Thane (Maharashtra) [India], March 2 (ANI): Maharashtra Police on Tuesday arrested a ward boy at Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) COVID-19 Centre in Thane for allegedly molesting a woman patient on February 28.
Police in an official statement said that a case has been registered against the ward boy at Bazarpeth Police Station in Kalyan.
“In a shocking incident, a female COVID-19 positive patient had arrived at KDMC Covid Centre in Kalyan to admit herself for treatment. Here, she alleges, that a ward boy molested her while she awaited treatment. After filing a complaint, now an FIR has been registered and the accused arrested,” the statement said.
It added that the victim informed her husband about the incident via a telephone call and cried out for help, following which the ward boy fled the scene.
“Further investigation in the case is underway,” police added. (ANI)

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], March 2 (ANI): After the Central government’s nod for an international airport in Ayodhya, the construction work for the project is on full swing and air services are expected to start early next year, according to a state government official.
This comes ahead of the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
On November 9, 2019, a five-judge of the Supreme Court bench led by then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi ruled in favour of Ram Lalla and said that the entire disputed land spread over 2.7 acres will be handed over to a trust formed by the government, which will monitor the construction of a Ram Temple at the site.
In February 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the constitution of Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra, to oversee the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
On August 5, 2020, PM Modi performed the Bhoomi puja for the construction of the Ram Temple.
Recently, the Central government has disbursed Rs 250 Crore and the State government has also allocated a sum of Rs 1000 Crore for the construction of an international airport in Ayodhya.
The state government has approved a total amount of Rs 1001 crore 77 lakh to purchase 555.66 acres of land for Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s dream project Maryada Purushottam Shri Ram Airport in Ayodhya.
Apart from this, a separate provision of 100 million rupees has been made for Ayodhya Airport in the next financial year 2020-21. So far, an amount of 9,47.91 crore has been released by the state government to purchase the land. 377 acres of land has also been made available to the Airport Authority of India (AAI) for the development of the airport so far.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath started planning a strategy for the all-round development of Ayodhya after coming to power. He instructed to work out an action plan for the international level air connectivity of Ayodhya, including the airport, and other necessary facilities.
The central government also selected the Ayodhya airstrip on October 4, 2018 for the Ayodhya-Hindon air route under the Regional Connectivity Scheme of the Government of India.
On November 6, 2018, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minster had announced the development of an airstrip at Ayodhya for large aircrafts such as A 320 and B 737, construction of suitable runway and terminal building. Later, in order to develop an international airport in Ayodhya, the Chief Minister modifying his earlier announcement ordered to develop the airport for Code-E B777-300 type aircrafts.
An MoU was signed on February 24, 2014 between the state government and the Airport Authority of India (AAI) for the operation of civilian air services from the state airstrip in Ayodhya.
At that time there was Congress at the centre and Samajawadi Party government in the state and the entire area of the runway was 177 acres and the runway size (length and width) was 1500 meters X 45 meters, but the project remained unimplemented. (ANI)

Karnal (Haryana) [India], March 2 (ANI): A total of 54 students of a school hostel tested positive for Covid-19 here on Tuesday following which the classes and other academic activities in the school were suspended, informed an official.
Yogesh Kumar Sharma, Civil Surgeon, Karnal told ANI, “54 students of a school hostel have tested positive for COVID-19 in Karnal, Haryana. Our medical teams have reached the spot and the hostel is being marked as a containment zone.”
In February, the Haryana government had decided to reopen schools in the state for students of classes 1 and 2 from March 1.
Schools in Haryana also resumed for the students of classes 3 to 5 from February 24.
Meanwhile, India reported 12,286 new cases in the last 24 hours.
India’s total active caseload stands at 1.68 lakh (1,68,358) today. The country’s present active caseload now consists of 1.51 per cent of India’s total positive cases. (ANI)

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 2 (ANI): Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (RJIL) on Tuesday announced the successful acquisition of the right to use spectrum in all 22 circles across India in the recently concluded spectrum auctions conducted by Department of Telecommunications, Government of India.
Through this acquisition, RJIL’s total owned spectrum footprint has increased significantly, by 55 per cent, to 1,717 MHz (uplink+ downlink).
In a release, RJIL said it has a balanced spectrum for LTE services and future upgradation to 5G.
“RJIL has the highest amount of sub-GHz spectrum with 2X10 MHz contiguous spectrum in most circles. It also has at least 2X10 MHz in 1800 MHz band and 40 MHz in 2300 MHz band in each of the 22 circles. RJIL has achieved complete spectrum derisking, with average life of owned spectrum of 15.5 years,”the release said.
According the RJIL, it has aquired the spectrum in the “most cost efficient manner” with an effective cost of Rs 60.8 crore per MHz.
“With the enhanced spectrum footprint, especially contiguous spectrum, and pan-India infrastructure deployed, RJIL has enhanced network capacity to service its existing users as well as hundreds of millions of more subscribers on its network,” the company said.
Notably, the acquired spectrum can be utilised for transition to 5G services at the appropriate time, where Jio has developed its own 5G stack.
Talking about the aquisation, the Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh D Ambani, said, “Jio has revolutionised the digital landscape of India with the country becoming the fastest adopter of Digital Life. We want to ensure that we keep on enhancing experiences, not only for our existing customers, but also for the next 300 million users that will move to digital services. With our increased spectrum footprint, we are ready to further expand the digital footprint in India as well as get ourselves ready for the imminent 5G rollout.”
To use this technology agnostic spectrum for a period of 20 years, RJIL will have to make the total payment of Rs 57,123 crore. Out of the total payment, for the frequency band 800 MHz, upfront payment would be Rs 8,623 crore, and deferred payment will Rs 25,868 crore.
For 1800 MHz frequency band upfront payment would be Rs 6,231 crore, and deferred payment will Rs 6,231 crore, and for 2300 MHz frequency band upfront payment would be Rs 5,085 crore, and deferred payment will Rs 5,085 crore.
The company said that as per terms of the spectrum auction, the deferred payments have to be made over a period of 18 years (2 year moratorium plus 16 year repayment period), with interest computed at 7.3 per cent per annum. (ANI)

New Delhi [India], March 2 (ANI): After Bharatiya Janata Party’s sweeping victory in the Gujarat local body polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said Gujarat is firmly with the BJP’s agenda of development and good governance.
In a series of tweets, the Prime Minister said he admires the pro-people administration of the Gujarat government and the tremendous efforts of the Gujarat BJP workers.
“Results of the Nagar Palika, Taluka Panchayat and District Panchayat polls across Gujarat give a crystal clear message- Gujarat is firmly with the BJP’s agenda of development and good governance. I bow to the people of Gujarat for the unwavering faith and affection towards BJP,” PM Modi tweeted.
“Urban and rural Gujarat has given a unanimous message. I admire the pro-people administration of the Gujarat government and the tremendous efforts of the Gujarat BJP workers. Our party will always work for the development of Gujarat and the empowerment of every Gujarati,” he said in another tweet.
BJP won 1,967 seats, Congress baged 356 seats, and AAP won nine seats, as results were declared for nagar palika elections in Gujarat today.
Out of 980 seats in 31 district panchayats, BJP registered victory on 735 panchayats seats, Congress on 157, and AAP on two seats.
Polling in 31 district panchayats, 231 taluka panchayats and 81 municipalities of Gujarat and by-elections of 23 municipalities and three taluka panchayats were held on Sunday.
The average turnout in taluka panchayats was 66.84 per cent.
Out of 4,715 seats in 231 taluka panchayats in 2015, Congress got 2555, BJP got 2019 and 141 others.
In 2015, due to the Patidar movement, the BJP’s tally was hit. In 4,715 seats of 231 taluka panchayats, 111 seats of BJP, five seats of Congress and one seat of others have been declared uncontested. (ANI)

Tezpur (Assam) [India], March 2 (ANI): The poll campaign of Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Assam revolved around tea on Tuesday.
Vadra took a jab at the rival camp stating that the big leaders, who started having “green tea from China and Japan” need to be offered “strong tea from Assam”.
Addressing a rally in Tezpur, Vadra said, “Big leaders here fly on chartered planes and nowadays they are having green tea from China and Japan. I feel they should be offered ‘kadak’ strong tea from Assam. They have to be shown their place.”
She further promised that if Congress is voted to power in the state, it will provide a hike in the daily wage of tea workers to Rs 365.
“We will provide Rs 2,000 per month to all housewives as ‘grihini samman’. The woman working in tea gardens will be provided Rs 365 per day. 200 units of electricity will be given free of cost every month. We will create 5 lakh new government jobs. These are not promises but guarantees,” stated Vadra.
Before the event, she had lunch at the residence of a local tea garden worker in Tezpur.
Earlier today, the Congress general secretary, who is on a two-day visit to the poll-bound state spent some time with tea estate workers at Sadhuru tea garden in Biswanath district.
Dressed in a saree and balancing a basket on her back, the 49-year-old was seen plucking tea leaves.

“The life of tea garden workers is full of truth and simplicity and their labour is valuable for the country. After sitting with them today, I understood their work, felt well being of their families and the difficulties of their life,” Vadra tweeted along with pictures of herself interacting with tea workers.
“I will not forget the love I received from them,” she added. The Congress leader further had a tea session with the women tea garden workers and discussed their issues.
Vadra also joined the ‘Jhumur’ dance performers from tea tribes in Lakhimpur.
Assam assembly elections will be held in three phases. In the first phase, 47 seats in 12 districts will go to the polls on March 27. In the second phase, 39 constituencies in 13 districts will go to the polls on April 1 while 40 assembly constituencies in 12 districts to go on polls on April 6. Counting of votes will take place on May 2. (ANI)