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Independence Day special: Captain Lakshmi Sahgal, a freedom fighter and a visionary

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Captain Lakshmi or Lakshmi Sahgal, a revolutionary of the Indian independence movement, an Officer in Indian National Army, and a Minister of the Women’s Affairs in the Azad Hind Government, dedicated her life to public service in various capacities.

Born as Lakshmi Swaminadhan on October 24, 1914, Cpt. Lakshmi was a medical practitioner, a commander of Subhas Chandra Bose’s Rani of Jhansi Regiment, and also a member of Communist Party of India (CPI). Laxmi was a true revolutionary who broke social conventions since her early childhood and spoke against the caste practices in Kerala.

Sahgal witnessed the freedom struggle with her mother, A.V Ammukutty, a social activist and a freedom fighter who later became a member of Constituent Assembly. Sahgal completed her studies in medicine
from Madras Medical College in 1938.

With the outbreak of Second World War when most doctors were being recruited to serve for imperialist forces, Sahgal went to Singapore, and initiated her medical practice considering Indian diaspora along with several Chinese and Malaysian patients living there. She joined the Indian
Independence League formed by veteran freedom fighter, Rashbehari Bose, in 1941. By 1943, the leadership of the League was taken over by Subhash Chandra Bose along with that of INA, which was formed in February 1942 by Captain Mohan Singh and other Indian prisoners of war.

Sahgal was drawn to the freedom movement by Bose and his charismatic leadership. She played an active role in the formation of all-women Infantry Regiment of the INA named after Rani of Jhansi who fought the British Raj in 1857.

She was the only woman member of the Cabinet of provisional government of the Azad Hind Fauj led by Bose.

After her arrest in 1945, she was brought back to India. In 1947, she married Colonel Prem Kumar Sahgal, who served along with her in the INA.
In the post-independence era, Sahgal resumed her medical practice in Kanpur. She worked with the refugees of post-partition India. She joined CPI/CPM in 1971 and traveled to Kolkata, and worked at the border areas of Bongaon for six weeks providing medical help to the displaced and migrants.
Sahgal was the founding member of All India Democratic Women’s Association which was formed in 1981. The organisation became a suitable platform for her to raise women’s issues consistently, and embark on several campaigns for the same. In 1984, she also went to Bhopal
with a medical team to treat patients of the gas tragedy. She had also confronted frenzied mobs during the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 on the streets of Kanpur ensuring the safety of Sikhs around her clinic.

Sahgal dedicated her life to the country and its people for which she looked for opportunities without thinking for consequences. She continued to look after patients in Kanpur till the age of 92 as she charged a very minimal fee or sometimes nothing at all.

She became the joint candidate for the left parties in the Presidential Election of 2002, and ran against APJ Abdul Kalam, but lost the election. She died on July 19, 2012, due to cardiac arrest at the age of 97 in Kanpur. Her body was donated to Kanpur Medical College for medical research.
Lakshmi Sahgal was also awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award by the then Indian President K R Narayanan. Her legacy lives on for generations to get inspired by her.

Congress to hold protest rallies against price rise, unemployment starting August 17

New Delhi, August 11: Congress party has geared up its attack on the central government on the issue of price rise, GST on some packaged food items and unemployment in the country party and has decided to organise Chaupals across the country.
The party will hold a series of protest rallies in various parts of the country, including agricultural and mandis and retail markets, starting from August 17 till August 23.
The protest rally will end in Delhi’s Ramleela Maidan on August 28.
Congress General Secretary and Communication Incharge Jairam Ramesh in a statement said the party’s nationwide agitation on August 5 against the current government’s what it termed as anti-people policies strongly resonated with the people.
Ramesh said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attempt to tar legitimate protest as “black magic” only highlights the BJP government’s insecurity about its failure to control rampaging inflation and unemployment.
For the record, India’s retail inflation has been over the Reserve Bank of India’s upper tolerance band of 6 per cent for the sixth consecutive month in a row in June. Retail inflation came in at 7.01 per cent in June.
Wholesale Price Index (WPI) based inflation has been in the double-digit for 15 months in a row now.
The Congress party aims to take this fight forward with the upcoming protests.
Ramesh further added that “The people of India are suffering because of the Modi government’s economic mismanagement. Inflation is being exacerbated by higher taxes on essential goods like curd, buttermilk, and packaged food grains, while the transfer of public assets to crony capitalists and the introduction of the misguided Agnipath scheme are making a bad employment situation worse.”
“The Indian National Congress will continue to spread awareness about these anti-people policies among the people and increase pressure on the BJP government to change course.”

Jammu Srinagar Highway Blocked Due To Massive Landslide Caused By Overnight Rainfall

A massive landslide blocked one lane of the strategic of Jammu-Srinagar national highway early Thursday, leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded. The landslide occurred due to heavy rainfall throughout the night. However, men and machinery have been deployed to clear the area.

Notably, the Jammu-Srinagar highway is the sole all-weather road that connects Kashmir to the rest of the country.

2 Washed Away in J&K’s Chenab River

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JAMMU, Aug 11: Two people were washed away in flash floods in River Chenab located in the Ramban district of Jammu region. According to officials, rescue efforts are underway to locate and safely rescue the victims. Heavy rain was reported in parts of Jammu and Kashmir. In Ramban town, 2 feared Dead; bikes, cars washed away as roads turned river.

PM Narendra Modi celebrates Raksha Bandhan with daughters of PMO staff

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New Delhi, 11 August: In a noble gesture, Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrated Raksha Bandhan with young girls at his residence in Delhi on Thursday. Interestingly, the girls who tied rakhis to PM Modi were the daughters of sweepers, peons, gardeners, drivers, and other employees working at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

The prime minister also greeted people on the special occasion of Raksha Bandhan. “Greetings to everyone on the special occasion of Raksha Bandhan,” PM Modi tweeted.

LG Manoj Sinha condemns terrorist attack in Rajouri

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JAMMU, Aug 11: Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Thursday condemned the attack on a security forces camp in Rajouri district and vowed to deal with terrorists and their supporters in a befitting manner.
Two terrorists carried out a ‘fidayeen’ attack on an Army camp in Rajouri district in the early hours of Thursday, killing three soldiers. Both attackers were gunned down in the four-hour firefight that followed.
In a tweet, Sinha said, “Strongly condemn despicable terrorist attack in Rajouri; tributes to brave soldiers who made supreme sacrifice. Heartfelt condolences to the families of the bravehearts martyred in the attack. We shall deal with evil designs of terrorists and their backers in a befitting manner”.

Jagdeep Dhankhar sworn in as 14th Vice President of India

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NEW DELHI, Aug 11: Former West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was on Thursday sworn in as the 14th Vice President of India.
President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath to Dhankhar (71) in a brief ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Dhankhar took the oath in Hindi in the name of God.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Dhankhar’s predecessor M Venkaiah Naidu were among the dignitaries present at the ceremony.

Stop lowering dignity of PM post by talking about ‘black magic’, Rahul Gandhi hits back at PM Modi

NEW DELHI, Aug 11: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his “black magic” remark, saying he must “stop lowering the dignity” of the PM’s post by talking about such superstitious things.
Mr. Gandhi’s attack came a day after Prime Minister Modi lashed out at the Congress for wearing black dresses on August 5 in protest against price rise, saying those who believe in kala jadu will never be able to win the trust of the people again.
Attacking him, Mr. Gandhi asked if the Prime Minister was unable to see inflation or unemployment in the country.
“Stop lowering the dignity of the prime minister’s post and misleading the country by talking about superstitious things like ‘black magic’ to hide your black deeds, prime minister-ji,” Mr. Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.
“You will have to give answers on people’s issues,” the former Congress chief added.
Addressing a function in Panipat via video-conferencing to dedicate the second-generation ethanol plant worth ₹900 crore, PM Modi had said, “On August 5, we saw how some people tried to spread ‘black magic’. These people think that by wearing black clothes they can end their despondency.” “But they do not know that by engaging in witchcraft, black magic and superstition, they cannot earn the trust of people again,” PM Modi had said.
The Congress hit back at the Prime Minister over his kala jadu remark, saying while the country wants him to talk about their problems but “jumlajeevi” keeps saying just anything.

Amarnath: Yatra ends peacefully, 3L+ pay obeisance

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Jammu, Aug 11: Barring inclement weather killing over a dozen pilgrims in flash-floods triggered by a cloudburst last month, the annual Amarnath Yatra passed off peacefully, though only over 3 lakh visited the Holy Cave against the expected six to eight lakh pilgrims this year.
The authorities are breathing easy as massive security arrangements apparently helped avert any militant strike on pilgrims.
The yatra was held amid unusually “higher threat perception” to the pilgrims following a spate of targeted militant killings since April that left a dozen daed, including members of the minority Hindu community in the Valley.
The “Chhari Mubarak” Silver mace reached the holy cave shrine of Lord Shiva in Kashmir Himalayas for final pooja, coinciding with the Raksha Bandhan, marking the formal end of this year’s Amarnath Yatra on Thursday.
The 43-day-long annual Amarnath Yatra commenced physically from June 30 after two years of Covid-19 restrictions.
On July 8, a cloudburst struck near the cave shrine causing flash floods at tented accommodation of pilgrims killing 15 yatris and injuring 55 others besides washing away a major portion of the track.
It was a hectic time for the security forces and other agencies that launched a massive rescue operation and built alternative routes working day and night for several days to make the yatra resume smoothly.
The authorities had to suspend the yatra for three days from the shortest route Baltal and for four days from the traditional Pahalgam route after the cloudburst.
Following the incident, the authorities took all precautionary measures and yatris were not allowed to move whenever the erratic weather struck. There was little respite from rain for many days. As many as 47 pilgrims 14 from shortest route of Baltal and 33 from traditional Pahalgam route also died of different ailments and cardiac arrest caused due to high altitude climate conditions during the 43-day-long pilgrimage.
Thirty-seven Amarnath Yatra pilgrims including five women were injured in a road accident at Qazigund on Srinagar-Jammu National highway on July 14.
The local people helped security forces in shifting the injured to nearby hospitals for treatment, depicting the humanity and hospitality of the people of Kashmir. Of the 3, 03,502 yatris who visited the cave, 32,892 in 5,902 sorties were taken to the Himalayan shrine from the Baltal route in Ganderbal district by helicopters.
The services were also made available from the traditional Pahalgam route. For the first time the yatra went Hi-tech with Arbiter Technology Cards or “Searching Bands” to the pilgrims this year.
The Yatris with these “Searching Bands” which were linked with the Aadhar card helped them to remain in touch with their group even if one lost track during the trekking on the high ridges.
This year keeping in view the militants threats, unprecedented security arrangements were put in place on Jammu-Srinagar national highway from Jagti Mandi yatra camp in Jammu upto Pahalgam in South Kashmir and Baltal in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district.
All routes leading to the cave were plugged by the heavy contingents of security forces including Army, BSF, CRPF, J&K Police and other agencies.

2 terrorists attempting suicide attack at army camp in J&K’s Rajouri gunned down; 3 Jawans Martyred

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JAMMU, August 11: The Indian Army on Thursday foiled a suicide attack on an Indian Army base here in which both the terrorists were killed while three Army troops lost their lives.
One officer and two jawans are also injured in the attack and have been shifted to medical facilities for further treatment, Army officials said here.
“In a terrorist attack 25 km from Rajouri, two terrorists carried out a suicide attack on an Army company operating base. Both terrorists have been killed while three own troops have lost their lives. Operations in progress,” Indian Army officials said.
“One Officer along with two other jawans is injured in the terrorist attack and has been rushed for medical treatment,” the sources said.
16 Corps Commander Lt Gen Manjinder Singh is constantly monitoring the situation on the ground. The area is being sanitised, they added.
The suicide attack on the company operating base of a Rashtriya Rifles unit in Pargal located in Darhal area of Rajouri, looks like an attempt to carry out an Uri-like attack where terrorists had infiltrated in the Army camp and killed 19 soldiers.
The attempt to infiltrate the Army camp took place days ahead of the 75th Independence Day celebration in the country.
Notably, the attack comes a day after three LeT terrorists were neutralised by security forces in Budgam. One of the killed terrorists was involved in the killing of civilians Rahul Bhat and Amreen Bhat.
“All the three hiding LeT terrorists neutralised. Bodies being retrieved from the site, identification is yet to be ascertained. Incriminating materials, arms & ammunition were recovered. A big success for us,” said a tweet by Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Kashmir.