India logged 5,108 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,45,10,057, while the active cases dipped to 45,749, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.

The death toll climbed to 52,82,16 with 19 fatalities, which includes 12 deaths reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated.

The active cases comprise 0.10 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate increased to 98.71 per cent, the ministry said.

The daily positivity rate stood at 1.44 per cent while the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 1.70 per cent.

A total of 89.02 crore COVID-19 tests have been conducted so far and 3,55,231 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours.

As many as 215.67 crore total vaccine doses, including 94.57 crore second dose and 18.70 crore precaution doses have been administered so far under the nationwide vaccination drive. A total of 19,25,881 doses were administered in the last 24 hours, the ministry said.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23 last year. It crossed the four-crore mark on January 25 this year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday that Hindi has brought India special honour globally and that its simplicity and sensitivity always attract people.

In his tweet on Hindi Diwas, Modi expressed heartfelt thanks to all who have made tireless efforts to enrich and strengthen the country’s largest spoken language. Hindi Diwas is observed every year on September 14.

Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) President Sukhbir Badal on Wednesday appeared before the Special Investigation Team (SIT), the second time this month, here in the 2015 Kotkapura police firing on a crowd protesting the alleged desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib.

At that time he was the Deputy Chief Minister in the SAD-BJP coaling government and was holding the home portfolio.

Earlier, the SIT summoned Sukhbir Badal on September 6 and questioned him for over three hours in the Behbal Kalan firing case, both Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan cases were interlinked and occurred after the sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib.

At that time the police had opened fire on people protesting against the sacrilege in Faridkot. Two people were killed in the firing on protesters in Behbal Kalan, while a few were injured in Kotkapura.

The SIT, led by Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) L.K. Yadav is probing both firing incidents.

The SIT earlier questioned former Director General of Police Sumedh Singh Saini in the sacrilege case.

Saini was removed from the top police post by then Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal following incidents of sacrilege and subsequent violence in the state in which the police force was accused of excesses.

Justice Ranjit Singh (retd), who headed the commission appointed by the previous Congress government into the alleged incidents of sacrilege and the subsequent police firing on protesters, has placed the then Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, the SAD patriarch, and then DGP Saini in dock.

Also, he castigated the Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda, whose chief and self-styled godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is currently serving a 20-year jail sentence for raping two of his disciples and a life term for a journalist’s killing, for the incident of sacrilege.

Justice Singh made these comments in January on the release of his 423-page book ‘The Sacrilege’ based on his inquiry when he was heading the government set up commission.

“Inference on the basis of material and evidence is against both then Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and then Director General of Police (DGP) Saini for not playing active role (with the subsequent police firing on protesters after the sacrilege incident), ” Justice Singh had told IANS at the book launch here.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on April 9, 2021, quashed the previous police SIT report that gave a clean chit to the Badals and directed the state government to set up a new team.

The high court had not only quashed the probe but also raised doubts over the methods and ordered reconstitution of the SIT probing the case without IPS officer Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, who is now an AAP legislator.

Following the high court directive, the then Congress government led by Captain Amarinder Singh constituted another SIT on May 7 to probe the incident.

Farmers staged a protest against the proposed Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) campus in Goa, claiming the state government was acquiring land for it without their consent.

After the farmers’ protest on Monday in Sanguem area of South Goa district, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said some people had the habit of unnecessarily opposing projects.

Talking to reporters in state capital Panaji on Monday, Sawant said the land where the IIT was proposed belonged to the government and they will ensure no one faces injustice due to the project.

Farmers protested after team of state revenue officials went to Sanguem to demarcate land for the upcoming IIT Goa campus.

A team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Nilesh Rane tried to pacify the farmers, but they went ahead with the protest.

The farmers have been reluctant to give their land for the project.

We have been cultivating paddy at the place where the government wants to acquire land for the IIT Goa campus. We don’t want IIT, a woman farmer told police.

She claimed the state government was acquiring land without the consent of the farmers, who have been growing crops on it for generations.

Some of the other protesters said they will not allow the demarcation process to continue at the site.

The Sanguem police have registered a case against the protesting farmers for obstructing the land demarcation work, a senior police official said.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Sawant said some people had the habit of unnecessarily opposing projects.

The land where the IIT is proposed belongs to the government. Some people are just encroaching the land, he said adding that people should shun the negative mindset.

We will ensure people do not face any injustice. If someone is a tenant or has a document to prove his/her (land) ownership, they can submit it to the district collector, the chief minister said.

Sanguem BJP MLA Subhash Phal Dessai said the IIT campus in Goa will help in creating employment opportunities for locals.

Shares of Coal India rose nearly 2 per cent in the morning trade on Tuesday as the government is set to auction 10 coal blocks under commercial coal mining this week.

Shares of Coal India opened at Rs 233, then gained 1.64 per cent to Rs 235.30 apiece on BSE.

On NSE, the scrip opened at Rs 232.70 and climbed nearly 2 per cent to Rs 235.30.

The broader market was trading in the positive territory, with Nifty above the 18,000-level.

The government will auction 10 coal blocks under commercial coal mining this week as part of efforts to ramp up domestic coal output.

Eight mines will be auctioned under the fifth round of commercial coal mining on Tuesday while the remaining two blocks will be put on sale on Wednesday under the second attempt of the fourth round of commercial coal mine auction.

The mines to be put on sale include Sursa, Dahegaon/Makardhokra-IV, Basantpur, Bandha North, MarkiMangli-IV, Jitpur and Rampia.

Past few years scenario in Haryana reveals that few government employees including officers feel accepting bribe is a part of their duty as such large number of scams of value worth crores of rupees in important developmental projects in the state were exposed attracting headlines in newspapers in past couple of years especially at Ambala, Faridabad, Gurugram, Karnal, Jind and Panchkula at the time when state government was facing  spread of epidemic outbreak in the state and was busy in saving the lives of victims suffering from disease, whereas, on the other hand few corrupt government employees were busy in collecting bribe. There is a long list of such developmental projects in which corrupt government employees released payments to contractors and suppliers on the basis of fake bills without work done or receipt of material. According to information, several such developmental projects are yet incomplete due to shortage of funds allocated for these projects still hanging on fire as a result of handful of corrupt government employees.

Information reveals, large number of officers as well as staff involved in corrupt practices in past sometime are now on the radar of Quality Assurance Hammer introduced by ruling government in the state likely to recover bribe amount along with dividends from corrupt employees. Ruling government in the state presently focusing on this vital issue in which people in the state have been deprived of benefits and facilities due delayed projects as a result of a handful of corrupt employees in government offices. While talking to media persons Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khatter said that all such cases have been referred to Alok Mittal Chief CID Haryana and Shatrujit Kapoor Chief of State Vigilance Bureau to investigate frauds and push all those behind bars involved in corruption.  

Khatter on receipt of large number of complaints has announced a   Quality Assurance Committee at Gurugram to bring transparency in developmental engineering projects in different sectors including education, health, irrigation, PWD, construction of roads and transport announced in the state which will function under direct control of Haryana Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal to monitor entire functioning. He told that all government tenders as well as purchases will be made on line on a portal to bring transparency in procurements, avoid corruption as well as supply of sub-standard material. Khatter said, 174 developmental projects of value worth Rs 2000 crore have been announced recently in the state of September 4, 2022.

Sukhpreet Kaur wife of Sarbjit Singh killed in a fatal road accident here today at Village Fatehpur in the Amritsar district.

However Sukhpreet Kaur’s husband Sarbjit Singh died in Pakistan’s jail in 2013.

Police said that Sukhpreet Kaur was a pillion rider on a two-wheeler when she ‘accidentally’ fell from it. She was immediately shifted to hospital where she breathed her last. Her last rites will be performed on Tuesday at her native village Bhikhiwind falling in the Tarn Taran district nearly 45 kilometers from the city of Amritsar.

She was survived by two daughters Poonam and Swapandeep Kaur.

However, Dalbir Kaur, the sister of Sarabjit Singh died On June 26, 2022. She was 67.
Dalbir Kaur had hit the headlines when she led a vociferous campaign for the release of her brother from the Pakistan jail, where he had been lodged since 1991 after being accused of being involved in a string of bomb blasts in that country’s Punjab province.

Sarabjit Singh, 49, had died six days after an attack on him in Lahore prison by the inmates in April 2013. He was attacked by bricks and other sharp objects and had suffered injuries in his back and head and had gone into coma.

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) today expressed community’s resentment by holding protests outside offices of Deputy Commissioners (DC) in Punjab, demanding release of Bandi Singhs (Sikh political prisoners).

In these protests held at district headquarters, SGPC members and officials participated wearing black robes and shackles with representatives of several Panthic bodies.

In their addresses during protest outside DC office different speakers criticised discriminatory policy being adopted by Central and State Governments regarding release of Bandi Singhs and gave message of intensifying struggle if the Panthic (of Sikh community’s) voice is not heard.

In his address, SGPC President said that the country’s law is equal for everyone and Constitution also gives the right to equality, but sadly the governments are not doing justice in the issue of releasing Bandi Singhs.

He said that any crime has its prescribed punishment, which Bandi Singhs have completed. “But the governments are deliberately depriving the Sikh prisoners of their rights, who took steps due to circumstances of that time. Release of Bandi Singhs is an important issue of the Sikh panth and the struggle will be fought at all levels for this rightful demand. Therefore, even if sacrifice is required, we will not back down”, said he.

Talking about the outline of the future struggle, SGPC President said that the Sikh community will no longer remain silent and a signature campaign will be started soon under the next phase. He also appealed to the Panthic personalities and organisations working for the release of the Bandi Singhs to come together to struggle under leadership of Supreme Sikh body SGPC. On this occasion, SGPC President also highlighted the injustice being done to the minority Sikhs across the country and asked the Central Government to take necessary steps to stop the discrimination against the Sikhs.

The Supreme Court on Monday denied a petition of a man Mohammad Latief Magrey to hand over for burial the body of his son Amir Latief Magrey, who was killed in Hyderpora, in Srinagar last November.

A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala said once buried, the body should not be disturbed. The bench said that the Jammu and Kashmir administration has submitted that the deceased was buried with all honour.

While the court said it respected the sentiments of the father, the bench made it clear that it cannot decide matters on sentiments and the relief granted by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court was just and equitable.

According to the court, the J&K government must comply with the high court’s direction in relation to the compensation to the family and also allow them to offer prayers at the grave.