Apparently upset over the alleged delay in getting visa for Canada, a 23-year-old man in  Kurukshetra ended his life by jumping into the Narwana branch canal.

However, his visa reached his home a day after he took the extreme step.

His body was found floating from the canal on Friday evening, said police on Saturday.

Vikesh Saini, a resident of village Jhansa here, wanted to go to Canada for further education.

He had recently completed his graduation.

Vikesh was upset as he was not getting his Canadian visa, said police.

Station House Officer (Jhansa) Rajpal Singh said Vikesh had left his home on the night of August 17.

His family members and police started searching for him the next day.

His relatives found his motorcycle and slippers on the bank of the canal.

The body was handed over to family members on Saturday after a post-mortem examination.  -- PTI

An inquiry has been started after a woman gave birth outside a Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Yavatmal district of Maharashtra, allegedly in the absence of medical staff, and the baby died soon after.

The incident took place at Vidul village in Umarkhed tehsil on Friday. The woman's father, resident of the same village, told reporters that he took her to the PHC in an auto rickshaw as he could not arrange an ambulance when she began to have labour pains.

But when they reached the PHC, there was no doctor or other medical staff there, he alleged.

His daughter gave birth on the veranda outside the PHC and the infant died sometime later, he said.

District Health Officer Prahlad Chavan said a medical officer and nurses were present at the PHC but the woman was reportedly brought to the centre late.

On Saturday, Chavan visited the PHC and recorded the statements of the medical officer and other staff, sources said.

He learnt that the woman's family members called the regular 108 ambulance service but no ambulance was available.

They, however, did not call the 102 ambulance service which is meant for pregnant women, sources said.

Chavan will be submitting his report to the Yavatmal Zilla parishad's Chief Executive Officer, they added.  -- PTI

Amid concerns over a visit by Chinese ship 'Yuan Wang 5' to his country, Sri Lanka's tourism minister Harin Fernando said in Ahmedabad on Saturday that he hoped it would not cause a major diplomatic row as India understands its situation.

In Ahmedabad to promote tourism in the island nation, Fernando said China has made a lot of investment in Sri Lanka and has been 'understanding its requirements in the past'.

Indian authorities have expressed worries about the ship's snooping capability.

"Sri Lanka is a small country, and Sri Lanka has very good friendship with everyone. I am sure India understands that. We have a very good diplomatic relationship with India," the visiting minister said, replying to a question.

Indian authorities consider the vessel to be a 'dual-use spy ship'.

Fernando said Sri Lanka's President Ranil Wickremesinghe and its foreign minister were in constant touch with Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"I think they understand our situation," he said.

"There is a lot of investment by the Chinese in Sri Lanka and they have also been quite understanding of our requirements in the past. So I am quite hopeful this is not a major diplomatic issue."This could be looked into," he further said.

The Chinese  ballistic missile and satellite tracking ship is berthed at Sri Lanka's southern port of Hambantota and will remain docked at the Chinese-run port till August 22.

On August 13, the Sri Lankan government granted port access to the vessel from August 16 to 22 on condition that it will keep the Automatic Identification System (AIS) switched on within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the country and no scientific research would be conducted in its waters.India flagged the ship's technical capability and expressed worries about the purpose of its visit.

New Delhi was concerned about the possibility of the ship's tracking systems attempting to snoop on Indian installations.   -- PTI

The Rouse Avenue Court on Saturday acquitted Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his Deputy Manish Sisodia and Yogendra Yadav (former Aam Aadmi Party leader) in a criminal defamation case filed by lawyer Surender Sharma, who claimed that his candidature from AAP was cancelled in 2013 assembly elections at last moment.

The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Vidhi Gupta on Saturday while passing the order said the media articles cited by the complainant has been perused, however, the complainant could not establish a case of defamation from these reports.

All three persons were present in the court while the order was pronounced by the court on Saturday.

The case was filed by one lawyer Surender Kumar Sharma who died due to ill health during the case hearing.

Later his nephew continues to pursue the case in court.

According to Sharma, he had filed a defamation complaint against these leaders and pleaded that his candidature from AAP was cancelled in 2013 and published in various newspapers in a defamatory manner.

Surender Kumar Sharma, in his complaint, had alleged that in 2013 he was approached by several volunteers of AAP just before the election, who had asked him to contest the Delhi Assembly elections on Aam Aadmi Party ticket, saying Arvind Kejriwal was pleased with his social services.

He later decided to fill up the application form to contest the election after being told by Manish Sisodia and Yogendra Yadav that AAP's Political Affairs Committee had decided to give him the ticket.

However, it was later denied to him.

On October 14, 2013, the complainant Surender Kumar Sharma claimed that articles in various leading newspapers carried 'defamatory, unlawful and derogatory words used by these political persons which have lowered his reputation in the society'.   -- ANI

A farmers' agitation seeking the removal of Union minister Ajay Kumar Mishra and a law guaranteeing MSP among other demands, was called off Saturday after top district officials met the protesters, Samyukta Kisan Morcha leader Rakesh Tikait said.

Addressing the farmers, Tikait said the the future strategy of the SKM will be chalked out during a meeting in Delhi on September 6.

DistrIct Magistrate Mahendra Bahadur Singh and others arrived at the dharna site around 2.30 pm and received the a memorandum by the farmers.

The officials assured that a meeting at the government level for the farmers will be arranged in the first week of September, before Tikait and other farmer leaders ended the stir which ran for 75 hours.

Tikait and others said the agitation started with the arrival of farmers from various states from Wednesday night itself. Many of the protesters would leave only by night, he said.

The SKM had organised the dharna at Rajapur Mandi Samiti in Lakhimpur city in support of its various demands, including the sacking of MOS Home Ajay Kumar Mishra, release of 'innocent' farmers from jails, a law guaranteeing MSP (minimum support price), the withdrawal of the Electricity Amendment Bill 2022, payment of sugarcane dues and land rights to farmers.   -- PTI

The Indian Air Force on Saturday rescued an Israeli national suffering from acute mountain sickness and having difficulty in breathing in the high altitude area of Ladakh, a defence spokesperson said.

Srinagar-based Defence spokesperson Col Emron Musavi said at 10.40 am, 114 Helicopter Unit received a call for Casevac (casualty evacuation) from Nimaling Camp near the Markha valley.

Noam Gil, an Israeli national, was suffering from acute mountain sickness and having difficulty in breathing in the high altitude area.

His oxygen level had dropped to 68 per cent, Col Musavi said.

In view of the severity of his condition, he said, Gil had to be rescued from the valley which is known for its severe turbulent conditions.

Led by Wg Cdr Ashish Kapoor, Flt Cdr 114 Helicopter Unit, with Flt Lt Kushagra Singh and Wg Cdr S Badiyaree and Sqn Ldr S Nagpal as no. 2, got airborne within 20 minutes for this critical mission, he said.

Braving strong winds and turbulent conditions, the formation reached the spot in about 45 minutes.

The landing was carried out in one of the most restricted spaces in the valley, Col Musavi said.

Gil was emplaned at low hover and the formation got airborne immediately and finally landed in Leh, he said.  -- PTI

Reports of over 25 lakh additional voters in Jammu and Kashmir is a 'misrepresentation of facts by vested interests', the Union Territory administration said on Saturday.

It said that the revision of electoral rolls will cover existing residents of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

In an advertisement published in local dailies by the Directorate of Information and Public Relations, the administration said the summary revision of electoral rolls is undertaken by the Election Commission from time to time according to the laid down process.

The clarification comes after a controversy broke out following the chief electoral officer's (CEO) remark that 25 lakh additional voters, including outsiders, are likely to be added to the electoral rolls in J-K.

The CEO's remarks came under severe criticism from the mainstream political parties here who alleged that the 'inclusion of non-locals was a clear cut ploy to disenfranchise the people of Jammu and Kashmir'.

However, in the newspaper advertisement on Saturday, the Jammu and Kashmir administration said the summary revision was to enable eligible young people to register themselves as voters.

Besides, it also allows a person who has changed his residence to enrol at a new location by getting his name deleted from the electoral rolls at the earlier location, the advertisement stated.

The number of electors as published in the Special Summary Revision of Jammu and Kashmir state in 2011 was 66,00,921 and the number in the electoral roll of the Union Territory now is 76,02,397, the Information Department said.

'This increase is mainly due to the new voters, who attained the age of 18 years,' it added.

The administration said there have been media reports that over 25 lakh voters will be added to the electoral rolls once the revision process starts.

'This is a misrepresentation of facts spread by vested interests. This revision of electoral rolls will cover existing residents of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the increase in numbers will be of the voters who have attained the age of 18 years as of October 1, 2022, or earlier,' it said.

The advertisement stated that there is no change in the special provisions for Kashmiri migrants for their enrolment in the electoral rolls of their original native constituencies.

'They will continue to be given the option of voting at their place of enrolment or through postal ballot or through specially set up polling stations at Jammu, Udhampur, Delhi, etc,' it said.

The administration clarified that there is no change in rules for buying property and getting jobs in Jammu and Kashmir and 'have no link to the representation of voters or otherwise'.   -- PTI

The second phase of border talks between Meghalaya and Assam aimed at resolving differences relating to six disputed areas will be held at Guwahati on Sunday, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said on Saturday.

The two northeastern states had signed a memorandum of understanding for ending the five-decade-old border dispute in six of the 12 disputed areas in New Delhi on March 29 in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma will be meeting at Guwahati on Sunday to discuss setting up of regional committees to take forward the second phase of border talks for resolving the remaining six areas of difference, Tynsong told PTI.

Resolving the border issue with Assam is a priority of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government, the deputy chief minister said.

The six areas that were taken up for final settlement in March include Tarabari (4.69 sq km), Gizang (13.53 sq km), Hahim (3.51 sq km), Boklapara (1.57 sq km), Khanapara-Pilangkata (2.29 sq km) and Ratacherra (11.20 sq km).

The remaining six areas include villages in disputed blocks 1 and 2 transferred from the then United Khasi and Jaintia district to Assam's Karbi Anglong district for administrative convenience in the 50s. In 1972, Meghalaya was carved out of Assam and both states share a 733-km boundary.   -- PTI

Political strategist turned activist Prashant Kishor on Friday sought a feedback from Twitterati on the latest term in office of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar with whom he has had a long collaboration.

Kishor launched an online poll on his official Twitter handle, asking users to vote yes or no, to his query, in Hindi.

This is the sixth experiment (prayog) by Nitish Kumar in the last 10 years towards government formation. Do you think, this time, the people of Bihar stand to benefit?, asked Kishor.

The founder of IPAC, a political consultancy group,  who has given up his previous avatar to carry out a campaign Jan Suraaj, which could evolve into a Bihar-centric political party, has been skeptical of the new formation that has come into being with Kumar dumping the Bharatiya Janata Party and joining the Mahagathbandhan comprising Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congress and the Left.

Kishor, who had played a key role in the previous Mahagathbandhan which came into being in 2015 but came apart within a couple of years, has been raising doubts over the durability of the gigantic, seven-party coalition.    He has been of the view that the Grand Alliance could, at the most, survive till the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, but was likely to unravel before assembly elections that would be due a year later.

While refraining from BJP's return of jungle raj chorus, Kishor has nonetheless advised caution in assessing the new coalition's impact on national politics.  -- PTI

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan could be arrested by the country's top investigating agency for failing to appear before it and snubbing its notices in the prohibited funding case, according to a media report on Saturday.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) issued a second notice to Khan on Friday, according to The News.

Khan, the cricketer-turned-politician, received the first notice last Wednesday, but he refused to appear before the FIA investigation team, the newspaper said.

The final decision to arrest Imran Khan could be taken after issuing three notices, the report said, quoting highly-placed sources in the FIA.

The FIA has traced five companies related to Khan's party that were operating in the USA, Australia, Canada, Britain and Belgium and they were not mentioned in the reports submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the report said, quoting sources.

Khan on Wednesday asked FIA to take back the notice sent to him in the prohibited funding case in two days or he would take legal action.      

Neither am I liable to answer to you nor is it liable on me to provide information to you. If notice is not taken back in two days, then I will take legal action against you, he said in a written response to the top investigation agency.

The FIA committee has collected enough evidence to prove Imran guilty of hiding the factual position from the ECP, the report said, adding that the third and probably the final notice would be issued next week.

Earlier this month, Pakistan's Election Commission said Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party received funds against the rules from 34 foreign nationals, including a businesswoman of Indian-origin, in a major setback to the former prime minister.

A three-member bench of the ECP issued a show cause notice to Khan's party for receiving prohibited funding from foreign nationals and foreign-based companies and keeping it under wraps.

It also sought an explanation from the party and its chief Khan.

The case was filed in November, 2014 by the party's founding member Akbar S Babar, who is no longer associated with PTI.

The Election Commission in its verdict issued a notice to the party asking why the funds should not be confiscated, and it also said that it was constrained to hold that Imran Khan failed to discharge his obligations as mandated under the Pakistani statutes.

PTI and the Election Commission have been at loggerheads.

Khan has been accusing Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja of being biased against his party.   -- PTI

The Bengaluru police has once again denied permission to stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui's show 'Dongri to nowhere' in Bengaluru, which was scheduled to take place on Saturday.

The event was cancelled as the organisers had not taken permission to organise it in the city, police said.

A fringe outfit Jai Shri Ram Sena had lodged a complaint against the comedian and the organisers with Bengaluru Police Commissioner C H Pratap Reddy.

In its complaint, the outfit alleged that Faruqui has hurt Hindu sentiments in his shows by making insulting remarks against Lord Ram and goddess Sita.

The comedian was denied permission to perform in Bengaluru in November 2021 on the same ground.   -- PTI

A cloudburst hit the Raipur-Kumalda area in Dehradun in the early hours of Saturday, causing rivers to breach their banks and wash away bridges, officials said.

Water also entered the caves of Tapkeshwar, a famous Shiva temple on the banks of the Tons river, they said.

The cloudburst occurred around 2.15 am. A bridge over the Song river was washed away and the Kempty Falls, a popular tourist spot near Mussoorie, was flowing dangerously, the officials said.

Mud entered homes in over a dozen villages following the cloudburst, prompting the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) to shift the affected people to safe locations.

The affected villages include Maldevta, Bhutsi, Tauliyakatal, Thatyud, Lavarkha, Ringalgadh, Dhuttu, Ragad Gaon and Sarkhet, according to the officials.

The affected residents have been shifted to schools and panchayat buildings, said Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Dhanolti, Lakshmi Raj Chauhan.

The Raipur-Kumalda motor road has been blocked due to debris at a number of places, he said.

The Rishikesh-Badrinath highway is blocked at Totaghati, the Rishikesh-Gangotri highway is blocked at Nagni, and the Narendranagar-Ranipokhri motor road is blocked at several points, Chauhan said.   -- PTI

The Madhya Pradesh unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party has expelled Pritam Lodhi, an Other Backward Class (OBC) leader from Shivpuri district and a relative of former chief minister Uma Bharti, from the party for his 'anti-Brahmin and anti-women' remarks.

The BJP took the action against Lodhi on Friday despite his written apology to the party over his remarks that he had made earlier this week.

Lodhi had unsuccessfully contested the Assembly election from Pichhore in Shivpuri twice in the past.

His son is married to the granddaughter of Uma Bharti's elder sister, an acquaintance of the family said.

'The party took a serious note of Lodhi's remark against Brahmins and women and found his crime unpardonable. So, state BJP chief V D Sharma on Friday took a decision to expel Lodhi from the party's primary membership,' the ruling party's state general secretary and office in-charge Bhagwandas Sabnani said in a statement.

'For BJP, social harmony and women's respect is of paramount importance,' he said.

Lodhi landed in soup after a video of him speaking at the birth anniversary of Rani Avanti Bai Lodhi on August 17 at Badarwas in Shivpuri went viral.

In the video, he could be heard saying that Brahmin priests make people crazy, fool them and loot their money and food grain.

He also said that some of them stare at women and make young women sit in the front rows during discourses.

After the video went viral, opposition Congress attacked the BJP, while several Brahmin community organisations protested across the state, demanding his expulsion from the party.

FIRs were also registered against Lodhi in different police stations in Shivpuri, an official said.

A BJP leader said that after a row over his remarks, Lodhi also tendered a written apology to the party.

The Lodhi community is one of the most powerful OBC group in Madhya Pradesh.

The community holds sway in rural parts of the state.

Around 48 per cent voters in MP are from the OBC community.  -- PTI

Mumbai Police is investigating a WhatsApp message warning of a '26/11-like' terror attack in the city received on the WhatsApp number of the Mumbai Police Traffic Control from a Pakistan-based number police sources said on Saturday.

The message said that six people will execute the attack in India.

The Mumbai Police has initiated a probe on an immediate basis, sources said, adding that security agencies have put on alert.

The WhatsApp message talked of reviving memories of the attacks on November 26, 2008 in which Pakistan terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba carried out strikes across Mumbai.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar today said that the state government should take the threat seriously and probe the issue.

This development comes after a security scare on Thursday when a boat carrying AK 47, rifles, guns and ammunition was found on the Harihareshwar beach in the Raigad district of the state.

Following the boat's recovery, Maharshtra Police has been asked to stay vigilant.

According to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the boat belongs to an Australian citizen.

"Boat's engine broke out in the sea, people were rescued by a Korean boat. It has now reached Harihareshwar beach. Keeping in mind the coming festive season, police and the administration have been instructed to be prepared," he said.

On November 26, 2008, 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists from Pakistan arrived by sea route and opened fire, killing hundreds of people, including 18 security personnel, and injuring several others in Mumbai.

Nine terrorists were later killed by the security forces, including the NSG, the country's elite commando force.

Ajmal Kasab was the only terrorist who was captured alive.

He was hanged four years later on November 21, 2012.   -- ANI

Married women prisoners will soon be able to wear a "mangalsutra" and observe festivals like Karva Chauth and Teej in Uttar Pradesh jails, according to provisions of the new jail manual, which will replace the colonial-era rules in the state.  

 

The state Cabinet approved the Uttar Pradesh Jail Manual earlier this week, doing away with redundant and impractical provisions of the 1941 rule book.  

 

The new jail manual has adopted a more humane and sensitive approach towards jail inmates, especially women, said state minister Dharamveer Prajapati. 

 

The new jail manual allows married women inmates to wear their "mangalsutra" (sacred thread signifying their marital status). Earlier, they were allowed to wear only bangles, anklet and nose pins of reasonable rates. 

 

Sanitary napkins, coconut oil and shampoo are also on the list of items that will be provided to them.  

 

Children born to imprisoned women will be registered at birth and receive all mandated vaccinations. Their naming ceremony may also be observed.  

 

"I had gone to a jail recently where a child was born. The same day the naming ceremony was performed. The jail superintendent arranged for a Panditji and the ceremony," Prajapati said. 

 

In addition, education of the children living with their mothers in barracks will also be taken care of and a teacher will be provided in every jail. 

To save such children from being exposed to the continuous talks in the barracks about the crime committed by their mothers, children's parks are also being set up, the minister said. 

 

Expectant and nursing mothers will receive all care and extra nutritious diet besides medical facilities, the minister said. 

 

Creches and nurseries for children living with their mothers besides proper arrangement for sports, their education and entertainment find a place in the new jail manual. 

One person was killed and 13 others were feared dead in a landslide and a flash flood triggered by heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh's Mandi district, officials said on Saturday. 

 

Three people were also killed after their house collapsed following a landslide triggered by rains in the state's Chamba district on Saturday morning, officials said. 

In Mandi, the body of a girl was recovered about half a km away from her house in Baghi Nullah on Mandi-Katola-Prashar road on Friday night, while five members of her family were washed away, state disaster management department officials said.

 

Several families left their houses located between Baghi to Old Katola areas after cloud burst and took shelter at safe places, the department added. 

Besides, eight members of another family are also feared buried under the debris of their house following a landslide at Kashan village in Gohar development block, the department added. 

However, the bodies have not been retrieved yet, it said. 

Several roads in Mandi district have also been blocked after flash floods and multiple landslides. 

Several vehicles were damaged and a number of villagers were stuck in their houses as water entered their houses and shops at Balh, Sadar, Thunag, Mandi and Lamathach after a flash flood.

India on Saturday logged 13,272 fresh coronavirus infections that pushed its tally to 4,43,27,890, while the number of active cases came down to 1,01,166, according to Union health ministry data.

 

The toll due to COVID-19 climbed to 5,27,289 with 36 fatalities, including six deaths reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated.

The active cases comprise 0.23 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate stands at 98.58 per cent, the ministry said.

A decline of 664 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

There were no reports of loss of life, they said. 

According to the National Centre for Seismology, the earthquake struck at 1.12 am. Its epicentre was in Nepal's Bahraich district at a depth of 82 km.

Mumbai Traffic Police's control room has received several text messages on the WhatsApp number of its helpline, threatening a "26/11-type" attack, an official said on Saturday. 

          

Prima facie, the number from which the messages have been sent is from outside the country, he said.

        

"Text messages were received on the WhatsApp number of the Mumbai police's traffic helpline operated from the control room located at Worli in central Mumbai around 11 pm on Friday," the official said.

        

"In the series of messages, the sender has threatened about a 26/11-type attack," he said, adding that the city crime branch has initiated an investigation into it. 

        

In one of the most horrific terrorist attacks in the country's history, 166 people were killed and over 300 injured as 10 heavily-armed terrorists from Pakistan created mayhem in Mumbai on November 26, 2008. -- PTI 

Taiwan has tracked 21 warplanes and five naval ships from China around the country with eight jets that crossed the Taiwan Strait median line.

Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence said it had tracked 17 aircraft and five ships from China's military around the country by 5 pm on Friday, reported Taiwan News.

Of the 17 People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) warplanes, eight crossed the median line over the Taiwan Strait, the military said. 

The planes were four Xi'an JH-7 fighter-bombers, two Sukhoi Su-30 fighters, and two Shenyang J-11 jets.

The JH-7 and the Su-30 jets crossed the median line at its northern end, while the two J-11 fighters did so at the southern end.

The ministry said it tasked Combat Air Patrols, Navy ships, and air defence missile systems to monitor and respond to the Chinese activities reported Taiwan News.

China has increased its antics in Taiwan Strait post the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the self-governed island.

Over the previous day, the military tracked 51 Chinese warplanes over the Taiwan Strait and a Chinese guided-missile destroyer near a zone where Taiwan was testing missiles.

Tensions were further inflamed on Sunday when another US congressional delegation travelled to Taiwan and amid this a social media post by the Chinese People's Liberation Army showed footage of the Penghu islands suggesting that its jets were on Taiwan's doorstep.

In a bureaucratic reshuffle, a dozen IAS officers were shifted between departments on Friday, hours after a Central Bureau of Investigation raid at Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's residence in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy.

   

According to a transfer posting order issued by the services department of the Delhi government, those transferred include special secretary of health and family welfare Udit Prakash Rai, a 2007 batch IAS officer of AGMUT cadre.

 

Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena had recently recommended the Ministry of Home Affairs to take action against Rai for allegedly accepting Rs 50 lakh bribe to grant "undue favours" to an executive engineer in two corruption cases.

 

Rai has been transferred to the administrative reforms department as its special secretary, the order said.

 

Currently, Sisodia handles the health portfolio in the Delhi government.

 

Vijendra Singh Rawat, a 2007-batch IAS officer, has replaced Rai. He will also hold the additional charge of director (planning).

 

According to the order, 1990-batch officer Jitendra Narain has been made the chairman and managing director of Delhi Finance Corporation (DFC) while southwest Delhi district magistrate Hemant Kumar has been given the additional charge as DFC's executive director.

 

Vivek Pandey has been appointed as secretary (IT) and given the additional charge of managing director of Geospatial Delhi Limited and director of Union Territory Civil Services. Until now, he was posted as secretary, administrative reforms.

 

An officer of the 2004 batch Shurbir Singh has been relieved of the charge of secretary (cooperation) and given the charge of secretary (power) while he will continue to be the chairman of Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board.

 

Officer Garima Gupta has been given the additional charge of special secretary, transport, while she will continue to be the the managing director of Shahjahanabad Redevelopment Corporation and secretary, social welfare and women and child development, the order said.

 

Ashish Madhaorao More, a 2005-batch officer, has been given the additional responsibility of secretary (services) while he will continue his duties as secretary, General Administrative Department, and staff officer to the chief secretary, the order said.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, whose house was raided on Friday by the CBI in connection with alleged irregularities in the implementation of Excise Policy 2021-22, said the agency seized his computer and mobile phone after several hours of search and also took away some files.

He asserted that he was not involved in any wrongdoing and was not scared of the Central Bureau of Investigation.

"The CBI team reached in the morning and searched the whole house. My family and I extended them full cooperation. They seized my computer and mobile phone. They also took away some files," he told reporters after the raid that lasted several hours.

Sisodia alleged that the Centre was misusing the agency to stop the Arvind Kejriwal government from "doing good work" in Delhi.

He said that CBI officials behaved well during the raid. -- PTI