Month: January 2022

Pakistan has started ceding important projects to Beijing as a way out to repay the mountain of debt arising out of Chinese loans as the Imran Khan government recently awarded the contract for the construction of 3,021 km of the strategic crude oil pipeline from Gwadar port in Pakistan to China’s Xinjiang, to a Chinese company, a media report in Islamabad said.

The principal company for the project is M/s China Zhenhua Import and Export Co Ltd. The company will not only finance the construction of the pipeline but also take away the profit generated from the operation of the pipeline. It is also learnt that the Pakistan government has agreed that all equity in the pipeline will be owned by China and agreed to grant a 20 years tax holiday for profit and income earned by the Chinese company from the crude oil pipeline, reported InsideOver.

Despite Beijing’s claims that the pipeline is for meeting the energy demands of Pakistan, it appears that the communist regime is itself planning to enhance Strategic Petroleum Reserve through the pipeline. It will help Beijing in reducing its crude oil import bills.

Beijing’s security personnel equipped with high precision weapons and equipment (unmanned reconnaissance and strike systems and air defence guidance equipment) will be deployed along the pipeline, as per the report.

Now Pakistan seems to have become weary of being identifying too closely with Beijing. Pakistani authorities were recently reluctant to agree to China’s and Iran’s request for endorsing the Joint Statement on the decision to be adopted in the forthcoming Conference of the States Parties (CSP) on Central Nervous System Acting Chemicals. This pipeline project is aimed to benefit China more in comparison to Pakistan, according to InsideOver. (ANI)

As many as 11 terrorists have been gunned down in Jammu and Kashmir in the new year so far, and most of them were top commanders of JeM and LeT, said IGP Kashmir, Vijay Kumar on Friday.

Earlier this morning, three terrorists were neutralized by security forces in the encounter that broke out late Thursday evening in Jammu and Kashmir’s Zolwa Kralpora Chadoora area of Budgam.

Speaking to ANI, IGP Kashmir said, “We had got the intel that three terrorists of the JeM are hiding. The Indian Army and the J&K police held the joint operation. The firing started. After that, the CRPF also joined the operation. The encounter went on for the whole night and three terrorists were neutralized in the morning today.”

“One of them has been identified as Waseem belonging to Srinagar City. He was involved in numerous civilians’ killings. The identification process of the remaining two terrorists is underway. Three AK 57 rifles have been recovered from them along with eight magazines and numerous documents which we are investigating,” he added.

Kumar informed that 11 terrorists have been killed so far this new year, most of them being the top commanders of terror outfits Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba.

“11 terrorists have been killed so far in this new year including the ones killed today. Most of them were the top commanders of JeM and LeT,” he said.

Asked about the “hit list” of the city terrorists that the security forces had prepared, the IGP informed that all of the terrorists on the list have been killed.

“All the terrorists who were mentioned in the list of city have been killed. A new terrorist has joined recently, we will soon neutralize him as well,” he said. (ANI)

India reported 1,17,100 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the daily positivity rate in the country to 7.74 per cent, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday.

With this, the country’s COVID-19 case tally has gone up to 3,52,26,386. According to Health Ministry, the country has so far reported 3,007 cases of Omicron of which 1,199 have been recovered.

Maharashtra accounts for the highest number of Omicron cases (876), followed by Delhi (465) and Karnataka (333).

The Ministry informed that India’s active caseload presently is at 3,71,363. It accounts for 1.05 per cent of the country’s total cases.

The weekly positivity rate is at 4.54 per cent, while the daily positivity rate is at 7.74 per cent.

With the recovery of 30,836 patients in the last 24 hours, the cumulative tally of COVID recovered patients, since the beginning of the pandemic, now stands at 3,43,71,845. The current recovery rate is at 97.57 per cent.

The country also reported 302 new fatalities in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 4,83,178.

India conducted 15,13,377 COVID-19 tests in the last 24 hours, and so far the country has conducted 68,68,19,128 tests as per the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) data.

India has administered a total of 149.66 crore vaccine doses so far under Nationwide Vaccination Drive.

The COVID vaccination drive began on January 16, 2021. Cumulatively, 1,49,66,81,156 people have been vaccinated so far in the country of which 94,47,056 were administered vaccines in the last 24 hours. (ANI)

The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the validity of the Other Backward Class (OBC) reservation in the All-India Quota (AIQ) seats in NEET-PG and NEET-UG.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court also issued various operative directions to commence the process of Counselling for NEET-PG 2021 and NEET- UG 2021.
A Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna said, “The validity of the OBC

reservation in the AIQ seats in NEET-PG and NEET-UG is upheld for reasons to follow.”

In the meantime, the apex court observed that there is an urgent need to commence the process of Counselling and henceforth, it had issued various operative directions at this stage and given a green signal to NEET-PG Counselling for 2021-2022 based on existing EWS/OBC reservation criteria.

Among them, one direction is that “Counselling on the basis of NEET-PG 2021 and NEET- UG 2021 shall be conducted by giving effect to the reservation as provided by the notice dated 29 July 2021, including the 27 per cent reservation for the OBC category and 10 per cent reservation for EWS category in the AIQ seats”.

The top court also accepted the recommendation of the Pandey Committee that the criteria which have been stipulated in 2019 be used for 2021-2022 in order to ensure that the admission process is not dislocated.

Besides this, the top court also directed that the criteria for the determination of the EWS notified by OM 2019 shall be used for identifying the EWS category for candidates who appeared for the NEET-PG 2021 and NEET-UG 2021examinations.

The Court said for the Economically Backward Class (EWS) category, the 10 per cent criteria, which have notified earlier shall continue to operate for this year so that the admissions process shall not be dislocated for the current academic year.

The validity of the criteria determined by the Pandey Committee for identification of EWS would prospectively for the future be subject to the final result of the petitions, the top court said and listed for final hearing on the validity of the EWS criteria as recommended by the Pandey Committee in the third week of March 2022.

The petitions were taken up by the Supreme Court for urgent hearing on 5 January 2022 after a request was made by the Solicitor General. Central Government submitted that the OBC and EWS reservation (with the old criteria according to OM 2019) be allowed to be implemented for the current admission year of 2021.

Mentioning that the submissions made before this Court over a span of two days necessitate a detailed interim order on the applicability of the EWS criteria as notified by OM 2019 for NEET-PG 2021. However, the Court clarified that the formulation of the reasons in the interim order on the EWS reservation would take some time.

The Central Government had filed an affidavit justifying the EWS criteria on 26 October 2021 stating that the criteria were adopted after due deliberation within the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and all the concerned stakeholders.

On November 25, 2021, this Court was informed by the Solicitor General that the Union Government has taken a considered decision to revisit the criteria for determining the EWS and requested four weeks to complete this exercise, which was acceded to by this Court. The Central Government formed a Committee on 30 November 2021 to review the criteria for identifying EWS. The Committee submitted its report on 31 December 2021. Thereafter, the Union Government filed an affidavit before this Court accepting the recommendations of the Committee including the recommendation that the existing criteria for identifying EWS be retained for the present admission year 2021-2022.

The Court has earlier reserved its order on pleas relating to providing 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Class (OBC) and 10 per cent for Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category in the All-India Quota (AIQ) seats for the admission in the NEET for all medical seats.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the Centre has contended that any revised criteria should be made applicable prospectively and the present counselling and admission should be held as per the existing criteria.

The government has also defended the OBC reservation as well as the Rs 8 lakh income criterion for determining EWS.

Senior advocates Arvind Datar and Shyam Divan appeared in the court on behalf of some of the candidates.

On Wednesday, the Centre requested the top court to allow commencement of the counselling for NEET-PG saying doctors concerns for counselling is genuine. Resident doctors have been protesting against the delay in the NEET-PG counselling.

Earlier, the apex court had asked the Centre to put on hold the counselling for NEET-PG until it decides the validity of the Centre’s decision to introduce OBC and EWS reservation in All India Quota (AIQ). It had said that NEET-PG counselling will not start without its approval as the court is examining a plea against the Centre’s decision for medical admission.

On December 31, the Centre filed an affidavit stating that it has decided to stick to the existing criteria of Rs 8 lakh annual income limit for determination of 10 per cent EWS reservation with respect to the ongoing admissions to the NEET postgraduate courses.

The Centre had informed the apex court that an expert committee constituted by the government to reassess the criteria, suggested that the existing criteria may be continued for ongoing admissions while the revised criteria suggested by the Committee may be adopted from the next admission cycle.

Changing the EWS criteria midway will lead to complications, the Committee had opined while recommending the introduction of revised EWS criteria

from the next academic year.

The affidavit stated, “The Central government has decided to accept the recommendations of the Committee including the recommendation of applying the new criteria prospectively.”

The three-member committee was constituted by the Centre after the apex court had expressed serious reservations about whether any study was conducted at all before fixing the Rs 8 lakh limit for determining EWS.

The top court was hearing a batch of pleas challenging the Centre and Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) July 29, 2021 notice providing 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Class (OBC) and 10 per cent for Economic Weaker Sections (EWS) category for the admission in the NEET for all medical seats.

The July 29 notice provide 27 per cent reservation for OBC and 10 per cent for the EWS category in 15 per cent UG and 50 per cent PG All India Quota (AQI) seats (MBBS/BDS and MD/MS/MDS) with effect from the current academic session 2021-22.

On October 21, the Bench had asked the Centre whether it would like to revisit the limit of Rs 8 lakh annual income, fixed for determining the EWS category for reservation in NEET admissions for medical courses.

It had asked the Centre whether any exercise was undertaken before fixing a limit of Rs 8 lakh annual income for determining the EWS category. (ANI)

Actor Nora Fatehi on Friday said that she has recovered from COVID-19.

“Hey guys! I have finally tested negative. Thank you for all your prayers and lovely messages. It’s been rough,” she wrote on Instagram Story. Nora will now focus on reviving her strength.

“I am gonna continue to work on getting my strength and energy back so I can kick a** this year. In the mean time stay safe guys,” she added.

Nora had contracted the deadly virus in December. She had taken to social media to update her fans about the same.

“Hey guys, unfortunately I am currently battling COVID… It has honestly hit me real hard!. I’ve been bedridden for a few days now under doctor supervision. Please stay safe guys, wear your masks, it’s spreading fast and can affect everyone differently,” she had earlier posted.

On the work front, Nora was recently seen in Guru Randhawa’s music video ‘Dance Meri Rani’. (ANI)

After facing huge backlash for spitting on a woman’s head during one of his seminars in Uttar Pradesh, ace hairstylist Jawed Habib has now apologised for his act.

Jawed issued an apology statement through a video message, in which he stated that he spitted just to make the seminar “humourous”.

“I just want to say one thing these are professional workshops, as in, they are attended by people from within our profession. When these sessions get very long, we have to make them humorous. What can I say? If you are truly hurt, I apologise from the bottom of my heart. Please forgive me, I am sorry,” Jawed can be heard saying in the video.

For the unversed, on Thursday, a video went viral in which Jawed was seen using his spit to style the woman’s hair. Here is the controversial clip

In the clip, the woman is seen sitting on the stage on a salon chair while Jawed prepares to cut her hair while giving her hair tips. He says,”Baal gande hain. Kyun gande hain? Kyunki shampoo ka istemaal nahi hua hai (Hair are dirty. Why are they dirty? Because shampoo has not been used).”

He also said that if there is scarcity of water then spit can be used, saying which he spits on the woman’s head. He justifies his act by saying,”is thook mein jaan hai (this spit has life).”

Meanwhile, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has sought action against Jawed. (ANI)

An under trial prisoner at Tihar jail swallowed a cell phone when the jail staff was approaching for search on suspicion, DG (Prison)Sandeep Goel told ANI on Friday.

“On January 5, one inmate of Jail no.1, Tihar swallowed a mobile phone when our staff approached him for search on suspicion,” said the jail official.

“He was sent to DDU hospital. Though his condition is fine so far, but mobile is still inside,” added Goel. (ANI)

The government has been monitoring closely “Beijing’s building of a bridge” in border areas that have been under illegal occupation of China for around 60 years now and New Delhi is taking all necessary steps to ensure that its security interests are fully protected, said the Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday.

“The Government has been monitoring this activity closely. This bridge is being constructed in areas that have been under illegal occupation by China for around 60 years now,” said the Ministry of External Affairs’ spokesperson Arindam Bagchi when asked about India’s position over the bridge being built by China near Pangong Tso. “As you are well aware India has never accepted such illegal occupation,” he added.

“Separately, the government has been taking all necessary steps to ensure that our security interests are fully protected,” the spokesperson emphasised.

Bagchi further stressed that as part of these efforts, the government has also, in the last seven years, increased significantly the budget for the development of border infrastructure and completed more roads and bridges than ever before.

These have provided much-needed connectivity to the local population as well as provided logistical support to armed forces, said Bagchi, adding that the government remains committed to this objective.

With regard to the reports of the Chinese side renaming some of the places in Arunachal Pradesh last week, Bagchi said, “We had at that time conveyed our issues on such ridiculous exercise to support untenable territorial claims. Calling Tutin as Tawdang or river Xiaong as Chimu or even kibitz as Dawa does not alter the fact that Arunachal Pradesh has always been and will always be an inalienable part of India.”

“We hope that instead of engaging in such antics, China will work constructively with us to resolve the outstanding frictious points in areas along with the Western Sector of the Line of Actual Control in India-China border areas,” he added.

With regard to the reports of unfurling of Chinese flags by PLA allegedly in the Galwan area, Bagchi said that these media reports are not factually correct. “Various Indian media outlets have released photographs contradicting the claims. SO I really much have to say much on that,” he added. (ANI)

Aam Aadmi Party has canceled its election rallies which were scheduled to be held in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh on January 8, 9, and 10 owing to a rise in COVID-19 cases across the country.

This information holds importance ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections that are scheduled to be held this year. The official statement of the party said, “Aam Aadmi Party has canceled its election rallies and meetings in Uttar Pradesh in view of rising COVID-19 cases.

Moreover, Kejriwal’s public meeting that was scheduled to be held in Banaras on January 8 will be held virtually. AAP MP Sanjay Singh will address the public meeting online, the statement said.

Proposed Aam Aadmi Party’s public meeting on January 9 in Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, and January 10 in Jewar, Noida stands postponed at the moment. The next date of these public meetings has not been announced yet.

The Aam Aadmi Party issued a statement saying that due to a sudden surge in COVID-19 cases, the party has postponed the proposed large rallies and public meetings in various districts of Uttar Pradesh. At present, no major rally or public meeting will be organized by the party till the situation becomes normal. Till then, the party will hold virtual public meetings.

On January 4, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal tweeted that he has tested positive for COVID-19 and has isolated himself at home. The Delhi Chief Minister said he had “mild symptoms”. (ANI)