Archives for 2021

NEW DELHI: A woman constable, attached to the PCR unit stationed outside the residence of an Israeli diplomat, accidentally fired a shot allegedly while she was handling her service pistol on Wednesday evening, police said.

Nobody is reported injured in the incident as the bullet brushed past the roof of the police van, they said.

On Wednesday about 6.

50 pm, an information was received from security officer, Israel Embassy, that one PCR staff has accidentally fired a round at residence of attaché of embassy situated at Paschimi Marg, Vasant Vihar, according to police.

On reaching the spot, police found that the woman constable posted on PCR vehicle stationed outside the diplomat’s house while handling the 9 MM pistol accidentally fired one round but no one was hurt in the incident as the bullet brushed past the roof of the police van, a senior police officer said.

The crime team was also called on the spot, police said, adding further inquiry is underway.

Earlier in January this year, a minor blast had occurred outside the Israel Embassy, located in a high-security zone of the national capital and following the incident, security was beefed up outside the embassy as well as the residences of the diplomat.

MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena on Thursday said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi should join hands with NCP chief Pawar to align all opposition parties together to take on the ruling BJP at the Centre.

“Gandhi attacks the Centre and its policies regularly, but that is on Twitter,” an editorial in the Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ said.

The Sena, which shares power with the NCP and Congress in Maharashtra, further claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s body language has changed.

“He knows the situation in the country has gone out of his hands. Despite people’s anger, the BJP and the government have confidence that they face no threat because of the weak and disjointed opposition,” it said.

Pawar on Tuesday hosted a meeting of leaders of eight opposition parties, including the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the Samajwadi Party, the Aam Aadmi Party, the Rashtriya Lok Dal and the Left at his residence in Delhi, amid heightened speculation about the possibility of a third front against the BJP.

However, leaders who took part in that discussions asserted it was a “non-political” meeting of like-minded individuals by Rashtriya Manch that was floated by former finance minister and TMC vice-president Yashwant Sinha along with others.

The Sena editorial on Thursday said, “Rahul Gandhi should join hands with Pawar to align all opposition parties.”

The tea party of opposition leaders should have been organised by Gandhi, it opined.

“Sharad Pawar can bring all opposition parties together. But then, there is a question of leadership. If we expect the Congress to take the lead, the party is itself without a national president,” the Sena said.

There is an outfit called the UPA (United Progressive Alliance-led by Congress), but does the country have a strong and organised opposition? This question is still pending, it said.

“The tea party of Rashtriya Manch at Sharad Pawar’s Delhi home showed the exact status of the opposition,” it said in sarcastic remarks. The two-and-a-half-hour meeting yielded nothing, despite being hyped by the media, the Marathi daily said.

“The (meeting) organisers said the government had no vision to solve several pressing issues being faced the country and Rashtriya Manch will provide that to the government. Because of the meeting, it came to light that there is an organisation called Rashtriya Manch founded by Yashwant Sinha,” it remarked. All those who gathered at the meeting were the ones who “prioritise discussion and debate over political action”, it claimed.

The editorial further said there should be deliberation first on whether the opposition should come together only on one criteria – of opposing the BJP and Modi.

“The mountain of challenges faced by the country today is the legacy of the present government. What does the alternate leadership think about these problems?” the Sena sought to know.

A strong opposition is the need of parliamentary democracy.

But, such an opposition is “non-existent” at the national level, it said, while noting that several regional parties have stood up against the BJP and defeated it in polls.

NEW DELHI: Labour minister Santosh Gangwar on Wednesday acknowledged the importance of education system and the labour market to prepare our young generation to face the upcoming challenges of the world of work.

While supporting the adoption of the Joint Ministerial Declaration, the Minister emphasised that such an initiative by the member countries shall be very helpful for the overall development and capacity building of the entire young generation, which is rapidly evolving and has now become more challenging due to the pandemic.

“India is strengthening its educational and skilling efforts to ensure quality education from pre-school to senior secondary stage. New National Education Policy, 2020 in India, also aims for reforms in school and higher education systems,” he stated.

He also informed that the government has taken several initiatives for capacity building and skilling of our youth and for employment generation. The National Skill Development Mission is resulting in convergence of skilling efforts across all sectors.

The Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, enables the youth to take up industry related skill training to assist them in securing better opportunities.

For employment generation in the country, the government is paying up to 24 per cent of wages towards EPF contributions under the Aatma-Nirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana for new employees as well as those who lost their jobs in the pandemic and are being re-employed.

Gangwar also stated that the government is sustaining employment and livelihoods by way of its various schemes of employment generation and social security benefits through Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) and expansion of ESIC coverage.

He also informed that India has provided new definitions for Gig and Platform workers for providing them social security and also to the workers in the unorganised sector.

NEW DELHI: Political strategist Prashant Kishor met Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar here on Wednesday, a day after leaders of eight opposition parties gathered at Pawar’s residence and discussed various issues facing the country.

This was their third meeting within a fortnight.

Kishor, who was instrumental in the thumping victory of the Trinamool Congress in the West Bengal Assembly polls, had met Pawar over lunch at his residence in Mumbai on June 11.

He again called on the NCP chief at his residence in Delhi on Monday.

These meetings with Pawar has fuelled speculations about the possibility of opposition parties coming together to form a third front against the BJP.

Pawar on Tuesday hosted a meeting of the leaders of eight opposition parties including the Trinamool Congress, the Samajwadi Party, the Aam Aadmi Party, the Rashtriya Lok Dal and the Left at his residence in Delhi.

However, leaders who took part in that discussions asserted that it was a “non-political” meeting of like-minded individuals by Rashtriya Manch that was floated by former finance minister and TMC vice-president Yashwant Sinha along with others.

Before the opposition leaders’ meeting on Tuesday, Pawar also chaired NCP’s national executive meeting the same day and had “a detailed discussion” with his party leaders on its “future policies”, its role in the next Lok Sabha polls and current national issues.

The opposition party leaders’ meet at Pawar’s residence was attended by National Conference’s leader Omar Abdullah, SP’s Ghanshyam Tiwari, RLD president Jayant Chaudhary, Sushil Gupta from the AAP, Binoy Viswam from the CPI, Nilotpal Basu from CPI-M and TMC vice-president Yashwant Sinha among others.

Former Congress leader Sanjay Jha and Janata Dal-United’s (JD-U) ex-leader Pavan Verma also participated in the meeting.

Besides politicians, several eminent personalities such as Javed Akhtar, former ambassador KC Singh and Justice (retd) A P Shah were also present at Tuesday’s meeting.