NEW DELHI, Aug 2: The country is battling an “epidemic of unemployment” with crores of families left with no means of a stable income but the Government is spending billions just to polish the image of an “arrogant king”, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Tuesday.
In a Facebook post in Hindi a day after the debate on price rise in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi said the Congress had tried to get the Government to answer the questions of the people during the ongoing Monsoon session of Parliament. However, everyone saw how Opposition MPs were suspended, arrested for protests and the House adjourned.
“Yesterday when the discussion did take place, the Government clearly said that ‘there is no problem like ‘mehngai’ (inflation)!
“The country is battling an epidemic of unemployment, crores of families are left with no means of stable income. But the Government is spending billions of rupees just to polish the image of an ‘arrogant king’,” Gandhi said, attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In the long post addressed to the people of the country, the former Congress chief said, “Don’t consider yourself alone, the Congress is your voice, and you are Congress’ strength. We have to fight with every decree of the dictator, every attempt to suppress the voice of the people.”
“For you, the Congress party and myself have been fighting, and will continue to fight. You know very well which issues need to be discussed in the country today because every wrong policy of the Government is affecting your life,” he said.
Gandhi said inflation and the “Gabbar Singh Tax” is a direct attack on the income of the common person.
Today’s reality is that the common person is struggling not just for his dreams but for his daily bread, he alleged.
“This Government wants you to accept everything the dictator says without questioning. I assure you all, there is no need to be afraid of them and suffer dictatorship. They are cowards, afraid of your strength and unity and that is why they are constantly attacking it. If you face them unitedly, they will get scared,” Gandhi said.
“I promise you, we will neither be afraid nor let them scare you,” he added.
On Monday, Opposition members in the lower house blamed the BJP-led Central Government’s policies for the price rise and accused it of ignoring the plight of common people, saying kitchens will soon “see a lockdown” if the Centre does not take corrective measures.
Replying to the debate on price rise on Monday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said India does not face any risk of either recession or stagflation as its macroeconomic fundamentals are “perfect”.
BJP leader and former minister of state for finance Jayant Sinha had asserted that there is no ‘mehngai’ (inflation) and the Opposition has been looking for it but is unable to find it.

New Delhi, August 2: From 2019 to 2021, 81 Chinese nationals were given the “Leave India Notice” while 726 others were placed on the adverse list for violating visa conditions and other illegal acts, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai informed Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
MoS Home further said that 117 people were also deported. (Agencies)

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi today lauded the accomplishment of 6 billion UPI transactions in July, highest ever since 2016.

In a response to a tweet by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Prime Minister said;

“This is an outstanding accomplishment. It indicates the collective resolve of the people of India to embrace new technologies and make the economy cleaner. Digital payments were particularly helpful during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

According to data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), UPI reported 6.28 billion transactions worth Rs 10.62 trillion in July — an increase of 7 per cent over June.

The UPI facility was launched on April 11, 2016, by then Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan.

Bharat Interface for Money-Unified Payments Interface (BHIM-UPI) has emerged as the preferred payment mode of the citizens and has achieved a record of 452.75 crore digital payment transactions with the value of Rs 8.27 lakh crore till February 28, 2022.

COVID-19 pandemic has established that digital payments enable access to healthcare as well through contactless payment modes like BHIM-UPI QR code in consonance with the “new normal” of social distancing.

ISLAMABAD, Aug 2: A Pakistan Army aviation helicopter carrying six senior military officers, including a top commander of XII Corps, is feared to have crashed while on a flood relief operation in Balochistan province after losing contact with air traffic control.
“A Pakistan army aviation helicopter which was on flood relief operations in Lasbela, Balochistan lost contact with ATC. 6 individuals were on board including Commander 12 Corps who was supervising flood relief operations in Balochistan. The search operation is underway,” Major General Babar Iftikhar, Director General Inter-Services Public Relations — the media wing of Pakistan’s armed forces — said in a tweet on Monday.
The six individuals on board included the Commander XII Corps Lt Gen Sarfraz Ali, who was supervising the flood relief operations in Balochistan province.
Incidentally, General Sarfraz was one of the contenders interviewed by former prime minister Imran Khan for the post of director General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in October last year, according to the Express Tribune newspaper.
He has served as Pakistan’s defence attache in the United States.
The others on board included Major Syed the pilot, Major Talha the co-pilot, Director-General of Coast Guards Brigadier Amjad, Engineer Brigadier Khalid and Chief Naik Mudassir.
A police source said the helicopter had apparently crashed near a place called Sassi Pannu in a mountainous region in Lasbela on Monday.
The helicopter took off from Uthal at 5:10pm on Monday and was supposed to land in Karachi at 6:05pm, but it lost contact with the air traffic controller, officials said.
On Tuesday, Army officials and police were busy combing the area to locate the helicopter.
Their efforts, however, were hampered due to the treacherous mountainous terrain and the damaged roads due to the floods in the region.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed concern over the incident.
“The reports of a missing helicopter of Army Aviation are very concerning. The whole nation bows in front of Allah for safety and return of personnel involved in flood relief operations,” he tweeted.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan tweeted: “Disturbing news of army aviation helicopter missing and praying for all those on board.”
Heavy rains and flash floods have wreaked havoc in Balochistan, claiming 147 lives. The civil authorities and the Pakistan Army are currently providing relief programmes to the displaced in the province.