National
ED arrests Kejriwal after two-hour grilling; security tightened at agency office (Lead)
New Delhi, March 21 (IANS) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was taken into custody on Thursday evening by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the liquor policy case after being questioned at his official residence for over two hours, sources said.
Searches were also conducted at his residence by the ED team, which included a Joint Director.
“He will be taken to the ED office shortly after a medical test,” a source said.
The Delhi Chief Minister’s arrest came hours after the Delhi High Court rejected his plea seeking protection from ‘coercive action’ by the agency, which has served repeated summons to him.
In another setback to Kejriwal, the Supreme Court, which his team had moved against the Delhi High Court order, refused to hold an urgent hearing on Thursday night.
The matter is likely to be mentioned before the apex court for an urgent hearing on Friday morning.
Kejriwal is the biggest name to be arrested in the alleged scam so far after BRS lawmaker K. Kavitha, former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, and AAP RS member Sanjay Singh, among others.
A large contingent of Delhi Police personnel, along with the RAF, was deployed outside the Chief Minister’s residence on Thursday evening.
The Delhi Police have also imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC outside the CM’s residence and the ED office on APJ Abdul Kalam Road.
Senior officers, including Deputy Commissioner of Police (North), M.K. Meena, and officers of ACP rank were present at the spot.
Delhi Ministers Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj, along with other AAP leaders, had also reached the CM’s residence after news of the ED team reaching there spread, and claimed that they were stopped from entering the house.
Atishi said that searches were going on at Kejriwal’s house, adding that the ED had come with the intent to arrest the Chief Minister.
“It’s evident how the ED, under the influence of the BJP, demonstrates disregard for the judiciary. Had they respected the courts, they wouldn’t have conducted a raid at Arvind Kejriwal’s residence today. This situation reeks of political scheming, as their main intention appears to be to arrest Arvind Kejriwal,” she said.
Earlier in the day, a division bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Manoj Jain, after hearing the arguments from both sides, declined to pass any order granting interim relief on Kejriwal’s plea.
The bench on Wednesday asked him why he doesn’t appear before the probe agency in response to the summons.
On Thursday, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Kejriwal, contended that the ED’s summons lacked clarity regarding the capacity in which Kejriwal was asked to appear, accusing the agency of attempting to create an uneven playing field ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
In response, ASG S.V. Raju, along with special counsel Zoheb Hossain, appearing for the ED, opposed granting interim relief (to Arvind Kejriwal), saying that the law must be applied uniformly to all individuals, regardless of their position.
He clarified that Kejriwal was summoned in his personal capacity, and not as the Chief Minister or the Aam Aadmi Party chief, as he stressed the necessity for the Delhi CM’s interrogation based on the available evidence.
The ED had issued its first summons to Kejriwal in October last year, the second in December, and the third summon to appear before it for questioning on January 3.
It had summoned him for the fourth time on January 13, asking him to appear before it on January 18, before issuing its fifth summons to Kejriwal, telling him to appear before the agency on February 2.
On February 19, Kejriwal skipped the ED’s sixth summons in connection with the excise policy case. After Kejriwal skipped the seventh summons issued on February 22, the agency issued the eighth summons asking him to appear before it on March 4.
The ninth summons was scheduled for March 21.
The ED has also issued summons to CM Kejriwal in the Delhi Jal Board case.
–IANS
ssh/vd/arm
National
Over 19,000 devotees have ‘darshan’ on 12th day of Amarnath Yatra
Jammu, July 11 (IANS) Despite rain in the holy cave shrine area, over 19,000 devotees had ‘darshan’ on the 12th day of the ongoing Amarnath Yatra while another batch of 4,885 pilgrims left for Kashmir from here on Thursday.
Braving rain and chanting slogans of ‘Bum Bum Bhole’, 19,631 Yatris had ‘darshan’ on Wednesday inside the holy cave shrine situated 3,888 metres above the sea level in the Kashmir Himalayas.
Wednesday’s group of devotees had pilgrims in both camps — the South Kashmir Nunwan (Pahalgam) base camp and the North Kashmir Baltal base camp.
Locals are lending a vital helping hand to the Yatris by providing ponies, porters, guides and even some carrying the elderly Yatris on their backs over the treacherous mountain track that becomes highly slippery during rain.
Authorities have deployed security personnel on both the 48 km-long Pahalgam and the 14 km-long Baltal-Cave shrine axis.
Around 150 ‘langars’ (community kitchens) run by over 7,000 volunteers work round the clock to serve fresh, healthy food to the Yatris.
Community kitchens have also been set up at the transit camps of Manigam in North Kashmir Ganderbal district and Mir Bazaar in South Kashmir Anantnag district.
Officials of Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) headed by J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha manage the affairs of the annual Yatra.
In the 12 days since it started, over 2.50 lakh devotees have performed the Yatra.
Out of the 4,885 pilgrims that left for Kashmir on Thursday, a total of 1,894 pilgrims in 86 vehicles left at 3.05 a.m. while the second escorted convoy carrying 2,991 Yatris in 105 vehicles left at 3.52 a.m.
The first convoy is going to the Baltal base camp while the second convoy is going to the Nunwan (Pahalgam) base camp.
Pilgrims use the nearly 300 km long Jammu-Srinagar national highway to reach the Valley.
Given the unobstructed passage provided by massive security arrangements, both pilgrim convoys reach the Valley by early afternoon each day.
No pilgrim movement is allowed from the transit camps towards the two base camps after 5 p.m. each day for the safety of the Yatris.
Since it started on June 29, Amarnath Yatra 2024 has been proceeding safely and peacefully.
The 52-day long Yatra will end on August 29 coinciding with Shravan Purnima and Raksha Bandhan festivals.
–IANS
sq/dpb
National
IIT Madras data analytics indicates no mass malpractice in NEET exam: Centre to SC
New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) In its latest affidavit filed before the Supreme Court, the Union government said that the data analysis conducted by IIT Madras shows that there is neither any indication of mass malpractice nor a localised set of candidates being benefitted, leading to abnormal scores in the National Eligibility Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) examination held on May 5 this year.
“There is an overall increase in the marks obtained by students, specifically in the range of 550 to 720. This increase is seen across cities and centres. This is attributed to 25 per cent reduction in syllabus,” said the Union government, adding that candidates obtaining such high marks are spread across multiple cities and multiple centres, indicating a very “less likelihood of malpractice”.
After a comprehensive data analysis using parameters like marks distribution, city-wise and centre-wise rank distribution, and candidates spread over the marks range, experts of the IIT Madras opined “no abnormality,” the affidavit said.
The Union Education Ministry said that it is duty bound to address the concerns of the students who have appeared in the NEET exam and is making all-round efforts to devise a solution-oriented mechanism while ensuring that, on the one hand, no candidate guilty of malpractice gets any benefit and, on the other hand, 23 lakh students are not required to be burdened with a fresh test merely based upon unsupported apprehensions.
It said that the Union government has established a high-level committee of experts to recommend effective measures for the conduct of transparent, smooth, and fair examinations by the National Testing Agency (NTA).
The seven-member committee is headed by K. Radhakrishnan, former ISRO Chairman, and Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Kanpur.
The Supreme Court is slated to hear on Thursday a batch of pleas alleging irregularities in conduct of the NEET-UG examination 2024.
To decide if a re-test should be ordered in its entirety, a bench presided over by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, in an earlier hearing held on Monday, directed NTA to make full disclosure before the apex court regarding the nature of the paper leak, the places where the leak took place, and the lag of time between the occurrence of the leak and the conduct of the examination.
It also asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to file a status report indicating the status of the investigation and the material collected during the course of the investigation.
–IANS
pds/khz
National
UP forest dept prepares seed balls for Bundelkhand, Vindhya regions
Lucknow, July 11 (IANS) The Uttar Pradesh Forest Department, for the first time, has taken to sowing seed balls for the climatic and geographical conditions in Bundelkhand and Vindhya regions, forest officials said.
The technique has a high-generation probability if done scientifically, officials added.
The sowing of seed balls has already started in forest blocks identified in the Jhansi forest division.
Some seven to eight lakh seed balls will be sown in seven forest divisions of the Bundelkhand region during the monsoon.
A seed ball is a 30 gm ball of soil and compost carrying at least six seeds of locally grown trees within it. As many as 42 local species have been identified for preparation of seed balls.
Two foremost requirements for high germination of seed balls are, higher and longer retention of moisture in soil at places where the seed balls are sown and seed balls having enough nutrition to last them through the longer period of germination, officials said.
Because Bundelkhand and Vindhya regions have hard soil and roots take time to penetrate deep, high nutrition in the balls will last the seed and the adventitious roots (small roots branching out) till the tap root (main root) develops.
While sowing, at least 85 per cent of the seed ball must be inside the soil to allow germination.
Similarly, while making the seed balls, it has to be ensured that it is dried fully; otherwise, the seed will germinate, even if it has the least amount of moisture in it or get fungus, before it is sown.
The least liquid content, water and ‘jeevamrut’, must be used in binding so that the seed balls dry up quickly.
To soak in the moisture from the mud and compost, rice husk is also used.
The department has trained people to make and sow the material, officials said.
In Vindhya region, surface run-off of water is high, because of which water retention in the soil is less and productivity of soil is also affected.
Because the water run-off rate is higher and the temperature is high, the soil is hard in the region.
The problem of stray cattle may compound it further by grazing on the vegetation on the ground, leaving no mulch.
The seed balls that germinate need to be protected from stray cattle.
“We have seeds from three species, two each, in the ball. This will help us raise multiple species at the same place if we provide them care,” said additional principal chief conservator of forest, Bundelkhand, K.K. Singh.
–IANS
amita/khz
National
UP teacher held for thrashing boy, leaving him unconscious with broken tooth
Raebareli, July 11 (IANS) A class 10 student at a private school in Uttar Pradesh’s Raebareli suffered multiple injuries, including a broken tooth, when he was brutally thrashed by his teacher over his incomplete homework, the police said.
According to reports, the teacher thrashed the boy so badly that he was knocked unconscious and collapsed on the floor. The teacher then fled the scene.
The students informed the principal, who then rushed the injured boy to the hospital.
Police arrested the teacher, identified as Mohammed Asif, who taught science subjects (Chemistry and Physics) on Wednesday.
Salon Station House Officer (SHO), J.P. Singh, said that the student was given homework in April, when the school closed for summer vacation.
On Tuesday, when the student reached the school, the teacher asked him about it.
“When the boy said he could not complete the homework due to some personal issues, the teacher lost his temper and thrashed him with a stick. As a result, he fell unconscious. He suffered serious injuries on his mouth and face,” said the police based on the complaint by the father of the student.
The SHO added that the school has also initiated an inquiry against the teacher.
The father of the student said his son was brutally thrashed and was taken to the hospital on Tuesday but was discharged a day later.
–IANS
amita/khz
National
2 held, later released, for making reel from 'Mirzapur' series
Varanasi, July 11 (IANS) Two youth, Ved Prakash Yadav and Aman Yadav Katta, were arrested for imitating a scene from the popular OTT series ‘Mirzapur’ for a social media reel, the police said.
According to the police, the two have been arrested over a viral video showing Ved taking a round of Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya Malviya’s statue in a car, with both of his legs on the dashboard.
The video also shows Ved smoking while sitting on a chair, even as Aman is standing behind him.
In the background, the theme song of ‘Mirzapur’ is playing.
Inspector Cantt Shivakant Mishra said that the duo had been arrested on charges of disturbing public peace.
Both the youth were produced before a magistrate and later released on bail.
The police official said that after the video went viral, resentment started brewing among locals as the reel had been shot near legendary freedom fighter and founder of BHU Bharat Ratna Mahamana Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya’s statue.
–IANS
amita/khz
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