Author: LokMarg

Independent MLA from Rayagada, Makaranda Muduli on Tuesday extended his support to NDA’s Presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu after Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik urged him to support the ‘Daughter of Odisha’.

The independent MLA from Rayagada met CM Naveen Patnaik today, according to an official statement by Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).
During the meeting with Muduli, CM Patnaik requested him to support Murmu stating that she is a daughter of Odisha and pride of the state and every Odia is proud of her.”

Patnaik also said, “I reiterate my appeal to all the members to ensure every vote in her favor.”

Meanwhile, CM Patnaik also talked to Odisha Congress legislature party leader Narasingha Mishra and requested support for Murmu. Biju Janta Dal Organizational Secretary Pranab Prakash Das also met Narasingha Mishra on the directions of CM Patnaik.

Dash informed that BJD chief and CM Patnaik have directed all senior vice presidents of the party and ministers to approach Congress State President and MLAs along with CPIM MLA Laxman Munda.

National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu and joint opposition nominee Yashwant Sinha are the only two contesting candidates for election to the Office of the President.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday lauded the candidature of the NDA presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu and called it historic on the second day of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) national executive meeting in Hyderabad. (ANI)

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s coalition partners – Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) on Tuesday voiced concern over the increasing role of country’s premier spy agency ISI on civilian affairs.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif granted the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) status of a Special Vetting Agency (SVA), thus empowering it to conduct verification and screening of all government officers before their induction, appointments and postings, as well as promotions.
Some members belonging to allied parties even criticised the prime minister for not taking the coalition partners and parliament into confidence, vowing to take the matter to the court, reported The Express Tribune.

They quipped that the premier should also consider including politicians in the notification as “most of the traitors” were there.

“This has been done behind the back of coalition partners and parliament,” Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) General-Secretary Farhatullah Babar said, asking why the decision was taken as it is not a single-party government.

In a tweet, Babar said that the decision must be unacceptable to many coalition partners, and they must protest to reverse it, adding that unilateral alteration in civil service rules must be challenged, reported The Express Tribune.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) former information minister Pervaiz Rashid also questioned the move in a tweet, saying that if the task of investigating civilian officers was included in ISI’s responsibilities, then the premier spy agency should also be placed under civilian control and be accountable to the parliament.

PPP Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar chided the premier on tasking the intelligence agency to vet government officers by “requesting” that PM Shehbaz include all public office holders in the notification at once. “Why discriminate against politicians?” Khokhar asked, adding that “after all, traitors are more common in our ranks”.

Similarly, PPP’s former chairman Senator Mian Raza Rabbani also said that the notification issued by the federal government, declaring the ISI as the SVA, was “surprising”, reported The Express Tribune.

“The verification and screening of all civil servants before their induction, appointments, postings and promotions by the SVA amount to ceding civilian space,” Rabbani said.

Besides, he added, the civil servants were already working under the pressure of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) law.

An official of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) said that the decision was surprising for the party too as no discussion had taken place in the party meetings on the issue.

With the special status and powers, some bureaucrats said, the spy agency would keep an eye on the moral and financial affairs of the government officers and would submit details to the promotion boards, especially the high-powered board and Central Selection Board (CSB).

The political set-up in Pakistan has been military-driven for ages and it is also perceived in Pakistan that politicians need the military’s backing to come to power, however, after the newest reform, many now fear that bureaucrats could also need the same support for their appointment and postings.

The move has placed the verification and screening of government officials in charge of postings, appointments, and promotions in ISI hands, leading to concerns of a shrunken civilian space.

The recent reform issued by PM Shehbaz Sharif has raised fears about the military increasing its control over the country’s public life. (ANI)

The Indian Navy requires fighter jets for its aircraft carrier operations for which it has carried out trials of the French Rafale and American F-18 aircraft.

In a press conference on indigenisation in the Navy, the Navy Vice Chief Admiral SN Ghormade said trials of the American and French aircraft have been done to know their capability for aircraft carrier operations.
“Trials of Rafale and Boeing F-18 have done to prove their capability of operating from aircraft carriers. Our aim is indigenisation. We have a Twin Engine Deck Based Fighter (TEDBF) aircraft plan but it will take some time. By the time that indigenous project takes place, we are looking at buying aircraft from foreign sources under Inter-Governmental Agreement,” he said.

The Twin Engine Deck Based Fighter (TEDBF) is a developmental programme of the Defence Research and Development Organisation and it would be the advanced version of the Naval Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Tejas.

The Navy had earlier plans of buying 57 fighters under the plan to buy aircraft from foreign sources but now that requirement has been cut down by more than half.

Answering a query on by when the Indian Navy would be able to make conventional submarines on its own, the Navy Chief said, “We want to encourage indigenisation here. The idea is that we develop some capabilities here and build capabilities for indigenisation for the future.”

“We are continuing with Project 75 India,” Ghormade said on the current status of Project 75 India.

Indian Navy has plans of building six modern conventional submarines under Project 75 India, a Rs 60,000 crore project. (ANI)

The army recruitment rally for hiring the Agniveers under the Agnipath scheme will begin in 11 districts of Tamil Nadu, informed the officials on Tuesday.

“The rally is being held for enrolment of Agniveer General Duty, Agniveer Technical, Agniveer Tradesman 10th pass, Agniveer Tradesman 8th pass and Agniveer Clerk/ Store Keeper Technical categories/ entries in the Army,” read an official statement.
The online registrations are compulsory and will begin on July 5 and will continue till August 3. The candidates can complete the online registration on the official website: joinindianarmy.nic.in.

The Recruitment Rally is scheduled to be held at Public Matric Higher Secondary School, Avinashi, Tiruppur (District) from September 20 to October 1, 2022, for volunteer male candidates from 11 districts including Coimbatore, Dindigul, Dharmapuri, Erode, Madurai, Namakkal, The Nilgiris, Salem, Theni, Krishnagiri and Tiruppur.

The details of age, education qualification and other criteria for enrolment in the specified categories in the Army are given in the Rally Notification published by Army Recruiting Office, Coimbatore dated July 4, 2022.

The rally will be held by the Army Recruiting Office, Coimbatore under the aegis of HQ Recruiting Zone, Chennai.

The “transformative” Agnipath scheme, announced by Union Minister Rajanath Singh on June 14, in the presence of the three service chiefs provides for the recruitment of into the armed services of youths in the age bracket of 17-and-a-half-years to 21 for only four years with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them for 15 more years. The Centre later extended the upper age limit to 23 years for recruitment in 2022.

The Union Cabinet also approved the Agnipath scheme on June 14 and the youth selected under this scheme will be known as Agniveers.

The government had announced that 46,000 Agniveers to be recruited this year. It had said that the armed forces will have “a younger, fitter, diverse profile” to face future challenges.

There have been protests against the Agnipath scheme in some states and the government has announced support measures to allay apprehensions. (ANI)

The Indian rupee slumped to a new record low of 79.38 against the US dollar on Tuesday amid continued foreign fund outflows and a widening trade deficit.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee started trading at 79.04 against the US dollar and slumped to a low of 79.38 in the intra-day. The rupee closed 41 paise lower at 79.36 against the US dollar.
This is the lowest intra-day as well as the closing level of the rupee. The Indian rupee had closed at 78.95 against the US dollar on Monday.

The rupee fell sharply on Tuesday, a day after the government data showed an increase in the trade deficit.

As per data released by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry on Monday, India’s trade deficit widened to $25.63 billion in June. For the first quarter of the current financial year, the trade deficit has widened to $70.25 billion.

The country’s trade deficit has widened due to high imports. India’s merchandise imports in April-June 2022-23 period stood at $187.02 billion, an increase of 47.31 per cent over $126.96 billion in April-June 2021-22.

In the first quarter of the current financial year, India’s merchandise export rose to $116.77 billion, recording an increase of 22.22 per cent over $95.54 billion recorded in April -June 2021-22.

India’s merchandise exports rose by 16.8 per cent to $37.9 billion in June 2022, while imports soared by 51.02 per cent to $63.58 leading to a trade deficit of $25.63 billion during the month.

According to global financial services group Nomura, the high trade deficit is likely to pull the rupee down to 82 against the US dollar.

Nomura said in a report that India’s current account deficit would widen to 3.3 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the current financial year from 1.2 per cent in 2021-22. (ANI)

Chhattisgarh Police on Tuesday reached television channel news anchor’s residence in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, after an FIR was registered against him following the broadcast of a misleading video on Rahul Gandhi for which the channel had issued an apology.

The anchor Rohit Ranjan, however, was taken in custody by Noida Police after he took to Twitter this morning to post “Chhattisgarh Police is standing outside my house to arrest me without informing the local police, is it legal”. He tagged Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and SSP Ghaziabad and ADG Zone Lucknow in the tweet.

Responding to Ranjan’s tweet, the Raipur Police, Chhatisgarh, posted on its Twitter handle, “There is no such rule to inform. Still, now they are informed. Police team has shown you court’s warrant of arrest. You should in fact cooperate, join in investigation and put your defence in court.”

Meanwhile, ADCP Noida said, “In the course of an investigation registered at police station Sector 20, a person named Rohit Ranjan, working in a news channel is being questioned.”

Ranjan had on his show said, “Yesterday, in our show DNA, Rahul Gandhi’s statement was taken in the wrong context by linking it to the Udaipur incident, it was a human error for which our team apologises.”

The Congress filed a complaint in Raipur against Ranjan for allegedly “running a doctored video of Rahul Gandhi”.

According to reports, the FIR filed by Congress said that Rohit Ranjan intentionally linked Rahul Gandhi’s statements on the vandalization of his office to the Udaipur incident in an attempt to incite public sentiments.

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi while referring to the attack on his Wayanad office had said, “The children who did this have acted in an irresponsible way. They are kids, forgive them.” (ANI)

Is there anything Ranveer Singh cannot do? Well, we think not! From pulling off the quirkiest outfits, dancing on the streets, to exploring the wilderness of a jungle with Bear Grylls, he has done it all! And now, guess the actor is learning a new language.

Ranveer recently joined Deepika at the stage of a recent event that was held in San Jose, California. The couple graced the 10th Edition of the Konkani Sammelan where Deepika was invited as the chief guest. And the event was filled with many moments that won the hearts of the audience present there. One such moment was when Ranveer took the lead and spoke a line or two in Konkani, making the audience laud. Even his wife Deepika couldn’t help but cheer for him as he flaunted his skills. See for yourself:

Earlier the couple was captured on camera dancing to the tunes of ‘Koi Kahe Kehta Rahe’ from the movie ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ at Shankar Mahadevan’s concert held on June 3.

In another video from the concert, Shankar Mahadevan, Deepika Padukone, and the crowd can be heard singing the happy birthday song for Ranveer Singh. For the unversed, Ranveer will be turning a day older on Wednesday.

On the work front, Ranveer’s next appearance on-screen will be in Netflix’s “Ranveer vs Wild with Bear Grylls” where he is all set to go on a wild ride with the king of the Wild – Bear Grylls. Apart from this, he has ‘Cirkus’, directed by Rohit Shetty co-starring Jacqueline Fernandez and Pooja Hegde, and ‘Rocky aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani’ directed by Karan Johar opposite Alia Bhatt in his kitty. (ANI)

A person from Lucknow has been arrested for allegedly funding June 3 Kanpur violence, police said.

The man identified as Haji Vasi was absconding since the incident on June 3 when a violent clash broke out between two groups belonging to different communities allegedly over a market shutdown in Kanpur.
AP Tiwari, Additional Commissioner of Police said that a non-bailable warrant was issued earlier against the accused.

“Kanpur Police arrested Haji Vasi on Monday night. He is accused in the June 3 Kanpur violence case. We had a non-bailable warrant against him and were searching for him continuously since the incident. His search was on in Delhi and other neighbouring states. He will be presented to the court,” he said.

Earlier, the Kanpur Development Authority sealed off Vasi’s property, the police said.

On June 11, the police arrested another accused identified as the President of Jamiatul Quresh, Nizam Qureshi from Kanpur, who was often seen with the mastermind of the violence, Hayat Jaffar Hashmi.

Hayat Jaffar Hashmi, the main accused in the Kanpur violence case was arrested along with three other masterminds, namely Javed Ahmed Khan, Mohammad Rahil, and Mohammad Suffian the day after the violence on June 4. All of them were allegedly associated with the Maulana Ali Jauhar Fans Association, and were sent on a 14-day judicial remand on June 5, the police said.

As many as 36 persons were arrested in connection with the clash so far. (ANI)

Former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala has moved to the Delhi High Court challenging the order of a trial court which sent him to four years of imprisonment in a disproportionate assets (DA) case.

Advocate Harsh Sharma on Tuesday confirmed that the appeal has been moved to the High Court challenging a trial court order of conviction and order of sentence against Chautala.
On May 27, 2022, the Rouse Avenue Court of Delhi ordered four years of imprisonment to Chautala. The Court had also ordered to confiscate four properties of him and also imposed a fine of Rs 50 lakh.

While passing the order, CBI Judge Vikas Dhull had also ordered to send Chautala in the custody of Tihar Jail.

During the argument, Chautala physically appeared and remained present in the courtroom. Appearing for Chautala, Advocate Harsh Sharma cited medical grounds for less punishment and submitted that “I, (OP Chautala), have been infected with polio since birth and I am partially disabled.”

CBI’s Special Public Prosecutor Ajay Gupta had opposed the submissions of Chautala’s lawyer for a grant of concession on the grounds of ill-health and age.

CBI had urged the court that “maximum punishment shall be given as it would send a message to the society.” “The person, in this case, is a public figure and giving minimum punishment would send a wrong message. He is not having clean antecedents. It is the second case, in which he has been convicted,” CBI said.

Special Judge (PC Act) Vikas Dhull on May 21, convicted Chautala and said the accused had failed to satisfactorily account for such dis-proportionality by proving his source of income or means by way of which, he acquired assets during this period.

“Hence, accused Om Prakash Chautala is convicted for the offence under Section 13(1)(e) read with 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. Put up May 26, 2022 at 10.00 AM for arguments on the point of sentence,” said the court.

According to the CBI’s FIR, accused Chautala, while functioning as Chief Minister of Haryana during the period from July 24, 1999, to March 5, 2005, in collusion with his family members and others, accumulated assets, immovable and movable, disproportionate to his known lawful sources of income, in his name, in the names of his family members and others to the extent of Rs.1,467 crores.

The FIR further stated that the accused accumulated enormous wealth and invested the same throughout the country in the shape of thousands of acres of land, multi complexes, palatial residential houses, hotels, farmhouses, business agencies, petrol pumps and other investments apart from investments in foreign countries.

The FIR also stated that 43 immovable properties in all, apart from cash and jewellery were accumulated. Apart from 43 alleged properties listed in the FIR, additional properties were also suspected to be of the accused family.

An investigation with regard to additional properties was also conducted for ascertaining the link of the accused family with the said properties.

The chargesheet filed in the matter after the conclusion of the investigation stated that accused OP Chautala had acquired assets, both immovable and movable, which were disproportionate to his known source of income.

The disproportionate assets were calculated to be Rs 6,09,79,026 only and the percentage of disproportionate assets was 189.11 per cent of his known sources of income.

Accordingly, CBI had chargesheeted the accused for the offence under Section 13(1)(e) read with 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Apart from the charge sheet filed against the accused OP Chautala, the CBI had filed two more charge sheets arising out of the present FIR, against the sons of the accused i.e. Abhay Singh Chautala and Ajay Singh Chautala and others, which are being tried separately. (ANI)

Saral Vastu expert Chandrashekhar Angadi popularly known as Chandrashekhar Guruji was stabbed to death by two unidentified people at a hotel in Hubballi on Tuesday morning.

According to Police, Chandrashekhar Guruji was staying at the hotel in Hubballi for the last four days. On Tuesday two people came to the hotel to meet him and called him to the lobby. Soon after Chandrashekhar Guruji reached the lobby, the assailants stabbed him multiple times and ran away. He was rushed to the KIMS Hospital where he was declared dead.

“Some people called him to the lobby area of the hotel where he was staying. One person wished him and then suddenly started stabbing him. Due to multiple injuries, by the time he was shifted to the hospital, he was dead. We have registered a case and are searching for the accused,” said Police Commissioner Labhu Ram.

The investigation has been started. A hunt has been launched to trace the absconding killers.

Further details are awaited. (ANI)