Archives for 2019

Heavy rains lashed several districts of Rajasthan, creating flood-like situation, with the army being called for rescue and relief in Kota.

JAIPUR/BHOPAL: Heavy rains lashed several districts of Rajasthan, creating a flood-like situation, with the army being called for rescue and relief in Kota. Bundi, Baran, Pratapgarh and Jhalawar districts in Hadauti region have been receiving heavy showers since Thursday night. In Gulzarpura area of ​​Jodhpur, four people, including two children, were reportedly buried after a house collapsed due to the heavy rains.

The Met department has warned of heavy rainfall in the next 24 hours in 22 districts of the state. The Chambal, Parvati, Kalisindh and Paruvan rivers in the Hadauti region are above danger levels. In many areas, roads are submerged and water has entered houses. Army soldiers are delivering food to people trapped inside their houses and transporting residents to a safe place. Municipal divers and members of disaster relief force are also involved.

Lok Sabha Speaker and Kota Bundi MP Om Birla visited the flood affected areas and took stock of the relief work. He directed the administration to provide all possible help to the affected people.
The Met department has issued a red alert for Ajmer, Banswara, Baran, Bharatpur, Bhilwara, Bundi, Chittorgarh, Dungarpur, Jhalawar, Kota, Pratapgarh, Rajsamand, Sirohi, Tonk and Udaipur. 

In Madhya Pradesh, four more deaths were reported during last 24 hours. A car carrying two women school teachers and the driver was swept in a flooded nullah in Ujjain district on Thursday. The teachers were returning after the Independence Day function at the school in Barkheda Khurd village. A youth drowned in flooded Sukkad river in Rajgarh district, while another youth is still missing in flooded river in the same district.

The Met department has forecast heavy rainfall in nine districts — Neemuch, Mandsaur, Ratlam, Agar-Malwa, Shajapur, Guna, Ashok Nagar, Rajgarh and Sheopur  —over the next 24 hours.The situation in Mandsaur district which has reported five deaths remains grim particularly with Shivani river in spate. 

Cloud seeding attempt in Marathwada on Sunday
After two failed attempts of cloud seeding — on August 10 in Aurangabad and July 24 in Solapur — the Maharashtra government will now make another bid in Aurangabad in the rain-deficit Marathwada region on Sunday. The contract for cloud seeding has been given to the Kyathi Climate Modification Consultants LLP. A team of scientists from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology is assisting the revenue administration in the exercise. The government has approved `30 crore for the plan 

Kashmir ka kya haal hain? (What is the situation in Kashmir?)” he would ask me when I visited him.

Kashmir ka kya haal hain? (What is the situation in Kashmir?)” he would ask me when I visited him. I visited Atal Bihari Vajpayee at his house twice a year — on Diwali and New Year — after he demitted office. Whenever I entered the room, no matter how many people were there, he would summon me to sit next to him. It was the same words every time. “Kashmir ka kya haal hain?”

He was a visionary who tactfully mixed pragmatism with his large-heartedness. He was a great man of peace. When he passed away, I spoke to the people in Kashmir — what Vajpayee meant to them. Kashmiris were praying for eternal peace for him, and also hoping peace returns to Kashmir. That’s what one remembers the most. 

Usually, it is not easy for officers to have access to the Prime Minister. With Vajpayee, he was always open. Whenever I wanted a meeting, I could go and meet him. And he listened. What he thought of things, he would not always tell you. He was a man of few words. He expected you to deliver. Sometimes, at the end of the conversation, he would pinpoint on an element from the conversation and ask me to pursue it.   

Time ran out on Vajpayee…Nobody expected that they (the BJP) would lose the 2004 elections.  When Vajpayee and Brijesh Mishra left, I also decided to leave the PMO…Brijesh, in fact, told me that I was not a political appointee. The people said I should not have left…The irony is I knew Manmohan Singh much better than I knew Vajpayee. I thought of this umpteen times, and I think I did the right thing. In Vajpayee’s PMO, it was a family. It was the happiest PMO. He treated his officers in the PMO like his family. He would call officers from the PMO to home for either lunch or dinner and always had a wonderful table. His daughter Gunnu, as we called her, was a wonderful hostess. 

I went to officially say goodbye to him one last time after he left office. He was all alone at his home..still in Race Course Road. 

When I walked in, I did not know what to say. I said, “Sir, yeh kya ho gaya? (Sir, what happened?)” He laughed heartily…he could always laugh at himself. He said, “Unko bhi nahi malum kya ho gaya (Even the Congress does not know how it happened).” Throughout, he never lost his sense of humour.
Vajpayee was a colossus. He was the greatest of our prime ministers after Jawaharlal Nehru. I was very privileged to see him from such close quarters. It is an honour to be able to speak on him. 

What people don’t know is Pakistan used the nuclear blackmail even before the 1998 tests.

NEW DELHI: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday triggered a debate by suggesting India’s no first use (NFU) doctrine on nuclear arms was not written in stone, saying its future would depend on the prevailing circumstances. 

Strategic experts called it smart posturing, viewing it from the prism of tension with Pakistan after the Centre withdrew J&K’s special status and broke it up into two Union Territories, and the subsequent sharp statements by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan.

“Pokhran is the area which witnessed Atal Ji’s firm resolve to make India a nuclear power and yet remain firmly committed to the doctrine of ‘No First Use’. India has strictly adhered to this doctrine. What happens in future depends on the circumstances,” The minister tweeted. 

He said this while visiting Pokhran to pay homage to the former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his first death anniversary. Pokhran was where India had conducted its nuclear tests in 1998. 

Experts sought to read in Rajnath’s statement as a “signal” to Pakistan that the terms of reference have changed. 

Strategic affairs expert Bharat Karnad felt Pakistan is nowhere a real strategic threat to India and the statement of the defence minister should be seen in the light of the stated nuclear policy of India. “The fact is NFU is just a guideline and not an operational directive… There is no absolute ban on nuclear weapons,” added Prof Karnad.

What people don’t know is Pakistan used the nuclear blackmail even before the 1998 tests. “During the Kargil conflict Pakistan had, directly or indirectly, threatened India 17 times,” said A Vinod Kumar, research fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. 

The internet has been restored with low bandwidth as a preventive measure and to check any type of rumour-mongering or objectionable content circulated on social media, sources added.

JAMMU: The snapped mobile internet service was restored with 2G speed on Saturday in Jammu district while restrictions have also been lifted in Rajouri district, an official here said.

“The mobile internet service was restored during midnight but with 2G speed,” an official said.

He added that the internet has been restored with low bandwidth as a preventive measure and to check any type of rumour-mongering or objectionable content circulated on social media.

“The decision to suspend mobile internet service was taken by the government only to prevent such elements, who play spoilsport and create tension in the society,” he added and said that the service has been restored partially but will soon be restored with high speed.

Mobile internet was snapped on August 4 midnight just hours before the Government of India announced the revocation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the state into two Union Territories.

The district administrations in all parts of J&K and Ladakh closely monitored the situation on ground and also on social media and anybody found, flaring up the matter or posting unwanted content to disturb peace and harmony was booked under relevant sections.

Meanwhile, restrictions have been eased in Rajouri during day time but will remain in force under Section 144 of CrPC between 2100 hours to 0500 hours, said an official.

Meanwhile, reports from other parts of the district said that mobile internet have also been restored barring some areas sensing “trouble” but will be restored there as well after reviewing the situation.

However, netizens started wishing each other on WhatsApp and Facebook as soon as the service was restored as it was like some festive like a celebration.

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences has not issued any bulletin on Jaitley’s health condition since August 10.

NEW DELHI: President Ram Nath Kovind, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visited AIIMS on Friday to enquire about the health condition of former finance minister Arun Jaitley, who is stated to be “critical”, sources said.

The President visited the hospital around noon, while Shah and Adityanath visited AIIMS around 11.15 pm.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and Minister of State for Health Ashwini Choubey were present during their visits.

According to the sources, Jaitley, 66, is critical and a multidisciplinary team of doctors is supervising his treatment.

He is admitted at the hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU).

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has not issued any bulletin on Jaitley’s health condition since August 10.

Jaitley was admitted on August 9 after he complained of breathlessness and restlessness.

In May this year, Jaitley was admitted to AIIMS for treatment.

Jaitley, a lawyer by profession, had been an important part in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet in the BJP government’s first term.

He held the finance and defence portfolios, and often acted as the chief troubleshooter of the government.

Jaitley did not contest the 2019 Lok Sabha election because of his ill-health.

He had undergone a renal transplant on May 14 last year at AIIMS with Railways Minister Piyush Goyal filling in for him in the finance ministry at that time.

Jaitley, who had stopped attending office since early April last year, was back in the finance ministry on August 23, 2018.

In September 2014, he underwent bariatric surgery to correct the weight he had gained because of a long-standing diabetic condition.