Archives for January 2022

GHAZIABAD:Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday took part in a door-to-door campaign in Ghaziabad and launched a scathing attack on the Samajwadi Party, saying while a Haj House was built here earlier, his government constructed the Kailash Mansarovar Bhawan.

“Earlier Haj House was made in Ghaziabad. Our government constructed Kailash Mansarovar Bhawan. Earlier the mafia used to harass traders, but now no mafia can dare to grab property of any trader, doctor or a poor person,” he said.

“In the past, ration meant for the poor did not reach them and it would go to Bangladesh through the food grains mafia. But today food grains are reaching the poor and 15 crore people have got it. The ‘double engine’ government is making available a double dose of food grains,” he said, referring to the BJP-led dispensations in the state and at the Centre.

The Haj House in Ghaziabad was inaugurated in September 2016, while the Kailash Mansarovar Bhawan was inaugurated in December 2020.

Adityanath also targeted the Samajwadi Party over its promise of providing 300 units of electricity free to domestic consumers, saying that during its rule there was no electricity supply.

He said the SP was making many promises, knowing well that it would not win the elections.

“We distributed tablets to the youth and they are saying that they will also give smart phones. They know that they are not going to come to power, hence they are promising anything and everything,” Adityanath said.

He also targeted SP president Akhilesh Yadav over the pension scheme for the elderly.

Targeting his opponents over the law and order situation, he said, “There was no coronavirus during SP-BSP governments, but curfew was definitely imposed. There is corona in our time, but there is no curfew. Public life is normal. What was the situation in western Uttar Pradesh before 2017? There was an atmosphere of fear everywhere. At some places, there used to be curfew-like atmosphere in evening.”

Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases between February 10 and March 7, and the results will be declared on March 10.

Ghaziabad district will vote in the first phase.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday urged the people to light a flame on the Republic Day in the “memory of Amar Jawan Jyoti”, days after its merger with the eternal flame at the National War Memorial.

In a tweet in Hindi, Akhilesh Yadav said, “In the memory of ‘Amar Jawan Jyoti’, this time on January 26, let us all light a flame at our own level and together raise one voice of one country. (We) will take a pledge on January 26, and will light the Amar Jawan Jyoti once again. Those whose names are not registered in the country’s history, they want to change the history.”

In a short ceremony on Friday afternoon, a part of the Amar Jawan Jyoti flame at the India Gate was taken and merged with the eternal flame at the National War Memorial (NWM) 400 metres away.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on February 25, 2019, inaugurated the NWM, where names of 25,942 soldiers have been inscribed in golden letters on granite tablets.

After India defeated Pakistan in the 1971 war, the Amar Jawan Jyoti was constructed as a memorial to Indian soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice.

It was inaugurated by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, on January 26, 1972.

Union minister and BJP leader Anurag Thakur on Sunday targeted the Samajwadi Party over its promise of providing 300 units of electricity free to domestic consumers, saying under the party-led government power cables were used to hang clothes to dry.

The Union Information and Broadcasting Minister took part in a party campaign in Hazratganj area of the state capital.

“Getting electricity for 300 hours a month was difficult in his regime, but now he is talking about giving 300 units of free electricity. This raises doubts,” he said, targeting SP president Akhilesh Yadav.

Power cables were used to hang clothes during the previous SP regime, he said.

“This is not the new SP, this is the same SP. This is the same SP which the people fear. A person who has given rule of criminals and mafia and corruption to the state, how can the people believe him?” Thakur said.

He alleged that the SP chief would again blame the electronic voting machines when the poll results are declared.

He said the SP has fielded people with criminal records in this election.

Some of the SP candidates are in jail and some others are out on bail, he added.

“Under the SP government, women felt insecure. But in the five years of the government of Yogi Adityanath, the safety of women has been given top priority. This is the reason Aparna Yadav (of SP), Aditi Singh and Priyanka Maurya (both from the Congress) joined the BJP. The women of the state feel secure in the BJP,” Thakur said.

“The opposition is making continuous efforts to instigate the public by banking on caste equations and trivial politics. In making such efforts, they were unsuccessful in 2017 and the people are going to reject the Samajwadi Party completely in 2022,” he said.

Thakur said, “Their (SP) IT cell means ‘Income from Terror’. It has criminals like Atiq (Ahmed) and Nahid Hasan. It was because of them that industrialists, traders and the common people had to undertake an exodus from the state.”

Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases between February 10 and March 7, and the results will be declared on March 10.

BENGALURU: The sleuths of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) have arrested two persons in connection with the alleged plot to murder Kannada film producer Umapathy Srinivas. The two were absconding for more than a year.

The police team rushed to the spot and nabbed the duo, which had managed to evade arrest for one year.
In December 2020, the Jayanagar police had arrested a gang that was planning to murder film producer Umapathy and his brother Deepak Gowda.

The police had arrested 16 people in connection with the case and had found that the gang had received supari from a person, who shared business rivalry with Umapathy, to eliminate the latter.

NEW DELHI: Keeping in mind the fast infections of the new variant of the COVID 19, the strength of the marching contingents on the Republic Day have been reduced this year.

Also, this time a total of 6 marching contingents from the Indian Army will be participating on the occasion of 73rd Republic Day parade celebrations on January 26. The contingents will be wearing uniforms depicting the change in it since independence and also will carry the weapons of those times.

The first contingent to march forward will be of Rajput Regiment, wearing the uniform of 1950 and carrying .303 rifle, followed by Assam Regiment, donning the dress of 1960s. Then, the Jammu & Kashmir Light Infantry troops will be attired in the 1970s uniform with 7.62 mm self-loaded rifle.

The personnel of the Sikh Light Infantry and Army Ordnance Corps would be wearing the current uniform and would be carrying a 5.56mm rifle.

The newly-inducted combat uniform will be donned by the Parachute Regiment contingent. The troops will be carrying Israel-origin Tavor rifles.

Major Vishesh, Parachute Regiment’s contingent commander said, “Wearing the new combat uniform at the Republic Day parade will be a proud moment for the elite force,”.

Major Varun Pratap Singh will lead the Rajput Regiment contingent. “It’s an honour for us to participate in the Republic Day parade.” He spoke.

This time the parade will display a unique mix of vintage and new equipment in the mechanised column.

Among the Armoured columns the first column will be of one PT-76, one centurion tank, two Main Battle Tank Arjun MK-1 tanks, one APC Topas armoured personnel carrier, one BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle and two BMP-II infantry fighting vehicles will be shown to the public.

One 75/24 pack howitzer, two Dhanush howitzers, one PMS bridge-laying system, two Sarvatra bridge-laying systems, one HT-16 electronic warfare system, two Taran Shakti electronic warfare system, one Tiger Cat missile system and two Akash missile systems will also be the part of the mechanised columns.

Besides, one each marching contingent of the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force will be participating. There would be a total of 16 marching contingents, including four CAPF contingents, two NCC, one each Delhi Police and NSS.

There will be two motorcycle display teams and two animal contingents. The motorcycle team will be from the BSF and ITBP while the animal contingents would be from 61 Cavalry and BSF camels.

Maj Gen Kakkar added that two new events have been added in the Beating the retreat ceremony this year.

There would be laser mapping protection on the north and south blocks of the Raisina Hills and a coordinated show of 1000 drones. They will display various shapes when it is dark at Vijay Chowk. It will be held for the first time in India.

Parmesh S Jain

The State government is doing its duty in the form of Thrividha Dasoha of providing Anna(food),Ashraya(shelter) and Akshara(education) for the deprived,Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said.

Speaking to media persons before heading to participate in the ‘Dasoha Dina’ at Tumakuru Siddaganga Mutt he said, “Siddaganga Mutt has heralded a culture of Dasoha(charity) in Karnataka.

Sri Shivakumara Swamiji has followed the ideals of Basaveshwara in letter and spirit. State government has decided to celebrate Dasoha Day in Siddaganga Mutt.

Our government is treading the path shown by the great seer.The rice quota per head has been raised from 4kg to 5kg.Ragi and Jowar are also being distributed according to the food habits of the region.

State government has undertaken Vidya Dasoha(educational charity) by providing scholarships for children of construction workers and farmers.

A massive housing project is being implemented. About 5 lakh houses are being constructed,” Bommai said. 

Weekend Curfew

The meeting with expert committee members later in the afternoon would decide on the continuation of weekend curfew.

Many legislators, MPs and organisations are set to convey their opinion on the issue.A suitable decision would be taken based on the views of the experts and the trend of the prevailing third wave of Covid, Bommai said.

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said he has accepted the challenge thrown by Union home minister Amit Shah that Sena should contest elections on its own and targetted BJP over its “politically-convenient” Hindutva.

The Sena will try to expand its footprint outside Maharashtra and aim for a national role, he added.

He said the Sena had aligned with BJP for taking forward the agenda of Hindutva through power.

“I have accepted the challenge given by Union home minister Amit Shah that Shiv Sena should contest elections on its own,” Thackeray said.

He said when BJP was growing politically, it aligned with several regional parties including Sena.

At that time, BJP used to lose poll deposits in several places, he said.

“Shiv Sena had aligned with BJP as it wanted power for Hindutva. Sena never used Hindutva for the sake of power,” he said.

The Sena has left BJP and not Hindutva.

I believe that BJP’s opportunistic Hindutva is only for power, he added.

Thackeray alleged that BJP forged an “opportunistic alliance” with PDP in Kashmir.

“BJP even tied up with Nitish Kumar (in Bihar) who had spoken about a ‘Sangh-mukt’ (RSS free) Bharat,” he said.

The Sena fell out with BJP after the 2019 Maharashtra polls and tied up with NCP and Congress to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

Thackeray said the Sena openly formed a post-poll alliance with Congress and NCP while BJP “engineered splits in other parties and dislodged elected governments to install the party in power”.

He also said that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by BJP has shrunken as old constituents like Akali Dal and Shiv Sena have already walked out of the bloc.

“We supported the BJP wholeheartedly to enable them to fulfil their national ambitions. The understanding was they will go national while we will lead in Maharashtra. But we were betrayed and attempts were made to destroy us in our home. So we had to hit back,” Thackeray said justifying his decision to align with Congress and Nationalist Congress Party after the 2019 elections.

He alleged that BJP uses and dumps its allies as per its political convenience.

Responding to BJP’s jibes that Sena had abandoned Hindutva for power, Thackeray said his party had left BJP and not the ideology of Hindutva.

“BJP doesn’t mean Hindutva. I stand by my comment that Shiv Sena had wasted 25 years in alliance with BJP,” he said.

Referring to recent Nagar Panchayat elections where Sena fared poorly and secured the fourth position, Thackeray said leaders of Sena, including himself, didn’t take local body polls seriously and campaign accordingly.

“On the contrary, our new allies Congress and NCP have built institutions at the grassroots. We too have to work in that direction. In the last two years, we lost two Legislative Council seats held by us in the biennial elections. I think we lost due to the neglect and not due to sabotage in our ranks,” he said.

He said this setback notwithstanding, Sena should aim at consolidating its presence at the national level and resolve to capture power in Delhi.

Thackeray asked Sena workers and leaders to focus on building institutions in the cooperative and banking sector in rural areas.

“There is no point talking about contesting elections independently if our hands are not strong,” he said.

Thackeray said the Sena should also expand beyond Maharashtra and aim to “capture” Delhi.

He appealed to Shiv sainiks to work with zeal and build the party organisation at the grassroots as the party is in power in Maharashtra.

Thackeray, who recuperated after undergoing spine surgery, also lashed out at Maharashtra BJP leaders for attacking him over his health.