Archives for July 2021

RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh government will launch a scheme under which landless families will be provided a financial assistance of Rs 6,000 per year, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel announced on Wednesday.

After the discussion, the supplementary budget of Rs 2,485.59 crore was passed. “Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Bhoomihin Krishi Majdoor Nyay Yojna will be launched, under which the families which do not possess agriculture land and are dependent on agri labour or MGNREGA work (for livelihood) in rural areas will be given assistance of Rs 6,000 per year,” Baghel said.

Other sections of rural population such as barbers, dhobis (washermen), blacksmiths, priests will also be covered under the scheme, he added.

The scheme will be implemented from the ongoing financial year with a provision of Rs 200 crore made in the supplementary budget, he said.

The Centre had consented to buying 60 lakh metric tons of rice from the state but took only 24 lakh MT, and the state government had to auction the remaining stock at a loss, Baghel claimed.

“Despite this, we have been supporting farmers in every situation, even by taking loans,” he said.

Lack of certain facilities posed a challenge during the first and second wave of COVID-19 but now the government has been making efforts to ensure availability of better medical facilities across the state, he said, adding that for this a provision of Rs 957 crore has been made for the Health department.

During the second wave, the state government not only did a good job of managing the situation but also supplied medical oxygen to other states, he noted.

A provision of Rs 39 crore has been made for the acquisition of private-run Chandulal Chandrakar Memorial Medical College in Durg district, he said.

Earlier in the day, the state government tabled the Chhattisgarh Chandulal Chandrakar Memorial Medical College, Durg (Acquisition) Bill, 2021, in the assembly. Discussion on the bill is yet to take place.

Provision has been also made for the construction of a special jail with the capacity to house 1,500 prisoners at a cost of Rs 126 crore at Nagoi village in Bilaspur district, the CM informed.

NEW DELHI: India has so far received 26 Rafale aircraft out of the 36 it has ordered from Dassault Aviation, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt said Wednesday.

The multi-role Rafale jets, built by French aerospace major Dassault Aviation, are known for air superiority and precision strikes.

The first batch of five Rafale jets arrived in India on July 29, 2020, nearly four years after India signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to procure 36 aircraft at a cost of Rs 59,000 crore.

The Rafale jets are India’s first major acquisition of fighter planes in 23 years after the Sukhoi jets were imported from Russia.

The Rafale jet is capable of carrying a range of potent weapons.

European missile maker MBDA’s Meteor beyond visual range air-to-air missile and Scalp cruise missile will be the mainstay of the weapons package of the Rafale jets.

NEW DELHI:  West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is in the capital to stitch an Opposition alliance ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, asserted on Wednesday that these parties must unite. Saying that regional parties will lead the nation, she added when Narendra Modi fights elections next time, it will be against the country.

During her five-day visit, Mamata has meetings lined up with many Opposition leaders. “I don’t want to be the face (of the Opposition). I want to continue as a worker and we need to work together.”

Speaking about her equations with major Opposition leaders, she said, “I have good relationships with Jagan (Mohan Reddy), Naveen babu (Patnaik), Chandrababu (Naidu), (MK) Stalin, Uddhav (Thackeray), Hemant Soren.” She added that she also had a chat with Lalu Yadav on Tuesday. “If there is a political storm, you won’t be able to stop it,” Mamata said. “Regional parties will lead the nation, we will not bow down before anyone anymore. The time has come.”

Without disclosing details of her meeting with the PM, Mamata said the Pegasus snooping matter is serious. “Why is the Union government not taking action on the Pegasus project? The situation is very serious. There should be also an all party meet to discuss a formula for investigating,” she added.

Mamata met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi at the latter’s residence and discussed the political situation, Opposition unity and Pegasus. Rahul Gandhi was present during the meeting. Terming it as a positive interaction, Mamata said, “Opposition unity was discussed. Everyone should come together to take on the BJP. A positive result should come out of this meeting in the near future.” This was the first meeting between Mamata and Sonia after TMC’s win in Bengal, where the parties contested as rivals. 

NEW DELHI : In a major revision of the Covid-19 vaccination policy, the Centre is contemplating lowering the 25% vaccine quota earmarked for private hospitals, sources told The New Indian Express.
The move comes in the wake of several states, including Tamil Nadu and Odisha, asking the Centre to cut the private sector’s quota to 10%, arguing its participation in the inoculation drive has been poor.
Under the existing policy, vaccines are split between government and private hospitals in a 75-25 % ratio. While beneficiaries are entitled to free vaccinations in government facilities, they have to pay pre-fixed charges at private centres.

However, the pace of vaccination in private hospitals in most states, has been very slow. Since May, when Covid-19 vaccination opened for all adults, only 7 percent of the jabs administered had been in private hospitals.“We feel there are not many takers for Covid vaccines in private hospitals, especially in 
tier-2 and tier-3 cities,” a senior health ministry official said, adding that people seem to prefer to 
take free shots in government hospitals rather than pay high price in private hospitals. “Therefore, 
we are re-examining the vaccine procurement and distribution policy,” the official added.

Girdhar Gyani, director-general, the Association of Private Healthcare Providers of India, listed three reasons for low uptake in private hospitals. He said vaccine availability is low in smaller hospitals due to a condition set by Covishield maker Serum Institute to pre-book at least 3,000 doses in one go. Vaccine hesitancy in 25-30 percent population and a lack of coordination on part of several states in vaccine procurement for hospitals are the other reasons, he added. 

PANAJI: Under pressure from the opposition over the gang rape of two minor girls on a beach, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant is facing flak for remarking in the state Assembly that parents need to introspect on why their children were on the beach late at night.

“When 14-year-olds stay on the beach the whole night, the parents need to introspect. Just because children don’t listen, we cannot put the responsibility on the government and police,” Sawant had said on Wednesday, during a debate on a calling attention notice in the House.

Sawant, who also holds the home portfolio, had said parents have a responsibility to ensure the safety of their children and hinted that they should not let their children, particularly minors, out at night.

Goa Congress spokesperson Altone D’Costa on Thursday said the law and order situation in the coastal state has deteriorated.

“Why should we fear while moving around at night? Criminals should be in jail and law abiding citizens should be out freely moving around,” he said.

“The safety of citizens is the responsibility of police and state government. If they can’t provide it to us, the CM has no right to sit in the post,” he added.

“It is shocking that @goacm is blaming parents for allowing their children to venture out in the night claiming that it is not safe. if State govt can’t assure us our security, who can give it? Goa has a history of being safe state for women, that tag is being lost in @BJP4Goa rule,” tweeted Independent MLA Rohan Khaunte.

“We directly blame police, but I want to point out that of the 10 youth who went to the beach for a party, four stayed on the beach the whole night and the remaining six went home,” Sawant had said in the House.

“They were on the beach the whole night, two boys and two girls,” said Sawant.

Teens, particularly minors, should not be spending the nights on beaches,” he added.

Four men, one of them a government employee (a driver with the agriculture department), posed as policemen and raped the two girls after beating up the boys who were with the girls on Benaulim beach, around 30 km south of Goa’s capital, on Sunday.

All the four accused have been arrested, Sawant told the Assembly.

During the discussion in the House yesterday, an MLA had claimed that an “influential person” was trying to protect the accused, while another opposition member had alleged that a minister was calling the police and trying to influence the investigation.

Speaker Rajesh Patnekar had expunged the remarks from the proceedings.

JAIPUR:  In a bid to placate the Sachin Pilot camp and take a feedback before the expected reshuffle of the Gehlot Cabinet in the first week of August, the AICC General Secretary and the Rajasthan Congress in charge, Ajay Maken has started holding meetings with Congress MLAs on Wednesday.

Leaders and MLAs who met with Maken revealed that they were asked about the conduct of ministers, their performance and complaints, and to name their preferences for district and block presidents. Transport minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas said that, “They are taking a feedback on government schemes and on how to strengthen the Congress in the state. Ajay Maken has also asked us to give a feedback on how the Congress government can be repeated in the state in 2023.”

Ved Prakash Solanki, an MLA from the Pilot camp, also seemed quite satisfied after the meeting. “It’s very heartening that the High Command is listening to the views of every MLA. We hope that like in Punjab, corrective actions in Rajasthan will be initiated quickly,” he said.

Maken is likely to meet Independent MLAs supporting Gehlot and former BSP MLAs who joined the Congress two years ago. A major issue in the reshuffle is to accommodate some of these MLAs as they played a key role in saving the Congress government when Pilot had revolted.

Meanwhile, CM Ashok Gehlot also held a review meeting on Wednesday to evaluate the performance of his ministry and to look into the criticism of the Pilot faction that promises of the 2018 election were not fulfilled.