Residents of Haryana are getting another gift during this month from Prime Minister Narender Modi laying foundation stone for the third  Maruti-Suzuki plant in 900 acres area in IMT at Kharkhoda through Video conferencing on 28^th August in the presence of Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khatter and Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala. Earlier, Maruti Udyog is having two plants in the state at Manesar, Gurugram and a Research & Design Centre at Rohtak. Prime Minister had gifted Asias’s biggest Amrita Hospital at Faridabad to residents in state recently this month.

R.C. Bhargava, President Maruti Suzuki told that the company producing nearly 1.5 lakh cars every year in their existing plants at Manesar and Gurugram in the state now aims to produce nearly 2.5 lakh vehicles every year in its thirds plant at Kharkhoda on which investment worth over Rs Rs 20000 crore is being made is likely to start production after about two years. He told that company aims to increase production of vehicles in proposed plant at Kharkhoda gradually till reaches 10000 vehicles every year. He told that out of total 900 acres area there is a proposal to manufacture Suzuki motorcycles in 100 acre area.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khatter told media persons that impressed by the services and Haryana state government’s new industry policy Maruti Suzuki is going to install its third manufacturing plant in the state which will provide employment opportunities to large number of youths in the state under state government’s reservation policy to offer 75% jobs up to monthly salary Rs 30000 to youths belonging to Haryana state. Khatter said, Matuti Suzuki has invested Rs 2400 crore on purchase of land from state government at Kharkhoda and bring prosperity for people in the state.  

Delhi High Court Thursday refused to stay the Centre’s Agnipath Scheme for recruitment in the armed forces and asked the central government to file its reply on a batch of petitions challenging the scheme.

A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad granted four weeks to the Centre to file the response.

The court asked the Centre to file a consolidated reply on petitions challenging the scheme and separate replies on those pleas which have challenged the recruitment processes in accordance with the previous advertisements in the Army, Navy, and Air Force before the introduction of the Agnipath Scheme.

Counsel for one of the petitioners urged the court to stay the operation of the scheme till the petitions are decided.

The court, however, refused to stay the scheme saying that it was not passing any interim order and will hear the matter finally.

“We will not stay it. If you succeed you will get it,” the bench orally said.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for some other petitioners, said the court may say that the appointment through the Agnipath Scheme will be subject to the outcome of the writ petitions.

To this, the bench said, “it is always there”.

The Agnipath scheme, announced on June 14, provides for the recruitment of youths in the defence forces between the age of 17-and-a-half and 21 for only four years with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them for 15 more years. Protests had erupted in several states soon after the scheme was announced last month.

Later, the government extended the upper age limit to 23 years for recruitment under the scheme in 2022.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday reviewed the situation prevailing in Jammu and Kashmir, including the security arrangements along the border with Pakistan, officials said.

National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla and senior officials of the Centre and the Union Territory administration attended the meeting chaired by Shah.

The meeting discussed the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir, an official said.

The security review comes following attacks on security personnel, infiltration bids and killings in the Union Territory.

Three infiltrators were killed by security personnel along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Kamalkote sector of Uri on Thursday.

There have been at least three infiltration bids by terrorists from across the border in the last four days in Jammu and Kashmir.

A group of terrorists tried to infiltrate into the Indian territory in the Pallanwala sector of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday night. Alert troops fired at them, forcing them to retreat.

On August 21, soldiers deployed in the Jhangar sector of Rajouri’s Naushera spotted the movement of two to three terrorists on the Indian side of the LoC and challenged them, the officials said.

One of the terrorists tried to flee, but was injured in firing by the soldiers and captured alive. The two other terrorists managed to flee, the officials said.

On the intervening night of August 22 and 23, a group of two to three terrorists tried to infiltrate in the Lam sector of Naushera. As they moved ahead into minefields, a series of mines got activated and two ultras were killed on the spot.

Terrorists attacked an Army camp in Rajouri district on August 11, killing four soldiers. The two attackers were gunned down in a shootout after the pre-dawn suicide strike that marked the return of “fidayeen” attackers to Jammu and Kashmir after more than three years.

The government had informed Parliament that till last month, as many as 118 civilians, including five Kashmiri Pandits and 16 other Hindus and Sikhs, were killed in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution in 2019.

The killings of Kashmiri Pandits triggered protests by the members of the community, who demanded enhanced security and transfer of government employees to safer locations.

In May, four Hindu pilgrims were killed and at least 20 injured when their bus caught fire near Katra in Jammu. Police suspect a sticky bomb might have been used to trigger the fire.

Article 370, which gave a special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was abrogated on August 5, 2019 and the state was bifurcated into the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

BJP leader Sonali Phogat’s brother has filed a complaint with the Goa Police claiming that she was murdered by two of her associates.

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said the state police were conducting a detailed investigation into her death.

Considering the opinion of doctors and Goa Director General of Police (DGP) Jaspal Singh, it looks like she died due to a heart attack, Sawant told reporters.

However, Phogat’s brother Rinku Dhaka alleged that a short while before her death, Phogat had spoken to her mother, sister and brother-in-law. She sounded disturbed and complained against her two colleague, he added.

He also claimed that the CCTV cameras, laptop and other crucial things from her farmhouse in Haryana have gone missing after her death. Three years ago, one of her aides sexually assaulted her after spiking her food and later blackmailed her, her brother further alleged in the police complaint. No First Information Report (FIR) has been registered over his complaint yet.

Phogat (42), a BJP leader from Hisar in Haryana who had found fame on Tik Tok, was brought dead to the St Anthony Hospital at Anjuna in North Goa on Tuesday morning, police had said earlier, adding that she died of a suspected heart attack.

The Anjuna police have registered a case of unnatural death. Her family members arrived in Goa on Tuesday night.

Dhaka in his complaint filed with the Anjuna police claimed that two of Phogat’s associates murdered her in Goa.

We had asked her to stay away from them and return to Hisar the next day (after Phogat spoke to her mother), Dhaka told reporters outside the Anjuna police station.

He claimed the police have refused to register a First Information Report (FIR) against the two persons.

If the FIR is not filed against them, we will not allow the postmortem to be conducted in Goa, he said.

Dhaka said the family members would prefer the postmortem to be conducted at the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi or at AIIMS, Jaipur.

She was a BJP leader for last 15 years. We will also appeal to the prime minister to help us in getting justice for her, he said.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Sawant said he has been following up the matter with Director General of Police Jaspal Singh.

The Goa Police are conducting a detailed investigation into the case, he said.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Jivba Dalvi earlier said Phogat arrived in Goa on August 22 and was staying in a hotel in Anjuna area.

She was brought to the hospital from the hotel around 9 am on Tuesday, he said.

Phogat was brought to the St Anthony Hospital after she complained of uneasiness, DGP Singh told PTI on Tuesday.

Singh said there was no foul play in the case, even as Phogat’s family questioned the circumstances of her death and opposition parties in Haryana demanded a CBI probe.

There are no external injury marks on the body, the DGP said, adding that the postmortem report will reveal the exact cause of the death.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday demanded justice for Gujarat riots survivor Bilkis Bano and said the government has made its stand clear with its silence on the release of 11 people convicted in the 2002 case of her gangrape and murder of her seven family members.

The 11 convicts were released on August 15 under the Gujarat government’s remission policy after serving 15 years in jail.

“The government has made its stand clear (‘sarkar ne lakeer kheench li hai’) by keeping silent on on the release of 11 people convicted of rape, comments expressing welcome-support for them on camera,” Priyanka Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.

“But the women of the country have hope from the Constitution. The Constitution gives courage even to the woman standing in the last row to fight for justice. Give justice to Bilkis Bano,” the Congress general secretary said.

Her remarks came ahead of the Supreme Court hearing over a plea against the release of 11 convicts in the case. Bilkis Bano was gangraped in Gujarat’s Randhikpur village and seven members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter, killed on March 3, 2002 in the Gujarat riots that broke out after the Godhra train burning. she was 21 years old and five months pregnant at the time.

The convicts walked out of the Godhra sub-jail on August 15 after the Gujarat government allowed their release under its remission policy. They had completed more than 15 years in jail.

A special CBI court in Mumbai on January 21, 2008, sentenced the 11 to life imprisonment on charges of gangrape and murder. Their conviction was later upheld by the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said some of his MLAs have approached him alleging that they have been threatened and offered bribes to break the party and the AAP’s political affairs committee will meet on Wednesday to take stock of the situation.

A couple of days back, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia who is facing a CBI probe in connection with alleged corruption in the implementation of Excise Policy 2021-22, had claimed that he was offered the CM’s post by the BJP and a withdrawal of all cases, if he quit AAP.

“Some MLAs have approached me and told me that they have been threatened, offered bribes to break the party. This is a very serious matter. We will have a political affairs committee meeting over the issue at 4 pm today to take stock of the situation,” he told reporters.

AAP’s national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said the legislators — Ajay Dutt, Sanjeev Jha, Somnath Bharati and Kuldeep — have been approached by leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with whom they have “friendly relations”.

“They have been offered Rs 20 crore each if they join the party and Rs 25 crore if they bring other MLAs along with them,” Singh said.

Kejriwal was questioned about these claims at an event to flag off 97 electric buses.

On being questioned about the CBI raids, he said the probe and raids will continue till the Gujarat Assembly elections slated later this year.

Drones will not be allowed to fly in the “exclusion zone” of Supertech’s illegal twin towers when they will be demolished on August 28, officials said on Wednesday.

They added that drones will be allowed beyond the exclusion zone only on the basis of permission by the police.

The nearly-100 metre tall structures — taller than Delhi’s iconic Qutub Minar — in Noida’s Sector 93A would be razed to ground at 2.30 pm on Sunday.

While all residents of two adjoining societies — Emerald Court and ATS Village — would be evacuated, an exclusion zone has been marked around the twin towers where no person, vehicle or animal would be allowed during the demolition process, the officials said.

“The exclusion zone will include an area of 450 metres in front side of the twin towers overseeing a road and a city park. On the other sides of the towers, the exclusion zone will be till 250 metres, Gautam Buddh Nagar’s Deputy Commissioner of Police (Headquarters) Ram Badan Singh told PTI.

“The exclusion zone will be a ‘no fly zone’ for drones. However, drones could be used beyond the exclusion zone but for that a permission would be required from the local police well in advance, Singh said.

The exclusion zone also includes a patch of Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, where vehicular traffic would remain halted from 2.15 pm to 2.45 pm on August 28, he said.

The measures are being taken as safety precaution, according to officials, who said around 3,700 kilograms of explosives has been rigged into the skeletal structures of the twin towers for implosion.

The razing of the Apex and Ceyane towers would leave behind a whopping 35,000 cubic metres of debris — a large part of which would be accommodated in the basement of the towers while remaining would be moved out to an isolated location within Noida and processed scientifically, they said.

The demolition of Supertech’s twin towers in Noida’s Sector 93A comes in pursuance of a Supreme Court order that found the structures to be illegal and built in violation of norms.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said healthcare and spirituality are closely linked in India and the country’s COVID-19 vaccination drive is an example of a successful spiritual-private partnership.

Modi inaugurated a 2,600-bed private hospital here that is equipped with cutting-edge technology, including a centralised fully-automated laboratory, in what will be a major boost to healthcare infrastructure in the National Capital Region (NCR).

“India is a country where healthcare and spirituality are closely linked. COVID-19 is an example of a successful spiritual-private partnership that helped create awareness and implement the world’s largest vaccination drive.

“During the vaccination exercise, some people tried to contribute to bad publicity but when our spiritual leaders countered it, then people came forward and its impact was seen in the vaccination coverage too,” the prime minister said in his address.

“A combination of technology and modernisation will lead to the country’s progress in the healthcare sector. India is endeavouring to ensure that governments and others come forward to transform the health and education sectors on a mission mode,” he added.

The state-of-the-art Amrita Hospital, built on a sprawling 130-acre campus with sustainability in mind, has a dedicated seven-storey research block and has been constructed over a period of six years under the auspices of the Mata Amritanandamayi Math.

Spiritual leader Mata Amritanandamayi showered flower petals on Modi at the stage and the prime minister offered her a shawl.

“A few days ago, the country entered the Amrit Kaal with renewed energy. In this Amrit Kaal, the country’s collective efforts are getting institutionalised, its collective thoughts are getting awakened. I am happy that in the ‘pratham bela’ of this Amrit Kaal, the country is also getting the ‘amrit’ (elixir) of Mata Amritanandamayi’s blessings,” Modi said, drawing applause from the huge crowd at the venue.

Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya and Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar were also present at the event.

“Today, not just a hospital is being inaugurated, it is also a yagna to serve the poor. The hospital will take forward the Centre’s Swasth Bharat Mission forward,” Khattar said.

The new super-speciality hospital has opened with 500 beds and is expected to be fully operational in a phased manner over the next five years. Once fully operational, the hospital with 81 specialities is billed to be the largest private hospital in Delhi-NCR and the country, its officials had earlier said.

The hospital buildings will span 36 lakh sq. ft in built-up area, with a 14-floor tower housing key medical facilities. There is also a helipad on the rooftop.

The new mega hospital in Faridabad’s Sector 88, near the Delhi-Mathura road, has a built-up area of one crore sq. ft and the campus will also have a medical college. A dedicated seven-storey research block and eight centres of excellence, including on gastro-sciences, renal sciences, bone diseases and trauma, transplants, and mother and child care, are located on the campus. The hospital has patient-centric wards and OPDs and a hi-tech, fully-automated centralised laboratory.

Shares of NDTV jumped 5 % to hit their highest trading permissible limit for the day on Wednesday after Adani group launched a bid to take over the media company.

The stock climbed 5 per cent to Rs 384.50 — its upper circuit limit as well as 52-week high — on the BSE after begining the trade on a positive note.

At the NSE, it jumped 4.99 % to Rs 388.20 — its upper circuit limit as also the one-year peak.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 70.29 points lower at 58,961.01 points.

In a stunning move with the potential to change the media landscape, billionaire Gautam Adani has launched a hostile takeover of NDTV, first with an indirect acquisition of a 29.18 per cent stake in the broadcaster followed by an offer to buy out a further 26 per cent controlling stake.

The owners of New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV), one of the nation’s most popular news channels, said they were completely unaware of the takeover until Tuesday, and that it was done without their consent or any discussion.

India on Tuesday successfully test-fired Vertical Launch Short Range Surface-to-Air Missile (VL-SRSAM) from the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur off the Odisha coast here, officials said.

The VL-SRSAM was flight-tested by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Navy.

The flight test was carried out from an Indian naval ship against a high-speed unmanned aerial target for demonstration of vertical launch capability, DRDO sources said.

The missiles, equipped with indigenous radio frequency (RF) seeker, intercepted the target with high accuracy. The VL-SRSAM system has been indigenously designed and developed by DRDO.

“During the test launch, flight path and vehicle performance parameters were monitored using flight data, captured by various range instruments such as radar, electro-optical tracking system (EOTS) and telemetry systems deployed by ITR, Chandipur,” they said.

An official statement said that the launch was monitored by senior scientists from various DRDO laboratories involved in the design and development of the system such as Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), Research Centre Imarat (RCI), Hyderabad and R&D Engineers, Pune.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has complimented DRDO, Indian Navy and associated teams on the successful flight trial of VL-SRSAM and stated that the missile will prove to be a force multiplier for the Indian Navy.

Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman of DRDO, G Satheesh Reddy, congratulated the teams involved in the successful flight test and said that the trial has proved the effectiveness of the weapon system.

“It will further strengthen the Indian Navy for neutralising various aerial threats at close ranges including sea-skimming targets,” Reddy added.