Punjab will implement the Isreal born master plan for the water conservation management of the State as it has been evitably suffering from critical groundwater crisis for a decade. In a bid to eradicate this emerging crisis of water Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, signed a Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) with Israel-based Mekorot Water Company to handle this crisis. Now, Mekorot water company has done its survey in Punjab and submitted around five reports for further Masterplan action.

As per the latest research carried out by the Department of Soil and Water Engineering, PAU, Ludhiana, Punjab India. Total groundwater withdrawal in the state is 35.78 BCM, out of which 1.22 BCM is for domestic and industrial use, and 34.56 BCM is for meeting crop water requirements. The net annual replenishable groundwater availability is 21.58 BCM, thereby leaving an annual groundwater deficit of 14.71 BCM.

The Research further says that In the areas with high over-exploitation viz. Sangrur, Barnala, Moga, and Jullundur districts, where the water level decline does not match the groundwater extraction. There is more than 80 percent of districts in the state are in the danger zone in terms of the lowest groundwater availability.

The Punjab Water Resources Management and Development Corporation awarded the Water Conservation and Management Master Plan for the State of Punjab to M/s Mekorot water company Ltd, Israel National Water Company, by signing an MoU in the year 2019 to deal with the problems of falling water table, increasing surface water pollution and waterlogging in southwest Punjab, etc.

As per officials, the Water Conservation and Management Master Plan is divided into six reports out of which five no of reports have been submitted by the M/s Mekorot Team. Out of the five reports, four reports i.e. Study of the Current State of Punjab Water Sector, Water Resources Potential and Projections, Sectorial Water Demand Projections, Water-based Economy Regulations have been approved by the Core team of the State Government. The fifth report i.e. Water Balance and Alternative Water Supply team are currently in the process of approval.

The final reports shall be submitted by M/s Mekorot to Punjab Water Regulation and Development Authority for implementation of the State Water Conservation Plan.

Karan Avtar Singh, IAS, Chairman, Punjab Water Regulation and Development Authority, Government of Punjab, says, “this case is handled by the department of water resources, we are expecting to have a complete report from the department soon to implement the conservation plan further in the state.”

Former Home Minister of Maharashtra Anil Deshmukh on Wednesday failed to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) consecutively for the fifth time in the whole money laundering probe against him. It was with respect to the infamous ‘100 crores hafta wasooli’ gate that ED had issued fresh summons to former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh and his son Hrishikesh on Tuesday to appear before it on Wednesday.

Skipping summons Anil Deshmukh submitted his response to the central agency via his lawyer Inderpal Singh who reached the agency’s Mumbai office around about 11.00 am. “We have again and again asked ED to wait and let Supreme Court hearing get over, and that’s what we submitted today! Our plea has been filed in the apex court and we have been allowed to take recourse. Our matter will be heard soon We have told ED to wait until the hearing happens and we have asked for time,” said Inderpal Singh while speaking to media outside the ED office.

The response submitted stated that as per the Supreme Court order of August 16, “It will be open to the petitioners to take recourse to appropriate remedies available under the Criminal Procedure Code including by way of quashing petition if so advised.” The letter submitted also mentions that Anil Deshmukh is a law-abiding citizen who shall never shirk away from rendering all necessary cooperation and assistance for any investigation.

“However, it is a fundamental right to avail constitutional remedies where there is a violation of the procedure or excesses are committed or malice in fact, as well as malice in law, is apparent in the face of the record,” it added.

This comes after on Monday, the SC refused to grant Deshmukh interim protection from arrest in the money laundering case and said that he can avail remedy under CrPC and approach the appropriate forum for relief. Deshmukh in past has skipped all the previous summons by the agency to present himself. The ED has alleged that Rs 4.7 crore collected from orchestra bars by dismissed cop Sachin Waze, allegedly on Deshmukh`s instructions, was transferred to the former minister`s Nagpur- based educational trust by his son.

In yet another shocker, Assam Congress leader Sushmita Dev quit the Congress and joined the Trinamool. Naba Kumar Sarania, an independent MP from Kokarajhar in Assam, as per sources, also held several meetings with the Trinamool. Sarania told the Trinamool top leadership that he and his party wanted an anti-BJP fight in Assam by allying with the Trinamool, not joining directly, a source said.

Meanwhile as Abhishek Banerjee has become the All India General Secretary of the Trinamool Congress, shortly after taking office, he set about building organizations in the northeastern states of Tripura and Assam. TMC, ahead of the polls, wants to tackle the BJP juggernaut by organizing a strong and united oppositional front.

Nevertheless, Trinamool is already making its mark in Tripura through various programmes. In the midst of all this, Assam MP Naba Kumar Sarania was offered to join the party.

At first, the proposal came from the TC of Assam. Later, during the parliamentary session, Sarania had a meeting with several Trinamool MPs in Delhi, including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee.

In Assam, the party led by Sarania is called Gana Suraksha Party or GSP. The organisational strength and mass base of GSP in Kokrajhar and surrounding areas are quite good. Sources said that after talking to his organisation, Sarania told the Trinamool that after thinking about the equation of local politics in Assam, they felt that it was better to ally with the Trinamool without joining the latter directly. Sarania has told the Trinamool Congress that he will form an alliance with them in the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

Sarania thinks that if an alliance is formed with the Trinamool in Assam, the result will be good, a party source said. Mamata Banerjee’s popularity in the Assam would add a cherry to the cake. Besides, the strength of Mamata’s party has increased as former Silchar MP Sushmita has joined the Trinamool. Sarania thinks it is possible to give impetus to the alliance if the Bengalis can combine these sentiments with the local politics of Assam.

Governing Board members and senior member broadcasters of News Broadcasters Federation (NBF), India’s largest body of news broadcasters, held a productive meeting with Union Information & Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Tuesday.

The Governing Board of the NBF apprised the Union Minister of key issues faced by the news industry, the recent growth and trends in the news broadcasting sector, and the challenges facing the news broadcasting industry in recent times.

During the meeting, members of the NBF highlighted the need for the immediate resumption of viewership ratings for the news genre, which have been unilaterally paused and have severely impacted the sustainability of news channels.

Anurag Thakur said, “It was a pleasure to meet and exchange views with the NBF governing board led by Mr Arnab Goswami. It was a productive exchange of views and I look forward to engaging with the NBF on issues regarding news broadcasting and the role of news broadcasting in strengthening our democracy.”

Kartikeya Sharma, Promoter of ITV Network and Vice-President of the NBF, said, “It was a very positive meeting with the Minister. The Minister heard out all the matters raised by various members of the NBF. I would like to thank the Minister for hearing the viewpoints of all news channels from across India and from regional channels as well.”

Arnab Goswami, founding president of the NBF, spoke on the occasion and said, “The meeting of NBF members with the Minister was a wonderful opportunity to apprise him about the steps we have taken to build India’s largest federation of news broadcasters.”

Barun Das, Group CEO of News9 Network and Vice President of the NBF, said, “It was a pleasure to be a part of the NBF delegation to meet the honourable minister of I&B. The highly competitive news TV genre certainly needs a level-playing field for new promising players both in the national arena and regional markets.”

In its meeting with the Minister, the NBF also submitted that it is essential for news viewership ratings to be released.

Shankar Bala, CEO of Fourth Dimension and Vice President of the NBF, after the meeting with the Minister said, “Whatever the issues were, those were addressed. We have particularly stated that it is essential to release the viewership ratings for news channels, which were unilaterally stopped. The resumption of the publication of news ratings will ensure fair play and measurement-driven competitive news industry. We have a lot of expectations after our talks.”

After the meeting, Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, Managing Director of Pride East Entertainments, said, “As a team, NBF put forth the problems we tend to face and the ways in which we want to raise and address our concerns. At least, we can go forward and help regional industries survive, like ours. The Minister gave us a patient hearing and we are very grateful to the Ministry.”

The NBF delegation included Kartikeya Sharma, Founder/ Promoter of ITV Network, Arnab Goswami, Editor-in-Chief of the Republic Media Network, Barun Das, CEO of the TV9 News Network, Sanjive Narain, Founder/Managing Director of Prag News, Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, Chairperson/ Managing Director of Pride East Entertainment, Shankar Bala, CEO, Fourth Dimension, Hemant Sharma, News Director of TV9 Bharatvarsh, Manoj Gairola, Editor-in-Chief of News Nation, Mahendra Bhatla, Chairperson of MHOne, Divaakar S., Business Head of Newsfirst Kannada, R. Jai Krishna, Secretary-General of NBF and Eshita, Associate for Policy and Regulations of NBF.

Goa CM Pramod Sawant has said that he would write to the Centre urging it to allow the landing of inbound international chartered flights at Goa International Airport, Dabolim, as the coastal state is mulling to open an international tourism sector.

He said, “It (allowing international charter flights) is in the purview of the government of India. Until the government of India permits, we cannot start charter flights. We have requested the MHA and the Union tourism ministry about this. We are also writing to them this time.”

The Chief Minister said the time had come to think positively about re-opening the tourism sector in the state.

“We want to think about it positively by following proper SOPs and precautions. Till now we have not finalised,” he said.

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday gave interim relief against arrest to businessperson and husband of actress Shilpa Shetty, Raj Kundra, in a November 2020 case registered by the Nodal Cyber police station in Mumbai for alleged distribution of obscene and explicit content.

Kundra, who is behind bars in a similar case related to adult films filed by the Mumbai police crime branch, approached the HC after the sessions court rejected his pre-arrest bail plea earlier this month. Kundra has sought pre-arrest bail in the October 2020 FIR registered by the Cyber Crime department of Mumbai Police in connection with broadcasting of nude erotic content on OTT platform.

The offences in the FIR were Sections 292, 293 (sale of obscene material) under the Indian Penal Code, Sections 66E, 67, 67A (transmission of sexually explicit material) under the Information Technology Act and provisions of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act.

A single-judge bench of Justice Sandeep K. Shinde was hearing the anticipatory bail plea by Kundra in the 2020 case. He directed an interim order protecting Kundra from arrest till the next hearing date which is August 25, 2021. Kundra submitted that he was falsely implicated in the case.