Archives for April 2018

Amid nationwide protests by Dalits after a Supreme Court order allegedly diluting the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes Atrocities Act, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday accused the opposition of dividing the country.

“They (opposition) are creating hurdles in the work of the government from the streets to Parliament. Today you have a government at the Centre which is working to unite the people of the country while the opposition is working to divide the people,” Modi told the National Convention of ‘Swachhagrahis’ here.

Eight persons were killed and dozens injured during Dalit protests on April 2 turned violent following a Supreme Court order that dilutes a law aimed at preventing atrocities against Dalits and Tribes.

Tuesday’s event was organised as part of the centenary celebrations of the Satyagraha led by Mahatma Gandhi in Champaran.

Hitting out at the former UPA government led by the Congress for delaying projects, the Prime Minister said his government was completing all its mission and commitments with the cooperation of the people.

Describing the Madhepura Electric Locomotive Factory as a prime example of Make in India and a source of employment in the region, he said work on the project was first approved in 2007 but it began only three years ago when the NDA government came into the power.

On Tuesday, the first engine rolled out of the factory.

“This is the style of working of this government. ‘Ab atkane, latkane and bhatkane wala kaam nahin hota’. Now the culture of stopping files is not there. The government is committed to fulfil all its mission,” he said.

He said the changes brought in the society through development works had created problems for the opposition and they were unable to accept this.

“They cannot see the poor getting empowered. They feel if the poor are strengthened, then they (opposition) will not be able to speak lies. They will not be able to fool them,” he said.

The Prime Minister showered praise on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for his patience and able administration in fighting corrupt and anti-social forces.

“It is not so easy,” he said, adding that the Centre extended its full support to the efforts of Nitish Kumar in fighting against corruption and his efforts towards sanitation drive for social change.

On the occasion, the Prime Minister launched several important development projects. He unveiled a plaque to mark the foundation stone of Motijheel Project, the Bettiah Nagar Parishad Water Supply Scheme and four Ganga Projects.

Modi laid the foundation stone for the doubling of railway lines between Muzaffarpur and Sagauli as well as between Sagauli and Valmikinagar.

He dedicated the first phase of the Madhepura Electric Locomotive Factory to the nation. Via video link, he flagged off the first 12,000 HP Freight Electric Locomotive, and the Champaran Humsafar Express.

The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone for a road lane of NH-2 in Aurangabad Bihar-Jharkhand border section and distributed awards to Champion Swachhagrahis from across the country.

Mahatma Gandhi launched the Champaran Satyagraha on April 10, 1917 against the British to fight for the rights of farmers who were forced to undertake indigo cultivation.

The government has amended Income Tax rules that will now allow transgenders to be recognised as an independent category of applicants for obtaining a Permanent Account Number (PAN) for their tax-related transactions.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes or CBDT, which frames policy for the department, issued a notification on Monday that provides a new tick box for the transgenders to apply for the PAN.
The notification, issued under sections 139A and 295 of the Income Tax Act, specifies the new application process for obtaining a PAN number by an individual.

Until now, only male and female gender categories were available to be chosen on the PAN application form.

A senior official said the notification amending the tax rules was brought out in view of some representations received by the CBDT in this context.

“Individuals from the transgender community were facing hassles in obtaining a PAN card and this problem was further magnified as Aadhaar had the third gender category but not PAN.

“Hence, the transgenders were not able to link their PAN with their Aadhaar due to this anomaly,” the official said.

The amendment will now be reflected in Form 49A (PAN application form for Indian citizens) and 49AA (PAN application form for individuals not a citizen of India), the official added.

PAN is a 10-digit unique alphanumeric number allotted by the Income Tax department to individuals and entities.

The government has now made quoting of Aadhaar mandatory for filing income tax returns as well as obtaining a new PAN.

Section 139 AA (2) of the Income Tax Act says that every person having PAN as on July 1, 2017, and eligible to obtain Aadhaar, must intimate his Aadhaar number to the tax authorities.

As per updated data till March 5, over 16.65 crore PANs, out of the total about 33 crore, have been linked with Aadhaar. The deadline to link these two has been extended recently till June 30 by the CBDT.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday filed a complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI) charging that the officers in the state were targeting on the BJP leaders and workers on the guise of election code of conduct. Union pastor Prakash Javadekar, the BJP’s in-charge for Karnataka elections, met the election official and lodged the complaint.

Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers Ananth Kumar, P Muralidhar Rao- BJP’s incharge for Karnataka polls, former deputy chief minister R Ashoka and MP P C Mohan were a also part of the delegation led by Prakash Javadekar.

As per the BJP, the officers in the state evacuated party flags that had Om image tied on houses of party workers harming religious sentiments

The BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa on Tuesday charged that the state government is dead.
During a visit to a paddy field in Vidyanagar he said “The government is dead. Shouldn’t something be said about government officers? Are they dead, as well?”

“There is no water for the paddy crop because of bungle of water by authorities at the Tungabhadra reservoir. Farmers have suffered a loss of Rs 500 crore,” he said.
Yedyurappa also had interaction with farmers at Chennabasava Kalyan Mantap. He promised to secure farmer’s interests if the BJP was voted to power.

Social media is a wonderful place. It gives you the power to say whatever you want to say without confronting the concerned person directly.

But, ever since ruling parties and Opposition parties have started indulging in trolling, it has become an entertaining place for the internet spectators. Instead of giving out memos, parties are trolling each other with memes.

Congress, especially, shows no mercy towards its opponents on social media at all. From trolling the Prime Minister by calling him a Santa Claus to showcasing the list of Opposition parties’ corrupt MLAs, INC has done it all.
This time Congress went on and shared a video mocking Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath by revealing his browser history on their official twitter handle.

By claiming that they are revealing Yogi Adityanath’s secret strategy, Congress talked about his browsing history. Some of the searches included “How to make hate speeches”, “How to bring bad governance” (citing Gorakhpur’s example), “How to ensure social disharmony” and “how to be an absentee CM”.

Quoting various video clips from news channels along with examples, the video talked about Kasganj violence, Gorakhpur deaths, and Yogi’s public speeches.

The last search showed him searching “How to make Yogi PM in 2019” as well.

The life remained by and large normal in Uttar Pradesh today despite a country-wide shut down called by some groups against the caste-based reservations in jobs and education.

The official sources said there was no report of any untoward incident from anywhere in the state till around noon during the ongoing ‘Bharat Bandh.’

The life in state capital Lucknow remained normal with traders opening their shops and vehicles plying on the roads.

The government and private offices and schools too functioned without any hinderance. The Centre had yesterday advised all states to beef up security and prevent any violence during the Bharat Bandh.

In its advisory, the Ministry of Home Affairs had said the districts magistrates and superintendent of police would be held personally responsible for any violence in their area.

Today’s anti-quota protest came a week after a nationwide protest by Dalit groups against “dilution” of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by the Supreme Court, entailing massive violence in different parts of the country and leading to the death of nine people.

The Union Home Ministry has asked states to intensify patrolling in all sensitive localities to ensure that no loss of life or damage to property occurs during the shut down today.