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  • Bihar Mines & Geology Dept Will Have Own Dedicated ‘Armed Mining Police Force

    Bihar Mines & Geology Dept Will Have Own Dedicated ‘Armed Mining Police Force

    To curb illegal mining activities in Bihar, the state Mines and Geology department is all set to have its own dedicated ‘Armed Mining Police Force’, an official said.

    Two dedicated battalions will be created on the lines of the Bihar Industrial Security Force for ‘Armed Mining Police’, the official said.

    he official of the Mines and Geology department on condition of anonymity.

    “It has also been decided to create permanent outposts of mining police in Bhojpur and Bhagalpur districts where illegal sand mining activities are frequently reported. Arms training will be imparted at the Bihar Police training centres. The armed mining security personnel will work in coordination with the respective district police”,

    The final proposal for the creation of the armed mining police is expected to be approved by the competent authority very soon, the official said.

    The state has been witnessing incidents of violent attacks by the sand mafia injuring policemen and officers of the mines and geology department.

    “Such incidents are mainly reported from Patna, Bhojpur, Rohtas, Aurangabad, Saran and Vaishali districts. Recently, three mining officers, including two women inspectors, were brutally attacked by miscreants during a drive against illegal mining in Bihta (near Patna) on April 17.

    “Immediately after the incident, the department decided to provide arms training (two-week duration) and also how to command force to its all 90 inspectors, including around 30 women officers, to counter such attacks in future”, the official said, adding now it has been decided to create a dedicated armed mining police.

    When contacted, Harjot Kaur Bamhrah, Additional Chief Secretary-cum-Mines Commissioner of Bihar, told PTI, “Yes, we (the department) will soon have own dedicated ‘Armed Mining Police’. The process is being finalised.” In its effort to strictly enforce mining-related regulations in the state, the National Informatics Centre (NIC) has developed a software, for the department, which will keep a tab on the entire sand quarry activity and track trucks carrying sand from the quarry to depots and other designated destinations.

    The software ‘Khanansoft’, has been developed by NIC for the Bihar Mines and Geology Department. Registering a massive growth in revenue collection from sand mining, the department earned a record Rs 1,384.46 crore in the financial year 2022-23.

  • Judicial Process Will Take Its Natural Course: Bansuri Swaraj Over Charges Against WFI Chief

    Judicial Process Will Take Its Natural Course: Bansuri Swaraj Over Charges Against WFI Chief

    Rejecting the charge that the BJP was following “double standard” in the Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh case, party leader Bansuri Swaraj on Friday said FIRs have been registered against him and after investigation, the judicial process will take its natural course.

    Swaraj, the daughter of the late Sushma Swaraj, addressed her first press conference after taking over as the co-convener of the Delhi BJP’s legal cell.

    She also targeted the Arvind Kejriwal government, saying it “delayed” by nine months the appointment of public prosecutors for trial of cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

    Justice delayed is justice denied, she noted.

    Swaraj, a Supreme Court lawyer, denied the charge that her party was following “double standard” as Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president and BJP MP Singh, who was accused of sexual harassment by some wrestlers, was yet to be arrested by the Delhi Police.

    “The FIR has been registered in that case and now it’s under the jurisdiction of police. I have deep faith in the judiciary that after the investigation, the judicial process will take its natural course,” she said.

    The Delhi Police has registered two FIRs against Singh on complaints by some women wrestlers. Singh has denied the charges.

    Swaraj was appointed the co-convener of the Delhi BJP’s legal cell in March this year.

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  • Rahul Says Muslim League Completely Secular, BJP Lashes Out

    Rahul Says Muslim League Completely Secular, BJP Lashes Out

    Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s assertion that the Indian Union Muslim League is a completely secular party drew a sharp response from the BJP on Friday as its leaders alleged that the Kerala party is guided by the same mindset which was behind Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s All India Muslim League.

    “These are the same people who had stayed back after partition. They formed the Muslim League here after partition and became MPs. They advocated for Sharia law, wanted separate seats reserved for Muslims. They are the same people who are part of the same Muslim League. It is Rahul Gandhi and the Congress that sees Hindu terrorism but feels Muslim League is secular,”

    Union minister Anurag Thakur said.

    Thakur said it is imperative that the former Congress president speaks favourably of organisations like the Muslim Brotherhood, an extremist organisation banned in several countries, and the Muslim League as he has to contest against from Wayanad, a Muslim-majority seat, after losing from Amethi.

    On a tour to the US, Gandhi told reporters in Washington that the Muslim League is a completely secular party and there is nothing non-secular about it. He was answering a question about his party’ alliance with the regional party.

    BJP national spokesperson and MP Sudhanshu Trivedi claimed a link between the regional party and Jinnah’s outfit, which spearheaded the partition stir among Muslims. He noted that Jinnah’s party had swept the pre-Independence provincial polls in Madras presidency, of which today’s Kerala was then a part.

  • Internal Matter: MEA On Power Struggle In Afghan Embassy

    Internal Matter: MEA On Power Struggle In Afghan Embassy

    The anticipatory bail plea of Haryana IAS officer Vijay Dahiya, facing arrest in a corruption case, was on Friday dismissed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court here.

    The petition was filed by Dahiya, a 2001 Haryana cadre officer, who was earlier posted as the commissioner of the Haryana Skill Development Department in Panchkula. He was booked by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on April 20 after the arrest of a woman.

    According to the allegations, the woman, known to Dahiya, allegedly acted as a facilitator to get some bills cleared in lieu of money.

    Apart from the woman, a private person, the ACB had registered an FIR against Dahiya and one more official against various provisions of the law including the Prevention of Corruption Act.

    Justice G S Gill pronounced the order dismissing the plea filed by Dahiya, state counsel Deepak Sabharwal said.

    Earlier, a Panchkula court had rejected Dahiya’s anticipatory bail plea in the matter on May 3 after which he approached the HC.

    The complainant in the case, a Fatehabad resident, had stated that he was running an educational institution and imparting computer training besides running classes for AC mechanics.

    He had stated that for the work the Haryana Skill Development Department had to pay bills amounting to Rs 50 lakh to him which were pending for some time and Rs 5 lakh was being demanded by another co-accused in the case to clear them who had told the complainant to meet the woman who was known to Dahiya.

    The complainant approached the ACB after which the woman was arrested while allegedly taking Rs 3 lakh as a bribe.

    Dahiya has submitted that he was falsely implicated in the case due to “motivated considerations”.

    He had also submitted that in the case there was neither any demand by him nor any acceptance of a bribe.

    It was submitted that the petitioner has been implicated in the case for the mere reason that he is known to the accused woman and that the prosecution has attempted to concoct the story that the petitioner is also an accused in the case.

  • Internal Matter: MEA On Power Struggle In Afghan Embassy

    Internal Matter: MEA On Power Struggle In Afghan Embassy

    As the Afghan embassy in Delhi reels under a power struggle after the Taliban appointed a diplomat to head the mission in place of the incumbent, India on Friday said it is an “internal matter” of the embassy. “From our perspective, this is an internal matter of the Afghan embassy and we hope that they would resolve it internally,” External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said when asked about a question on the matter.

    Ambassador Farid Mamundzay Mamundzay, who was appointed by the previous Ashraf Ghani government, has been operating as the Afghan envoy even after the Taliban came to power in August 2021. However, the Taliban in April appointed Qadir Shah to head the mission. Shah has been working as a trade councillor at the Afghan embassy since 2020.

    “The embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan categorically rejects the claims from an individual claiming to have taken charge of the mission in New Delhi at the behest of the Taliban,” the embassy headed by Mamundzay had said in a statement. People familiar with the matter said Shah wrote a letter to the MEA requesting recognition when Mamundzay was travelling abroad.

    In June last year, India re-established its diplomatic presence in Kabul by deploying a “technical team” to its embassy in the Afghan capital. India had withdrawn its officials from the embassy after the Taliban seized power following concerns over their security. It is learnt that the Taliban, on multiple occasions, communicated to New Delhi that the diplomats in the Afghan embassy in India do not represent Kabul any longer and made around 14 attempts to remove the ambassador from the embassy in the last over two years, the so.

  • Truck Driver Carrying Illegally-mined Sand Tries To Hit Beed Collector’s Car; Arrested

    Truck Driver Carrying Illegally-mined Sand Tries To Hit Beed Collector’s Car; Arrested

    The driver of a dumper truck allegedly transporting illegally-mined sand tried to hit the car in which the District Collector of Beed in Maharashtra was travelling, after the woman officer chased his vehicle and attempted to bring it to a halt, police said on Saturday.

    The incident, which occurred in Gevrai taluka of Beed district in the wee hours of Thursday, also witnessed collector Deepa Mudhol-Munde’s car getting stuck in sand after the driver of the dumper suddenly unloaded it on a road, and her police guard hopping on to the truck in a bid to make it stop.

    “The district collector was coming to Beed from Aurangabad in her official vehicle along with her body guard when she spotted a dumper carrying sand near Madalmohi village in Gevrai on Dhule-Solapur highway around 3.15 am on Thursday. The truck did not have a number plate,” a police official said.

    The collector asked the driver of her car to try and stop the dumper. The car driver then signalled the other vehicle’s driver to stop, but the latter did not do so. The collector then asked the driver to take their car in front of the truck so that it stops. But when he did so, the dumper driver increased the speed of his vehicle and tried to hit the collector’s car, he said.

    The official’s car was saved from being hit as it managed to swiftly move away, he added.

    The collector asked her driver to keep following the sand-laden vehicle. After about one km, the dumper driver suddenly unloaded the sand on an internal road, due to which the official’s car got stuck in it. The collector’s body guard Ambadas Pavne rushed towards the dumper and hopped on to it from the driver’s side. But its driver threatened the guard and kept driving. After around 3 km, the dumper driver stopped the vehicle and fled from the spot, the police official said.

  • Know Your Minister: A Look At The 24 MLAs Sworn-in To The Karnataka Cabinet On May 27

    Know Your Minister: A Look At The 24 MLAs Sworn-in To The Karnataka Cabinet On May 27

    Within a week of assuming power, the Congress government in Karnataka has expanded its cabinet on Saturday, filling all posts. Among those who got ministerial posts include sons of two former chief ministers — R Gundu Rao’s son Dinesh Gundu Rao and S Bangarappa’s son Madhu Bangarappa.

    • H K Patil is a staunch Congressman and a seasoned politician. The 69-year-old MLA was elected from Gadag constituency. He has held portfolios of textile, water resources, agriculture, law and parliamentary affairs as well as rural development and panchayat raj. He comes from a political family; his father K H Patil was also an MLA from the same constituency.

    • Krishna Byre Gowda is a five-time MLA – twice from Vemgal in Kolar and thrice from Byatarayanapura in Bengaluru city. The 50-year-old legislator was a minister for rural development and panchayat raj. He also held the portfolio of agriculture, and law and parliamentary affairs. He holds an MA in international affairs from the School of International Service at American University in Washington DC.

    • N Cheluvarayaswamy switched from JD(S) to Congress in 2018 ahead of the Assembly elections. He lost that election. He is a four-time MLA from Nagamangala. He was a Lok Sabha member in 2009 but resigned in 2013 to contest in the Assembly poll on a JD(S) ticket from his favourite seat Nagamangala.

    • K Venkatesh is a five-time MLA from Periyapatna. The 75-year-old Congress MLA was previously with the Janata Dal. He later joined the Congress and became an MLA in 2013. In 2018, he lost to K Mahadeva of the JD(S). He bounced back by winning the recent 2023 election.
    • Dr H C Mahadevappa is an MBBS doctor from JJM Medical College. Belonging to the Scheduled Caste community, the 70-year-old MLA from T Narasipur was previously with the JD(S) and switched over to Congress. He was the Public Works Minister in the previous Siddaramaiah government.
    • Congress working president Eshwar Khandre comes from a political family. His father Bheemanna Khandre was also a minister in the Karnataka government. The 61-year-old leader is an engineering graduate and also a four-time MLA from Bhalki in Bidar constituency.
    • Former state Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao comes from an illustrious family. His father late R Gundu Rao was the chief minister from 1980 to 1983. A BE from BMS College, Rao continued his winning streak without any break for the sixth time in 2023. He was the food and civil supplies minister from 2015 to 2016.
    • Kyathasandra N Rajanna is a 72-year-old leader from the Scheduled Tribe community. He is an advocate and agriculturist. He was elected as MLA once from Madhugiri Assembly constituency in 2013.
    • Sharanabasappa Darshanapur is a five-time MLA from Shahapur constituency in Yadgir district. The 62-year-old leader is a BE graduate in civil engineering. His father Bapugouda Darshanapur was a three-time MLA from Shahapur and was also a minister in the Karnataka government.
    • Shivanand Patil, a four-time MLA from Basavana Bagewadi, was minister for health and family welfare from 2018 to 2019 in the coalition government headed by H D Kumaraswamy.
    • Ramappa Balappa Timmapur is a three-time MLA from Mudhol. In 2023, he won by defeating sitting minister Govind Karjol, who was a five-time MLA from the same constituency. Timmapur was the minister for sugar, port and inland transport of Karnataka.
    • S S Mallikarjun is an educationist who won the election from Davangere North. He is the son of veteran Congress leader Shamanur Shivashankarappa, the 92-year-old MLA from Davangere South. He is also the chairman of the prestigious SS Institute of Medical Science and Research Centre, Davangere.
    • The 52-year-old MLA Shivaraj Sangappa Tangadagi is a three-time MLA from Kanakagiri constituency in Koppal district.
    • Dr Sharanaprakash Patil is a doctor by profession and a four-time MLA from Sedam constituency in Kalaburagi district.
    • Mankal S Vaidya was elected twice from Bhatkal-Honnavar constituency in the coastal district of Uttara Kannada.
    • Laxmi Hebbalkar is a 48-year-old MLA from Belagavi rural. She won from the constituency for the second time. She is considered to be close to deputy chief minister D K Shivakumar.
    • Rahim Khan, the 57-year-old MLA from Bidar North constituency, was the youth empowerment and sports minister in the coalition government headed by H D Kumaraswamy.
    • D Sudhakar is a three-time MLA from Hiriyur in Chitradurga district. The 62-year-old Congress legislator had served as minister for social welfare of Karnataka from 2008 to 2009.
    • Santosh Lad is an MLA from Kalghatgi constituency in Dharwad district. The 48-year-old holds a BCom and comes from a business family.
    • N S Boseraju, a Congress national secretary, is not a member of legislative council or the legislative assembly. He is considered to be close to the Congress high command. His candidature was finalised in the last minute after much deliberation.
    • Suresha B S is a two-time MLA who made it to the Karnataka cabinet.
    • Madhu Bangarappa is the son of former Chief Minister S Bangarappa. Previously associated with JD(S), the 56-year-old legislator the 2023 Assembly election by defeating his brother Kumar Bangarappa of the BJP from Soraba assembly constituency in Shivamogga district.
  • Chhattisgarh: Woman Naxalite, Two BSF Jawans Injured In Encounter

    Chhattisgarh: Woman Naxalite, Two BSF Jawans Injured In Encounter

    A woman Naxalite was seriously injured in a gun-battle with security personnel in Chhattisgarh’s Kanker district, while two jawans of the Border Security Force (BSF) also suffered minor injuries in the face-off, police said on Saturday. The exchange of fire took place on Friday night in the forests of Urpanjhur village when joint teams of security personnel were out on a search operation, they said.

    Acting on inputs about presence of Naxalites, the personnel belonging to BSF’s 178th, 47th, 132nd battalions and District Force (DF) had launched a search operation from separate camps in Pakhanjore, Chhotebethiya, Bande, Badgaon and Partapur police station areas on Friday night, they said.

    One single-shot rifle, a cache of live cartridges of different guns, six pressure cooker improvised explosive device (IED), one solar plate, three bundles of electric wire, batteries, Maoist uniforms, bags, pamphlets, medicines and other material were recovered from the spot, he said.

    Constables Vikas Singh and Manlik Ram, belonging to the BSF’s 178th battalion, sustained minor injuries in the gunfight and they were provided preliminary treatment at the camp, Kanker Superintendent of Police Shalabh Sinha said, adding that their condition was said to be out of danger.

    The injured Naxalite has been identified as Fagni Podiyami, a Local Organisation Squad (LOS) member active under RKB (Rajnandgaon Kanker Border) division of Maoists, the SP said, adding that she was carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh on her head. She is the wife of Vinod Gavde, Madanwada Local Organisation Squad (LOS) commander of Maoists, he said. She has been admitted to Kanker district hospital, he added. Reinforcement has been sent to the area where the search operation is underway, he added.

  • International Tourist Footfall In India Will Increase If Citizens Promote Places They Visit: EAM Jaishankar

    International Tourist Footfall In India Will Increase If Citizens Promote Places They Visit: EAM Jaishankar

    External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said that international tourist footfall in the country will increase if domestic tourism is promoted by people by way of sharing their experiences about the places they visit. He was talking to reporters here on the second day of his two-day Gujarat tour, during which he visited the villages adopted by him under the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana in Narmada, a tribal-dominated district.

    “There are a lot of things in our country that we ourselves don’t know about, and even if we know, we don’t introduce them to others…International tourism will increase only when domestic tourism increases,” Jaishankar said. “If we see people giving examples, enjoying the place and sending out messages and sharing experiences (about a place), then it will have an impact on the public,” he said.

    “If I told people I went to a hill station in Gujarat, they wouldn’t believe me because they don’t associate Gujarat with a hill station,” he said. Earlier in the day, Jaishankar spent time at a sports complex in Chhotubhai Purani College of Physical Education. On Friday, the minister visited the villages adopted by him under Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana where he performed the ground breaking ceremony for two “smart anganwadis”, inspected health and wellness centres, visited Ekta Skill Development Centre, and met villagers. He also visited a mobile X-ray van granted to the people under Members of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) Scheme in 2020 and saw women at Nari Shakti Kendra make sustainable products.

  • Defence Min Rajnath Singh To Visit Nigeria From May 28-30; To Boost Defence Ties

    Defence Min Rajnath Singh To Visit Nigeria From May 28-30; To Boost Defence Ties

    Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh will visit Nigeria from May 28 to 30, 2023, to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the President-elect of the West African nation. This will be the first-ever visit of an Indian Defence Minister to Nigeria. Senior officials of the Ministry of Defence and top leadership of significant defence PSUs will accompany the defence ministry on his visit to identify systems and platforms from the Indian defence sector that can cater to Nigeria’s needs.

    The visit comes at a time when Nigeria, in the last couple of years, has been entwined in closer ties with India’s geopolitical rivals like Turkey, Pakistan, and China. Last year, Nigeria signed a deal for six TAI T-129, licensed produced versions of the AgustaWestland A129 attack helicopter from Turkey. Nigeria already operates the JF17, a leading rival aircraft of Tejas in the export market, and the Nigerian Air Force also comprises other Chinese assets. The JF17, originally the FC-1 Xiaolong, is called the pride of Pakistan’s aeronautical complex. However, the jets it delivered to Myanmar around 2018, according to reports, are said to have been grounded.

    Image: Hindustan aeronautics limited
    This brings forth the opportunity for India to present the Tejas and other combat platforms. In recent years, the Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) has been in the spotlight for export to Nigeria. The visit might rekindle interest, and the deal might materialise in the future, making it the first export of LCH to an African nation. “We are in talks with certain countries in Africa who have shown interest in the LCH. With great value for money, the helicopter is an attractive buy for many countries,” said a senior defence official to PTI, back in 2016. India has already exported its advanced light utility helicopter, HAL Dhruv, to countries across three continents and has demonstrated its dexterity in the helicopter manufacturing sector, both in armed and utility variants, in the last decade.