YK MYK CONGRESS TAKING FULL ADVANTAGE OF DISCOMFORT OF THE BJP GOVERNMENT OPINION Rs. 5 RANCHI FRIDAY, 7 JANUARY, 2022 PG-12, YEAR— 11, ISSUE— 240 (RNI NO: JHAENG / 2012 / 44137) AT A GLANCE ED ARRESTS CREDIT SOCIETY CHIEF IN 250 CR PMLA CASE NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said that it has arrested Anand Balakrishna Appugol, the Chairman of Krantiveer Sangolli Rayanna Urban Co-operative Credit Society, in connection with a Prevention of Money Laundering case for cheating 26,000 people to the tune of Rs 250 crore. "We arrested the accused person under relevant sections of PMLA. He was produced before Special Bengaluru court. The ED sought their custody. After hearing the argument the court has given us his seven days custody," said the ED official. The ED initiated money laundering investigation on the basis of FIR registered by Khade Bazar Police Station. The police case was of criminal breach of trust and cheating against Anand Balakrishna Appugol and 15 others. The ED officials said that prima facie, investigation revealed that the Society had collected around Rs 250 crore of deposits till March 2017 from more than 26,000 public depositors. I AM CERTAIN DRAVID MUST HAVE GIVEN HIM A ‘BAMBOO’, SAYS GAVASKAR ON PANT SPORTS Morning India 22 XLRI students test positive for Covid-19 JAMSHEDPUR: Twenty two students from the prestigious XLRI-School of Management here have been tested positive for the Covid-19 infection, while test reports for another 100 are still awaited, the college authorities said on Thursday said. Worried about an alarming spike in coronavirus infections in the steel city of Jamshedpur, XLRI in collaboration with East Singhbhum District Administration, had conducted random tests on resident students. Taking a pro-active approach, the Institute has created isolation areas within the Campus to combat, contain and manage the spread of Covid-19 infections. Students who tested positive were isolated in the MDP Residence of the Campus with self-contained rooms and room service facilities. Medical supplies, food and counselling are being provided by the Institute following guidelines and directions issued by the Government of Jharkhand. Though the isolated students are showing mild symptoms and are doing well, the XLRI administration is monitoring the situation closely to ensure full recovery and rule out any chance of spread. The students, who tested negative, have been advised to go home. Meanwhile, India registered a single-day rise of 90,928 cases, a significant rise from the previous day's 58,097 Covid cases in a span of 24 hours. A total of 325 deaths have also been reported in the same time, said the Union ministry of health and family welfare on Thursday. With the addition of new deaths, the death toll has reached 4,82,876. Meanwhile, the active caseload has jumped to 2,85,401 which constitutes 0.81 per cent of the country's total positive cases. Meanwhile, the Omicron infection tally has climbed at 2,630 across the nation. However, out of total Omicron positive cases, 995 have been discharged from hospitals. So far 26 states have reported Omicron cases, said the Union health ministry on Thursday. The recovery of 19,206 patients in the last 24 hours has increased the cumulative tally to 3,43,41,009. Consequently, India's recovery rate stands at 97.81 per cent. Also in the same period, a total of 14,13,030 tests were conducted across the country. India has so far conducted over 68.53 crore cumulative tests. Meanwhile, the weekly positivity rate has climbed to 3.47 per cent amid a sudden spike in cases. The daily positivity rate stands at 6.43 per cent. With the administration of over 91 lakhs vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, India's Covid inoculation coverage has reached 148.76 crore as of Thursday morning. CCEA approves scheme on green energy corridor phase-II for intra-state transmission system NEW DELHI: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Thursday approved a scheme on Green Energy Corridor (GEC) Phase-II for Intra-State Transmission System (InSTS) which will help in achieving the target of 450 GW installed renewable energy capacity by 2030. It will lead to addition of approximately 10,750 circuit kilometres (ckm) of transmission lines and about 27,500 Mega Volt-Amperes (MVA) transformation capacity of substations, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur told the media after a meeting of Union Cabinet. An official release said the scheme will facilitate grid integration and power evacuation of about 20 GW of Renewable Energy (RE) power projects in seven states - Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. The scheme is targeted to be set up with total estimated cost of Rs. 12,031.33 crore and Central Financial Assistance (CFA) @ 33 percent of the project cost i.e. Rs. 3970.34 crore. The transmission systems will be created over a period of five year from 2021-22 to AHEAD OF ASSEMBLY POLLS, ECI RAISES ELECTION EXPENDITURE CEILING FOR CANDIDATES India strongly objects to illegal construction of bridge on Pangong Lake by China Ahead of crucial assembly elections in five states, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced on Thursday it has enhanced election expenditure ceiling for candidates in assembly constituencies from the existing Rs20 lakh to Rs28 lakh, and from Rs28 lakh to 40 lakh, in respective states and Union territories. In case of parliamentary constituencies, the limit has been raised from the current Rs54 lakh to Rs75 lakh, and Rs70 lakh to Rs95 lakh, the poll panel informed, adding that these new figures will be applicable in all the upcoming elections. In a press related the ECI noted that the last major revision in the expenditure limit was carried out in 2014, which was further increased by 10 per cent in 2020. “Simultaneously, the ECI formed a committee to study the cost factors, and Cost Inflation Index 2014 substantially. It also factored into the changing modes of campaigning, which is gradually shifting to virtual campaign,” the statement read. NEW DELHI: India on Thursday raised strong objection against the illegal construction of a bridge on the Pangong Lake in Eastern Ladakh by China, saying that the government is closely monitoring the entire situation. Talking about reports about a bridge being built by the neighbouring country on the Chinese side of Pangong lake, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, "The government has been monitoring this activity closely. This bridge is being constructed in areas that have been under illegal occupation by China for around 60 years now. As you are well aware, 2025-26. The Central Financial Assistance (CFA) will help in offsetting the intra-state transmission charges and in keeping the power costs down. "The scheme will help in achieving the target of 450 GW installed RE capacity by 2030," the release said. It said the scheme will also contribute to long-term energy security of the coun- India has never accepted such illegal occupation." The official further pointed out that separately, the government has been taking all necessary steps to ensure that India's security interests are fully protected. As part of these efforts, the government in the last seven years has also significantly increased the budget for development of border infrastructure and completed more roads and bridges than ever before. "These have provided much-needed connectivity to the local population as well as logistical support to the armed forces. The government remains committed to this objective," Bagchi said. try and promote ecologically sustainable growth by reducing carbon footprint and generate large direct and indirect employment opportunities for both skilled and unskilled personnel in power and other related sectors. This scheme is in addition to GEC-Phase-I which is already under implementation in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu for grid integration and power evacuation of about 24 GW of renewal energy power and is expected to be completed by 2022. The scheme is for addition of 9,700 ckm of transmission lines and 22600 MVA capacity of substations having estimated cost of transmission projects of Rs 10,141.68 crore with Central Financial Assistance (CFA) of Rs 4056.67 crore. It has been found that China has been carrying out construction work for a bridge connecting north and south banks of the Pangong Lake for at least two months now. The bridge will allow the Chinese People's Liberation Army gain quick access to both sides. India had occupied the key heights on the Kailash range on the southern bank in August 2020, giving its troops a strategic advantage as they overlooked the Chinese Moldo garrison. However, with the disengagement in Pangong in February last year, India pulled back from the heights as part of a mutual pullback plan to ease tensions. Further, China implemented its new border law on January 1 that calls for strengthening its border defence, and development of villages and infrastructure near the borders. Just ahead of the implementation of the law, China renamed 15 places in Arunachal Pradesh on its map. India and China have been engaged in a border dispute for around two years now. ‘In national interest..’: SC for start of counselling, reserves order on EWS quota in NEET-PG admissions NEW DELHI: After conducting a day-long hearing on petitions challenging the validity of EWS quota in postgraduate medical admissions and the Centre's argument favouring the quota, the Supreme Court on Thursday said there is a situation, where in national interest, the counselling has to begin, which was also a key demand of protesting resident doctors. A bench comprising Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and A.S. Bopanna said: "We are in a situation, where in the national interest, the counselling has to begin." Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, argued that all candidates eligible for the EWS quota, as per existing criteria, have got their certificates for registration and added that seats in all government colleges have been increased to accommodate the EWS quota. "So, this will not harm the chances of general category students....", he added. Mehta also clarified that super-speciality courses have no reservation and none of the judgments remotely suggests that there cannot be reservation in PG courses. On the aspect of the EWS quota, he said there was a study, application of mind, and wide consultation when the government decided to fix the Rs 8 lakh income limit. He submitted: "We are not in the exercise to find who is poor. The Constitution uses the word economically weaker section.. whether economically weaker meritorious students can compete with other students, afford tuition etc, are the considerations." He clarified that income in the present case is family income and if there are 3 members in the family earning Rs 3 lakh per year, then their income would be Rs 9 lakh and they would not come under the EWS category. Senior advocate Arvind Datar, representing some petitioners, argued that there was no proper study undertaken to arrive at the Rs 8 lakh income limit and cited income disparities in various states. He said applying the Rs 8 lakh limit uniformly across the country is arbitrary, and this quota should be deferred to next year, instead of applying this year. Advocate Archana Pathak Dave, appearing for The Federation of Indian Doctors, said: "That every year an estimated 45,000 candidates are inducted as postgraduate doctors through the NEET-PG examination. However, in the year 2021, the said process of induction of postgraduate doctors into the medical workforce was hindered due to the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic and the consequent delay in the holding of the NEET-PG examination." In an intervention plea, the federation of doctors urged the top court to allow commencement of counselling. Senior advocate Shyam Divan, representing some of the doctors who took the exam, argued that postgraduate admissions must be completely merit-based and reservation must be minimal and referred to Supreme Court judgments which hold that there should be no reser- vation in super-speciality courses. The Centre has accepted the report of a three-member panel constituted to revisit the EWS criteria. The panel, in its report, said: "Firstly, the EWS's criteria relates to the financial year prior to the year of application whereas the income criterion for the creamy layer in OBC category is applicable to gross annual income for three consecutive years." The panel added: "Secondly, in case of deciding the OBC creamy layer, income from salaries, agriculture, and traditional artisanal professions are excluded from the consideration whereas the Rs 8 lakh criteria for EWS includes that from all sources, including farming. So, despite being the same cut-off number, their composition is different and hence, the two cannot be equated." After hearing the parties in the matter, the top court reserved its judgment on the petitions challenging the 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC) and 10 per cent reservation for EWS in all-India quota seats for postgraduate medical courses. As many as 15 per cent seats in MBBS and 50 per cent seats in MS and MD courses are filled through allIndia Quota from the candidates selected through the NEET.