NEW DELHI, Aug 1: The gross GST revenue collected in the month of July 2022 is Rs 1,48,995 crores, the second highest ever & 28% higher than the revenues in the same month last year, says Ministry of Finance.
Commercial LPG cylinder prices slashed by Rs 36, domestic unchanged
New Delhi: In a big relief to consumers, the national oil marketing companies (OMC) have reduced the cost of commercial 19-kg LPG cylinders by Rs 36, starting 1 August.
After the reduction, the commercial LPG cylinder will cost Rs 1976.50 in Delhi as against the price of Rs 2012.50 earlier.
In Kolkata, the price has been reduced to Rs 2095.50 per cylinder. Earlier the price was Rs 2132 per cylinder.
In Mumbai, the commercial cylinder will cost Rs 1936.50, which was earlier priced at Rs 1972.50 per cylinder. And in Chennai, the commercial cylinder will cost Rs 2141. Earlier its price was Rs 2177.50 per cylinder.
However, there was no change in the rates of domestic LPG cylinders.
Over 700 yatris leave Jammu for Amarnath
Jammu: Over 700 Amarnath yatris left Jammu on Sunday for the twin base camps of Pahalgam and Baltal in Kashmir, officials said. A total of 715 yatris in the 31st batch left Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas here in a convoy of 26 vehicles amid heavy paramilitary CRPF security Sunday morning, the officials said.
They said 384 yatris heading for Baltal were the first to leave the Bhagwati Nagar camp in 14 vehicles followed by the second convoy of 12 vehicles carrying 331 yatris for Pahalgam.
With this, a total of 142,665 yatris have left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp for Kashmir since June 29, the day the first batch of yatris was flagged off by Lt Governor Manoj Sinha.
The number of yatris visiting the 3880-metre-high Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir has drastically fallen in the past three days mostly due to bad weather conditions, they said adding that Sunday’s was the smallest batch of yatris in the last week.
While 3862 yatris left for Amarnath from Jammu on Monday, on Tuesday 2189 yatris, Wednesday 1147, Thursday 1602, Friday 835, and Saturday 573 left for the cave shrine from here.
A total of 36 people, mostly yatris, have died during the ongoing Amarnath Yatra, excluding the 15 yatris, who died in the flash floods at the Amarnath cave shrine on July 1.
Cop injured in Kangan road accident, hospitalised
Srinagar, Aug 1: A policeman was injured after the scooty he was riding collided with a truck in Kangan area of central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district on Monday morning, officials said.
The accident took place near Thune area of Kangan resulting in injuries to the cop identified as Khurshid Ahmad Rather son of Mohd Abdullah of Bonizil Haripora and posted at police station Gund news agency KNO reported.
Rather was shifted to SDH Kangan for treatment, from where doctors refered him to SKIMS Soura for further treatment.
Meanwhile, Police have taken cognizance of the incident.
Flash floods damage vehicles, houses in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district, no casualties reported
Poonch (Jammu and Kashmir): A flash flood occurred in the Surankote town of Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district on Sunday, causing damage to houses, vehicles, and other properties. No casualties were reported.
No casualty has been reported in the incident so far, said a senior officer of the administration. Assessment of the damage is being carried out, the officer added.
Meanwhile, three people were washed away in another flash flood, which occurred in the Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district on Sunday amid heavy rainfall.
According to officials, the three people were washed away in the district’s Tarnah nallah. They have been identified as Dev Raj (50), Bablu (48) and Kamal Singh (60) – all residents of Sallan, they said.
Rescue operations have been started, they added.
Earlier on July 28, four persons were trapped in flash floods in Poonch district. However, they were later rescued by the Indian Army.
As per the Jammu-based PRO defence, the information about the trapping of the four persons in flash floods triggered by heavy rains in Poonch river, reached the army unit in Jhulas, prompting the personnel to launch a rescue operation.
The Army swiftly responded to a critical situation and in coordination with SDRF and police rescued four precious lives at Jhulas, the PRO said.
Cloudy sky, light to moderate rain likely in J&K
Mainly cloudy sky with light to moderate rain is likely in Jammu and Kashmir during the next 24 hours, according to the Meteorological (MeT) department.
“Mainly cloudy sky with light to moderate rain is likely during the next 24 hours in J&K”, a MeT department official said.
Meanwhile, Srinagar recorded 17 degrees Celsius, Pahalgam 13.2 and Gulmarg 8.6 degrees Celsius as the minimum temperature this morning.
Drass in Ladakh region clocked 9.7 degrees, Leh 10.1 and Kargil 17 as the minimum temperature.
Jammu had 24.5 degrees, Katra 22.2, Batote 17.6, Banihal 16.8 and Bhaderwah 17.8 as the minimum temperature.
India records 16,464 Covid cases, 24 fatalities in a day
New Delhi, Aug 1: India added 16,464 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,40,36,275, while the active cases increased to 1,43,989, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.
The death toll climbed to 5,26,396 with 24 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 98.48 per cent, the health ministry said.
An increase of 313 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.The daily positivity rate was recorded at 6.01 per cent while the weekly positivity rate was at 4.80 per cent, according to the health ministry.The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,33,65,890 while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.20 per cent.
According to the ministry, 204.34 crore doses of Covid vaccine 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.
Opposition to push for discussion on Agnipath in Parliament next week
NEW DELHI, July 31: The Opposition is likely to demand a discussion on the Agnipath defence recruitment scheme in Parliament next week after the debate on price rise is taken up in both the Houses, sources said on July 31, 2022.
A discussion on price rise has been listed in the Lok Sabha for Monday and in the Rajya Sabha the next day.
Opposition leaders said while there is a consensus among them about the need for a discussion on Agnipath, which had sparked widespread violence across the country, they have varied stands on the subject.
With barely 10 working days remaining before the Monsoon Session gets over on August 12, it is unlikely the parties would be abe to extract a debate on the new armed forces recruitment scheme in either House.
“We will definitely raise the issue in Parliament, however there is very little time to force a discussion on it as the session is ending on August 12 and in between there is a weekend, the vice presidential election as well as the farewell for (outgoing vice president) Venkaiah Naidu,” said an opposition leader.
Also, some leaders said the parties have also different stands on the issue with those based in northern region demanding a complete withdrawal of the scheme, while some like the TMC asking that state governments be freed of the liability to provide jobs for the Agniveers.
Congress leaders such as Rajya Sabha MP from Haryana Deepender Singh Hooda has demanded a complete rollback.
Sources said the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Samajwadi Party and the Congress have already filed notices demanding a discussion on Agnipath in both Houses. Three three notices are likely to be filed on Monday.
Opposition leaders have indicated the government has conveyed to them informally they have no plans of accommodating their request on Agnipath as the matter is sub-judice.
The government has also listed two bills — The Central Universities(Amendment) Bill, 2022 to be introduced and the The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2021 to be passed in the Lok Sabha.
In the Rajya Sabha too two Bills will come up for consideration and passing on Monday — the Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Act, 2005; and a Bill to provide for the national measures for protecting the Antarctic environment and dependent and associated ecosystems and to give effect to the Antarctic Treaty, the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources and to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty.
Both these Bills have been passed by the Lok Sabha. (Agencies)
Militancy and its ecosystem wiped out from many areas of J&K: LG Manoj Sinha
Ganderbal, Jul 31: Jammu and Kashmir’s Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha Sunday said that many areas in the UT have been cleared off the militancy and its eco-system stands fully damaged while efforts are on to root-out militancy from the entire region.
He, however, said narco-terrorism, if not handled in time, will emerge as a cancer. Addressing the passing out-cum attestation parade of 538 new recruits at Police Training Centre (PTC) Manigam, Ganderbal, the LG, said that police along with other security forces through its human and technical intelligence have been able to clear off many areas in J&K from the menace of militancy and its ecosystem. “But more needs to be done to root out the terrorism completely from J&K. Narco-terrorism is fast emerging as a biggest challenge and if it is not dealt in time, it can take the shape of a cancer. For eradicating militancy, you need to destroy all its off-shoots and tools supporting it,” the LG said.
He said that police in J&K were facing multiple challenges on many fronts. “In other states, challenges for police are less compared to J&K. Here, police have to maintain law and order, deal with social crimes, criminals, also with militancy and subversive elements,” the LG said and hailed the police force for facing all challenges bravely and in a professional manner.
He said that the police force is fast learning the art of countering technical and social media propaganda through the same means. “We have counter the social media propaganda by using online means and the police force is working hard on that front,” Sinha said.
He said that administration has been providing full support to police over the years and no stone will be left unturned to make the police force more efficient in the times to come. He said that new recruits who completed their course are not trained to do just normal policing, but to handle law and order, deal with militancy and are also trained to use computers to stay connected through CCTNS. (KNO)
Satyendra Prakash is new Principal D-G, Press Information Bureau
New Delhi, Jul 31: Senior Indian Information Service officer Satyendra Prakash has been appointed as the Principal Director General of the Press Information Bureau (PIB), an official order said.
Prakash will take charge on Monday.
A 1988 batch Indian Information Service (IIS) officer, Prakash, the Principal Director General of the Central Bureau of Communication, will succeed Jaideep Bhatnagar, who superannuated on Sunday.
Known for his innovative work style, Prakash was honoured by the Election Commission for his outreach campaigns to increase voters participation in elections after the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a career spanning over three decades, Prakash has served in various capacities in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, including as Additional Director General, News & Current Affairs in Doordarshan, and Director (Media), Ministry of Communications & IT and Ministry of Civil Aviation in the Press Information Bureau.
Bhatnagar, a 1986-batch IIS officer, earlier served in Doordarshan News as head of the Commercial, Sales and Marketing Division.
He has also served as Prasar Bharati Special Correspondent West Asia covering 20 countries and later went on to head the News Services Division of AIR.
Manish Desai, Director General of West zone of the PIB, will succeed Prakash in the Central Bureau of Communication.
A 1989 batch IIS officer, Desai has worked in various media units of the Ministry of I&B, like DAVP, AIR News, Prasar Bharati, and the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. (AGENCIES)