Chandigarh, October 2

The Punjab Police on Sunday arrested a Haryana resident and seized more than 2.5 lakh pharma opioids from his possession.

Deputy Inspector General of Police, Anti-Gangster Task Force-cum-Ropar Range, Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said the arrested accused has been identified as Ranjit Goswami of Batra Colony in Sonepat, Haryana.

Police have seized 2,37,000 tablets of alprazolam and 14,400 of the pyeevon spas capsules from his car which he was smuggling from Haryana," an official statement quoted Bhullar as saying.

This is the third such inter-state pharmaceutical drug racket busted by the Fatehgarh Sahib district police in less than three months, he said.

Earlier, Fatehgarh Sahib police had recovered as many as seven lakh tablets/capsules of pharma opioids on July 14, 2022, while, 1.17 lakh tablets/capsules of pharma opioids were recovered on September 4, he said.

The DIG said, acting on a tip-off, police teams from Crime Investigation Agency, Sirhind and Khamano Police Station, intercepted a car bearing a Haryana registration number at Khamano, which was being driven by the accused.

During checking, the police teams seized a huge quantity of pharma opioids, he said.

Fatehgarh Sahib SSP Ravjot Grewal said the arrested accused was into transport business in Delhi and Amritsar.

The accused has confessed that he has been supplying pharma opioids in Punjab for the last few years and most of his customers are in Moga and Ludhiana," she said.

She said the police have got three days remand of the accused after producing him in the court.

Meanwhile, an FIR has been registered under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act at Fatehgarh Sahib Police Station. 
 

 Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday promised Rs 40 per day for the upkeep of every cow in Gujarat and a shelter home for non-milching cattle in every district of the state if the Aam Aadmi Party is voted to power. Kejriwal's announcement is a renewed push to counter the ruling BJP in Gujarat and attract Hindu voters, as per political experts. 

The Aam Aadmi Party national convener also claimed that the BJP and opposition Congress have united to "cut into the AAP votes" as according to an "IB report", his party will form the next government in the state. 

"In Delhi, we give Rs 40 per cow per day. The Delhi government gives Rs 20 and another Rs 20 is given by the municipal corporation. If the AAP is voted to power in Gujarat, then we will provide Rs 40 per cow per day for their upkeep," Kejriwal said at a press conference in Rajkot. 

Panjrapole (shelters homes for cattle) will be constructed in every district for non-milching cows and those roaming on roads, Kejriwal said and also assured that the AAP government will take all necessary steps for the benefit of cows in the state.

 Mangaluru,  (PTI) The Karnataka government has taken a policy decision to construct 'Rangamandiras' in all districts to showcase the rich heritage of the respective regions, state Minister for Kannada and Culture V Sunil Kumar said Sunday.

Speaking after laying the foundation stone for the Rangamandira in Udupi, he said it was surprising that Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, which have a rich cultural heritage, did not have centres for performing arts till now.

The minister said at present, 13 districts did not have Rangamandiras and the government is taking steps for construction of the centres in all the districts. A grant of Rs 5 crore will be provided for district-level Rangamandiras and Rs 2 crore for taluk-level centres, he said.

Kumar said Rs 2.5 crore will soon be released for the Udupi centre, while the construction of a Rangamandira in Mangaluru will start soon. Various cultural forms of the region, including Yakshagana, can be promoted through such centres, he said.

Udupi MLA K Raghupathi Bhat and Karnataka coastal area development authority chairman Mattar Rathnakar Hegde were among those present. PTI 

 Una, SEPTEMBER 30

AICC spokesperson Alka Lamba today called the Agnipath scheme an insult to armed forces.

Alka, while addressing mediapersons here, said national security had been made a contractual arrangement where soldiers would work only for three to four years. The Agnipath scheme is a big flop. The Congress is committed not only to opposing the scheme, but also reviving the traditional service system on forming governnment at the Centre.

He said people were reeling under the pressure of inflation and unemployment. She questioned what interventions Union minister Anurag Thakur, who represents the Hamirpur segment, had made to address issues and why the much-publicised Una-Hamirpur railway line project had received only a token budget.

Alka said Union ministers Smriti Irani and Meenakshi Lekhi were likely to visit Una for election campaigning. Local women should ask them why the cost of LPG refill had crossed Rs 1,100. She added 10 lakh youth in Himachal Pradesh were unemployed and the state was under a debt of Rs 70,000 crore despite the BJP rhetoric of a double engine development model.

Alka said the Chief Minister should ask the Centre for debt relief and the Congress would also support him. She said the mining mafia had been rampant.

Leader of the Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri said late Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh was a towering personality. He added the leaders, who left the Congress to join other parties, should exercise restraint on their language.

Agnihotri said the Congress MLAs were being pressured by the government in the name of investigating agencies, a fact which was supported by Kasumpti MLA Anirudh Singh.

 Chandigarh, October 1

The Punjab government has sought financial assistance from the Centre for the solarisation of agriculture pump sets with up to 15 horsepower on the pattern of northeast and hilly states.

In a letter written to RK Singh, Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy, Punjab Minister Aman Arora said the ministry has made a provision for providing central financial assistance (CFA) to farmers of northeast and hilly states for their pumps up to 15 HP capacity last month.

But, this facility is available only for up to 7.5 HP agri-pumps in Punjab, he pointed out.

The financial assistance is given under the PM-KUSUM (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthan Mahabhiyan) scheme.

"Punjab was the pioneer state in the green revolution, which is rightly known as the food bowl of India. Thus, farmers of the state also need hand-holding of the Central government and they also deserve to avail benefits of the scheme.

"Punjab is predominantly an agrarian state, and around 14 lakh electric motor pumps and 1.50 lakh diesel pump sets are being utilised for irrigation in the state," Arora said in the letter.

The minister said the capacity of the majority of pumps ranges from 10 HP to 15 HP in the state.

The cost to solarise these pumps would be very high and out of the reach of the farmers. Hence, to bring the cost of these pumps into the ambit of the farmers, financial assistance is required to be provided for higher capacity pumps, he said.

In the letter, he mentioned that the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has been providing 30 per cent CFA for the solarisation of agriculture pump sets of capacity up to 7.5 HP under the PM-KUSUM scheme

 Vadodara, October 1

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar arrived in Gujarat’s Vadodara city on Saturday with at least 50 ambassadors and high commissioners to participate in the ongoing Navratri festival.

Vadodara, known as the cultural capital of the state, is famous for its 'garba' events, which are attended by thousands of people who dance in a synchronised way to music and traditional songs in praise of the goddess.

“Great to see Ambassadors and High Commissioners in Vadodara for the Navratri experience. Look forward to participating in the celebrations tonight,” Jaishankar, a Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat, tweeted on his arrival here.

He told reporters nearly 50 Ambassadors and High Commissioners have come with him to "enjoy garba tonight".

 New Delhi, October 1

There will be a direct contest between Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor for the post of Congress president with papers of the third candidate KN Tripathi, former Jharkhand MLA of the party, rejected on Saturday following scrutiny.

Chairman of the Congress Central Election Authority Madhusudan Mistry after the scrutiny committee meeting on Saturday said the authority had received 20 nomination forms of which four have been rejected for variation of proposer signature and repetition and smudging of proposer signatures.

All rejected forms pertain to Tripathi, Mistry said announcing that there are now two official candidates in the fray for the party president post.

“The last date for withdrawals is October 8. If none of the candidates in the fray withdraw, we will proceed with formalities of voting and election,” said Mistry.

The election if required would be held on October 17, a first in 22 years. The last election saw Sonia Gandhi defeat late Jitendra Prasad, the father of UP BJP leader Jitin Prasad who switched over to the saffron side earlier.

Kharge, a nine time Karnataka MLA and a third term MP is tipped to be the Congress president as an official nominee of the Gandhis.

Tharoor, a Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram has meanwhile decided to continue his bid saying he won’t withdraw even as his own G-23 colleagues on Friday called for consensus and backed Kharge.

Kharge will be the first non-Gandhi to head Congress in 24 years after Sitaram Kesri who demitted office in 1998 when Sonia Gandhi came in to become the longest serving party chief.

 Jet fuel (ATF) price on Saturday was slashed by 4.5 per cent and that of commercial LPG used in hotels and restaurants by Rs 25.50 per 19-kg cylinder.

The price of a 19-kg commercial LPG cylinder was cut to Rs 1,859.50 in the national capital from Rs 1,885, according to a price notification from state-owned fuel retailers.

This is the sixth reduction in price of commercial LPG since June, in step with softening international energy prices.

In all, rates have come down by Rs 494.50 per 19-kg cylinder.

However, rates of LPG used in household kitchens for cooking purposes remained unchanged at Rs 1,053 per 14.2-kg cylinder.

This because the rates of domestic cooking gas were way lower than cost and now with a drop in international prices, they are at breakeven, industry sources said.

Commercial LPG rates, on the other hand, have largely been aligned with cost and so they have moved in tandem with rise and fall in international prices.

Simultaneously, the rates of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) were cut marginally by 4.5 per cent.

Jet fuel price was cut by Rs 5,521.17, or 4.5 per cent, to Rs 115,520.27 pr kl in the national capital. 

 Korba, Sep 20 (PTI) Two men were killed and three other people injured after lightning struck them in Chhattisgarh’s Surajpur district, police said on Tuesday.

The incident took place on Monday evening in Khajuri village under Pratappur police station limits, they said.

The deceased, identified as Nandlal Paikra (27) and Sanjay Yadav (25), natives of nearby Toni village, were returning home from Pratappur market when heavy rainfall started, a police official said.

“The duo took shelter at a shop below a tree where some other people were also standing. Suddenly lightning struck there. Paikra and Yadav died on the spot,” he said.

Three others including the shop owner suffered injuries and they were shifted to a local hospital for treatment, he said.

There have been a number of incidents of lightning strike in the state’s Surguja division comprising seven districts, including Surajpur, in the recent past. PTI 

 Korba, (PTI) Two men were killed and three other people injured after lightning struck them in Chhattisgarh’s Surajpur district, police said on Tuesday.

The incident took place on Monday evening in Khajuri village under Pratappur police station limits, they said.

The deceased, identified as Nandlal Paikra (27) and Sanjay Yadav (25), natives of nearby Toni village, were returning home from Pratappur market when heavy rainfall started, a police official said.

“The duo took shelter at a shop below a tree where some other people were also standing. Suddenly lightning struck there. Paikra and Yadav died on the spot,” he said.

Three others including the shop owner suffered injuries and they were shifted to a local hospital for treatment, he said.

There have been a number of incidents of lightning strike in the state’s Surguja division comprising seven districts, including Surajpur, in the recent past. PTI