“Pakistan continues to support peace talks, while maintaining ties with the Afghan Taliban,” US Department of State Office of the Inspector General noted in its latest quarterly report on Afghanistan.

“According to the DIA, Pakistan’s strategic security objectives in Afghanistan almost certainly continue to be countering Indian influence and mitigating spillover into the Pakistani territory,” the report said.

The report for the quarter April 1 to June 30 said the Pakistani government is concerned that a civil war in Afghanistan would have destabilising effects on Pakistan, including an influx of refugees and providing a potential safe haven for anti-Pakistan militants, A report by The Tribune said adding that during the quarter, financial contributions to the Afghan Taliban increased in the Pakistan border regions, according to media reports, citing eyewitness sources. Solicitation efforts traditionally targeted mosques, but Afghan Taliban militants now openly visit the bazaar areas in nearby Pakistani towns, it said.

“The militants typically solicit contributions of USD 50 or more from shopkeepers. Local residents told reporters that solicitation efforts were now commonplace in the towns and cities of Quetta, Kuchlak Bypass, Pashtun Abad, Ishaq Abad and Farooqia,” the report said.

According to the report, the DIA, citing media reports, said that Iran welcomes the withdrawal of US and coalition forces from Afghanistan but “almost certainly” remains concerned about the resulting instability in Afghanistan.

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He is the third person to die of this variant in Maharashtra. An 80-year-old woman from Ratnagiri was the first person in the state to succumb to the variant followed by a 63-year-old woman from Mumbai, the Hindustan Times reported.

Deceased had taken both doses of Covid-19 vaccine before testing positive on July 21. She was a resident of Ghatkopar. As per the report, she was rushed to the hospital on July 23 and passed away three days later on July 27.

Later, authorities found that two of her close contacts also carried this variant.

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The country recorded a total of 4,30,254 with 585 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The number of active cases had declined to 3,85,227 or 1.20 per cent of the total cases, the lowest since March 2020, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, 19,70,495 tests were conducted on Thursday, taking the cumulative tests carried out so far for the detection of Covid in the country to 48,94,70,779.

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New Delhi: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to immediately initiate steps for the repeal of the controversial Farm Laws, and amendment to the relevant law for including farmers in free legal aid category.

The Chief Minister, who called on the Prime Minister here late this evening and submitted two separate letters, called for immediate review and revocation of the three Farm Laws that had triggered widespread resentment among farmers of Punjab and other states, who had been protesting at the Delhi borders since November 26 last year.

Pointing to the prolonged agitation, which had cost the lives of more than 400 farmers and farm workers, the Chief Minister said the stir had the potential of posing security threats for Punjab and the country with Pak-backed anti-India forces looking to exploit the farmers’ disgruntlement with the Government.

Urging the Prime Minister’s intervention for expeditious redressal of the farmers’ legitimate concerns by the Government of India to explore an enduring solution, the Chief Minister said the continued agitation was not only impacting economic activities in Punjab but also had the potential to affect the social fabric, especially when political parties and groups take strong positions.

Captain Amarinder noted that he had earlier too, sought the Prime Minister’s appointment for a meeting with an All-Party delegation from Punjab. He further underlined the need to compensate farmers for the management of paddy straw Rs.100 per quintal and also to address the fears of DAP shortage, which could aggravate the farmers’ problems and the crisis triggered by the Farm Laws.

In another letter, the Chief Minister stressed that due to the fragmentation of landholdings, and persistent disputes with lessees and various market operators and agents, the farmers are also facing heightened litigation these days, causing stress on their meagre financial resources. Stressing the need to reduce the farmers’ financial burden as a result of such litigation, he noted that the Central Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 provides free legal aid to certain categories of persons, who are perceived to be the vulnerable sections of the society. Pointing out that the country’s farmers are also very vulnerable, he said that they are, at times, compelled to commit suicide due to financial problems, even though they remain proud and prefer to till their land even at the cost of their lives.

“It is, thus, the need of the hour to amend Section 12 of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, to include farmers and farm workers in the category of persons entitled to free legal services to pursue and defend themselves in the courts to secure their livelihood,” said Captain Amarinder. He felt this step would help reduce cases of farmer suicides and ensure better protection of their legal and financial rights.

The Chief Minister urged the Prime Minister to advise the concerned central ministries dealing with farmer welfare and laws to carry out necessary amendments to the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, in the larger interest of the farmers.

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Former party chief Rahul Gandhi’s account already stands suspended by the micro blogging site.

“Accounts of seniors leaders including general secretaries Randeep Surjewala, KC Venugopal, Ajay Maken, AICC Assam in charge Jitendra Singh, Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev, MP and Lok Sabha whip Manickam Tagore among other workers had been suspended by Twitter abruptly,” said Congress party adding that the action was taken on behest of the ruling government.

The party also said about 5,000 accounts of party workers had been suspended for sharing pictures of family of the minor victim of alleged rape and murder in Delhi.

Earlier, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights issued notice to twitter seeking action against Gandhi for violating privacy laws for minor victims. Juvenile justice act prohibits revelation of pictures of minor victims of crime and their families.

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Barring a few toll plazas in both states, toll collection has been remained suspended in the past several months as farmers’ unions announced indefinite protests near toll plazas demanding rollback of bills.

The protest has led to toll suspension in thirteen build-operate-transfer (BOT) national highways projects and eleven BOT state highways projects leading to an estimated aggregate revenue loss of Rs.4.80 crore per day as there was disruption of toll collections for state projects since October 2020 accentuated with no fees collection at toll plazas since December 2020.

Considering farmers’ agitation, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) issued a circular in July 2021, giving an extension of the concession period and reimbursement up to 50% of the actual cost (O&M and interest) beyond insurance besides others to firms. However, Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB), has yet not made a similar move.

Following estimated compensation from NHAI for 13 BOT toll projects would be Rs 1.60 crore per day thereby covering about 37% of loss of revenue.

Due to the present circumstances, the project worth Rs 4800 crore is on verge of termination. 9 out of 13 NHAI BOT projects in Punjab and Haryana were facing liquidity constraints.

Joginder Singh, President of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan) said that farmers will continue their protest at the toll plazas and they would not allow them to operate till the time the BJP-led Union government accepts their demands.

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Chandigarh:  Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Chandigarh lead the first national rankings on the Quality of Life for Elderly Index. This was released on Wednesday by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister.

The Index was created by the Institute for Competitiveness to assess the challenge of ageing in India and determine the preparedness of states to deal with a rising elderly population.

The Index on Quality of Life for Elderly 2021 represents a beginning in taking the first step in establishing a complete understanding of the elderly population around India’s States and Union territories. It observes 45 different indicators across four key domains identified as being of utmost importance for older people, namely Financial Well-being, Social Well-being, Health System, and Income Security.

The report state that India will be growing older, with persons above the age of 65 becoming the fastest-growing age group by 2050. Greying is not very rapid in India, as only 8.6 pc of its population are elderly. However, by 2050 the elderly population will grow by three times to 319 million, accounting for 19.5 pc of the total population,  the report point out.

Rajasthan is the top scorer with an elderly population of more than 5 million in the aged states category defined as states. While,  Himachal Pradesh a little below to 5 million population and Mizoram leads in the North Eastern States category and Chandigarh among all UTs.

“India is often portrayed as a young society, with a consequent demographic dividend. But, as with every country that goes through a fast process of demographic transition, India also has a greying cum ageing problem,” said Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the PM Bibek Debroy.

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Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu, while speaking about yesterday’s ruckus by opposition MPs in the house, he got emotional and said, “Parliament, the apex legislature of the country, is regarded as the ‘temple of democracy’”.

Speaker Om Birla to address media in the afternoon on the productivity of the Monsoon Session, which has been facing disruptions ever since it began on July 19.

The Lok Sabha on Tuesday witnessed a proper debate on a bill, for the first time since the Monsoon Session began, when the House took up for consideration and passage the Constitution (127th Amendment) Bill, 2021, which seeks to restore states’ power to make their own OBC lists.

Considering the political implications of the legislation, the Bill was supported by all parties, including the Opposition parties which have been stalling the House for days on issues like the Pegasus snooping controversy and the three central farm laws.

The Monsoon Session was to end this weekend.

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