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The junior doctors of WestBengal on Monday calledoff their week-long strike fol-lowing a “fruitful discussion”with Chief Minister MamataBanerjee, who accepted alltheir demands, including strin-gent action against perpetratorsof crimes against on-dutymedicos.

“We are satisfied with thetalks being held in an extreme-ly cordial atmosphere,” saidone of the 31 delegates of doc-tors from all over Bengal whowere escorted by a Governmentvehicle to the State secretariatNabanna, where the ChiefMinister met them for morethan an hour and a half.

“This discussion was veryfruitful as both the sides reci-procated to each other’s viewsin a very positive manner,” theChief Minister said, adding, shewas “grateful to the doctors asthey responded to my call fordiscussion and came all the wayto Nabanna. The talks withthem were constructive and Ihope the doctors will go backand announce their withdraw-al of strike as we have accept-ed all their demands.”

Drawing a loud applausefrom the doctors’ delegation,the Chief Minister further said,“These are like our children. Itis their right to make justifieddemands and the Governmentwill always stand by them,including in their times of dis-tress, as they are serving thesociety against all odds.”

Hours later the doctorsformally told reporters at NilRatan Sarkar Medical Collegeand Hospital (NRSMCH) thatthey are ending the strike and“will join our work as soon aspossible,” adding “we are nowconvinced that the ChiefMinister will take action if anydoctor is assaulted in future.”

One of their representativesiterated, “No doctor or nobodyfrom any profession can be

assaulted physically or verbal-ly. We assume after our con-versation with the ChiefMinister that the State willhave zero tolerance againstassault on doctors. This has tobe remembered by the entirepopulation not only of Bengalbut the entire country. If thereis violence then that will comewith consequences. The ChiefMinister has told us that therewill be stringent legal action

against the assaulters.”In a remarkable display of

diplomatic skills, Mamataturned the situation in herfavour yielding to the doctors’demand for a live coverage ofher meeting with them. Thedoctors initially wanted her tovisit the epicentre of the move-ment at the NRS MedicalCollege and Hospital but sub-sequently conceded to theChief Minister’s conditions that

the meeting be held atNabanna. The doctors, how-ever, said they would go to thesecretariat only if the meetingwas aired live on television.

Her stance was a climb-down from her Thursday’sposition when she told a largegathering of striking doctors atthe SSKM Hospital to joinduty in four hours or face con-sequences. She subsequentlyheld out threats of invokingEssential Services MaintenanceAct (ESMA) and cited how theState Governments of Gujarat,Rajasthan, Haryana, J&K, andTamil Nadu had taken strin-gent actions against strikingdoctors.

Fresh from an unimpres-sive show in the parliamentaryelections and under pressurefrom all quarters to stand bythe doctors, Mamata invitedthe doctors to a meeting whereshe was accompanied amongothers by Minister of State forHealth ChandrimaBhattacharya, Chief SecretaryMalay De, Principal SecretaryHealth Rajiv Sinha, State DGPVirendra, KolkataCommissioner of Police AnujSharma and others.

Deliberating on the 12-point demand of the doctorsthe CM said the Governmentwould forward allow only twopersons to go inside theEmergency enclosure, tightensecurity network, make a pro-vision for public relation offi-cials to handle the patients’party more effectively.

Continued on Page 4

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The sinister design of terror-ists to enact the February 14like Pulwama terror attack onMonday evening in Arihal areaof Pulwama by triggering anIED blast on a patrol party of44 Rashtriya Rifles was foiledand damage minimised due tothe alertness of the securityforces and the troops travellingin the hardened ALS (a fortifiedtruck).

However, in another inci-dent earlier, an Army Majorwas martyred and a terroristkilled, while another officer andtwo troopers were injured onMonday in an encounterbetween security forces and theultras in Jammu & Kashmir’sAnantnag district, officials said.

An intelligence reportabout terrorists’ attempt to usean IED blast on a Army convoyin South Kashmir districts andsubsequent alertness obiviatedthe crisis.

Terrorists had used a sim-ilar strategy while targeting aCRPF convoy on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway onFebruary 14 in which 40 para-

military troopers were killed. The area, where Army

vehicle was targeted by the ter-rorists was roughly 25 kmsaway from the site of thePulwama terror attack. AMinistry of Defence spokesper-son in Srinagar claimed a“failed” attempt was made toattack a mobile vehicle patrolin the general area of Arihal inPulwama.

He said, “All troops are safewith minor injuries”.

Police spokesperson inSrinagar said, “Six Armymenhave sustained injuries in theterror incident while two civil-ians also sustained injuries due

to powerful explosion”. “Theentire area has been cordonedoff and search in the area isgoing on,” he added.

In another anti-terroristoperation, a Major of theIndian Army on Mondayattained martyrdom in Baduraarea of Anantnag while one ter-rorist, believed to be a foreignnational, was neutralised dur-ing the day-long operation.

Police spokeperson inSrinagar said, “During a searchand cordon operation by thejoint forces at Badura inAchabal area of Anantnag, ter-rorist fired on the search party.”

Continued on Page 4

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Having taken cognizance ofthe attack on a policemanby a Sikh tempo driver with asword and his subsequentthrashing by police personnel onSunday evening, the UnionHome Ministry on Mondaysought a report from the DelhiPolice on the issue after a videoof the incident went viral.

With the issue snowballinginto a major political row, theDelhi Police has suspendedthree policemen posted withMukherjee Nagar police stationin northwest Delhi for “unpro-fessional behaviour” and initi-ated a probe.

Union Minister of State forHome G Kishan Reddy said hespoke to Delhi PoliceCommissioner Amulya Patnaikand asked him to take imme-diate action.

“BJP delegation led byShri@rpsinghkhalsa ji called onme today regarding the inci-dent under Mukherjee NagarPolice station in New Delhi, Ispoke to CP Delhi, instructedfor immediate action and tosubmit a detailed report,”Reddy tweeted.

Police said the altercationtook place after a Gramin Sewatempo driver’s vehicle collidedwith a police van. Eight policepersonnel were injured in thescuffle, police said. In one ofthe videos, the tempo driveridentified as Sarbjeet Singh,with sword in hand, was seenchasing policemen. In anothervideo, cops were seen thrash-ing the driver after overpow-ering him. An ACP-rank offi-cer could be seen being chasedby protesters. He had gonethere to pacify the mob.

Continued on Page 4

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The week in the nationalCapital started on a pleas-ant note with cloudy sky andmoderate wind. Cloud cover,gusty winds and intermittentrain protected Delhi from thesweltering heat, with the weath-erman predicting the temper-atures will remain below nor-mal for another three-four days.

Drizzle in some parts of theCapital and its adjoining areasbrought mercury down withmaximum temperature beingrecorded at 36.3 degrees Celsiuswhile minimum stood at 28.

According to the IndiaMetrological Department(IMD)’s Delhi region weatherwing forecast, more rain andthunderstorm activities areexpected on June 18, 19, 20.

“A cyclonic circulation ispersisting over Haryana andadjoining areas. Also, thehumid wind from the ArabianSea is increasing moisture overthe northern plains, includingDelhi. This moisture incursion

from the Arabian Sea is expect-ed to continue for the next twoto three days. Thus, we expectscattered rain and thunder-shower activities to continueover Delhi and NCR until June19,” Skymet, a private weatherforecast agency, said.

In the past 48 hours, rainhas been witnessed in isolatedpockets of Delhi and adjoiningareas of Noida, Gurugram,Faridabad, and Ghaziabad. TheSafdarjung observatory saidthe city received 0.6mm rain-fall during the past 24 hours.The humidity recorded at 8.30am was 54 per cent. On Sunday,the maximum temperature set-tled at 36.3 degrees Celsius andthe minimum at 28.02 degreesCelsius.

On Monday, the maximumtemperature at Safdarjungobservatory was recorded 33degrees Celsius and minimum27. At Palam observatory themaximum temperature wasrecorded 32 degrees Celsius andminimum 28.

The heatwave is not yet

over in Delhi as from June 23onwards temperature willincrease again, said weatherexperts. The maximum tem-

perature for June 23 has beenforecast 41 degrees Celsius bythe IMD. This summer, Delhi-NCR witnessed spell of severe

heatwave for prolonged period.In fact, on June 10, the mercurysoared to 48 degrees, the high-est in Delhi’s history.

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As the medical fraternity’snationwide strike hithealthcare services and leftpatients and their relativeshigh and dry across States, theSupreme Court on Mondaysaid it will hear on Tuesday aplea seeking safety and securi-ty of doctors in Governmenthospitals in the country.

The Indian MedicalAssociation (IMA), the apexbody of medical practitioners,had called for a three-daynationwide strike in protestagainst the assault on doctorsin West Bengal allegedly by therelatives of a patient who diedon June 10 at NRS MedicalCollege Hospital in Kolkata.

A large number of patientsand their relatives, caughtunaware of the strike, were seenwaiting outside various hospi-tals, appealing to authorities forhelp. In many Governmentand private hospitals across thecountry, out-patient depart-ments (OPDs) remained closedand scheduled surgeries werepostponed. However, emer-gency services remained oper-ational.

Amid protests, HealthMinister Harsh Vardhan onMonday said the UnionGovernment will “revisit” theissue of drafting a Central lawregarding the safety of medicos

at healthcare facilities.For its part, a vacation

Bench of Justices DeepakGupta and Surya Kant of theSC agreed to list the matter forTuesday after the counsel forthe petitioner, advocate AlakhAlok Srivastava, sought urgenthearing.

The petition has alsosought directions to the UnionMinistries of home affairs andhealth and the West BengalGovernment to deputeGovernment-appointed secu-

rity personnel at all State-runhospitals to ensure safety andsecurity of doctors.

Due to the protests, health-care services have been badlydisrupted and many people aredying because of absence ofdoctors, the plea said. It alsosought directions to the BengalGovernment to take thestrictest legal and penal actionagainst those who assaultedjunior doctors at NRS MedicalCollege Hospital in Kolkata.

Continued on Page 4

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Senior BJP leader and formerUnion Health Minister JagatPrakash Nadda was onMonday appointed the workingpresident of the BJP with AmitShah to continue as the partychief until December by whenAssembly polls in Maharastra,Haryana and Jharkhand areslated for completion. Sixty-year-old Nadda is expected tobecome the full-fledged BJPpresident overseeing the 11-crore-strong party after Shahcompletes his extended tenurein January 2020.

The announcement wasmade after the BJPParliamentary Board, theparty’s highest decision-making

body, met here at its head-quarters with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, Shah andHome Minister Rajnath Singh,among others, in attendance.

Shah, who is saddled withthe heavy responsibility ofMinistry of Home Affairs,would ensure continuity andsee the party through the threeAssembly polls.

Continued on Page 4

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Despite respite in northernStates, including Punjaband Haryana, from heatwave,Bihar continues to reel undera searing heatwave which hasswept most parts of theprovince, killing around 180people in the State.

The prevailing situationhas prompted the NitishKumar Government to orderclosure of academic activities inall schools till June 22, officialssaid on Monday.

Though the MeTDepartment on Monday saidrain and thunderstorm havebrought down the mercuryand there will be no heatwaveconditions this week in north-ern States, including Punjab

and Haryana, an alert has beenissued by the BiharGovernment in the wake of therising death toll.

People have been advisedto take care while steppingoutside. The administration inGaya, Aurangabad and Nawadadistricts has imposed Section144 of the CrPC to force thepublic to stay indoors so thatthey don’t fall victim to thekiller heatwave.

Even works under theMahatma Gandhi National

Rural Employment GuaranteeAct (MGNREGA) have beenstopped after 10.30 am.

The Gaya district admin-istration has banned any cul-tural programme or gatheringin open spaces, between 11 amand 4 pm. Majority of heatwavedeaths have been reportedfrom Aurangabad, Gaya andNawada districts, where tem-peratures hovered around 45degrees Celsius for the pastthree weeks.

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India’s first ‘hydrotherapy poolfor jumbosat’ for the ele-phants suffering from arthritis,joint pain and foot ailments isin Mathura district of UttarPradesh.

The jumbo pool, situatedis 11-foot-deep and has 21high pressure jet sprays thatcreate water pressure that mas-sage the elephants’ feet andbody and help in increasingblood circulation.

According to an official ofthe Wildlife SOS, “Rescuedelephants from extreme dis-tress, privately owned and hadthe cruel history of being usedfor begging and some spent alifetime in captivity and con-finement as temple elephants orwere being forced to performin circuses will be given ther-apy treatment”.

“Captive elephants in suchsituations are made to navigate

environments that their bodywas not built for. Standing onconcrete for prolonged periodsbecomes an invitation to theearly on-set of arthritis,” said awildlife SOS, adding, “Due tolack of improper foot care, thetoenails and cuticles of theelephants overgrow andbecome more prone to crack-ing. As such, standing andwalking becomes painful forthese long ranging animals.”

Dr. Yaduraj Khadpekar,Senior Wildlife VeterinaryOfficer said, “With each ele-phant rescue, we have observeda disturbing pattern in captiveelephants- their bodies areweakened due to impropernutrition, their bodies and del-icate feet are riddled withwounds and painful abscesses.Osteoarthritis and foot issuesare common ailments. Waterresistance is useful for musclestrengthening and cardiovas-cular training whilst water

pressure can reduce oedemaand swelling.”

Kartick Satyanarayan, theco-founder and CEO WildlifeSOS said, “The jumbohydrotherapy pool installed atthe Wildlife SOS ElephantHospital is equipped with 21high pressure water jets thatmassage the elephants’ feet andbody and help in increasingblood circulation.

This is a critically impor-tant component of the treat-ment as it also helps oxygenand vital minerals to reach themuscle tissues.”

In November 2018, Indiabased wildlife conservationcharity Wildlife SOS estab-lished the country’s first andonly fully equipped ElephantHospital in collaboration withUttar Pradesh ForestDepartment. Situated on thebanks of Yamuna River inMathura, the Elephant Hospitalis located near the Wildlife

SOS’ Elephant Conservationand Care Centre (ECCC),which is home to over 20 res-cued elephants.

The hospital is equippedwith state-of-the-art modern

facilities like Wireless Digital X-Ray, Laser Treatment, DentalX-Ray, Thermal imaging andUltrasonography to treatinjured, sick and geriatric ele-phants.

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Condemning the ‘assault’ ofa Sikh Gramin Sewa tempodriver by policemen inMukherjee Nagar area onSunday, leaders of variouspolitical parties on Mondayjoined ranks to demand a fairprobe into the incident claim-ing that policemen insultedthe man by attacking his turban.

The issue took a politicalturn soon after a purportedvideo of the incident showingthe tempo driver waving his“kirpan” (a small dagger carriedby Sikhs) and chasing police-men before being overpow-ered and beaten up by the copswent viral on the social mediatriggering widespread con-demnation, leading to a polit-ical storm and the suspensionof three policemen.

Delhi Chief MinsiterArvind Kejriwal on Mondaydemanded that Union HomeMinister Amit Shah andLieutenant Governor AnilBaijal take strict action againstthe police personnel whoallegedly assaulted a driver inDelhi. Kejriwal, who met thefamily of the man, said theDelhi police’s “brutality” inMukherjee Nagar area onSunday was highly con-demnable and unjustified.

“I demand an impartialprobe into the whole incident& strict action against the guilty.Protectors of citizens can’t beallowed to turn into uncon-trolled violent mobsters,” theChief Minister tweeted.

Kejriwal said, “I appeal tothe Home Minister and the L-G to take strict action againstthe guilty so that no citizen istreated like this in the future.”

“Incidents of crime haveincreased in Delhi. The homeminister and the L-G need toact strictly. It was an unfortu-nate incident. I hope that theguilty police personnel will bepunished severely,” Kejriwalsaid.

The incident took placeon Sunday evening. In a videoposted on social media it can beseen that a man was chasing

some policemen with a swordin his hand, while the police-men were seen thrashing himwith batons in another.

Delhi Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) president ManojTiwari said there was no placefor violence in society, whiledemanding punishment for theguilty. “Violence has no place inany Civil Society. MukherjeeNagar incident is sad and con-demnable. Free and fair enquiryshould be done, so that noinnocent should be punishedand guilty should be brought tobook,” he said in a tweet.Delhi

Congress spokespersonJitendra Kochar also demand-ed a thorough probe into theincident. Mere suspension ofthe guilty police officials wasnot enough, he said, whiledemanding that they beremoved from service.

Meanwhile, a delegation ofDelhi Sikh GurdwaraManagement Committee’s(DSGMC) led by its presidentManjinder Singh Sirsa called onDelhi Commissioner of Police(CP) on Sunday and demand-ed an enquiry in connectionofan alleged assault on driver of

a mini taxi at Mukherjee Nagararea of north Delhi.

Sirsa said that the CP hasassured them that a criminalcase will be registered against allthose police personnel whowere involved in mercilesslybeating Sikh auto driver SarbjitSingh and his minor son.

He said that the ShiromaniAkali Dal (SAD) presidentSukhbir Singh Badal is himselfmonitoring the case and haddirected the delegation to takeup matter with the CP. The vic-tim Sarbjit Singh, GeneralSecretary Harmeet Singh Kalka,

Senior vice president Bibi RanjitKaur, Junior vice president Kulwant Singh Bathand others were also part of thedelegation.

Sirsa said that the DSGMCand the SAD will take everystep needed to ensure thatSarbjit Singh and his minor songet justice. He said that therewill be no compromise on thesecurity of the Sikhs in thewhole nation and we are active-ly working on this angle.

According to the police,three personnel have been sus-pended for their “unprofes-

sional conduct” in handlingthe matter and legal actionwould be taken on the basis ofan inquiry, which would beconducted by DeputyCommissioner of Police(Northwest) Vijayanta Aryaand two other senior officers.

According to a senior policeofficer, the accident between a‘Gramin Sewa’ tempo and thepolice vehicle led to an argu-ment between them that soonturned violent. The tempo dri-ver allegedly attacked the policepersonnel with a sword and alsodrove dangerously.

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The All India Institute ofMedical Sciences (AIIMS)told the Delhi High Court onMonday that it had terminatedthe over-22-week pregnancy ofa minor rape victim as contin-uing with it would have had asevere impact on the girl’s phys-ical and mental health. It also told the court that the foe-tus had been preserved forDNA analysis in the rape case.

The submission was madebefore Justice Najmi Waziri,who, thereafter, disposed of theplea moved on behalf of the rapevictim seeking permission tomedically terminate her preg-nancy.

The high court had, onJune 14, asked the AIIMS to setup a medical board to examine

whether it was necessary to endthe pregnancy of the 14-year-oldrape victim and to carry out theprocedure expeditiously, ifrequired.

The court had also direct-ed that a report be placed beforeit about the medical board’sdecision. It had also orderedpreservation of the foetus forDNA analysis in the rape case.

On Monday, advocateAldanish Rein, appearing for theAIIMS, told the court about thedecision taken by the hospitaland submitted its report.

According to the plea filed

by advocates AnweshMadhukar and Anshu Bhanoton behalf of the girl, on June 2,her mother came to know thatshe was pregnant and that shewas raped.

The same day, an FIR waslodged, the petition had saidand added that an ultrasoundtest conducted on June 8 hadrevealed that the girl was preg-nant for 22 weeks.

Thereafter, the girl and herfamily approached the ChildWelfare Commission for helpand the panel advised her toseek permission from the courtfor medical termination of preg-nancy (MTP).

Under the MedicalTermination of Pregnancy Actof 1971, a foetus cannot beaborted if the gestation periodis more than 20 weeks.

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The Delhi Government hasdirected restro-bars andnight clubs in the city to sub-mit fire safety certificates bySeptember and warned them ofstrict action in case of non-compliance of the order, anofficial said Monday.

The move came monthsafter a massive fire at a hotel incentral Delhi’s Karol Bagh areakilled 17 people.

According to the official,the excise department hasissued the order to the city’s allrestro-bars and night clubshaving gross floor area of 90 sqmetres or more irrespective of

their seating capacity.“Such establishments,

which have excise licence, havebeen directed to submit a FireSafety Certificate issued by theDelhi Fire Services bySeptember 30 this year.

The department haswarned them of action asdeemed fit under the DelhiExcise Act, 2009, includingsuspension or cancellation oflicence,” official also said.

There are thousands ofrestro-bars and clubs functioning in the nationalCapital. The Delhi Excise Rules,2010, mandates requirement ofa no-objection certificate(NOC) from the fire depart-

ment for retail licence for consumption of alcohol onthe premises of any establish-ment.

Earlier this month, theSocial Welfare Department ofthe Delhi government alsoordered a fire safety audit of allits institutions in city.

In the aftermath of theKarol Bagh’s fire incident inFebruary, the DelhiGovernment had directed thefire department to inspectbuildings which are five floorsor more. In its report, the gov-ernment found that severalhotels were not following laiddown rules pertaining to firesafety and others.

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Leader of Opposition in theDelhi Assembly VijenderGupta on Monday urged DelhiUniversity to extend the lastdate of registration for admis-sion under the EconomicallyWeaker Sections (EWS) cate-gory by 15 days.

Gupta made the demand toensure poor students belongingto the generally category canalso apply for admission underthe EWS category, according toa statement.

He said that though thecentral government had issuedthe notification for 10 per centreservation in admission for thegeneral category poor onJanuary 19, the Delhi

Government issued a notifica-tion only on June 4.

“It is a matter of concernas the registration for admis-sion to Delhi University willclose on June 22,” the statementquoted Gupta as saying.

The BJP leader discussedthe matter with DU ViceChancellor Yogesh K Tyagiwho said he would take it upwith the dean concerned.

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In its bid to encourage peopleto donate blood, the AamAadmi Party (AAP)Government has tied up withpopular social networking siteFacebook. This has come in thewake of several people regis-tering themselves withFacebook to become a blooddonor.

Delhi Government’s out-reach intends to enroll moreand more people who couldvolunteer to donate blood forthe needy patients.

Interestingly, with this ini-tiative, if there is need forblood in Delhi, the blood bankcan be approached through a

call and Facebook will send outnotifications to all those in thatarea who have registered as vol-untary donors.

According to a notificationfrom the Government, a mes-sage in this regard has beenposted on various sites of thecity Government, “You arerequested to use Facebook and

other social media for promo-tion of voluntary blood donation” and to “get onboardon Facebook blood donationtool”.

With this plan, Facebookusers can sign up on the site. 72licensed blood banks have beendirected to initiate a Facebookpage. If there is requirement ofblood, the blood bank can puta call and Facebook will sendout notification to all those inthat are who are registered asvoluntary donors.

Notably, Facebook hasstarted this feature in 2017while In India process to reg-ister as voluntary donor is bitslow but with government tieup , this can be scale up.

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In the wake of ‘increasing’crime rates in the nationalCapital, Delhi Congress presi-dent Sheila Dikshit has writtento the Lieutenant GovernorAnil Baijal, seeking his inter-vention to make the DelhiPolice more efficient and alertin checking crimes in thenational Capital.

Expressing concern oversudden spurt in crime in thecity, Dikshit said that the crimegraph is increasing every dayand the Delhi Police has failedto control it.

She said that Delhi hasbecome unsafe for people par-ticularly women and hasacquired the notorious sobri-quet of “the crime capital in thecountry”.

Drawing his attention

towards the crime rates in theCapital, Dikshit sought L-Gintervention to make DelhiPolice more efficient and alertin checking crimes in thenational Capital. “Delhi haswitnessed many horriblecrimes, including murders,robberies, extortions, snatch-ings, shootings and acid attacksin past few days and the DelhiPolice standing as mute spec-tators when criminals werehaving a free run across theCapital,” she said.

She said that the shootingincidents, including over adozen encounters with thepolice, have resulted in at least16 deaths and 22 injuries.Dikshit said that it was deeplydisturbing that some notoriouscriminals, many of whom havejumped paroles and returnedback in illegal activities.

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Unhealthy working conditions, combined withthe rising air pollution, stress and changing lifestylehave made Delhi PolicePersonnel vulnerable to healthproblems. According to arecent study it was revealed thatatleast one in every five trafficpolicemen in the nationalCapital is suffering from res-piratory problems.

Doctors have also detectedOrthopaedics andCardiovascular problems in some of the traffic person-nel in a dedicated camp orga-nized by BLK Super Specialtyhospital organized on Sundayin which 200 policemen par-ticipated.

Delhi traffic police per-sonnel were advised by doctorsto adopt a healthy lifestyle and

wear good quality anti-pollu-tion masks while on duty inview of rising poisonous vehic-ular emissions.

“The camp saw a footfall ofabout 200 traffic policemenwho participated in healthcheck up camp.

“The pulmonary function test revealed thatnearly 35-40 of the 200 sufferedfrom breathing problems. Lung congestion, asthma, andthroat irritation were the com-mon problems detected,” saidDr Sandeep Nayar, Director ofBLK Centre for Chest andRespiratory Diseases.

“We found that mainlythey were victims of respirato-ry problems, high cholesterol,hypertension, high sugar levels,some of them suffered jointspains and displayed low bone density due to long standing jobs. We have advised

them to take medications andgo for some other tests for bet-ter treatment and care,” hesaid.

“Occupational hazardshave made traffic personnel lifedifficult. With harsh weatherconditions, dust, pollution,heat and cold, they are at highrisk for developing health prob-lems. A large number of police-men were not even aware oftheir deteriorating health con-dition.

A complete check-up andmedical interventions at thecamp will help them in regain-ing their good health,” saidNayar.

Traffic personnel wereadvised to wear good qualitypollution masks while per-forming the duty. Besides doingyoga and breathing exercises,try meditation and eat healthyfood,” he added.

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After the street fight betweencops and driver inMukherjee Nagar on Sundaysnowballed into a political row,the Delhi Police swung intoaction. Three cops were sus-pended for unprofessional con-duct during a violent clash witha tempo driver, who chasedtheir colleague with a sword afterhis vehicle collided with a policevan in northwest Delhi, an offi-cial said on Monday.

The official said furtherlegal action will be taken afteran inquiry is conducted by thedeputy commissioner of police(northwest) and the additionalDCP and ACP of MukherjeeNagar. Additional PRO (DelhiPolice) Anil Mittal said police-men suspended handled theincident in an unprofessionalmanner. A police officer wasinjured after he was allegedlyattacked by the driver. Thetempo driver had also chasedhim swinging a sword at himfollowing a collision betweentheir vehicles, videos of whichhave gone viral.

In one of the purportedvideos, the man was seen chas-ing policemen with a sword inhis hand, while in anothervideo policemen were seenthrashing him with batons.

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The Gujarat Congress onMonday moved theSupreme Court challengingthe decision of the ElectionCommission to hold separatebypolls to two Rajya Sabhaseats in the state which fellvacant due to the election ofBJP chief Amit Shah and SmritiIrani to Lok Sabha.

The petition filed byCongress MLA from Amreliand Leader of Opposition inGujarat Assembly, PareshbhaiDhanani has sought a directionto the Election Commission forholding the election for the twoseats simultaneously.

The petition, filed throughadvocate Varun K Chopra, islikely to be mentioned onTuesday before a vacationBench for urgent hearing as apress note issued by the pollpanel on June 15 has scheduledthe election for both the seatson July 5.

The seats fell vacant afterShah won from Gandhinagarand Irani from Amethi Lok

Sabha constituencies. Shah was appointed as the

Union Home Minister andIrani as Minister of Womenand Child Development.

Dhanani has sought adirection to quash and declarethe poll panel’s order as“unconstitutional, arbitrary,illegal, void ab initio” as he saidit was violative of Article 14 ofthe Constitution.

He submitted that the pollpanel be directed to hold simul-taneous by-elections andpolling for filling of all vacan-cies in all States, includingGujarat.

The MLA through hislawyer submitted that separate

elections for the two RajyaSabha seats in Gujarat wouldupset the scheme of propor-tional representation as man-dated under the Representationof People Act.

In the petition, it is statedthat the basic principle, bothunder the Constitution andRepresentation of People Act1951, is that if regular vacanciesare existing at the time whenthe election is held, it should beheld together so that the systemof proportional representationby means of single transferablevote can be applied to thoseelections.

The petition contendedthat if the ElectionCommission is given a freehand to issue one or more noti-fication with respect to vacan-cies in Council of States (RajyaSabha) and if separate electionsare held for the same purpose,it may result in abuse of powerin as much as the majorityparty will always be able toarrange the matters in such away that it gets maximumseats.

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Infighting surfaced in theDelhi Congress on Mondaywhen a veteran leader demand-ed the removal of SheilaDikshit as its president over theparty’s debacle in the nationalcapital in the recent Lok Sabhapoll.

In a letter to party chiefRahul Gandhi, ex-chairman ofthe erstwhile DelhiMetropolitan Council,Purushottam Goyal, asked forher removal and suggested thatthe party contest assemblypolls early next year with a“fresh face”at the helm.

Goyal’s letter comes after aDelhi Congress leader RohitManchanda demandedreplacement of PC Chacko,the AICC incharge of the cityunit, over the poll drubbing.

“It’s alright. It’s his opinion,”Dikshit told PTI.

Dikshit and Chacko hadserious differences over analliance with the AAP for theLok Sabha elections in Delhi.While Dikshit opposed analliance with the AAP, Chackofavoured it. The tie-up ulti-mately did not materialise.

“Dikshit lost the Lok Sabhapolls by over 3 lakh votes.

This time she cannot escaperesponsibility for the party’sdefeat. Her old age prevents herfrom being active in the fieldand leading the party. She willprove to be a disaster in theassembly elections,” Goyal toldPTI.

After the Congress’ defeatin Delhi, Dikshit had offered

her resignation to the partypresident but it was not accept-ed, Congress leaders said.

In his letter, Goyal sug-gested that the Delhi Congressshould fight assembly polls byprojecting Kapil Sibal orYoganand Shastri as the chiefministerial face of the party.

“This exercise must beundertaken to find a new facefor the Congress chief ministerin Delhi if the party does notwant to lose any further,” hewrote to Gandhi.

The Congress had lost allseven Lok Sabha seats in Delhito BJP with huge margins.

However, under Dikshit’sleadership the party managedto push AAP candidates on thethird place in five of the sevenseats, besides registeringgrowth in its vote share.

The three-time formerDelhi chief minister wasappointed president of the cityunit after the incumbent AjayMaken stepped down citinghealth issues in January thisyear. Despite being an octage-narian ,Dikshit led the party inLok Sabha polls and herselfcontested against Delhi BJPchief Manoj Tiwari from theNorth East Delhi seat. She lostby over 3.66 lakh votes.

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From Page 1Five people have died in

Munger in the last 48 hours,while 60 people have died dueto heatwave condition inAurangabad. In Gaya, thenumber of deaths due to heat-wave is 35, while it is seven inNawada, two in Kaimur, onein Arrah, one in Samastipurand six in Nalanda.

Gaya and Patna recordedtemperatures above 45 degreesCelsius on Saturday. OnMonday, temperature record-ed in Gaya and Aurangabadwas 42 and 43 degrees Celsiusrespectively.

A heatwave is declaredwhen temperature remains at45 degrees Celsius and abovefor two consecutive days. Itgets a “severe” tag when thetemperature touches 47degrees Celsius.

India is seeing its worstheatwave this year with fourcities in north India on arecord high. Delhi, Churu inRajasthan, and Banda andAllahabad in Uttar Pradeshsaw temperatures reaching a

high of 50 degrees Celsius andabove. At one point of timeduring the last 30 days, over 10places across India witnessedthe hottest temperatures.

According to IMD, bynow, monsoon should havereached central India, includ-ing parts of Madhya Pradesh,Rajasthan, eastern UttarPradesh and Gujarat, but it isyet to reach Maharashtra.

Meanwhile, the IMD onMonday predicted moderateshowers in Mumbai and sur-rounding areas over the nexttwo days, while south Konkanwill receive higher intensity rain during the sameperiod.

“There is a respite fromheatwave due to cyclonicstorm ‘Vayu’ which impactedthe weather pattern in north-ern states. Parts of Rajasthan,Punjab, Western UttarPradesh, and Haryana havereceived rain and thunder-storm since Saturday, bringingrespite from the swelteringconditions,” said Dr KuldeepSrivastava of the IMD.

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From Page 1Shiromani Akali Dal pres-

ident Sukhbir Singh Badalurged Union Home MinisterAmit Shah to award exemplarypunishment to police person-nel responsible for the “brutalattack” and dismiss them fromthe service to send a messagethat “atrocities by men in uni-form” would not be toleratedunder any circumstances.

“This is a disgraceful andunforgivable act. We willensure that the guilty arebrought to book.

“There is no place indemocracy for inhuman con-duct against anyone. I urge@AmitShah to dismiss police-men resp for brutal attack oninnocent Sikhs in Delhi yes-terday. Attempt to murder casesshould also be registeredagainst cops. I commendDSGMC for taking up the case

forcefully (sic),” he tweeted.Punjab Chief Minister

Captain Amrinder Singh alsodescribed the incident as“shameful” and urged theUnion Home Minister to takeaction.

“Shameful incident of@DelhiPolice ruthlessly beatingup Sarabjeet Singh & BalwantSingh over a petty issue.Request HM @AmitShah toensure justice,” he tweeted.

Meanwhile Delhi ChiefMinister and Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) and national convenerArvind Kejriwal visited thetempo driver at his residenceand demanded “strict punish-ment” for the guilty policemen.

Demanding punishmentfor the guilty, Delhi BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) presidentManoj Tiwari said there is noplace for violence in society.“Violence has no place in anyCivil Society. Mukherjee Nagarincident is sad and con-demnable. Free and fairenquiry should be done, so thatno innocent should be pun-ished and guilty should bebrought to book,” he tweeted.

Delhi Congress spokesper-

son Jitendra Kochar alsodemanded a thorough probeinto the incident. Mere sus-pension of the guilty police offi-cials was not enough, he said,while demanding that they beremoved from service.

A delegation of Delhi SikhGurdwara ManagementCommittee’s (DSGMC) led byits president Manjinder SinghSirsa called on DelhiCommissioner of Police (CP)on Sunday and demanded anenquiry in connection of analleged assault on driver of amini taxi at Mukherjee Nagararea of north Delhi.

Later in the day, the DelhiPolice issued a detailed state-ment. “The Delhi Police hasregistered cross cases in regardto Sunday’s incident that tookplace in the area of MukherjeeNagar. Based on the statementof the policeman who sus-tained injuries while on duty,an FIR has been registeredagainst Grameen Seva driverSarbjeet Singh for the assault byuse of sword, and the other casehas been registered on thecomplaint of Sarbjeet Singh forcertain alleged excesses com-

mitted subsequently which canalso be seen in a video. Both thecases have been registered asper the complaints under pro-visions of law dealing withassault and use of force. Forindependent investigation, thecases have been transferred tothe Crime Branch”.

“Manish Kumar Agrawal,Joint Commissioner ofNorthern Range is separatelyconducting a detailed fact-finding enquiry into the mat-ter. On the basis of his prelim-inary findings, three policepersonnel, including 2 ASIshave already been placedunder suspension for theirunprofessional conduct in han-dling the situation. Furthernecessary action, as warranted,will be taken on the basis of thefindings of the enquiry”,Additional PRO Amil Mittalsaid.

“It is reiterated that DelhiPolice follows a policy of zerotolerance towards any unpro-fessional conduct or anyunnecessary excess even whileperforming official duties orhandling a crowd control situ-ation”, Mittal added.

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From Page 1Giving their sides of the story the junior

doctors told the Chief Minister, “We are oftenmade to work in an environment of fear. Pleaseensure exemplary punishment against culprits.We came to you as you are our guardian. Wewant a solution and end the deadlock andresume services. We believe that you have allgood intentions to look into our problem sothat we can work peacefully.”

Some doctors also raised the issue of polit-ical interference during treatment saying“Often there are political leaders from all theparties who interfere too much in the processof treatment making our jobs difficult,” evenas the Chief Minister nodded in agreement.

Junior doctors in West Bengal are on strikesince June 11 after two of their colleagues wereattacked and seriously injured allegedly by rel-atives of a patient who died at the NRS MedicalCollege and Hospital in Kolkata.

The doctors got a spontaneously reply fromthe other walks of the society includinglawyers, intelligentsia, etc.

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From Page 1“The fire was retaliated

leading to an encounter. In theheavy exchange of fire, a seniorarmy officer ,identified asKetan Sharma, sustained gun-shot injuries”.

He was evacuated to thehospital where he attainedmartyrdom, the policespokesman said. Two otherArmy officers were currentlyundergoing treatment in thecommand hospital in Srinagar,

police spokesperson added. Police said the body of the

terrorist was retrieved from theencounter site . The identifi-cation and affiliation of thekilled terrorist is being ascer-tained.

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With the effect of cyclone‘Vayu’ on the southernpeninsula getting over, thedelayed southwest monsoonis now expected to arrive inMaharashtra by June 21, theIMD predicted Monday.

The much-awaited mon-soon is expected to reachsouthern Konkan and Goa byJune 21, and is likely to coverthe entire Maharashtra by June24 or 25.

“While the monsoon islikely to cover the entire

Maharashtra, good rains areexpected over the parchedregions like Marathwada andVidarbha, which are currentlyreeling under water crisis,” anIndia MeteorologicalDepartment official said inPune.

He said though the mon-soon got delayed due to ‘Vayu’,it’s expected to move forwardrapidly.

“The progress of the mon-soon will be rapid after June 21.

The monsoon is likely tocover 90 per cent of the coun-try by July 4,” he said.

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A40-year-old Mandrake,who tried to do tricks likelegendary magician of escapegames Harry Houdini,drowned in the river Hooglyhere while trying to perform anunderwater live stunt Sunday.

Eyewitnesses saidChanchal Lahiri, who was low-ered into the river standing ina six-foot tall cage having sixlocks, from Millenium Parkhere for the underwater escapeact, disappeared near pillarnumber 28 of the HowrahBridge.

The police on Mondayevening said a body resemblingthe magician was found near

Ramkrishnapur ghat inHowrah but it was yet to bveidentified by his family mem-bers.

Lahiri, a resident of south-ern suburbs of Kolkata, haddone the same trick in 2013 insame Hoogly river, but thistime he ran out of luck anddrowned.

Six years back, peoplewatching his stunt show hadreportedly assaulted him afterseeing through his trick.

The wizard mandrake wastrying to do escape act popu-larised by American stunt per-former Harry Houdini around100 years back.

The police along withDisaster Management Group

began a search for him onSunday after receiving infor-mation that he did not emergefrom the river.

“We tried to spot him. Butit seems the stream has swepthim away. Our divers diveddeep, but could not locate him.Because of darkness, we had totemporarily stop our searchoperation on Sunday evening,”a senior police officer said.

Lahiri had taken permis-sion from both Kolkata Policeand the Kolkata Port Trust,police said.

“He had mentioned theact was to happen in a boat orvessel and there was no con-nection with water. Hence weallowed him permission.

Mumbai: Diamantaire MehulChoksi, a key accused in themulti-crore PNB bank scam,Monday told the Bombay HighCourt that he left India for hismedical treatment abroad andnot to avoid prosecution in thecase. Choksi, currently based inthe Caribbean nation ofAntigua, told the high court thathe would return to India as soonas he is medically fit to travel.

The EnforcementDirectorate (ED), which hasmoved a special PMLA courthere to get Choksi declared afugitive economic offender,has accused the jeweller offleeing the country to avoid his

arrest. Choksi filed an affidavitMonday through his advocateVijay Aggarwal, stating he hadleft the country in January2018 for his medical check-up.

Choksi claimed he left thecountry on January 4, 2018,while as per the PunjabNational Bank, the allegedfraud came to their knowledgeon January 16, 2018.

“Hence, the allegations thatI left the country to avoidcriminal prosecution is withoutany basis as the PNB itself cameto know about the allegedfraudulent issuance of Lettersof Undertaking only on January16, 2018,” Choksi said. PTI

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Having returned to powerwith a bigger mandate,Prime Minister Narendra Modion Monday sought to reach outto the Opposition parties on thefirst day of Parliament’s mon-soon session saying they neednot “bother about their num-bers” as their every word is“valuable” to the Government.

“When we come toParliament, we should forget‘paksh’ (treasury) and ‘vipaksh’(Opposition) and instead thinkabout issues with a ‘nishpaksh’(impartial) spirit and work inthe larger interest of the nation,”he told the media outsideParliament before the com-mencement of the first sessionof the 17th Lok Sabha.

Inside the House, many ofthe newly-elected memberswere seen in colourful and saf-fron attire, traditional shawlsand headgears even as twoUnion Ministers from Bengalwere greeted with chants of JaiShri Ram when they were calledto take oath as Lok Sabha mem-bers.

Outlining the importance ofan active Opposition in a par-liamentary democracy, Modisaid he hoped the Oppositionwill speak actively and partici-pate in House proceedings. “Iam hopeful that this session willbe productive,” he maintained.

“The role of an Oppositionand an active Opposition isimportant perquisite in a par-liamentary democracy. TheOpposition need not bother

about their numbers. I hopethey speak actively and partic-ipate in House proceedings.Their every word, every feelingis valuable to us,” he said evenas he urged all MPs to beimpartial in the House andaddress issues related to the larg-er interest of the nation.

Talking about the newlyconstituted Lok Sabha, Modisaid it is historic in variousterms as maximum number ofwomen MPs have been electedto the lower house since theIndependence. Modi said asthis is the first session with newmembers, there will be a flow ofnew energy and a new enthusi-asm will be reflected in theHouse to realise the aspira-tions of the people.

He said his Governmentworked on the principle of‘sabka sath, sabka vikas’ (withall, development for all) duringhis first term and peoplereposed their faith in it for a sec-ond time. As a result, aGovernment has been reelect-

ed with a clear majority afterseveral decades, he said

Later, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, who is also theleader of the House, took oathas Member amid thumping ofdesks by the ruling NDA MPSand slogans such as ‘Modi Modi’and “Bharat Mata ki Jai.

The panel of presiding offi-cers — K Suresh, BrijbhushanSharan Singh and B Mehtab —took oath as Members after thePrime Minister. DefenceMinister Rajnath Singh, HomeMinister Amit Shah, Transportand Highways Minister NitinGadkari, and Chemical andFertilisers Minister DVSadanand Gowda also took

oath.Union Minister Smriti

Irani, who defeated CongressPresident Rahul Gandhi inAmethi, received the longestapplause when she took oath.Rahul, who was missing fromthe House in the first phase,took oath in the second half.

When Union MinistersBabul Supriyo and DebashreeChoudhury, who are from WestBengal, were called to take oaththey were greeted by fellowBJP MPs with “Jai Shri Ram”slogans apparently as a dig atWest Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee who hadobjected to uttering the sloganduring some incidents.

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PNS: Prime Minister NarendraModi and Home Minister AmitShah were in their trademarkKurta, Pyjama and half-sleevejacket, Union MinistersPrahlad Joshi, Giriraj Singh andGK Reddy sported saffronattire or half jacket. Bihar MPsGopal Jee Thakur and AshokKumar Yadav came in traditional Maithil attire andheadgear, while most of theAssam MPs donned the tradi-tional Assamese ‘gamocha’, con-sidered a symbol of the State’sculture.

YSR Congress MPs fromAndhra Pradesh sported the

‘Angavastram’ dotted with pic-ture of party president andChief Minister YS Jagan MohanReddy. BJP’s Bhopal MP PragyaSingh Thakur was seen in hertrademark saffron robe whileUnion Minister Arjun RamMeghwal wore the traditionalRajasthani saffron and greenheadgear as part of the dress.

Film star Sunny Deol, whowas elected to Lok Sabha fromGurdashpur in Punjab, came inshirt and trouser and was seensitting in the second last row.Arunachal Pradesh MP TapirGao wore the traditional blueArunachali jacket.

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Responding to the PM’s call,the Congress on Mondayalleged that the ModiGovernment used Parliamentas a “rubber stamp” during itsprevious tenure and hoped thistrend is reversed and key Billsare not pushed without legisla-tive scrutiny using “brutemajority”.

“Legislation through ordi-nance is a very unhealthy prac-tice in a democracy. It shouldonly be used in extreme caseswhere there is an emergency

requirement otherwise the dueprocesses of lawmaking must tobe followed by the Governmentin office,” senior Congressleader Anand Sharma said.

“We will now wait for thePrime Minister’s assurance inthis regard and whether thepractice that was followed in thelast five years is reversed,because in the last five yearswhat we have seen is disrespectto Parliament, where the billswere brought by the govern-ment and because of its brutemajority in the Lok Sabha,Parliament was treated as a rub-

ber stamp,” he said.Most of the bills were not

sent to the standing committeefor legislative scrutiny which isimportant for any law to bemade, Sharma said. Congresshopes that now this practice willbe honoured and dependenceof ordinance and pushingthrough the bills without scruti-ny will not be repeated by theGovernment, he said.

Earlier in the day, address-ing the media outside parlia-ment before the commence-ment of the first session of the17th Lok Sabha, Modi said,

“When we come to Parliament,we should forget ‘paksh’ (trea-sury) and ‘vipaksh’(Opposition). We should thinkabout issues with a ‘nishpaksh’(impartial) spirit and work inthe larger interest of the nation.”

“The role of an oppositionand an active opposition isimportant perquisite in a par-liamentary democracy. Theopposition need not botherabout their numbers. I hopethey speak actively and partic-ipate in House proceed-ings...Their every word...Everyfeeling is valuable to us,” he said.

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BJP MP from Bhopal SadhviPragya Singh Thakur’s oathtaking on Monday created acontroversy after CongressMPs objected to her adding herspiritual Guru’s name alongwith her name. Amid protests,Thakur said that it was her fullname and she had mentionedthat she had already men-tioned her full name in theform she had filled for oath tak-ing.

The mention of SwamiPurna ChetnanandAvdheshanand Giri as suffix toher name Sadhvi Pragya SinghThakur evoked sharp reactionfrom the Opposition mem-bers who said that such a thingwas not permitted. She insist-ed that the suffix was part ofher full name, resulting in anuproar from Opposition andslogan shouting in her favourfrom the ruling benches.

The Pro tem SpeakerVirendra Kumar sought toknow from the Lok SabhaSecretary General, the fullname. Amid noise and objec-tions, Kumar ruled that only

the name written in her elec-tion certificate issued by thereturning officer would go onrecord. BJP MPs accused theCongress MPs of unnecessar-ily targeting the Bhopal MP.

Thakur took oath inSanskrit and ended it with‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ slogan.Later, BJP members continuedto raise ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ slo-gans.

After Ganjendra UmaraoSingh Patel (BJP) completed hisoath with ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’,NK Premchandran (RSP)urged the Pro-tem Speaker tomaintain the prescribed formatof the oath. The Pro tem speak-er ruled that the membersstick to the format provided.After this, the members of BJPstarted adding ‘Bharat Mata KiJai’ after end of every oath.

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With the death toll crossingthe 100 mark due toAcute Encephalitis Syndrome(AES), a case has been filedagainst Union Health MinisterDr Harsh Vardhan and BiharHealth Minister MangalPandey in Muzaffarpur ChiefJudicial Magistrate’s (CJM)court for not creating aware-ness about the deadly disease.The plea by the social activistTamanna Hashmi will be heardon June 24.

Harsh Vardhan, who hadvisited the district on Sunday toreview the situation in thehospitals there, has denied anynegligence saying teams werestationed in Muzaffarpur fromthe very first day and wereworking too. Meanwhile, avideo surfaced wherein Pandeyis seen asking for latest score ofthe India-Pakistan cricketmatch during the State HealthDepartment meeting over theAES deaths on June 16 addingto the prevailing anger amongthe people against theGovernment.

According to official data,85 children have died in SriKrishna Medical College andHospital (SKMCH), while 17have lost their lives in Kejriwalhospital in the city in the pastfortnight. Most of the casualtiesaffected by the Syndrome arebetween the age group of 1-10.

AES is a viral disease,which causes mild flu-likesymptoms such as high fever,convulsions, and headaches.According to reports, morethan 290 children are stilladmitted in the ICU of the Sri

Krishna Medical College. The Centre has announced

plans to set up five virologicallabs in different districts in theState. The location of the dis-trict can be decided in consul-tation with the StateGovernment and can be fund-ed through NHM, said HarshVardhan in a statement here.

A high-level central teamhas been sent to Muzaffarpurto set up a state-of-the-artmulti-disciplinary researchcentre in the wake of the chil-dren death due to suspectedencephalitis.

In one of the decisionstaken during his visit toMuzaffarpur, the UnionMinister has instructed to setup a 100-bedded paediatricICU at SKMCH by the StateGovernment. Also, in theadjoining districts, 10 beddedpaediatric ICUs will be set upwith support from the Centre,so that such cases can be givenbetter and exclusive treatmentand there is no unnecessaryload on the facilities availableat SKMCH.

Emphasising the need forearly detection and treatmentof hypoglycemia cases, HarshVardhan said that a dedicatedteam of doctors should beplaced in endemic PHCs withrequired facilities at least for 3to 4 months before and duringonset of disease and they maybe incentivised under NHMappropriately.

As for present, the con-cerned PHCs and CHCsshould take prompt correctivemeasures for hypoglycaemia atthe facility itself to utilize thegolden hour, he added.

Harsh Vardhan also saidthat Ministry of Earth Sciencewill be requested to upgrade itsIMD observatory facility forimproved monitoring of cli-mate related parameters such astemperature humidity, rain-fall, heat waves, etc., and shareit with the State Governmentand NCDC for better pre-paredness and management ofAES.

“The central governmentwill provide all possible helpincluding financial to the stateto control the situation, provideproper treatment and developinfrastructure needed for it,”Health Minister said.

Social activist TamannaHashmi in his petition hasalleged that Harsh Vardhanand Mangal Pandey failed tofulfill their duties to control theoutbreak of AES, while bothhad done nothing to createawareness and sensitise peoplein the affected areas despite thefact that AES had been killingchildren for years.

Hashmi said that he hasfiled the case against theaccused, Harsh Vardhan andMangal Pandey, under 323,308 and 504 of the IndianPenal Code (IPC).

“Large number of childrendied due to negligence and lackof infrastructure to give themtimely proper treatment”, hesaid.

The National HumanRights Commission (NHRC)too has issued notices to theUnion Health Ministry and theBihar government over reportsof increasing deaths of childrendue to the deadly disease, asenior official said.

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The probe to find out thecause leading to the AN-32plane crash may get delayed asits black box or flight datarecorder is damaged. The blackbox was brought from the crashsite three days back and theinvestigators are trying toretrieve the data from the instru-ment. Meanwhile, operation isin full swing to recover the mor-tal remains of all the 13 onboard. Scores of helicopters areflying sorties for this purpose.

It is feared that the plane hita mountain top leading to thecrash. However, the data from

the black box and the court ofinquiry will establish the causeof the mishap, sources said hereon Monday. As regards thedamage caused to the blackbox, they said the HindustanAeronautics Limited(HAL) helpwill be sought for retrieving thedata or may be sent to someother agency. It was also learntthat Eastern Command chief AirMarshal R K Mathur’s scheduledvisit to Bangladesh was post-poned as he is supervising thesalvage operations.

The plane had gone missing

on June 3 while on a flight fromJorhat in Assam for Mechukaadvanced landing ground inArunachal Pradesh and thewreckage was spotted eight dayslater near the landing ground ata height of 12,000 feet amidstdense jungles atop a steep ridge.Teams of IAF, Army and civil-ian mountaineers trekked inthe rugged terrain to reach thespot to recover the black box andlook for any survivors.

Given the nature of terrainand inclement weather, thesearch operation is facing amajor challenge for the moun-taineering team and the IAF hasdeployed more than eight heli-copters for retrieval of mortalremains, sources said. They alsosaid more than 200 sorties werecarried out since the search andrescue effort commenced onJune 3 over an area of 1,000sq.km. The debris of the ill-fated

plane was finally spotted by aMI-17 helicopter in Lipo.

There are more than 100AN-32 twin-engine turbo proptransport planes with the IAF.These Russian origin planeswere inducted in the mid 1980s.After a crash in 2009 nearMechuka killing all 13 passen-gers, a contract was inked for400 million dollars with Ukrainefor upgrade. So far, 50 planeshave been retrofitted. However,the plane which crashed onJune 3 was non-upgraded.

Mechuka advanced landingground located at an altitude of6,000 feet is the lifeline fortroops deployed on the Line ofActual Control(LAC) facingChina in Arunachal Pradesh.The planes and helicopters ferrypersonnel, food and ammuni-tion from Mechuka which isabout 30kms from the LAC asthe crow flies.

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New Delhi: The SupremeCourt on Monday asked theCentre to file its response on abatch of pleas of over twodozen trainee IAS and IPS offi-cers of the 2018 batch, who havesought parity in the govern-ment’s cadre allocation schemewith 20 of their colleagues,who were granted relief by thetop court last month.

The Supreme Court had,on May 17, granted relief to 20trainee IAS and IPS officers,who had challenged the gov-ernment’s cadre allocationprocess for the 2018 batch, byasking the Centre to accom-modate them by increasingone post each in the statecadres of their preference this

year. After the May 17 order,now two sets of 2018-batchtrainee IAS and IPS officershave moved the apex court —one group of 20 candidates haschallenged the Delhi HighCourt verdict that had quashedthe entire cadre allocationprocess and the other group offive officers has filed a fresh writpetition seeking parity with 20of their colleagues.

Several other trainee IASand IPS officers have alsosought impleadment in thesetwo petitions.

A vacation bench of justicesDeepak Gupta and Surya Kantsaid prima facie it did notagree with the High Court’sview. PTI

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Friedrich Engels had said that one ofthe principal outcomes of the pro-letarian revolution would be thewithering away of the State. InIndia, post-2019, the State hasemerged stronger than ever before and it isthe communist parties which are actuallywithering away. While much of the focus afterthe recent Lok Sabha election has been on thedisastrous performance of the Congress, thereal big story is the declining fortunes of thetwo communist parties in India.

The Left parties had a decent presence inseveral States in the early decades after inde-pendence. The undivided Communist Partyof India (CPI) won 16 seats in the first LokSabha election in 1951-52. It rose to 29 seatsin 1962 and got around nine per cent of thevotes polled. After the party split, the CPI andthe Communist Party of India (Marxist)-CPI(M) bagged 42 seats in 1967 but their voteshare hovered around nine per cent. Thistrend continued for three decades. The twoparties put up their best performance in 2004when they together secured 53 seats in the LokSabha, although their vote share had droppedto around seven per cent. Thereafter, their for-tunes crashed. In 2014, the two partiescould win just 10 seats and their national voteshare dropped to just four per cent. This timearound, they are well below the danger markhaving secured just five seats and about twoper cent of the national vote.

The decline of the two communist par-ties and their fellow travellers in the LeftFront can be traced to the loss of popular-ity in their strongholds in West Bengal andTripura and their fluctuating fortunes inKerala. The Left’s fall is most noticeable inWest Bengal where its vote share hascrashed from 50.70 per cent and 32 seats in2004 to 6.28 per cent and zero seats in 2019.

While most political parties around theworld, including communist parties, re-invent themselves to stay afloat and win pop-ular support, the CPI and the CPI(M) havestubbornly stuck to the theories and slogansthat defined them decades ago. Their ideasabout the working class and organisedlabour and about the capitalist-proletariatbinary remain unchanged, even though theworld has moved on.

This writer found examples of this dur-ing the Lok Sabha poll in West Bengal, whereduring the road shows, CPI(M) cadres keptchanting “Inquilab Zindabad” while wavingtheir red hammer and sickle flags. Which rev-olution were they talking about in this day andage when the market economy rules the roost?The best example of how these two partiesare completely out of sync with today’s real-ity is their refusal to acknowledge the advan-tages accruing to the poorest of the poorthrough many innovative schemes like thePradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, the PradhanMantri Ujjwala Yojana, Pradhan Mantri JanDhan Yojana and the direct benefit transferscheme. Mudra is an innovative programmelaunched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi

to kindle the entrepreneurialspirit among poorer sections ofsociety and to bring about a dra-matic shift in their social and eco-nomic conditions.

Under the scheme, theGovernment provides loans toindividuals from poorer sec-tions of society to establish theirown businesses and pursueentrepreneurship. The idea is to“fund the unfunded.” They getloans ranging from �50,000 to�10 lakh. These small entrepre-neurs and businessmen in turnemploy five to 10 people to runtheir enterprise — be it a smalleatery, a bakery, a garment orleather-goods-making microunit or a tea stall. These Mudrabeneficiaries can be found allover the country and the pro-gramme has the potential tobring about noticeable change inthe living conditions of theunder-privileged classes. Thiswriter met many beneficiariesduring travels in several Statesrecently. Available data on theMudra scheme is indeed heart-ening. Women entrepreneursare the major beneficiaries ofMudra loans across sectors andconstitute 70 per cent of thosewho have taken advantage of thisscheme. Early this year, theGovernment announced that ithad disbursed loans amountingto �7.23 lakh crore.

Under the Ujjwala pro-gramme, the Government pro-

vides free cooking gas connectionto families below the poverty line.Thus far, over 70 million fami-lies have benefited from it.Another such scheme with far-reaching impact is the aim tobuild homes for the poor and toi-lets in every home. Thoughsome of these schemes were ini-tiated by previous Governments,their implementation was slug-gish in the absence of motivationand commitment. Delivery ofthese schemes has picked up paceafter Modi became the PrimeMinister in 2014.

All these schemes are aimedat ensuring the dignity of womenand children, improving theirliving environment and healthand offering them incentives tobetter the quality of lives. Onewould have thought that pro-grammes of this kind would behailed by the communists, butthat has not happened. Thespokespersons of these two par-ties have been consistently run-ning down the Mudra Yojanaand all other schemes meantexclusively to better the lives ofthe poorer classes, simplybecause they were launched byPrime Minister Modi and he isthe driving force to ensure theircompletion within the shortestpossible time. The electionresults show that this kind ofnegativity has not gone downwell with the people.

There are many other factors

which have rendered the twocommunist parties unpopular.The first of these is their approachto secularism. The two partieshave moved far away from theShah Bano days when SomnathChatterjee, Saifuddin Choudhuryand several others to