Archives for November 2021

Bhopal: BJP leader Uma Bharti on Monday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s sudden announcement to repeal the three controversial farm laws left her speechless as the move reflected failure of party workers to communicate properly benefits of the legislations to cultivators.

The former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, who took to Twitter to react to the dramatic announcement made late last week, said the farmers of India have never been satisfied with any of the government’s measures so far.

I have been at the banks of Ganga in Varanasi for the past four days. I was left speechless following the PM’s announcement on November 19 about repealing farm laws, so I responded three days late, Bharti tweeted.

The former Union minister said what the PM said while making the announcement to roll-back the three agri-marketing laws left people like her feeling distressed.

She said, It was the inadequacy of us BJP workers if the Prime Minister @narendramodi ji could not explain the importance of agricultural laws to the farmers. Why we could not communicate (the importance of laws) properly to the farmers? The BJP leader the PM is a deep thinker who goes to the root of a problem to solve it.

We could not face the constant propaganda of the opposition regarding the agricultural laws. That’s why I was getting very upset by the address of the Prime Minister on that day, she said in another tweet.

While terming Modi as her leader, Bharti said the PM’s style of functioning which is characterized by mutual coordination is unprecedented in world’s political and democratic history.

In another set of tweets, Bharti, while pointing to her family’s agricultural background, said, The farmers of India have not been satisfied with any government effort till date. I am from a farmer family. My two elder brothers are still dependent on agriculture. I have constant communication with them. I have a lively connection with my native village. She said getting fertilisers, seeds and electricity on time and opportunity to sell foodgrains on their own terms can bring happiness to farmers.

Dubai: UAE Princess Hend bint Faisal Al-Qasimi, earlier last week lashed out at an organizer for inviting Zee News anchor and Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary to UAE for an event.

The princess of the Royal Qasimi family of Sharjah expressed her reservations against the ICAI Abudhabi Chapter for inviting Chaudhary for an event, despite his role in promoting Islamophobia through his TV shows.

She later shared a letter by the members of the ICAI Abu Dhabi Chapter in which they urged the committee to drop Sudhir from the list of speakers and claimed that Sudhir Chaudhary was dropped from the list of speakers at the event.

However, Abu Dhabi-based Chartered Accountant from Mangaluru, Abdulla Madumoole who is also a member of the ICAI Abudhabi Chapter replied to the tweet clarifying that Sudhir was not dropped from the list.

He added “Our team met the Abu Dhabi Chapter officials a while ago, they said it is too late and can’t be dropped.” (SIC).

Vartha Bharati contacted Abdulla Madumoole and confirmed the developments. He said “Sudheer will be coming. He is not dropped from the panel of speakers. I spoke to their officials today but they expressed their inability to drop him from the list.”

Hend had addressed Chaudhary as a “terrorist” while reminding the event organizer how the controversial TV anchor had been defaming Islam and Muslims through his debate shows.

“How dare you invite an Islamophobe to my peaceful country?” she wrote in one of her tweets on Saturday.

“In 2019 & 2020, Sudhir Chaudhry ran shows on Zee News where he spewed venom against Muslims for leading anti-citizenship bill protests. He ran fake stories, targeting Muslim students and women for leading the citizenship protest in Shaheen Bagh, New Delhi & other parts of the country.” She further added.

She then added, “Sudhir Chaudhary is a Hindu rightwing anchor known for his deeply Islamophobic shows that target India’s 200 million Muslims. Many of his prime time shows have directly contributed to real-world violence against Muslims across the country.”

She had also tagged the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India to ask, “Why are you bringing an intolerant terrorist to the UAE?!”

Chennai: Makkal Needhi Maiam president and actor Kamal Haasan on Monday said he has tested positive for COVID-19 and has been admitted to a hospital.

“I had mild cough following my return from the USA. When I tested, the coronavirus infection was confirmed. I have isolated myself in hospital. Everyone should be on guard realising that the COVID-19 spread has not faded,” Haasan said in a tweet.

During his visit, Haasan had on November 15 held discussions at Chicago with his North America-based supporters who apprised him on their initiatives so far and future plans. The MNM chief congratulated them for their support to their motherland, despite being in a foreign country for work. Haasan returned home days ago.

The MNM chief, ahead of his foreign trip, had also visited flood-hit areas here and distributed welfare assistance on behalf of his party to the affected people.

On November 20, Haasan, welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement on withdrawal of farm laws, had said MNM’s staunch opposition to such legislations and his party leaders’ protest against it in Delhi were ‘historic moments of pride.’

The 67-year old actor-politician, who celebrated his birthday on November 7, continues to be involved in film making and television shows as well. A Lokesh Kanagaraj directorial, the upcoming action flick ‘Vikram’ and the long awaited ‘Indian-2’ are the movies he is currently engaged with. Also, he is the ‘Bigg Boss’ show (Tamil season 5) host in Star Vijay television channel

Bengaluru: Karnataka logged 178 fresh COVID-19 cases and two deaths on Monday, taking the total number of infections to 29,93,777 and the toll to 38,177.

The day also saw 373 discharges, taking the total number of recoveries in the state so far to 29,48,704, a health department bulletin said. Bengaluru Urban continued to top the list in number of cases with 112, as the city saw 300 discharges and one death.

Total number of active cases in the state was 6,867, the bulletin said.

While the positivity rate for the day stood at 0.31 per cent, the Case Fatality Rate (CFR) was 1.12 per cent.

Out of two deaths reported on Monday, one each were from Bengaluru Urban and Dharwad.

Among the districts where the new cases were reported, Bengaluru Urban accounted for 112, Dakshina Kannada 16, Mysuru 14, Kodagu 7, followed by others.

Bengaluru Urban district topped the list of positive cases, with a total of 12,55,166, followed by Mysuru 1,79,578 and Tumakuru 1,21,020.

Among discharges too, Bengaluru Urban was on top with 12,33,232, followed by Mysuru 1,76,953 and Tumakuru 1,19,754.

Cumulatively a total of 5,27,30,403 samples have been tested in the state so far, out of which 55,699 were on Monday alone.

New Delhi: Hearing a plea of a 17-year-old Dalit boy, the Supreme Court of India on Monday ordered the creation of a seat in the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. According to the plea, the student was unable to pay his ‘seat acceptance fees’ on time due to technical issues after he had qualified for the IIT exam.

A Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna exercised its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to direct the Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JOSAA) to create a seat for the student. The Court opined that it will be a great travesty of justice if the boy is denied admission for no fault of his.

This court has before it a young Dalit student who is on the verge of losing a valued seat which has been allocated in IIT Bombay. It would be a great travesty of justice if the young Dalit student is denied admission for non-payment of fees to IIT Bombay after having tried to do so. Hence we are of the view that it’s a fit case of article 142 in interim stage,” the Court said.It also clarified that the seat should be allocated to the student without disturbing the admission process of any other student.

The order was passed after the JOSAA informed the Court today that all seats have been filled and no vacant seats are available.

“Don’t take this wooden approach. Please understand the realities of social life, the issues on ground. The student did not have money, then sister had to transfer money and then there were technical issues. The boy cleared the exam. If it was his negligence then we would not have asked you,” the Court observed.

The petitioner had cleared the Joint Entrance Examination 2021 and secured All India Rank (CRL) 25,894 and SC (Scheduled Caste) Rank 864.

He got a seat allocated at IIT Bombay in Civil Engineering branch on October 27.

As per the petition, after the allocation of seat, the petitioner logged into the Joint Seat Allocation Authority’s (JOSAA) website on October 29 and uploaded the requisite documents. However, the petitioner fell short of money to pay the seat acceptance fee.

His sister then transferred the money to him on October 30 and the petitioner tried to make payment about 10 to 12 times but failed to do so.

“Petitioner was unable to make the payment due to a technical error at the end of his card issuing bank, viz., State Bank of India,” the plea said.

The next day, i.e October 31, the petitioner attempted to make payment from a cyber cafe but that too did not bear fruition. He was thus unable to make payment of fees within the prescribed deadline.

The petitioner attempted to call the respondents and also addressed emails to them but did not receive any response.

Later, he physically went to IIT Kharagpur and requested them to accept an alternative mode of payment and allot him a seat but they expressed their inability.

The petitioner then moved the Bombay High Court for relief but the court took a technical view and dismissed his writ petition prompting the present appeal before the top court.

Muzaffarnagar (UP)(PTI): The owner of an advertising agency has been booked here for allegedly using pictures of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in its hoardings, police said on Monday.

According to Station House Officer (SHO) Brijender Kumar Rawat, a case against the agency’s owner, Satay Parkash Reshu, was registered on Sunday under section 505(1) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on a complaint by district Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Surender Singh.

According to an FIR lodged with the police after Singh’s complaint, it was alleged that the agency’s owner had been using pictures of Bhagwat in its hoardings for advertisement.

The complainant had asked him to remove the pictures from its hoardings but he failed to do so, they said.

An investigation into the case is underway, police said.