LIVE! No need for permission: VHP on yatra in Mewat

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Sat, 26 August 2023

No need for permission: VHP on yatra in Mewat

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20:50 No need for permission: VHP on yatra in Mewat

Weeks after its procession came under attack and was stopped in Haryana's Nuh, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Saturday said a "shobha yatra" would be taken out in the area on August 28 and asserted there was no need to obtain permission from the administration for such religious events.

The organisation, however, said it would inform the administration about the procession and was open to discussion on its form and size as "we do not want to cast a shadow on a G20 event", scheduled in Nuh in the first week of September.

The Haryana government on Saturday ordered the suspension of mobile Internet and bulk SMS services in Nuh district till August 28 in view of the call for the procession.

Six people, including two home guards and a cleric, were killed in the communal clashes that erupted in Nuh and its adjoining areas when the VHP procession was attacked by a mob on July 31.

Addressing a press conference on Saturday, VHP joint general secretary Surendra Jain said the yatra would be taken out by the Sarva Hindu Samaj of Mewat, not the VHP.

"Sarva Hindu Samaj has decided to take out and complete the yatra.... We also do not want to cast a shadow on G20 event in any way. We are ready to discuss with the administration about the size and form of the yatra to be taken out on August 28, he said.

He also appealed to people of other areas of Haryana to take out similar yatras in their respective localities and not join the one in Mewat.

"We have given a call to people to ensure that no one from outside Mewat come and join the yatra there on August 28," he said.

VHP working president Alok Kumar will join the yatra along with others from the organisation, he said.

Swami Jitendranand Saraswati, who is the president of Sant Samiti, and other "revered" sants and seers will lead the yatra, he added.

"A decision has been taken that Sarva Hindu Samaj of Mewat will take out Jalabhishek Yatra on August 28 as scheduled. There is no need to obtain a prior permission of administration for taking out such a religious yatra, Jain told reporters.

"Does anybody take permission for Kanwar Yatra or Muharram procession....administration is only informed about such events. Accordingly, the administration will just be informed about the Jalabhishek Yatra, her added.

Referring to the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) moon mission Chandrayaan-3, Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra on Saturday targetted the Bharatiya Janata Party and said that the saffron party will use the missions of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as a tool for its election campaign in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections next year.

Taking to X (former Twitter), Mahua Moitra said, "ISRO is now BJPs 2024 campaign tool. Every mission will be used to whip up nationalistic frenzy before elections. Bhakt and troll army working 24x7 to package decades of Indian scientific research as Modi Hai Toh Mumkin Hai magic. Wake up, India. And no, I am not anti-national."

Earlier today Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation command centre in Bengaluru, who were involved in the Chandrayaan-3 mission and lauded them for their efforts.

Reacting to the meeting between PM Modi and the scientists at ISRO, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday said there was nothing wrong with Modi visiting the ISRO command centre in Bengaluru.

Pawar also said it was up to politicians of the country to encourage the scientists.

"If the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) has gone to Bengaluru, then according to me it is not a wrong thing. ISRO scientists have enhanced the prestige of the country, It is up to the politicians to encourage the scientists, there is no need for any kind of protocol to go there," Pawar said.

ISRO on Saturday said two of the three Chandrayaan-3 mission objectives have been achieved while the third -- in-situ scientific experiments -- is underway.

The national space agency headquartered in Bengaluru also said all the payloads of Chandrayaan-3 mission are performing normally.

"Chandrayaan-3 Mission: Of the 3 mission objectives, demonstration of a safe and soft landing on the lunar surface is accomplished. Demonstration of Rover roving on the moon is accomplished. Conducting in-situ scientific experiments is underway. All payloads are performing normally," ISRO said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

India on Wednesday scripted history as ISRO's ambitious third Moon mission Chandrayaan-3's Lander Module (LM) touched down on the lunar surface, making it only the fourth country to accomplish the feat, and first to reach the uncharted south pole of Earth's only natural satellite. -- PTI

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday claimed the previous MVA government had planned a "calculated move" to level false charges on BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis and jail him among others.

Shinde was replying to a query of reporters on a Mumbai court accepting the CBI's closure report in a case of alleged phone tapping that took place during the term of the then Maha Vikas Aghadi government.

The case stems from a press conference addressed by present Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in March 2021, when he was the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly

"The then MVA government had misused power and wanted to jail leaders of the BJP by levelling different charges on them. A calculative move was on by the then government to level charges against (Independent MP) Navneet Rana, (BJP MP) Narayan Rane etc. and jail them. The same was planned by them (MVA) for Fadnavis also," Shinde claimed.

Now things have become clear and people of Maharashtra know who is right and who is wrong, he said.

Shinde also claimed that NCP chief Sharad Pawar will soon agree on whatever Ajit Pawar, who is part of the incumbent BJP-Shiv Sena government, agrees to.

The chief minister's reply came on a query on Sharad Pawar's statement a day before wherein he said there was no split in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar is its leader. Pawar later denied making such a statement.

"Sharad Pawar is an old leader. Ajit Pawar agreed with the work of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As he wanted to be a part of this work, he joined hands with the state government (of BJP-Shiv Sena). Whatever Ajit Pawar agrees to, Sharad Pawar will also agree soon," Shinde said.

He said the historic landing of Chandrayaan 3 on the lunar surface is one of the examples of the progress made by the country under the leadership of PM Modi. -- PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday urged the people of Delhi to help make the upcoming G20 Summit a success despite the inconvenience they might have to face due to the presence of several world leaders in New Delhi next month.

The summit will be held in the national capital from September 9 to 10. It is likely to be attended by more than 30 heads of states and top officials from the European Union and invited guest countries, and 14 heads of international organisations.

Addressing a public reception at the airport in New Delhi on his return from a two-nation visit, Modi also sought forgiveness from people in advance for the inconvenience they might have to face due to the arrangements for the G20 Summit.

"The entire country is the host of the G20 Summit, but guests are coming to Delhi. The residents of Delhi have a special responsibility to make the G20 Summit a success. They have to ensure that the reputation of the nation is not affected one bit," said Modi, who returned from a visit to South Africa and Greece after a brief stopover in Bengaluru where he visited ISRO to congratulate scientists on the success of Chandrayaan-3.

He acknowledged that the residents of Delhi might face inconvenience as traffic rules will be changed.

"From September 5 to September 15, there will be a lot of inconvenience, and I apologise for that in advance. These are our guests, traffic rules will be changed, you will be stopped from going to several places but some things are necessary," the prime minister said.

"The residents of Delhi have got a greater responsibility for the G20. You have the responsibility to ensure that the national tricolour continues to fly high with pride," he said. -- PTI

The Southern Railway on Saturday announced that a statutory inquiry will be held on August 27 regarding the fire in a railway coach in Madurai, which left nine people dead.

A M Chowdhary, Commissioner of Railway Safety, Southern Circle, Bengaluru, will hold the inquiry on Sunday at the DRM's conference Hall, Divisional Railway Manager's office Complex, Madurai.

Any member of the public having knowledge about the incident and matter connected therewith and desiring to give evidence may do so at the Madurai inquiry or write to the Commissioner of Railway Safety, Southern Circle, 2nd Floor, Rail Sanraksha Bhavan, Bengaluru 560 023, an official release here said.

At least nine pilgrims bound for Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu met with a tragic end when a fire broke out inside a stationary train compartment at the Madurai railway station in the small hours of Saturday, the Southern Railway said.

It also said a gas cylinder "illegally" taken inside the coach led to the blaze. -- PTI

Pakistan has tried to downplay the snub from the BRICS, saying it has not yet made a formal request to join it after the bloc ignored Islamabad when it announced its major expansion in years.

On August 24, The leaders of the BRICS nations decided to admit Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as the new members of the grouping, sealing a long-drawn process.

Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch issued the details of her weekly briefing on Friday night, a day after the bloc of developing countries added new countries.

"We will examine the latest developments and make a determination about our future engagement with BRICS," Baloch said.

To a query, if Pakistan was ignored by the bloc, she said Pakistan followed BRICS' developments in its latest summit in South Africa and also noted its openness to inclusive multilateralism.

"Pakistan is an ardent supporter of multilateralism and as a member of several multilateral organisations it has always played an important role in global peace and development," she said.

The spokesperson termed Pakistan as an important developing country that has made important contributions to promote peace, solidarity and cooperation among countries of the South."

"We shall continue our efforts at the international fora for fostering the spirit of international cooperation and revitalisation of inclusive multilateralism," she said.

BRICS initially composed of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa has undertaken major expansion taking its members to eleven, making it more representative of the Global South.

Reportedly several countries are queuing up to join the group but Pakistan may face a challenge due to the presence of India which enjoys veto power to reject its request. -- PTI

Veteran screenwriter Javed Akhtar, actors Renuka Shahane and Prakash Raj have called for strict action against a teacher in Uttar Pradesh who allegedly asked her students to slap a boy from a minority community.

A video showing the school teacher in Muzaffarnagar asking her students to slap the Muslim boy and making objectionable remarks against his community has gone viral on social media eliciting strong words from several quarters.

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, Akhtar said he hopes the teacher is "suspended immediately".

"A teacher ordering young children of the class to slap an 8 year child one by one and slap hard is nothing but a show of pure sadism and a perverse mind. I hope she is suspended immediately and an inquiry into is ugly incident has started," he wrote.

Shahane, voicing her concern over the incident, posted, "That vile teacher should be behind bars! Instead, she might just get a national teacher's award for promoting national integration! Kafkaesque!! Cry, my beloved country."

"The darkest side of HUMANITY we are getting into.. aren't you worried #justasking," wrote Raj.

Actor Swastika Mukherjee and Varun Grover also reacted to the viral video.

"A teacher!!! This is what it has come to. How are we going to recover from this?" Mukherjee wrote.

Grover called the incident a "hate crime".

"Muzaffarnagar school hate-crime is not a new low' and it doesn't exist in a vacuum. Hate-crimes against Muslims have been the 'new normal' for a few years now and the TV news, with active support from the regime, is at the forefront of spreading & shielding this venom," he said.

Reacting to the incident, actor-comedian Vir Das wrote on X,

"Historically, globally, people with ancient hatreds will poison young minds. They recognise they live in a world that is increasingly leaving them behind. It's their last desperate shot at feeling valid. They take it, knowing they won't live to see the damage they've done."

The video that surfaced online on Friday showed the teacher, identified as Trapti Tyagi, asking the students of Class 2 of a private school in Khubbapur village to hit the child.

Muzaffarnagar Police on Saturday booked Tyagi in an FIR. -- PTI

16:22 India is future, says BP CEO

India is the future, British energy major BP chief executive Bernard Looney said on Saturday as he lauded the country for becoming the first to land a spacecraft near the moon's south pole.

Speaking with reporters on the sidelines of B20 Summit India organised by CII, Looney said India is "taking incredible steps and doing things in a very innovative and creative way".

"We watched it back in London. Everyone around the world, I think, is excited about the country," he said. "India is the future."

BP has invested billions of dollars in an oil and gas field in the Bay of Bengal and is fast expanding a fuel retailing network that also comprises electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.

Both ventures are in alliance with Reliance Industries Ltd.

India is the world's third-largest energy consumer and the fastest-growing major economy in the world. While other competing economies like China slow down, India continues to grow and is eyed by investors across sectors.

"India is hugely exciting for us," he said.

The company in partnership with Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd, is now producing a third of India's gas production after a third set of discoveries in the KG-D6 block was brought to production.

"We are now producing approximately one billion cubic feet (BCF) a day of natural gas, that is approximately one-third of India's domestic gas production today," he said.

Besides interest in the field, BP also has a gas retailing venture and a network of 1,625 petrol pumps in the country. It also has outlets to charge EVs.

"So if we can get the two-wheelers, three-wheelers, and overtime passenger vehicles converted to electric, I think that's going to be hugely important," he said adding the joint venture is also investing in CNG and firms in EV charging and battery business. -- PTI

Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Saturday reached Srinagar on a personal visit even as her son Rahul Gandhi arrived in Srinagar from his week-long Ladakh tour the previous day.

Upon her arrival at the airport on Sunday afternoon, Sonia was welcomed by senior leaders of her party, including Congress Central Working Committee members and Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee president Vikar Rasool Wani.

Immediately after her arrival, Sonia visited the Nigeen Lake here and enjoyed a boat ride, a senior Congress leader said.

Rahul, who was in the Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh for the past week, arrived in Srinagar on Friday after addressing a public rally in Kargil earlier in the day.

The Wayanad MP stayed at a houseboat in Nigeen Lake and the family is likely to stay at a hotel in the Rainawari area on Saturday.

Rahul's sister Priyanka Gandhi, along with her husband Robert Wadra, is also likely to join the duo, the party leader said.

The family is likely to visit Gulmarg on Sunday, he added.

The leader, however, said no political engagements are scheduled for the family during the visit.

"It is a completely personal, family visit and no political engagement or meeting with any party leaders will happen," he added.

Rahul reached Ladakh on August 17, his first visit to the region since it was granted UT status after being carved out from Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019.

The erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was also turned into a Union Territory with its special status under Article 370 revoked.

Over the past week, Rahul has visited almost all famous places in the region, including the Pangong Lake, Nubra Valley, Khardungla top, Lamayuru and Zanskar, on his motorbike before reaching Kargil on Thursday. -- PTI

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday alleged that the thrashing of a child in a school in Uttar Pradesh was the result of the Bharatiya Janata Party's hate-filled politics.

He said such incidents tarnish the country's image and call for strict punishment to the guilty so that no one dares to repeat them.

A video showing a school teacher in Muzaffarnagar asking her students to slap a Muslim boy and making objectionable remarks against his community has gone viral on social media eliciting strong words from several political parties.

"The manner in which a teacher made other children thrash a child in a school in UP due to religious discrimination is a disturbing result of the hate-filled politics of the BJP-RSS. Such incidents tarnish our global image. This is against the constitution," Kharge said on X in a post in Hindi.

He termed the incident a result of the "divisive thinking of the ruling party" and cited another incident where an RPF jawan gunned down four people "in the name of religion."

A Railway Protection Force (RPF) jawan had on July 31 shot dead four people on board a train near Palghar railway station in Maharashtra.

The jawan had fired from his automatic weapon, killing another RPF jawan and three passengers of the train, which was on its way to Mumbai from Jaipur. -- PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the excitement generated by the success of Chandrayaan-3 has to be channelised to power scientific temper among youngsters to realise the dream of a developed India by 2047.

Addressing a function organised at the airport here by the BJP to celebrate the success of Chandrayaan-3 and welcome the prime minister on his return from his two-nation tour, Modi said that at the BRICS Summit in South Africa and during his visit to Greece, he received several congratulatory messages over the success of the lunar mission.

Modi was welcomed at the Delhi airport by BJP president J P Nadda and Lok Sabha members from the national capital, while scores of people had gathered at the function to celebrate the Chandrayaan-3 landing on the Moon.

The prime minister also spoke about his brief stopover in Bengaluru on Saturday morning, during which he met ISRO scientists and took the decision to name the landing point of the spacecraft as "Shiv Shakti". He also said that the point where Chandrayaan-2 had crash landed on the moon has been named as "Tiranga".

The excitement generated by the success of Chandrayaan-3 has to be channelised to power scientific temper among youngsters, Modi said.

"We have to attract the new generation to science. The 21st century is technology driven and only that nation will move forward which has mastered science and technology," he said.

"The need of the hour is to walk the path of science and technology with greater strength if we have to realise the dream of a developed India by 2047," Modi said, adding that the new generation has to be encouraged to imbibe scientific temper early in their lives.

He said technology needs to be used to deliver good governance, last-mile delivery of services and for improving the quality of life of the common people.

"I have directed different departments to use space sciences, power of satellites for quick response delivery of services with transparency and perfection," he said. -- PTI

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday demanded the resignation of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot over a "red diary" which, he alleged, contained details of corruption and black deeds of the state government.

Addressing a "Sahakar Kisan Sammelan" in Gangapur City in the poll-bound state, Shah said the BJP-led central government raised the agriculture budget by six times and formed a separate ministry for cooperatives, whereas the Congress had done nothing for farmers.

Pointing to a few people who raised slogans during the event, the home minister said, "I want to tell Gehlot saab that you will achieve nothing by sending some people to shout slogans. If there is any shame left in him, he should resign over the 'red diary' issue and enter the election fray."

"Nowadays Gehlot saab is very afraid of the colour red. The colour of the diary is red, but black deeds are hidden in it. The red diary has details of multi-crore corruption," he said.

Sacked Rajasthan minister Rajendra Gudha had claimed that the red diary which he had secured from the residence of Congress leader Dharmendra Rathore during an income tax raid in July 2020 on the directions of the chief minister had details of Gehlot's financial transactions.

Assembly polls in Rajasthan is slated for later this year. -- PTI

14:54 UP slap video: FIR filed against teacher

Muzaffarnagar Police on Saturday booked the teacher accused of making communal comments and ordering her students to slap a Muslim classmate for not doing his homework.

The action came a day after a video showing a teacher asking her students to slap a Class 2 boy at a school in Khubbapur village elicited strong words from several political leaders.

Samajwadi Party blamed for the incident the "politics of hate" of BJP and RSS. The BJP shot back at it with a charge of indulging in "superficial politics."

In her defence, the teacher, Tripti Tyagi, has said that the video has been tampered with in order to stoke tensions.

She, however, said though it was wrong on her part to get a student slapped by classmates, she was forced to do it as she is handicapped and was not able to stand up and reach the student who had not done his assignment.

Police booked Tyagi at the complaint of the boy's family, but are yet to reveal the sections she has been charged with.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had on Friday in a post on X condemned the incident saying, "sowing the poison of discrimination in the minds of innocent children, turning a holy place like school into a marketplace of hatred -- nothing worse a teacher can do for the country. This is the same kerosene spread by the BJP which has set every corner of India on fire. Children are the future of India -- we all have to teach them love not hatred."

Basic Shiksha Adhikari of Muzaffarnagar Shubham Shukla told PTI on Saturday that a criminal case would be registered against the authorities of the school, where the incident took place.

He said a team has been sent to the school and strict action will be taken against the school management, the BSA said.

Earlier in the day, Samajwadi Party alleged that it was the "politics of hate" of BJP and RSS which had brought the country to such a pass where a teacher could ask her students to slap a boy from a minority community over his religion.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav too in a post demanded the teacher be sacked immediately, and called her a "blot on teacher society."

Rashtriya Lok Dal president Jayant Chaudhary spoke to Irshad, the father of the victim, and assured him of justice.

BJP spokesperson Harishchandra Srivastava termed Yadav's post on X a political agenda.

"The tweet made by Akhilesh Yadav regarding the Muzaffarnagar school incident is superficial politics and a disgusting political agenda to create disharmony in the society.

"We all in our student life have been punished by the teacher in school for not remembering tables, not correcting maths questions or not having good writing, and this is a natural process of improving discipline and talent in students," he said.

The police administration has taken cognizance of the matter and action will be taken against the teacher concerned, he added.

Veteran lyricist Dev Kohli, known for his work in films such as Baazigar and Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!, died here on Saturday morning due to age-related ailments, his spokesperson said.

He was 81.

Kohli was being treated for age-related issues at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani hospital and brought back to his Andheri home a few days ago.

"He was in hospital for almost three months, he was brought back home 10 days ago. He passed away at 4 am today due to age-related issues at his residence in Andheri," Kohli's spokesperson Pritam Sharma told PTI.

The last rites will be performed at 5 pm at Oshiwara crematorium in suburban Mumbai.

Kohli was born in Pakistan and moved to India post partition in 1948.

The family stayed in Delhi for some time and later shifted to Dehradun.

He came to Mumbai in 1964 and made his debut as a lyricist with the 1969 film Gunda.

In his five-decade long career, Kohli wrote lyrics for more than 100 Hindi films.

Some of his most popular songs include Geet Gaata Hoon Main from Rajkumar and Hema Malini-starrer Lal Patthar and the many tracks of Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!, the Sooraj Barjatya hit that featured Salman Khan and Madhuri Dixit.

He wrote the film's title song as well as Maye Ni Maye, Didi Tera Devar Deewana, and Pehla Pehla Pyar.

Kohli also wrote superstar Shah Rukh Khan's hit song Yeh Kaali Kaali Aankhen from Baazigar, Dekho Dekho Jaanam Hum from Ishq, and the item song Saaki Saaki from Musafir, among others.

In his career, the lyricist collaborated with music directors like Anu Malik, Raam Laxman, Anand Raaj Anand, and Anand Milind among others.

A Delhi court has allowed Congress leader Karti Chidambaram, an accused in the alleged Aircel-Maxis and INX Media scams, to travel to France and the UK from September 15 to 27.

Special Judge MK Nagpal granted the relief to Chidambaram in four cases related to the alleged scams. The cases are being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

In an order passed on August 25, the judge said that the court's directions will not come in the way of any further investigations underway in the matters.

In his plea, Chidambaram claimed that he was invited to attend "a reputed international tennis tournament called St. Tropez Open to be held in St. Tropez, France, from September 18 to 24, and he has also then to travel to London, UK, to meet his daughter, who is working and residing there".

The Congress leader submitted that he was also required to attend some meetings and business activities in London as his company Totus Tennis Limited, which is a co-organiser of ATP tournaments, was incorporated in the UK.

The counsel appearing on behalf of the CBI as well as the ED opposed Chidambaram's applications.

The documents enclosed with the applications do not justify the requirement of the physical presence of the applicant during the tournament in France and the proposed duration of his stay there, and also the need or urgency for the applicant to visit his daughter in the UK, the counsel submitted. -- PTI

13:54 No split in NCP, reiterates Sharad Pawar

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday once again denied a split in his party, and said while it is true that some MLAs have left, legislators alone do not mean an entire political party.

Talking to reporters in Kolhapur, Pawar asserted that he is the national president of the NCP and Jayant Patil heads its state unit.

"The NCP has not split. While it is true that some MLAs have left, MLAs don't mean a political party. Why give importance to rebels by taking their names," the former Union minister said when asked if he was being soft on the party rebels.

On Friday, when Pawar was asked about his daughter and party working president Supriya Sule's statement that NCP has not split and Ajit Pawar continues to be its leader, he said, "Yes...there is no dispute about it." But hours later, Pawar said he did not make any such statement.

Ajit Pawar and eight other NCP MLAs joined the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state on July 2, creating a split in the Sharad Pawar-founded party.

The NCP chief admitted that some MLAs had written to him on joining the Shinde-led government when the one led by the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) collapsed following a split in the Shiv Sena. "But no decision was taken," he said.

Targeting the BJP-led central government, Pawar said, "I will continue to oppose fascist tendencies. There has been misuse of central probe agencies." -- PTI

13:20 ISRO likely to launch mission to Sun on Sept 2

After the successful moon lander venture, ISRO is now gearing up for the launch of a solar mission in a week's time, likely on September 2, to study the Sun.

Aditya-L1 spacecraft is designed for providing remote observations of the solar corona and in situ observations of the solar wind at L1 (Sun-Earth Lagrangian point), which is about 1.5 million kilometres from the earth.

It will be the first dedicated Indian space mission for observations of the Sun to be launched by the Bengaluru-headquartered space agency.

The Aditya-L1 mission, aimed at studying the Sun from an orbit around the L1, would carry seven payloads to observe the photosphere, chromosphere and the outermost layers of the Sun, the corona, in different wavebands.

Aditya-L1 is a fully indigenous effort with the participation of national institutions, an ISRO official said.

The Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) is the lead institute for the development of Visible Emission Line Coronagraph payload. While Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune, has developed the Solar Ultraviolet Imager payload for the mission.

Aditya-L1 can provide observations on the corona, and on the solar Chromosphere using the UV payload and on the flares using the X-ray payloads. The particle detectors and the magnetometer payload can provide information on charged particles and the magnetic field reaching the halo orbit around L1.

The satellite, realised at U R Rao Satellite Centre here, arrived at the ISRO's spaceport of Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, two weeks ago.

"Most likely the launch will take place on September 2 ", an ISRO official said.

The spacecraft is planned to be placed in a halo orbit around the L1 of the Sun-Earth system.

A satellite placed in the halo orbit around the L1 point has the major advantage of continuously viewing the Sun without any occultation/eclipses, ISRO noted.

"This will provide a greater advantage of observing the solar activities and its effect on space weather in real time," it said. -- PTI

An alleged Pakistan spy, who is a resident of Bihar, was arrested from Kolkata and sensitive documents were seized from his possession, a senior police officer said on Saturday.

Acting on a tip-off, Kolkata Police personnel nabbed the man from his residence in Howrah on Friday.

"He was found directly involved in activities prejudicial to the safety of the country," the officer said.

The man was arrested late on Friday night after hours of grilling, he said.

"Secret information in the form of photographs, videos and online chats were found in his mobile phone. These were sent by him to a suspected intelligence operative of Pakistan," the officer said.

The accused person, who was working with a courier service company in Kolkata, earlier stayed in Delhi.

The man will be produced before a city court on Saturday, he added. -- PTI

The Haryana government on Saturday ordered suspension of mobile internet and the bulk SMS services in the communally charged Nuh till August 28 in view of the call for a 'Shobha Yatra'.

The government announced the decision apprehending spread of rumours through social media by anti-social elements ahead or during the rally called to be held on Monday.

The suspension order was issued by Additional Chief Secretary (Home) T V S N Prasad on Saturday.

The Haryana government had earlier too suspended the mobile internet services in Nuh after the breaking out of communal clashes.

Six people, including two home guards and a cleric, had died in the communal clashes that erupted in Nuh when a religious procession of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) was attacked by a mob on July 31.

"... This order is issued to prevent disturbance of peace and public order in the jurisdiction of district Nuh and shall be in force with effect from August 26, 1200 hrs, to August 28, 2359 hrs..," the order issued by Prasad read.

Earlier on Friday, Nuh Deputy Commissioner had written to the ACS (Home) bringing to his notice that there is a call from 'Sarv Jatiya Hindu Mahapanchayat' for a 'Brij Mandal Shoba Yatra' on August 28 in the district and there is an apprehension of misuse of social media/bulk messages by anti-social elements to disturb the peace. -- PTI

Pakistan, in a belated response, has termed the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission as a "great scientific achievement" for which ISRO scientists deserved appreciation while the country's leading dailies heaped praises on India for achieving the feat on a lesser budget than rich nations.

Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch during her briefing on Friday was asked to comment on the successful soft-landing of the Chandrayaan-3 mission on the Moon.

"I can only say that it is a great scientific achievement, for which ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) scientists deserve appreciation," she said in her brief response.

Pakistan had so far officially ignored the landmark success of India. The media, however, gave front-page coverage to the historic event on Wednesday.

The Dawn newspaper in its editorial headlined 'India's space quest' called the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission historic.

The paper said this particular feat deserves appreciation as India achieved on a lesser budget what richer nations accomplished by spending larger sums.

Perhaps the key to the success of India's space programme, apart from sustained state support, is the quality and dedication of its engineers and scientists who helped make these difficult missions possible, it commented.

"Comparisons are indeed odious, but there may be plenty for Pakistan to learn from India's space success. Pakistan's space programme was launched before India's and managed modest success," it said.

The Express Tribune newspaper in its editorial titled 'India's lunar laurel' said India's ambitious flight actually accomplished something that the US, Soviet-Russian, and Chinese space programmes have all failed to do -- land on the moon's southern pole. -- PTI

Samajwadi Party on Saturday alleged that it was the 'politics of hate' of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh which had brought the country to such a pass where a teacher could ask her students to slap a boy from a minority community over his religion.

The party's allegation came in response to an incident in Muzaffarnagar, where a teacher was caught on video making communal comments and asking her students to slap a Class 2 student from Muslim community.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav too in a post demanded the teacher be sacked immediately, and called her a 'blot on teacher society'.

'In a viral video from Muzaffarnagar, a teacher is getting a student beaten up by other students. She is guilty of a double crime in that on one hand she is asking other students to beat the child and on the other she is making them violent. The BJP government should show this video in the G20 meeting and explain how justified is its politics of hate,' Yadav said in his post.

'Such a teacher is a blot on the teacher society. The teacher community should raise a voice against her to get her punished,' he said.

The accused teacher has been identified as Trapti Tyagi.

The incident took place in Khubbapur village under Mansurpur Police Station area.

Taking cognisance of the incident, Circle Officer Ravishankar had on Friday said the police were looking into the incident and will soon take action.

Basic Shiksha Adhikari Shubham Shukla said apart from the students, two people are also seen in the video, one of whom is the teacher, while efforts are on to identify the other person.

"Action will be initiated against both the persons and also against the school management," he said. -- PTI

10:56 Dhanyavaad Modi ji, posts ISRO on X

Indian Space Research Organisation on Saturday tweeted its thanks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who on Saturday morning visited the space agency's command centre in Bengaluru.

Modi congratulated ISRO scientists who were involved in the Chandrayaan-3 project that culminated in the historic lunar landing mission of India.

On Wednesday, the country became the first to place a lander on the uncharted south pole of the moon.

'Interacting with our @isro scientists in Bengaluru. The success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission is an extraordinary moment in the history of India's space programme,' Modi tweeted.

In response, ISRO posted on its social media platform, X, formerly Tiwtter, 'Dhanyavaad, Honorable Prime Minister of India Shri @narendramodi ji.'

Modi, who followed the final moments of the touchdown of the lunar lander, 'Vikram', virtually from South Africa where he was attending the 15th BRICS Summit, met the scientists behind the country's maiden lunar landing project at the ISRO's Telemetry Tracking and Command Network Mission Control Complex in Bengaluru today. -- ANI

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10:48 Search op launched after suspicious movement found near LoC in Poonch

Security forces on Saturday launched a search operation in a forested area after detecting suspicious movement near the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, officials said.

The search operation by the army and police was launched in Chamrer and Gangna Top in the Buflaiz sector around 6 am, they said.

The search parties fired a few rounds in the Chamrer forest area on observing some suspicious movement but there was no retaliation from the other side, the officials said.

Reinforcements have been rushed to the area for conducting a thorough search operation, they said. -- PTI

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday expanded his cabinet by inducting three Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs as ministers just months ahead of the state assembly polls to be held by the end of the year.

With this, there are now 34 members in the Chouhan-led cabinet.

State Governor Mangubhai Patel administered the oath of office as ministers to three legislators at the Raj Bhavan in Bhopal around 9 am.

Former minister Rajendra Shukla, a Brahmin leader and four-time MLA from Rewa in the Vindh region, Gaurishankar Bisen, a seven-time legislator from Balaghat in the Mahakoshal region who is also the chairman of the MP Backward Class Commission and first-time MLA from Khargapur in Tikamgarh district of Bundelkhand region Rahul Lodhi took oath as ministers.

While Shukla and Bisen took oath as cabinet ministers, Lodhi was sworn-in as minister of state.

They are yet to be allotted portfolios, a Raj Bhavan official told PTI.

Lodhi is a nephew of senior BJP leader Uma Bharti.

Bisen (71) and Lodhi (46) belong to the Other Backward Class (OBC) community, which makes up more than 45 per cent of the population of Madhya Pradesh.

The inclusion of Shukla takes the number of ministers from the state's Vindh region to four, while Bisen's induction takes this count in Mahakoshal region to two.

The induction of Lodhi takes the number of ministers from impoverished Bundelkhand region to five.

The names of former MP Minister Jalam Singh, younger brother of Union Minister Prahlad Patel and Lalsingh Arya, who is president of the BJP SC Morcha, also did the rounds but they could not make it to the cabinet.

Through the cabinet expansion, the ruling BJP has sought to balance the caste and regional equation in the state, where assembly elections will be held in less than three months.

The last assembly polls in the state were held on November 28, 2018.

Chouhan became CM in March 2020 after a revolt by MLAs loyal to Jyotiraditya Scindia brought down the Congress government led by Kamal Nath, which had come to power in December 2018 after the assembly polls. -- PTI

09:25 Madurai: 10 killed in fire inside train coach

At least 10 persons died in a fire that broke out inside a stationary train compartment in Madurai railway station in the wee hours of Saturday, with the Southern Railway saying an 'illegal gas cylinder' led to the blaze.

The passengers of the 'private party coach' had arrived from Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh.

Madurai district collector M S Sangeetha, who rushed to the station to enquire, said 8 persons were killed in the fire accident in the train compartment.

20 others with injuries have been admitted to a hospital for treatment.

Police, fire and rescue services personnel besides railway staff, involved in dousing the fire, extricated the charred bodies from the compartment.

The fire broke out at 5.15 am on Saturday and the Fire service personnel who arrived at the spot half an hour later put down the blaze by 7.15 am, a Southern Railway release said.

'This is a private party coach that was attached at Nagercoil Junction yesterday (Aug 25) by train no. 16730 (Punalur-Madurai Exp). Party coach was detached and kept at Madurai Stabling line. The passengers in the private party coach have illegally smuggled gas cylinder and this has caused the fire. Many passengers had got out of the coach on noticing fire. Some passengers had got down at platform itself,' the release said.

'The party coach had started the journey from Lucknow on August 17. They are scheduled to return to Chennai tomorrow... and return to Lucknow from there,' it added.

Among the scattered items that lay on the accident spot included a cylinder and a bag of potatoes, indicating there were attempts to cook food.

Any individual can book party coach using IRCTC portal.

They are not allowed to carry any inflammable material like gas cylinder.

The coach is to used only for transportation purpose, the release said, adding senior officials were rushing to the spot. -- PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at ISRO headquarters in Bengaluru:

- India will celebrate August 23 as 'National Space Day' to mark successful touch down of Chandrayaan-3 mission's lander.

- You took 'Make in India' to the moon, he said in his address to the scientists.

- You have awakened an entire generation and left a deep imprint on them, he said.

- This is no ordinary achievement; it's a roaring announcement of India's scientific achievement in the infinite universe. -- PTI

08:34 PM: Vikram touchdown point to be known as...

JUST IN: The spot where Chandrayaan-3's lander 'Vikram' landed, that point will be known as 'Shivshakti', announces Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He also announced that the place where Chandrayaan-2 left its footprint on the lunar surface in 2019 will be known as 'Tiranga Point'.

Modi was accorded a warm reception as he arrived at the Indian Space Research Organisation headquarters in Bengaluru on Saturday morning.

He met the team of scientists with the ISRO, who were involved in the country's third lunar mission. -- ANI/PTI

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01:42 Within 27 days of crime, Chhattisgarh man gets 20 years in jail for raping 6-year-old girl

A man was on Friday sentenced to 20 years in jail for raping a 6-year-old girl in Dhamtari district in Chhattisgarh, the judgement of the fast track court coming within 27 days of the offence being committed, a police official said.

Kishore Sarathi (32) was convicted by the fast track special court (FTSC) under section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence Act and also fined Rs 1,000,

Inspector general of police (Raipur Range) Arif Sheikh said.

On July 29, the victim's parents had lodged a complaint at Kurud police station that Sarathi raped their minor daughter, after which a case was registered under sections 376 (rape) of Indian Penal Code and section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, the IG said.

"The accused was arrested from Pachpedi Naka in Raipur on the same day and was sent to judicial remand on July 30. The probe was completed in a record five days and the chargesheet was submitted in the court of additional district and session judge, FTSC (POCSO) Pankaj Kumar Jain," he said.

On Friday, Sarathi was sentenced to imprisonment for 20 years, Sheikh informed. -- PTI

A 29-year-old Indian-origin man has been arrested in the US state of California for allegedly shooting and killing a woman in a parking garage, a media report said on Friday.

Simranjit Singh shot and killed the 34-year-old woman he was dating in a parking garage at a mall in Roseville, California, a news report in KCRA3.com said.

According to Roseville police, the two arrived at the mall together on Saturday morning, where Singh shot the woman on the third floor of the parking garage and ran away from the scene, leaving the gun in the garage.

The police apprehended Singh near a store across the street from the mall, Lt. Chris Ciampa of the Roseville police department was quoted as saying in the report.

Immediately after the shooting, Singh went shopping and allegedly bought a shirt with cash, "changed into it, put the old shirt in a shopping bag and asked to leave the store.

It was in lockdown due to the active shooter situation, the report said.

"Through eyewitness accounts and descriptions and his last known direction of travel, it was just a lot of officers in the area looking for him," Ciampa said.

He said the police interviewed eyewitnesses and checked the Galleria's surveillance video.

"There are cameras in the garage," he said.

"They have an extensive security system, and we are working with them."

According to Ciampa, Singh has been arrested and will be booked in Placer County Jail for homicide. -- PTI

The Bihar government directed its departments and the district administrations to become more proactive on social media, and increase the number of followers of their accounts, officials said on Friday.

The Information and Public Relations Department has also decided to pull up several district administrations for poor social media presence, they said.

The department found that the administrations of Kaimur, Saharsa, Aurangabad, Sitamarhi, Nalanda, Khagaria, Rohtas, Supaul, Bhojpur, Katihar and Madhepura did not hold any Facebook live sessions in July, they said.

"It was decided that the department will seek clarification from the district authorities who fail to organise Facebook live sessions in August," an official said.

It has also directed different departments to be more proactive in highlighting the achievements and welfare schemes of the state government on different social media platforms, including Facebook, X and WhatsApp, he said.

"The department has already directed the districts to organise at least one Facebook live session of a minimum 30 minutes on the welfare schemes of the government in a month," he added. -- PTI

Chief Justice of the Allahabad high court Pritinker Diwakar will hear the Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi Mosque dispute on August 28 regarding maintainability of a suit filed before a Varanasi court.

Earlier, another bench of Justice Prakash Padia had reserved its verdict in the case and fixed August 28 for delivery of judgment.

The pleas before the court include a challenge to the maintainability of a suit filed before a Varanasi court, seeking the restoration of a temple at the site where the Gyanvapi mosque exists, according to a causelist issued by the court.

The petitions also challenge a Varanasi court direction to the Archaeological Survey of India to conduct a comprehensive survey of the Gyanvapi mosque.

The Uttar Pradesh Sunni Waqf Board and the management committee of the Gyanvapi mosque had filed the petition. -- PTI

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