Archives for September 2021

New Delhi: Hours after he raised questions over the functioning of the Congress, senior party leader Kapil Sibal on Wednesday came under attacks from several quarters with party workers also protesting outside his house here.

In the wake of several Congress leaders quitting the party and its Punjab unit in turmoil, Sibal demanded that an immediate meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) be convened and wondered who in the party was taking decisions in the absence of a full-time president.

Sibal, a member of the ‘Group of 23’ which last year had written to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, said at a press conference that the grouping is “not a Jee Huzur 23” and will continue to put forth the views and will continue to repeat the demands.

Carrying ‘Get Well Soon Kapil Sibal’ placards and raising slogans against Sibal, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) workers protested outside his Jor Bagh residence, saying they were “hurt” by his remarks.

“The workers went there on their own accord as they felt hurt by Sibal’s remarks. They just expressed their disappointment over the remarks,” a senior DPCC functionary said on condition of anonymity.

The protesters raised slogans against Sibal asking him to “leave the party”.

Several leaders hit out at Sibal for what they said was questioning the leadership from which he had earlier “benefitted”.

Youth Congress chief Srinivas B V said on Twitter, “Listen ‘Ji-Huzoor’ :- The ‘President’ and ‘Leadership’ of the party are the same, who always ensured your entry in Parliament, made you a ‘minister’ during the good times of the party, when in opposition, ensured your entry into Rajya Sabha, always rewarded with responsibilities in good and bad times. And when the ‘time’ came for struggle, then…”

Congress general secretary Ajay Maken and Chhattisgarh minister T S Singhdeo hit out at Sibal for his remarks.

Delhi Congress leader Alka Lamba also slammed Sibal, alleging that she kept requesting him in the 2020 assembly elections to come to Chandni Chowk and campaign but he did not come.

“The workers whom Sibal called for a meeting at his home ahead of the polls, they joined Aam Aadmi Party the next day…. Will the Congress run on these people’s strength?” Lamba said on Twitter.

New Delhi: The national Mid-Day Meal Scheme in government and aided schools will now be known as PM POSHAN Scheme and will also cover students of balvatikas or pre primary classes, the government announced Wednesday.

Encouraging “Tithi Bhojan” to allow people from community to provide special food to children on occasions and festivals, using harvest from “school nutrition gardens” for cooking mid-day meals, cooking competitions to promote ethnic cuisine and innovative menus and involvement of Farmers Producer Organizations (FPO) and Women Self Help Groups in implementation of the scheme, are among the features which have been added in the new scheme.

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the roll-out of the ‘PM POSHAN in Schools’ scheme that will provide hot cooked meal to students of elementary classes in government and government-aided schools across the country. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Today the CCEA cleared the PM POSHAN (POshan SHakti Nirman) Scheme for providing one hot cooked meal in government and government-aided schools from 2021-22 to 2025-26, earlier known as ‘National Programme for Mid-Day Meal in Schools popularly known as Mid-Day Meal Scheme. This is a centrally-sponsored scheme which covers all school children studying in classes 1 to 8 in government, government-aided schools,” Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told reporters.

“Under the new scheme, mid-day meals have been extended to students studying in pre-primary or Balvatikas in addition to children studying in class 1 to 8 in government and government-aided schools across India. This will benefit about 11.80 crore children studying in 11.20 lakh schools,” he added.

The CCEA has approved the continuation of the national scheme of PM POSHAN in schools for the five-year period 2021-22 to 2025-26 with the financial outlay of 2 54061.73 crores from the central government and 31733.17 crore from state governments and union territory administrations.

“Central government will also bear additional cost of about Rs 45000 crore on food grains. Therefore, the total scheme budget will amount to 130794.90 crore. The concept of Tithi Bhojan will be encouraged extensively. Tithi Bhojan is a community participation programme in which people provide special food to children on special occasions and festivals.

“Government is also promoting development of ‘School Nutrition Gardens’ in schools to give children first-hand experience with nature and gardening. The harvest of these gardens is used in the scheme providing additional micro nutrients. School Nutrition Gardens have already been developed in more than 3 lakh schools,” he said.

While social audit of the scheme is made mandatory in all the districts, special provision is made for providing supplementary nutrition items to children in aspirational districts and districts with high prevalence of Anemia.

“Cooking competitions will be encouraged at all levels right from village level to national level to promote ethnic cuisine and innovative menus based on locally available ingredients and vegetables. Involvement of Farmers Producer Organizations (FPO) and Women Self Help Groups in implementation of the scheme will be encouraged. Use of locally grown traditional food items for a fillip to local economic growth will be encouraged,” Pradhan said.

“Field visits for progress monitoring and inspections will be facilitated for students of eminent universities and institutions and also trainee teachers of Regional Institutes of Educations (RIE) and District Institutes of Education and Training (DIET).

New Delhi: Former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh met Union Home Minister Amit Shah at his residence here on Wednesday, raising speculation over his future in politics.

Singh arrived in the national capital on Tuesday, days after he quit as the chief minister of Punjab.

The meeting assumes significance as Singh had not opened his cards but had claimed that he had not quit politics and would fight till the end.

The veteran Congress leader had also launched a scathing attack on his bete noire, Navjot Singh Sidhu, who was appointed as the party’s Punjab unit president.

Sidhu quit as the Punjab Congress chief on Tuesday.

As regards his political future, Singh had said there were several options before him.

Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal

New Delhi: With several Congress leaders quitting the party and its Punjab unit in turmoil, senior party leader Kapil Sibal on Wednesday demanded that an immediate meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) be convened and wondered who in the party was taking decisions in the absence of a full-time president.

Addressing the media, he said a senior member of the ‘Group of 23’ has written to Congress President Sonia Gandhi for convening the CWC meeting immediately to discuss the party affairs and the exodus.

Sibal said the grouping is “not a Jee Huzur 23” and will continue to put forth the views and will continue to repeat the demands.

He said the Congress needs to be strengthened as a strong opposition to take on the government and once again reiterated the demands of the group for holding elections to the Congress president, the CWC and the central election committee.

He expressed anguish over the developments in the party in Punjab and the recent exodus of party leaders, saying all such issues need to be discussed at a party platform.

Srinagar: A Pakistani terrorist captured alive by the Indian Army during a live encounter in Jammu and Kashmir’s Uri sector has asked his handlers in the neighbouring country to take him back to his mother.

“I appeal to the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) area commander, the ISI and the Pakistan Army to take me back to my mother just like they sent me here (India),” Ali Babar Patra, the teenage terrorist from Pakistan, said in a video message released by the Army here on Wednesday.

Patra was nabbed by the Army during a live encounter in the Uri sector on September 26, when he asked for his life to be spared. Another Pakistani infiltrator was killed in the nine-day operation that began on September 18.

In the video message, Patra said the Pakistan Army, the ISI and the LeT were spreading lies about the situation in Kashmir.

“We were told that the Indian Army is carrying out a bloodbath, but everything is peaceful here. I want to tell my mother that the Indian Army has taken good care of me,” he said.

He also said the behaviour of the officers and jawans of the Indian Army with the locals who visit the camp where he was lodged was extremely good.

“I can hear the azaan (call for prayers) on the loudspeakers five times a day. The behaviour of the Indian Army is completely opposite to that of the Pakistan Army. This makes me feel that there is peace in Kashmir,” Patra said.

“On the contrary, they take advantage of our helplessness in Pakistani Kashmir to send us here,” he added.

Giving details of his initiation into terror ranks, Patra said he lost his father seven years ago and had to drop out of school due to financial constraints.

“I took a job in a garment factory in Sialkot where I met Anas who used to recruit people for the LeT. Due to my situation, I went with him. He paid me Rs 20,000 and promised to pay another Rs 30,000 later on,” he added.

Patra also shared the details of the weapons training he underwent with the Pakistan Army and the ISI at Camp Khyber Delihabibullah.