Author: LokMarg

Two people died of suffocation and six were injured during Janmashtami celebrations on August 19 at the Banke Bihari temple in Mathura, officials said on Saturday.

The temple saw massive crowding as devotees flocked to the temple to celebrate the festival.
The deceased have been identified as Nirmala Devi and Ram Prasad Vishwakarma who were declared dead at the hospital, police said.

Another pilgrim collapsed and fainted at the exit gate of the temple which resulted in the restricted movements of the devotees. The incident occurred during Mangala Aarti.

“During Mangla Arti at Banke Bihari in Mathura, one devotee fainted at the exit gate of the temple due to which movement of devotees was restricted. As there was a huge crowd, many inside the premises suffocated. Two people lost their lives,” said Senior Superintendent of Police, Mathura.

As per initial reports, six people sustained injuries. The injured were immediately shifted to the hospital while the officials took over the situation.

Janmashtami was celebrated across the country with great fervour on Friday. Temples were seen lit up with colourful lights and chants of “Jai Shree Krishna” reverberated across various cities and towns. The devotees also thronged the Lord Krishna temple in Mathura and across the country to participate in the midnight celebrations on the occasion of Janmashtami.

Janmashtami is a Hindu festival which is celebrated to mark the birth of Lord Krishna. As per the Hindu calendar, Lord Krishna, an avatar of Lord Vishnu, was born on the eighth day of the month of Bhadra.

The day mostly falls in the month of August or September as per the Western calendar. The festival is celebrated by offering prayers to Lord Krishna, with beautifully decorated swings, dance and music performances along with the Dahi Handi competition.

Mewnwhile, earlier this month there was a stampede at the monthly fair at Khatu Shyamji Temple in Rajasthan’s Sikar At least three women died and several were injured. (ANI)

Sonam Kapoor and Anand Ahuja are parents to a baby boy!

Sonam and Anand welcomed their baby boy on Saturday in Mumbai. The proud parents announced the news through a cute message template that read, “On 20.08.2022, we welcomed our beautiful baby boy with bowed heads and open hearts. Thank you to all of the doctors, nurses, friends and family who have supported us on this journey. It’s only the beginning, but we know our lives are forever changed.

Sonam and Anand” Although Sonam didn’t share this message on her Instagram, Choreographer-Director Farah Khan shared it on her Instagram story and wrote a congratulatory message for the new parents.

Farah wrote, “Congratulations Proud parents @Sonamkapoor and @Anandahuja n even prouder grandparents @Kapoor.sunita @anilskapoor”. More details are awaited.

Sonam and her husband Anand Ahuja tied the knot on May 8, 2018, in a traditional Anand Karaj ceremony. In March 2022, the couple announced that they are expecting their first child together.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Sonam will be next seen in the upcoming film ‘Blind’ directed by Shome Makhija, starring Purab Kohli, Vinay Pathak and Lillete Dubey in prominent roles. The film is expected to release later this year. (ANI)

Police was seen deployed in strength ahead of standup comedian Munawar Faruqui’s show in Hyderabad on Saturday.

Amidst tight security, people who had brought tickets for the show were ushered into the venue at Shilpakala in Hitech City under the Madhapur police station limits. People were being told not to bring their phones and wallets inside the venue.
Telangana BJP chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar had given a call to boycott Faruqui’s show. Addressing a gathering in Khila Shapur of Jangaon district on Friday alleged that Faruqui should be boycotted as he mocked Hindu Gods.

“We all worship Sita Devi… we see her everywhere in water, air, fire and land. He has insulted our Sita Devi and our lord Rama…TRS party people have called him to Hyderabad as a chief guest. We do not need him, we will boycott him,” Bandi said.

According to sources, several activists and leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party have bought online tickets for the show and are planning to hold protest against the stand up artiste. Earlier on Friday, the party’s MLA Raja Singh was taken into preventive custody when he tried to visit the venue of the show in Hitech city.

As per the Madhapur Inspector Ravindra Prasad, Faruqui has given permission to hold the show in Hyderabad.

Munawar and four others were arrested by Madhya Pradesh Police on January 1 following a complaint by Eklavya Singh Gaud, son of BJP MLA Malini Laxman Singh Gaud that objectionable remarks about Hindu deities as well as Union Home Minister Amit Shah were passed during a comedy show at a cafe in Indore on New Year’s Day. He was later released on bail.

Following this Faruqui has faced criticism and his shows were cancelled at several venues. (ANI)

A day after CBI conducted searches at the residence of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, the AAP leader said that he might be arrested soon stating that the liquor issue or the excise policy was just an excuse to target him since he was a minister under the Delhi Chief Minister Arwind Kejriwal.

Sisodia alleged that the raids against him was all political and had nothing to do with the alleged violations in Delhi’ Excise Policy.
“Maybe within the next 3-4 days, CBI-ED will arrest me… we won’t be scared, you won’t be able to break us… Elections of 2024 will be AAP vs BJP,” said Sisodia while addressing a press conference in the national capital today.

“Their issue is not liquor/excise scam. Their problem is Arvind Kejriwal… whole proceedings against me, raids at my residence and office, are to stop Arvind Kejriwal… I haven’t done any corruption. I’m just Arvind Kejriwal’s Education Minister,” he said.

Pointing out that Delhi’s excise policy was the best policy, Sisodia said,” Excise policy due to which whole controversy is created is the country’s best policy. We were applying it with transparency and sincerity. Had Delhi LG not changed his decision conspiring to fail the policy, Delhi government would’ve been getting at least Rs 10,000 cr every year.”

Earlier on Friday, Sisodia said that he and his family had cooperated with the CBI, which he claimed was “being misused” by the Centre, on a day when the investigative agency carried out raids at multiple locations in connection with a case linked to the AAP government now withdrawn excise policy.

Speaking to the reporters after the CBI officials left after a 14-hour-long raid on Friday, Sisodia said, “CBI team came this morning. They searched my house and seized my computer and phone. My family cooperated with them and will continue to cooperate. We have not done any corruption or wrong. We are not afraid. We know that CBI is being misused.”

Sisodia was among 15 persons booked in an FIR filed by the CBI. Excise officials, liquor company executives, dealers along with some unknown public servants and private persons have been booked in the case.

The FIR said that “facts in the matter prima facie disclose the commission of offences” punishable under section 120-B, 477A IPC and section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988″ against the accused.

The premises of then Excise Commissioner Arava Gopi Krishna and Anand Tiwari were among those searched.

The raids led to a political slugfest with Union Minister Anurag Thakur hitting out at Kejriwal and Sisodia over alleged “liquor corruption”.

“No matter how hard a corrupt person tries to prove himself innocent, he will still remain corrupt. This is not the first case of corruption by AAP. There has been huge corruption in the liquor stores in Delhi,” Thakur said.

The Union Minister alleged that Delhi’s liquor policy was withdrawn on the same day a CBI investigation was ordered into it. “If there was no scam in the liquor policy, why was it withdrawn?” Thakur asked.

AAP leader Sanjay Singh stressed that the raids on Delhi’s Deputy CM were an attempt to stop the “revolutionary work done in the education and health sector” by the Kejriwal-led Delhi government.

“Manish Sisodia was on the front page of America’s biggest newspaper New York Times. Everyone throughout the whole country is happy about it but not the BJP. He has done some extraordinary work when it comes to the health sector, be it Mohalla clinics or be it the education sector, the AAP leadership has revolutionised all of it. Now these CBI raids are nothing but an attempt to stop all of this,” Sanjay Singh told the media.

“The developments prove that the next Lok Sabha election in 2024 will be AAP versus BJP, it will be Modi versus Kejriwal. We will fight. I am saying it again that you cannot stop Kejriwal, or our education or health model. You may arrest our health minister or education minister, but no work of Delhi will be stopped,” he added. (ANI)

After slamming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for being “jaundiced”, Senior Congress leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah launched another attack on the party and said that those who killed Gandhi will not spare him.

Addressing the media persons during his visit to the rain-affected areas in Chikkamagaluru He also stressed that he’s on BJP’s radar for speaking out the truth.
“Will those who killed Gandhiji, will they spare me? I tell the truth that’s why BJP and RSS people are angry with me. Nathuram Godse killed Gandhiji, it is sad that they worship his portrait,” said Siddaramaiah.

The opposition leader also cleared the air about the Savarkar controversy and said “It is true that VD Savarkar went to jail. He wrote an apology letter and was released from jail. BJP calls him Veer Savarkar. I’m not angry with Savarkar. What I said was the way he behaved was not right.”

His remarks came in wake of clashes in Shivamogga after a group of Tipu Sultan followers allegedly attempted to remove a poster of RSS leader Veer Savarkar installed at Ameer Ahmed circle on the occasion of Independence Day.

He also called out the Centre for the Har Ghar Tiranga Campaign.

“BJP is now making drama of Har Ghar Tiranga. BJP has launched the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign on the occasion of ‘Amrita Mahotsava of Independence’. Savarkar, Golwalkar had said that this national flag is not suitable for our country and it continues,” he added.

Earlier, after an “egg attack” against Opposition leader and Congress leader Siddaramaiah in Kodagu district, former Karnataka Chief Minister and Congress leader Veerappa Moily on Friday said that the rise of caste and communalism in Karnataka has stolen the peace of the people of the country.

“In recent days, the rise of caste and communalism in Karnataka has stolen the peace of the people of the country. Former Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah was attacked by BJP in Kodagu yesterday. The activist rush is a symbol of hate politics at its lowest level. Perhaps, this mishap has never happened in Karnataka politics,” Congress leader Veerappa Moily said in a statement today.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka Congress is staging a protest on Friday to condemn the egg attack against Opposition leader Siddaramaiah in Kodagu district during his visit.

The Congress workers demand the arrest of persons who threw eggs on the vehicle of Siddaramaiah during his visit.

The Congress workers alleged that the BJP workers staged a ‘gherao’ protest against Siddaramaiah’s vehicle in Kodagu on Thursday over his comments on Veer Savarkar during his tour to the district to meet the victims of flood and heavy rainfall.

Confronted with backlash by BJP workers over his remark on VD Savarkar, Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Thursday warned the Bharatiya Janata Party stating that they will “teach them a lesson” after his party comes to power in the next Assembly elections.

Siddaramaiah visited the Madenadu, and Koyanadu areas of Kodagu where heavy rains had caused damage. He also interacted with the victims.

The Congress leader was confronted with protests by the BJP workers for his remarks on the poster row in Shivamogga. The workers hit the streets, chanted slogans against the former chief minister and displayed a black flag at General Thimmaiah’s circle.

Condemning the incident, Siddaramaiah alleged that the BJP hired people to protest against him.

“Adequate compensation has not been given in Kodagu. The DC office barrier is in poor condition, they protested against me because they don’t want me to know the state of all these issues. Government is dead in Karnataka. That’s why they paid money and brought people and shouted slogans,” he said. (ANI)

Heavy rainfall triggered flash floods near Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine in Katra town in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday.

In view of the heavy rains and flash floods, the upward movement of devotees in Mata Vaishno Devi temple has been stopped.
“In the wake of heavy rainfall, upward movement of pilgrims to Vaishno Devi temple has been stopped from Katra. Priority is given to pilgrims coming downwards. Police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have already been deployed, The situation is being monitored. No untoward incident reported so far,” said Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board.

Earlier in July, a cloudburst struck the holy cave area of Amarnath which resulted in a heavy discharge of water in the ‘Nallah’, adjoining the holy cave, following which the route to Amarnath was damaged, it the yatra was on halt for some time.

Four Mi-17V5 and four Cheetal helicopters of the Indian Air Force were also deployed for rescue and relief efforts at the Amarnath shrine.

The Yatra began on June 29, from Jammu amid tight security arrangements made by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) along with the army and the local police.

The Amarnath shrine pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine of Lord Shiva, located in the upper reaches of the Himalayas, is held from the twin routes of Pahalgam and Baltal. (ANI)

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has suspended the licence of pilots for violation of rules in two separate cases.

A senior DGCA official confirmed that the regulator has suspended the licence of the pilot-in-command (PIC) of the SpiceJet flight for six months after he ignored a co-pilot’s warning to skirt the clouds and flew the plane into severe turbulence.
On May 1, the Boeing B737 aircraft operating flight SG-945 from Mumbai to Durgapur encountered severe turbulence during the descent which resulted in injuries to a few passengers.

There were a total of 195 persons on board the aircraft including two pilots and four cabin crew members. The aircraft took off from Mumbai at approximately 5.13 pm. During the descent, the aircraft experienced severe turbulence and the vertical load factor varied from +2.64G and – 1.36G. During this period the autopilot got disengaged for two minutes and the crew manually flew the aircraft, the DGCA had said in its statement on May 2.

In another case, the DGCA suspended the licence of a pilot of a charter airplane in a false fuel emergency case for one month.

On October 19, 2021, the pilot of a charter plane from Bokaro to Ranchi had falsely declared low fuel emergency to get priority landing as he wanted to avoid hovering period. During the inquiry, it was found that the plane had enough fuel. (ANI)

The government has revealed that the flagship programme Jal Jeevan Mission has yielded remarkable results after three years of its inception. The programme has successfully provided more than 50 per cent of households with tap water supply in their homes.

As per a government press note, Goa, Telangana, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadar and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Puducherry, and Haryana have already attained 100 per cent home connectivity. Punjab, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, and Bihar have more than 90 per cent coverage and are rapidly approaching the ideal of ‘Har Ghar Jal.’

“India is experiencing the biggest water crisis in its history and about 600 million people lack access to clean water. However, in keeping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s aim of providing clean drinking water to every rural household, the country has reached the milestone of 50 per cent of rural households having access to tap water connections,” said the 2019 NITI Aayog report.

Jal Jeevan Mission will also implement source sustainability measures as mandatory elements, such as recharge and reuse through grey water management, water conservation, and rainwater harvesting. The Jal Jeevan Mission is based on a community approach and includes extensive information, education and communication as key components of the mission.

“Women and young girls bore the brunt of arranging water for everyday household needs. Women, particularly in rural areas, often go for miles to get water from the nearest source. There is enough data to demonstrate that school attendance among girls was much lower during the summer when repeated travel was required due to increasing water demand,” said the press note.

India’s primary user of water stock is agriculture. Around 80 to 90 per cent of the drinking water needs in rural India are met by groundwater resources.

The major concern is that groundwater levels in India dropped by more than 60 per cent between 2007 and 2017, and that about 90 per cent of the extracted water is used for agriculture.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared a 100-day campaign, which was begun by the Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, on October 2, 2020, to safeguard children’s health and wellbeing by supplying clean tap water in schools and Anganwadi centres across the nation.

“In just 16 months, drinkable tap water has been made available to 8.46 lakh schools (82 per cent) and 8.67 lakh (78 per cent) Anganwadi centres across the nation for drinking, cooking, handwashing, and bathroom use. In schools across the nation, 93,000 rainwater harvesting facilities and 1.08 lakh grey water reuse structures have been developed. Jal Jeevan Mission makes use of technology to ensure service delivery, transparency, accountability, and efficient use of resources,” stated the press note.

Each water supply asset developed as part of the Jal Jeevan Mission has a geo-tag. When developing a single village project to locate drinking water sources and build an aquifer recharge structure, hydro-geo morphological (HGM) maps are used.

Jal Jeevan Mission is a flagship programme of the Government of India which was announced from the ramparts of Red Fort by the visionary Prime Minister on August 15, 2019. The mission aims to make provision potable tap water supply in adequate quantity, of prescribed quality and on a regular and long-term basis to every rural household in the country by 2024. The program is implemented by the Government of India in partnership with States and Union Territories. (ANI)

Yadav hailed Lord Krishna for bestowing humanity with the knowledge of Gita. He, however, added that whenever a ‘Kansa’ is born and deceitfully usurps his father’s throne, the Lord takes birth on earth.

“Whenever a Kansa humiliates his father by deceit or force to establish his unauthorized suzerainty, then to protect Dharma, Yashodha Mata’s son, Yogeshwar Shri Krishna, who is the friend of ‘Gwalas’ is born and by His Yog Maya punishes the evil to establish Dharma..,” Shivpal Singh said in a letter in Hindi that he tweeted.

The tweet created a flutter in the political circles in Lucknow as there was speculation as to whom Shivpal Yadav was referring to as Kansa, who had usurped his father’s throne.

Later, Shivpal was asked by reporters about his comments. Shivpal, however, refrained from taking any names saying and said that he had only mentioned what epics mention. People could come up with their own interpretations, he added.

Asked about reports about certain comments by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav questioning the role of the Election Commission (EC). Shivpal Yadav said if he (Akhilesh) can “take note of his mistakes, then the blame (for SP’s defeat) does not fall on the commission. (ANI)

Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday said that the CBI raids at Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in the national capital along with other places in the country were proof that the Aam Aadmi Party government had introduced the revamped Excise Policy to benefit the liquor mafia.

The chief of the Delhi unit of the BJP, Adesh Gupta slammed the AAP government for introducing the Excise Policy at a time when Covid was at its peak, alleging that the move was done ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections.
“They were not bothered about Covid but their sole focus was on bringing a new excise policy. They waived off Rs144 crore and gave the contracts to blacklisted companies instead of using the money for Covid relief,” said Gupta.

“The policy’s benefits to liquor mafia were seen when they favoured thousands of crores to the liquor mafia, when they increased their commission from 2.5 per cent to 12 per cent, when the number of dry days in Delhi was reduced from 21 to three,” the BJP leader said.

According to a CBI official, searches were conducted in seven States and a Union Territory, including the premises of fomer Delhi Excise Commissioner Arava Gopi Krishna under whose tenure, the revamped Excise Policy was approved.

Sisodia had in a tweet this morning said that CBI officials had arrived at his residence and had begun searches. “CBI has arrived. We are honest, building a future for lakhs of children. Unfortunate that in this country, whoever does good work is hassled just like this, that is why our country is still not number-1,” the deputy chief minister tweeted.

To this Adesh Gupta hit back and asked whether Sisodia could tell whose future he was talking about when he says he works for children. “Will he tell that he talks about the children for whom he has reduced the age of liquor consumption from 21 to 18?” Gupta alleged.

“Did he come to power to ensure an equal distribution of alcohol by working to bring an excise policy that would monetarily benefit only liquor mafia with illegitimate ways,” the BJP leader said.

Earlier today, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted: “CBI is welcome. We will give full cooperation. Searches took place earlier too, but nothing was found. Nothing will be found now too.”

The Delhi CM stated that CBI has raided Sisodia’s residence on the day when the picture of the Delhi Model and Sisodia appeared on the front page of America’s biggest newspaper- New York Times.

Mewnwhile, the BJP Delhi unit chief attacked the “Delhi Model” by wondering if AAP came to power to benefit the liquor mafia.

“They initially claimed that the excise policy was a beneficial move, but they rolled it back after the CBI raids. Delhi government has spent crores of money on liquor mafia that could have been used in other productive areas and call it its Delhi Model,” Gupta said.

On July 30, Sisodia announced a rollback of the Excise Policy stating that only government outlets would sell liquor in Delhi from August 1. (ANI)