Congress CMs can breathe easy as Punjab, G23 occupy core focus

The unexpected crisis in its Punjab unit wrought by the leadership’s choice Navjot Sidhu and the renewed G23 aggression are likely to provide relief to Congress incumbents in the two other party-ruled states which have been rocked by demands for change in recent months. The twin events have created enough disturbance within Congress, that many believe is likely to dampen the leadership’s appetite for experiments.

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Six turncoat MLAs put Congress in a spot in Rajasthan

Amid the pangs of its Punjab headache, Rajasthan has raised its hand to present Congress with a new problem to solve. Four of the six BSP-turned-Congress legislators from the desert state on Thursday reached New Delhi to seek "legal and political" support to save their places in the face of a Supreme Court petition challenging their assembly membership under the anti-defection law.

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After agri boost, monsoon set to withdraw from Oct 6

The four-month summer monsoon, which ended as a ‘normal’ rainy season on Thursday and is set to withdraw from October 6, leaves India’s agriculture on a good footing with the levels of soil moisture sufficient to support the rabi or winter crop at a time when the economy is still recovering from Covid.

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HC frowns on trial judge over quizzing of rape survivor

The Bombay high court has upheld the life term handed to three men for a 2010 gang rape of a young woman who “innocently took a lift from a man in a car’’ in Pune. However, it frowned on the trial court judge and public prosecutor for allowing the defence to put unnecessary questions to her involving graphic details during cross-examination.

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Road blockade by farmers inconveniencing commuters: SC

The Supreme Court on Thursday cited its own ruling that barred protesters from blocking public roads and said farmers’ grievances could be addressed either by Parliament or judiciary but they cannot be seen to cause harassment to commuters through sit-in dharnas on highways, hindering traffic to and from Delhi to neighbouring Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

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BKU Charuni threatens stir if paddy procurement doesn’t start today

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Congress crisis peaks as Capt says will quit party, senior leaders back Sibal

The crisis in Congress escalated on Thursday with former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh saying he will quit Congress soon, and senior leader P Chidambaram joining veteran partymen Ghulam Nabi Azad, B S Hooda and Anand Sharma to criticise protests by a group of workers outside ‘G23’ leader and former Union minister Kapil Sibal’s house.​

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Attack on minorities: Sikh hakim shot inside his Peshawar shop

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69% adults have got at least one jab, 25% fully vaccinated: Govt

As many as 31 states and UTs have covered more than 60% of their adult population above 18 with at least one dose of Covid vaccines and 25% of this cohort has received the full two doses. Overall, 69% of the total adult population of the country has received at least one dose of vaccine. As a share of the entire population, the coverage works out to 46% and India has administered 889 million shots.

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RSS chief in Jammu on 4-day visit

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) national president Mohan Bhagwat arrived in Jammu on a four-day visit on Thursday. This is the first visit of Bhagwat to J&K after the removal of the special status of the erstwhile state on August 5, 2019. An RSS official in a statement said, "During his stay at Jammu, Dr Bhagwat will meet various sections of society, hold deliberations and also discuss the situation post-Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir."

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Sikh Unani physician killed in Peshawar

Unknown gunmen shot dead a Unani physician belonging to the Sikh community in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar on Thursday, triggering panic among the tiny minority community in the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Sikhs have demanded that the Pakistan government ensure their security and rein in the elements targeting them.

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21 absconders arrested by Reasi Police in one month

Reasi Police on Thursday claimed to have arrested 21 criminals in one month, who had been evading arrests for long, including five surrendered terrorists who later turned absconders. Reasi SSP Shailender Singh said, "In another round of chase, raids and searches, multiple police teams arrested 21 more absconders evading arrests and executed 35 warrants in the last four weeks."

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Good summer monsoon and prediction of normal winter rains raise hope for record output in 2021-22 crop year

The four-month summer monsoon ended as ‘normal’ rainy season on Thursday by bridging the earlier deficit and its withdrawal from northwest India will start from October 6 - the second most delayed withdrawal after 1960, said India Meteorological Department (IMD) while predicting ‘normal’ winter (October-December) monsoon rainfall that occurs in south Peninsular India.

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Unitech Group case: ED attaches 29 land parcels valued Rs 30 crore

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday attached 29 land parcels admeasuring 13,600 square meters having book value of Rs 30.29 crore in relation to the investigation being conducted against Unitech Group. The land parcels are situated in sectors 96-98 in Uttar Pradesh's Noida. These land parcels were illegally allotted to Carnoustie Management (India) Pvt Ltd (CMPL) by Chandras of Unitech Group, the ED said on Thursday.

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Maharashtra DGP, Chief Secretary called by CBI in corruption probe against Anil Deshmukh

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Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan meets PM Modi, discusses development issues

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Time has come to expand social security in Rajasthan: Gehlot

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BJP drafts OBC outreach package; to hold over 200 caste specific rallies

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Citing high moisture content, Centre asks Punjab, Haryana to postpone paddy procurement till Oct 11

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Sidhu undermining Punjab CM's authority: Amarinder

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Sidhu likely to stay as Punjab Congress chief, coordination panel to be formed: Top developments

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India hits out at China; rejects fresh allegations against it over eastern Ladakh row

India hit out at China on Thursday for once again holding it responsible for the eastern Ladakh standoff, asserting that the "provocative" behaviour and "unilateral" attempts by the Chinese military to alter the status quo resulted in a serious disturbance of peace and tranquillity in the region.

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Committed to nuke-free world, reiterates India

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Quad benefit: Modi, Biden cement plan to jointly monitor space objects

India and the US have concretised a plan to expand their partnership in the space sector by deciding to work on an agreement on space situational awareness (SSA) during the first in-person bilateral meeting between PM Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden recently on the sidelines of the Quad summit.

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HC: No legal bar on minors getting ‘sanyasa deeksha’

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Baghel loyalists land in Delhi, crisis in state flares up again

Amid the frantic firefighting in Punjab, Congress found itself dragged into the Chhattisgarh power struggle on Wednesday when around 15 party MLAs — loyalists of CM Bhupesh Baghel — landed in Delhi in the evening, apparently to lobby against any change of guard in the state.

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J&K delimitation process hits roadblock

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Congress headless, no one knows who’s taking decisions: Sibal

Amid growing defections from the party and the chaos in the Punjab unit, Congress veteran and G-23 leader Ghulam Nabi Azad has asked the leadership to convene a meeting of the Congress Working Committee.

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Loyalists target Sibal, G-23, accuse them of betrayal

The turmoil in Punjab Congress and the G-23 offensive against the leadership has triggered a bitter war of words, with Congress leaders slamming Kapil Sibal and some others for raising concerns about “instability in Punjab”. Former MP and Delhi leader Ajay Maken said, “Sonia Gandhi had ensured that Sibal became a minister at the Centre despite not having an organisational background. Everyone in the party is being heard. Want to tell Sibal and others that they shouldn’t degrade the organization that gave them an identity.”

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‘We’re G23, not Ji Huzoor’: Congress infighting out in open

Congress veteran and ‘G23’ leader Ghulam Nabi Azad has asked the party brass to convene a CWC meeting to discuss the problems in Punjab. Another ‘G23’ leader, Kapil Sibal, said the party was “headless” and no one knew who was taking decisions. ​​Leaders close to “them” (leadership) have left the party, while “we” (G23) are standing by them, he added. Suggesting they were loyal but not blind, Sibal said, “We are G23, not Ji Huzoor 23”.

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Amarinder meets Shah, stokes buzz of move ahead of Punjab polls

Former Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday called on Union home minister Amit Shah at the latter’s residence here. The two leaders had a meeting of over 50 minutes, boosting speculation about the Congress leader either joining BJP or allying with it for the Punjab polls.

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Chronic mudslingers can't escape contempt through apology: SC

The Supreme Court on Wednesday warned that chronic mudslingers taking potshots at the judiciary and judges cannot escape the rigour of punishment under the contempt of court law by tendering an apology, which is not borne out of remorse but is an attempt to save their skin when caught in an inescapable situation.

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Govt to list ECGC, infuse Rs 6k cr capital

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8k genetic testing can assess heart disease risk

More people are now undergoing a one-off genetic test costing Rs 8,000 to assess if they are born with a predisposition to heart diseases. The genomic risk score, also called polygenic score, currently prescribed for high-risk individuals — with family history of heart diseases, uncontrolled diabetes, hypertension or cholesterol levels — helps doctors assess risk, prevent or delay heart diseases, said senior cardiologist Dr S Ajit Mullasari at the Madras Medical Mission.

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6 firecracker giants face SC ire over chemicals use

Ahead of Diwali, six big firecracker manufacturers on Wednesday faced the ire of the Supreme Court, which asked them to explain why contempt of court proceedings be not initiated against them for using the banned chemical barium and its salts in producing crackers.

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Mundra port drug haul: DRI nabs head of Afghan cartel in country from Shimla

A fortnight after the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence seized 3,000 kg of Afghan heroin worth approximately Rs 21,000 crore from two containers at Mundra port in Gujarat, DRI’s Lucknow and Noida units in a joint operation arrested the head of the drug cartel in India from Shimla.

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SC seeks Tirupati response on ritual ‘irregularities’

The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought response from Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) to a year-and-half old complaint by a devotee of Lord Balaji that irregularities have crept into the daily “puja and archana” in the temple causing consternation among devotees of the principal deity.​

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HC: Breastfeeding inalienable constitutional right of a mom

Breastfeeding is an inalienable constitutional right of a lactating mother and the right of the infant needs to be assimilated with the mother’s right, the Karnataka high court observed on Wednesday. It was disposing a batch of petitions filed by the biological mother and foster parents of a toddler.

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Pre-primary kids to get midday meals too

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday scaled up the national mid-day meal scheme as ‘PM-POSHAN’ which will also cover students of ‘Balvatikas’ (pre-primary classes) and provide hot cooked meals to students of elementary classes in government and aided schools.

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India set to take part in SCO anti-terror exercise in Pakistan

India is likely to send a three-member team to participate in a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) anti-terror exercise in Pakistan next week, TOI has learnt. The Pabbi anti-terror Exercise 2021 is being held at Pabbi in Pakistan’s Nowshera district from October 3 under the aegis of SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) which seeks to promote counter-terrorism cooperation between SCO member-states.

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BSF IG N S Jamwal promoted to ADG rank

BSF inspector general (Jammu frontier) N S Jamwal on Wednesday was promoted to the rank of additional director general (ADG) and posted to the prestigious Western Command in Chandigarh. Jamwal, a native of Jammu, has 37 years of professional experience working in different fields.

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Second wettest Sept in 27 years bridges monsoon deficit

Above-normal rainfall this month, which turned out to be the second wettest September in the past 27 years, has almost bridged the deficit of the monsoon season with the cumulative rainfall showing the gap to be narrowed down from 9% on August 31 to merely 1% on Wednesday, indicating the four-month season may finally be logged as ‘near normal’ monsoon.

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Sidhu blames choice of new AG, ‘tainted’ ministers for quitting

The curious case of Navjot Singh Sidhu’s resignation as Punjab PCC chief within 10 days of his bête noire Amarinder Singh’s exit as CM unravelled on Wednesday when he declared the new-look Congress government’s choice of advocate general and the re-entry of “tainted” ministers into the restructured cabinet forced his hand.

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Farooq Abdullah mysteriously drops off Zoom call whilst addressing Hindus for Labour event

Jammu and Kashmir National Conference president and former chief minister Dr Farooq Abdullah was due to address the Hindus for Labour event at the Hilton Hotel, Brighton, via video link on Wednesday as its keynote speaker. TOI has seen a letter from him confirming he would address the conference.

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Kids snatched at 15 comprise 70% of Naxal cadre: Survey

Over 70% Maoist cadres are forcibly recruited as children without the consent of their parents. They are mostly roped in at 15 and given a gun at 17, says a ‘survey’ conducted by Bastar police among surrendered Maoists. The ‘recruited’ kids are not allowed to go home for years, some never, not even if any of their parents dies, say police.

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Adani loses out to Gujarat Gas on city gas distribution network

The Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out Adani Gas Ltd’s challenge to the decision of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) to award the city natural gas distribution (CGD) network for Sanand, Bavla and Dholka in Gujarat to Gujarat Gas.

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SC admits West Bengal's appeal against CBI probe into post-poll violence

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said the West Bengal government has made out a case for entertaining its appeal challenging a Calcutta high court order directing CBI and SIT probe into post-poll violence in May after Trinamool Congress, led by Mamata Banerjee, romped home in the assembly elections with a massive mandate.

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Bombay HC fines co Rs 25 lakh for ‘wasting court’s time’

To ensure that those approaching courts in commercial disputes “understand that courts are not playgrounds, and litigation is not a pastime,” the Bombay HC recently directed a private company to pay Rs 25 lakh to a party against whom it was seeking orders.

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Govt’s online job exchange for elderly to start on Oct 1

Come October 1, senior citizens seeking work opportunities will be able to register themselves on a first-of-its-kind dedicated employment exchange portal for the elderly. The ‘Senior Able Citizens for Re-Employment in Dignity (Sacred)’ portal, being steered by the ministry of social justice and empowerment (MoSJ&E), will enable “virtual matching” of employable elderly of 60 years and above with employers who come forward and register on the platform.

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Most women in managerial posts in Northeast, AP & Punjab

The north-eastern states generally have the highest ratio of female workers in managerial positions, with Meghalaya topping the chart with 34.1%, followed by Sikkim and Mizoram, according to the annual bulletin of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS).​

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Builder has to compensate RWA for handing over unfinished project: SC

Builders cannot get away by handing over maintenance and administration of a housing society to the residents’ welfare association if the project remains unfinished without all infrastructure and facilities promised to the homebuyers and will need to compensate the RWAs, the Supreme Court said.​

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Gandhi siblings left red-faced amid efforts to rejig Congress

After the central leadership completely owned the Punjab restructuring and felt it had settled the chaotic unit, the surprise resignation by state president Navjot Singh Sidhu caught everyone by surprise and threatened to destabilise its stronghold and cast the Gandhi leadership in poor light.

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Charanjit Singh Channi defends decision to appoint Deol as AG

Hours before Navjot Singh Sidhu quit from the post of Punjab Congress president, chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Tuesday defended his decision to appoint senior advocate A P S Deol as new advocate general (AG) of the state.​

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Sidhu not a stable man, resignation sheer drama: Amarinder Singh

Former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said Navjot Sidhu’s resignation as PPCC chief within two months of taking over the vital post had proved beyond doubt that the cricketer turned politician was an “unstable” man, who could not be relied upon to lead the ruling party, especially in a border state like Punjab.

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Congress to retire Kerala old warhorses?

It’s a season of open discontent in the Kerala unit of Congress but those in the know say that it is not likely to extend beyond a lot of sound and some fury. Reason: The Congress high command in Delhi wants the old guard sidelined and rampant factionalism neutralised, and to that purpose it will be willing to put up with KPCC president K Sudhakaran’s rather brash and authoritarian style of functioning.​

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Kerala Congress leaders defer Delhi visit, Rahul in state today

The discussion between the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) and the Kerala Congress leadership on the appointment of new KPCC office-bearers, scheduled to be held in New Delhi, was postponed on Tuesday. KPCC chief K Sudhakaran and opposition leader VD Satheesan were supposed to reach New Delhi on Wednesday for discussions but have deferred their travel plans.

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PM releases 35 new crops with ‘special traits’

Seeking to address the twin challenges of climate change and malnutrition, PM Narendra Modi on Tuesday released 35 new indigenously-developed crop varieties with special traits like drought tolerant, disease resistant and biofortified food crops with higher nutrient content such as protein, iron and zinc.

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Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi hands out portfolios, keeps 14 depts with himself

Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi in his first portfolio allocation on Tuesday kept 14 departments with him — including the key responsibilities of vigilance, power and mining. The allocation, which Congress sources said was vetted by Rahul Gandhi, saw the seven new faces in the reconstituted cabinet being given charge of key departments.

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Month after month, Covaxin missing production target

Homegrown Covaxin was to play a major role in vaccination against Covid-19. But eight months after the vaccination drive began, only one in 11 Indians has managed to get the first indigenous vaccine. Bharat Biotech, which manufactures it, has failed to ramp up production at the pace it had envisaged.

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Switchover buzz as Captain Amarinder Singh in Delhi to meet ‘friends’

Former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh arrived in Delhi on Tuesday amidst an intense buzz over a meeting with the BJP brass that might be a precursor to an alliance, even as his visit was termed as a personal one to meet “friends”.

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