India slams Pak for raking up Kashmir issue in UN

United Nations (PTI): India slammed Pakistan after it referred to Jammu and Kashmir during a special session on Ukraine in the UN General Assembly, terming the provocation as “regrettable and misplaced” and calling out Islamabad’s track record of harbouring and providing safe havens to terrorists with impunity.

Mumbai (Agencies):

The financial viability of many countries is being threatened by unsustainable debt, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday, as he called for the Group of 20 (G20) to focus on the world’s most vulnerable citizens.

Trust in international financial institutions has eroded, partly because the lenders had been slow to reform themselves, Modi said in a video message at the beginning of a twoday meeting of G20 fi-

Us Secy Of State Blinken To Travel To India On March 1 For G20 Meeting

Washington (PTI): US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to India next week to attend the meeting of G20 foreign ministers and meet senior Indian officials to reaffirm America's strong partnership with the country. India has taken over the Presidency of the G20 on December 1, last year. On March 1, Blinken will travel to participate in the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting, which will focus on strengthening multilateralism and deepening cooperation on food and energy security, sustainable development, counter-narcotics, global health, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and gender equality and women's empowerment, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said.

nance ministers and central bank governors.

“Food and energy se-

Crucial Read

TERRORIST YASIN MALIK IDENTIFIED BY EYEWITNESS IN 1989 KIDNAPPING CASE

Jammu: Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief

Yasin Malik appeared via video-conferencing before a special court here on Friday and an eyewitness identified him in the 1989 kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed, the daughter of then Union home minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. The eyewitness corroborated that he had gone to Sopore in Baramulla district of north Kashmir at the time of the kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed and identified the place and persons connected with it, the prosecution said, terming it a major success for their side.

EX PREZ PRATIBHA PATIL’S HUSBAND SHEKHAWAT DIES curity have become major concerns across the world. Even the finan- cial viability of many countries is threatened by unsustainable debt levels,” Modi said.

Pune: Former President Pratibha Patil’s husband Devisingh Shekhawat passed away at the age of 89 at a hospital in Pune on Friday following a heart attack, sources close to the family said. He was admitted to the hospital a few days back, they said. “He passed away at 9 am today due to a heart attack,” a source said. He is survived by his wife Pratibha Patil and two children - a son and a daughter.

The meeting is the first major event of India’s G20 presidency and coincided with the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which Modi alluded to.

“We are also witnessing rising geo-political tensions in different parts of the world. There are disruptions in global supply chains. Many societies are suffering due to rising prices,” Modi said.

Anjaneya Kumar Singh, a 2005 batch IAS officer of Sikkim cadre, came to Uttar Pradesh on inter-state deputation on February 16, 2015. After completing the deputation period of 8 years, he had to be relieved from the parent cadre on Feb 14, 2023. Singh’s interdistrict deputation ended on Feb 14, 2023, after which he handed over his charge to the District Magistrate of Moradabad. Meanwhile, lobbying was going on in the government on behalf of the state to increase the deputation tenure and finally the govt extended the deputation for 1 year.

Gujarat Budget

“I’m taking the floor today to say that India chooses this time not to respond to Pakistan’s mischiesvious provocations. Our advice to the delegate of Pakistan is to refer to our numerous Rights of Reply that we have exercised in the past,” Counsellor in India’s Permanent Mission to the UN Pratik Mathur said.

Mathur exercised India’s Right of Reply on Thursday after Pakistan’s envoy at the UN Munir Akram referred to Jammu and Kashmir while delivering the explanation of vote on the UN General Assembly resolution on Ukraine during the Emergency Special Session.

No new taxes, focus on green growth: Desai

Gandhinagar (ANI): Gujarat Finance minister Kanu Desai on Friday presented the state Budget for financial year 2023-24, saying that a total budgetary outlay of Rs 301,021.61 crores has been proposed.

MISSING GIRL FOUND DEAD AT DELHI HOTEL: COPS

New Delhi: A 19-yearold girl was found hanging inside a hotel room at Delhi’s Uttam Nagar, police said. Further, police said the woman had been missing for the last couple of days, adding that her relatives filed a missing complaint at the Dabri police station in Dwarka district. Acting on the complaint, the police launched a search for the missing 19-year-old.

10 YEARS JAIL, `1 CRORE FINE: BILL TO CURB PAPER LEAK PASSED IN GUJARAT

Gandhinagar: With the objective of curbing paper leaks in government recruitment exams, the Gujarat Legislative Assembly has unanimously passed a Bill that provides for up to 10 years in prison for such malpractices. As per the provisions of the bill, the accused shall also be liable for fine which shall not be less than Rs 10 lakh, which may extend to Rs1 crore. Moreover, the accused “shall also be liable for fine which shall not be less than Rs 10 lakh, which may extend to Rs 1 crore”. The offence will become more serious if it falls in the category of “organised crime”.

DELHI-MEERUT RAPID RAIL TO START IN MARCH

New Delhi: The 17-km Duhai-Sahibabad priority stretch of the country’s first Delhi-Meerut RRTS train corridor is expected to get operationalised by this March, officials said on Friday. An official said the project cost of the entire 82-km Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) is around Rs 32,274 crore and it will be fully operational by 2025.

“UNSAFE” HOTELS DEMOLISHED IN JOSHIMATH

Dehradun: Mount View and Malari Inn - two unsafe hotels in subsidence-hit Joshimath - have been razed more than a month after their demolition began. The process of their demolition has been completed and removal of debris at the site has begun, District Information Officer Ravindra Negi said on Friday. Mounds of rubble remain where the two popular hotels stood for years.

The plan for rapid development of Gujarat stands on 5 pillars — basic amenities, and social security for the poor and needy, development of human resources, creation of world-class infrastructure, boosting economic activities in agriculture, and service sectors, and green growth.

CBI arrests chief Controller of East Central Railway

New Delhi (Agencies):

The CBI on Friday arrested a Chief Controller of East Central Railway, in Bihar’s Hajipur for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 50,000.

The CBI laid a trap & caught the accused Abhay Kumar red-handed while accepting undue advantage of Rs 50,000 from complainant.

No increase or reduction in existing taxes has been proposed by the government. In a major relief for consumers, Piped Natural Gas and

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) set to get cheaper. The minister slashed the Value Added Tax (VAT) on PNG & CNG to 5% from 15%.

HIGHLIGHTS OF BUDGET 2023-2024

z Rs 2 lakh crore to be spent in next five years for betterment of poor people.

z Rs 4,200 crore World Bank Loan to be utilised for new schemes for healthcare infrastructure.

z New airport at Dwarka; Keshod airport to be revamped.

z Annual Insurance limit doubled to Rs 10 lakh under Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya scheme. Rs1,340 crore allocated for National Old Age Pension scheme.

z Rs 10,000 crore outlay for heritage, eco-tourism development.

Collective efforts & strong coordination needed to tackle drug abuse: Om Birla

Gangtok (ANI): Lok

Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Friday urged for collective efforts and strong coordination between law enforcement agencies and border states to tackle the problem of drug abuse.

“Drug abuse is a national problem. It is a borderless crime, which makes the problem exceptionally challenging” he said referring to extensive international borders of North Eastern states & hilly ter- rain. Due to this, there is a high risk of drug trafficking,” he said.

INDIA ABSTAINS FROM UN GEN ASSEMBLY VOTE ON "LASTING PEACE" IN UKRAINE

United Nations (PTI): India abstained in the UN General Assembly on a resolution that underscored the need to reach as soon as possible a "comprehensive, just and lasting peace" in Ukraine in line with the principles of the UN Charter. The 193-member General Assembly adopted the draft resolution, put forward by Ukraine and its supporters, titled ‘Principles of the Charter of the United Nations underlying a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine'.

‘COMMITTED TO MULTILATERALISM’: ENVOY

TO UN AFTER INDIA ABSTAINS FROM VOTING

New York (ANI): India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ruchira, said India remains committed to multilateralism while reiterating calls for dialogue and diplomacy. She made the statement after India abstained from voting on a resolution in the UN General Assembly on the need to reach a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine. “India remains steadfastly committed to multilateralism & upholds principles of the UN Charter. We will always call for dialogue & diplomacy as the only viable way out,” Kamboj said.

New Delhi (PTI): India saved over 3.4 million lives by undertaking a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign at an unprecedented scale, a report by Stanford University said.

The Covid vaccination campaign also yielded a positive economic impact by preventing a loss of USD 18.3 billion, the working paper by Stanford University and Institute for Competitiveness titled 'Healing the Economy: Estimating the Economic Impact on India's Vaccination and Related Issues' released by Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday said.

MANDAVIYA LAUDS INDIA’S HOLISTIC RESPONSE STRATEGY DURING PANDEMIC

New Delhi (ANI): Health Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya lauded the government’s response in ‘adopting a holistic response strategy’ that helped the country in managing COVID-19 effectively. He said, “India adopted a ‘Whole of Government’ & ‘Whole of Society’ approach, in a proactive, preemptive & graded manner; thus, adopting a holistic response strategy, for effective management of Covid-19.” “Under PM Garib Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyan, 4 million beneficiaries were provided employment which resulted in an overall economic impact of US$ 4.81 billion,” he added.