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Modi launches ‘Swachhata Hi Seva’ movement, says more cleanliness achieved in 4 years than in previous 65

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched “Swachhata Hi Seva” (cleanliness is service) movement by interacting with common people and personalities from diverse fields through video conferencing at 17 locations and said the country has achieved more in sanitation coverage in the last four years than that in the last 60-65 years.

The interaction, stretching about two hours, included with industrialist Ratan Tata, actor Amitabh Bachchan, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and spiritual leaders Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, Maa Amritanandamayee, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Dadi Janki, besides devotees from Ajmer Sharif dargah and Patna Sahib Gurudwara.

Modi performed “shramdaan” (manual labour) at Babasaheb Ambedkar Higher Secondary School in Delhi after his video interaction. An official release said the Prime Minister drove to the school and back in normal traffic without customary protocol and no special traffic arrangements were made for his visit.

The Swachhata Hi Seva movement aims at boosting public participation in the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and is being organised in the run-up to the fourth anniversary of the Swachh Bharat Mission on October 2 next month, which will also mark the commencement of the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi.

In his remarks during video conferencing, Modi said cleanliness coverage was 40 per cent in 2014 and it now has grown to over 90 per cent on account of people’s efforts.

“Who could have thought that we will progress so much in cleanliness coverage in the last four years that could not be achieved in the last 60-65 years. Could anybody have thought that nine crore toilets will be built in the country in four years? Had anybody imagined that about 4.5 lakh villages, over 450 districts and 20 states and Union Territories will become open-defecation-free (ODF) in four years?” he said.

Modi said the day marks a new resolve, new enthusiasm and a new dream. “Today 1.25 crore citizens are going to repeat the pledge of cleanliness is service. From today till October 2, we all will contribute with new energy and enthusiasm to make the country clean,” he said.

“We can say with pride that every section, every community, every caste, people of every age are taking this big campaign forward. Whether it is village, city, street or a corner, no part of the country is untouched by the campaign,” he added.

Modi said that toilets can be provided and efforts made for proper waste management, but cleanliness is a habit which has to be included in daily experience. “This a yagna for change in behaviour in which all of you are taking part.”

He said the name of “swachhagrahis” (cleanliness workers) will be written in golden letters when history of this movement is written.

“The way the freedom fighters and martyrs are viewed with respect, your contribution will also be remembered with the same respect as a true inheritor of revered Bapu’s legacy, because you have become a soldier in efforts to rebuild the country, save lives of the poor and restoring the country’s image in the world.

“There is immense power in 125 crore citizens, our enthusiasm is on the rise and our pledge is to achieve success,” he said.

The Prime Minister interacted with school children from Dibrugarh in Assam, members of milk and agriculture cooperatives assembled in Mehsana, personnel of ITBP from the high-altitude Pangong Lake in Ladakh, women swachhagrahis from Dantewada in Chhattisgarh and Salem in Tamil Nadu, citizens from Rajgarh in Madhya Pradesh and Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh, volunteers engaged in cleaning the Ganga from Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh and railway employees from Rewari in Haryana.

Yogi Adityanath, who was in Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh, said during the video interaction that the state would become ODF by October 2, 2019, and his government had constructed over 1.36 crore toilets in the last 17 months.

He said cleanliness was a distant dream for 99,000 villages of the state four years ago and only about 25 lakh toilets were built in the state by the previous Samajwadi Party government in about two-and-a-half years since the launch of the “Clean India” campaign on October 2, 2014.

Amitabh Bachchan said he found TV to be an “effective way to spread the message of cleanliness” and people should focus on ensuring their immediate surroundings are clean.

Ratan Tata said sanitation and cleanliness are important factors in ensuring good health of people.

“To be a strong India, the foundation has to be strong and that foundation is the health of our people. We can reduce and eliminate several diseases if we support the Swachh Bharat movement,” he said.

(IANS)

US Warns the World Against Going to Business With Iran, But May Squeeze India Into Waiver List

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The United States has warned of having a “fundamentally different set of rules” to deal with the countries continuing to have economic activities with Iran after its sanction against Tehran becomes fully operational on November 4.

Make no mistake about it, come November 4 (and) there will be a fundamentally different set of rules with respect to anyone who deems it necessary to engage in economic activities with the Islamic Republic of Iran, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters at a news conference here Friday.

In the absence of any waiver or concession from the Trump Administration, it could have major implications for India, which is one of the biggest importers of Iranian oil and is currently developing the strategic Chabahar port.

Officials of the two countries are having an ongoing discussion on both the issues. This includes the meeting between the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo with the National Security Advisor Ajit Doval at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department. The meeting took place immediately after Pompeo’s press conference.

“There are still a number of decisions pending before the November 4 deadline that we’ve got to make about waivers or potential waivers, and we’re working our way through each of them, Pompeo said.

India is one of the countries which is likely to get some waiver, given the strategic nature of Indo-US ties, the strategic importance of the Chabahar port and its burgeoning energy needs.

India, on its part has already started reducing its oil intake from Iran, but is unlikely to bring it down to zero.

You can see many countries already taking actions to move out of Iran, to discontinue doing business with them in advance of the November 4 deadline, Pompeo said in response to a question, adding these countries understand the seriousness of the US sanctions.

Pompeo said they also appreciate that trading with Iran is “supporting the exact kinds of malign activity that President Donald Trump has been talking about since the first day he took office.”

The various “malign activities” that the US Secretary of State listed included alleged supply of missiles by Iran to Houthis to launch into Gulf countries airports.

These activities further included “the activities we have seen taken by Shia militias against American interests or the assassination efforts underway in the heart of Europe,” said Pompeo.

The world is beginning to see that the challenge is much bigger than anything that the JCPOA even pretended to have addressed, he said.

Pompeo said he has also seen the statements “the Iranians have said this week.”

They’ve said, boy, if we end up withdrawing, we’ll start from a much higher level. I may have the quote off just a little bit but I’m very close. Wow, what does that say about the existence of the agreement, right?

“They’re going to start from a much higher level. It tells you that the agreement itself didn’t stop all the paths to nuclear weapons in the way that it was sold to the American people,” he said.

During the news conference, Pompeo slammed the former Secretary of State John Kerry for having talks with the Iranian leadership.

What Secretary Kerry has done is unseemly and unprecedented. This is a former secretary of state engaged with the world’s largest state sponsor of terror. He was talking to them. He was telling them to wait out this administration, Pompeo said.

You can’t find precedent for this in US history, and Secretary Kerry ought not to engage in that kind of behavior. It’s inconsistent with what foreign policy of the United States is, as directed by this President, and it is beyond inappropriate for him to be engaged in this, he said.

I wasn’t in the meeting, but I am reasonably confident that he was not there in support of the US policy with respect to the Islamic Republic of Iran, who this week fired Katyusha rockets toward the United States embassy in Baghdad and took action against our consulate in Basra, Pompeo said.

 

BJP MLA breaks down over ‘discrimination’ by DCM G Parameshwara

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Turuvekere BJP MLA Masale Jayaram on Friday accused Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara of discriminating against his constituency by not ensuring the release of Hemavathy river waters. A video of him breaking down before the electronic media went viral on social media.

The MLA who had been on an indefinite dharna at the Hemavathy canal at Adavanahalli alleged that as he is BJP legislator, Parameshwara has been deliberately ignoring the constituency.

Besides, he also alleged that Parameshwara has also been favouring Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar’s relative Dr Ranganath, the Congress MLA from Kunigal, as the water has been flowing to Kunigal. “Out of 10 taluks, nine are declared drought-hit, except for Turuvekere”, he said when contacted over the phone. Though Hemavathi Project chief engineer Ramakrishna visited him and promised that the water will be released in a couple of weeks, the MLA continued his dharna along with hundreds of his supporters overnight.

(PTI)

Petrol reaches Rs 89.01 per litre in Mumbai, Diesel at Rs 78.07 per litre

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In New Delhi, petrol is being sold 35 paise higher at Rs 81.63 per litre, while the price of diesel has been hiked by 24 paise to Rs 73.54 per litre.

Fuel prices have yet again witnessed a hike on Saturday, with petrol and diesel breaching earlier figures to touch new record highs.

In New Delhi, petrol is being sold 35 paise higher at Rs 81.63 per litre, while the price of diesel has been hiked by 24 paise to Rs 73.54 per litre.

Mumbai continues to be the worst affected by rising fuel prices, with petrol retailing at a staggering Rs 89.01 per litre and diesel at Rs 78.07 per litre.

The union government has been facing flak in the past few weeks for not implementing stringent measures to curb prices.

Earlier this week, the Congress Party and 21 other regional and national parties observed a ‘Bharat Bandh’ on account of the consistent rise in fuel prices and urged the government to take necessary steps to reduce citizens’ woes.

However, the Centre has maintained that external factors, including a rise in international crude oil prices, are influencing domestic fuel prices.

(PTI)

No alliance with TRS in Telangana: BJP chief

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Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah on Saturday ruled out any alliance with the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) for the coming Assembly polls in the state and said the TRS owed an explanation to the people for imposing additional expenditure by going for early elections.

Replying to a query at a press conference Shah, who was here to launch the party’s election campaign, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s praise of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao during his speech in Parliament was in a different context and it cannot be interpreted as an understanding between the two parties.

He denied reports that the BJP was hand-in-glove with the TRS and alleged that it was the TRS and Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) which were engaged in “shadow boxing”.

The BJP chief wanted to know why the TRS imposed early polls on the state when the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections are slated to be held nine months later.

Shah said Rao had initially supported Modi’s idea of “one nation one election” but he was surprised when he suddenly changed his stand.

“Rao and TRS have forced a small state to bear expenditure of two elections. BJP believes that TRS has put an additional burden of crores of rupees on people to further its political interests,” said the BJP chief.

Shah said that the BJP was ready to give a tough fight to both the TRS and the opposition Congress in every constituency. He was confident that the BJP will emerge as a strong and decisive force in the state.

Shah said there was no chance of the TRS getting a fresh mandate.

“If the TRS government comes back to power, it will continue its politics of appeasement,” he said slamming it for passing a resolution to provide 12 per cent reservation to Muslims and sending it to the Centre for its approval.

Claiming that the Modi government provided Rs.2.3 lakh crore to Telangana during the last four years against the Rs 15,000 crore given during the Congress rule, Shah said the BJP showed no discrimination towards any state but was opposed to the politics of appeasement.

(IANS)

2 More Arrested In Delhi Cop’s Son Case In Which A Woman Was Thrashed

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Two persons have been arrested in connection with the incident of a Delhi policeman’s son allegedly brutally thrashing a woman, a video of which has gone viral, police said Saturday.
The accused were identified as Ali Hasan (24) and Rajesh (30), they said.

Police said Mr Hasan is the owner of a call centre at Hastsal road, where the viral video was allegedly shot and the other accused, Rajesh, works as a peon at the same call centre.

The main accused, Rohit Tomar, 21, was arrested Friday after Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted that the video has come to his notice and he has directed Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik to take necessary action in the matter.

The cases against the main accused – one of criminal intimidation and molestation and the other of rape – were registered based on the version of two women, police said.

The first case was registered on Thursday at the Tilak Nagar police station in West Delhi following a complaint by Tomar’s woman friend alleging that he showed her a video in which he could be seen thrashing a woman, Deputy Commission of Police (DCP West) Monika Bhardwaj had said.

Rohit Tomar allegedly threatened her with the same kind of treatment if she did not follow his instructions.

The second case was registered at the Uttam Nagar police station after another woman, who was seen in the video, approached the police on Friday alleging that on September 2, Rohit had called her to his friend’s office in Uttam Nagar and raped her.

He will be arrested on production warrant from court for further investigation in the case in Uttam Nagar, a senior officer said.

In the video, Rohit is seen thrashing the woman when she threatened to file a police complaint against him. Apart from Tomar, one person is seen roaming around while another one filmed the incident.

The person filming it could be heard asking Rohit to stop beating the woman. But Rohit continued thrashing the woman and abusing her.

The woman, seen in the video shared widely on social media and shown on TV channels, told the police that Rohit called her to his friend’s office in Uttam Nagar and raped her, Anto Alphonse, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka), said Friday.

Rohit is the son of Ashok Kumar Tomar, an assistant sub-inspector with the Delhi Police in the central district. The accused was employed with a call centre till last month and is currently unemployed. He is a second year student of Delhi University, where he is pursuing BA (programme) through correspondence.

(PTI)

Social media addiction harming IAF pilots, says Air Chief

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Addiction to social media affects the Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots, as they are being deprived of adequate sleep for flying duty, said Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshall B.S. Dhanoa on Friday.

“Much dependence on social media is taking away interpersonal and communication skills of our pilots. Earlier, if a pilot had too many drinks, the bar man would know. If he did not notice, others would know and the affected pilot would be laid off flying for the day. We need a system that can tell us if a pilot has been sleep deprived,” Dhanoa said at a conference here.

Inaugurating the 57th annual conference of the Indian Society of Aerospace Medicine here, Dhanoa told the Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM) to develop a method to ascertain if a pilot was deprived of mandatory sleep.

“Getting hooked to social media like Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for long hours in the night was making pilots sleep late and less than required for flying. The IAM should find a method to de-addict the pilots of social media,” reiterated Dhanoa.

As flight briefings are held very early in the day (around 6:00 a.m.) when the ambient temperature is above 40 degree Celsius, the pilots have to sleep early overnight and rest enough to be fresh and alert for flying sorties.

“We need to have more filters and mechanisms developed to deal with the excessive usage of social media, leading to anxiety and health issues,” added Dhanoa.

“I request doctors to find a quick solution for the problem,” he noted.

On the role of IAF in selecting and training astronauts for the manned mission in 2021-22 under the human space programme, the Air Chief said the IAM would be involved in their selection of astronauts and their health.

“Aerospace medicine specialist is the best friend of the air crew in the field,” added the Air Chief.

Addressing the nation on the Independence Day (August 15) from the Red Fort in Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had directed the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to put Indians in the space orbit around the earth in the next 4 years.

(IANS)

President to visit Belagavi in Karnataka on Saturday

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President Ram Nath Kovind is visiting Karnataka on Saturday to participate in the platinum jubilee celebrations of Karnataka Law Society (KLS) at Belagavi in the state’s northwest region, an official said on Friday.

“The President will herald the 80th year-long platinum jubilee celebrations of the KLS and inaugurate the Gogate Institute of Technology campus at Belagavi on the occasion,” the official told IANS here.

Belagavi is about 500 km from the southern state’s capital Bengaluru.

Kovind will also new campus of Raja Lakhmagouda Law College in the city on the occasion.

“The President will address the students, faculty and the gathering at both the events,” added the official.

Besides, Kovind, Chief Justice of India Deepak Mishra, Karnataka Governor Vajubhai R. Vala and Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy will participate in the events among others.

Attorney-General K.K. Venugopal, an alumnus of the law college, will also be present.

Belagavi Deputy Commissioner S. Ziyaullah reviewed the security arrangements and protocol to be maintained during the President’s visit to the city.

Set up in 1939, the 79-year-old Society runs a number of educational institutions, including schools, under-graduate and post-graduate colleges in arts, science, commerce, law, engineering and medicine.

The celebrations will include lecture series and cultural programmes.

(IANS)

India will fly its first small rocket next year: ISRO Chairman

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The Indian space agency expects to fly its first small rocket with a carrying capacity of about 500-700 kg sometime next year, according to a top official.

“The developmental work for our small rocket that can carry satellites weighing around 500 kg is on. The first flight of the small rocket is expected to happen sometime next year,” ISRO Chairman, K.Sivan told IANS.

He said the small rocket will be launched from the existing rocketport at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

In a recent interaction with IANS in Bengaluru, S.Rakesh, Chairman-cum- Managing Director, Antrix Corporation said the low-cost small rocket requires a dedicated launch pad with a simple vertical launch mechanism.

“Though SSLV will be initially launched from our rocketport at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, we want to have a separate spaceport for it later,” Rakesh had said.

Queried about Rakesh’s views on the separate spaceport Sivan said initially the small rocket will be flown from Sriharikota. Antrix may have its own plans for the future.

Incidentally, Antrix is calling Indian nationals to apply for the post of `Head, Manufacturing & Marketing of Space Systems’. The job description being: “Preplanning activities of new Space Transport Systems which Antrix is envisaging to put into production. Establishment of production facilities in co-ordination with ISRO and Industries for Technology Transfer and production of the System.”

Sivan also said the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is evaluating the various proposals it has received for its lithium-ion battery technology and is expected to complete the process in a month’s time.

“In a month or so the first level of screen of the proposals will be over,” Sivan said.

Over 130 companies had shown interest in the Indian space agency’s lithium-ion cell technology.

In June this year, ISRO had announced its decision to transfer this technology to the Indian industry on a non-exclusive basis for usage in automobiles for Rs 1 crore.

The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre located in Kerala, will transfer the technology to the successful Indian industries or start-ups on a non-exclusive basis to establish production facilities in the country that can produce cells of varying sizes, capacities, energy densities and power densities catering to the entire spectrum of power storage requirements, ISRO had said.

At present, the lithium ion battery is the most dominant battery system finding applications for a variety of societal needs including mobile phones, laptops, cameras and many other portable consumer gadgets apart from industrial applications and aerospace.

Recent advances in the battery technology have made it the preferred power source for electric and hybrid electric vehicles also.

IAAF confers Gold Label to Tata Mumbai Marathon

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 The Tata Mumbai Marathon on Saturday joined an elite list of marathons in Asia, after its 16th edition was accorded the Gold label by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), making it the only Gold label marathon in the country.

Promoted by Procam International, Tata Mumbai Marathon is one of the top 10 marathons in the world and with this Gold label, the event has firmly cemented its position as one of the preferred events world-wide.

The $405,000 event will witness in action over 46,000 participants running across six race categories on January 20, 2019.

Speaking on the development, Vivek Singh, Joint MD, Procam International, said, “We are honoured to receive the IAAF Gold Label for the Tata Mumbai marathon. This achievement is symbolic of the collective efforts of a team that works tirelessly for months to ensure a race day that we all look forward to.”

Calling it a “phenomenal accolade” for the Tata Mumbai marathon, Athletics Federation of India (AFI) President Adille Sumariwala said: “With this added feather in its cap, the Tata Mumbai marathon joins an illustrious list of gold label marathons in Asia.”

“We are all witnessing the revolution that is taking place in sports in India, especially in track and field, on the international stage; and events such as these have had a huge impact in building the sporting fabric of our country,” he added.

The IAAF Gold label is granted to races on the basis of stringent criteria including organizational excellence, world class elite filed representation, prize money for male and female runners, exhaustive medical support system, live television coverage for an enhanced reach of the race, media facilities, timing and qualified personnel to ensure smooth conduct of the event across departments.

In addition, it also considers the course measurements, sanitation of the route which includes – safety and quality of the route, restrictions on traffic to allow free movement for runners within the specified time, facilities provided on course for a pleasant running experience for all participants.

 

(IANS)

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