Tuesday, December 30, 2025

Sushma Swaraj to visit Russia for bilateral talks

By
Tehelka Web Desk
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External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj will embark on a two-day visit to Russia next week to hold discussions on a raft of issues of bilateral cooperation.

She will co-chair the 23rd India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission that discusses different aspects of the two countries’ bilateral ties, the ministry of external affairs said on Saturday.

Along with Swaraj, Yuri Borisov, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, will co-chair the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Economic, Trade, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) on September 13 and 14, the ministry added.

IRIGC-TEC is a standing body which annually meets and reviews ongoing activities of bilateral cooperation in the fields of science and technology, trade and investment, culture and other issues of mutual interest, it said.

Swaraj will also discuss Russian President Vladimir Putin’s upcoming visit to India later this year.

President Vladimir Putin would be coming to India to attend the India-Russia Annual Summit later this year, the MEA said.

In December 2017, the last meeting of the commission was held in New Delhi.

Punjab, J&K ink agreement to resume Rs 2793 Crore Shahpur Kandi project

By
Raju William
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Senior officers exchanging copies of agreement in the presence of J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik at Raj Bhavan, Srinagar on Saturday.

Chandigarh, September 8, 2018: Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir have signed a landmark agreement to resume work on Rs. 2793 crore Shahpur Kandi project.

Both Border States have decided to complete the project within three years. The Punjab government led by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh had been pursuing the matter with the Centre over past several months.

The CM had, in a recent meeting with Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, sought early resolution of all issues relating to this project.

On his directives, a high-level delegation from Punjab comprising Minister for Water Resources Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria, Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh and Principal Secretary Water Resources Jaspal Singh, held talks with the officials of the government of Jammu & Kashmir, said a government spokesperson.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Governor Jammu&Kashmir Satya Pal Malik at Srinagar.

This inter-state project was approved by the Centre as a ‘National Project’ in February 2008 at a cost of Rs. 2285.81 crore, including the irrigation component of Rs. 653.97 crore.

Though work on the project started in 2013, it was halted in 2014 due to certain observations raised by the Jammu & Kashmir government. In the meantime, the Punjab Government submitted a revised cost estimate amounting to Rs. 2793.54 crore and requested the Centre to include the project in the prioritized list of PMKSY/AIBP projects.

When implemented, the project will enable the up-stream Ranjit Sagar Dam project power station to act as a peaking station, besides having its own generation capacity of 206 MW and irrigation benefit of 37,173-hectare CCA to Punjab and J&K states.

According to the spokesperson, it will enable the country to fully utilize the Ravi water as per the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan. Besides delivering power and irrigation benefits to the nation worth Rs. 850 crore annually, it will also prevent Ravi water going waste to Pakistan.

Nepal chopper crash: Japanese national among 6 killed, 1 woman survived

By
Tehelka Web Desk
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A helicopter with seven people on board crashed in a dense forest area in central Nepal on September 8, killing six passengers, including a Japanese national. One woman survived the crash with injuries.

Uddab Bahadur Thapa, Chief District Officer of Nuwakot District, reportedly said that the fatalities were confirmed and a female passenger has been rescued.

A Nepal Army helicopter and a private chopper along with rescuers have been dispatched to the crash site.

Thapa added, “The chopper was spotted inside a dense forest in a tilted position. The rescuers had to struggle a lot to reach to the chopper. The weather in the area is still adverse and we were struggling hard.”

According to eyewitnesses the ill-fated Altitude Air chopper crash-landed in the forest area bordering Dhading and Nuwakot districts.

According to the sources, the chopper which took off from Kathmandu airlifting a patient along with other passengers from Samagaun in Gorkha lost contact with the air traffic control tower at 8:05 am today before it was supposed to land at the Tribhuvan Interbnational Airport at 8.18 am.

The passengers onboard the chopper include Japanese national Hiromi Komatsu, Dilli Bahadur Gurung, 40, of Ramechhap, Hira Sherpa,37, of Dolakha, Lho Aani Dolma Diki of Chumnubri Rural Municipality-2, Gorkha, Chhewang Nurbu of Chumnubri-1, Sunil Tamang, 22, of Sindhupalchok and Pilot Nichan KC.

Flooding, heavy rains kill 3, destroy 232 houses in UP

By
Tehelka Web Desk
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Flooding and heavy rainfall in Uttar Pradesh in last 24 hours has claimed lives of three people and resulted in destruction of as many as 232 houses in various parts of the state.

“We are hopeful that the water level will decrease in the next four to five days if the rains stop. Today, we have distributed dry gains via boats but in the upcoming days we will send all the relief material by a tractor, the moment the roads get de-clogged,” official said.

While taking stock of the situation in the flood-hit area official further added that they are working day and night in order to provide relief material to the victims.

In view of the situation, official urged people to donate mosquito nets and repellant creams to flood-hit victims.

He further said that scores of medical camps will be set up in the coming days for people as there are dire chances that floods will give rise to the transmission of communicable diseases like typhoid, fever and cholera.

On September 7, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath conducted an aerial survey to take stock of the situation in flood-affected areas of Unnao, Kanpur and Farrukhabad.

J&K: Police conduct raid at illegal hostel in Kathua, rescue 20 children

By
Tehelka Web Desk
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A joint team of civil administration and Kathua police on September 7 raided an illegally run hostel located near a locality called Parliament and rescued eight girls and 12 boys from the age group of five to 16 years who were kept in solitary confinement there for a long time.

Following the raid, inmates were shifted to Bal Ashram and Nari Niketan Kathua.

The police raided the property after receiving a tip-off that unlawful activities were being carried out in the hostel. The raid was conducted on the directives of Rohit Khajuria, District Development Commissioner Kathua and SSP Kathua Shridhar Patil.

Deputy Commissioner Khajuria said, “We got the information around 3 pm that some elements are doing some wrong activity near the Parliament area of Kathua. So after studying the whole issue, a team comprised of two tehsildars, one labour officer and policemen were sent to the location. After conducting interviews with the kids, our team raided the place, rescued the children and arrested the owner of the hostel.”

Medical reports of the children are awaited to ascertain if they were sexually abused or not.

“When our team enquired about the registration of the hostel, the man first said that he is running the accommodation after tying up with Pathankot Church. After his statement, the team called the Pathankot church authority, who denied any such agreement,” Khajuria added.

An FIR has been filed against the hostel owner, who is currently under police custody.

Bengaluru to host Aero India 2019, says Defence Ministry

By
Tehelka Web Desk
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Ending Weeks-long controversy over which state gets to host the Aero India 2019, the defence ministry on Saturday announced the next edition of Aero India will be held in its traditional venue of Bengaluru from February 20 to 24 next year.

There were speculations that the central government was contemplating to move the event to Lucknow after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, had last month requested Defence Minister to select Lucknow as the venue for Aero India, triggering displeasure expressions from various political parties in Karnataka.

Days later Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy had marked his dissent on the aero show been moved out of the state, he wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, insisting that Bengaluru would be the most suitable place for the event.

Bengaluru has been hosting the Aero show event for the last two decades.

Yogendra Yadav detained by Tamil Nadu police at Tiruvannamalai

By
Tehelka Web Desk
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Activist Yogendra Yadav was detained by the Tamil Nadu police in Chengam in Tiruvannamalai district on Saturday, where he was scheduled to attend a protest organised by farmers against the upcoming eight-lane Salem-Chennai expressway. In a series of tweets, he alleged that he was manhandled and pushed into a police van.

” TN police has detained me and team in Chengam PS, Thiru Annamalai district. We came on the invitation of Movement Against 8Lane Way. We were prevented from going to meet farmers, phones snatched, manhandled and pushed into police van. First hand experience of police state in TN!” tweeted Yadav.

The police had denied the allegations, saying the activist had not sought permission before meeting the farmers.

In another tweet by Yadav, “Supdt. Police, Thiru Annamalai is here to tell me hay they apprehend law and order problem due to my presence! I am saying I will only visit farmers inside their homes. SP says I am not allowed! Gandhian disobedience is the only way out, it seems.”

Yadav in his tweet mentioned that farmers who were waiting to meet him, detained by police.

“It’s 4 hours now, we are still locked inside this marriage hall. No formal order Not even oral information about whether we are under detention or arrest 9 Farmers who met me this morning detained Another 40 farmers waiting to meet me also detained. Rule of law? Or police Raj?” Yadav tweeted.

The eight-lane Salem-Chennai expressway has been facing opposition from a section of locals including farmers over fear of losing their land.

Prices Of Petrol And Diesel At Record High

By
Tehelka Web Desk
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Prices of Petrol and Diesel on Saturday touched a record high of ₹80.38 per litre for petrol and ₹72.51 per litre for Diesel in the national capital, as oil companies continue to raise prices.

On September 8, petrol and diesel saw an increase of 39 paise and 44 paise per litre.

Price varies across States, depending on local taxes. Price of Petrol in Kolkata increased to ₹83.27 a litre, ₹87.77 a litre in Mumbai and ₹83.56 a litre in Chennai, while Price of Diesel in Kolkata reached at ₹75.36 a litre, in Mumbai ₹76.98 a litre and in Chennai ₹76.66 a litre.

Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan earlier had said that devaluation of the Indian rupee against the US Dollar and rise in crude oil price in the international market, are the two major factors responsible for the hike in fuel prices in the country.

He said that the Centre is concerned about the rising prices of petrol and diesel across the country.

Since August 16 there has been a surge in fuel prices. The prices have been revised upward almost every day and have reached a record high.

CBI arrests NDMC tax inspector for taking bribe

By
Tehelka Web Desk
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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday evening arrested a tax inspector of New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) for taking bribe.

Rajeev Chandok was arrested along with two private individuals for taking a bribe of Rs 50,000 to settle a pending property tax. Property Tax is imposed on all buildings and lands in New Delhi and the rates of taxes are determined by municipal council from year to year basis.

Further probe in the case is underway.

Earlier, the Maharashtra Anti Corruption Bureau arrested two civic officials for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe in Aurangabad.

Moreover, on August 5, the CBI had arrested an Intelligent Officer of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) for accepting a bribe of Rs. 50,000 in Kolkata.

Jammu and Kashmir: LeT militant killed in gunfight in Anantnag district

By
Tehelka Web Desk
-

A Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant was killed in a gunfight with the police in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir.

According to the authorities, an unidentified number of militants attacked a police post in Achabal area on Friday night following which there was a brief gunfight.

Sources says, Police had recovered weapon from the victim who has been identified as Bilal Ahmad a resident of Tantraypora Yaripora of the neighbouring Kulgam district.

A policeman also got injured in the incident and was shifted to a hospital for medical treatment, where his condition is stated to be stable.

According to the police, Bilal had joined the LeT outfit three months ago. He was involved in a number of terrorist attacks on the security forces and civilian atrocities in the area.

More details are awaited.

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