Supreme Court Stays Order On Transfer Of Himachal DGP

Supreme Court Stays Order On Transfer Of Himachal DGP

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court today stayed the order of the Himachal Pradesh High Court asking the state government to shift senior IPS officer Sanjay Kundu from the post of Director General of Police (DGP). The decision to shift him was taken to stop him from influencing the probe into the alleged harassment of Palampur businessman Nishant Sharma.

The Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, granted liberty to Kundu to move the high court to seek recall of its December 26 order.

The bench said till the recall application is disposed of by the high court, the direction for transfer of Kundu from the post of DGP of the state shall remain stayed.

The Supreme Court requested the high court to dispose of the recall application within two weeks.

Sanjay Kundu was on Tuesday removed from the post of Himachal DGP and posted as Principal Secretary, Ayush department.

The Himachal Pradesh High Court had on December 26 ordered the State government to shift the DGP and Kangra Superintendent of Police Shalini Agnihotri to other posts before January 4, 2024 to ensure that “they didn’t have an opportunity to influence the investigation”.

The businessman had sought the High Court’s intervention on the grounds that he needed protection from powerful people as he was living in constant fear of being killed.

Kundu’s lawyer had told the Supreme Court that the matter was “extraordinary” as the high court did not hear the officer before directing the state government to shift him.

Lioness Hit By Goods Train In Gujarat; Survives With Minor Injuries

Lioness Hit By Goods Train In Gujarat; Survives With Minor Injuries

The train was on its way to Surendranagar from Mahuva, as per a Forest department statement.

Amreli:

A lioness was injured on Wednesday when she was hit by a goods train while trying to cross railway tracks in Gujarat’s Amreli district, the forest department said.

The big cat suffered minor injuries in the incident which occurred near Vijapadi railway station in Bhammar area at around 5 AM. The train was on its way to Surendranagar from Mahuva, as per a Forest department statement.

The lioness, aged around 7-8 years, was rescued and shifted to an animal centre for treatment, it said.

As per a government report in 2020, the population of Asiatic lions in Gujarat rose nearly 29 per cent to 674 from 523 in five years from 2015, while the distribution area of the lions went up 36 per cent.

In a reply to a question in the state assembly in February 2023, Forest Minister Mulubhai Bera informed that out of 240 lion deaths reported in the state in two years in 2021 and 2022, 26 fatalities were due to unnatural causes such as the big cats getting hit by vehicles or falling into open wells.

The state government has taken various steps to prevent unnatural deaths of big cats such as the appointment of veterinary doctors and introduction of an ambulance service for timely intervention and treatment of lions and other wild animals, the minister had said.

Other measures include building speed-breakers and installing signboards on roads passing through sanctuary areas, regular foot patrolling in forests, building parapet walls for open wells near forests, putting up fences on both sides of the railway track near Gir Wildlife Sanctuary and radio-collaring Asiatic lions to track their movement.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan to meet KCR on Thursday

Sources said the luncheon meeting was just a courtesy call from YS Jaganmohan Reddy in the wake of Chandrashekhar Rao’s recent hip replacement surgery.

Updated On – 03:33 PM, Wed – 3 January 24


Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan to meet KCR on Thursday


Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy will call on BRS president and former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao at the latter’s residence in Hyderabad on Thursday.

Sources said the luncheon meeting was just a courtesy call from Jaganmohan Reddy in the wake of Chandrashekhar Rao’s recent hip replacement surgery. Jaganmohan Reddy is scheduled to reach Hyderabad in the afternoon, following which he will head to Chandrashekhar Rao’s residence at Nandinagar where the former Chief Minister is recuperating after his surgery.

BRS working president KT Rama Rao and a few other leaders were likely to attend the meeting. It may be noted that Jaganmohan Reddy had called Rama Rao soon after learning about Chandrashekhar Rao’s surgery and wished for his speedy recovery.

Chandrashekhar Rao, who underwent a hip replacement surgery last month, is recovering steadily and is able to walk with the help of a walker. Apart from medication, he is regularly undergoing physiotherapy. His health is being regularly monitored by a team of doctors from Yashoda Hospitals. Sources said there was good progress and that he was expected to walk using a walking stick from next week.

Five people succumb to Covid in last 24 hours in India, 511 cases of JN.1 series variant reported till Tuesday

602 new Covid cases have been registered in the last 24 hours, and the total number of cases stood at cases are 4,50,15,136, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.

Published Date – 02:39 PM, Wed – 3 January 24


Five people succumb to Covid in last 24 hours in India, 511 cases of JN.1 series variant reported till Tuesday


New Delhi: The Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) under the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has reported five deaths due to Covid in the last 24 hours in the country. A total of 511 cases of the JN.1 series variant have been reported from 11 states till January 2, 2024.

602 new cases have been registered in the last 24 hours, and the total number of cases stood at cases are 4,50,15,136, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.


The active caseload stood at 4,440, which showed a decrease of 125 since Tuesday.

722 people recovered in the last 24 hours and the total recovered cases stood at 4,44,77,272.

State-wise distribution indicated 2 deaths in Kerala in the last 24 hours. The deceased has been identified as a 66-year-old male with Chronic Liver Disease, Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS), and Sepsis and a 79-year-old female with coronary artery disease (CAD), T2DM, and Sepsis. Karnataka reported one Covid death in the last 24 hours. A 45-year-old male with hypertension (HTN) from Vijayanagar lost his life due to Covid. Punjab reported one Covid death. The deceased has been identified as a 62-year-old male with Pulmonary Kochs, Lung injury, and MODS. Tamil Nadu reported one death due to Covid in the last 24 hours. A 74-year male with Interstitial Lung Disease, CAD, DM, and hypertension lost his life.

In Bihar reconciliation of mortality figures is ongoing. Odisha has reported 27 active cases on Tuesday.

32,946 tests were done on January 2 in the country, ICMR reported.

Further reconciliation of mortality figures is ongoing. “A total of 511 cases of the JN.1 series variant have been reported from 11 states till January 2, 2024.

Karnataka has reported 199 cases of the sub-variant. Kerala has reported 148 cases. 47 cases have been reported from Goa, 36 from Gujarat, 32 from Maharashtra,” the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.

Tamil Nadu has reported 26 cases of JN.1 sub-variant. Delhi has reported 15 cases, and 4 cases have been reported from Rajasthan. Telangana has reported two cases. Odisha and Haryana have reported one case each.

On the JN.1 sub-variant of COVID, Senior Consultant of Respiratory Medicine at Apollo Hospital, Dr Rajesh Chawla, said, “It spreads very fast. This is a variant of omicron, so it is likely to spread very fast. And gradually it is going to replace the other variants and become the predominant variant. JN.1 is a mild COVID virus and just like in Omicron, you did not see many patients of severe variety and only a few patients had severe disease, in the same way JN.1 is of mild variety. The symptoms in this include runny nose, cough, fatigue, pain in the throat and voice becoming hoarse while some people may suffer from diarrhoea.” The World Health Organization (WHO) recently classified JN.1 as a variant of interest, distinct from its parent lineage BA.2.86. However, the global health body emphasised that the overall risk posed by JN.1 remains low based on current evidence.

‘US upsets regional balance; Arouri assassination will backfire on Washington’

Saleh Al-Arouri, the deputy head of the political bureau of the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement (Photo by Hamas)

Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Mohammad-Reza Ashtiani has denounced the assassination of a top official of the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement, warning the United States to brace itself for its dire consequences.

Ashtiani made the remarks on the sidelines of a cabinet session in the capital Tehran on Wednesday.

“[The United States of] America has ventured into our region and disrupted its balance. Its repercussions will have an adverse effect and beset Americans themselves,” he said.

The defense minister also deplored the United States’ strategic mistakes in the West Asia region, stating that such missteps and flawed measures would eventually backfire on Washington.

He underscored that the vicious moves against resistance forces will only strengthen regional solidarity against the US policies in the region.

Saleh al-Arouri was killed on Tuesday in a “treacherous Zionist strike” on Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahiyeh, Hamas announced on its official channel.

Hamas politburo member Izzat al-Rishq called it a “cowardly assassination.”

Arouri was a senior official in Hamas’s politburo and was known to be deeply involved in its military affairs. He had previously headed the group’s presence in the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli regime launched its devastating war on the Gaza Strip on October 7 after the territory’s Hamas-led Palestinian resistance groups carried out a surprise retaliatory attack, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, against the occupying entity.

The Israeli military has also been carrying out attacks against the Lebanese territory since then, prompting retaliatory strikes from Lebanon’s resistance movement Hezbollah in support of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

The movement has vowed to keep up its retaliatory operations as long as the regime continues its onslaught on Gaza.

The relentless Israeli military campaign against Gaza has killed at least 22,185 people, most of them women and children. More than 57,000 individuals have also been wounded.


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Petrol pumps in Hyderabad await customers as crisis subsides on Wednesday

Hyderabad is experiencing a collective sigh of relief as petrol pumps, grappling with shortages and serpentine queues on Tuesday, have successfully overcome these hurdles and are now fully operational.

Published Date – 03:25 PM, Wed – 3 January 24


Petrol pumps in Hyderabad await customers as crisis subsides on Wednesday


Hyderabad: After a period of turmoil caused by the nationwide truckers’ protest leading to fuel shortages and lengthy queues at petrol pumps, a sense of relief swept through Hyderabad as the situation gradually returned to normal on Wednesday.

The city is experiencing a collective sigh of relief as petrol pumps, grappling with shortages and serpentine queues yesterday, have successfully overcome these hurdles and are now fully operational.

G Vinay Kumar, President of the Telangana State Petrol Dealers Association, brings a dose of optimism to the current situation. “Everything is now back to normal, and there is no need to worry. People do not have to panic anymore,” he stated.

Kumar’s reassuring words bring relief to Hyderabad residents, indicating that the challenges faced during the protest are now behind them. He added, “Petrol pumps are now waiting for customers.”

Hyderabad residents, who were previously prompted to alter their daily routines due to fuel concerns, can now resume normal activities without the panic that arose during the protest period yesterday.

The initial scarcity, marked by long queues and increased traffic congestion, prompted significant disruption. Tuesday saw long and serpentine queues of anxious motorists which caused significant disruptions in traffic in several parts of the city and suburbs.

Woman arrested in Hyderabad for threatening cabbies of lodging sexual assault complaints, extorting money

On a complaint from a man whom Sultana met near the KBR Park at Jubilee Hills, the police registered a case and took her into custody. During interrogation, the woman admitted to extorting money from at least 17 persons.

Published Date – 03:15 PM, Wed – 3 January 24


Woman arrested in Hyderabad for threatening cabbies of lodging sexual assault complaints, extorting money


Hyderabad: A woman who extorted money from men after threatening them of lodging complaints of sexual assault, was arrested by the Jubilee Hills police.

The woman, Sumaiya Sultana (32), a resident of Shastripuram, stood at public places requesting lift from car drivers. After travelling for some distance in the vehicle, she would threaten the drivers of lodging a case for sexually assaulting her in the car, said Jubilee Hills police.

On a complaint from a man whom Sultana met near the KBR Park at Jubilee Hills, the police registered a case and took her into custody. During interrogation, the woman admitted to extorting money from at least 17 persons by adopting similar modus operandi. The police remanded her.

Profile: Saleh al-Arouri, Hamas leader and strategist who gave jitters to Israel

By Press TV Website Staff

In his last freewheeling television interview with Press TV, less than two weeks before his assassination in an Israeli drone strike on Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahiyeh, Saleh al-Arouri spoke in detail about the Al-Aqsa Storm Operation and how it has changed the equations.

One of the celebrated military strategists, described by many as the mastermind of the October 7 operation that took the Zionist occupation and its Western backers by complete surprise, the deputy chief of the Hamas resistance movement said Hamas resistance fighters are people with a “right and a just cause” who are ready to sacrifice themselves for that cause – the liberation of Palestine.

On Tuesday, Arouri and his comrades, Samir Afandi (Abu ‘Amer) and Azzam al-Aqra’, and the martyrs Zaki Shahin, Mohammed al-Reis, Mohammed Bshasha and Ahmed Hamoud, were assassinated.

The horrific act of terror came as the Israeli regime’s genocidal campaign against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip nears three months, leaving behind more than 22,000 fatalities, mostly children.

Arouri was the deputy chair of the Gaza-based resistance movement, who languished in Israeli jails for 18 years, suffered torture, and survived multiple assassination bids but never surrendered or retreated.

The 57-year-old was one of the founding members of Hamas’ military wing – the Ezz el-Din Qassam Brigades – and instrumental in planning and executing the Al-Aqsa Storm Operation (Al-Aqsa Flood) on October 7, which made him a prized target for the occupying entity.

Arouri mainly spearheaded the Qassam Brigades’ military operations in the occupied West Bank, the outcome of which has been visible in recent years with resistance significantly upping the ante.

The slain Hamas leader’s unflinching faith and confidence was what gave jitters to the Zionist enemy.

As he stated in a December 19 interview with the Press TV, the Israeli regime “can by no means wipe out Hamas” as the group is an “essential part” of the Palestinian society and fights for a big cause.

“Our ability to go ahead with fighting till the defeat of the occupation is 100% certain, that is what I said two months ago. Many people were asking if would Israel succeed. I replied we would meet six months or a year later, and then the Israelis would beg the world to get them out of the hell of resistance,” he said.

Arouri’s road to the top echelons of the Gaza-based resistance movement, which ultimately ended in his martyrdom, came after decades of fearless and determined struggle against the Israeli occupation.

Born in the Arura town in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, he was an active member of the Muslim Brotherhood from an early age and led an Islamic student union at Hebron University.

After the Hamas resistance movement came into existence in 1987, Arouri was one of its founding members and played a critical role in shaping the group’s military operations against the occupation.

Between 1990 and 1992, the slain Hamas leader was frequently held by the regime under the so-called “administrative detention policy” without trial for his anti-occupation activities.

In 1992, he was arrested by the apartheid regime and had to spend 18 years in different Israeli jails, with a three-month break in 2007. Inside the prisons, he suffered brutal interrogation and torture.

In 2010, following his release from captivity, Arouri was chosen as a member of the Hamas political bureau, which led him to negotiate the release of Palestinian prisoners (abductees) through Egyptian mediation in 2011.

As part of the swap deal, Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was released by Hamas in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian abductees held in Israeli prisons, including Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar.

In 2015, Arouri was declared a “specially designated global terrorist” by the US government, under which American citizens were not allowed to have any financial transactions with him.

Three years later, in 2018, the US State Department announced a bounty of $5 million for any information leading to the Hamas deputy chief’s capture, along with some senior leaders of the Hezbollah resistance movement.

Due to his high stature in the Palestinian resistance camp, Israeli spy agency Mossad had designated him as a key target, which Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth also reported on October 25, putting him on a list of six top Hamas leaders “in the crosshairs of the Israeli fire.”

On October 31, weeks after the launch of the Al-Aqsa Storm Operation, Israeli regime forces carried out a raid on his house in the town of Arura in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.

According to media reports, Arouri was a close confidante of the late Al-Qassam leader Ahmed Jabari and they both worked together to plan and execute the Hamas military wing’s operations.

He also shared a close relationship with leaders of other resistance movements in the region as well as the Islamic Republic of Iran and was al.

Speaking to Press TV last month, he hailed Iran’s support for the Palestinian cause and said all Muslim countries should emulate Iran and take decisive actions to help the Palestinians in their struggle.

In the past, he spoke highly of Iran’s top anti-terror commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani and his incredible support for the Palestinian cause, calling him the ‘martyr of al-Quds.’

Hamas termed his assassination a “cowardly act” and said attacks on Palestinians “inside and outside Palestine will not succeed in breaking the will and steadfastness of our people or undermining the continuation of their courageous resistance”.

“It proves once again the abject failure of this enemy to achieve any of its aggressive goals in the Gaza Strip,” the Gaza-based resistance group said.

Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati slammed the Israeli attack on Lebanese soil and warned against the “Israeli political upper echelon resorting to exporting its failures in Gaza to the southern border to impose new facts on the ground and change the rules of engagement”.

Hezbollah resistance movement, in its statement, said the attack “will not go without punishment”.

Iran’s foreign ministry also condemned the killing and said it was the result of the “heavy and irreparable defeat” faced by the Israeli regime in the Gaza Strip since October 7.

Importantly, before the events of October 7, Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu had threatened to kill Arouri.

Watch: Warner Gets Guard Of Honour From Pak Players. Khawaja Does This

Set to retire after the ongoing third Test against Pakistan, David Warner walked out to bat at the Sydney Cricket Ground, his home stadium, with a rousing reception from fans. Warner acknowledged the gesture of the fans as he waved his bat in air. The 37-year-old also received a special guard of honour from the Pakistan players, who congratulated the star batter. However, before making his way into the playing field, Warner received a warm embrace from his opening partner and childhood friend, Usman Khawaja.

Warner and Khawaja came out to bat for just one over as the umpire soon declared stumps with Australia at 6/0.

Earlier on Day 1, Pakistan fought back from a tricky position to post 313 on the back of fighting half-centuries from Mohammad Rizwan, Agha Salman and Aamer Jamal.

The visitors, reeling at 96/5 after opting to back, counter-attacked to frustrate the Australians at the SCG.

Rizwan hit a quickfire 88 off 103 balls, number nine Jamal a spirited 82 off 97 and Salman 53 off 67 to give the tourists some hope after a top-order collapse.

Australia skipper Pat Cummins took five for 61 for his third successive five-wicket haul in the series.

In a day that began in elation for Australia ended in frustration as Pakistan’s tail wagged furiously to rescue their side after a terrible start.

Rizwan and Salman triggered the comeback with a spirited 94-run stand to defy the Australia attack.

Rizwan, who had been dropped for the first Test, blasted two sixes and 10 fours off 103 balls before he fell to a legside trap set by Cummins.

He top-edged a pull shot for Josh Hazlewood to take the catch at fine leg after posting the highest individual score by a Pakistan batsman of the series.

Salman took up the cudgels with a half-century before he was caught by Travis Head off Mitchell Starc.

Jamal kept the fightback going as he registered his highest Test score before he fell to Nathan Lyon.

Australia clinched the three-match series with a tense 79-run win in the second Test in Melbourne over Christmas.

(With AFP Inputs)

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