Mount K2 turns into garbage mountain

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September 13, 2022

K2, the second-highest mountain on the planet after Mount Everest, has become a ‘garbage mountain’ as a mound of trash has piled up, raising environmental concerns.

The hilarious scene on the peak was captured by several tourists who went there for trekking. Notably, K2 is one of the most difficult peaks to summit in the world and a popular site for mountaineers.

Gilgit-Baltistan Tourism Department as cited by Dawn newspaper said that, in the 2022 summer alone, 204 permits were issued for expeditions on the K2, compared to a total of 1,800 permits issued for all the 8,000m peaks in the region.

On July 22, Wajid Nagar and his team began the journey to scale the mighty K2. “As soon as we reached Camp 1 on the K2, in front of us was pile upon pile of trash which included corpses, abandoned ropes, tin packs, tents, climbing gears, human waste, and plastic wrappers,” Wajid said, as quoted by Dawn.

A US-based mountaineer Sarah Strattan, who arrived in Gilgit-Baltistan in June for a K2 summit had similar concerns.

“Camps 1 and 2 were the worst with trash — old tents, gear, food packaging, fuel cans, human waste, old ropes, etc,” she told Dawn.

She further explained that the trash created many problems for climbers, especially when it came to sanitation.

“We melt the snow for water in all camps and if the snow is dirty, it can make us sick,” she said.

Meanwhile, the GB government organized a campaign to clear the garbage earlier this year, after almost a decade.

Quoting Yasir Hussain, director of the Central Karakoram National Park (CKNP), Dawn reported that a team of eight climbers was sent to collect the trash from the K2 basecamp all the way up to Camp 4, at a height of 7,800m.

“The team ended up collecting 1,610kg of trash, including climbing gear, tents, ropes, cylinders, batteries, and shopping bags,” he said. The garbage was then discarded at CKNP’s dumpsite.

As per the official, separate camps had been set up for collecting waste every year and an incinerator was also fixed in the Askoli area to recycle and burn it.

He admitted the waste this summer was the highest collected in years because of the number of expeditions on the mountain, as per Dawn.

Delhi court denies bail to accused in Kishangarh shootout case

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ANI

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September 13, 2022

The Patiala House Court has denied interim bail to Dharamvir alias Kalu, an accused in the infamous Kishangarh shootout case in which an AAP worker Ashok Maan was shot in broad daylight in February 2020.

The bail was sought on the grounds that the accused is suffering from hypertension, bronchial asthma, haemorrhoids, and fistula and his medical condition is “critical” and he has not been not relieved of his symptoms despite being provided with medicines.

Additional Sessions Judge Rajinder Singh said earlier interim bail on health grounds was granted to the applicant by the High Court and was extended on several occasions. The regular bail application of the accused is pending before the High Court.

“In such circumstances, this court is not inclined to exercise jurisdiction in the present bail application. Accordingly, the present bail application of accused Dharamvir alias Kalu is dismissed,” the court said.

Public Prosecutor Rhythm Aggarwal, counsel for the complainant, along with Advocate Niraj Tiwari vehemently opposed the bail application.

Aggarwal argued that the court has to look beyond the facade that the accused is trying to create by “misusing medical grounds as a ruse to get bail and disregarding the process of justice”.

It was further submitted that the accused develops “new medical problems time and again” which clearly show that he is using a hit-and-trial method to see which problem can gain the sympathy of the court to grant him bail.

Aggarwal also emphasized that the medical report does not explicitly state that the issues cannot be treated in the jail dispensary and that the jail infrastructure is well equipped to treat inmates.

“Thus one has to see beyond that hoax being created to gain the sympathy of the court by seeking bail on medical grounds,” he said.

Advocate Aggarwal also shed light on the fact that the regular bail application is pending adjudication before the Delhi High Court and that the fact that the accused is in custody has nothing to do with the aspect of delay in trial because the supplementary chargesheet and FSL report are yet to be filed.

Dharamvir was arrested by Delhi Police for allegedly killing an AAP supporter when he was returning from a temple along with party MLA Naresh Yadav in his convoy. Yadav was returning from a temple after Assembly poll results were declared in his favour, and his supporter, Ashok Maan (45), was shot five times.

Cong is finished in Gujrat: Delhi CM Kejriwal

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ANI

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September 13, 2022

Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday claimed that the Congress party is “finished” in Gujarat, where assembly polls will be held later this year.

Kejriwal’s claim came in response to a reporter’s question regarding a Congress leader’s allegation during his visit to the poll-bound state, where AAP is presenting itself as a strong contender and alternative to the ruling BJP.

Congress had alleged that the AAP government in Punjab is spending crores on ads for the Gujarat polls whereas Punjab is “on the brink of bankruptcy”.

Responding to the allegation, Kejriwal said, “Congress is finished. You should stop taking their questions. People no more care about their questions.”

Notably, the AAP supremo has urged the people on multiple occasions not to “waste their votes” on Congress. Kejriwal has pitched AAP as the “only alternative” to the BJP in the state.

After its landslide victory in the recently held Punjab Assembly elections, AAP is seeking to expand its footprints in other states.

AAP had made its debut in Gujarat in the 2017 Assembly polls, but could not open its account. AAP’s hopes in Gujarat have been fuelled by its performance in the February 2021 Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) polls in which BJP won 93 seats, while Aam Aadmi Party bagged 27 seats and the Congress drew a blank.

Meanwhile, in the 2017 Assembly elections, Congress had given a scare to the ruling BJP by restricting its MLAs to 99 and winning 77 seats on its own. There are 182 assembly seats in Gujarat.

People not buying Shinde views on revolt; most of his MLAs will face poll defeat: NCP

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PTI

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September 13, 2022

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Tuesday said Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has been trying hard to justify his rebellion against the Shiv Sena leadership, but the people of the state were not buying his views and claimed 45 of the 50 legislators backing him will face defeat in the next polls.

Referring to a rally addressed by the chief minister at Paithan in central Maharashtra’s Aurangabad district on Monday, state NCP chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase alleged the Shinde-led rebel group does not have a disciplined cadre hence they have to spend money to hire people for gatherings.

The Shiv Sena faction led by party president Uddhav Thackeray has claimed people for Shinde’s rally were brought by “paying money”.

“The chief minister has tried to explain how the act of his rebellion was correct, but the people of Maharashtra do not support his views (on revolt). The electorate of Maharashtra will defeat 45 of the 50 MLAs of the Shinde group in the next elections,” Tapase said in a statement.

Shinde, who raised a banner of revolt in June and walked away with nearly 40 Sena MLAs, has repeatedly claimed the party under Thackeray’s leadership had deviated from the path of Hindutva.

The CM on Monday launched a frontal attack on opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders, particularly Thackeray, and said it was better to be dubbed as “agents” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who had nullified Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir, than being sympathetic to Yakub Memon, executed in 2015 for his role in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts.

Tapase said the “ED government”, a reference to Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has been formed allegedly by using the Enforcement Directorate and it is yet to get constitutional validation from the Supreme Court.

He said the NCP will continue to treat the Shinde-led government as “unconstitutional” till it gets validation from the Supreme Court, where rival Shiv Sena camps have filed a slew of petitions against each other.

Students feel uncomfortable with Navratri festival celebrations till midnight

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Brena Soni

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September 13, 2022

garba, navratri, prakash surve, surve, dandiya, garba-dandiya, eknath shinde, shinde, cm, chief minister shinde — Students feel uncomfortable with Navratri festival celebrations till midnight 6

Days after the celebration of the Ganpati festival with no curbs, the Shinde camp MLA Prakash Surve has appealed to the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to allow Garba-dandiya till midnight during Navratri across Maharashtra. He reiterated that the state government needs to allow Garba-dandiya till midnight across the state during Navratri.

When speaking to residents of Mumbai, few of them were in favour of late-night Garba celebrations, but most of them felt its unnecessary demand by the minister. The residents said the government should come up with guidelines for celebration, traffic supervision rules and crowd management.

A resident named Divya told Afternoon Voice, “We are very much excited about the Navratri festival and if the government permits till midnight, then we are happy as people could not celebrate any festival from the last two years.”

Another resident, Nidhi said, “The celebration of this festival is only for a few days so it won’t affect much but people have options of leaving early from the venue or staying back till midnight.”

While some people stated that there should be some management if the celebrations are allowed till midnight, A local resident named Sanjeev said, “There is no issue for the celebration of the Garba festival but there should be some arrangement for the traffic management.”

“Garba should be allowed till 10:00 pm during weekdays and if allowed till midnight then it should be only during weekends,” said a resident named Dhruv.

When asked by some students they stated that the celebration of the festival should be there but for a limited time frame and the government should not allow people to celebrate till midnight as this may disturb studies.

A student Aryan Narvekar told Afternoon Voice, “We are preparing for the SSC examination and we have to study so the celebration of the Garba festival should be till 10:00 pm.”

Another student named Amol said, “The festival celebrations should not be till midnight as people going to work even, they might face inconvenience to reach home.”

The Navratri Festival is all set to begin this year from September 26 till October 4 and also there are others which have allowed people for the Garba festival till midnight with no curbs some states have also started issuing identity cards for the people who would enter the grounds.

Prakash Surve, who was elected to the state assembly from Magathane constituency in north Mumbai, said that Navratri is being celebrated from September 26 to October 4 adding that Gujarat, Rajasthan and other states allow Garba-dandiya up to midnight. Therefore, he urged the CM to permit Maharashtra too for playing Garba-dandiya up to midnight.

“After the Shinde-Fadnavis government came to power it removed all restrictions which paved the way for the grand celebration of Dahi Handi and Ganapati festival after almost two years in the state,” said Surve. He pointed out that the Garba-dandiya is being organised in the state and in North Mumbai in which people from all religions participate.

Punjab AAP alleges BJP offered Rs 20-25 cr to its MLAs to topple govt

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PTI

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September 13, 2022

The ruling AAP in Punjab on Tuesday accused the BJP of offering Rs 20-25 crore each to its 10 MLAs in an attempt to topple the Bhagwant Mann government in the state.

Addressing the media here, Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema alleged that under the BJP’s ‘Operation Lotus’, some AAP legislators in the state had been approached by the people from the BJP.

The senior AAP leader claimed that seven to 10 AAP MLAs have been approached with offers of money and ministerial positions.

No immediate reaction from the BJP came on the allegation of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

“Our MLAs in Punjab are being contacted. They are being contacted telephonically by some people of the BJP who were sent by the BJP’s central leadership to break our legislators away from the party,” said Cheema.

“They approached our MLAs and told them that their meeting will be arranged with big leaders in Delhi, and also offered them Rs 25 crore each,” he said.

The state finance minister further alleged that the legislators were also asked to bring more MLAs along and in that case, more money will be given.

He alleged that the BJP was trying to “buy” AAP MLAs in Punjab while claiming that such attempts had earlier failed in Delhi where it had targeted the AAP legislators.

For the past one week, attempts were being made regularly to “buy” legislators, he said.

“Seven to 10 MLAs were approached directly or indirectly by the BJP through its people,” he said while refusing to name the MLAs who were allegedly approached.

Among those people from the BJP who approached the AAP MLAs included some from Punjab and others from Delhi, Cheema claimed, adding the party will present the proof in this regard at an appropriate time.

Maharashtra: 60 farmers died by suicide in last 43 days in Yavatmal

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ANI

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September 13, 2022

Around 60 farmers have died by suicide in the last 43 days in the Yavatmal area of Maharashtra failing to repay the debt following the torrential rains.

District collector, Amol Yedge assured that the government is taking steps to reduce the number of suicide incidents in the state. According to the official, 205 such cases have been reported in the state this year.

Speaking to the agencies, Yedge said, “48 farmer suicides were reported in August, 12 have been reported in September. So far, 205 cases have been reported this year (till September 12). Our committee sits on these cases and decides the eligibility and ineligibility of these cases.”

Extending support to the farmers, the collector said that government officers will spend a day with the farmers on September 13 and 14.

“We’re with the farmers. As part of the government program, government officers will spend a day with them on September 13 and 14 to know their issues and inform them about government schemes and benefits.”

A local in the area informed that the crops were destroyed because of the heavy rains which led to his father die by suicide owing to the inability to repay the debt.

“We had a debt of about Rs 12 lakhs, our crop was destroyed due to heavy rains. We never thought our father will die by suicide but he quietly went to the farm and did it. We didn’t get any help from the administration, no one including BDO or Collector visited us,” he said.

Weeks ago in Delhi, a farmer was found hanging from a ceiling fan in a Shiv temple.

A mushroom farmer who had sent his workers home to Bihar during the migrant crisis in May 2020, was found hanging from a ceiling fan in a Shiv temple in the Alipur police station area in New Delhi on Wednesday.

The deceased was identified as Pappan Singh of Tigipur village. Singh used to visit the Shiv temple in front of his house daily. A priest saw him hanging on the ceiling fan, as per the police. A suicide note was also recovered which stated the reason was some disease. However, the family did not suspect anybody.

Civic body continues demolition of illegal structures in Bengaluru

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PTI

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September 13, 2022

Building demolition — Image for representative purpose

Bengaluru’s civic body on Tuesday continued its anti-encroachment drive to raze illegal structures that were built on the stormwater drains in several areas of the Mahadevapura zone which were allegedly causing flooding.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) carried out the exercise in Shantiniketana Layout in Mahadevapura zone.

The massive flooding in parts of Bengaluru, particularly the information technology corridor and arterial roads, was blamed on such encroachment. Portions of some bungalows in the posh locality were partially damaged in the drive.

A BBMP official, who is part of the drive, said the government has given a go-ahead and there is no question of sparing anyone, however powerful they may be.

Some residents in the layout alleged that only poor people are targeted whereas the stormwater drains encroached by the “high and mighty” in the posh layouts and major IT parks have been spared.

Meanwhile, Revenue Minister R Ashoka told reporters his department is giving a list of encroachments to the BBMP.

“I have given instructions to the deputy commissioner, assistant commissioner and tahsildars to stand with the BBMP and provide them documents, without looking at big people, small people and so on, and unsparingly demolish (illegal) structures,” Ashoka said.

BBMP began the demolition drive on Monday, within days of the havoc caused by rain-triggered floods in parts of the city with Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai asserting that the anti-encroachment offensive would be done on a big scale.

According to official sources, the BBMP identified at least 10 places in Mahadevapura zone, which were choking the flow of rainwater, including a building, playground and garden of a prominent private school which encroached upon a stormwater drain.

The Chief Minister said on Monday: “I have given a clear direction to the officials to remove the encroachment whoever has built structures on the stormwater drains and interrupted the flow of rainwater.”

PETA India has asked government to stop “illegal dogfights”

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ANI

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September 13, 2022

PETA India has written to the Union government to close down “illegal” pet shops, breeders, and cracking down on “illegal dogfights” held in many parts of the nation.

PETA made the appeal in a letter to Animal Husbandry Minister Parshottam Rupala, and Animal Welfare Board of India chair OP Chaudhary.

The global non-profit also released a footage provided by the Fauna Police, showing lethal injuries that animals sustain in the alleged dogfights.

“The footage shows how dogfighters train pit-bulls, Pakistani bully kutta, and mixed-breed dogs by goading them into killing wild animals,” People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said in a statement.

“Puppies are provoked into fighting each other. The fights can leave the dogs so exhausted they can no longer continue or defend themselves. The dogs are encouraged to fight until at least one gets seriously injured or dies,” it said.

PETA India’s Veterinary Policy Advisor Nithin Krishnegowda said that they have urged the government to join the “effort” to stop dogfights by making it “illegal to breed”.

“Dogfighters choose secret locations. Anyone who sees or learns of these rings, must be quick to report them to the police,” Krishnegowda said.

In India, inciting dogs to fight is illegal under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. However, PETA has claimed that the illegal sport that involves “gambling and operates in secrecy”, is predominant in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Jammu.

“Pitbull–type dogs are commonly breed for use in illegal fighting or kept on heavy chains as attack dogs, resulting in a lifetime of suffering”.

Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka says “entire team played well” over the victory at Asia Cup 2022

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ANI

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September 13, 2022

Dasun Shanaka,Srilanka — Dasun Shanaka, Cricketer of Srilanka | AsiaCup 2022 | Image: Twitter/Screengrab

Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka heaped praise on his team and said that they gave their best as they clinch the Asia Cup 2022 beating Pakistan by 23 runs.

The Asia Cup cricket tournament of 2022 concluded with the Sri Lankan team taking home the cup in a sweeping victory after defeating Pakistan in the finals.

Having defeated Pakistan by a margin of 23 runs, Sri Lanka won the cup for the sixth time in the history of the Asia Cup; their first however since 2014.

Having had to bat first, Sri Lanka seemed to be in a rather turbulent situation after losing five wickets for just 58 runs.

It’s celebration time!! ?? pic.twitter.com/rCxikSDxbA
— Dasun Shanaka (@dasunshanaka1) September 11, 2022

Rajapaksa and Hasaranga stepped in just in time and joined forces for a solid recovery with Rajapaksa completing his half-century and giving his team a fighting chance for the title.

The two teams that bit the dust at the very beginning of the tournament with contrasting defeats battled it out at the finals, giving the spectators their money’s worth. “It feels great, no doubt.

WATCH: #AsiaCup win will help T20 World Cup preparation | @dasunshanaka1 pic.twitter.com/4dSTCtZDXF
— Sri Lanka Cricket ?? (@OfficialSLC) September 12, 2022

The entire team gave it their best and we made it! We’re especially thankful to FairPlay News for being the exclusive national team sponsor, for believing in us and our team’s potential.” Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka said.

“We celebrate the spirit of sports. Nothing brings people together like an exciting match. It is the essence and sheer grit of a team that we associate ourselves with and the Dasun Shanaka-led Sri Lanka team’s victory is very much our own” said the director of FairPlay News.