Bahujan Smaja Party president Mayawati on Thursday asked Uttar Pradesh government to take strict action against not only gangster Vikas Dubey, who along with his henchmen killed eight policemen last week in an ambush in Kanpur, but also against his patrons in the government and politics.

     

The people of UP and the country are waiting for the government to expose all the criminal nexus and mafiyagiri' of Vikas Dubey, "the dreaded criminal following his arrest after a long struggle by the Madhya Pradesh police", said Mayawati in a tweet.

   

"The public is also waiting for the Uttar Pradesh government to ensure strict punishment at the earliest to all the government and political patrons and conspirators connected with Vikas Dubey in his heinous crimes," she said in another tweet.

   

Dubey was arrested by the Madhya Pradesh police in Ujjain on Thursday morning after giving a slip to the UP police which was on the lookout for him since Friday when he and his henchmen ambushed a police party which had gone to his village under Chaubeypur police station to arrest him. -- PTI 

The Uttar Pradesh government has imposed a lockdown in the state from 10 pm on Friday till 5 am on Monday, permitting movements only for providing medical and essential services in the state.

     

"The curbs have been imposed in the state to check the spread of COVID-19 and other communicable diseases," Chief Secretary R K Tiwari said in an order communicated to district officials all over the state.

   

This decision has been taken after reviewing the present situation of the COVID -19 pandemic and for putting an effective check on it, the chief secretary said, adding all offices and markets will remain closed during this period although medical and health services and other essential services will continue as before. -- PTI 

Mumbai police on Thursday arrested a man in connection with the incident of vandalising at 'Rajgruh', the residence of Dr B R Ambedkar in Mumbai, an official said.

Umesh Sitaram Jadhav (35), the arrested man, was allegedly one of the two persons caught in CCTV camera at the spot, the police official said.

 

On Tuesday night, two men entered the premises of 'Rajgruh' and smashed flower pots, damaged plants, CCTV camera and pelted stones at a window before fleeing.

A case under IPC sections 427 (mischief causing damage and 447 (criminal trespassing) was registered.

 

The incident was condemned by prominent political leaders including chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.

 

The CCTV footage showed that Jadhav was present at the spot alongwith the main accused who was seen vandalising the premises, said Saurabh Tripathi, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone-IV).

While Jadhav, a resident of Parel in central Mumbai, was arrested, hunt was on for the other accused, he said.

 

Located in Hindu Colony, Dadar, the two-storeyed heritage bungalow houses a museum where Dr Ambedkar's vast book collection, his ashes and other artifacts related to his life are preserved. The architect of the Indian Constitution lived there for two decades.

 

Dr Ambedkar's daughter-in-law and his grandsons including Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi leader Prakash Ambedkar live in the bungalow at present. -- PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday urged people to change their habits and make the guidelines to contain spread of coronavirus a part of culture.

   

In a virtual interaction with representatives of various Varanasi-based non-governmental organisations (NGOs), he said habits like spitting on roads (or public places) have to be junked.

 

"Now spitting on roads, and that too our 'Benarasi paan', we have to change the habit," he said.

 

The prime minister was apparently referring to the famous Benarasi pan and people's habit of spitting it out in public places.

 

"Secondly, we don't have to give up the practice of maintaining social distancing of at least two yards, covering face and washing hands. (We should) not let anyone forget it," Modi said. 

 

He said these new habits have to be ingrained in Indian culture and also pitched for discarding the use of single-use plastic. -- PTI  

Hours after the arrest of gangster Vikas Dubey from Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain, his wife, son and a servant were held by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force in Lucknow on Thursday evening. 

   

Vikas Dubey's wife Richa Dubey was arrested from her Krishna Nagar residence on Thursday evening by a team of the Special Task Force on charges of harbouring the gangster and conniving with him, police sources said. 

 

The gangster's son and a servant were also arrested, sources said. 

Richa is said to have supported Dubey in his unlawful activities. 

 

She is allegedly the part of the conspiracy that led to the killing of eight policemen at Kanpur's Bikru village on July 3. 

 

She had connected her mobile phone to a CCTV camera installed in their now-demolished house at Bikru village and kept an eye on the activities there even from her absence.

Richa had gone missing immediately after the Kanpur ambush.  

 

She will be taken to Kanpur and interrogated along with her husband, sources said.

 

Earlier, police had visited the gangster's Krishna Nagar residence twice but could not find Richa or their son.

 

Vikas Dubey is being brought to Kanpur on a transit remand. -- PTI 

The Uttarakhand government will not use any Chinese equipment or device, state Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said on Thursday.

   

The Uttarakhand government had decided quite early that it would not use Chinese goods, equipment or devices, said Rawat while speaking to reporters here.

 

Even the people have begun using Indian apps and goods in large number in the country, said Rawat, while lauding the Centre's decision to ban 59 Chinese apps, including Tik Tok.

   

He said under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's campaign to make India a self-reliant nation, the country is fast reestablishing its moder identity even amid the adverse circumstance of COVID-19.

   

He said the Rs 20 lakh crore package announced by Prime Minister Modi under the Atma-Nirbhar Bharat (a self-reliant India) campaign has already begun showing its result within one and half months of its declaration.

   

He said the PM's call to become vocal for local and make it global has secured people's support from all over the country. -- PTI 

The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday questioned senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel for about seven hours during the fourth round of grilling at his official residence in connection with the Sandesara brothers-promoted Sterling Biotech company bank fraud and money laundering case, officials said.

A three-member team of the federal probe agency reached the Rajya Sabha MP's 23, Mother Teresa Crescent residence in the Lutyens' zone of central Delhi around 11 am and left at about 7 pm.

Patel later told reporters that the investigators asked him 24 questions, and this totals to 152 questions asked to him during four sittings.

"My request to ED friends is that they should also question people from the ruling party and their relatives apart from the Congress party so that it is felt that they are doing their job in an unbiased manner," he told reporters.

Patel (70) is currently the treasurer of the Congress party and has earlier been the political secretary to United Progressive Alliance chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi. 

He is considered one of the most powerful persons in the grand old party.

Patel, an MP from Gujarat, was last questioned on July 2 for about 10 hours. 

He had then told reporters that the ED investigators had posed 128 questions to him in three sessions.

"This is political vendetta and harassment against me and my family and I do not know under whose pressure they (investigators) are working," Patel had told reporters.

With the latest session ending on Thursday, he has faced ED questioning for about 34 hours till now, including on June 27, June 30 and July 2.

Patel was allowed to be quizzed at home after he refused to visit the Enforcement Directorate office, citing the prevailing COVID-19 guidelines that discourage senior citizens from going out.

Officials said the Congress leader's statement has been recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act like in the past.

It is understood that he is being questioned about his purported links with the Sandesara brothers, the promoters of the Vadodara-based Sterling Biotech pharmaceutical company, and alleged dealings of his family members with them. -- PTI

The tally of coronavirus positive patients in Mumbai rose to 88,795 on Thursday with the single-day spike of 1,282 cases, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said.

As the virus claimed 68 more lives in the metropolis, its fatality count grew to 5,129, it said.

The civic body said that the number of recovered patients in the city increased to 59,751 with 591 persons getting discharged from hospitals in the past 24-hours.

With this, the recovery rate of COVID-19 patients in the city district improved to 67 per cent, the BMC said in a release.

The city has 23,915 active COVID-19 cases, it said. -- PTI

Nepal's cable television providers have said that signals for Indian news channels, except Doordarshan, have been switched off in the country. 

There is, however, no official order issued in this regard.

"We have turned off the signals of the Indian Channels from this evening," Dhruba Sharma of Mega Max TV, a Channel operator of Nepal confirmed to ANI.

The move by Nepal's Multi-System Operators comes hours after former deputy Prime Minister and spokesperson of the ruling Nepal Communist Party Narayan Kaji Shrestha said that the Indian media must stop the "baseless propaganda" against Nepal government and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.

Taking to Twitter on Thursday, Shrestha expressed his disbelief on the extent to which some media channels have gone to defame the current government.

The move comes amid heightened tensions between India and Nepal after Kathmandu issued a new map incorporating some portions of Indian territories in May.  

India Thursday said it was exploring legal options in the case relating to Indian death-row convict Kulbhushan Jadhav, a day after Pakistan claimed that he refused to file a review petition against his sentence by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage.

 

"At this stage, we are assessing our legal options. We will do our utmost to protect the life of the Indian national," spokesperson in the ministry of external affairs Anurag Srivastava said at an online media briefing.

Jadhav, a retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017. 

Weeks later, India approached the ICJ against Pakistan for denial of consular access to Jadhav and challenging the death sentence. 

The ICJ, then, restrained Pakistan from executing him.

In July last year, the Hague-based court ruled that Pakistan must undertake an "effective review and reconsideration" of the conviction and sentence of Jadhav and also to grant consular access to India without further delay.

On Wednesday, Pakistan said Jadhav refused to file an appeal in the Islamabad High Court against his conviction despite being offered the option.

Hours later, India called Pakistan's claim a "farce" and said Jadhav was "coerced" to forego his rights.

Srivastava on Wednesday said Pakistan's claim reflected its attempt to "mask" its continuing "reticence to implement" the judgment of the International Court of Justice in the case in "letter and spirit".

He said Pakistan is only seeking to create an "illusion of remedy" in the case, and asserted that India will do its "utmost" to protect Jadhav and ensure his safe return to India.

"Pakistan's claim that Jadhav, who is incarcerated in Pakistan's custody, has refused to initiate review petition is a continuation of the farce that has been in play for the last four years," Srivastava said. -- PTI

The ministry of home affairs on Thursday allowed the National Investigation Agency to probe the gold smuggling case detected at the Thiruvananthapuram international airport in Kerala as the incident "may have serious implications for national security," officials said. 

 

The decision came a day after Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his "intervention for an effective investigation" into the seizure of gold worth crores of rupees from a "diplomatic baggage" at the airport in the state capital. 

"The MHA permits the National Investigation Agency to investigate the Thiruvananthapuram airport gold smuggling case, as the organised smuggling operation may have serious implications for national security," a home ministry spokesperson said. 

The gold, weighing over 30 kg, was seized from the "diplomatic baggage" that had landed by air cargo at the Thiruvananthapuram international airport recently from the Gulf.  

The Customs department has said that it suspected a smuggling syndicate had misused the name of a person who enjoys diplomatic immunity. 

Two persons, including a woman, are wanted in connection with the sensational case. Both the suspects are absconding, officials said. -- PTI

Assets, including flats in London and New York, sporting market value of Rs 2,800 crore of Yes Bank co-founder Rana Kapoor and the Wadhawan brothers of DHFL company have been attached in connection with the Yes Bank money laundering case, the Enforcement Directorate said on Thursday.

The central probe agency said it has issued a provisional order, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, for attachment of properties worth Rs 2,203 crore.

"The present market value of these assets is more than Rs 2,800 crore and include immovable properties in India and abroad, bank accounts, investments, luxury vehicles among others," it said.

"These assets belong to Rana Kapoor, Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan and the entities controlled by them," the ED added.

Kapoor, 62, and the Wadhawans were arrested by the agency in this case early this year and they are in judicial custody at present.

Kapoor's frozen assets include a bungalow (no 40) located at the upmarket Amrita Shergill Marg in Delhi that is worth Rs 685 crore, an independent residential building 'Khursidabad' at Cumbala Hill in south Mumbai, three duplex flats at Napean Sea Road in Mumbai, a residential flat in NCPA, Nariman Point and eight flats in India Bulls Blue in the Worli area of Maharashtra's capital city, the ED said.

"These attached assets relating to Rana Kapoor and linked entities have a total value of Rs 792 crore but their present market value is Rs 1,400 crore," the agency said.

In the case of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL) promoter brothers Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan, the value of the attached properties is Rs 1,411.9 crore that includes a dozen flats in Khar (West) area of Mumbai, a flat in New York, two flats in London, two land parcels in Pune and nearby Mulshi, a commercial property in Australia, five luxury vehicles and 344 bank accounts, the ED said.

The agency had filed a PMLA case against the three men early this year and has accused Kapoor, his family members and others of laundering proceeds of crime worth Rs 4,300 crore by receiving alleged kickbacks in lieu of extending big loans through their bank that later turned into non-performing assets (NPA).

An alleged dubious link between Yes Bank and DHFL is under the ED's probe scanner.

"During April-June 2018, Yes Bank Limited had invested Rs 3,700 crore in short term debentures of DHFL, a company belonging to the Wadhawans, for which kickback of Rs 600 crore was paid to Rana Kapoor and his family members in the garb of loan," the ED alleged.

"In addition, Yes Bank had also sanctioned a loan of Rs 750 crore to a RKW Developers group company beneficially owned by Wadhawans and their family members for their Bandra Reclamation Project in Mumbai but the whole amount was siphoned off by the brothers through their shell companies and was never used for the declared purpose," the probe agency has alleged. -- PTI

The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations will announce class 10 and 12 board results on Friday, Board Secretary Gerry Arathoon said.

   

"The results of the Class 10 (ICSE) and Class 12 (ISC) year 2020 examinations will be declared on Friday, July 10 at 3 pm. The results will be made available through the board website and SMS facility," Arathoon said on Thursday.

The board had last week announced an alternate assessment scheme for the two classes after the pending exams were cancelled in view of a spike in COVID-19 cases.

As per the scheme, candidates will be assessed based on best three percentage marks obtained in subjects for which board exams have been conducted and the marks of their internal assessment as well as project work will be taken into account.

The internal assessment formula will be applicable for class 12 which is the Indian School Certificate (ISC) exam, while for class 10 which is Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE), the project work will be taken into account. -- PTI 

Hours after gangster Vikas Dubey was arrested outside a temple in Ujjain on Thursday, the Madhya Pradesh police handed him over to their Uttar Pradesh counterparts in the evening, a senior official said.

A police team from Uttar Pradesh came to Ujjain to take Dubey into their custody, the official said.

"He was handed over to the UP police, who took him to their state by road," the official said.

Dubey was arrested outside the Mahakal temple in Ujjain on Thursday morning after a six-day manhunt following the Kanpur ambush in which eight policemen were gunned down. -- PTI

The Asian Cricket Council on Thursday postponed the Asia Cup tournament, scheduled for September this year, until June 2021 owing to an upsurge in COVID-19 cases in the region.

   

The decision further clears the way for the Indian Premier League, which the organisers are trying to hold from September to November.

 

"After careful consideration and evaluating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Executive Board of the ACC has decided to postpone the Asia Cup tournament that was scheduled for September 2020," the Asian Cricket Council tweeted.

 

Pakistan was to originally host the Asia Cup this time but due to security reasons, the tournament was supposed to be held in Sri Lanka after the country's board expressed its willingness to organise the same. -- PTI 

As China withdraws troops from several friction points in eastern Ladakh, India on Thursday said it remained convinced of the need for maintenance of peace and tranquility in the border areas and resolution of differences through dialogue.

 

At the same time, India said it is strongly committed to ensuring its sovereignty and territorial integrity, asserting that the Line of Actual Control must be strictly respected and observed as it is the basis for peace and tranquillity in border areas.

At a online media briefing, external affairs ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said National Security Advisor Ajit Doval categorically conveyed to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi last Sunday India's position on the recent developments along the LAC including in the Galwan valley area.

Doval and Wang, the special representatives for border talks, held a telephonic conversation following which armies of the two countries began disengagement of troops from friction points in eastern Ladakh.

Srivastava said the diplomatic and military officials of both sides will continue their meetings to take forward the process of disengagement and de-escalation as agreed to by the special representatives. 

"The next meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China border affairs is expected to take place soon," he said. 

"We remain convinced of the need for maintenance of peace and tranquility in the border areas and the resolution of differences through dialogue, at the same time, we are also strongly committed to ensuring India's sovereignty and territorial integrity," he further said.

China's Peoples Liberation Army on Thursday completed moving back its troops from the face-off sites in Gogra and Hot Springs in eastern Ladakh line with the understanding reached with the Indian Army.

The two sides are set to hold high-level military talks to further de-escalate tension in the region, people familiar with the development said. -- PTI

A relative of DSP Devendra Mishra, who was among the eight killed in the Kanpur ambush, on Thursday questioned the arrest of gangster Vikas Dubey, claiming it was a "well-planned surrender" and the gangster was "saved from death".

   

He was apparently referring to the deaths of Dubey's five alleged accomplices in encounters with the police.

  

IG, Civil Defence, Amitabh Thakur, said it was possible that Dubey might get killed in an encounter while trying to escape from police custody, thus closing the gangster's chapter. But this episode had brought to light the muck in UP police and there was a need to take action against those found guilty, he said.

 

"This is not an arrest but he has been saved from 'death'. It was a surrender made in a well-planned manner," Kamalkant Mishra, the brother-in-law of Devender Mishra told reporters. 

 

"Nobody can compensate for the loss that we are facing but if the criminal has been arrested, it is a source of satisfaction for us," he said, adding, "I do not think that it is the end of the story rather, it is just the beginning".

 

The arrest happened in a very well-planned way as first Dubey was in Faridabad and in just 12 hours he reached the door of Mahakal (in Ujjain), Kamalkant Mishra said.

 

He claimed that the MP Police went to arrest the dreaded criminal with the media and asked how many encounters and arrests of such manner had people watched before.

"Eight cops, including Devendra Mishra, were not killed by Dubey or his gang alone. Others are also involved and they have kept protecting him till now," he said.  

 

"Dubey has surrendered on their advice as well. I will not call this an arrest. Actually, he has been saved from death. He was confident that he would be saved."

 

About the police department, he said that some people in the department deviate from righteous path and help criminals, but everyone is not wrong. "Even Devender was part of the force," he said. 

 

He said Dubey was able to travel without any difficulties despite a large police force checking people and vehicles on the roads. 

 

"Who will go to 'Mahakal' temple for praying in a situation where the person is concerned about their safety," an aggrieved Kamlakant Mishra said. -- PTI

A seven-day lockdown was imposed in all containment zones of West Bengal from Thursday evening, official sources said.

   

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had on Wednesday said the lockdown will be in place for a week from 5 pm on July 9, after which the situation will be reviewed.

 

She had directed the police to firmly deal with those violating the norms put in place in the wake of the relentless rise in COVID-19 cases.

 

The state's containment zones and the buffer zones around them have been clubbed together to constitute a 'broad-based' containment zone, where the total lockdown was imposed from Thursday. -- PTI 

A Pakistani court has issued notices to the United States embassy in Islamabad, the US counsel general Lahore and the foreign ministry on a USD 20 billion damages suit filed by a coronavirus infected person.

Raza Ali, a resident of Lahore, on Wednesday filed the petition in the Civil Court (Lahore) through Advocate Syed Zille Hussain alleging that the US was responsible for the losses suffered by him and Pakistan due to coronavirus as it was behind unchecked spread of the pandemic.

 

Civil judge Kamran Karamat issued notices to the US embassy Islamabad, US consul general in Lahore, US secretary of defence through consul general (Lahore) and the ministry of foreign affairs for August 7. 

He said his family members are also suffering and their health is so compromised that they may not be able to live a healthy life ever.

"Unchecked spread of COVID-19 in the US caused its spread over the world including Pakistan. The defendants are responsible for the colossal death toll, misery, and economic disasters they inflicted on the world, including but not limited to the entire Pakistan, he said.

The current US administration is creating hurdles for the global fights against COVID-19, he alleged.

He urged the court to pass a decree that the COVID-19 was caused by the US and it played havoc with the lives of Pakistanis and recover USD 20 billion in his favour.

The court fixed August 7 for hearing of the case and issued notices to the respondents for the reply. -- PTI

Amid a spurt in coronavirus cases, the government on Thursday said India has not yet reached the community transmission stage of COVID-19 and asserted that there have been localised outbreaks in some geographical areas.

 

The Centre's assertion came on a day India registered a record single-day surge of 24,879 COVID-19 cases, taking the caseload to 7,67,296. 

The death toll climbed to 21,129 with 487 new fatalities, the updated data at 8 am showed.

Asked if India has entered the community transmission phase, Rajesh Bhushan, Officer on Special Duty in the Union Health ministry said, "Even today, the health minister (Harsh Vardhan) clearly said after the GoM that India has not reached the stage of community transmission. In some geographical areas, there have been localised outbreaks.

"We should not forget that in our country, 49 districts alone account for 80 per cent of COVID-19 cases. In a country of more than 733 districts, if 49 districts account for 80 per cent cases, then it is not justified to talk about community transmission," he said at a press briefing.

Wherever there are active cases, if the prescribed protocol is followed, in three days close contacts of active cases can be traced and tracked, he said.

"So in such a situation in which you can trace and track close contacts of active cases, talking about community transmission is not justified," Bhushan asserted.

He said India's COVID-19 cases and deaths per million population are amongst the lowest in the world.

On an average, India is testing more than 2.6 lakh samples per day for COVID-19, an ICMR official said at the briefing, asserting that testing has been ramped up in the country in a big way.

COVID-19 recovered cases are 1.75 times that of active cases, Bhushan said.

People over 60 years account for 53 per cent of India's COVID-19 deaths, he said.

Asked about a WHO spokesperson saying that there are indications that the virus may be airborne, Bhushan said, "We are keeping abreast with the information coming out of WHO headquarters on this particular aspect, but you would all appreciate and realise that even during the initial stages of the outbreak, we and the PM had repeatedly emphasised 'do-gaz doori' (Two-metre distance). 

"So this concept protects you from small droplets that may remain suspended in air for longer period of time."

It is an evolving and dynamic situation, he added. -- PTI

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will be vacating her Lodhi Estate bungalow by month-end and shifting base to Lucknow when the COVID-19 situation improves, sources close to her said.

   

The Vadras are learnt to be scouting for an alternative accommodation in Delhi that will cater to her security considerations, and a house for Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has been finalised in Lucknow where she will shift later when the ongoing lockdown eases. 

 

Sources close to her said no house has been finalised yet, but the Vadras are in the process of winding up their 35, Lodhi Estate house, and the packing and shifting of their household belongings are underway. 

 

Some of her old belongings are also learnt to have been kept at Sonia Gandhi's 10, Janpath residence.

 

The Lucknow house that she will occupy belongs to Sheila Kaul and is located on Gokhle Marg. 

The house is lying vacant and renovation work is also almost complete.

   

Sheila Kaul, who died in 2015, was the sister-in-law of India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. 

She had been a Union minister and a governor.

 

The sources said that plans for her to shift base to Lucknow have been afoot for a few months now, but were delayed due to the outbreak of the pandemic.

 

Priyanka Gandhi is in-charge of Congress's affairs in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, but is practically looking after the entire state now, ever since Jyotiraditya Scindia switched over to the Bharatiya Janata Party.

 

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development had last week served a notice on her to vacate the said premises before August 1 as she no longer comes under SPG security cover.

 

"Consequent to withdrawal of SPG protection and grant of Z+ security cover by MHA, which does not provide for allotment or retention of government accommodation on security grounds to you, the allotment of type 6B house No. 35 Lodhi Estate is hereby cancelled wef July 1. One month concession period on same rent till August 1 is allowed as per rules," the Housing Ministry notice said. -- PTI  

The country's largest software services firm Tata Consultancy Services on Thursday reported a 13.8 per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 7,008 crore in the three months ended June.

   

It had a consolidated net profit of Rs 8,131 crore in the year-ago period, according to a regulatory filing.

 

Revenue of the company rose marginally in the first quarter of the current fiscal to Rs 38,322 crore. In the year-ago period, the same stood at Rs 38,172 crore.

 

Globally, businesses have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. While Indian IT firms had seen some impact in March, this is the first full quarter factoring in the impact of disruption and lockdowns in various parts of the world, including India.

 

"The revenue impact of the pandemic played out broadly along the lines we had anticipated at the start of the quarter. It affected all verticals, with the exception of Life Sciences and Healthcare, with varying levels of impact," TCS CEO and MD Rajesh Gopinathan said.

 

He said the company believes the impact has "bottomed out" and that TCS should now start tracing its path to growth.

 

After an initial period of disruption, customers have now stabilised their operations, and the company is seeing many customers focus on front-end transformation, resulting in significant traction for its products and services, he noted.

 

"The other big investment themes are around driving operational resilience, adaptability and optimisation. We signed several large core transformation programs encompassing operations, applications, cloud and cyber security," he said.

 

The company said despite the continued uncertainty and weakness in all major economies, it has had very healthy deal closures and a strong pipeline.

 

At the beginning of the first quarter, TCS had said it expects recovery from the third quarter of FY21. -- PTI 

China's People's Liberation Army on Thursday completed moving back its troops from the face-off sites in Gogra and Hot Springs in eastern Ladakh in line with the understanding reached with the Indian Army, and the two sides are set to hold high-level military talks to further de-escalate tension in the region, people familiar with the development said.

 

They said both sides have completed creation of a buffer zone of three kilometres in the three friction points of Galwan Valley, Gogra and Hot Springs as part of a temporary measure aimed at reducing the possibility of any confrontation. 

On Thursday, the PLA has totally pulled back its troops from Gogra (patrolling point 17), and with this, both sides have implemented the first phase of disengagement to avoid any friction, the people cited above said.

They said the entire focus now shifts to Pangong Tso area where there has been thinning out of troops from Finger area 4. India has been insisting that China must withdraw its forces from areas between Finger 4 and 8.

They said the fourth round of corps commander-level talks between the two side are likely to take place in the next two-three days. 

The two armies will also carry out a joint verification in the next few days to assess the implementation of the disengagement process.

The formal disengagement process began on Monday morning after a nearly two-hour telephonic conversation between National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday.

In the talks, the two sides agreed on an expeditious withdrawal of troops from all the standoff points to bring back peace and tranquillity in the region. Doval and Wang are Special Representatives for the boundary talks.

Following the talks, a mutual disengagement process began in Galwan Valley, Hot Springs, Gogra and Finger areas in Pangong Tso.

Military sources said Indian Army will continue to maintain its aggressive posturing along the Line of Actual Control till the Chinese side cuts down on its significant build up in its rear bases.

 

Both sides have brought in thousands of additional troops and weaponry including tanks and artillery guns to their rear bases as part of a mega build up following the face-off that began on May 5.

As per the decisions arrived at corps commander-level talks on June 30, the two sides would create a minimum buffer zone of three kilometre in most of the areas where they were locked in a standoff. -- PTI

Alleging that gangster Vikas Dubey's "safe exit" from Kanpur and the sequence of events leading to his arrest in Ujjain seemed suspicious, senior Congress leaders in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday demanded a high-level probe into it.

One of the Congress leaders said that the gangster's links with politicians and policemen should also be probed.

Dubey was arrested outside the Mahakal temple at Ujjan in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday morning, ending a six-day manhunt for the gangster accused of masterminding a deadly ambush on a police party outside his home at Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

Taking to Twitter, former MP chief minister Kamal Nath said the gangster's safe departure from Kanpur, arrival at Ujjain and the manner of arrest gave birth to a lot of suspicion.

"Such a big criminal whom the police are searching for day and night, his safe exit from Kanpur and arrival in Ujjain and later entry into the temple and the way he shouted to get himself arrested gives birth to a lot of suspicion. It hints at some protection and it should be probed," Nath tweeted.

The previous Congress-led state government had acted tough against mafia who left Madhya Pradesh, but after the BJP returned to power, the state has become a safe haven for them, he said.

Congress's Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh demanded that Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan order a judicial probe into Dubey's arrest.

"I demand from Shivrajji a judicial probe into the arrest or surrender of Vikas Dubey. His connections with politicians and policemen should also be probed. During judicial custody, adequate security measures should be taken so that all secrets come out," Singh said in a tweet.

The senior Congress leader also slammed Chouhan for taking credit for Dubey's arrest, and said that state Home Minister Narottam Mishra should be credited for that.

Carrying a reward of Rs 5 lakh for information leading to his arrest, Dubey had been on the run since last Friday night when a police party, which had gone to arrest him from his house in Bikru village in the Chaubeypur area of Kanpur, was ambushed.

The group was caught in a hail of gunfire from rooftops, which left eight policemen, including a deputy superintendent, dead. --  PTI 

Ministry of Health media briefing on Covid: The World Health Organization has also not provided any standard definition of the localised outbreak and community transmission. They have given its member states the right to report after assessing the local conditions.

On why the August 15 deadline for the vaccine, and why has it been expedited, the health ministry said, "Please don't read something which is not there in DG-ICMR's letter. Letter's intent is only to expedite duly approved clinical trials without compromising on safety and security concerns."

On whether the virus is airborne: "It is a dynamic and evolving situation; we are keeping abreast with the information coming from WHO headquarters on this aspect.

On the vaccine: Bharat Biotech & Cadila Healthcare are developing vaccines. Both vaccines completed animal toxicity studies after approval. DCGI has permitted these 2 vaccines to go in for phase 1 & 2 clinical trials. Trials yet to begin. Hope it begins soon. 

There were around 10-12 people in attendance, including sons, actor Jaaved, producer Naved, grandson Meezaan, and industry colleague Johnny Lever. -- PTI

Image courtesy: Sahil Salvi

Addressing a press conference, Home Ministry Joint Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava said over 6.79 lakh COVID-19 tests, translating into 35,780 tests per million population, have been carried out till July 8 and over 20,000 tests are being conducted every day. 

"In spite of an increase in daily testing, the active cases in Delhi are under control," she said. Srivastava said as on Thursday there were 23,452 active cases in Delhi. PTI 

"In the last 24 hours, Russia has confirmed 6,509 COVID-19 cases in 85 regions, including 1,778 (27.3 per cent) without symptoms," the centre said. Moscow has registered 568 cases in 24 hours, which is more than any other region in Russia. 

However, in terms of the increase in new cases, Moscow has been showing the slowest rate in the country for a while now. St. Petersburg registered 292 new cases in the past 24 hours. -- ANI

"The war against COVID-19 cannot be fought by government alone, without the involvement of citizens. During the freedom movement, the determination to achieve independence got a boost due to the involvement of people. Recently, people on their own decided to boycott Chinese goods and sent across a message," he said. 

Thackeray said the civic administration should involve citizens also in the war against COVID-19, he said. 

"Corona vigilance committees should be set up in cities. The war against COVID-19 is not the fight of government alone. Involve citizens, social service organisations, youth in the corona vigilance committees," the chief minister said. 

"They can keep a watch on other ailments of senior citizens, their oxygen levels, cleanliness in their areas, ailments suffered by people in the neighbourhood, whether mandatory use of mask is being followed," he said.

The committees can help the local administration in monitoring the ground situation, Thackeray said. He said despite repeated directives for setting up jumbo facilities to fight COVID-19 in Thane, the local administration did not function as per the expectations.

"The government focussed on creating jumbo COVID facilities since March. Just like the health infrastructure which has come up in Mumbai, similar facilities were expected in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR)," he said. -- PTI

"We are the second-most populous country of the world. Despite a population of 1.3 billion people, India has been able to manage COVID-19 relatively well. If you look at cases per million population it still remains amongst lowest in the world, " said Rajesh Bhushan, OSD, Ministry of Health.

"Today we have 538 cases per million population, it's as per WHO situation report. Case per million population in some countries are at least 16-17 times more than what it is in India. We have 15 deaths per million population whereas we have countries where it is 40 times as much.When we talk of case load of COVID-19 in India, it is 2,69,000 people. This tells us that at the end of the day we've managed a situation where our health care infrastructure is not unduly burdened and is not creaking due to the pressure."

ICMR Senior scientist Nivedita Gupta said, "The number of tests has increased, on an average, we are testing more than 2.6 lakh of samples per day. We hope to see a further rise by the use of the antigen test."

On being asked what should be done by the government after her son's arrest, Sarla Devi said, "The government should do whatever it feels appropriate (sarkar jo uchit samjhe, woh kare)." At this time, he is not in the BJP, he is with the SP, she told reporters. 

Meanwhile, an SP spokesman said Vikas is "not a member of the party" and strict action should be taken against him. His call record details should be made public as demanded by party president Akhilesh Yadav to expose his links, added the party spokesperson. PTI

On May 25, the 87-year-old woman was rushed to the hospital after fracturing her hip, and she was advised immediate hip replacement surgery. Before the surgery, she was tested for COVID-19 and was found positive. Following this, her family too underwent tests and her husband was found to have contracted the viral disease. The couple was initially admitted at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital under the supervision of Dr Nikhil Modi, Senior Consultant of Respiratory, Critical care And Sleep Disorder, Institute of Critical Care, of the facility. Their vitals were regularly monitored, provided the required line of treatment and they made remarkable improvement within the first 10 days. As soon as the woman tested negative, Dr Yatinder Kharbanda, senior consultant and orthopaedic surgeon, performed a successful total hip replacement procedure. "People who are at an advanced age and have multiple comorbidities are the ones under maximum threat of COVID 19 and fatalities due to it. Their immune system gets degraded so much over the years that they become more vulnerable to infectious diseases," he said. Also, due to pre-existing conditions like heart disease, geriatric syndrome (fall frailty, dementia and impaired mobility) lung ailments, diabetes or kidney disease their body's ability to fight infectious diseases weakens with time. "In this case, the elderly woman was facing a lot of difficulties due to her fractured hip. We put her in traction with heavy bouts of cough and clogged throat. A team of doctors and nurses worked hard to provide medical care," Dr Modi said. The team in the critical care unit was kept on standby in case any complication arose.

"Simultaneously though her husband had mild symptoms, but given his age and multiple comorbidities, it was important for us to monitor his condition every minute," he said. 

Dr Kharbanda said, "Multiple health challenges pose a great risk to patient's life. In such cases, patients can undergo a lot of trauma and shock which might affect the recovery process." But defying all odds, the couple was discharged from the hospital on June 22. PTI

Read the column by Swapan Dasgupta here

"The testing facility for COVID-19 should be increased to 40,000 per day. There should be 30,000 RTPCR tests and 10,000 rapid antigen tests per day," the CM said while addressing a meeting to review the COVID situation in the state He also asked officials to make people aware of precautions like wearing masks, an official statement said. 

A total of 845 fatalities have been reported in the state till Wednesday. While the total number of active cases are 9,980, about 20,331 people have been discharged from hospitals. PTI

The remarks by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian came a day after people in New Delhi familiar with the developments said that the Chinese military removed all temporary structures and completed withdrawal of its troops from the face-off site in Hot Springs in eastern Ladakh. Zhao told a media briefing here that following the consensus reached at the commander-level talks, China, India border troops have taken effective measures to disengage at the front-line at the Galwan Valley and other areas. The situation along the border is stable and improving, he said.

Asked about further talks between the two countries, Zhao said the two sides will continue dialogue and communication through military and diplomatic channels including by holding meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultations and Coordination (WMCC) on the Sino-Indian border affairs. 

"We hope India will work together with us to take concrete action and implement the consensus reached and jointly work for de-escalation along the border," the spokesman added. 

The disengagement process of the troops on both sides began on Monday morning after a nearly two-hour telephonic conversation between National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday. -- PTI

The Supreme Court on Thursday pulled up Maharashtra government for filing an affidavit stating that all is fine in the state.

A Bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and MR Shah was hearing the suo moto cognisance the apex court took and some PILs filed on the plight of migrant labourers who are stranded in different parts of the country. The top court stated that it cannot accept Maharashtra's approach that all migrants are provided food and that it has no knowledge of any deficiency in dealing with migrant workers and none of them are left to be sent home.

It further observed that it is obligation of the State government to identify migrant workers in need and not getting food and, who want to go home.

The Supreme Court has asked Maharashtra government to file proper affidavit and adjourned the matter for further hearing on next Friday.

During the hearing, senior advocate Kapil Sibal told the Bench that a national plan for COVID-19 is needed.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that the national plan for COVID management as sought in a petition filed by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation through advocate Prashant Bhushan is already on record.

Mehta stated that government has COVID-19 containment plan also.

Prime Minister ⁦Narendra Modi delivers the inaugural address at India Global Week 2020. Highlights:

"In these times, it is natural to talk about revival. It is equally natural to link global revival and India. There is faith that the story of global revival will have India playing a leading role. World over, you have seen the contribution of India's talent-force. Who can forget the Indian tech industry and tech professionals. They have been showing the way for decades. India is a power-house of talent that is eager to contribute. 

"Indians are natural reformers. History shows that India has overcome every challenge be it social or economic. On one hand India is fighting a strong battle against the global pandemic.With an increased focus on people's health, we are equally focussed on health of economy.

"When India talks of revival it's revival with care, with compassion, which is sustainable both for environment and economy. Indians have the spirit to achieve what is believed to be impossible. No wonder that in India, we are already seeing green-shoots of economic recovery. 

"The pandemic has once again shown that India's pharma industry is an asset not just for India but for the entire world. It has played a leading role in reducing the cost of medicines, especially for developing countries. 

"India remains one of the most open economies in the world. We are laying a red carpet for all global companies to come and establish their presence in India. Very few countries will offer the kind of opportunities India does today."

The Congress general secretary in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh alleged that "no action" on the part of the police on a three-month-old letter and Dubey's name not appearing in the list of noted criminals indicated that his strings were attached with high-ups.

"The Uttar Pradesh government has completely failed in acting with alacrity in the ghastly Kanpur massacre. Despite an alert, the gangster reaching Ujjain exposes the chinks in security and points to collusion," she said in a tweet in Hindi. 

"No action' on a three-month-old letter and the name 'Vikas' not included in the list of noted criminals indicate that the strings of this matter are linked to high-ups.

"The Uttar Pradesh government should conduct a CBI probe to ascertain all facts and bring out the links of protection to him," Priyanka Gandhi said. Dubey, wanted in connection with the Kanpur ambush in which eight policemen were killed, was arrested from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday. -- PTI

"There has been a lot of uninformed commentary on the exclusion of some topics from CBSE syllabus. The problem with these comments is that they resort to sensationalism by connecting topics selectively to portray a false narrative. "While it is easy to misconstrue exclusion of 3-4 topics like nationalism, local government, federalism, etc and build a concocted narrative, a wider perusal of different subjects will show that this exclusion is happening across subjects," Nishank said in a series of tweets. 

The minister reiterated that the exclusions from the syllabus are a one-time measure taken in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. "As CBSE has clarified, schools have been advised to follow the NCERT Alternate Academic Calendar, and all the topics mentioned have been covered under the same. The exclusions are merely a one-time measure for exams, due to the COVID19 pandemic. 

"The only aim is to relax the stress on students by reducing the syllabus by 30 per cent. This exercise has been carried out following the advice & recommendations of various experts and considering the suggestions received from educationists through our #SyllabusForStudents2020 campaign," he said. The minister also appealed that "politics be left out of education". "It is our humble request. Education is our sacred duty towards our children. Let us leave politics out of education and make our politics more educated," Nishank said. PTI

"100 years ago, a similar pandemic happened, it is said that back then the population was not this big in India. Even then, at that time, India was one of the countries which had the most deaths. That is why whole world was concerned for India this time.

Uttar Pradesh not only checked the pace of COVID-19 spread but those infected are also recovering fast."

Modi says Varanasi can emerge as export hub and develop as a key centre of 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' campaign.

Of the total 21,129 deaths reported so far, Maharashtra tops the tally with 9,448 fatalities followed by Delhi with 3,213 deaths, Gujarat with 1,993, Tamil Nadu with 1,700, Uttar Pradesh with 845, West Bengal with 827, Madhya Pradesh with 629, Rajasthan with 482 and Karnataka with 470. The COVID-19 death toll reached 324 in Telangana,282 in Haryana, 264 in Andhra Pradesh, 178 in Punjab, 149 in Jammu and Kashmir, 107 in Bihar,48 in Odisha,46 in Uttarakhand and 27 in Kerala. Jharkhand has registered 22 deaths, Assam 16, Chhattisgarh and Puducherry 14 each, Himachal Pradesh 11, Goa 8, Chandigarh 7, Arunachal Pradesh 2 and Meghalaya, Tripura and Ladakh have reported one fatality each, according to the Health Ministry. 

More than 70 per cent deaths took place due to comorbidities, it said. Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases at 2,23,724 followed by Tamil Nadu at 1,22,350, Delhi at 1,04,864,Gujarat at 38,333, Uttar Pradesh at 31,156, Telangana at 29,536 and Karnataka at 28,877, according to the ministry data.

Image:  Health workers wearing protective gear carry out a medical checkup of residents at a 'COVID-19 containment zones' in the Ambujwadi slum area, in Malad West, Mumbai on Wednesday. Pic: ANI

Resident doctor at St Johns Medical College, Bengaluru, Ashish Bosco's Facebook post on the trauma of doctors with critical patients has gone viral. 

You can read his full post here.

Gangster Vikas Dubey, wanted in connection with the Kanpur ambush in which eight policemen were killed, was arrested from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday, an official said.

India saw a record single-day surge of 24,879 coronavirus infections which pushed the nationwide COVID-19 case load to 7,67,296 on Thursday, while the death toll climbed to 21,129 with 487 new fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry data. 

Dubey, wanted in connection with the Kanpur ambush in which eight policemen were killed, was on Thursday arrested at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, an official said.

"Vikas Dubey was going to Ujjain Mahakal temple when he was identified by security personnel. Police were informed, he confessed his identity after being pushed for it. He has been apprehended by police and interrogation is underway," Ashish Singh, Ujjain Collector. 

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has spoken with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over the arrest of Vikas Dubey from Ujjain. MP Police will hand him over to UP Police

Image: Gangster Vikas Dubey. Pic: ANI

Uttar Pradesh gangster Vikas Dubey, accused of killing eight policemen last week, has been arrested in Madhya Pradesh after a nearly week-long chase involving the police across three states.

Vikas Dubey was caught in Ujjain around the same time two of his aides were killed in separate encounters in UP. His closest aide, Aman Dubey, was killed yesterday.

Eight policemen were killed on Friday when they went in a large team to Bikru village in Chaubeypur area of Kanpur to arrest Vikas Dubey.

Dubey -- charged in 60 criminal cases including murder, kidnapping, extortion and rioting -- had allegedly been alerted to the raid by local policemen and had set up an ambush.

The notorious gangster escaped after Friday's massacre. A massive hunt was launched and the bounty on him was raised to Rs 5 lakh.

India reported 487 deaths and nearly 25,000 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours. 

India's overall Covid-19 tally has now reached 7,67,296, while the death toll has reached 21,000.

As of now according to the ministry of health, a total of 4,76,378 have been cured of the virus. 

After the killing of Jammu and Kashmir BJP leader Sheikh Wasim Bari and two of his family members on Wednesday night, 10 policemen tasked with protecting him have been arrested. 

Sheikh Wasim Bari, his father Bashir Ahmad and brother Umer Bashir were killed by terrorists at their home in the union territory's Bandipore district. All three were BJP leaders.

The police say all the three were provided Personal Security Officers.

Wasim Bari and his family were attacked around 9 pm when they were in the shop on the ground floor of their home.

Terrorists on bikes are seen shooting the three at close range, on security camera footage. The father and two sons were shot dead barely 10 metres from the local police station. The terrorists used revolvers fitted with silencers, said the police.

Their security personnel were missing at the time; they were allegedly on the first floor of the house when the terrorists attacked the three men.

"We are taking a tough (stand) against them for dereliction of duty and failure to protect the life," Vijay Kumar, IGP Kashmir, said.

Doctors at the district hospital said all three men had been shot in the head.

The Indian Army has asked its personnel to delete 89 apps from their smartphones including Facebook, TikTok, Tinder, PUBG and Instagram to plug leakage of information, said sources.

Snapchat, Tinder, OkCupid, UC Browser, Bumble, ShareIt, Xender, Helo, CamScanner, Club Factory etc are among those 89 apps.

This came days after the government banned 59 apps, mostly Chinese including TikTok, UC News and CamScanner amid the standoff with China.

Some of the 89 apps are among those which the Centre has already banned stating "they are engaged in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of the state and public order".

In yet another development, another close aide of Vikas Dubey identified as Prabhat Mishra was killed by Uttar Pradesh police in an encounter near Kanpur.

Prabhat was arrested by Haryana Police on Wednesday and was being brought to Uttar Pradesh on a transit remand for further interrogation when he tried to escape from police custody and was shot dead.

Sources said that when a police team was bringing Prabhat to Kanpur, the tyre of the vehicle in which they were travelling got punctured near Panki. Prabhat tried to snatch pistol from one of the policemen and opened fire at the cops escorting him. It is learnt that two STF officers got injured in the firing. Police opened fire at Prabhat in self defence, triggering an encounter.

Dubey is the main accused in the ambush in Bikru village in Chaubeypur area of Kanpur in which eight policemen were killed on July 3. The dreaded history-sheeter has not been arrested even though five days have passed since the incident took place.

Colleges and universities in United States pushed back against the Trump administration's decision to make international students leave the country if they plan on taking classes entirely online this fall, with Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology filing a lawsuit to try to block it, and others promising to work with students to keep them on campus.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement notified colleges on Monday that international students will be forced to leave the US or transfer to another college if their schools operate entirely online this fall.

New visas will not be issued to students at those schools, and others at universities offering a mix of online and in-person classes will be barred from taking all of their classes online.

The guidance says international students won't be exempt even if an outbreak forces their schools online during the fall term.

The guidance was released the same day Harvard announced it would be keeping its classes online this fall.

Harvard says the directive would prevent many of Harvard's 5,000 international students from remaining in the US.

Harvard President Lawrence Bacow said the order came without notice and that its 'cruelty' was surpassed only by its 'recklessness.'

"It appears that it was designed purposefully to place pressure on colleges and universities to open their on-campus classrooms for in-person instruction this fall, without regard to concerns for the health and safety of students, instructors, and others," Bacow said in a statement Wednesday.

This comes at a time when the United States has been setting daily records for the number of new infections, with more than 300,000 new cases reported since July 1.

Universities across the US say the more than 1 million international students have an important place in their communities.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is likely to inaugurate on Thursday multiple border infrastructure projects in strategically key areas including in the western sector, government sources said Wednesday.

A number of bridges in the border areas will be virtually inaugurated, they added.

The government had told the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) to continue with its infrastructure projects in the region near the Line of Actual Control (LAC), even as a standoff began on May 5 between the Indian and Chinese armies in eastern Ladakh.

The LAC is de facto border between India and China.

Singh had chaired a high-level meeting on Tuesday to review the progress of various infrastructure projects that are under construction in border areas including Ladakh region.

Official sources had said the status of ongoing infrastructure projects along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), including the Ladakh region, figured prominently in the Tuesday's meeting.

The Indian and Chinese armies are locked in the bitter standoff in multiple locations in eastern Ladakh for the last eight weeks.

The tension escalated manifold after the killing of 20 Indian soldiers in clashes in Galwan Valley on June 15.

The Chinese side also suffered casualties but it is yet to give out the details.

According to an American intelligence report the number of casualties on the Chinese side was 35.

The Chinese military has removed temporary infrastructure and continued gradual withdrawal of troops from some face-off sites since Monday, government sources said.   -- PTI