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Wed, 20 July 2022
Fire onboard aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya
Timeline Refresh
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23:53 Man attacked in MP for supporting Nupur Sharma; 13 booked, 2 arrested
A man was injured after he was attacked by a group of people armed with sharp-edged weapons for allegedly expressing support for former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma in Madhya Pradesh's Agar Malwa district on Wednesday, officials said.
Following a complaint, the police filed a case against 13 people for the attack on the man identified as Ayush Jadam, 25, and arrested two of the accused, the police said.
Agar Malwa's superintendent of police Rakesh Sagar said that the complainant in the case has claimed Jadam was attacked for supporting Sharma, whose controversial comments about Prophet Mohammed during a TV debate in May had kicked up a huge controversy.
It is a matter of investigation if the victim had indeed supported Sharma and in what manner, he added.
The police arrested two of the accused in the case and a search was on to nab the others, Sagar said. Jadam sustained head injuries in the assault, the police officer said.
Agar Malwa Kotwali police station in-charge Harish Jejurikar said the victim was attacked when he was passing by a local toll booth on a motorbike in the morning.
The complainant said the accused, all identified and residents of Agar Malwa, intercepted the victim and attacked him with sharp-edged weapons, he said. Jejurikar, however, did not disclose the names of the arrested duo. -- PTI
23:33 Fire onboard aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya
An incident of fire was reported on Wednesday onboard Indian Navy's aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya when it was on a sortie off Karwar in Karnataka, officials said.
They said no casualties were reported in the incident.
The naval headquarters ordered a board of inquiry to investigate the fire incident, the officials said.
They said the ship's crew brought the fire under control using onboard firefighting systems. -- PTI
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23:17 Telangana submits report to Centre on estimates of damage due to floods
The Telangana government has submitted a report to the Centre with a preliminary estimation of Rs 1,400 crore damage due to recent heavy rains and flood in the state.
It sought immediate financial assistance of Rs 1,000 crore from the Central government, an official release said on Wednesday night.
Heavy rains and flood last week led to inundation of low-lying areas and damage to agriculture crops and others in the state. -- PTI
22:53 BJP cancels Bengal rally after HC conditions
West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party called off its public meeting in Howrah's Uluberia, scheduled to be held on Thursday, citing its inability to hold a successful rally in view of the Calcutta high court's conditions.
The saffron party has decided to hold the event at a later date, which is yet to be decided.
Calcutta high court on Wednesday granted conditional permission to BJP to hold the rally on the same day the Trinamool Congress will hold its massive Martyrs' Day rally in Kolkata.
Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya said the meeting can be held from 8 pm to 10 pm, and the BJP has to ensure that law and order is maintained and that no speaker issues any provocative statements.
Also, the saffron party must ensure that NH 16 is not obstructed due to the rally.
"With the conditions, it won't be possible to hold a rally properly. So, we have decided to cancel it as of now," Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari told reporters.
The ruling TMC is scheduled to hold a massive rally on its Martyrs' Day on July 21, with several lakhs of people likely to attend the programme, which will be addressed by party chief Mamata Banerjee.
TMC leadership said BJP's rally was intended to grab media attention.
"BJP has lost political relevance in West Bengal. Its plan to hold the rally was an attempt to get some media attention," TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said.
Banerjee said that its Martyrs' Day rally will be against the Centre's "authoritarian rule". -- PTI
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22:46 Man involved in propagating 'jihad' against India arrested from Bihar: NIA
A 'highly radicalised' individual involved in propagating jihad against India was arrested from Bihar by the National Investigation Agency, an official said on Wednesday.
Ali Asgar alias Abdullah Bihari, a resident of Siswaniya village, was the seventh accused arrested in connection with a probe into the activities of banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, the official said.
Asgar was arrested during searches conducted in the east Champaran area of Bihar on Tuesday, a spokesperson of the NIA said.
The spokesperson said the case is related to arrest of six active cadres of proscribed organization JMB, including three illegal immigrants of Bangladesh, from Aishbagh, Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh who were found involved in propagating the JMB plans or ideology and motivating youth to carry out jihad against India.
The case was initially registered on March 14 at Bhopal police station and re-registered by NIA on April 5, the anti-terror probe agency said.
"Asgar is a highly radicalized individual involved in propagating jihad by posting hate and incriminating materials online in various groups on social media platforms." it said. -- PTI
The killer truck
22:10 Driver who mowed down Haryana DSP arrested
The Nuh police on Wednesday arrested the truck driver who had mowed down a Haryana DSP probing illegal mining.
Sabbir, alias Mittar, the key accused in the case, was arrested from Rajasthan's Bharatpur district. He was arrested following the questioning of Ikkar, another accused in the case.
"We arrested the main accused, Sabbir, alias Mittar, from the Pahari police station area of Bharatpur in Rajasthan. The accused, who is around 30 years of age, hails from Pachgaon. He had fled to his relatives. We are trying to nab his other accomplices," said Nuh SP Varun Singla.
State Home Minister Anil Vij told PTI that the truck driver was arrested from Ganghora village in Bharatpur district.
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21:55 Traffic in Delhi likely to be hit on Thursday due to Sonia's questioning, kanwar yatra
Anticipated protests over the questioning of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi by the ED and an increase in the number of kanwariyas passing through Delhi are likely to affect traffic movement in parts of the city on Thursday, police said.
The Enforcement Directorate has asked Gandhi to depose before it on July 21 for questioning in the National Herald newspaper-linked money-laundering case.
According to a senior Delhi police official, in view of the ongoing Parliament session, adequate security and traffic arrangements have been made to deal with any "contagious situation" which may arise due to the protests over the Congress chief's questioning.
Meanwhile, some roads near the Congress office have already been barricaded by police in anticipation of the protests on Thursday, sources in the Delhi police said.
Police have advised commuters to avoid Motilal Nehru Marg, Akbar Road, Janpath and Man Singh Road between 9 am and 2 pm on Thursday.
Due to special arrangements, traffic movement will not be allowed on these roads, they said.
Police also said that due to the arrangements, movement of buses will be restricted in some parts of central Delhi on Thursday.
As part of the kanwar yatra, kanwariyas (devotees of Lord Shiva) from different parts of the country collect water from the Ganga river at Haridwar in Uttarakhand to offer at Shiva temples back home. -- PTI
Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
21:37 Three held over hate speech video Union minister Shekhawat shared on Twitter
The police in Jaipur arrested three people, who had made the video of a hate speech which Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat had shared on his Twitter handle.
According to police, the video was more than a year old, in which some men are seen calling for the beheading of a Hindu leader for insulting Islam.
"Three people have been arrested in the video case. They were produced before a court, which sent them to judicial custody till August 3," Ramganj SHO Bhure Singh said.
The arrested persons were identified as Mehraj Ali, Salman and Rafiq.
In the video, five-six youths are seen pointing at a wall-mounted poster in the Ramganj area against a Hindu cleric of Uttar Pradesh, Yeti Narasimhanand.
They raised the slogan, "Gustakh-e-Nabi ki ek hi saja, sar tan se juda".
They were also seen saying that the Hindu cleric will be beheaded for insulting Islam.
Earlier on Tuesday, police said that the video is from April 2021.
Shekhawat shared this video on Tuesday and targeted Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on the law and order situation in the state.
Chief Minister's OSD Lokesh Sharma had questioned Shekhawat's intention behind sharing the video. -- PTI
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21:26 HC orders release of Russian ship in Cochin port
The Kerala high court on Wednesday ordered the release of a Russian ship detained at the Cochin port in Kochi two days ago, after it was told that the dispute between the parties have been settled.
The ship was ordered to be detained by the high court on July 18 after an admiralty suit was filed by an Estonian shore service company, Bunker Partner OU, seeking a decree for a sum of USD 23,503.14 with an interest at 0.1 per cent per day for the value of bunkers supplied by the Estonian company to the ship.
On Wednesday, Justice Sathish Ninan ordered release of the vessel after a memo was filed in court stating that "disputes have since been settled between the parties and that the suit may be dismissed as withdrawn".
"Permission granted. The admiralty suit is dismissed as withdrawn. The interim order of arrest will stand consequently withdrawn. The vessel is hereby ordered to be released. The Cochin Port Trust shall be intimated accordingly," the court said.
21:07 Sunak wins final round, to face Truss in last leg
Rishi Sunak on Wednesday clinched his place for the final leg of the race to succeed Boris Johnson and will go head-to-head with Foreign Secretary Liz Truss as one of two finalists to take charge as Conservative Party leader and British Prime Minister.
Sunak won the fifth and final voting round of Tory MPs with a resounding 137 votes, while second-placed Truss won the support of 113 MPs.
Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt was knocked out of the race after coming in third with 105 votes.
The 42-year-old British Indian former Chancellor, who has topped every voting round so far, added 19 votes to his Tuesday tally of 118 and comfortably crossed the 120 MPs mark seen as the threshold to confirm a place in the final showdown.
Sunak and Truss are now set for their first head-on clash in a live televised debate scheduled on the BBC for Monday.
Earlier, outgoing Prime Minister Johnson used his last Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons to bid farewell to the top job with the Spanish phrase 'hasta la vista, baby'.
In his final speech, he had words of advice for his successor: "I want to use the last few seconds, Mr Speaker, to give some words of advice to my successor, whoever he or she may be. Number one, stay close to the Americans, stick up for the Ukrainians, stick up for freedom and democracy everywhere. Cut taxes and deregulate wherever you can to make this the greatest place to live and invest, which it is." -- PTI
20:37 Alt News's Zubair released from Tihar jail
Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair was released from Tihar jail on Wednesday night, hours after being granted interim bail by the Supreme Court in all FIRs lodged in Uttar Pradesh against him for alleged hate speech, prison officials said on Wednesday.
Zubair was arrested by the Delhi police on June 27 for allegedly hurting religious sentiments through his tweets.
Multiple FIRs were lodged against him in UP -- two in Hathras and one each in Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad, and at Chandauli police station -- on similar charges.
"Mohammed Zubair has been released from Tihar," a senior official confirmed.
The Supreme Court, earlier in the day, ordered the release of Zubair on interim bail, saying "exercise of the power of arrest must be pursued sparingly" and transferred all the cases in UP to Delhi.
The court also said "it finds no reason or justification for the deprivation of his liberty to persist any further" and ordered disbanding of the SIT, constituted by the UP police.
20:18 Algospeak is wordsmith Shashi Tharoor's latest addition to Twitter lexicon
Algospeak -- that's Congress leader and wordsmith Shashi Tharoor's latest addition to Twitter lexicon.
The leader, known for throwing in rarely used English words into his posts, on Wednesday shared the meaning of his "word of the day".
"Algospeak (noun): word used on social media posts to avoid using another that algorithms may identify as unsuitable or inappropriate, in order to bypass downranking by content moderation filters on social media platforms. Eg. using 'unalive' rather than 'dead'," Tharoor tweeted.
The Congress MP also responded to a Twitter post, which said that for "word" troubles there is Shashi Tharoor.
The post had some words deemed unparliamentary in a booklet released by the Lok Sabha Secretariat recently and their replacements of tough rarely used words.
"Not my doing but quite clever!" Tharoor tweeted, tagging the post.
This is not the first time the author-politician-wordsmith has sent Twitterati scurrying for their dictionaries to confirm whether such words indeed exist.
A couple of months ago, Tharoor had shared his "word of the era" -- doomscrolling.
"Word of the Era! Merriam Webster Dictionary says they are watching the increasing use of this term (along with 'doomsurfing'). Increased consumption of predominantly negative news could have psychological ill effects, in addition to causing political depression...," Tharoor had tweeted with a screenshot of the word 'doomscrolling' and its meaning.
Earlier in May, Tharoor had taken a dig at the Ministry of Railways with a difficult-to-pronounce head-scratcher -- quomodocunquize. -- PTI
20:06 Once part of Fadnavis CMO, IAS officer Gagrani now named key aide of Shinde
Bhushan Gagrani, an IAS officer who was part of the Chief Minister's Office during the BJP government in Maharashtra headed by Devendra Fadnavis, was on Wednesday appointed as the additional chief secretary to the new CM Eknath Shinde.
The Indian Administrative Service officer from the 1990-batch will be the additional chief secretary to Shinde, who took oath of his new office on June 30, an official release said.
Gagrani previously served as the principal secretary to then-chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who headed the Shiv Sena-BJP government from 2014 to 2019.
Fadnavis is now the deputy chief minister in the Shinde administration.
The senior bureaucrat briefly continued in the key post after Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray took over as chief minister in November 2019 when the Maha Vikas Aghadi government was formed.
Gagrani was later moved out of the CMO in the wake of an RTI (Right to Information) query. -- PTI
19:50 Zubair's release warrant issued in 7 cases
A Delhi court on Wednesday issued release warrants in seven cases filed against Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair in UP and Delhi, his lawyer said.
Duty magistrate Amardeep Kaur issued the order after the counsel for the accused filed bail bond in all six cases lodged in UP and one in Delhi, in which he was granted bail earlier.
The counsel for Zubair, advocate Soutik Banerjee, said that the order has been sent to jail authorities through court officials and his client is likely to be release on Wednesday night. -- PTI
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19:31 7 flights diverted, 40 delayed at Delhi airport due to heavy rains
At least seven flights were diverted and 40 services were delayed at Delhi airport due to heavy rains that lashed the city Wednesday afternoon, sources said.
At least 25 flight departures and 15 flight arrivals were delayed due to bad weather on Wednesday, they said.
Vistara said on Twitter that its two Mumbai-Delhi flights were diverted to other cities -- one to Jaipur and another to Indore -- due to heavy rains in Delhi.
Sources said at least seven flights, including the aforementioned two of Vistara, were diverted to other cities from the Delhi airport.
Delhi airport's operator DIAL did not respond to PTI's request for a statement on the matter. -- PTI
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19:01 Seer self-immolates to protest stone mining
A seer set himself afire amid a protest over illegal stone mining in Bharatpur's Deeg on Wednesday, a day after another seer climbed atop a mobile tower demanding a ban on it.
The seer was referred to Jaipur from Bharatpur in critical condition, officials said.
The seer who had climbed atop the mobile tower came down after the incident and peace talks are going on, the police said.
Meanwhile, the authorities extended the suspension of mobile internet services by a day.
"A sadhu, Vijay Das, who was standing away from the protest site all of sudden set himself afire on Wednesday. A police team rushed to him with blankets to douse the fire. The sadhu was rushed to Bharatpur from where he was referred to Jaipur owing to his condition," Khoh SHO Vinod Kumar said.
Superintendent of Bharatpur Medical College Dr Jigyasa Sahni said the seer has been referred to Jaipur after first aid.
She said the seer had 80 per cent burns.
Mobile internet services were suspended till Thursday as a precautionary measure.
Bharatpur divisional commissioner Sanwarmal Verma said the suspension of mobile internet services has been extended by one more day amid the latest developments. -- PTI
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18:53 Senior TV journalist receives threat calls, demands security
A senior TV journalist has approached the Delhi police saying he received threat calls and demanded security, officials said on Wednesday.
According to the police, they received a complaint from a leading daily news channel, following which the special cell unit has initiated a threat assessment.
This is not the first time the journalist has received such a threat, sources said.
In June 2012, the news channel had filed a police complaint alleging its editor-in-chief was receiving threat calls and messages, following which a case was filed against unknown persons under the Information Technology Act.
According to the complaint, the channel had telecast a programme that month questioning the claims of a godman and allegations raised against him that he conned people by holding religious programmes.
The godman had also participated in the programme to answer the allegations against him.
Shortly after the programme was telecast, the channel claimed that the journalist received "abusive and threatening" calls and text messages from people claiming to be the godman's followers. -- PTI
18:37 Sensex top gainers
Benchmark BSE Sensex rallied over 1 per cent while Nifty closed above the 16,500 mark on Wednesday after sharp gains in IT, oil & gas and metal shares amid positive global market trends.
Among the Sensex constituents, Tech Mahindra rose the most by 3.84 per cent. HCL Tech rose by 3.08 per cent, Tata Consultancy Services by 2.89 per cent, and Infosys by 2 per cent.
Reliance Industries jumped 2.47 per cent, SBI by 2.13 per cent and HUL by 1.55 per cent.
Wipro rose by 1.63 per cent ahead of its financial results which were announced after market hours. Its consolidated profit dropped 21 per cent to Rs 2,563.6 crore in April-June 2022-23.
Protesters set afire school buses after student's death
18:19 NCPCR chief to visit TN to inquire into death of girl in residential school
The chief of apex child rights body NCPCR, Priyank Kanoongo, will visit Tamil Nadu next week to inquire into the case of suspicious death of a teenager in a residential school there.
The 17-year-old girl, studying in Class 12 in the private residential school in Chinnasalem, was found dead on July 13 in the hostel compound.
A post-mortem had reportedly indicated that the girl had sustained injuries before her death.
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights chief Kanoongo will be travelling to Tamil Nadu to look into the case.
"I will be visiting Kallakurichi, Tamil Nadu on July 27 to inquire into the case of suspicious death of a girl child in a residential school," he tweeted.
Kanoongo had earlier said the commission is looking into the matter and will take strict action.
Protesters entered the private school, vandalised the property and torched school buses on July 17 following the death of the girl.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin took stock of the situation on Tuesday and chaired a high-level meeting with School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi and senior officials, through video conference. -- PTI
18:05 Mumbai ex-top cop Pandey given 9-day ED custody
A Delhi court on Wednesday sent former Mumbai police commissioner Sanjay Pandey to nine days' custodial interrogation by Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case related to alleged illegal phone tapping and snooping of stock exchange employees.
Special Judge Sunena Sharma allowed ED to quiz Pandey after the agency said he was required to be confronted with other accused in the case.
Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the ED, moved an application seeking Pandey's 14-day custodial interrogation, saying the former Mumbai police commissioner committed an unlawful act of tapping of MTNL phones, for which purpose Rs 454 crore was paid, and becomes proceeds of crime.
Pandey told the court that he never did any phone tapping or live monitoring.
He was arrested by the investigating agency on Tuesday in the case.
ED had earlier arrested former NSE MD Chitra Ramakrishna on July 14 after conducting her interrogation which was permitted by the court, where she was produced from jail on an order passed by the judge earlier.
The judge had issued a production warrant against the accused on a plea moved by the ED.
Later, the ED arrested Ramakrishna on the ground of non-cooperation and again produced her before the court and urged for her nine-day custodial interrogation.
The court, however, had granted her four-day custody to the agency.
Ramakrishna was arrested by the CBI in a separate case and was currently in judicial custody.
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17:34 SC collegium approves proposal for elevation of 21 judicial officers as judges
The Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana has approved the proposal for the elevation of 21 judicial officers as judges in the different high courts.
The collegium, which also comprises justices UU Lalit and AM Khanwilkar, on Wednesday, approved the proposal for the elevation of seven judicial officers as judges in the Andhra Pradesh high court.
The names of the judicial officers are -- Adusumalli Venkata Ravindra Babu, Vakkalagadda Radha Krishna Krupa Sagar, Syamsunder Bandaru, Shri Srinivas Vutukuru, Boppana Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Chakravarthi, Tallapragada Mallikarjuna Rao, and Duppala Venkata Ramana.
The collegium has also approved the proposal for the elevation of nine judicial officers as judges in the Allahabad high court.
The names of the judicial officers are -- Renu Agarwal, Mohammed Azhar Husain Idrisi, Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra, Jyotsna Sharma, Mayank Kumar Jain, Shiv Shanker Prasad, Gajendra Kumar, Surendra Singh-I, and Nalin Kumar Srivastava.
The collegium in its meeting held on July 19, 2022, has approved the proposal for the elevation of five judicial officers as judges in the Karnataka high court.
The names of the judicial officers are --Anil Bheemsen Katti, Gurusiddaiah Basavaraja, Chandrashekhar Mrutyunjaya Joshi, Umesh Manjunathbhat Adiga, and Talkad Girigowda Shivashankare Gowda. -- PTI
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17:03 Gujarat cop run over by container truck
A police constable on vehicle-checking duty died after being run over by a truck in Gujarat's Anand district early on Wednesday morning, an official said.
A container truck mowed down constable Karansinh Raj (40) around 1 am on a highway near Borsad town, he said.
"The constable was grievously injured. He was taken to a hospital where he died around 11.30 am," said deputy superintendent of police DH Desai.
The driver left the truck at the spot and ran away, and efforts were on to nab him, the official said, adding that the truck was not found to be carrying any suspicious cargo.
Constable Raj was attached to the Borsad town police station and carrying out vehicle checking at the time of the incident.
When he tried to wave down the container truck, it did not stop.
"The constable and a Gram Rakshak Dal jawan accompanying him chased the truck for a few kilometres in a private vehicle and overtook it," Desai said.
"Raj got down and signalled the truck driver to stop. Instead of stopping, the truck ran over him," Desai said.
The truck driver has been identified, he said. -- PTI
16:05 Windshield of Go-Air flight cracks
The windshield of a Go-Air flight between Delhi-Guwahati cracks mid-air. Due to bad weather, the aircraft did not return to Delhi and diverted safely to Jaipur: DGCA Officials
Rapper Sidhu Moosewala
16:02 Suspect in Sidhu Moosewala's murder killed
A gangster and a suspect in murder of singer Sidhu Moosewala has been killed in an ongoing encounter with the police near Amritsar today.
Three policemen and a journalist have been injured, while another suspect, continues to be engaged in firing.
The encounter at Bhakna village, 20 km from Amritsar, started earlier in the afternoon as Punjab Police's Anti-Gangster Task Force had been tailing the two men. They were among three shooters who were still on the run. There were at least eight shooters in the killing of the singer.
Gunshots were heard from the site where the accused were thought to be hiding. A heavy police force has been deployed at the village.
According to official sources, gangsters Jagroop Singh Roopa and Manpreet Singh alias Mannu Kusa, who were allegedly involved in the killing of the singer, were at large.
15:53 Journalist injured in Punjab encounter
A journalist was injured in the encounter going on between police and gangsters at Cheecha Bhakna village of Amritsar district. A gangster has been killed in the encounter.
15:48 3 flights diverted, 40 delayed at Delhi airport due to heavy rains
At least three flights were diverted and 40 services were delayed at Delhi airport due to heavy rains that lashed the city Wednesday afternoon, sources said.
At least 25 flight departures and 15 flight arrivals were delayed due to bad weather on Wednesday, they said.
Vistara said on Twitter that its two Mumbai-Delhi flights were diverted to other cities -- one to Jaipur and another to Indore -- due to heavy rains in Delhi. Sources said at least three flights, including the aforementioned two of Vistara, were diverted to other cities from the Delhi airport. Delhi airport's operator DIAL did not respond to PTI's request for a statement on the matter.
15:44 India denies influencing Lankan Prez polls
India on Wednesday underlined that it does not interfere in the internal affairs and democratic processes of another country, while terming as 'baseless' and 'purely speculative' the media reports on influencing Sri Lankan leaders at political level in the presidential election in the island nation.
Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe was on Wednesday elected as Sri Lanka's new President by Parliament, following a high-voltage political drama which saw his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa fleeing the country and resigning after a popular uprising against his government for mismanaging the economy.
In a series of tweets, the Indian High Commission in Colombo said, 'We have seen baseless and purely speculative media reports about efforts at political level from India to influence political leaders in Sri Lanka regarding elections in the Sri Lankan Parliament to the post of the President of Sri Lanka.
'(We) categorically deny these media reports as completely false. They are clearly a figment of someone's imagination.'
The High Commission reiterated that India supports the realisation of aspirations of the people of Sri Lanka in accordance with democratic means and values, established institutions as well as constitutional provisions, 'and doesn't interfere in internal affairs and democratic processes of another country'.
The 73-year-old six-time prime minister, Wickremesinghe, secured 134 votes in the 225-member House, while his nearest rival and dissident ruling party leader Dullas Alahapperuma got 82.
Leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake secured just three votes.
The new President will have a mandate to serve out the rest of Gotabaya Rajapaksa's term, which ends in November 2024. -- PTI
15:17 Chaos on arrival at Heathrow
If you're heading to London's Heathrow airport, here's a warning from actor Hugh Grant. Grant tweets, "Dear Visitors to the UK, I apologise for the way you are treated on arrival. Terminal 3 Heathrow just now was a disgrace and inhumane. Im afraid we have the worst Home Secretary in British history," and shares this image alongside.
15:05 Mohammed Zubair gets bail in all cases
Fact-checker Mohammed Zubair gets bail in all cases filed against him. The Supreme Court today granted interim bail to fact-checking website Alt News co-founder Zubair in all the six FIRs registered against him in Uttar Pradesh.
The court clubs all the FIRs registered against the Alt News co-founder and transfers all the six FIRs lodged in Uttar Pradesh to the Delhi Police Special Cell. The court also disbands the SIT set up by the Uttar Pradesh government to probe Zubair's tweets.
Court says transfer of the FIRs shall apply to all existing FIRs and to all future FIRs that may be registered on the issue.
Court sets bail bond of Rs 20,000.
14:31 Naxal violence fell by 77% in 2021
The incidents of Naxal violence reduced by 77 per cent from all-time high of 2,258 in 2009 to 509 in 2021, Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
While giving a written reply to the query of Congress MP Akhilesh Prasad Singh, Rai said, "The steadfast implementation of the 'national policy and action plan to address Left Wing Extremism (LWE) 2015 has resulted in a consistent decline in LWE violence".
"The incidents of LWE violence have reduced by 77 per cent from all-time high of 2,258 in 2009 to 509 in 2021. Similarly, the resultant deaths (civilians and security forces) have reduced by 85 per cent from all-time high of 1,005 in 2010 to 147 in 2021," the Minister said. -- PTI
14:14 Unparliamentary to discuss inflation, asks Priyanka Gandhi
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is increasing household expenditure while shying away from a discussion on it in Parliament, and asked whether it is "unparliamentary" to discuss inflation.
The Congress said it is "cruel" on the part of the government to raise taxes on some essential items of consumption as it will lead to a further rise in inflation.
In a tweet in Hindi, Gandhi said that in the midst of severe inflation, households needed "sanjeevani" (major boost).
The BJP-led government increased the burden of inflation further by imposing "Grihasthi Satyanash Tax (GST)" (household destruction tax) on flour, grains, jaggery and curd, she said.
"Narendra Modi ji is increasing the expenditure and is shying away from discussion in Parliament. Is it 'unparliamentary' to discuss inflation?" the Congress leader said. The Congress general secretary also tweeted a picture of Opposition leaders staging a protest in Parliament premises against inflation and the hike in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on certain commodities of daily use.
14:00 Aaditya Thackeray to visit Thane, Nashik, Aurangabad
Shiv Sena MLA and former Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray will visit Thane, Nashik and Aurangabad districts over next three days and address rallies at some places, a party leader said on Wednesday.
After a split in the Shiv Sena legislature party last month, the Udhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena on Tuesday suffered a fresh jolt with 12 of its 19 Lok Sabha members shifting allegiance to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Five out of the six Sena MLAs from Aurangabad district have joined the Shinde camp. Aaditya Thackeray will be touring Bhiwandi, Shahapur (in Thane), Igatpuri and Nashik on Thursday, Shiv Sena MLC and Aurangabad party unit president Ambadas Danve said in a release.
The Mumbai-based Sena legislator will address a rally at Manmad in Nashik. He will reach Aurangabad on Friday afternoon and address a rally at Sant Eknath Rang Mandir auditorium, Danve said.
On Saturday, he will go to Paithan in Aurangabad and then to Newasa in Ahmednagar district where he will hold a rally, he said. He will also visit Shirdi in Ahmednagar the same day and then head back to Mumbai, another party official said. -- PTI
13:40 Raut gets exemption from appearing before ED
"Parliament session is underway. I have sought exemption (from ED) from appearance. I will be in Delhi," says Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut.
Raut was summoned to appear before ED at 11am today, in a money laundering case.
"ED has granted us time till 7th August as we sought the same. Sanjay Raut will appear on the next date," said Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut's lawyer Vikrant Sabne
13:32 NTA forms panel to probe Kollam NEET incident
The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Tuesday constituted a three-member fact-finding committee to probe the alleged incident in Kollam where a student was asked to remove her innerwear before appearing for the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) in Kerala.
The Committee will submit its report in four weeks. "In pursuance of the directions of the Ministry of Education regarding a Candidate of NEET (UG)-2022 being subjected to harassment/ inhuman treatment at a Centre in Kollam District, Kerala during frisking at the examination centre on 17th July, 2022, a Fact Finding Committee to ascertain the facts on the spot has been constituted," the NTA said in a statement.
13:26 Protests after Wickremesinghe elected Prez
Protesters gather outside the Presidential Secretariat after Ranil Wickremesinghe was elected as Sri Lanka President.
13:18 Country in very difficult situation: SL Prez to Parl
Sri Lanka's newly appointed President Ranil Wickremesinghe addresses the Sri Lankan Parliament in Colombo. He says the country is in a very difficult situation, we have big challenges ahead.
Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had offered his resignation after fleeing the country to Singapore. The president first flew to the Maldives after tens of thousands of protesters stormed his official residence in the capital Colombo.
The economy in Sri Lanka is bracing for a sharp contraction due to the unavailability of basic inputs for production, an 80 per cent depreciation of the currency since March 2022, coupled with a lack of foreign reserves and the country's failure to meet its international debt obligations. -- PTI
13:09 Ranil Wickremesinghe elected Sri Lanka President
Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe was on Wednesday elected as Sri Lanka's new President by Parliament, following a high-voltage political drama which saw his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa fleeing the country and resigning after a popular uprising against his government for mismanaging the economy.
The 73-year-old six-time prime minister secured 134 votes in the 225-member House while his nearest rival and dissident ruling party leader Dullas Alahapperuma got 82. Leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake secured just three votes. The new President will have a mandate to serve out the rest of Rajapaksa's term, which ends in November 2024.
Earlier, the voting by secret ballot took place amidst tight security in the wake of the simmering tensions in the island nation triggered by the unprecedented economic and political crisis.
In the crucial election, 223 lawmakers voted while two MPs abstained. Four votes were rejected while 219 were declared valid. This is for the first time in 44 years that Sri Lanka's Parliament has directly elected a president. Presidential elections in 1982, 1988, 1994, 1999, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2019 had elected them by popular vote.
13:06 Govt slashes windfall tax on fuel export, domestic crude oil
The government on Wednesday scrapped a three-week-old tax on the export of petrol and cut windfall taxes on overseas shipment of diesel and ATF as well as the one imposed on domestically produced crude oil after global oil prices fell.
While the Rs 6 a litre export duty on petrol was scrapped, the tax on the export of diesel and jet fuel (ATF) was cut by Rs 2 per litre each to Rs 11 and Rs 4 respectively, government notifications showed.
The tax on domestically produced crude was also cut to Rs 17,000 per tonne from Rs 23,250, a move that will benefit producers like ONGC and Vedanta Ltd. Also, overseas shipments from refineries located in export-focused ones were exempted from the levies that were imposed on July 1. On July 13, PTI had reported that the windfall tax review was expected following a sharp fall in global oil prices.
12:31 Hooch kills 7 in Bengal
Seven people have died, six people under medical treatment in a hospital in Howrah, West Bengal for consuming hooch.
Agnipath protests last month
11:58 Delhi HC to hear pleas challenging Agnipath scheme on Aug 25
The Delhi High Court Wednesday said it will hear on August 25 a batch of petitions challenging the Centre's Agnipath Scheme as it is yet to receive the files of pleas transferred here by the Supreme Court.
The high court was informed by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta the apex court on July 19 transferred all the pleas pending before it challenging the scheme.
The top court has also asked the high courts of Kerala, Punjab and Haryana, Patna and Uttarakhand to transfer the PILs against the Agnipath scheme pending before them to the Delhi High Court or keep it pending till a decision from the Delhi High Court is delivered, if the petitioners before it so desires.
On Wednesday, a bench of Delhi High Court Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad said the transferred petitions are not before it and the matter be listed for hearing after two weeks. The court will hear the matter on August 25. -- PTI
11:53 Uddhav vs Shinde: SC begins hearing
The Supreme Court on Wednesday commenced hearing on the plea of Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena challenging disqualification proceedings initiated against them under the constitutional scheme.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Uddhav faction, told a bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana that Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari should not have sworn-in the new government when the apex court was seized of the matter.
"Speaker recognising a whip other than the official whip nominated by the party is malafide," Sibal told the bench also comprising Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli.
The CJI-led bench on July 11 had granted interim relief to the Uddhav Thackeray faction MLAs by asking Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar not to proceed with the plea seeking their disqualification as sought by the Shinde group on the grounds of defying the party whip during the trust vote and the election of the speaker. PTI
11:47 Tour operators expect boom time this Durga puja season in Bengal
Tour operators are expecting a never before boom of tourist arrivals in West Bengal this Durga Puja season if there is no Covid-19 surge, with bookings and inquiries pouring in from various countries as well as other states within India.
Travel Agents Federation of India's eastern region chairman Anil Punjabi said that there will be a similar movement of travellers from West Bengal for a taste of wanderlust to various countries in Europe and the Far East, apart from domestic destinations. "This time it will be a boom. If there is no Covid surge, we are expecting big business," he told PTI.
Raj Basu, convenor of the Association for Conservation of Tourism, said that most of the destinations in forests and hills in the state have been booked from early October till after Diwali.
"With a lot of bookings and enquiries from people from various countries and Indian states, tourist arrivals to Kolkata and other parts of the state will be at an "all-time high" this time," Punjabi said.
He said that after the Durga Puja in Kolkata was included in UNESCO's representative list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2021, the interest shown in being part of it among foreigners and domestic tourists has increased manifold.
"There is big demand from foreigners to visit Kolkata and other parts of Bengal," Punjabi said. He said that NRIs accompanied by their foreign friends are expected to come from Europe, the USA, Canada, Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore. Besides, citizens of various countries will come on their own. "After the Durga Puja celebrations, many of them will also be going to the hills to enjoy cooler climes," Punjabi said.
11:21 Indian stock indices rise for 4th straight session
Indian stock indices extended their gains from the previous session and traded sharply higher in early trade on Wednesday. This is the fourth consecutive session of gains in the domestic indices.
The latest decline in crude oil prices coupled with signs of domestic inflation plateauing has somewhat lent support to the domestic indices.
At 9.30 a.m., Sensex was at 55,428.21 points, up 660.59 points or 1.21 per cent, whereas Nifty was at16,535.35 points, up 194.80 points or 1.19 per cent.
"Results from the leading financials are likely to be good and the ongoing rally may continue. After the recent correction, IT valuations are attractive. If the US succeeds in avoiding a recession, IT will bounce back smartly," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
Among the Nifty 50 stocks, 47 of them traded in the green this morning, with the rest 3 in the red, National Stock Exchange data showed.
11:05 BJP takes a dig at 'politically unproductive' Rahul
With opposition's protests on price rise disrupting Parliament proceedings, the BJP on Wednesday took a swipe at Rahul Gandhi saying the Congress leader may have been "unproductive politically" but he should not try to curb the legislature's productivity.
Parliament's monsoon session has seen little business since it started on Monday due to opposition members, including from the Congress, disrupting its proceedings over issues like fresh GST on certain food items and price rise in general.
The government and the opposition have accused each other of running away from debate on critical issues facing the country.
Attacking Gandhi, Union minister and BJP leader Smriti Irani alleged his political life has been dotted with show of disrespect to parliamentary procedures and traditions.
"He is now adamant to bring down the productivity of Lok Sabha," she told reporters.
"As an Amethi MP between 2004 and 2019, he never posed any question in Parliament and when he "abandoned" the constituency and became the MP of Wayanad, his attendance in Lok Sabha was less than 40 per cent in the winter session in 2019," Irani said.
He has also never proposed any private member's bill, she added.
She had defeated Gandhi in Amethi in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Irani also took a dig at him over his frequent foreign visits and said this has become a matter of worry for his own party.
"His political life has been spent disrespecting parliamentary traditions. Now he is dedicating himself to ensuring that parliamentary proceedings and debates do not take place," she said. "He may be unproductive politically but he should not dare to continuously curb Parliament's productivity," she added. PTI
A woman gets vaccinated against Covid-19 in Guwahati
10:46 Active Covid cases in country rise to 1,45,654
India added 20,557 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of Covid-19 cases to 4,38,03,619, while the active cases increased to 1,45,654, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.
The death toll climbed to 5,25,825 with 40 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.
The active cases comprise 0.33 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.47 per cent, the ministry said.
An increase of 2000 cases has been recorded in the active Covid-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.
The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23 last year. It crossed the four-crore mark on January 25 this year. PTI
10:33 Jharkhand woman cop mowed down during vehicle check
A female sub-inspector named Sandhya Topno was mowed down to death allegedly during a vehicle check, last night following which the police arrested one accused person in the matter.
She was posted as in-charge of Tupudana Police station.
Speaking to ANI today morning, Ranchi Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kaushal Kishore said, "She (Topno) received information that a vehicle is transporting the cattles. When she tried to stop, the driver dashed at her deliberately. She was declared dead in the hospital."
"The accused has been arrested and the vehicle has been seized," the police officer said.
Further probe into the matter is underway. -- ANI
09:47 ED issues fresh summons to Sanjay Raut
The Enforcement Directorate has issued fresh summons to Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut to appear before it for questioning on Wednesday in a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the re-development of a Mumbai 'chawl' and related transactions involving his wife and 'associates', officials said.
The Rajya Sabha MP, who is in the Uddhav Thackeray camp, had denied any wrongdoing and alleged that he was being targeted due to political vendetta.
Raut has been asked to depose at the agency's regional office in Mumbai.
He has been questioned once in this case on July 1 and spent about 10 hours with the investigating officer during which his statement was recorded under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
"I gave full cooperation and answered all their questions. I will appear again if they call me," Raut had told reporters while exiting.
He said he was 'fearless and undaunted' as he has 'not done anything wrong in life'.
The development comes amid a rebellion in the Shiv Sena with a tussle over party symbol and control of the organisation between former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on one side and current chief minister Eknath Shinde on the other.
In April, the ED provisionally attached assets worth over Rs 11.15 crore of Raut's wife Varsha Raut and two of his associates as part of this investigation.
The attached properties are in the form of land held by Pravin M Raut, Sanjay Raut's aide and a former director of Guru Ashish Construction Pvt Ltd, at Palghar, Saphale (town in Palghar) and Padgha (in Thane district).
These properties also include a flat in Mumbai's suburb Dadar held by Varsha Raut and eight plots at Kihim beach in Alibaug jointly held by Varsha Raut and Swapna Patkar, wife of Sujit Patkar, a 'close associate' of Sanjay Raut, the ED had said.
The agency wants to question Sanjay Raut to know about his 'business and other links' with Pravin Raut and Patkar and also about the property deals involving his wife.
After arresting Pravin Raut in February, the ED had said he appears to be 'acting as a front' or in collusion with some influential person.
The agency had said during the probe it was revealed he made payments to certain 'politically exposed persons'.
In the Alibaug land deal, apart from the registered value, 'cash' payments were made to the sellers, the agency had alleged. Pravin Raut was arrested by the ED in a probe linked to a Rs 1,034 crore alleged land scam related to the re-development of the Patra 'chawl' in Mumbai's Goregaon area.
He is in judicial custody at present. Guru Ashish Construction Pvt Ltd was involved in the re-development of the 'chawl' which had 672 tenants in tenements on 47 acres belonging to the Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority (MHADA), the ED had said earlier. -- PTI
Rishi Sunak. Photograph: Reuters
09:07 Tory MPs to hold final vote before run-off in UK PM race
Tory MPs will vote for the last time on Wednesday to decide which two candidates should go through to the run-off vote among party members after Rishi Sunak topped the latest round to edge closer to the final spot in the race to pick the next British prime minister.
Sunak, the British-Indian former Chancellor, received 118 votes in the fourth round of voting by his party colleagues on Tuesday, just shy of the 120-mark or one-third of Conservative Party MPs needed to confirm his place as one of the final contenders in the race to replace Boris Johnson.
The 42-year-old leader increased his tally from Monday's 115, while Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt got 92 votes and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss 86 votes leaving the race to clinch second place still open.
Only Sunak, Mordaunt, and Truss remain in the race after Kemi Badenoch was eliminated on Tuesday.
Sunak is still the frontrunner, with Mordaunt and Truss vying for the second spot in the final round.
Conservative Party members will vote over the summer, with a result to be announced on September 5, the BBC reported.
The final two candidates will be known after a fifth round of voting on Wednesday, at the end of which the race will be taken over by the Conservative Party headquarters to organise hustings in different parts of the UK.
The focus will then be on convincing the Tory party membership base, estimated at around 160,000 voters, to cast their ballots in favour of one of the two remaining candidates.
Those votes will be counted towards the end of August for the winner to be announced by September 5, with the new incumbent at 10 Downing Street going on to address his or her first Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) in the House of Commons on September 7.
'It's a very tight race and at this point, impossible to call,' the BBC reported after Tuesday's voting won by Sunak, the son-in-law of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy.
It has been an intense few weeks for the Tory party since Johnson resigned on July 7, following the resignation of Sunak and multiple other Cabinet ministers who said they had lost confidence in his leadership in the wake of a series of scandals at the heart of his government.
Johnson chaired his final Cabinet meeting as a caretaker prime minister this week and is expected to take his place as a backbench Tory MP when Parliament resumes under a new Tory leader in September. -- PTI
08:28 Lankan Parliament to elect new President today
Sri Lanka is set to elect a new President on Wednesday following the resignation of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who flew to Singapore via the Maldives, amid an unprecedented economic crisis that has led to a shortage of fuel of and other essentials in the country.
Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe is among the top three candidates for the Presidential election scheduled to be held in the crisis-marred island nation today.
The other two candidates are Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) parliamentarian Dullas Alahaperuma and National People's Power (NPP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
Sri Lanka's main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa yesterday withdrew his candidature from the presidential race and said he is supporting rival candidate Dullas Alahapperuma for the top post.
Premadasa took to Twitter to say that his party the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and its alliance and opposition partners will support Alahapperuma, an MP of the SLPP, who is in the fray for the upcoming presidential elections.Premadasa said that he is heading with this decision as he seeks the 'greater good' for Lankans.
'For the greater good of my country that I love and the people I cherish I hereby withdraw my candidacy for the position of President. Samagi Jana Balawegaya and our alliance and our opposition partners will work hard towards making Dullas Alahaperuma victorious,' he tweeted.
Dullas Alahaperuma is a senior lawmaker from the SLPP and a former journalist. He was a cabinet minister in the previous Rajapaksa government.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is now the acting president, is among those who are in the race for the post of the President to be held on July 20 in which 225 members of the House are eligible to vote and participate in the secret ballot.
It is interesting to note that the main opposition leader Premadasa earlier said that he is set to contest the presidential elections.
Terming the scenario of him winning Sri Lanka's presidential elections an 'uphill task', Premadasa last Friday said that he will contest the elections as he is convinced that the truth will prevail.
Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had offered his resignation after fleeing the country to Singapore.
The President first flew to the Maldives after tens of thousands of protesters stormed his official residence in the capital Colombo.
The economy in Sri Lanka is bracing for a sharp contraction due to the unavailability of basic inputs for production, an 80 per cent depreciation of the currency since March 2022, coupled with a lack of foreign reserves and the country's failure to meet its international debt obligations.
Hundreds of Sri Lankans continue to queue up at petrol pumps across the debt-ridden country every day amid fuel shortage, and a large number of people are ditching their cars and motorcycles for bicycles for their daily commute.
The economic crisis which is the worst in Sri Lanka's history has prompted an acute shortage of essential items like fuel. -- ANI
01:21 ED arrests Jharkhand CM's aide Pankaj Mishra in illegal mining case
The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday arrested Pankaj Mishra, a close aide of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, in an illegal mining case, official sources said.
Mishra was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
The move comes days after the agency seized cash amounting to Rs 11.88 crore lying in 37 bank accounts belonging to Mishra in the case.
The seized amount belonged to Mishra, one Dahoo Yadav and their associates.
Earlier, ED had conducted searches at 19 locations in Sahibganj, Barhet, Rajmahal, Mirza Chauki and Barharwar in Jharkhand resulting in the seizure of various incriminating documents and Rs 5.34 crore unaccounted cash on July 8.
During this search operation, ED had said, it seized five stone crushers that were being illegally operated from the site and also five illegal firearm cartridges.
"The evidences collected during the course of investigation including statements of various persons, digital evidences and documents revealed that the seized cash and bank balance is derived from illegal mining being rampantly done in the Sahibganj area including the forest area," the ED had said.
A trail of further Rs 100 crore of proceeds of crime generated from illegal mining has also been unearthed and being worked upon, said the ED.
Earlier in the month of May, the federal agency said, searches at 36 locations connected with the MNREGA scam were conducted under PMLA resulting in the seizure of Rs 19.76 crore in cash.
The searched premises included the premises of Pooja Singhal, IAS, and her associates. -- PTI
Representational image
00:47 Army making efforts to recruit women: Govt to SC
The Army has been making 'earnest' efforts by expanding its horizon for recruiting female candidates in its various arms/services and is examining further increase in number of women officers based on functional capacities without compromise on operational efficiency, the Centre has told the Supreme Court.
In an affidavit filed before the top court, the Centre said granting equal opportunity to all eligible candidates, if 50 per cent of the vacancies are kept open for women candidates, up to 90 women can be inducted in these ten arms/services per year.
"Since regular entry of 20 women cadets per year through National Defence Academy has already been approved, this leaves the balance induction of 70 women officers through the Short Service entry route which is 10 less than the present intake of 80.
"It is submitted that the Short Service Commission Women Officers are eligible for consideration for permanent commission. With assumed intake of 50 per cent women after applying combat exclusion, up to 90 women can be inducted per year which translates to a representation of (16.33 per cent) per batch and an overall strength of 1,876 Women Officers (276 more than current planning figure of 1,600)," the affidavit stated.
The Centre also stated that a study has been conducted to holistically examine the implication of opening National Defence Academy to women and to determine a pragmatic women officer cadre size keeping in mind existing ground realities and a gender neutral outlook. -- PTI
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