Patna, July 7 (IANS) A minor girl was abducted and then allegedly gang-raped by three persons in Bihar’s Gaya district, a police official said.

Gaya Police said that one of the accused has been arrested in the matter while two others are still on the run.

The incident occurred in a village that comes under the Imamganj police station of the district. The girl was abducted from her home on the night of July 1. She was taken to a brick kiln where she was gang-raped.

The victim was gang-raped for three days continuously. She was released on July 4 after being threatened with dire consequences.

The girl reached her home. Initially, she was silent for a day but finally narrated her ordeal to her mother. The victim’s family approached the local police and lodged the FIR on Saturday evening.

The accused allegedly tried to pressure the victim’s family not to approach the police, but they reached Imamganj police station and lodged a complaint against them.

As soon as the incident came to light, Imamganj police raided several places and arrested the main accused, Pappu Singh.

“Pappu Singh has been arrested from Sikaria locality under the jurisdiction of Rampur police station of Gaya city and he confessed to the crime,” said Amit Kumar, Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) of Imamganj range of Gaya district.

The police are searching for the remaining two accused.

–IANS

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Amaravati, July 7 (IANS) YSR Congress Party said on Sunday that the decision to form a committee of officials in the meeting of the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana is a “step backward” in addressing the issues arising from the state division.

The opposition party believes that this is a time-consuming approach.

A day after talks between Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and his Telangana counterpart A. Revanth Reddy in Hyderabad, the YSR Congress found fault with the decisions taken.

The meeting had decided to constitute a committee of officials to discuss and resolve the issues arising out of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.

Former Minister Perni Nani and former MLA G. Srikhanth Reddy said that both the state governments are aware of the disputes between the two states, the unresolved issues, assets that need to be distributed, and the cases pending in the courts.

“Both state governments are aware of these matters. We believe that the new committee to identify unresolved issues will only lead to further delays in resolving these matters,” they added.

The YSRCP leaders said that the Union government had previously constituted the Sheila Bedi Committee, led by a senior officer, to implement the provisions of the Reorganisation Act passed by Parliament.

“The Sheila Bedi Committee made several recommendations regarding property disputes in the combined state. Over the past decade, these recommendations have been discussed in several stages. However, some recommendations were not accepted and the recommendations which were accepted were not implemented by the Telangana government. We believe that forming a new committee will set the discussions back to the starting point,” they added.

The YSRCP leaders also said that former Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had told Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the meeting of the southern states’ chief ministers in Tirupati, the importance of focusing on unresolved issues, as Andhra Pradesh had seen no progress in a decade.

Home Minister Shah had assured that the issues would be resolved within the stipulated time frame.

“Following this assurance, discussions on divided issues by the chief secretaries and officials of both states gained momentum under the auspices of the Union Home Ministry. We believe that forming a new committee without focusing on advancing these discussions will only result in further delays,” they said.

They added that forming a committee without the Union government’s participation raises many questions, given that Parliament enacted the Bifurcation Act and it is the Union government that must implement it.

They claimed that the previous YSRCP government put pressure on the Union government regarding the electricity dues of nearly Rs 7,000 crore owed to the state.

Instructions were issued for payment of these dues, but the case later reached the court.

“Andhra Pradesh is facing severe injustice, especially concerning the management of water projects. Telangana is releasing water from the left canal of Srisailam for electricity generation at will, even as the Rayalaseema region struggles. It is unjust that the meeting concluded without addressing this issue and attempting an immediate resolution,” said former Minister Perni Nani.

The YSRCP leaders also referred to media reports that during the Chief Ministers’ meeting, Telangana demanded a share in Andhra Pradesh’s ports and Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam properties.

There were also reports that Andhra Pradesh was willing to return some villages to Telangana in seven mandals that were merged with Andhra Pradesh in 2014.

“This has caused deep concern among people across the state. The absence of any announcement from the Andhra Pradesh government, including statements from ministers or officials, is increasing public suspicion,” he added.

–IANS

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Panipat, July 7 (IANS) Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Sunday said in the past 10 years under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the “double-engine government” in the state has established a system that works for the welfare of all sections of society and has taken the development of the state to new heights.

The developmental works carried out during the tenure of the present government have surpassed the works done during the 48 years of previous governments.

The amount of development work done during this government’s tenure has never been done before, said Saini, while addressing the gathering at an event held in Panipat.

During the event, the Chief Minister inaugurated and laid the foundation stones for 32 projects of Rs 227 crore. These include the inauguration of 19 projects of Rs 36.55 crore and the foundation stones for 12 projects of Rs191 crore.

Additionally, the Chief Minister announced an allocation of Rs 10 crore for development works in the Panipat (Urban) Assembly constituency and Rs 10 crore for the Panipat (Rural) constituency.

The Chief Minister said infrastructure is considered a measure of physical development for any nation or state. Strong infrastructure not only uplifts the standard of living of the people residing there but also attracts industries and investments, thereby strengthening the state’s economy.

Haryana maintains an annual economic growth rate of eight per cent due to its strong infrastructure, compared to the national average of 6.7 per cent.

The Chief Minister said when the present government took on the responsibility of serving the state in 2014, “we faced many challenges as the previous government had left a dilapidated economy, a collapsed cooperative structure, and public sector undertakings running at a loss”.

He said the previous governments had always “prioritised regionalism and nepotism” in development and jobs.

During previous governments, there was significant discrimination in development and welfare schemes, with development focused only on one region, neglecting the rest of the state, he claimed.

However, under the guidance of the Prime Minister, following the philosophy of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Prayas, Sabka Vishwas’ and Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya’s philosophy of Antyodaya, the pace of development has been accelerated, changing the face of the state without any discrimination, CM Saini added.

–IANS

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Lucknow, July 7 (IANS) The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has launched an initiative to establish multi-end reeling units in districts such as Maharajganj, Basti, Saharanpur and Auraiya to provide a boost to the silk industry in the state.

The Sericulture Development Department has started the procurement process for 10 basin units within these reeling units.

The Sericulture Development Department, appointed by a contractor agency, will complete the procurement process.

The contractor agency will be required to deliver and install all these units in the designated districts within 90 days of the allocation of work.

Additionally, the applications invited by the Sericulture Department primarily prioritise companies registered with the Directorate of Industries and Enterprise Promotion and the National Small Industries Corporation to fulfil this task.

In a multi-end reeling unit, various machinery components are included under the base units.

At present, the Sericulture Department is in the process of procuring a total of 10 basin units. These basin units will be equipped with a 50 kg capacity hot air dryer, a cocoon sorting table, two pan tables for the brushing process, circular pressurised cocoon cooking, and vacuum pre-emission pre-treatment equipment.

Additionally, each basin multi-end reeling machine (10 ends per basin), the window closed time re-reeling machine (five ends per window), the small reel permeation centre, and an electronic balance with a 600-gm capacity and 0.01-gm sensitivity will also be included.

It will also be equipped with a 7.5 KVA capacity generator, a 100 kg steam output per hour capacity IBR quality boiler, and a 100 kg resin capacity water softener.

Through all these components, essential cocoon extraction, processing, and reeling processes for silk production can be completed.

The procurement, installation, and operation process for multi-end reeling units in Maharajganj, Basti, Saharanpur, and Auraiya has been allocated a validity period of 180 days.

The contractor agency must deliver and install all these units within a working period of 90 days after the assignment.

Priority is being given to companies registered with the Directorate of Industries and Enterprise Promotion, and the National Small Industries Corporation to complete this process as contractors. They are also being granted concessions in the earnest money deposit.

–IANS

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Lucknow, July 7 (IANS) The Yogi Adityanath government has announced the establishment of ‘Mitra Van’ under Vriksharopan Jan Abhiyan-2024, along the borders of Uttar Pradesh and the neighbouring country of Nepal.

Locations have been selected by 35 forest divisions for this purpose.

The department is engaged in establishing the Yogi government’s new initiative, ‘Mitra Van’. For this, a ‘Vriksharopan Maha Abhiyan’ will be conducted not only along the bordering states but also near the friendly nation of Nepal.

According to the government spokesman, the Forest Department is coordinating with the neighbouring states and Nepal to enhance greenery through the plantation of 35 crore saplings.

Additionally, alongside planting saplings on UP’s land at the borders, the Forest Department will also involve dignitaries from other states in this mega campaign.

Under this campaign, extensive tree plantation programmes will be conducted in the border districts of the state. Robust preparations are being made in the 35 districts that border neighbouring states in this regard.

Comprehensive tree plantation programmes are being planned in Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Moradabad, Rampur, Bareilly, Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri, Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur, Siddharth Nagar, Maharajganj, Kushinagar, Deoria, Ballia, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Sonbhadra, Mirzapur, Prayagraj, Chitrakoot, Banda, Mahoba, Jhansi, Lalitpur, Jalaun, Etawah, Agra, Mathura, Aligarh, Noida, Ghaziabad, Baghpat, and Shamli.

The Forest Department will establish ‘Mitra Van’ along the borders of districts adjoining Nepal, including Sonauli in Maharajganj, Lakhimpur Kheri, Shravasti, Bahraich, and Pilibhit.

During the plantation, coordination will be established not only with representatives from Uttar Pradesh but also with the neighbouring states to involve them in this programme.

Earlier, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Head of Department, Sudhir Kumar Sharma, has also directed 35 forest divisions to select the place for setting up ‘Mitra Van’ and mark the plant species for plantation to be done by the dignitaries of the neighbouring country Nepal and the border states.

He further instructed the coordination with Forest Department officials from the neighbouring country/states to obtain their opinions on species selection and ensure the availability of plants, and to provide this information to the command centre at the forest headquarters.

Along with ‘Mitra Van,’ instructions have been given to establish special forests like ‘Shakti Van,’ ‘Yuva Van,’ and ‘Bal Van’ in each district under the Abhiyan.

Additional Chief Conservator of Forests P. P. Singh stated that under the Vriksharopan Jan Abhiyan-2024, ‘Mitra Van’ will be set up around all states bordering Uttar Pradesh, including Bihar, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. The department has completed all the preparations for this.

Saplings have also been prepared in nurseries for the plantation of 35 crore trees.

–IANS

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