To control the rising trend of Lumpy Skin Disease in cattle in the state, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has approved a budget of Rs.30 crores enabling the Animal Husbandry and other concerned departments to purchase medicines and vaccines for treatment of bovines.
Earlier the state Animal Husbandry Department has submitted a proposal for additional provision of Rs.30 cr in the current fiscal year 2022-23 under the Pashudhan Nishulk Arogya Yojana for districts to purchase essential drugs and vaccines to cure the animals’ lives. Yesterday, the CM approved the extra grant for this purpose.
In compliance with the approval of the budget the concerned departments would be able to buy drugs as per the required quantity to contain the spread of the disease in cattle.
Over 2000 bovines, mainly cows, have died of this LSD virus in parts of the state in about a month.
LSD is a viral disease and after the onset of SW Monsoonal rains causing high humidity, the outbreak of ‘unknown virus’ (Lumpy Skin) is spreading very fast and getting common in cows (both domestic and wild) with clinical signs of fever, lacrimation, hypersalivation and characteristic skin eruptions
Lumpy skin disease: CM approves Rs.30 cr for medicines, vaccines
Budgam grenade attack case: Hybrid terrorist arrested
Srinagar: A hybrid terrorist of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) was arrested in a grenade attack case in central Kashmir’s Budgam district on Monday. A statement of the J&K Police issued here said that during the investigation of case FIR No 147/2022 of Police Station Chadoora about the grenade attack in Budgam, two hybrid terrorists were arrested earlier.
“During the investigation, one more hybrid terrorist of LeT identified as Suhail Ahmad Malik, son of Abdul Hamid Malik of Panzan, Chadoora has been arrested,” the statement said. “Incriminating material of LeT and a hand grenade has been recovered from his possession.”
It said that further investigation into the case was going on and more arrests and recoveries were expected.
25 per cent additional seats, no entrance tests for overseas university students
Twenty-five per cent of additional seats are being created for foreign students in educational institutions across India. These foreign students will not have to undergo the process of appearing for entrance tests. All students who have foreign passports will be considered foreigners.
Indian students who are living abroad with foreign passports will also be able to take admission in reputed higher educational institutions across India without appearing for entrance tests.
Foreign students will not have to give entrance tests, but a fixed admission process is being formulated which will be completely transparent. Along with this, keeping in mind the interests of foreign students, higher education institutions will have to set up an ‘office of international affairs’.
Not only the Education Ministry and the University Grants Commission (UGC) are taking major initiatives for the admission of foreign students in Indian educational institutions, but also in the field of Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) and visa, extensive facilities are being made available to such students.
Single point contact is being established for the registration of foreign students along with FRRO or e-FRRO.
Higher educational institutions across the country will now be able to create 25 per cent additional seats in their universities. UGC has given approval to higher educational institutions across the country for this arrangement.
The UGC in its 560th meeting on August 18 has given this approval along with guidelines for admission of international students and supernumerary seats (means seats which are over and above the sanctioned intake approved by the appropriate authority and the government) in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes at Indian higher educational institutions.
The basic objective of allowing higher educational institutions to increase seats for foreign students is to facilitate smooth and easy admission of international students to higher educational institutions in India, to create a conducive environment for Indian higher education to attract international students and to make India a preferred destination for foreign students.
UGC Chairman M. Jagadesh Kumar told IANS that the higher educational institutions would be allowed to admit international students through a transparent admission process which will be similar to that being followed by foreign universities.
Foreign students do not have to go through the admission process for seeking admission to higher educational institutions in India.
According to the UGC Chairman, all higher education institutions will have an ‘office for international affairs’ which will be responsible for carrying out various activities.
This includes dissemination of information related to the admission process of foreign students, coordination of all matters relating to foreign students, brand-building campaigns abroad, redressal of grievances of foreign students in various matters, facilitating networking with fellow students, provide all possible assistance to foreign students to adapt to the new cultural environment and to make their stay comfortable and prosperous in India.
Kumar told IANS, “Internationalisation of higher education is an essential aspect of the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020. Opportunities to attract international students, academics and funding are increasing and many Indian Higher Educational Institutions are now committed to expanding their reach. In order to facilitate internationalisation of Indian higher education institutions, the UGC has prepared guidelines for admission and creation of additional seats for international students.”
NEP, 2020, envisages a new and forward-looking vision for India’s higher education system. It lays the foundation for the much-needed transformation and overhaul of the current education system by focusing on key issues such as access, equity, multidisciplinarity, holistic and value-based education.
According to the UGC, the Indian higher education system is one of the largest in the world and such a vast system has led to transformation, including in the areas of leadership, funding, quality of education delivery, accountability, management, teaching-learning and education. There is a need to change the system or processes for higher education sectors.
Ashu becomes 2nd minister behind bars for alleged corruption in previous Cong regine
Continuing its action against alleged corruption during the previous Congress regime, the Punjab Vigilance Bureau has arrested former minister and state’s Congress working president Bharat Bhushan Ashu in the food grains transportation scam in which tenders were allocated allegedly on registration numbers of scooters and cars listed as trucks to claim transport subsidies.
Former forest ministers in the Congress government, Sadhu Singh Dharamsot and Sangat Singh Gilzian have already been booked in alleged corruption cases. A minister in the Captain Amarinder Singh government, Dharamsot – who is in judicial custody after his arrest on 8 June – is accused of taking bribes to permit felling of over 25,000 trees,Gilzian allegedly took bribes on the installation of tree guards after becoming the forest minister in Charanjit Singh Channi government.
A two-time former legislator from Ludhiana West, Ashu was food, civil supplies and consumer affairs minister in the previous Congress government, first under Captain Amarinder Singh and later under Charanjit Singh Channi. He lost his seat in the 2022 Punjab Assembly election.
A spokesperson of the Vigilance Bureau (VB) on Monday said the Bureau, after verification of a complaint made by complainant Gurprit Singh, has already registered a first information report (FIR) under Preventions of Corruption Act at Ludhiana in which besides owners of Gurdas Ram & Company, contractors Telu Ram, Jagroop Singh and Sandeep Bhatia has been booked.
The contractor Telu Ram has already been arrested in this and he is on police remand. “During investigation by the VB, accused Telu Ram has submitted that he met Bharat Bhushan Ashu through his personal assistant Meenu Malhotra for getting tenders for the season 2020-21 who further told him to meet Rakesh Kumar Singla, deputy director of food and civil supplies. Singla was chairman of departmental chief vigilance committee for tenders and was acting on the directions of former minister,” he said.
The accused Telu Ram has informed the VB that when he met RK Singla, he has demanded Rs 30 Lakh on behalf of Ashu and gave bribes of Rs 20 lakh to RK Singla, Rs Six lakh to Menu Malhotra and other officers.
The spokesperson added that on the basis of revelations as well as the material evidence, Ashu has been nominated as an accused in this case. During Investigation it has come on record that Telu Ram has purchased about 20 acres of land and accused Meenu Malhotra, who is at large, has also made a number of properties and records are being collected in this regard.
He informed that the record with regard to posting of accused Rakesh Kumar Singla is also being collected besides properties made by him would be probed.
Revealing the modus operandi of this scam, the spokesperson informed that the tenders were invited cluster wise in which ‘A’ group of mandis and work of all procurement agencies was allotted for the cluster and name of leading mandis in particular area was used as cluster name. In Ludhiana district, Telu Ram has four clusters (Jodhan, Mullanpur, Raikot and Payal) which contains 34 grain markets. Apart from this, Telu Ram was also having clusters in district Ferozepur at Talwandi Bhai and district Ropar local.
During investigations it has come to light that main accused Telu Ram had received about Rs 25 Crore for the said work. In order to get tenders the lists of vehicles submitted by accused were containing registration numbers of cars, scooters, motorcycles etc but the same transportation vehicles were required to be verified
After verification, technical bid was required to be rejected by district tender committee but they in connivance with each other allotted the tenders.
The spokesperson said even in the gate passes numbers of scooters, cars etc were mentioned but the above mentioned officers made payments to the accused contractors in respect of material quoted in these gate passes thereby matter regarding misappropriation also comes to light.
Bodies of two infiltrators seen during reconnaissance of attempted infiltration site at LoC in Rajouri
Rajouri, August 23: Bodies of two infiltrators were observed during reconnaissance of the site of the attempted infiltration at the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district of Jammu.
An Indian Army quadcopter on Tuesday morning, initiated the exploration of the site where on Monday night, they thwarted an attempt of infiltration at the LoC border in the Naushera Sector of Rajouri, Jammu and Kashmir.
During the exploration, bodies of two infiltrators were observed. The area is being scanned further.
According to a Defence spokesperson, the Indian Army successfully stopped an attempt of infiltration at the LoC border in the Naushera Sector of Rajouri, Jammu and Kashmir.
More details are awaited. (Agencies)
India reports 8586 new Covid cases and 46 deaths in 24 hours
New Delhi, Aug 23: India logged 8,586 new coronavirus infections taking total tally of cases to 4,43,57,546 while the active cases have declined to 96,506, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Tuesday.
The death toll climbed to 5,27,416 with 48 fatalities which includes six deaths reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am showed.
The active cases comprises 0.22 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.59 per cent, the health ministry said.
A decline of 1,142 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.19 per cent and the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 3.31 per cent, according to the health ministry.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,37,33,624, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent.
According to the ministry, 210.31 crore doses of Covid vaccines have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive.
India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.
It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.
India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4, three crore on June 23 last year and four crore on January 25 this year. (Agencies)
Infiltration bid foiled along LoC in J&K’s Rajouri
JAMMU, Aug 23: Army has foiled an infiltration attempt by a group of terrorists along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, a defence spokesperson said on Tuesday.
There was movement of suspected infiltrators in Naushera sector on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday. A search operation in the area is underway and further details are awaited, he said.
According to officials, a group of suspected terrorists tried to sneak into Pukharni village of Laam in Naushera under the cover of darkness from across the border.
One of the terrorists stepped over a landmine causing an explosion around 10 pm on Monday, they said, adding the alert Army troops who were observing the movement of the terrorists laid a cordon and started a search of the area on Tuesday morning.
It is not immediately known whether any terrorist was injured or killed in the explosion, officials said.
The latest infiltration bid in the Naushera sector comes close on the heels of the arrest of a highly trained Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) guide, who also worked for an intelligence unit of Pakistani army, in an injured condition by Army on Sunday.
Tabarak Hussain (32), a resident of Sabzkot village of Kotli in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), was arrested for the second time in the past six years while trying to infiltrate into this side from across the border. (Agencies)
Earthquake of magnitude 3.9 jolts Jammu and Kashmirs Katra
JAMMU, Aug 23: An earthquake of magnitude 3.9 on the Richter scale hits Katra, Jammu and Kashmir in the early hours of Monday, the National Center for Seismology (NCS) informed.
The earthquake occurred at 2:20 am on Monday. The depth of the earthquake was 10 Km below the ground.
“Earthquake of Magnitude:3.9, Occurred on 23-08-2022, 02:20:32 IST, Lat: 33.07 & Long: 75.58, Depth: 10 Km, Location: 61km E of Katra, Jammu and Kashmir,” tweeted NCS
One more ITBP personnel dies in Pahalgam bus accident
SRINAGAR, Aug 23: One more Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel died on Monday night in the Pahalgam bus accident. He is the eighth personnel to die after a bus carrying 39 personnel fell into a river in the Pahalgam area of Jammu and Kashmir on August 16.
The deceased personnel was identified as Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Nandan Singh of the 4th Battalion. He was admitted to the SKIMS Hospital in Srinagar with critical injuries following the accident.
The bus had allegedly skidded off the road at Zig Morh Frislan, Chandanwari and fell into a river. More than 30 are being treated in different hospitals, said ITBP officials.
Earlier, the ITBP set up a court of inquiry to probe the reasons behind the accident. (AGENCIES)
Attack at Rajouri Army camp: One more soldier succumbs, raising death toll to five
JAMMu, Aug 22: One more soldier succumbed to his injuries sustained in the August 11 militant attack on an Indian Army camp in Jammu and Kashmir’s border district of Rajouri, taking the death toll to five, officials said Monday.
Defence PRO Lt Col Devender Anand identified the soldier as Havildar Satpal Singh of Rajasthan’s Jaitpur village in Jhunjhunu district and said that he was undergoing treatment at the Army’s Command Hospital in Udhampur for the past ten days. He breathed his last on Sunday evening, the PRO added.
Northern Army Commander Lt General Upendra Dwivedi laid a wreath at the mortal remains of the deceased soldier. Singh’s body is being sent to his native place in Rajasthan, officials said.
Four soldiers were killed in a militant attack on an Army camp in Rajouri district of Jammu on August 11, just four days ahead of Independence Day. Both militants involved in the attack were gunned down in the four-hour firefight that followed, the Army said.
The four dead soldiers were identified as Subedar Rajendra Prasad, 48, from Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan, Rifleman Manoj Kumar, 26, from Haryana’s Faridabad, Rifleman D Lakshmanan, 24, from Tamil Nadu’s Madurai and Rifleman Nishant Malik, 21, from Haryana’s Hisar. (Agencies)