Patna, July 8 (IANS) At least 12 persons lost their lives due to lightning strikes across seven districts in Bihar on Monday.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has expressed condolences to the families of the deceased and has also directed district officials to provide compensation of Rs 4 lakh to each of the affected families.

He assured the affected families of his support during this difficult time and urged the public to remain vigilant during adverse weather conditions.

On July 1, two people died in Aurangabad due to lightning strikes, one in Buxar, one in Bhojpur, one in Rohtas, one in Bhagalpur and another in Darbhanga.

On July 3, one person died in Bhagalpur due to lightning strikes, one in East Champaran, one in Darbhanga and one in Nawada.

On July 6, three people died in Jahanabad due to lightning strikes, two in Madhepura, one in East Champaran, one in Rohtas, one in Saran and one in Supaul.

On July 7, five persons died in Kaimur due to lightning strikes, three in Nawada, two in Rohtas, and one each in Aurangabad, Jamui and Saharsa districts.

–IANS

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Chandigarh, July 8 (IANS) The Amritsar Police Commissionerate has busted an interstate organised crime syndicate with the arrest of its kingpin and four members from a flat located in Kharar near here, Director General of Police, Punjab, Gaurav Yadav said here on Monday.

The kingpin of the syndicate has been identified as Jai Sharma, a resident of Amritsar, while four members have been identified as Nikhil Sharma, Moni, Arpit Thakur, and Karan Sharma.

Jai Sharma, alias Sukha Pistol, has a criminal history with seven cases pertaining to the Arms Act, snatching and theft have been registered against him.

The police have recovered two .32 bore pistols along with three magazines and eight cartridges from their possession.

DGP Yadav said following inputs that accused Sukha Pistol, along with his accomplices, had gone to Madhya Pradesh’s Khandwa to procure illicit weapons, police, on their return, police pinpointed their location in Kharar.

“Acting swiftly, police teams under the supervision of ADCP Abhimanyu Rana have conducted a raid at a flat and successfully arrested all accused persons and recovered two pistols, along with ammunition, from their possession,” he added.

Sharing more details, Commissioner of Police of Amritsar Ranjit Singh Dhillon said this criminal syndicate was engaged in criminal acts including theft, snatching and arms trafficking.

–IANS

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Jaipur, 8 July (IANS) Rajasthan Governor and Chancellor Kalraj Mishra on Monday said that Sardar Patel Police, Security and Criminal Justice University should use Artificial Intelligence (AI) for crime research.

He called upon the university to work as a ‘think-tank’ and work for excellent research in various disciplines related to criminology and effective police education.

“This university should also become a major centre of innovation in teaching criminology in India and abroad,” Governor Mishra said while addressing the 3rd convocation of Sardar Patel Police, Security and Criminal Justice University located in Jodhpur.

He said that education has a very deep relationship with the development of the individual and the society.

“We have to take forward the best structure and ideal values of education,” he said.

He said that India has been the world leader for centuries. And has illuminated the world with the light of knowledge. Nalanda and Takshila are living examples of this.

He said that this university has been named after the Iron Man Sardar Patel.

“He unified the princely states and joined the small and big princely states to make a united nation. Sardar Patel has played an important role in establishing a strong police system in the country,” he said.

He said that this university, following the ideal path shown by him, will provide personnel and officers to give India a strong police system as well as provide an excellent education in policing according to the times.

He added that the students of this university should also contribute to fulfil the resolution of ‘Developed India’ of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

–IANS

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Hyderabad, July 8 (IANS) The Telangana government on Monday set in motion the process for the establishment of Skill University with Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy holding a meeting with industry bigwigs and top officials.

Revanth Reddy directed the officials to make arrangements on a war footing for the varsity’s establishment.

Addressing the meeting held at Engineering Staff College in Gachibowli, he asked the participants to come up with clear proposals for the establishment of the Skill University one or two days before the start of the budget session of the Assembly by month end.

The government will take an appropriate decision within 24 hours after examining the proposals, he said.

The Chief Minister stated that the main objective of setting up the university is to provide advanced knowledge and upgrade the skills of the youth.

Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, IT and Industries Minister D. Sridhar Babu and Advisor to the Chief Minister Vem Narender Reddy also attended the meeting.

The Chief Minister proposed the establishment of Skill University within the premises of the Engineering Staff College due to its proximity to IT companies and other industries. He also asked officials to consider the constitution of a Board for the university on the lines of the International School of Business (ISB) and decided to constitute a temporary board.

He suggested the officials come up with a blueprint in advance for the courses to be offered in the university, course curriculum, industrial needs and employment opportunities to the youth.

As per the decisions taken at the meeting, the Industry Department, in coordination with the Education Department, will engage with Industry leaders and come up with a clear action plan for setting up Skill University, envisaged as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) project in a hub and spoke model that is self-sustainable. The hub is to be located in Hyderabad with spokes in every erstwhile district headquarters to cover all parliamentary constituencies eventually.

The industry will play a critical role in demand assessment, curriculum development, skill training as well as offering internships. The government will facilitate the setting up of the university by giving necessary regulatory approvals, and providing land and buildings. A corpus fund will be created with CSR donations from the industry.

The Deputy CM has been asked to look after the financial issues to set up the university and IT and Industry Minister Sridhar Babu will oversee the preparation of curriculum and courses. The two ministers have been asked to formulate the proposals with a fixed deadline and meet once in five days. The officials have been asked to hire a reputed consultancy to prepare all the necessary proposals and project reports for the establishment of the university.

The Chief Minister also announced the Industries Department will be the nodal agency for the university. Special Chief Secretary, IT and Industry Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, Education B. Venkatesham, CM’s Special Secretary Ajith Reddy, Vishnuvardhan Reddy, Dr Reddy’s Lab Chairman Satish Reddy, Hari Prasad from Bharat Biotech, CREDAI President Shekhar Reddy and Srini Raju of I Labs were present.

–IANS

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Mumbai, July 8 (IANS) Days after the presentation of the Rs 6,12,293 crore budget for 2024-25, the MahaYuti government in Maharashtra will present supplementary demands of Rs 94,000 crore plus during the ongoing Monsoon session, mainly to finance the implementation of a slew of freebies and sops in the run-up to the Assembly elections slated for September-October.

The state cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, gave its approval after Finance Secretary Saurabh Vijay put up the Finance Department’s proposal in this regard.

The supplementary demands will be necessitated as the government will badly need money to allocate funds for populist schemes worth Rs 96,000 crore announced in the budget. These schemes will be financed after the state legislature passes the supplementary demands. Various schemes to be funded included Mukhamantri Ladki Bahin Yojana (Rs 46,000 crore), free higher education for girls (Rs 2,000 crore), Mukhyamantri Yuva Karyaprashikshan Yojana (Rs 10,000 crore), free electricity to farmers for agricultural pumps up to 7.5 horsepower capacity (Rs 14,761 crore) and few small and big schemes for various sections (Rs 20,000-25,000 crore).

The government’s move to table supplementary demands comes when Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Ajit Pawar has projected a revenue deficit of Rs 20,051 crore and a fiscal deficit of Rs 1.10 lakh crore in the budget for 2024-25. He has also estimated the state’s public debt stock to increase to Rs 7.82 lakh crore in 2024-25 against Rs 7.11 lakh crore.

The revenue deficit is expected to be 0.47 per cent of the gross state domestic product (GSDP) while the fiscal deficit will be 2.59 per cent of the GSDP in 2024-25. Both are way below the 3 per cent limit of the GSDP as mandated by the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act (FRBM).

A senior minister said: “The government is making all efforts to adhere to the Finance Commission’s recommendations and provisions of the FRBM Act. However, in the wake of supplementary demands of Rs 94,000 crore plus for the implementation of several schemes, the state’s fiscal deficit is expected to cross the 3 per cent limit of the GSDP and it may surge to a record 4.87 per cent, which will be for the first time in the state. However, the government is capable of tackling the situation as it is bullish about its rapidly rising tax revenue.”

However, another minister admitted that if the fiscal deficit crosses 3 per cent of the GSDP, then it may seriously impact the government’s cash flow which will bring many constraints in borrowing money from the market. “The government will have to focus on fiscal management in such a situation to avoid fiscal distress ahead of the coming Assembly election. This will certainly be a major challenge,” he asserted.

(Sanjay Jog can be contacted at sanjay.j@ians.in)