Modi has changed country’s fortune in 9 years: JP Nadda

impact that various government initiatives such as the Jal Jeevan Mission are

Can’t accept Nitish as leader, says Krishna; quits Congress

ANI Patna having on the lives of ordinary citizens.

Kuntal Krishna, Bihar Congress Spokesperson, on Saturday, wrote to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge expressing his disappointment with CM Nitish Kumar.

Noting that conservation of water has always been an inalienable facet of India’s civilisational ethos, he said that it is the responsibility of every citizen to ensure the wise use of nature’s gifts.

Dhankhar also released a short film featuring the animated character “Piku”, the mascot of the National Water Mission, to be telecast on Doordarshan for amplifying the message of water conservation.

—With PTI inputs

41 WINNERS FELICITATED ACROSS 11 CATEGORIES AT THE AWARDS CEREMONY

BEST STATE : Madhya Pradesh

BEST DISTRICT: Ganjam district of Odisha

BEST VILLAGE PANCHAY-

AT: Jagannadhapuram of Telangana’s Bhadradri Kothagudem district

BEST URBAN LOCAL

BODY: Chandigarh Municipal Corporation

BEST MEDIA: Advance Water Digest Private Limited Gurugram

BEST SCHOOL: Jamiyatpura Primary School in Mehsana

BEST INSTITUTION FOR CAMPUS USAGE: Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board

BEST INDUSTRY AWARD: Barauni Thermal Power Station in Begusarai

BEST NGO: Arpan Seva Sansthan in Udaipur in Rajasthan

BEST WATER USER ASSOCIATION: Sanjeevani Piyat Sahkari Mandli Ltd, Narmada Gujarat

BEST INDUSTRY FOR CSR ACTIVITIES: HCL Technologies Ltd, Noida, Uttar Pradesh

WB: 1 held with weapons ahead of Panchayat polls

Security personnel after the recent violence during nominations for Panchayat elections, in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.

PTI Santirbazar

BJP national president JP Nadda on Saturday said the country has witnessed unprecedented development under PM Narendra Modi who has “changed the fortune of India” in the past nine years. He cited infrastructure building, good governance and all-round development as the benchmarks of the Modi government.

“Earlier, India was known for corruption, policy paralysis and bad governance. Now, the whole world respects the country for all-round development and good governance,” the BJP chief said at a rally in South Tripura’s Santirbazar school ground to mark

“MODI GOVT DELIVERS WHAT IT PROMISES”

New Delhi: The Modi government’s “strong point” is that it delivers services and projects in a given timeframe, EAM S Jaishankar said on Saturday. He was speaking during a function held at here as part of BJP’s mega outreach campaign — ‘Sampark se Samarthan’ — to mark the completion of nine years of Modi govt. “After elections, they forget (their promises made to people), but in Modi ‘sarkar’, people today are seeing the delivery (of services and projects),” the Union minister said.

the completion of nine years of the Modi govt. Highlighting the Centre’s

Courtesy visit

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, on Saturday, paid a courtesy visit to Maharashtra Chief Minister Ekanth Shinde at the latter’s residence in Mumbai. On Friday, Birla delivered the inaugural address at the First National Legislators Conference held at the Jio World Convention Centre.

ANI

A FEW HAVE GOT WHAT PM WILL GET IN US: EAM

New Delhi: Ahead of PM Modi’s US visit, Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said that the honour that the Prime Minister will get there, only a few have got in the past. The Minister said, “The respect that the Prime Minister gets, only a few people have been given in the past.”

“Only a Congressman should be our leader. But the current situation seems like we are being forced to accept Nitish Kumar as our leader”, said Krishna in his letter to Kharge. The PCC added that Kumar has always been a staunch opponent of the Congress party but because of fewer Congress leaders in Bihar, they were forced to accept Kumar as their leader. Krishna also talked about the weak representation of the Congress party in Bihar.

ANI Birbhum

Special Task Force (STF) has arrested a man with arms and ammunition, under the Siuri police station in the Birbhum district of West Bengal, the police said on Saturday.

STF seized three semiautomatic pistols and one pipe gun along with 71 rounds of live cartridges and five magazines from him. A case was registered at Suri Police Sta-

Netaji won’t have let partition happen: NSA

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose had audacity to fearlessly challenge the British and India would not have been partitioned if he was there that time, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval said on Saturday.

TMC PANCHAYAT ELECTION CANDIDATE BEATEN TO DEATH IN MALDA DIST IN WB tion under the Arms Act, of 1959 and further investigations are on.

Malda: A Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate for the upcoming panchayat polls was beaten to death by some unknown miscreants in West Bengal’s Malda district on Saturday. The incident occurred in Kaliachak in Malda district. Following an initial probe, a 48-year-old accused, Abdul Mannan, was detained and further investigation into the matter is underway. The deceased, Mustafa Sheikh, was heading back home when he was attacked.

In an unrelated inci- dent, West Bengal Police recovered bomb-making material in 24 Parganas’ Bhangar on Friday.

In The Courtyard

Kerala fake antique dealer Monson Mavunkal gets life term for sexual assault on a minor girl achievements in infrastructure building, Nadda said 13,125km of border roads have been built to safeguard the international border.

Kochi: A Kerala court on Saturday sentenced controversial self-styled antiques dealer Monson Mavunkal to life imprisonment for raping a minor girl a few years ago. Additional District and Sessions Court (POCSO), Judge K Soman also imposing a fine of Rs 5.25 lakh on Mavunkal.

Murder Of Forest Officer

He said Bose was determined to fight the British for Independence and never wanted to beg for freedom, adding he not only wanted to end political subjugation but felt that the political, social, economic and cultural mindset of people has to be changed and “they should feel like free birds”.

Doval said this while delivering the first Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose memorial lecture organised by the ASSOCHAM.

Pradhan for stringent action against poaching in Similipal Tiger Reserve

PTI New Delhi nion Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday urged his Cabinet colleague Bhupender Yadav and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to take cognizance of incidents of poaching in the Similipal Tiger Reserve and said stringent action on all fronts and effective enforcement of the law are required to deter poachers.

Pradhan’s reaction

Another forest official shot dead by poachers in Similipal Tiger Reserve is a matter of great concern for every wildlife enthusiast and conservationist. Losing “determined officers like Mati Hansda” who gave his all to protect wildlife is always disheartening.

Dharmendra Pradhan @dpradhanbjp comes after 40-year-old forester Mati Hansda was shot dead allegedly by poachers in the sanctuary in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district.

The incident occurred when a Forest department team was patrolling inside the sanctuary. A gunfire exchange broke out between the team and six

Charge sheet filed against cricket bookie Jaisinghani

New Delhi: A charge sheet has been filed against alleged cricket bookie Anil Jaisinghani in a money laundering investigation linked to a 2015 IPL betting case, the Enforcement Directorate said on Saturday. Jaisinghani was arrested by the federal agency in April. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said he was “evading” summons and not cooperating.

armed poachers at the Badachachran beat house on Friday night, a forest official said on Saturday.

Reacting to incident, Union Minister Pradhan, said in a tweet, “Another forest official shot dead by poachers in Similipal Tiger Reserve is a matter of great concern for every wildlife enthusiast and conservationist.” Losing “determined officers like Mati Hansda” who gave his all to protect wildlife is always disheartening, the minister noted.

Man gets 25 years imprisonment for raping minor girl Chaibasa: A court here in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district sentenced a man to 25 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping a minor girl. The court of District and Session Judge-I sentenced Bagun Jonko alias Company Jonko, resident Tekasai area of the district to 25 years rigorous imprisonment and also slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 on him.

Court grants ED 8-day custody of TN minister Balaji; says he can’t be shifted out of hospital

Chennai: A local court here on Friday granted the ED 8 days custody of Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji, who was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act on June 14. Balaji’s counsel said the court has made it clear to the ED that Balaji cannot be shifted out of the hospital where he is currently undergoing treatment for heart-related issue.

BJP leader SG Suryah sent to 14-day judicial custody; Sitharaman, Santosh condemn arrest

Chennai: Tamil Nadu BJP secretary SG Suryah was remanded to 14-day judicial custody. The BJP leader was arrested late Friday night following a complaint by the CPI(M) Madurai district committee on a tweet by the former against the Madurai MP leader Su Venkitesan.

In Brief

One killed, one hurt as assailants open fire at liquor shop

Gurugram: A man was killed and two gpt injured when armed assailants opened fire at a crowded liquor shop in the Manesar area, police said on Saturday. The incident took place in Panchgaon around 8.30 pm on Friday when two men arrived at the shop and fired more than 15 rounds.

Three customers — Sandeep, a resident of Bhahila Village in UP’s Saharanpur, Devraj Sharma and Rajendra Prasad, residents of Alwar in Rajasthan — were hit by bullets.

Elephant tramples woman to death in Jharkhand district

Jamshedpur: A woman was trampled to death by a wild elephant in Jharkhand’s East Singhbhum district on Saturday, the police said . The 43-year-old woman identified as Prabhati Kar had gone to relieve herself in a forest in Kaliyam panchayat area under Chakulia police station when the elephant attacked her, the police added.

MDMA worth `100 cr seized, Nigerian national held in Delhi

New Delhi: A 27-yearold Nigerian national was taken into custody in southeast Delhi for allegedly supplying drugs in the capital, police said on Saturday. Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) drug worth more than Rs 1 crore was recovered from the suspect, who has been identified as Onyekachi Anya Friday, a resident of Nigeria’s Enugu State, they added. Police claim to have received information about a drug-dealing gang operating in southeast Delhi.

Mastermind of `8.49 cr heist, her husband arrested

Chandigarh: Punjab

Police on Saturday succeeded in its operation “cage the queen bee” with the arrest of mastermind of Rs 8.49 crore heist Mandeep Kaur, alias Mona, and her husband Jaswinder Singh from Uttarakhand. Ludhiana Commissioner of Police Mandeep Singh Sidhu confirmed the arrest of the couple. Also the police arrested their accomplice. Earlier, it was suspected that Mandeep and her husband had fled to Nepal.