JAMMU: Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Saturday expressed his condolences over the loss of lives in the Kathua road accident.
“Anguished by the loss of lives in a tragic road accident in Kathua. In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with the bereaved families. Praying for the speedy recovery of those injured. Directed district administration to provide the best possible treatment to injured,” tweeted Sinha.
New Delhi, Jan 21: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi will be chief guest on India’s 74th Republic Day celebrations, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Saturday.
President el-Sisi is visiting India from January 26-26 at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the foreign ministry said.
“This is for the first time that the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt has been invited as Chief Guest on our Republic Day,” the MEA said. A military contingent from Egyptian Army will also participate in the Republic Day parade.
During his visit, President el-Sisi will hold wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Modi and interact with the business community. He will be accompanied by a high-level delegation that will include five ministers and senior officials.
The 68-year-old leader is scheduled to arrive in New Delhi on January 24 and his vist is expected to deepen the “time-tested” partnership between the two countries.
President Sisi has previously visited India in October 2015 to participate in the third India Africa Forum Summit and in September 2016 on a State Visit.
India and Egypt are celebrating 75 years of establishment of diplomatic relations this year. Egypt has also been invited as a ‘Guest Country’ during India’s Presidency of G-20 in 2022-23.
“President Sisi will be accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on 25 January 2023 and President Smt. Droupadi Murmu will host a State Banquet in honour of the visiting dignitary the same evening. President Sisi will have a bilateral meeting and delegation-level talks with the Prime Minister on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest,” the MEA said.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will call on President Sisi and the visiting dignitary will also interact with Indian business community at a business event on the same day, the MEA said.
India and Egypt enjoy warm and friendly relations marked by civilizational, cultural and economic linkages and deep-rooted people-to-people ties. The multifaceted relationship is based on shared cultural values, commitment to foster economic growth, collaboration in the fields of defence and security and convergence on regional and global issues. The two countries work closely at multilateral and international platforms.
Bilateral trade between India and Egypt achieved a record high of USD 7.26 billion in FY 2021-22. The trade was fairly balanced, with USD 3.74 billion Indian exports to Egypt and USD 3.52 billion imports from Egypt to India. More than 50 Indian companies have invested around USD 3.15 billion in diverse sectors of Egyptian economy, including chemicals, energy, textile, garment, agri-business, retail, etc. (Agencies)
Thakur also said that WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh would step aside till the probe ends.
“The committee will see all the day-to-day workings till the investigation completes, and till then Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh will step aside and cooperate with the investigation,” he said.
Further addressing the mediapersons, Thakur said that the players kept their demands and a detailed discussion about it took place. “We had issued a notice to the Wrestling Federation of India when the allegations were levelled and asked them to respond within 72 hours, and they did. Similarly, we seek their timely support and cooperation so that the matter can be resolved soon,” he added.
In the press conference, Thakur was accompanied by wrestlers Sakshee Malikkh, Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Ravi Dahiya and several others.
Extending gratitude for the government’s concern, Ace India wrestler Bajrang Punia said, “The Union Sports Minister listened to our demands and has assured us that a proper investigation will be done. I thank him and we are hopeful that a fair probe will be done, hence we are calling off the protest.”
Hence, the protest, which began on Wednesday at the Jantar Mantar in the national capital, was finally called off with the Sports Minister announcing Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh to set aside till the investigation against the levelled allegations completes.
The protest by wrestlers, including Olympic and Commonwealth Games (CWG) medalists, was underway in Delhi, as women wrestlers levelled serious charges of sexual harassment by the president and coaches of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and of mismanagement in the functioning of the federation.
However, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh refuted the allegations and claimed he would expose the ‘political conspiracy’ in a press conference in Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda yesterday.
Pakistan Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Javed Abbasi on Friday informed the Senate that 42 journalists have been killed in the country over the past four years, Pakistan-based Dawn newspaper reported.
According to data from the Information Ministry, 15 of the journalists were from Punjab, 11 were from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and three from Balochistan. The journalists were either shot dead, targeted or killed by terrorists.
The data shows that seven suspects were arrested in Punjab out of which two are currently out on bail. Five out of the seven arrested are standing trial while eight suspects are on the run. One accused has been released by the court.
Four suspects have been arrested in Sindh while seven are facing trial. Two suspects in KP were acquitted, four are facing trial and one suspect is on the run. Two suspects in Balochistan escaped, one is facing trial, one suspect was sentenced and another is facing an investigation.
Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally here, Mumbai Police arrested a man for entering the rally posing as an Army soldier, informed police officials on Saturday.
The 35-year-old man from Navi Mumbai was arrested by the Mumbai Police, 90 minutes before PM Narendra Modi was to reach Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC), informed Mumbai Police officials. The accused tried to enter the high-security VVIP area by claiming himself to be a Naik from the “Guards Regiment” of the Army.
The accused has been identified as Rameshwar Mishra, a science graduate who was stopped by the Mumbai Crime Branch officials on suspicion around 3 pm.
The Mumbai Police registered a case under sections 171, 465, 468, and 471 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The accused was produced in Bandra court on Friday and was sent to police custody till January 24.
Earlier on January 19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday inaugurated, dedicated, and laid the foundation stone of multiple development initiatives in Mumbai. The PM inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of projects worth around Rs 38,800 crore in Mumbai.
In an effort to strengthen health care infrastructure in Mumbai, Prime Minister inaugurated 20 Hinduhridaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Aapla Dawakhana. The novel initiative provides essential medical services like health checkups, medicines, investigations, and diagnostics completely free, to the people.
Addressing a gathering, PM Modi highlighted that this is the first instance when the world is showing faith in the resolve of India. The Prime Minister said that as Indians are eagerly awaiting a developed India, the same optimism for India can be seen in the world.
The upper reaches of Kashmir received the first snowfall of the season on Thursday, resulting in a chill in the plains which received moderate rainfall.
An official of the local MeT department said there was significant snowfall in many areas of Kashmir, including the famous ski-resort Gulmarg, popular tourist destination Sonamarg and areas near Line of Control like Gurez and Karnah during the interv…
Light snowfall was also received at Zojila on Srinagar-Leh highway, connecting Ladakh region with Kashmir. However, the Srinagar-Leh and Srinagar-Jammu National Highway remained open for vehicular traffic. The early snowfall brought cheer to tourist…
Srinagar city and other areas of the Valley received moderate rainfall since the early hours of Thursday, bringing down the temperature by several degrees. As a cold breeze from the snow-clad mountains plummeted temperature, people were forced to put.
JAMMU, Jan 21: Authorities on Saturday suspended the traffic movement on Jammu-Srinagar national highway in view of shooting stones at Panthyal, officials said.
“Traffic movement stopped from both ends on Jammu Srinagar NHW in view of road blocked at Panthyal due to continuous shooting stones,” said an official of Traffic Police.
The Srinagar-Jammu highway is the only major surface link connecting Kashmir valley with the rest of the country.
The accident took place in Kathua’s Sila village of Billawar in the evening when the driver lost control of the private bus while negotiating a blind curve, police said. Five people, including a woman, were killed and 15 others sustained injuries after a mini bus skidded off the road and plunged into a deep gorge in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday, police said.
The accident took place at Sila village of Billawar in the evening when the driver lost control of the private bus while negotiating a blind curve, they said.
According to the police, the bus was on its way to Dhanu Parole village from Mondli village.
Four people, including a 60-year-old woman, were found dead at the spot by rescuers, while 16 others were rushed to a hospital where one of them succumbed to injuries, they said.
The Indian Air Force will carry out Exercise Pralay involving all its major air bases in the northeast including the recently moved drone squadrons in the northeast amid the ongoing standoff with China, informed officials.
The exercise planned to be held in the next few days also comes at a time when the Indian Air Force has deployed and activated the S-400 air defence squadron in the area which can take on any enemy aircraft or missile from a distance of up to 400 km. According to officials, the exercise would see major combat assets of the Air Force including the Rafale and Su-30 fighter jets activated along with the transport and other aircraft.
The IAF recently moved a squadron of drones from other bases to the northeast to augment its capabilities of monitoring adversary activities along the Sikkim and the Siliguri Corridor sector.
The Chinese have also been increasing their activities along the Doklam area and are under the constant watch of Indian security agencies, as per officials.
This is the second such command-level exercise carried out by the IAF in recent months.
The IAF’s Eastern Command in Shillong has the entire northeast air space to look after along the China border and frequently scrambles its fighters the moment the Chinese try to fly too close to the LAC or move in a direction towards Indian locations there.
India saw a single-day rise of 131 new coronavirus infections while active cases declined to 1,940, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday.
The total number of Covid cases was recorded at 4.46 crore (4,46,81,781).
The death toll stands at 5,30,730 with one death reconciled by Kerala and one reported by Uttar Pradesh in the last 24 hours, according to the data updated at 8 am.
Both the daily and weekly positivity were recorded at 0.08 per cent.
The active cases now comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections while the national Covid-19 recovery rate has risen to 98.81 per cent, according to the Health ministry’s website.
A decrease of six cases has been recorded in the active Covid-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,49,111 while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent.
According to the ministry website, 220.24 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered under the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive so far.
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 crossed 60 lakh cases on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and the one-crore mark on December 19.
The grim milestone of two crore cases was passed on May 4 and three crore on June 23, 2021. The four-crore cases mark was hit on January 25, 2022.