Fatorda (Goa)[India], April 9 (ANI): Three first-team players - Hrithik Tiwari, Brison Fernandes and Danstan Fernandes have been included in FC Goa's 24-member squad for the Development League, which will be held in Goa from April 15 to May 12.

Agartala (Tripura) [India], February 18 (ANI): The High Court of Tripura, in a recent order, commended the role of the state police force for successfully tracing a housewife who went missing two years back and taking the needful steps to investigate the missing complaint.

New Delhi [India], February 15 (ANI): The Tilak Nagar police and Operation Cell of West District arrested one person for sexually assaulting an 87-year-old lady on Tuesday.

Guwahati Jan 25 PTI Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said the state government will start Project Sadbhavana from February 1 to clear pending files some of which are lying unattended since 1990s Sarma held an interaction with the bureaucrats Assam Secretariat Service Officers other employees of Janata Bhawan secretariat and heads of the different departments and asked them to lend their hands for the success of the project He said that as a potential step towards citizen-centric governance the state government will launch Project Sadbhavana on February 1 to dispose of pending files to give succour to people as well as taking governance at the doorstep of citizens Under the project all the pending files till the period of May 10 2021 will be taken up for disposal In the next step files following this period will be taken up Interacting with the officers Sarma said that the success of the project will be dependent on the cooperation of the employees of the state secretariat He therefore requested them to lend their cooperation towards the success of the project where in files from 1990s and onwards will be disposed an official release from CMO said While announcing the project on October 29 last year Sarma had said that as per his estimates around one lakh files are pending at the Secretariat and some may be lying there since the 90s Sarma said that as part of the project a portal will be created and citizens can apply through that portal citing the file numbers and correspondence details Accordingly the government will take steps for disposing of the files Even without file numbers and correspondence details the government will dispose of the files as per laid down procedures he added Sarma said that since the spirit of the project is to help people who are seeking government response the officers and staff responsible for the implementation of the project should adopt sympathy and empathy for public interests He also urged the officers to apply their minds for seamless transition of the present system to an e-office system which will be an offshoot of the project PTI TR NN NN

New Delhi Jan 24 PTI A father-son duo was arrested on charges of cheating luxurious hotels by exiting without paying bills after long stays and availing all facilities police said on Monday The accused Kamaljit Singh 55 and his son Navdeep 24 hail from Punjab they said According to police their fraud came to light after the front office manager of a luxury hotel in Aerocity here called up the Indira Gandhi International Airport police station alleging that Kamaljith and his family owed the hotel Rs 281054 for their stay from August 11 to September 6 last year The hotel staff complained that Kamaljith and his wife Kuldeep Kaur checked out of the hotel without clearing their dues Later their son Navdeep exited the hotel saying he would return in a couple of hours but did not Deputy Commissioner of Police IGI Airport Sanjay Tyagi said that based on the complaint a case was registered and an investigation initiated Our team received information on January 19 that Navdeep and his father were staying at a hotel in Mahipalpur close to IGIA Accordingly a raid was conducted and both the accused were arrested he said According to the DCP Navdeep is a habitual offender and he already faces an FIR at Barnala police station in Punjab for allegedly posing himself as an immigration officer of Canada and trying to extort money from a family Navdeep along with his father used to stay in five-star and luxury hotels by representing themselves as businessmen and availed all hotel facilities They used to flee later on without paying the bills the DCP said Police said they have also recovered a letter with false credentials of the Ministry of Finance from Navdeep based on which he used to create an impression of being a wealthy businessman and dupe hotels The forged letter the DCP said states that the Income Tax Department had seized Rs 978 crore from him but later handed back the money on the orders of the High Court of Bombay Navdeep used to work as an immigration agent but siphoned off money from aspirants who wanted to settle overseas police said PTI AMP CJ CJ

New Delhi Dec 27 PTI The Centre has moved the Supreme Court seeking recall of its December 17 order directing the Madhya Pradesh State Election Commission SEC to stay the poll process on seats reserved for Other Backward Classes in the local body there and re-notify those seats for the general categoryIn its application the Centre has said that uplift of the Scheduled Castes the Scheduled Tribes and the OBCs has been the utmost priority of the government and inadequate representation of OBCs in local self-government defeats the very object intent and purpose of the very idea of the de-centralisation of power and taking governance to the grass-root levelIt has also urged the apex court to direct the local body elections to be deferred for four months with a mandate to the state government to come out with the report of the commission and directing the SEC to hold the elections accordinglyIt has requested the top court to suspend the election process as an interim measureThe Centre has also sought impleadment in the matter in which the apex court had passed the order on December 17On December 17 the top court had referred to the constitution bench verdict of 2010 which had mentioned the triple condition including setting up a dedicated commission to conduct a contemporaneous rigorous empirical inquiry into the nature and implications of the backwardness qua local bodies within the state which is required to be followed before provisioning such reservation for the OBC category It had also said that later a three-judge bench had reiterated the sameThe issues raised in the present petition are of great public importance and has a pan India ramification on the issue of implementation of OBC reservations in the elections all throughout the country the Centre has said in its application seeking impleadment in the matterIn its application seeking recall of the December 17 order the government has said that inadequate representation or non-representation of the OBCs has a two fold adverse impactFirstly the persons belonging to OBC category are deprived of an opportunity to be elected to the elected positions through democratic process and fulfil the aspirations of not only the residents of OBC community but everyone else which helps development of leadership quality in such communities it saidSecondly such inadequate representation or non-representation deprives the voters belonging to OBCs community to elect one amongst them to the elected offices it said adding that the same is strictly contrary to the object intent and purpose of the constitutional schemeThe application said the apex court had passed the order at a stage when the election process was on going with representation of persons belonging to the OBC communityAny intervention at this stage would deprive the person belonging to OBC community for five long years which by no stretch of logic be said to be a short period causing grave prejudice to the backward classes it saidThe Centre said while the mandate of law in the judgements delivered by the constitution bench and the three-judge bench has to be complied with the apex court may consider striking a balance between the adherence to these verdicts and protecting the interest of persons belonging to OBC category which is of utmost priority for the governmentthe applicant therefore is moving this application praying for intervention of this court to defer the ongoing election process by four months with a mandate to the state government to come out with the report of the commission which is already functioning within three months it saidThe Centre said till such time the administrator can function who can hand over the charge to the newly elected person or body who will be elected with the provision of OBC reservationIt said as per the assurance given before the top court the Centre has already issued a detailed advisory sent to all the state governments requiring their strict compliance with the binding judicial pronouncements in the two verdictsOn December 17 the apex court had observed that it had passed an order on December 15 directing the SEC to notify the seats in the local body in Maharashtra which were reserved for the OBCs as general category Accordingly we direct the Madhya Pradesh State Election Commission to stay the election process in respect of OBCs seats only in all the local bodies and to re-notify those seats for general category the bench had said on December 17The apex court had passed the order after the matter related to local body election in Madhya Pradesh on seats reserved for OBC was brought before itIt had said the matter related to Madhya Pradesh would be listed along with the petitions pertaining to Maharashtra on January 17In March this year a three-judge bench of the apex court had said that reservation in favour of OBCs in the local bodies concerned in Maharashtra cannot exceed 50 per cent of the total seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes the Scheduled Tribes and OBCs taken together The top court had referred to the triple condition noted in the constitution bench verdict of 2010 The conditions included to specify the proportion of reservation required to be provisioned local body-wise in light of recommendations of the commission so as not to fall foul of overbreadth and in any case such reservation shall not exceed an aggregate of 50 percent of the total seats reserved in favour of SCsSTsOBCs taken together PTI ABA ABA DV DV

New Delhi Dec 23 PTI A Delhi court has issued directions for registration of FIR against several police officials for alleged custodial torture of a man arrested in a robbery case molestation of his family members and staging a dog fight in his houseEarlier this month a judge had ordered initiation of inquiry against the officials of Begum Pur police station after he found bruises and multiple abrasions on Prince Gills body and saw him trembling when he was produced before the court after his arrest Over a week later the Deputy Commissioner of Police in a report exonerated the officials and submitted that there were no excesses on their part and that Gill received injuries during a quarrel with his brotherThe accuseds counsel however called the vigilance inquiry an eyewash and said that Gill was subjected to brutal custodial violence Gill was apprehended by the police and cash worth Rs 92000 was recovered from his residence along with the bike helmet and fake number plates used during the commission of the robbery The robbery accused along with his wife Gurpreet Kaur Gill alleged that a group of policemen barged into their house on the night of December 8 and staged a dog fight During the dog fight their pet was severely wounded and succumbed to injuries His wife and mother also claimed that the personnel molested them Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Babru Bhan allowed their plea for registration of FIR against the police officials noting that their allegations were not completely baseless or bald and that there was some element of credibility in the same If police resorts to violence to apprehend the accused and adopts custodial atrocities to gather evidence it is accountable for the violation of fundamental rights as law nowhere permits custodial atrocities for purpose of collection of evidence during an investigation he said in an order dated December 22 He further noted that the police officials kept changing their versions on the timing of the arrest of the accused The arrest memo stated that he was arrested at 630 pm on December 9 However when one Sub-Inspector was inquired about the timing he at first said 330 am and then later changed it to 630 am Another officer an inspector said that the time of arrest was 330 am and later said that he was apprehended at 1100 pm on December 8 It is possible that the accused was apprehended at 1100 pm on December 8 but was detained in the police station till the morning of December 9 the judge said adding that this amounts to the criminal offence of wrongful detention and manipulation of official records It is apparent that neither the accused was arrested at the time nor in the manner alleged by the police the judge said adding that the injuries are apparently the result of a calculated assault after overpowering the accused Furthermore the judge turned down the polices contentions that Gill received injuries during a scuffle with his brother and said that the bruises on his buttocks were serious and were possible only when someone is completely overpowered and blows with a blunt object are repeatedly given at the spot which is not possible in a one-to-one fight Accordingly to find out the truth in the allegations of the complainant Gurpreet Kaur Gill and the accused directions are issues to the DCP Rohini District Delhi to get an FIR registered against the SHO Inspector Arvind Kumar SI Nimesh ASI Neeraj Rana Ct Sunny Ct Arun and Ct Vineet and other erring officials he ordered The court directed the FIR to be registered under sections 323 voluntarily causing hurt 342 wrongful confinement 506 criminal intimidation 509 insult the modesty of any woman 354 assault to any women 429 Mischief by killing or maiming cattle 166 A Public servant disobeying law of the IPC The judge said that since the FIR is directed to be registered against the SHO the Joint Commissioner of Police has to ensure that the investigation is conducted by such an officer that fairness can be ensured PTI AAK ZMN

New Delhi Dec 17 PTI In a relief to a pan masala company a Delhi court has stayed a notice sent to it by the Directorate General of Health Services DGHS for allegedly indulging in surrogate or indirect advertisement of tobacco products in violation of the law While allowing the company to carry out its advertisement campaign Additional Sessions Judge Rajinder Singh said that even though the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products COTPA Act prohibits display advertisement and sale of tobacco products there is no specific prohibition regarding surrogate advertising The judge said that the sale of gutka is banned and in such circumstances there is no reason for the company to indulge in a surrogate advertisement for the promotion of a product which it cannot sell in the countryThe DGHS claimed that in 2005 rules were laid down to ban the advertisement of tobacco products but the company carried out a surrogate ad campaign whereby the product Dilbagh Pan Masala was advertised to promote tobacco products under the brand name Dilbagh The directorate had issued a notice to the company on April 25 2018 saying that it had put up a hoarding containing the indirect advertisement as brand promotion of tobacco products at Delhis Dabri Flyover in 2018 to attract youngsters to trap them in tobacco habit which is in violation of the COTP Act The health department said that Dilbagh is a registered trademark for various tobacco products This trademark is also registered for chewing tobacco zarda etc it stated adding that the brand name of a tobacco product cannot be used for other products The company engaged in the business of selling pan masala of the brand name Dilbagh however said that the advertisement is not in violation of any law It claimed that their pan masala is 100 percent tobacco-free and that only pan masala having tobacco is covered by the COTP Act It also sought damages to the tune of Rs 500000The judge while granting interim relief to the pan masala company said the DGHS nowhere claimed that Dilbagh pan masala contained any tobacco nicotine or any other banned substance It can be summarised that the product in question is not alleged to be containing any tobacco or other banned substance The sale of gutka is banned throughout the country There is no reason or occasion for the plaintiff to advertise its tobacco products through indirect advertisement Accordingly the plaintiff has a prima facie case he said The judge ordered The impugned notice dated April 25 2018 under Section 5 of the COTPA Act is stayed till the final disposal of the suit The plaintiff can carry out its advertisement campaign with regard to the product in question till the final disposal of the suit He said that if the advertisement for the product in question is stopped during the pendency of this suit it will cause a loss of revenue as well as goodwill which will be irreparable PTI AAK ANB ANB

Mercedes lost both of its protests after Lewis Hamilton lost the Formula One world title to Max Verstappen on the final lap of the last race at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. After losing the protests, Mercedes filed for reconsideration to the International Court of Appeal. One protest was regarding the overtaking and the […]

New Delhi Nov 28 PTI Petrol and diesel prices will be reduced only if the current drop in international oil prices is sustained for a few more days as domestic retail prices are fixed on a 15-day rolling average official sources said Global benchmark Brent crude oil prices remained largely range bound at around USD 80 to 82 per barrel levels during November till November 25 On Friday November 26 prices fell by around USD 4 per barrel till Asian timestamp However subsequently after the opening of the US market with the drastic sell off in Brent Futures prices fell further by around USD 6 to close at USD 7291 a barrel at ICE London Sources said this seems like a knee jerk reaction from fears that the new COVID-19 variant discovered in Southern Africa might dampen economic growth and trigger another demand slump State-owned fuel retailers Indian Oil Corporation IOC Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd BPCL and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd HPCL revise petrol and diesel prices on a daily basis But this revision is based on the average benchmark international fuel rate in the previous fortnight So the price on Sunday is decided by the average in the previous 15-days Natural expectation from the drop in rates on Friday is that retail pump rates will also go down But that is not how retail rates move Since the international oil prices have been range bound in most of November the drop on Friday when averaged out with the previous fortnight does not translate into any significant change Only when the fall in rates is sustained for a few more days will we see a reduction in retail petrol and diesel prices a source said The reason why a 15-day rolling average is taken to fix prices is to insulate domestic consumers from extreme volatility in international prices If day rates are taken to fix prices it would result in massive fluctuations in pump prices every day he explained Recently major oil consumers such as the US Japan and South Korea as also India had announced releasing crude from their strategic reserves as part of a joint effort to reduce international crude oil prices Even these announcements could not impact international prices much However renewed COVID-19 concerns have now brought about the desired objective Oil producers cartel OPEC might still have a say in this with the groups scheduled meeting on December 1-2 potentially resulting in a reduction in production targets for 2022 Thus international crude oil prices may recover again if OPEC announces slower than expected production rollout coming up sources said Retail prices of petrol and diesel have remained unchanged since November 5 after a decrease in excise duty by Rs 5 per litre and Rs 10 a litre respectively was announced Decrease in prices consequent to VAT rate revision by 27 StatesUTs have provided further relief to consumers That excise cut and VAT reduction helped bring down fuel prices from record highs Petrol in Delhi currently costs Rs 10397 a litre and diesel is priced at Rs 8667 per litre The daily revisions in retail prices of petrol and diesel are carried out by oil marketing companies based on 15-day moving average prices in the international market Accordingly the impact on international oil prices from the announcement by OPEC and developments on the new COVID variant will decide the near-term course of fuel prices in the country sources added PTI ANZ DRR DRR