Archives for August 2019

Varthaman, who became the face of a tense military confrontation between India and Pakistan, is set to fly MiG-21 within a few weeks as a medical board cleared his return to fighter cockpit.

NEW DELHI: Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who spent some days in Pakistani custody when his MiG-21 was shot down in a dogfight with PAF jets a day after the February 26 Balakot airstrike, will be conferred the Vir Chakra on Independence Day, sources said Wednesday.

The 36-year-old IAF pilot had suffered injuries while ejecting from his MiG-21 Bison during the aerial combat between Indian and Pakistani air forces on February 27.

Varthaman, who became the face of a tense military confrontation between India and Pakistan, is set to fly MiG-21 within a few weeks as a medical board cleared his return to fighter cockpit.

Official sources said IAF’s Bangaluru-based Institute of Aerospace Medicine has given the go-ahead to Varthaman to fly again following a thorough medical evaluation.

Varthaman was captured by the Pakistani Army on February 27 after his MiG-21 Bison jet was shot down in a dogfight with Pakistani jets during aerial combat.

Before his jet was hit, he downed an F-16 fighter of Pakistan.

Varthaman was released on the night of March 1 by Pakistan.

Days after he returned from Pakistan, Varthaman conveyed to IAF brass his wish to return to fighter cockpit at the earliest.

IAF fighter jets bombed a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp in Balakot, deep inside Pakistan on February 26, nearly two weeks after the Pulwama strike.

Pakistan retaliated on February 27 by attempting to target Indian military installations.

According to the official, the pilot detected an error while the aircraft was taxiing, after which the pilot aborted takeoff.

NAGPUR: A New Delhi-bound IndiGo flight carrying Union minister Nitin Gadkari and 158 other passengers failed to take off from Nagpur airport in Maharashtra on Tuesday morning due to a “technical fault”, an official said.

Another attempt made sometime later by the flight’s pilot to take off also failed, he said.

The IndiGo flight 6E-636 was supposed to take off from Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport here at 7.50 am and reach Delhi at 9.35 am.

“It did not take off due to a technical fault,” the airport’s senior director Vijay Mulekar said.

“Subsequently, around 10.30 am, the flight made a second attempt to take off but was pushed back again due to the technical snag. There were 159 passengers on board,” he added.

Gadkari’s office here confirmed that the senior BJP leader, who is a Lok Sabha member from Nagpur constituency, was onboard the flight when it returned from the runway.

No loss of life or damage to property was reported, regional disaster management cell chief Santosh Kadam said.

PALGHAR: An earthquake of magnitude 3.2 shook parts of Palghar district in Maharashtra on Tuesday morning, an official said.

No loss of life or damage to property was reported, regional disaster management cell chief Santosh Kadam said.

The quake, having its epicentre at a depth of 10 km in Dundalwadi village of Dahanu taluka, was felt around 5.38 am, he said.

The district’s Dahanu area has been experiencing such tremors since November last year, with most of them centred around Dundalwadi village.

The scheme seeks to cover 50 crore beneficiaries in the country, including over 60 lakh beneficiaries in Odisha.

BHUBANESWAR: A day after former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan appealed to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for immediate implementation of Ayushman Bharat, BJP MPs from the State made a similar request to Naveen on Monday.

In a joint letter to the Chief Minister, 12 BJP MPs from the State said, “We request you to adopt and implement Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) scheme across Odisha helping the country in progressively achieving universal health coverage and strengthening our commitment towards a healthy India.”

Drawing the attention of Chief Minister to the immense benefits AB-PMJAY has to offer, the BJP MPs said it allows nation-wide portability through which Odisha’s beneficiaries, especially needy migrant workers, can avail health care facilities anywhere in the country.

The State will also gain access to latest technological, fraud-control and analytical platforms developed by National Health Authority (NHA) without any financial burden and immensely benefit from benchmarking the best practices across India.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his five visits to the State over past nine months had never missed an opportunity to request your support in enrolling Odisha for reaping the benefits of the Ayushman Bharat programme,” the letter stated.

The BJP lawmakers said, “Modi has rightly said Ayushman Bharat, the world’s largest health care programme, is a game changer and an opportunity to serve the poor.”

The scheme seeks to cover 50 crore beneficiaries in the country, including over 60 lakh beneficiaries in Odisha.

Since inception of the scheme, the BJP has been assiduously seeking the support of State Government for implementation of the AB-PMJAY scheme keeping in mind the acute public health challenges in the State.
“We were encouraged to learn about the State Government’s reconsideration for implementation of AB-PMJAY following discussions between Health Minister Naba Kishore Das, Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi and CEO AB-PMJAY Indu Bhusan, subsequent to the June 3, 2019 letter by Union Minister of Health Harsh Vardhan to you,” they said.

Assuring that the State Government will not face any financial crunch, the BJP MPs said their collective efforts will ensure that the State gets adequate funding under this flagship scheme from the Centre.

Noting that festivals should be exempt from levies, CM Mamata Banerjee had urged organisers, participants and all people “who love Bangla” to join the protest.

KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress on Tuesday began its eight-hour-long dharna in central Kolkata in protest against the central government’s decision to serve income tax notices to Durga Puja committees.

Criticising the Centre for issuing the notices to several Durga Puja committees here, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee had on Sunday announced that ‘Banga Janani Brigade’ – the women’s wing of the party – would sit on a dharna at Subodh Mullick Square on Tuesday.

Noting that festivals should be exempt from levies, she had urged organisers, participants and all people “who love Bangla” to join the protest.

The BJP had on Monday criticised the TMC’s decision to stage the demonstration, accusing a section of ruling TMC leaders of laundering money allegedly looted in chit fund scams through the puja committees.

The TMC had termed the allegations as “baseless”.

While two men have been arrested, a lady named Ritu has also been put behind bars for conspiring against the girl.

GURUGRAM: A 14-year-old girl from Meghalaya was allegedly raped by a group of men in Haryana’s Gurugram, after she arrived in the city on August 3.

The police on Friday arrested two men for raping the teen and a woman for conspiring against her. “The girl was raped at Rajendra Park by the men a few days back. We have arrested two men named- Bhupinder and Om Prakash. A lady named Ritu has also been put behind bars for conspiring against the girl. The victim was offered a beer and upon drinking it, passed out, following which she was raped,” said Shamsher Singh, ASP Crime, Gurugram while speaking to ANI.

A case under POCSO of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against the accused and thorough investigation into the matter is underway.

The meeting comes after several senior party leaders such as Shashi Tharoor and Karan Singh voiced concerns over lack of clarity on the leadership issue.

NEW DELHI: The Congress’ top decision-making body, CWC, met here on Saturday and began deliberations on finding Rahul Gandhi’s successor as the party president.

The party’s top brass, including former prime minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Ahmed Patel and P Chidambaram, went into a huddle at the All India Congress Committee headquarters here to find a solution to the leadership crisis triggered by Rahul Gandhi’s resignation following the Lok Sabha polls debacle.

Besides Rahul Gandhi, several state unit chiefs of the party, including Congress’ Rajasthan president Sachin Pilot, were also present in the meeting.

The meeting comes after several senior party leaders such as Shashi Tharoor and Karan Singh voiced concerns over lack of clarity on the leadership issue.

The top Congress leadership held a meeting on Friday with its state unit chiefs, leaders of its state legislature parties, general secretaries and in-charges, where they were told by Rahul Gandhi that the new party chief would be appointed within the next few days after wider consultations, sources said.

The meeting was held at the party’s Gurdwara Raqab Ganj Road “war room” to discuss the government’s decision to abrogate the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution in Jammu and Kashmir and divide the state into two Union territories.

“Some frank talking marked @incIndia consultative meet with a wide range of party leaders last evening. Convened on Kashmir, the comments went beyond and urged the party to be more pro-active in anticipating major issues and seizing the initiative. Commendable exercise; should be repeated,” Tharoor tweeted.

Senior Congress leaders also met Sonia Gandhi at her residence here on Friday.

Sources said senior leaders Ahmed Patel, A K Antony and KC Venugopal were learnt to have discussed with Gandhi certain names of probables, one of whom could be made the interim president of the party.

The names of senior Congress leaders Mukul Wasnik, Mallikarjun Kharge, as well as younger leaders Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot are doing the rounds for the top post.

Mumbai Congress chief Milind Deora earlier this week batted for either Scindia or Pilot to succeed Rahul Gandhi.

A number of partymen have expressed their opinion in public, saying the delay in selecting the new Congress chief is harming the party.

Last Sunday, Tharoor had said the Congress Working Committee or CWC should appoint an interim president immediately and then hold polls for the party chief’s post as a leader elected by workers will be empowered and have more credibility.

Interestingly, even though Rahul Gandhi had ruled out the possibility of a family member succeeding him, several leaders such as Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and Tharoor have voiced support for Priyanka Gandhi Vadra throwing her hat in the ring.

The party has also been grappling with a series of desertions by leaders from Karnataka and Maharashtra, the latest being that of ex-Congress Rajya Sabha chief whip Bhubaneswar Kalita and MP Sanjay Sinh.

Several leaders cited indecision and confusion within the rank and file of the party as a reason to quit.

The party is hoping to resolve the leadership issue and move forward quickly with assembly elections in Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Haryana coming up.