Mumbai: Maratha outfits have expressed displeasure over the administration of the famous Tulja Bhavani temple in Maharashtra's Tuljapur purportedly denying entry to former Rajya Sabha MP Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati, a direct descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, inside the sanctum sanctorum after the stipulated time.The Tulja Bhavani Temple Trust in the Osmanabad district said that as per the Nizam era 'Deul-e-Qawayat' Act, after performing 'abhishek' (special ritual) to goddess Tulja Bhavani, no one is allowed to remain inside the sanctum (where the idol of the goddess is placed), barring the main priest."Sambhajiraje came to the temple around 9.30 pm on Monday and expressed his wish to enter the sanctum sanctorum. However, he was told by the temple administration that since the 'abhishek' was already performed, no one is allowed to go inside," Yogita Kolhe, tehsildar and the management administrator at the temple trustThe temple administration clarified that there was no intention to show disrespect to Sambhajiraje and issued a letter of apology for the inconvenience caused to him during his visit.Kolhe said the temple is administered as per the provisions of the 'Deul-e-Qawayat' Act.She added that Kolhapur Sansthan, of which Sambhajiraje is a member, traditionally has the first honour to perform the abhishek at the temple of goddess Tulja Bhavani, known as&nbsp;kuldevta&nbsp;(deity of clan) of Maharashtra.Kolhe explained that if a person from a royal family visits the temple,&nbsp;abhishek&nbsp;is performed by that person."If the kin or members of the royal family are not present, their representatives perform the&nbsp;abhishek&nbsp;ritual. During the COVID-19 lockdown, when the temples were closed, the representatives of the royal family used to perform the abhishek," she explained.Kolhe added that Sambhajiraje was told that had he come at the time of 'Abhishek puja', the special ritual would have been performed by him only."Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati then took the darshan from the 'Chopdar darwaja', which is hardly five feet away from the goddess' idol. Usually, all VVIP darshans take place from that door," Kolhe said.She said members of Maratha outfits started criticising the temple trust after Sambhajiraje left the place.Kolhe also added that instructions have been issued to the temple trust to ensure that if Sambhajiraje is scheduled to visit the temple, the abhishek puja should be scheduled as per his time of arrival.Despite repeated attempts, Sambhajiraje could not be reached for a reaction.Meanwhile, some Maratha outfits criticised the temple trust over the incident."We condemn the temple trust for denying entry to Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati into the sanctum of the temple. Such action by the temple trust is shameful," said a functionary of Maratha Thok Morcha.Another functionary wondered what would be the attitude of the temple trust towards the common man coming for darshan at Tuljapur.—PTI

Maratha outfits have expressed displeasure over the administration of the famous Tulja Bhavani temple in Maharashtra's Tuljapur purportedly denying entry to former Rajya Sabha MP Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati, a direct descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, inside the sanctum sanctorum after the stipulated time.

Maratha bodies fume as Tulja Bhavani temple bars Chhatrapati Shivaji descendant

Baripada:&nbsp;Charred bodies of a tribal woman and her two kids were recovered under mysterious circumstances from their house in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district early on Friday, police said.Alleging foul play, the woman's brother lodged an FIR in the Jharpoharia police station, accusing his brother-in-law, Mangal Marandi, 28, of murder, police said.When police reached the spot at Dhipasahi village under Jharpokharia police station, the bodies were lying inside a room with a gas stove. However, no traces of a blaze were spotted inside the building, officials said.The deceased have been identified as Surukuni Marandi, 24, her daughter Sarita, 5, and three-month-old son.The bodies have been sent for autopsy and a case has been registered.Superintendent of Police Rishikesh Khilari visited the spot and a forensic team is investigating the matter.The woman's husband has been detained for interrogation, Khilari added.—PTI

Charred bodies of a tribal woman and her two kids were recovered under mysterious circumstances from their house in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district early on Friday, police said.

Charred bodies of woman, kids recovered

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled civic bodies in Delhi are set to be dissolved in the next five days, with the South Delhi Municipal Corporation's term set to end on Wednesday. According to the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2022, the central government will appoint a "special officer" to run the new unified civic body until the first meeting of the corporation is held. The other two civic bodies -- North Delhi Municipal Corporation&nbsp;and East DMC -- will be completing their terms on May 19 and May 22, respectively.A senior SDMC official said the exercises of the deliberative wing, which is formed by the elected representatives, will cease to operate from Wednesday but the civic body will keep functioning its obligatory duties. "From tomorrow, there will no policy-making exercises in SDMC. Meetings of the SDMC house, standing committee will also not be carried out. The Union home ministry will issue a separate notification for dissolving the three civic bodies and unify them," the official told PTI requesting anonymity. He said normal functions of the municipality such as sanitation exercise and health-related services among others will continue and be carried out by bureaucrats. "After the three civic bodies are dissolved, the Union home ministry will appoint 'special officer' to the new unified body," he added. SDMC's standing committee chairman BK Oberoi echoed similar views and said that in the absence of the elected representatives, the executive wing, which comprises bureaucrats and other officials in the municipality, will continue to function. "Except for policy-making and meetings of different committees of elected representatives, the SDMC will keep discharging its functions normally. However, the public will find it difficult to get their works done as they generally approach the area councillor for any work," Oberoi said. A legislation to unify the three civic bodies was approved by the Lok Sabha on March 30 and by the Rajya Sabha on April 5. The legislation had become an Act after President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the bill on April 18. The Act reduces the number of wards to 250 from the existing 272, which means that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will have to undergo a delimitation exercise before elections. The Centre will form a delimitation commission to carry out the demarcation of wards. Experts highlighted that given the current scenario, civic polls are unlikely to take place before early next year due to the delimitation exercise.The State Election Commission was scheduled to announce civic poll dates on March 8, but it had to defer the announcement. The then State Election Commissioner had said that the commission had an hour before they received a communication from the Centre regarding the unification of the three civic bodies. The move to merge the three civic bodies had triggered a political blame game with Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party terming it a tactic to delay the elections. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had said that the BJP wanted to unify civic bodies only to delay the elections."In the guise of the bill, the BJP is killing democracy by stopping MCD elections. According to me, this is not the MCD reform bill, this is the 'Stop MCD Elections' Bill," Sisodia had said in Delhi Assembly. Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta had said that the unification of three municipal corporations into a single entity will prove to be a milestone in the development journey of the city.—PTI

Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled civic bodies in Delhi are set to be dissolved in the next five days, with the South Delhi Municipal Corporation's term set to end on Wednesday.

Delhi civic bodies set to be dissolved, fresh elections unlikely soon

Delhi: The Delhi government has sought a detailed report from the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled civic bodies on the demolition drives being conducted by them across the city since April 1, officials sources said on Wednesday. This comes days after a series of anti-encroachment drives were conducted by the three civic bodies in different parts of the city including Shaheen Bagh, Jahangirpuri Madanpur Khadar, New Friends Colony, Mangolpuri, Rohini, Gokulpuri, Lodhi Colony, Janakpuri among others. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had on Monday held a meeting with all AAP MLAs at his residence and asked them to oppose such demolition drives of the BJP-ruled municipalities.Kejriwal had said the demolition drives in Delhi will render 63 lakh people homeless and that it will be the "biggest destruction" in Independent India, and accused the BJP of "misusing" power.—PTI

The Delhi government has sought a detailed report from the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled civic bodies on the demolition drives being conducted by them across the city since April 1, officials sources said on Wednesday.

Delhi asks report from BJP-run civic bodies on demolition drives

New Delhi: As investigations continued on Sunday into the triple suicide case in Delhi, more details have come to the fore. On Saturday, a 55-year-old woman and her two daughters aged 30 and 26 years were found dead at their House no.207, Vasant Apartment, Vasant Vihar. The deceased were identified as Manju Srivastva (mother) and two daughters -- Anshika and Anku. Deputy Commissioner of Police (southwest) Manoj C said a local resident made a PCR call at Vasant Vihar police station around 8.55 p.m. on Saturday stating that the said house is locked from inside and the people are not opening the door.The police immediately swung into action and the Station House Officer along with other staff reached the spot and found the doors and windows closed on all sides, and the flat locked from inside."The police managed to open the door and found that a gas cylinder was partially opened and there was also a suicide note," the DCP said. As the police went further to check the rooms, they found three bodies lying on the bed, along with four small traditional hearths. The room was completely sealed with foils to prevent the fumes from the hearth leaving the room, making it impossible for the three women to escape the toxic fumes, just like a 'gas chamber death'. "Most likely they died due to suffocation," the senior official said.It was also learnt that the a few pages of the suicide note were affixed on the wall of the room, however, the police refrained to share the content. "The content and veracity of the note are yet to be verified and are still under investigation," the official said, adding the inquest proceedings have been initiated. The preliminary probe revealed that the owner of the house, Umesh Srivastva died in April 2021 due to Covid and since then the family was in depression as the mother, Manju, was bedridden due to illness. Though there are three casualties in this particular incident, yet, it has brought the horrific memories of the Burari suicide case in which 11 members of a family died by suicide in 2018. Ten people were found hanged, while the oldest family member, the grandmother, was strangled.—IANS

As investigations continued on Sunday into the triple suicide case in Delhi, more details have come to the fore.

Delhi triple suicide: Room sealed with foils, suicide note affixed on wall

Chandigarh: Haryana State Election Commissioner Dhanpat Singh on Monday announced to conduct polls to 46 municipal bodies in the state on June 19. Counting of votes will take place on June 22, Singh said here. Singh said the nomination process will commence from May 30 and the last date for filling of nominations will be June 4. The scrutiny of nominations will be done on June 6 while the last date for the withdrawal of candidature will be June 7. The polling will be held on June 19 from 7 am till 6 pm, he said. The state election commissioner said the polls to 46 municipal bodies--28 municipal committees and 18 municipal councils--will be held, according to an official release. Haryana Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal assured the state election commissioner that the administration will extend full support in conducting the elections in a transparent, fair, free and peaceful manner.—PTI

Haryana State Election Commissioner Dhanpat Singh on Monday announced to conduct polls to 46 municipal bodies in the state on June 19.

Polls to Haryana municipal bodies on June 19

Bakhmut: Workers pulled scores of bodies from smashed buildings in an “endless caravan of death” inside the devastated city of Mariupol, authorities said Wednesday, while fears of a global food crisis escalated over Ukraine’s inability to export millions of tons of grain through its blockaded ports. At the same time, Ukrainian and Russian forces battled fiercely for control of Sievierodonestk, a city that has emerged as central to Moscow’s grinding campaign to capture Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland, known as the Donbas. As the fighting dragged on, the human cost of the war continued to mount. In many of Mariupol’s buildings, workers are finding 50 to 100 bodies each, according to a mayoral aide in the Russian-held port city in the south.Petro Andryushchenko said on the Telegram app that the bodies are being taken in an “endless caravan of death” to a morgue, landfills and other places. At least 21,000 Mariupol civilians were killed during the weeks-long Russian siege, Ukrainian authorities have estimated. The consequences of the war are being felt far beyond Eastern Europe because shipments of Ukrainian grain are bottled up inside the country, driving up the price of food. Ukraine, long known as the “bread basket of Europe,” is one of the world’s biggest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower oil, but much of that flow has been halted by the war and a Russian blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea coast. An estimated 22 million tons of grain remains in Ukraine. The failure to ship it out is endangering the food supply in many developing countries, especially in Africa. Russia expressed support Wednesday for a U.N. plan to create a safe corridor at sea that would allow Ukraine to resume grain shipments. The plan, among other things, calls for Ukraine to remove mines from the waters near the Black Sea port of Odesa.But Russia is insisting that it be allowed to check incoming vessels for weapons. And Ukraine has expressed fear that clearing the mines could enable Russia to attack the coast. Ukrainian officials said the Kremlin’s assurances that it wouldn’t do that cannot be trusted. European Council President Charles Michel on Wednesday accused the Kremlin of “weaponizing food supplies and surrounding their actions with a web of lies, Soviet-style.” While Russia, which is also a major supplier of grain to the rest of the world, has blamed the looming food crisis on Western sanctions against Moscow, the European Union heatedly denied that and said the blame rests with Russia itself for waging war against Ukraine. “These are Russian ships and Russian missiles that are blocking the export of crops and grain,” Michel said. “Russian tanks, bombs and mines are preventing Ukraine from planting and harvesting.”The West has exempted grain and other food from its sanctions against Russia, but the U.S. and the EU have imposed sweeping punitive measures against Russian ships. Moscow argues that those restrictions make it impossible to use its ships to export grain, and also make other shipping companies reluctant to carry its product. Turkey has sought to play a role in negotiating an end to the war and in brokering the resumption of grain shipments. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu met on Wednesday with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov. Ukraine was not invited to the talks. Meanwhile, Moscow’s troops continued their painstaking, inch-by-inch campaign for the Donbas region with heavy fighting in and around Sievierodonetsk, which had a prewar population of 100,000. It is one of the last cities yet to be taken by the Russians in Luhansk, one of the two provinces that make up the Donbas. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Sievierodonetsk the “epicenter” of the battle for the Donbas and perhaps one of the most difficult battles of the war.He said the Ukrainian army is defending its positions and inflicting real losses on the Russian forces. “In many ways, it is there that the fate of our Donbas is being decided,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address, which was recorded in the street outside his office in Kyiv. An adviser to Zelenskyy’s office said Russian forces have changed their tactics in the battle, retreating from the city while pounding it with artillery and airstrikes. As a result, Oleksiy Arestovych said, the city center is deserted, and the artillery hits an empty place. “They are hitting hard without any particular success,” he said in his daily online interview. Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai acknowledged the difficulties of battling Russian forces, saying, “Maybe we will have to retreat, but right now battles are ongoing in the city.” “Everything the Russian army has — artillery, mortars, tanks, aviation — all of that, they’re using in Sievierodonetsk in order to wipe the city off the face of the Earth and capture it completely,” he said. The city of Lysychansk, like Sievierodonetsk, is also wedged between Russian forces in Luhansk province. Valentyna Tsonkan, an elderly resident of Lysychansk, described the moment when her house came under attack. “I was lying on my bed. The shrapnel hit the wall and went through my shoulder,” she said as she received treatment for her wounds.Russia’s continuing encroachment could open up the possibility of a negotiated settlement between the two nations more than three months into the war, analysts said.Russian President Vladimir Putin “has the option of declaring his objectives met at more or less any time in order to consolidate Russia’s territorial gains,” said Keir Giles, a Russia expert at the London think tank Chatham House. At that point, Giles said, Western leaders may “pressure Ukraine to accept their losses in order to bring an end to the fighting.” Zelenskyy said Russia is unwilling to negotiate because it still feels strong. Speaking by video link to U.S. corporate leaders, he called for even tougher sanctions to weaken Russia economically, including getting it “off the global financial system completely.” Zelenskyy said Ukraine is willing to negotiate “to find a way out.” But a settlement cannot come “at the expense of our independence.” Meanwhile, to the north, Russian shelling of the Kharkiv region killed five people and wounded 12 over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian authorities said. The Russian military said it used high-precision missiles to hit an armor repair plant near Kharkiv. There was no confirmation from Ukraine of such a plant being hit.—AP

Workers pulled scores of bodies from smashed buildings in an “endless caravan of death” inside the devastated city of Mariupol, authorities said Wednesday, while fears of a global food crisis escalated over Ukraine’s inability to export millions of tons of grain through its blockaded ports.

More bodies found in Mariupol as global food crisis looms

Washington: Considering the speculation about whether the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine can reawaken previous antibody responses and pave the way to a universal coronavirus vaccine, new research on a COVID-19 vaccine's antibody response suggests that the immune system's history with other coronaviruses, along with those behind the common cold, influences a patient's response, as per the study published in Cell Reports.Led by scientists at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), part of City of Hope, and Northern Arizona University (NAU), a research team found that the vaccine generates antibodies that target regions of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein that are unique to the new virus, while also targeting regions of the protein that are shared or conserved among many coronaviruses.What's more, the antibody response to these different coronaviruses appears to follow different paths. Over the course of 140 days following vaccination, the response to common cold coronaviruses started early but diminished over time. The response to SARS-CoV-2 continued to get stronger and stronger over time. "The findings could help fine-tune the design of future vaccines or new monoclonal antibody treatments, perhaps leading to a universal coronavirus vaccine," said John Altin, Ph.D., senior author and assistant professor in TGen's Pathogen Genomics and Integrated Cancer Genomics Divisions."Even if the response to the conserved regions is just a small part of the vaccine's overall protection, it may be a response that could be leveraged in future vaccines against future variants of the COVID-19 virus," he added.Altin and colleagues are now looking more closely at the antibodies that target the two conserved regions they identified in their study to determine whether these are broadly neutralizing antibodies that generate immunity extending to new variants of the virus.Using a technology called PepSeq developed by Altin and co-author Jason Ladner, Ph.D., an assistant professor at NAU's Pathogen and Microbiome Institute, allowed the researchers to carefully map antibody responses and track them serially over 140 days in 21 people who received the Moderna SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. The technology matches individual peptides (the building blocks of proteins) with unique DNA tags. The tags allow scientists to pinpoint which peptides are being targeted by antibodies.Before technologies like PepSeq, researchers had to measure the response of antibodies against one protein target at a time."PepSeq allows us to perform up to hundreds of thousands of measurements of antibodies against different parts of virus proteins all at the same time from the same sample," Ladner said.PepSeq also helps scientists precisely map the antibody response to specific regions of a protein. This allowed Ladner, Altin and their colleagues to track the differences in antibody response between divergent and conserved regions of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein."Our theory is that there is actually memory from previous common cold coronavirus encounters, and when you get the vaccine for SARS-CoV-2, the vaccine reawakens some of those memories. Then you see this early response which is basically just a rapid memory response to what you've already seen," Altin said. "With time, the immune system can reshape those responses more in the direction of the pandemic virus."Before COVID-19, Ladner and Altin were using PepSeq to get a closer look at the full range of viruses that infect humans. The powerful technology offers a way to "understand something about the viruses that a person has been exposed to in the past and the immune response to those infections," Ladner said.For instance, Ladner and his colleagues are looking at whether some chronic diseases, such as Type 1 diabetes and celiac disease, might have some of their roots in different viral exposures. They also use the technology to look for different rates of infection between different populations, to see how this exposure history might be related to health disparities between those populations.&nbsp;—ANI

Considering the speculation about whether the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine can reawaken previous antibody responses and pave the way to a universal coronavirus vaccine, new research on a COVID-19 vaccine's antibody response suggests that the immune system's history with other coronaviruses, along with those behind the common cold, influences a patient's response, as per the study published in Cell Reports.

COVID-19 Vaccine Activates Antibodies That Target Parts Of The Virus: Study

Southampton: In the fight against Cancer, new insights into the key properties of an antibody have been found by researchers at the University of Southampton.The interdisciplinary study, published in Science Immunology, revealed how changing the flexibility of the antibody could stimulate a stronger immune response. The findings have enabled the Southampton team to design antibodies to activate important receptors on immune cells to "fire them up" and deliver more powerful anti-cancer effects.The scientists believe their findings could pave the way to improve antibody drugs that target cancer as well as other automimmune diseases. In the study, the team investigated antibody drugs targeting the receptor CD40 for cancer treatment. Clinical development has been hampered by a lack of understanding of how to stimulate the receptors to the right level. The problem being that if antibodies are too active they can become toxic.Previous Southampton research has shown that a specific type of antibody called IgG2 is uniquely suited as a template for pharmaceutical intervention, since it is more active than other antibody types. However, the reason why it is more active had not been determined. What was known, however, is that the structure between the antibody arms, the so-called hinges, changes over time. This latest research harnesses this property of the hinge and explains how it works: the researchers call this process 'disulfide-switching'.In their study, the Southampton team analysed the effect of modifying the hinge and used a combination of biological activity assays, structural biology, and computational chemistry to study how disulfide switching alters antibody structure and activity. Dr Ivo Tews, Associate Professor in Structural Biology at the University of Southampton, said: "Our approach was to analyse the structure of the antibody in atomic detail, using the method of X-ray crystallography. While the resulting picture is very accurate, the information on how they move their 'arms' is missing, and we needed an image of the antibody in solution, for which we used an X-ray scattering approach called SAXS. We then used mathematical models and a chemical-computing approach to analyse the data, using the Southampton High Performance Computing cluster IRIDIS." Through this detailed study of the hinge, the team revealed that more compact, rigid antibodies are more active than their flexible counterparts. Professor Mark Cragg, of the Centre for Cancer Immunology at the University of Southampton, said: "This study has given us new information about how to engineer antibodies to deliver a better immune response. We propose that more rigid antibodies enable the receptors to be bound closer together on the cell surface, promoting receptor clustering and stronger signalling for activity. This means by modifying the hinge we can now generate more or less active antibodies in a more predictable way. "Excitingly, our findings could have wider implications as it may provide a highly controlled and tractable means of developing antibodies for clinical use in future immunostimulatory antibody drugs." The study was funded by Cancer Research UK and brought together structural biologists, immunologists, chemists and computer experts from across the University. Collaboration with the Diamond Light Source in Oxford and the University of Hamburg that Southampton is partnered with were instrumental to these studies.&nbsp;—ANI

 In the fight against Cancer, new insights into the key properties of an antibody have been found by researchers at the University of Southampton.

Researchers Analyze Structure Of Antibodies That Could Hold The Key To More Effective Cancer Treatments

New York: A team of researchers in the US has produced antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in hen eggs.Antibodies harvested from eggs might be used to treat Covid-19 or as a preventative measure for people exposed to the disease, said researchers in the paper published in the journal Viruses.Birds produce a type of antibody called IgY, comparable to IgG in humans and other mammals. IgY, which does not cause allergy or set off immune reactions when injected into humans, appears both in birds' sera and in their eggs.As a hen lays about 300 eggs a year, you can get a lot of IgY, said researchers from the University of California-Davis."In addition to a low cost to produce these antibodies in hens, they can be updated very fast by using updated antigens to hyperimmunised hens, allowing protection against current variant strains," said Rodrigo Gallardo, Professor in poultry medicine, Department of Population Health and Reproduction at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.The team immunised hens with two doses of three different vaccines based on the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein or receptor binding domain.They measured antibodies in blood samples from the hens and in egg yolks three and six weeks after the last immunisation. Purified antibodies were tested for their ability to block coronavirus from infecting human cells.Both eggs and sera from immunised hens contained antibodies that recognised SARS-CoV-2. Antibodies from serum were more effective in neutralising the virus, probably because there is more antibody in blood overall, Gallardo said.Gallardo is working with colleagues at Stanford University and University of Technology, Sydney, to develop the egg-based antibody technology. The team hopes to deploy these antibodies in a preventative treatment such as a spray, that could be used by people at high risk of exposure to coronavirus. —IANS

A team of researchers in the US has produced antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in hen eggs.

US Researchers Produce Covid Antibodies Using Hen Eggs

New Delhi:&nbsp;The Supreme Court on Thursday pulled up the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) for re-scheduling the poll for 367 local bodies to grant OBC reservation, and also cautioned its chief and other officials of contempt of court, if its orders are breached.A bench, headed by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar, said the poll schedule was already notified when it allowed OBC reservation and the polls for those bodies must be held without the OBC reservation.It said the SEC cannot interfere with the election, which has already been notified and only the dates can be re-aligned.The bench, also comprising Justices Abhay S. Oka and J.B. Pardiwala, did not appreciate that despite clarifying the issue several times, the SEC had taken a decision to re-schedule the poll. The bench made it clear that the SEC and the officials concerned would be liable for contempt of court for breaching its order."This is not acceptable. You (SEC) are trying to misread our order for your convenience and maybe under dictation of someone... Do you want us to issue contempt notice?...."The bench said the election for 367 local bodies were to be notified according to the May order, and this position had been re-stated in multiple orders. The top court was informed that as per SEC affidavit, the election was deferred for two municipalities.It said the SEC cannot interfere with the election that has already been notified, and directed that SEC cannot re-notify the election programme to these 367 local bodies.On July 20, the Supreme Court accepted the recommendations of the Banthia commission to apply 27 per cent OBC reservations in local body elections in Maharashtra, and directed that election for local bodies in the state be notified in the next two weeks.In December last year, the top court had directed that reservation for OBCs in local bodies will not be permitted unless they fulfil the triple test, and until the triple test is fulfilled, the OBC seats would be re-notified as general category seats.The Supreme Court, in its order in March last year, while reading down the OBC reservation in local bodies, asked the Maharashtra government to comply with three conditions - to set up a dedicated commission for collecting empirical data on the OBC population, specify the proportion of reservation, and ensuring cumulative share of reserved seats doesn't breach 50 per cent of total seats.—IANS

The Supreme Court on Thursday pulled up the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) for re-scheduling the poll for 367 local bodies to grant OBC reservation, and also cautioned its chief and other officials of contempt of court, if its orders are breached.

 Poll for 367 local bodies in Maha sans OBC reservation, contempt if orders breached: SC

New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to take strict measures to prevent the discharge of sewage effluents to water bodies, stressing the stormwater drains, canals and water bodies need to be geo-tagged and given Unique Identification (UID). "CPCB may issue appropriate directions to all PCBs/PCCs within two months, to give effect to section 24 of the Water Act, to the effect that Canals, water bodies (lentic or lotic), and the Natural Storm water drains are not to be used for discharge of treated or untreated trade or sewage effluents. The storm water drains, canals, and water bodies need to be geo-tagged and given UID," the principal bench of the tribunal headed by Justice (retd) Adarsh Kumar Goel said in a recent order.&nbsp;
The direction came during the hearing of a plea regarding the remedial action for preventing untreated sewage going to the 'irrigation canal', which joins the Yamuna and then Ganga, in Sector 137, NOIDA. As per the plea, sources of such discharge include non-functional/deficient STPs in 95 high-rise buildings in Noida, industries, and wastewater from upstream from Delhi and Ghaziabad. Among the remedial action, the green court said, the authorities concerned should be monitored at the highest level by the Chief Secretaries, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi directly or through any appropriate mechanism. It is necessary to determine accountability for the past failures causing huge damage to the environment and public health and to meet the cost of remediation, it said. The Chief Secretaries of Delhi and UP will be free to identify the erring officers in the process and take remedial action and recover compensation from such erring officers/violators, including the group housing societies, the order said further.&nbsp;
—IANS

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to take strict measures to prevent the discharge of sewage effluents to water bodies, stressing the stormwater drains, canals and water bodies need to be geo-tagged and given Unique Identification (UID).

 Water bodies be geo-tagged, given UID: NGT on sewage pollution

Surat: Gujarat BJP president C.R Patil has reiterated that his party is committed to providing reservations to Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in local bodies like panchayats, nagar palikas and corporations.
Patil made the announcement in South Gujarat on Wednesday evening in response to the Congress launching a statewide campaign demanding 27 per cent reservation for the OBCs in local bodies.
BJP chief has stated, “On directions of the Supreme Court, the state government has constituted a commission headed by High Court’s (rtd) justice K S Jhaveri Commission. When the commission calls political parties for their views, BJP will demand reservation for OBC in local bodies.”
Congress party’s former state unit president Amit Chavda, leading the OBC reservation campaign, has held several meetings of OBC community members, in which he has demanded 27 per cent reservation for the community. Earlier, there 10 per cent reservation for OBC seats in local bodies elections.
The issue cropped up after the State Election Commission following a Supreme Court order de-reserved 10 per cent reservation for OBC in local bodies in the first week of July and issued a circular to hold 3252 village panchayats’ elections without OBC reserved seats.
This circular created a hue and cry from the OBC community and especially the opposition, which compelled the state government to appoint the Commission on July 8.&nbsp;
—IANS

Gujarat BJP president C.R Patil has reiterated that his party is committed to providing reservations to Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in local bodies like panchayats, nagar palikas and corporations.

 BJP is committed to reservation in local bodies, Patil reassures OBC

Sambhal: The headless bodies of two men, belonging to Kaivalna village in Bulandshahar, have been recovered from Rajpura area of Sambhal district in Uttar Pradesh. The bodies were found during the past two days and the police are now searching for their heads.
According to police sources, both men were murdered after being allegedly kidnapped by four people from Kaivalna on Saturday night. Senior Superintendent of Police, Bulandshahar, Shlok Kumar said that the police have arrested three people - Durgesh Sharma, Mukul Kumar, and Lata Sharma (mother of Durgesh). Bhupendra Kumar, 30 and his cousin Jagdish aka Bhura Singh, 25, went missing on Saturday night.
A case was registered at Salempur police station, under section 364 (kidnapping) following a complaint by Naresh Singh. He informed that his son Bhupendra and nephew Jagdish were missing since the intervening night of October 1 and 2.
The SSP said that the three accused who have been arrested, confessed during interrogation that Bhupendra Kumar had illicit relations with Lata Sharma. Durgesh had seen both in a compromising position. Durgesh, Mukul and Tushar Sharma called Bhupendra Kumar and Jagdish to his house.
They beat up the duo until they became unconscious. Then, they took Bhupendra and Bhura to a deserted area in Rajpura in a car, severed the heads and packed the heads into a bag, and threw them into Ganga, the SSP further added.
Kumar said that they threw bodies at two different locations in the area. The body of Jagdish was recovered on October 2 by Sambhal police, whereas Bulandshahar police recovered the body of Bhupendra Kumar from Rajpura area on Tuesday. The SSP said that the accused demanded a ransom of Rs 5 crore by making a call from the mobile of deceased Bhupendra in order to portray the incident as that of kidnapping. The SSP said when accused Durgesh was taken to the forest of Kailwan where he concealed a sharp-edged weapon and a point 315 bore country pistol, Durgesh opened fire from the country-made pistol at the cops and tried to flee. Police opened fire in self-defence in which Durgesh suffered bullet injury in his leg. He has been admitted to the hospital. —IANS

The headless bodies of two men, belonging to Kaivalna village in Bulandshahar, have been recovered from Rajpura area of Sambhal district in Uttar Pradesh. The bodies were found during the past two days and the police are now searching for their heads.

Two Headless Bodies Found, Heads Still Missing

Uttarkashi: Three more bodies were recovered from the site of an avalanche here, taking the death toll to 19, the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering said on Friday. Two Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters took off from Harsil in Uttarakhand to help in the search operations, officials said. The avalanche occurred at a height of 17,000 feet on Tuesday when a team of the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) was returning after summiting Draupadi Ka Danda II peak. Three more bodies were recovered from the avalanche site late on Thursday evening, taking the total number of bodies retrieved so far to 19, the NIM said. While 17 of these bodies are of trainee mountaineers, two are of their instructors, it said. According to the NIM, 10 trainees are still missing. Army, IAF, NIM, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, High Altitude Warfare School (Jammu and Kashmir) and State Disaster Response Force along with the district administration are conducting the search operations that were launched hours after the avalanche struck on Tuesday. The mountaineers who went missing after the avalanche were part of a team selected by the NIM for an advanced training course.
—PTI

Three more bodies were recovered from the site of an avalanche here, taking the death toll to 19, the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering said on Friday. Two Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters took off from Harsil in Uttarakhand to help in the search operations, officials said.

Uttarkashi avalanche: 3 more bodies recovered, toll climbs to 19; 10 still missing

Ballia, Uttar Pradesh (The Hawk): In order to look for "100 remains that had been buried in the premises of the house," a team from the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) visited a residence in the Ratsar hamlet. The team was joined by a dog squad and forensic experts.
The home is owned by Annu Singh, and a "cousin" from Canada named Shalini Singh filed a lawsuit, alleging that the bodies were buried between 1990 and 1995.
She claimed that where the bodies were interred, trees had been planted.
Shalini Singh, the complainant, went with the group but concealed her face.
Despite opposition from the locals, the crew thoroughly examined the region on Friday and Saturday. However, no evidence that might have supported the complaint was discovered.
According to Annu Singh, the SHRC and police team's unannounced arrival at the house to conduct an investigation was inappropriate. She claimed that she was not even acquainted with Shalini Singh, the plaintiff.
"Shalini Singh claims to be my stepsister's daughter, but this is untrue. We also discussed Shalini with the SHRC staff, but they were unable to provide a satisfactory response "Annu Singh added.
Amit Mishra, an investigator with the ASP rank, stated that the commission will get the report soon but would not provide further information.
(Inputs from Agencies)

In order to look for "100 remains that had been buried in the premises of the house," a team from the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) visited a residence in the Ratsar hamlet. The team was joined by a dog squad and forensic experts.

SHRC investigates an accusation of "buried bodies" in a residence in a UP village and discovers nothing

Chennai (The Hawk): Farmers have urged the state government to undergo annual desilting to boost storage because most water bodies in Tamil Nadu do not operate at full capacity, even during the monsoon season.
According to the Cauvery Delta Farmers Association's R. Ilangovan and P. S. Selvaraj, "Even during the severe rains, the majority of the state's water bodies have not reached their maximum capacity since desilting is not being done. Another significant concern is the elimination of illegal encroachments on water bodies, and the government must do it with an iron fist ".
In order to regulate water flow and preserve soil, farmers HAVE also advocated the construction of new check dams.
Additionally, they proposed expanding pumping facilities and constructing pipelines, canals, and pumping stations to transfer water during droughts.
"The (state) government must update existing reservoirs, tanks, and small ponds across the state to develop water storage facilities," Krishanswamy.G, a farmer based in Tiruchi, told IANS.
The decision In its electoral platform, the DMK promised to build 1,000 check dams and barrages around Tamil Nadu during the following ten years to rehydrate the groundwater.
According to a senior member of the state Water Resources Department, "As the Chief Minister promised, we have started building check dams. However, we need more money for this and have presented the government with a plan."
(Inputs from Agencies)

Farmers have urged the state government to undergo annual desilting to boost storage because most water bodies in Tamil Nadu do not operate at full capacity, even during the monsoon season.

Farmers in TN demand that water bodies be regularly de-silting to increase storage

New Delhi: Tribal bodies stepped up their demand to 'free' the Parasnath hills in Jharkhand's Giridih district from the 'clutches' of the Jain community and said thousands will assemble there on January 10 as a mark of protest.
A day after the Centre stayed all tourism activities at the site, the tribal bodies on Friday warned of a revolt if their demands were not met by the union and the state governments.
Jains across the country have been demanding the scrapping of a 2019 Jharkhand government notification designating Parasnath hills as a tourist place, fearing this would lead to an influx of travellers who may consume non-vegetarian food and liquor at their holy site. Even as the Centre stayed the Jharkhand government's move to promote tourism at the Parasnath hills after protests by Jains, tribals jumped into the fray staking a claim to the land and asking for it to be freed.
"There will be a revolt in five states if the government fails to free Marang Buru from the clutches of Jains.
"We want the government to take steps based on docume-ntation...The 1956 gazette mentions it as 'Marang Buru' (hill deity or supreme source of power)... The Jain community had lost a legal battle for Parasnath in the past," International Santhal Council Working President Naresh Kumar Murmu had claimed on Thursday. The Santhal tribe, one of the largest Scheduled Tribe community in the country, has a sizeable population in Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, Assam and West Bengal and are nature worshippers. "Injustice has been meted out to us... thousands will assemble at Parasnath on January 10. We will under no circumstances allow the Centre to favour Jains. The site is our ‘Marang Buru' from time immemorial," Lobin Hembram, the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha legislator from Borio in Sahebganj district, told reporters on Friday.
Former Bharatiya Janata Party MP Salkhan Murmu blamed Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren for the controversy, alleging that despite being an Adivasi CM, he was working against their welfare.
Salkhan Murmu, who is the chief of the Adivasi Sengel Abhiyan, warned that if the Centre and the state government fail to resolve the issue and restore sanctity of the place in favour of the tribals, they would take to the streets across India.
Meanwhile, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chief spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya alleged that the controversy was a pre-planned strategy of the BJP.
—PTI

 Tribal bodies stepped up their demand to 'free' the Parasnath hills in Jharkhand's Giridih district from the 'clutches' of the Jain community and said thousands will assemble there on January 10 as a mark of protest.

Tribals Step Up Demand To 'Free' Parasnath Hills From Jains

Chandigarh: Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said on Saturday, that the police in Harayan are working with their counterparts in Rajasthan and that those responsible for the deaths of two men whose burnt bodies were unearthed in Bhiwani district will be brought to justice.
Nasir (25 years old) and Junaid alias Juna (35 years old), both from the Ghatmeeka village in the Bharatpur district of Rajasthan, were reportedly kidnapped on Wednesday, and their burnt remains were discovered in a burned-out vehicle in the Loharu area of the Bhiwani district of Haryana on Thursday morning. Five individuals with ties to the Bajrang Dal have been arrested in connection with this case in Rajasthan.
Khattar remarked in response to a question on the incident in Panchkula that the government is closely monitoring the situation.—Inputsfrom Agencies

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said on Saturday, that the police in Harayan are working with their counterparts in Rajasthan and that those responsible for the deaths of two men whose burnt bodies were unearthed in Bhiwani district will be brought to justice.

Haryana CM Khattar: Guilty won't be spared in charred bodies case

Chennai: Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras have developed an online open-source database of coronaviruses' neutralising antibodies. The database called 'Ab-CoV' contains detailed information about all Covid-related antibodies identified so far, including the source of each antibody, and the viral protein(s) and virus strains they recognise, the institute said in a statement on Monday. 'Ab-CoV' can also aid in the development of drugs against new variants of SARS-CoV-2. The Ab-CoV database includes 1,780 coronavirus-related antibodies, including 211 nanobodies, and contains more than 3,200 data points on half maximal inhibitory concentration, half maximal effective concentration and binding affinity. The information compiled in this database, published in the peer-reviewed journal Bioinformatics, can assist researchers in antibody engineering; analysing immune escape for known and future variants of SARS-CoV-2; computational studies on neutralising antibodies; and relating structural features with binding affinity. "Some of the data in the Ab-CoV database has already been used to understand the relationship between structural features and binding affinities of spike protein-antibody complexes as well as antibody repurposing," said M. Michael Gromiha, Faculty, Department of Biotechnology, IIT Madras, in the statement. "Ab-CoV also has a wide range of search and display options through which users can directly search and download the processed data, based on the antibody's name, viral protein epitope, neutralised viral strain, antibody and nanobody. It also has the option to view structures of antibodies or viral proteins in a 3D model," Gromiha added. Although large amounts of experimental and computational data have been stored online to understand the virus, the emergence of new variants prompted researchers to gather new and comprehensive information. Such efforts will help to develop newer drugs and deal better with disasters that affect human health and economies, globally. "AbCoV is an exhaustive repository of antibodies, not just specific to SARS CoV-2 but also to other members of the coronavirus family such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) viruses," said Vani Janakiraman, Faculty, Department of Biotechnology, IIT Madras. "This repository would aid in comparative studies among different neutralising antibodies across coronaviruses and to assess their properties, interaction patterns with epitopes on the native and mutant viral proteins. Such an effort eventually would help to gauge the efficacy of these antibodies towards existing and emerging viral variants," she added. —IANS

 Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras have developed an online open-source database of coronaviruses' neutralizing antibodies.

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Maratha bodies fume as Tulja Bhavani temple bars Chhatrapati Shivaji descendant

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Maratha bodies fume as Tulja Bhavani temple bars Chhatrapati Shivaji descendant

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