HYDERABAD, Nov 3: Former Navy Chief Admiral L Ramdas joined Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ in Telangana on Thursday.
The Yatra resumed from Patancheru on the city outskirts Thursday morning and it will halt at Sivampet in Sangareddy district for the night, Congress sources said.
“Admiral Ramdas, former Chief of Naval Staff, who at 89 continues to be an indefatigable campaigner for public causes, along with his wife Lalita Ramdas, herself the daughter of Admiral Katari, 1st Indian Chief of Naval Staff, walked with @RahulGandhi on Day 57 of #BharatJodoYatra,” AICC General Secretary, in-charge, Communications, Jairam Ramesh, tweeted.
Congress president in Telangana and MP A Revanth Reddy, Lok Sabha member N Uttam Kumar Reddy and other party leaders walked with Gandhi in the morning session, the sources said.
The Yatra will take a break on Friday, they said.
The mega foot march of Gandhi entered the state on October 23 and the Telangana leg would conclude on November 7, the sources said.
The Yatra began on September 7 from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu. (AGENCIES)
Bharat Jodo Yatra: Ex-Navy chief Admiral Ramdas joins Rahul Gandhi
Education Ministry releases report on Performance Grading Index for States, UTs
The Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education today released the Performance Grading Index (PGI) for States/UTs for 2020-21, a unique index for evidence-based comprehensive analysis of school education system across State/UTs.
“The Indian Education System is one of the largest in the world with about 14.9 lakh schools, 95 lakh teachers, and nearly 26.5 crore students from varied socio-economic backgrounds. DoSE&L devised PGI for States/UTs to provide insights and data-driven mechanisms on the performance and achievements of on the success of school education across all States/UTs. The prime objective of PGI is to promote evidence-based policymaking and highlight course correction to ensure quality education for all. So far, DoSE&L has released the PGI report for the year 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20. The present report is for the year 2020-21,” read an official statement. The PGI structure comprises 1000 points across 70 indicators grouped into 2 categories viz., Outcomes, Governance Management (GM). These categories are further divided into 5 domains, viz., Learning Outcomes (LO), Access (A), Infrastructure and Facilities (IF), Equity (E) and Governance Process (GP).
As was done in the previous years, PGI 2020-21 classified the States/UTs into ten grades viz., the highest achievable Grade is Level 1, which is for State/UT scoring more than 950 points out of a total of 1000 points.
The lowest grade is Level 10 which is for a score below 551. The ultimate aim of PGI is to propel States and UTs towards undertaking multi-pronged interventions that will bring about the much-desired optimal education outcomes covering all dimensions.
The PGI is expected to help States and UTs to pinpoint the gaps and accordingly prioritize areas for intervention to ensure that the school education system is robust at every level, informed the Ministry.
“A total of 7 States and UTs, Viz., Kerala, Punjab, Chandigarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Andhra Pradesh have attained Level II (score 901-950) in 2020-21 as compared to none in 2017-18 and 4 in 2019-20. Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh are the new entrants to the highest achieved level of any state so far,” the statement added.
The newly formed UT viz., Ladakh has made significant improvement in PGI from Level 8 to Level 4 in 2020-21 or improved its score by 299 points in 2020-21 as compared to 2019-20 resulting into the highest ever improvement in a single year.
“PGI Scores and grades achieved by States/UTs in 2020-21 bear testimony to the efficacy of the PGI system. The indicator-wise PGI score shows the areas where a state needs to improve. The PGI will reflect the relative performance of all the States/UTs in a uniform scale which encourages them to perform better and to adopt best practice followed by performers,” added the statement.
Police Rescues 3 Tourists Stuck in Affarwat Gulmarg
SRINAGAR, Nov 3: Jammu and Kashmir Police rescued three tourists who had lost their way in Affarwat mountainous area of Gulmarg last night, officials said on Thursday.
Quoting a police officer, that Gulmarg police swung into action after receiving information last night that some tourists were stuck at Affarwat as they lost their way back to Gondola.
“Upon this, a police party was deputed and the tourists who were identified as Raju, Ananya and Bhardwaj, all residents of Hyderabad, were rescued,” he said.
The tourists said that police’s swift response saved them. “We had gone towards Gondola on foot and completely lost our way. We called SHO Gulmarg and a police team reached in no time and rescued us,” one of tourists said while being flanked by two others.
“Without the police help we would not have been able to return safely and we thank police wholeheartedly,” he added. (AGENCIES)
MeT predicts dry weather for next 24 hours; widespread rain, snow from Nov 5 to 7
JAMMU, Nov 3: The weather office on Thursday predicted mainly dry weather for the next 24 hours followed by widespread light to moderate rains and snowfall from November 5 to 7 in Jammu and Kashmir.
Quoting an official of Meteorological Department (MeT) , that the weather is expected to be mainly dry for next 24 hours although it might be partly cloudy at most of the places.
From November 5-7, he said, the weather is expected to be generally cloudy. “Fairly widespread light to moderate rains, snowfall (over higher reaches) and thunder is very likely to occur at most places of J&K,” he said. However he reiterated that there is no forecast of “heavy snowfall”.
He also said that snowfall and low temperature may lead to temporary but occasional disruption of surface transportation, mainly over Zojila, Sinthantop, Mugal road etc. during the period.
Meanwhile,Srinagar recorded a low of 5.6°C against 5.0°C on the previous night. The temperature was 3.1°C above normal for the summer capital during this time of the year, he said.
Qazigund recorded a low of 3.4°C against 3.0°C on the previous night. The temperature was 0.9°C above normal for the gateway town of Kashmir.
In Pahalgam, the mercury settled at 1.5°C against 0.2°C on the previous night and it was 1.7°C above normal for the south Kashmir resort, he said.
Kokernag recorded a low of 5.0°C against 3.8°C on the previous night and it was 1.2°C above normal for the place.
Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 0.0°C against minus 1.0°C on the previous night and it was 1.7°C below normal for the world famous skiing resort in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.
In Kupwara town, the mercury settled at 5.1°C against 6.4°C on the previous night, the official said. It was 3.2°C above normal for the north Kashmir place.
Jammu recorded a low of 14.6°C against 15.3°C on the previous night. It was 0.8°C below normal for J&K’s winter capital, he said. Banihal recorded a low of 9.0°C (above normal by 4.4°C), Batote 9.0°C (4.4°C above normal), Katra 14.5°C (above normal by 1.9°C) and Bhadarwah 5.2°C (above normal by 0.8°C). (AGENCIES)
Over 64K animals infected with LSD in J&K
Jammu, November 3
The Jammu and Kashmir government has stated that 64,479 animals have been affected with Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) in the UT till date.
Atal Dulloo, Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Agriculture Production Department, held a meeting to review measures being put in place towards containment of the spread of the lumpy skin disease. He was informed by officials that the number of LSD infected animals had crossed the 64,000 mark till November 1.
The officials concerned highlighted district-wise status of the disease besides elaborating on controlling measures being taken up, like vaccination, use of medicines, procurement of vaccines, sample collection for testing through a PowerPoint presentation.
While taking district-wise details of the disease, Dullo directed the officials to follow the proper protocol of treatment as per the government’s recommendation besides accelerating the animal vaccination process so that further spread of the disease is prevented speedily.
Demonstrations in Kargil, Leh over statehood issue
Jammu, November 3
Members of the Buddhist and the Muslim communities, which were at loggerheads over the issue of a monastery a few months ago, put up a united show to demand statehood for the Union Territory on Wednesday. Massive protests were organised in both Leh and Kargil districts, led by the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) and the Leh Apex Body (LAB), respectively. A large number of residents came out on roads braving the chill.
The demand for the safeguard under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution was first raised in 2020 and later the groups added the demands of complete statehood, addition of a Lok Sabha seat and a Rajya Sabha seat in the UT and speeding up of the recruitment process. At present, Ladakh, which has no Assembly, has only one Lok Sabha seat.
Sajjad Kargili, a member of the KDA, told The Tribune that the protests were held after a long gap due to a few reasons. “The visit of Buddhist spiritual leader Dalai Lama kept everyone busy in July and August. Besides, a dispute over a piece of land for a Buddhist monastery in Muslim-dominated Kargil caused mistrust among the communities. Now, all differences have been sorted out and both the communities are fighting together for their rights,” he said.
He said that in the coming days, more protests would be held against the Central Government demanding the genuine rights of the people of the region. Interestingly, the KDA and the LAB have also formed a core committee and decided to roll out a calendar for the upcoming protests. A meeting of both the associations was held on October 26 in which the future course of action for the agitation was decided.
“All the villages in Ladakh will be reached out by both associations and people will be asked to support us,” said Sajjad. Local residents in Ladakh are of the opinion that before the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two UTs, Ladakh had a safeguard in form of Article 35-A under which no outsider could purchase land in the region. Residents now fear that people from outside the UT will purchase land that can affect their culture.
There have been many meetings of members of the KDA and the LAB with officials of the Central Government and ministers regarding the issue in the past that could reach no conclusion.
Jigmat Paljor, a member of the LAB, said the BJP that was earlier supporting the agitation made an exit long ago. “Desperation among people of Ladakh is increasing. The today’s protests were a prelude to the agitation that will continue in 2023 if our demands are not met,” he added.
Active Covid cases in country dip to 16,098
New Delhi, Nov 3: With 1,321 people testing positive for coronavirus infection in a day, India’s tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 4,46,57,149, while the active cases declined to 16,098, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.
The death toll climbed to 5,30,461 with nine fatalities which includes five deaths reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated.
The active cases comprise 0.04 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate increased to 98.78 per cent, according to the ministry website.
A decrease of 145 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 4,41,10,590, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent.
According to the ministry’s website 219.67 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide 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.
The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23 last year. It crossed the four-crore mark on January 25 this year.
Four deaths were reported in a span of 24 hours with two from Maharashtra and one each from Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal. (Agencies)
Bangladesh’s Nurul Hasan accuses Virat Kohli of ‘fake fielding’ in World Cup match
Adelaide, November 3
Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batter Nurul Hasan has accused Indian maestro Virat Kohli of “fake fielding” which went unnoticed by on-field umpires and robbed his team of five potentially vital penalty runs in their T20 World Cup game.
Set a revised target of 151 in 16 overs after a brief spell of rain, Bangladesh fell short by five runs.
While his skipper Shakib Al Hasan conceded that they lost fair and square, Nurul, who kept Bangladesh in the game in the final over with a six and a four off Arshdeep Singh, seemed to criticise the on-field umpires after the game.
“Definitely, the wet outfield did have an impact when we restarted the game. But there was also a fake throw which could have got us five runs but we didn’t even get that,” Nurul said in Bengali at the mixed zone, indirectly accusing umpires Chris Brown and Marais Erasmus of overlooking the incident.
The incident that Nurul was referring to happened in the seventh over. A video recording showed that Arshdeep threw the ball from the deep and Kohli — at point — feigned as if he were relaying it at the non-striker’s end.
A relay throw is one where the fielder closer to the track catches the ball from deep and throws it at the stumps.
The two batters — Litton Das and Najmul Hossain Shanto — didn’t even look at Kohli and that’s why Nurul’s argument raises questions.
The ICC playing conditions rule 41.5, which pertains to unfair play, prohibits fielding team from “deliberate, distraction, deception or obstruction of the batter”.
If the umpire finds any one has breached the rule, he can call it a dead ball and award five penalty runs.
While Nurul accused Kohli of fake fielding, he didn’t factor in the terms “distraction and deception” part in the rule.
Neither Shanto nor Litton was looking at Kohli, and hence, they were not distracted or deceived.
On the contrary, there is a possibility that Nurul might be sanctioned for criticising the match officials.
Bypoll for 7 Assembly seats in 6 states gets under way
New Delhi, November 3
Voting began on Thursday in the by-election to seven assembly constituencies in six states – a contest symbolic of the fierce turf war between the BJP and regional parties.
The polling is being held in Mokama and Gopalganj assembly constituencies of Bihar, Andheri (East) of Maharashtra, Adampur of Haryana, Munugode of Telangana, Gola Gorakhnath of Uttar Pradesh, and Dhamnagar of Odisha.
Authorities have made elaborate arrangements for the voting.
Among the seven seats where bypolls are being held, the BJP held three seats, the Congress two while the Shiv Sena and the RJD had one each.
While a victory in the bypolls will be inconsequential to their position in the assemblies, the parties have not taken the contest lightly and carried out a high-pitched campaign.
The counting of votes will take place on November 6.
The BJP is seeking to retain Gola Gorakhnath seat in Uttar Pradesh and Dhamnagar in the BJD-ruled Odisha, banking on sympathy votes as it has fielded the sons of sitting MLAs whose death necessitated the bypolls.
The BJP and the ruling TRS had been campaigning aggressively in Munugode in Telangana, where the Congress MLA had resigned and is fighting on the saffron party’s ticket.
The Election Commission has made elaborate arrangements for polling, including the deployment of 3,366 state police and 15 companies of central security personnel in Munugode. Webcasting would be done from all the polling stations, officials said.
In Adampur, Haryana, the by-election was necessitated after former chief minister Bhajan Lal’s younger son Kuldeep Bishnoi resigned as MLA from the seat and switched from the Congress to the BJP in August. Bishnoi’s son Bhavya is now contesting as the BJP candidate.
The Adampur seat has been held by the Bhajan Lal family since 1968, with the late ex-chief minister representing it on nine occasions, his wife Jasma Devi once, and Kuldeep on four occasions.
The Congress, Indian National Lok Dal, and Aam Aadmi Party are among the key parties contesting the bypolls.
The Congress has fielded former Union minister Jai Prakash, a three-time MP from Hisar and two-time MLA, as well.
The INLD picked Congress rebel Kurda Ram Nambardar as its candidate. The AAP has fielded Satender Singh, who switched over from the BJP.
Bihar will see the first electoral test for the Nitish Kumar-led ‘Mahagathbandhan’ government, formed less than three months ago after the JD(U) parted ways with the BJP.
Bypolls are being held in Mokama and Gopalganj seats in Bihar, earlier held by the RJD and the BJP respectively.
The BJP is contesting from the Mokama constituency for the first time as the saffron party had, on previous occasions, left the seat to its allies. Both the BJP and the RJD have fielded the wives of local musclemen in the bypolls.
BJP nominee Sonam Devi is up against RJD’s Neelam Devi, whose husband Anant Singh’s disqualification has necessitated the by-election.
Mokama is the stronghold of Anant Singh since 2005. He won the seat twice on JD(U) tickets and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has appealed to voters to support him.
Sonam Devi, the wife of local muscleman Lalan Singh who has been opposed to Anant Singh, is a greenhorn. Lalan is known to be a confidant of Suraj Bhan Singh, a dreaded gangster-turned-politician, who in the 2000 assembly election defeated Anant Singh’s elder brother Dilip Singh who was a minister in the Rabri Devi government.
In Gopalganj, BJP has fielded Kusum Devi, the wife of deceased party MLA Subhash Singh. The RJD has fielded Mohan Gupta, while Indira Yadav, wife of Lalu Yadav’s brother-in-law Sadhu Yadav, is contesting as Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate.
Shiv Sena’s Rutuja Latke is expected to comfortably win Andheri East Assembly constituency in Mumbai after the BJP withdrew from the contest which is the first after the recent split in the Shiv Sena following a rebellion by Eknath Shinde, who replaced Thackeray as the Maharashtra chief minister.
The NCP and Congress have supported her candidature.
The by-election was necessitated due to the death of Rutuja Latke’s husband and Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke in May this year.
The Gola Gorakhnath seat in Uttar Pradesh fell vacant after the death of BJP MLA Arvind Giri on September 6. With the BSP and the Congress keeping away from the bypolls, there seems to be a direct fight between the BJP and the Samajwadi Party The BJP has fielded Aman Giri, son of Arvind Giri, while the SP candidate is former Gola MLA Vinay Tiwari.
The BJD has fielded Abanti Das, the lone woman among the total five candidates in Dhamnagar. BJP MLA Bishnu Charan Sethi’s death necessitated the bypoll. The saffron party, banking on sympathy votes, has fielded Sethi’s son Suryabanshi Suraj.
The BJD’s official candidate is facing a rebel as its former MLA Rajendra Das is in the fray as an Independent.
JU signs MOU for Training Programmes in the field of IoT at Department of Computer Science & IT
Jammu, Nov 02- The University of Jammu signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for imparting various Training Programmes in the field of IoT at PG Department of Computer Science and IT with Advancetech India Pvt. Ltd., Mohali. The MOU was signed in presence of the Prof. Umesh Rai, Vice-Chancellor, University of Jammu by Prof. Arvind Jasrotia, Registrar, University of Jammu and Sh. Arvind Dixit, Director, Advancetech.
Prof. Umesh Rai appreciated the Head and faculty members of the Department of Computer Science and IT, University of Jammu for taking the initiative to engage the corporate sector. Prof. Rai emphasized that Departments must collaborate and extend association so that the premier institutions can contribute towards the growth of the students of the University. He further envisioned that the credits to the professional knowledge must be given by which an employee of the private companies can earn a degree from the University of Jammu, which will help in achieving the collaborations of the industry with academia as mandated in New Education Policy (NEP-2020). Prof Rai impressed upon HOD, Computer Sciences & IT to prepare a draft in this regard so that the same can be placed before relevant bodies for its implementation.