Category: National

Assam’s JEE Main 2020 Topper Neel Nakshatra Das, his father, Dr Jyotirmoy Das, and three employees of a testing facility – Hamendra Nath Sarma, Pranjal Kalita and Hirulal Pathak – have been arrested, police said.

Guwahati: The topper of the Joint Entrance Exam (Mains) in Assam, his father and three others have been arrested for allegedly using a proxy to write the country’s premier engineering entrance test, the Guwahati Police said. The accused had scored 99.8 percent in the exam, which is the basis for admission in India’s top engineering colleges, including the prestigious IITs.

The candidate, Neel Nakshatra Das, his father, Dr Jyotirmoy Das, and three employees of a testing centre – Hamendra Nath Sarma, Pranjal Kalita and Hirulal Pathak – have been arrested, the Guwahati police said.

They will be produced in a local court on Thursday.

“An FIR (first information report) has been registered with the Azara Police in Assam against the topper of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Mains in Assam, allegedly for using a proxy to appear in the examination on his behalf. We investigated the case and have unearthed that a proxy was used by the candidate through the help of another agency that acted as a middleman,” Guwahati Police Commissioner MP Gupta told NDTV.

“The staff of the testing centre in Guwahati is also involved. We are searching for more people (who are involved in the crime). This might not be a one-of case but may be part of a larger scam …We are looking at all aspects,” he added.

A police complaint in this regard was filed by a man named Mitradev Sharma last week, after a phone call recording and WhatsApp chat – in which the accused allegedly talks about having used unfair means to top the exam – surfaced on social media.

The invigilator had allegedly helped the JEE aspirant in cheating, police said. The accused went inside the testing centre on the day of the exam just to fill his name and roll number on the answer sheet, police said, adding the test was written by a proxy outside.

The examination centre has been sealed and the management has been summoned, police said.

The Assam Police have informed the National Testing Agency (NTA) about the incident.

With inputs from NDTV

Srinagar: Terming former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru responsible for delayed integration of Jammu and Kashmir with rest of India, Union Minister Jitendra Singh Monday asserted that accession of J&K with India was final and complete.

Singh said “If there was a delay of over two months, it was not on account of Maharaja Hari Singh but on account of the then Prime Minister Nehru who was not forthcoming in his approach and was instead being led by cues and inputs from Sheikh Abdullah (former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir)”.

He said if the first Home Minister of the country Sardar Patel had been given a free hand to handle the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir just as he was handling the other princely states of undivided India, not only the history of the Indian subcontinent would have been different, but also the accession of the state would have happened much earlier.

“The part of Jammu and Kashmir presently under Pakistan, would have also been a part of independent India,” the minister claimed.

He further said history has been unfair to Maharaja Hari Singh and hoped that in the changed milieu of today, the record will be put straight and all the misgivings cleared for the benefit of future generations. The minister said historians need to address why Prime Minister Nehru violated the democratic propriety by intruding into the domain of his own Home Minister Sardar Patel.

“To put the record straight, it was in fact finally Sardar Patel’s intervention which facilitated the landing of the Indian forces in Srinagar and saved the rest of the parts of the state also from being occupied by Pakistan”, Singh said.

He claimed that the then Prime Minister chose backdoor parleys with Abdullah over a free and frank discussion with Maharaja Hari Singh, who was at that time the legitimate and official head of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. He said the draft of the Instrument of Accession (IoA) signed by Maharaja Hari Singh was the same as that signed by the heads of other princely states, without any conditions or terms attached.

“Article 370 and 35-A were anomalous additions which came later after Hari Singh had relinquished the throne”, Singh said. The instrument of accession was signed on October 26, 1947 between Maharaja Hari Singh, the then ruler of princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, and the Indian government to accede J-K to independent India. (KINS)

Srinagar: Minister of State (MoS) Home G Kishan Reddy on Saturday hit out at signatories of Gupkar Declaration, saying those invoking China’s help in restoration of Article 370 and threatens that nobody will raise tricolor till states erstwhile flag and rights are returned’ have actually lost their balance.

Reddy said parties including in the Gupkar Declaration have lost their balance. “One J&K leader says they’ll bring it (Article 370) back with China’s help, one says they’ll not hold tricolour. They’ve lost balance as they didn’t govern, rather ruled for years & looted money meant for development”, MoS said.

He asserted that abrogation of Article 370 has brought down the level of corruption in Jammu and Kashmir. “With Article 370’s abrogation, corruption is going down in Jammu and Kashmir”. he added. (KINS)

Delhi: Minister of state in Modi lead Cabinet and senior BJP leader Dr Jitendra Singh while reacting on Mehbooba’s Statement that we won’t raise any flag till we won’t get our flag back said that Mehbooba Mufti claims to be a mainstream politician but she has reservations in carrying the tricolour.

He said that we have maintained for last several years that Kashmir’s so-called politicians sometimes tend to be more dangerous than apparently identified separatists.

According to PTK, He added thad they have cultivated the art and craft of swearing by Mother India saying ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ when in power and once they are out of power they start swearing by Pakistan and questioning the integration of Jammu and Kashmir.(PTK)

New Delhi: The government is undertaking a comprehensive modernisation programme to prepare the country’s police and paramilitary forces for newer challenges in terrorism, cybercrime and border security, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said here on Wednesday.

Shah laid a wreath at the National Police Memorial in Chanakyapuri to pay homage to the slain policemen and addressed a joint column of police and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) on the occasion of Police Commemoration Day.

The day is observed in memory of 10 CRPF personnel who were killed in an ambush by Chinese troops in 1959 in Ladakh’s Hot Spring area.

Armies of the two countries are currently locked in a military standoff in the Ladakh area.

“The work of police is witnessing new challenges and new dimensions in the areas of terrorism, fake currency, narcotics control, cybercrime, arms smuggling and human trafficking.

“It is a challenge to prepare the police forces for the new dimensions that have emerged in the last 2-3 decades,” Shah said.

“We have prepared a comprehensive modernisation programme for the police, and I am hopeful that in the coming days the Modi government will prepare them (police personnel) to meet these challenges,” he said.

He said the government is bringing in technology to make the country’s borders “impregnable” and detailed preparations are being made on this subject.

The use of technology and the promptness of troops will go hand-in-hand and “we will be able to better secure our borders”, he said.

Shah also said that the government was “going to do many things” so that the deficiency in availability of police personnel per one lakh population is addressed.

He lauded the police personnel for ensuring internal and border security in the country with their vigilance.

He said a total of 35,398 police and CAPF personnel have laid down their lives in the line of duty till now, with 264 making the supreme sacrifice in the past year.

Shah also remembered the 343 personnel who died due to COVID-19 and said the police personnel continued to render their duty to help people and donated blood and plasma to coronavirus affected patients despite the raging pandemic.

“The coronavirus challenge was unthinkable and nobody knew how to battle it,” he said.

The home minister added that the citizens of the country could sleep peacefully because the policemen “are out on the streets and the borders protecting them 24×7 and 365 days a year”.

“As you protect the country, I can assure you that the Modi government is determined to protect you and your families,” Shah said.

Shah said that they aim to take the National Police Memorial, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018, to the people and make sincere attempts to change the way people look and perceive the police.

He said “many changes” will soon be visible in the context of central police housing satisfaction ratio and training and that his ministry was working on these issues.

A ceremonial guard of honour was presented by police personnel drawn from various forces during the event, which was attended by Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, Director of the Intelligence Bureau Arvind Kumar and chiefs of various CAPFs.

Srinagar: IndiGo will charge a passenger Rs 100 service fee if he or she wants to check-in at the airport counters from Saturday onwards, the airline said in a statement. The aviation ministry had in May made it mandatory for passengers to do web check-in so as to reduce touch points at the airport amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Once web check-in is done, the online boarding pass is issued by the airline to the passenger. “IndiGo has introduced a service fee of INR 100 for check-in at the airport counters effective October 17, 2020,” said the statement.

“We encourage all passengers to web check-in as per the Government directive, using our website or mobile app. The check-in fee at the airport counters is applicable on all bookings made, starting from today i.e. October 17, 2020,” it noted.

The low-cost carrier said it is committed to take all precautionary measures for a contactless and hassle-free travel experience for its customers.

Scheduled domestic passenger services resumed in India on May 25 after a gap of two months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Scheduled international passenger flights continue to remain suspended in the country since March 23 due to the pandemic.

Srinagar: The government on Thursday said that the country’s COVID-19 recovery rate has reached to 87.36 per cent.
During the last 24 hours, more than 81,000 COVID patients have recovered.

The Health Ministry said the total number of recoveries has reached over 63 lakh 83 thousand.

The constantly increasing recoveries ensured that the actual caseload is considerably reduced and currently comprises only 11.12 per cent of the total positive cases. Presently, the total number of active cases in the country is eight lakh 12 thousand. Currently, India’s Case Fatality Rate is at 1.52 per cent, which is one of the lowest globally.

In the past 24 hours, 67 thousand 735 new cases have been reported taking the total number of positive cases in the country to over 73 lakh.

The Ministry said, effective implementation of Centre’s strategic and graded Test-Track and Treat approach has led to higher recoveries and lower fatality. During the last 24 hours, 680 deaths were reported taking the toll to one lakh 11 thousand 266.(KINS)

AP

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan summoned a senior Indian diplomat to its Foreign Ministry on Thursday to complain about what Islamabad says was “indiscriminate and unprovoked firing” by India in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.

A Pakistani Foreign Ministry statement said the cross-border fire on Wednesday seriously injured two Pakistani civilians, ages 25 and 28, from Barmoch village.

Meanwhile, India said it was Pakistan that fired the first shot. Lt. Col. Devender Anand, an Indian army spokesman, said an unprovoked attack by Pakistani troops targeted Indian positions in southern Poonch district in India-administered Kashmir. He said there were no casualties on the Indian side and India retaliated “befittingly.”

Pakistan and India routinely accuse each other of unprovoked attacks along the tense Kashmir frontier in violation of a 2003 cease-fire agreement.

Kashmir is split between the nuclear-armed rivals, and both claim it in its entirety. They have fought two wars over Kashmir since their independence from British colonial rule in 1947. They also came dangerously close to what could have escalated into a nuclear conflagration in 1999.

The decades-old dispute over Kashmir took a further tumble downward in 2019 when the Indian government removed the special status of the part of Kashmir under its control. Until then, New Delhi had recognized the Muslim-majority territory as disputed, in line with United Nations resolutions. The removal of the special status was accompanied by a harsh lockdown across the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir.

India, for its part, accuses Pakistan of sponsoring and sending anti-Indian insurgents across the disputed border to wage a guerrilla war with Indian troops deployed there. Pakistan says it gives only diplomatic and political aid, but several of the anti-Indian insurgent groups have had headquarters in Pakistan. While they have been outlawed by the Pakistan government, some have been resurrected under new names.

According to Pakistan’s count, India has committed 2,530 ceasefire violations so far this year, killing 19 civilians and injuring 197 others. India has charged Pakistan with 3,400 violations. There has been no independent confirmation of either country’s figures.

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Associated Press Writer Aijaz Hussain in Srinigar, India contributed to this report

(This story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Srinagar: The Department of Expenditure in the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday granted permission to 20 States to raise an additional amount of 68 thousand 8 hundred 25 crore rupees through open market borrowings.

The Ministry of Finance said, additional borrowing permission has been granted at 0.50 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product, GSDP to those States who have opted for Option- 1 out of the two options suggested by the Ministry to meet the shortfall arising out of GST implementation.

In the meeting of GST Council held on 27th August this year, these two options were put forward and were subsequently communicated to the States on 29th August. Twenty States have given their preferences for Option-1.

These States are – Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand . Eight States are yet to exercise an option.

The facilities available to the States who choose Option-1 include a special borrowing window, coordinated by the Ministry of Finance to borrow the amount of shortfall in revenue through issue of debt.

The total shortfall in the revenue of the States on this account has been estimated at around 1.1 lakh crore rupees. Permission to borrow the final installment of 0.5 per cent of GSDP out of the 2 per cent additional borrowings permitted by the Government of India in view of the COVID pandemic, waiving the reforms condition.

The Department of Expenditure, on 17th May this year, had provided an additional borrowing limit of upto 2 per cent of GSDP to the States. The final installment of 0.5 per cent out of this 2 per cent limit was linked to carrying out at least three out of four reforms stipulated by the Government of India.

However, in case of States who have exercised Option-1, to meet the shortfall arising out of GST implementation, the condition of carrying out the reforms to avail the final installment of 0.5 per cent of GSDP has been waived. The 20 States, who have exercised Option-1, have become eligible to raise an amount of 68 thousand 8 hundred 25 crore rupees through open market borrowings. The Ministry of Finance said, action on the special borrowing window is being taken separately.(KINS)

Srinagar: The Supreme Court of India has ordered the declaration of NEET exam results on the 16th of October.

The apex court has also allowed conducting of NEET exam tomorrow for students residing in covid-19 containment zones and were not able to give the exams earlier.

According to news agency KINS the Supreme Court order came after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the court that the National Testing Agency will conduct the NEET exams for those students who were unable to appear earlier as they were stuck in the containment zone or were covid-19 positive.

These students will be getting an opportunity to appear for exams to be conducted on Wednesday.

NEET is one of the highest competitive exams, opening opportunities for students to get into the most prestigious medical colleges.(KINS)