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Registering her second successive victory, indias Ankita Raina advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s single tennis event of the 2018 Asian Games here on Tuesday.
In her pre-quarter match, Ankita outclassed Japan’s Eri Hozumi in straight sets — 6-1, 6-2.
The 25-year-old Indian will now meet Hong Kong’s Eudice Chong on Wednesday.
[IANS]
Paying glowing tributes to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that the late leader never compromised on his ideology and did not buckle under global pressure even after the nuclear tests in 1998.
Modi said that Vajpayee’s popularity was so immense that he remained alive in people’s memories despite being completely away from public life for the last 10 years.
Addressing a prayer meeting organised in the memory of Vajpayee, the Prime Minister noted that the late leader spent most of his political life at a time when there was virtually no alternative to the dominant political ideology.
“Despite facing isolation, he remained committed to his ideals. He stayed in opposition for so long, yet his ideals remained untouched,” Modi said.
He said that Vajpayee respected parliamentary traditions and when the opportunity came, he implemented his vision for the benefit of the people.
“In each moment, you could feel the ‘Atal’ in him,” the Prime Minister said.
Recalling how Vajpayee surprised the world through the nuclear tests in 1998 during his prime ministership, Modi said that despite global adverse reaction, Atalji did not buckle under pressure, and showed the world that “India is Atal”.
The Prime Minister said that three new states were formed under Vajpayee leadership, without any trace of bitterness.
“Vajpayeeji showed how to take everyone together in decision-making,” he said.
Shedding light on Vajpayee’s achievements as Prime Minister, Modi said that in a huge diplomatic victory, Vajpayee managed to turn around the international narrative on Kashmir — on which India used to be defensive till then — and bring the focus on to terrorism.
“Vajpayee successfully divided the world into two clear halves — those who were with terrorism and those against it,” he said.
The Prime Minister recalled that when Vajpayee first formed the government at the Centre in 1996, no one was willing to offer support and his government fell in 13 days.
“But Atalji did not lose hope and remained committed to serving the people. He showed the way when it came to coalition politics,” the Prime Minister said.
Pointing out that young Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia, who dedicated his gold medal at the ongoing Asian Games to the late leader, he said that Vajpayee will remain an inspiration to the coming generations.
“Nobody can imagine that a person can be alive in people’s memories despite being away from public life. But the immense respect and tributes pouring on his demise show that Atalji still rules the people’s hearts though he was completely away from public life for 10 long years,” Modi said.
Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not declaring floods in Kerala as national disaster, the Congress on Monday said he did not release enough central fund so as to use the money on self-promotion.
Congress Spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill told reporters that Modi did not believe in the spirit of cooperative federalism and was busy playing petty politics over the natural disaster, which had caused huge loss of life and property in Kerala.
“The relief the Prime Minister gave to Kerala is a classic case of ‘too little too late’. A state witnessing a disaster that cost over Rs 19,000 crore has got only paltry Rs 500 crore from Modi, who spent Rs 5,000 crore on self-promotion and publicity, Rs 35 crore on fitness videos, Rs 1,100 crore on BJP’s Delhi headquarters and Rs 2,000 crore on foreign travels,” Shergill said.
“The Prime Minister is not declaring Kerala floods as a national disaster simply to save central funds for later use on self-promotion. He is not showing large-heartedness towards Kerala because the national treasury will be affected.”
The Congress leader said that the people will realise the infair treatment to Kerala when funds released are compared with relief given to BJP-ruled states like Gujarat and Assam where damage caused by natural disasters was less compared with Kerala, Shergill said.
“Modi should explain to the nation about floods that have taken the lives of nearly 400 persons, displaced 3.5 lakh persons to 3,560 relief camps — if such a disaster does not warrant to be called a national disaster, what else is?” he said.
Most of the states in India have not conducted comprehensive state specific assessment of hazards, vulnerabilities and exposures of the changing dynamics and complexities of disasters,” highlights a risk assessment study undertaken by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs across 640 districts in the country.
The level of resilience to disaster is low and there is a need of ‘considerable improvement’, the report adds.
Even though India has one of the most advanced satellites and early warning systems which can forecast imminent hazards and bring down casualties, government’s emphasis on disaster risk reduction (DRR) and capacity building for disaster resilience seems to have remained on paper.
In the next ten years as many as 16,000 people may lose their lives to floods and property damage of Rs 47,000 crore is estimated by calculating the average loss of lives and property due to floods as predicted by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). Yet, NDMA is currently restricted to issuing guidelines and organizing seminars and meetings when emergency arises.
The study by Union Ministry of Home Affairs created a National Resilience Index based on performance of states and union territories on DRR measures adopted such as risk assessment, risk prevention and mitigation, disaster relief and rehabilitation. Except Himachal Pradesh, none of the states have carried out comprehensive risk assessment or engaged any professional agency to map hazards, vulnerabilities and exposures, the report stated.
“Around 10 years back, Gujarat had done comprehensive risk assessment but since then it has neither updated it not made it available in public domain for use of stakeholders,” the report added.
The pet dog of a 14-year-old girl attacked and bit one of the two men who allegedly raped her near Sagar in Madhya Pradesh, forcing them to flee, police said on Monday.
The incident took place on Friday night in Kareela village of Sagar district, a police officer said, adding the duo was later arrested.
On the night of the incident, the minor girl went out of her house to bring fodder to create smoke for keeping mosquitoes at bay, Motinagar police station in-charge Vipin Tamrakar said.
As she came out of the home, two people, identified as Aishu Ahirwar (39) and Punit Ahirwar (24), overpowered her and took her to a nearby deserted hut at a knife-point, where they allegedly raped her, he said.
The girl shouted for help and her pet dog reached the spot and bit Aishu Ahirwar on his leg. The accused attacked the dog with the knife but the dog continued to bark, Tamrakar said, quoting the victim.
The victim freed herself from the clutches of the accused and ran towards her home. After hearing the noise and the dog’s continuous barking, people from nearby homes rushed towards the hut, forcing the duo to run away, he added.
The victim’s family filed a complaint on Saturday following which the two were arrested on Sunday, he said.
The duo has been booked for rape and abduction under relevant sections of the IPC and also under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the police officer said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s National Democratic Alliance would be back in power, but barely so, if elections were held today, according to India Today’s Mood of the Nation July 2018 (MOTN July 2018) poll. The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance may not be able to fulfill its goal of ridding New Delhi of the Modi-Shah duo, but the coalition has much to cheer.
MOTN July 2018 shows the UPA getting a jump of as many as 20 seats in the seat-share forecast compared to MOTN January 2018. According to the biannual poll, the NDA would be just nine ahead of the Lok Sabha halfway mark with 281 seats.
The UPA would win 122 seats while other parties would pick up the remaining 140. In terms of the vote share, the NDA would win 36 per cent of votes polled while the UPA would win 31 per cent. This is a drop of four percentage points for the former and a rise of four percentage points for the Congress-led alliance.
The numbers above are based on the current political climate of the country — for the numbers to hold, Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) will need to continue to be a part of the NDA. The numbers will also change if the Janata Dal (Secular) suddenly were to quit the UPA or if the Telugu Desam Party and the J&K Peoples Democratic Party were to become part of any of the national alliances.
NEXT PM OF INDIA: Quite unexpectedly, considering the NDA’s strong showing in MOTN July 2018, Narendra Modi emerges as the clear favourite to be the next prime minister of India. His popularity is (49 per cent) followed by that of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi’s at 27 per cent. The race, it seems, is only between these two leaders as the third choice is Priyanka Gandhi at a distant 3 per cent. Rahul is also seen as the best alternative to PM Narendra Modi, who maintains his position as the best prime minister of India in the MOTN July 2018.
DEMONETISATION PAIN: One of the biggest policy decisions of the Narendra Modi government, the pain of the shock November 2016 demonetisation exercise hasn’t gone away for India, according to MOTN July 2018. Nearly three-fourths of the respondents said that demonestiation caused more pain than gain; the number (73 per cent) is the same as what it was in MOTN January 2018 but is a steep rise from last year’s MOTN (61 per cent).
RAHUL CAN REVIVE: Asked purely about the Congress, as many as 47 per cent of respondents said that they believe Rahul Gandhi can revive the Congress party. 46 per cent also believe that Rahul as prime minister is something that other leaders of a potential national grand alliance will be able to swallow.
BJP VS CONGRESS: One of the biggest takeaways from MOTN July 2018 poll is that the Bharatiya Janata Party cannot hope to maintain its Lok Sabha supremacy. While the party will remain the single-largest, according to the poll, it will not enjoy its current single-handed majority. The party would win 245 seats (it won 282 in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls), making it dependent on allies. The Congress, on the other hand, would nearly double its 2014 tally by winning 83 seats.
INDIA’S BIGGEST HEADACHE: Unemployment, price rise and corruption remain the three biggest issues of concern for Indians. In fact, all three are issues that seem to have become bigger concerns since the January MOTN poll. Unemployment is an issue of concern for 34 per cent, which is five percentage points more than the previous poll.
MAMATA IS THE BEST: Firebrand Bengal leader Mamata Banerjee has won the poll of the best chief ministers in MOTN July 2018. She is followed by Nitish Kumar and Arvind Kejriwal. Manohar Parrikar, Vijay Rupani, ML Khattar, Devendra Fadnavis and Amarinder Singh are among the chief ministers who have gotten a lowly two per cent popularity mark in the poll.
MODI, NDA DON’T DISAPPOINT: PM Narendra Modi continues to remain a popular prime minister. 55 per cent of respondents have voted favourably when asked about his performance. However, this is a drop of six percentage points compared to MOTN January 2018. A similar percentage of respondents (56 per cent) are satisfied by the NDA government’s performance.
JAITLEY FOR THE WIN: Among the ministers in the Narendra Modi cabinet, Arun Jaitley is seen as the best performing in the MOTN July 2018 poll. Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj follow close behind while Nitin Gadkari and Nirmala Sitharaman rank at fourth and fifth, respectively.
OPPOSITION UNITY FOR REAL: An overwhelming 49 per cent of the respondents in the MOTN July 2018 poll believe that the Opposition unity will hold and translate into a grand electoral alliance against the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. And, Rahul Gandhi is the best person to lead such an alliance, the MOTN poll shows. However, Mamata Banerjee and her TMC are the best suited to lead a non-BJP, non-Congress federal front.
The Karnataka government on Monday announced Rs 2.2 crore interim relief for 5,800 people rescued from flood-hit Kodagu district.
“The government has initiated steps to pay interim relief of Rs 3,800 per family to 5,800 distressed people in the relief camps,” Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy told reporters here.
The heavy rains, leading to flooding and landslips, have claimed 12 lives in the district while 4,320 have been rescued, he said.
As the intensity of rains reduced on Monday, the rescue operations reached the last phase, officials said.
“About 50,000 affected people will also be given groceries and essential commodities through mobile units,” Kumaraswamy added.
A total of 5,618 people have been sheltered at 41 relief camps in Kodagu and 340 in three camps in Dakshina Kannada district, which has also received heavy rains.
Cut off by landslides and damaged roads, the coffee-growing Kodagu district, located in the Western Ghats, has been the worst affected in the state due to southwest monsoon since June first week.
As per government’s estimates, 845 houses, 123 km of roads, 58 bridges, 278 state-owned buildings and 3,800 electric poles have been destroyed.
The district administration has been directed to distribute new uniform and text books to the students.
Schools have been asked to complete the syllabus through special classes to compensate for the loss of 20 days in the last three months due to rains.
Around 1,725 personnel from the Indian Army, Navy, Indian Air Force (IAF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), state police, National Cadet Corps (NCC), Home Guards and district officials were involved in the relief operations.
On a request from the state government, the IAF training command in Bengaluru rushed on August 17 one Mi-17 helicopter for rescue and relief operations.
“The chopper carried five sorties each on August 18, 19 to rescue the stranded people despite bad weather. After two attempts on August 18, the chopper reached the landslide affected area Mukkodlu and dropped relief material for the stranded people,” the Air Force said.
Union Minister Ananth Kumar rushed from Bengaluru a truck-load of generic medicines (Jan Aushadi) for diabetes care, blood pressure control, cardiac and kidney ailments to the affected people in the district, about 270 km from the state capital.
Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara also rushed four trucks of essential commodities and food items to the people in relief camps in Kodagu.
The Bengaluru civic corporation (BBMP) has donated Rs 2 crore to the flood victims in Kodagu and Rs 1 crore to people in Kerala, Parameshwara told reporters.
He said the entire police force would donate a day’s salary to the flood victims in Kodagu and Kerala.
“We are also arranging to rush pre-fabricated housing panels for the homeless in Kodagu district to shelter them,” Parameshwara said.
In addition, the state-run Karnataka State Road Transport Corp (KSRTC) has donated Rs 11.8 crore to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.
With the flood waters receding rapidly, the Cochin International Airport, one of the three in Kerala and the busiest, will open on August 26 – after 12 days of closure.
Airport authorities have been engaged in a massive cleaning operation of the operational area that was submerged by flood waters.
One side the compound wall of the airport came down after water from the swollen Periyar river and its tributaries, which received an unprecedented amount of water released by major dams, entered the complex, turning it into a virtual sea.
The airport was first closed on August 9, for a few hours, and then on August 15.
Consequent to the flooding, a Rs 60 crore solar power plant, billed as one of the biggest in an airport, was submerged.
The Cochin airport handled 10 million passengers in fiscal 2017-18.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that NOTA (None of the above) option cannot be allowed in the Rajya Sabha elections as it would “wholly undermine the purity of democracy”.
“The option of NOTA may serve as an elixir in direct elections but in respect of election to Council of States which is a different one, it would wholly undermine the purity of democracy and also serve as the Satan of defection and corruption,” said a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud.
Quashing a notification issued by the Election Commission introducing NOTA in Rajya Sabha elections, Chief Justice Misra speaking for the bench said: “The introduction of NOTA in indirect election may on the first glance tempt the intellect but on a keen scrutiny, it falls to the ground, for it completely ignores the role of an elector in such an election and fully destroys the democratic value.”
“The idea may look attractive but its practical applications defeat the fairness ingrained in an indirect election,” the court said.
“More so where the electors’ vote has value and the value of that vote is transferable… It is an abstraction which does not withstand the scrutiny of the ‘cosmos of correctness’,” it added quoting Justice Krishna Iyer.
The apex court said it has to be remembered that “democracy garners its strength from the citizenry trust which is sustained only on the foundational pillars of purity, integrity, probity and rectitude and such strongholds can be maintained only by ensuring the the process of election remains unsullied and unpolluted so that the citadel of democracy stand still as an impregnable bulwark against unscrupulous forces”.
A day after a woman was thrashed and paraded naked by a mob in Bihar’s Bihiya town in Bhojpur district, the police arrested 15 suspects, but denied that it was a case of mob lynching.
S.K. Singhal, Additional Director General (police headquarters), said 15 persons have been arrested on the basis of video footage of the incident.
“It was not a case of mob lynching at all. The police have been investigating it. None of the culprits would be spared,” Singhal said.
The ADG said the incident took place after the body of a youth was found on railway track in Bihiya town in Bhojpur district, about 90 km from Patna, on Monday.
“The cause of his death will be known after post-mortem,” Singhal said.
Bhojpur superintendent of police Avakash Kumar has suspended the police station officer on charge of negligence of duty.
The local police said soon after the body of 19-year-old Bimlesh, who had been reported missing, was found on the railway track, a mob from his village first staged a protest and then attacked a few people living in the adjoining red light area.
Some people blamed a woman for the death, police sources said.
They said the mob rushed to her house and dragged her to the street. She was beaten up and paraded naked, they said.
A police team that reached the spot hours later was attacked by the mob. The police had to open fire to save the woman. Later she was admitted to a local hospital, police sources said.