Business Standard

LIVE: Maharashtra sees 4,004 new Covid cases in 24 hrs; 1,530 in Delhi

Maharashtra is now left with 23,746 active cases after 3,085 patients were discharged on Sunday

Image BS Web Team New Delhi
Covid, Coronavirus, Covid-19, Mumbai

A health worker collects swab sample of a passenger for COVID-19 test, at the CSMT station, in Mumbai. (PTI Photo)

9:55 PM

Violence against Agnipath subsides in Bihar; over 800 arrested so far

Violent protests against Agnipath scheme for defence recruitment appeared to be on the wane in Bihar on Sunday as a police crackdown on troublemakers continued and train services remained hit in view of security concerns.

According to a statement issued by Police Headquarters, altogether 804 people have been arrested so far in connection with the large scale violence and arson, which had the state in its throes last week.

The number of FIRs registered in connection with the protests stood at 145 and tracing of persons suspected of instigating or indulging in anti-social activities contimnued.

Internet services remain suspended in 17 out of 38 districts in the state and heavy deployment of police and paramilitary forces continued in places, the PHQ release said.

In the afternoon, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar summoned Chief Secretary Amir Subhani and DGP S K Singhal to his residence to seek updates on the situation, highly placed sources said.

 
9:48 PM

Yellen: Recession not inevitable, gas tax holiday weighed

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday that she expects the US economy to slow in the months ahead, but that a recession is not inevitable.

Yellen offered a dose of optimism even as economists grow increasingly worried about a recession fuelled by skyrocketing inflation and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

She also expressed an openness, during an interview on ABC's This Week, to a federal gas tax holiday to help give motorists some relief at the pump. Several lawmakers have floated the idea as the average price of gasoline hovers around $5 per gallon; the tax is 18.4 cents per gallon.

That's an idea that's certainly worth considering, Yellen said when asked if the administration is weighing it. She added that President Joe Biden wants to do anything he possibly can to help consumers.

And Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said it's one of the tools, but told CNN's State of the Union that part of the challenge with the gas tax, of course, is that it funds the roads.

Yellen said overall consumer spending in the United States remains strong, while noting that spending patterns are changing, given the impact of rising food and energy prices. Yellen said household savings during the coronavirus pandemic will help sustain spending.

The national saving rate has fallen to about 6%, below pre-pandemic levels, after reaching 16.6% in 2020, the highest on record dating to 1948, and 12.7% in 2021.

I expect the economy to slow, Yellen said. It's been growing at a very rapid rate and the economy has recovered and we have achieved full employment. We expect a transition to steady and stable growth, but I don't think a recession is at all inevitable.

9:37 PM

US to donate 2.2 mn pediatric Covid-19 vaccines to Nepal

The US has pledged to donate 2.2 million doses of pediatric vaccines to Nepal to help it combat the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an official announcement on Sunday.

The donation coincides with the celebrations of 75 years of diplomatic relations between the United States and Nepal, the US Embassy here said in a statement.

These highly effective, life-saving vaccines for children ages 5-11 are provided through the generosity of the American people and add to the 2.26 million doses of Pfizer vaccines, and the 1.5 million single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccines that the US has donated to Nepal so far, it said.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the United States government has worked directly with the Government of Nepal to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, ensure the continuity of critical health services, and support the country in mitigating the pandemic's secondary social and economic impact particularly on education and livelihoods, according to the statement.

9:35 PM

Prophet row: Muslim body protests in UP's Bareilly, demands Nupur Sharma's arrest

The Ittehad-e-Millat Council staged a demonstration in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly on Sunday demanding the arrest of now-suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for her remarks on Prophet Mohammad.

Addressing the gathering, its president Maulana Taukeer Raza Khan flayed Sharma for her remarks and demanded her arrest.

He alleged that the government was not paying any heed to their demands, including Sharma's arrest.

"We will not give a memorandum of our demands to the district administration, government or governor. If we have to give a memorandum, we will approach the United Nations organisation," he said.

The council had planned the demonstration on Friday, but postponed it to Sunday.

Elaborate security arrangements were made for the demonstration at the Islamia College ground.

Khan also demanded rollback of the Agnipath scheme for short-term contractual employment in the armed forces.

9:27 PM

Domestic coal production as of June 16 up by 28% YoY

The Ministry of Coal on Sunday said that as of June 16, coal production by Coal India Ltd (CIL) is 28 per cent more than its production last year in the same period. The domestic coal production target for the current financial year is 911 MT which is 17.2 per cent more than the previous year.

Due to this, coal imports for blending by the domestic coal based (DCB) power plants have dropped to 8.11 MT in the year 2021-22, which has been the lowest coal import in the last eight years.

The imported coal based (ICB) power plants had imported coal more than 45 MT per year from 2016-17 to 2019-20. However, coal import by the ICB power plants dropped to the lowest level of 18.89 MT in 2021-22 and the generation from these plants also dropped to 39.82 billion units (BU) in the year 2021-22 compared to 100+ BU which these plants have been generating since quite some time.

In the last five years, the coal-based power generation has grown at a CAGR of 1.82 per cent whereas the domestic coal supply to power sector had grown at a CAGR of 3.26 per cent. Thus, coal supply to power sector has outpaced the growth in coal-based power generation and continues to do so in the present year.

The Ministry said that the coal production is at 777 Million Tonne (MT) in 2021-22. The domestic coal production continues to witness an upward trend in the current financial year as well.

 
9:26 PM

Andhra: TDP to hold 'Chalo Narsipatnam' rally against 'attacks on Backward Classes'

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) state president K Atchannaidu on Sunday said that the party would organise a 'Chalo Narsipatnam' on Monday in protest against alleged murders and non-stop attacks on Backward Classes.

In a statement here, the TDP leader said that Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy had misused his power by making the officials and the police to carry out the midnight demolition at former Minister Chintakayala Ayyanna's house.

"In the past also, Jagan had carried out such attacks on the properties of TDP BC leaders like Palla Srinivas and Sabbam Hari," he alleged.

The TDP leader recalled that the Chief Minister did not utter a word when BC activist Jallaiah was murdered by the YCP leaders recently.

"With each passing day, attacks were increasing on BCs all over the State. Till now, the YCP has eliminated over 26 BCs," he said.

Atchannaidu said that the Chief Minister has not called on the family members of any of the murder victims till now.

"When the TDP leaders tried to visit them, false cases were being filed against them. Jagan Reddy was saying that BCs were 'backbone castes' but he was doing a lot of injustice to them," the TDP leader said.

The TDP leader called upon all sections of BCs to reject the false affection of Jagan Reddy.

9:02 PM

Jharkhand schools shut on Monday amid bandh call over Agnipath

Schools in Jharkhand will remain shut on Monday in view of the bandh called over the Agnipath recruitment scheme, officials said.

The ongoing examinations of classes 9 and 11 have also been postponed, they said.

"In view of the bandh called by certain organisations, it has been decided that all government, as well as private schools, will remain closed on Monday," School Education and Literacy Department secretary Rajesh Kumar Sharma told PTI on Sunday.

"We do not want school students, especially those who travel by bus, to face any trouble. We have seen in Bihar that students were forced to get down from a bus as it was set ablaze," he added.

Fresh dates for the postponed exams will soon be announced, he said.

All India Students Federation (AISF) gave a Jharkhand bandh call on Sunday in protest against the Agnipath scheme. However, it received a lukewarm response.

8:59 PM

9 arrested, at least 8 detained in three UP districts over Agnipath protests

The police arrested nine people and detained many in Saharanpur, Bhadohi and Deoria districts for their alleged involvement in violent agitations and for instigating the youth to protests against the Agnipath military recruitment scheme, officials said on Sunday.

Four people were arrested in Bhadohi and at least eight were detained in Deoria. Those arrested in Saharanpur are said to be members of different political parties, they said.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Saharanpur Akash Tomar said, "We have arrested five people in connection with the Agnipath protest. All are above 25 years of age and are connected to different political parties. Posing as Army aspirants they were involved in instigating youth to protest against the scheme."

Those arrested have been identified as Parag Pawar (26), Sandeep (34), Saurabh Kumar (28), Mohit Chaudhary (26) and Uday (26).

While Parag is a member of the National Student's Union of India, the student wing of Congress, Sandeep is linked with the Samajwadi Party, the SSP said.

All the accused are residents of villages under the Rampur Maniharan police station limits.

 
8:56 PM

Eight killed, 3.7 million hit as Assam flood situation worsens

The flood situation in Assam deteriorated on Sunday with eight more persons losing their lives and over 37 lakh people suffering across 30 districts, an official said.

According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), three persons died due to landslides and five people drowned at different places during the day.

With this, the total number of persons losing their lives in this year's flood and landslides has gone up to 70.

More than 37,17,800 people are hit due to floods in 4,462 villages across 30 districts of the state, an ASDMA official said.

8:54 PM

Nadda holds meeting with BJP's management team for presidential election

BJP president J P Nadda held a meeting with the party's 14-member management team for the July 18 presidential election and deliberated upon the poll strategy, sources said on Sunday.

Nadda met the party leaders, including the team's convener Union Minister Gajendra Shekhawat, at his residence here.

Other leaders of the team, including Union Ministers G Kishen Reddy and Arjun Ram Meghwal, and BJP general secretaries Vinod Tawde and C T Ravi, were also present at the meeting.

According to sources, the BJP's strategy for the presidential election was discussed in detail in the meeting.

The BJP had authorised its president J P Nadda and Union Minister Rajnath Singh to consult with other political parties, including those in the opposition, for building a consensus on a presidential candidate.

Both Nadda and Singh have already reached out to several opposition leaders, including Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee, Nitish Kumar, Naveen Patnaik, and Farooq Abdullah, to reach a consensus candidate for the presidential election.

With numbers on its side, the BJP-led NDA is expected to ensure the victory of its candidate in the presidential elections.

8:54 PM

Govt bans 35 WhatsApp groups for 'spreading fake news' about Agnipath

As many as 35 WhatsApp groups that were allegedly spreading fake news about the Agnipath military recruitment scheme were on Sunday banned by the government, officials said.

The move came amid violent protests against the scheme in different parts of the country since it was announced a few days ago.

As many as 35 WhatsApp groups were banned by the government for allegedly spreading fake news about the Agnipath scheme, the government officials said.

However, information about these groups or if any action has been initiated against their administrators was not immediately known.

Ruling out the rollback of the 'Agnipath' recruitment scheme despite widespread protests, the three services of the military on Sunday came out with a broad schedule of enrolment under the new policy and asserted that it was aimed at bringing down the age profile of the armed forces.

8:53 PM

Over 70% voting in Haryana's 46 municipal bodies

Over 70 per cent polling was recorded in Haryana's 28 municipal committees and 18 municipal councils on Sunday, State Election Commissioner Dhanpat Singh said.

The polling started at 7 am and continued till 6 pm, he said, adding according to report available at 6:30 pm, 70.40 percent polling was recorded.

The final polling figure was being compiled, officials said.

The results will be declared on June 22.

Dhanpat Singh said polling remained peaceful and no untoward incident was reported from anywhere.

8:50 PM

Lakhs of party workers will protest Monday against Agnipath, targeting of Rahul Gandhi: Cong

The Congress said lakhs of party workers across the country will hold peaceful protests on Monday against the "anti-youth" Agnipath scheme and the Modi government's "vendetta politics" in targeting Rahul Gandhi.

A delegation of Congress leaders will also meet President Ram Nath Kovind to bring to his notice the alleged manhandling and harassment of party MPs by the Delhi Police during their protests against Rahul Gandhi's questioning by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case.

The ED had allowed Gandhi's request to defer his questioning in the National Herald money-laundering case from June 17 to June 20 owing to his mother Sonia Gandhi's hospitalisation, officials had said on Thursday.

Taking to Twitter, party general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "Tomorrow lakhs of Congress workers across the country will continue peaceful protests against the anti-youth Agnipath scheme & against Modi Govt's vendetta politics targeting its leader Shri Rahul Gandhi, MP."

"A Congress delegation will also meet Hon'ble Rashtrapati in the evening," he said.

Senior Congress leaders, including Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, party's leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, P Chidambaram, K C Venugopal and Ramesh, are set to meet meet Kovind and apprise him about the "unprovoked manhandling" of party MPs, which it alleged was in violation of all democratic norms.

 
8:46 PM

Satish Chandra Sharma to be new Delhi HC Chief Justice, Centre notifies transfer

The Central Government on Sunday notified the transfer of Chief Justice of Telangana Satish Chandra Sharma to Delhi High Court.

In a notification dated June 19, the Ministry of Law and Justice stated, "in the exercise of the power conferred by clause (1) of Article 222 of the Constitution of India, the President, after consultation with the Chief Justice of India, is pleased to transfer Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, Chief Justice of Telangana High Court as the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court and to direct him to assume charge of the office of the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court."

The Supreme Court Collegium had recently recommended Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court Justice Satish Chandra Sharma as the new Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court.

Notably, after the retirement of Justice DN Patel as the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, the post fell vacant.

The collegium also recommended the elevation of Acting Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court-- Justice Vipin Sanghi-- as the Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court.

It further recommended elevation of Justice AA Sayed, SS Shinde, Rashmin M Chhaya and Ujjal Bhuyan as the Chief Justices of Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Guwahati and Telangana High Courts respectively.

 
8:45 PM

Kerala reports 2,786 fresh Covid infections, 5 deaths

Kerala on Sunday recorded 2,786 fresh COVID-19 infections, a slight dip from the over 3,000 cases it was reporting in the last five days.

The caseload is 66,01,884 till date.

Active cases increased to 22,278, according to official data.

There were 5 deaths today, taking the toll of fatalities to 69,889 so far, the data said, adding that 2,072 recovered from the infection today.

Don't miss the most important news and views of the day. Get them on our Telegram channel

First Published: Jun 19 2022 | 7:53 AM IST