to join the TMC.

"Subrata Mukherjee was not only an able organiser and administrator but had a deep connection with the grassroots level workers. Maybe, that was the reason that he was always on the winning side," veteran Congress leader and MP Pradip Bhattacharya said.

In 2011, he was elected from the Ballygunge seat as a TMC candidate and was given the panchayats and rural development charge. During his tenure, West Bengal earned laurels for being one of the top-performing states in the implementation of the MGNREGA scheme. He also held the portfolio of public enterprise and industrial reconstruction.

Just ahead of the 2016 Assembly polls, Mukherjee's name cropped up in the Narada sting tape case along with a few other TMC leaders. He had denied any involvement and termed it a "political conspiracy".

A graduate of anthropology and a master's degree holder in archaeology, Mukherjee was a vivid storyteller who firmly believed in the existence of ghosts.

He unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha polls thrice -- from Kolkata Northwest in 2004 and from Bankura in 2009 and 2019.

Sahil Salvi

08:29 Mumbai cops probe extortion case against Pujari

The crime branch of Mumbai Police has started investigation into an extortion case filed against gangster Suresh Pujari, an official said on Nov 4.

Pujari was recently arrested in the Philippines but is yet to be deported to India.

A hotelier from suburban Santacruz has filed a complaint that Pujari had demanded Rs 50 lakh from him, the official said.

The complaint has been now transferred to the crime branch for investigation, he added.

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