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NEW DELHI: With the hike of 80 paise in prices of petrol and diesel on Saturday, the rates have been increased by Rs 3.20 per litre in five days.
After the latest price revision, petrol in Delhi will be sold at Rs 98.61 per litre and diesel at Rs 89.87 per litre.
The petrol will cost Rs 113.35 after an increase of by 84 paise and after the hike by 85 paise diesel will be sold at Rs 97.55 in the finance capital Mumbai. In Mumbai, the prices are the highest among all the metros cities.
LUCKNOW: His becoming a minister wasn’t unexpected but a symbol of faith reposed by the party in its dedicated worker, said UP’s lone Muslim minister Danish Azad Ansari on Friday.
Ansari hails from Ballia and took oath as a minister of state in the new BJP-led government in Uttar Pradesh on Friday.
Currently, Ansari is not a member of either house of the UP legislature.
“I thank the party for giving an ordinary party worker like me such a big opportunity. I thank them for this. I would discharge my duties with full honesty.
When asked whether getting the ministerial berth was unexpected, he said, “No, this was not the case. The BJP recognises the hard work of each and every worker. For me, it is a symbol of trust reposed by the party in its dedicated worker.”
He also claimed that the faith of Muslims in the BJP has increased.
“The welfare schemes run by the BJP are benefitting the Muslims. This government does not ask anyone’s caste and religion before giving them benefits of the schemes. The BJP works for basic facilities and necessities of the Muslims,” he said.
Ansari is the only Muslim face in new Uttar Pradesh government led by Yogi Adityanath.
He replaced Mohsin Raza, who served as the minister of state for minorities’ welfare in the previous Adityanath government.
Thirty-two-year Danish had joined the ABVP in 2010 when he was a student at Lucknow University.
He has done Masters in Public Administration and Quality Management.
He was nominated to the Urdu Language Committee in the Yogi government in October 2018, having the minister of state status.
Danish was appointed the general secretary of the minorities cell of the BJP just before the Assembly elections.
Born on May 30, 1988, Danish is a native of Apayal village in Bansdih Assembly constituency of Ballia.
Danish did his schooling from Ballia’s Holy Cross School.
LUCKNOW: In the first major decision of the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh, the state cabinet on Saturday decided to extend the free ration scheme initiated during the Covid pandemic by three more months.
A total of 15 crore people are benefiting from the programme in the state, Adityanath said.
The programme was an important narrative in the just-concluded Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.
After swearing-in on Friday, the first cabinet meeting of Adityanath’s second consecutive government met here this morning.
“In this introductory meeting, the chief minister thanked the people of the state for reposing their faith in nationalism, safety, good governance and development,” the Uttar Pradesh government said in a statement yesterday.
He also said that serving the people is the most pious work, and discharging duties with commitment and loyalty provides satisfaction.
Observing that honesty and transparency are extremely important in public life, the chief minister said the focus should be on performance-based work.
The ministers should also keep a special watch on their private staff.
They should visit their districts as in-charge ministers, do physical verification of development work and also take feedback from the people, Adityanath said.
The chief minister added that a special programme be organised for the ministers at IIM-Lucknow to give speed to the developmental works, the statement said.
After taking oath as the Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister for the second time, Keshav Prasad Maurya on Friday said every promise made in the BJP poll manifesto will be fulfilled on time and assured all-round development of the state.
Maurya expressed his gratitude towards the central BJP leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, for appointing him as the deputy chief minister again.
He also expressed his gratitude towards the people and workers of the state.
Talking to reporters at his official residence on Kalidas Marg, Maurya said, “Every promise made in the Lok Kalyan Sankalp Patra (BJP manifesto) will be fulfilled on time and all-round development of Uttar Pradesh will be done.”
“With the motto of Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas and Sabka Vishwas (everyone’s support, development, trust), every possible help will be provided to every person of the state without any discrimination while law and order will be maintained,” he added.
Maurya said service of the people and the interests of farmers will be paramount for the BJP government in the state.
“The state will continue to move forward on the path of development,” he said.
Promising to respect the mandate given by the people, he said, “The honour of every individual and the dignity of BJP workers will be fully protected.”
Dinesh Sharma, Shrikant Sharma and Siddharth Nath Singh are among the prominent faces who are missing from the UP government this time.
The oath ceremony was held at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium in the presence of PM Narendra Modi and top BJP leaders.
Dinesh Sharma, who in the previous Yogi Adityanath government held the charge of the deputy CM, has been replaced by Brajesh Pathak.
Dinesh Sharma is a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council.
Shrikant Sharma and Siddharth Nath Singh also failed to make the cut.
Shrikant Sharma held the charge of the power minister in the previous BJP-led government while Siddharth Nath Singh held the MSME portfolio.
The name of Satish Mahana, who headed the industry department in the previous BJP government and was elected from Maharajpur in Kanpur district, was missing from the list of new ministers.
Ramapati Shastri, a BJP MLA from Mankapur in Gonda district, too was left out.
Earlier, he held the charge of the social welfare minister.
With UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh taking oath as a cabinet minister, the post of state party chief is likely to fall vacant and a new leader may be appointed to the position, a senior leader said, citing the “one person, one post” principle.
Among the leaders who failed to get a ministerial berth this time were Jai Pratap Singh, Ram Naresh Agnihotri, Ashutosh Tandon, Neelkanth Tiwari and Mahendra Singh.
Mohsin Raza, who was the lone Muslim minister in the previous state government, was replaced by Danish Azad Ansari.
Swami Prasad Maurya, Dharam Singh Saini and Dara Singh Chauhan, who were ministers in the previous BJP government, had quit the BJP just ahead of the Assembly polls and contested from the Opposition Samajwadi Party.
Ministers Mukut Bihari Verma and Swati Singh were not given ticket by the BJP in the just-concluded Assembly polls.
A know how of the new Yogi Cabinet
Danish Azad Ansari: Lone Muslim face in UP government
Danish Azad Ansari is the only Muslim face in new Uttar Pradesh government led by Yogi Adityanath.
Hailing from Ballia, Ansari replaced Mohsin Raza, who served as the minister of state for minorities’ welfare in the previous Yogi Adityanath government.
He took an oath as a minister of state.
Thirty-two-year Danish had joined the ABVP when he was a student at Lucknow University, from where he completed his graduation.
He was nominated to the Urdu Language Committee in the Yogi government in October 2018, having the minister of state status.
Danish was appointed the general secretary of the minorities cell of the BJP just before the Assembly elections.
He has done his schooling from Ballia’s Holy Cross School.
Swatantra Dev Singh: Former journalist, influential OBC leader
An influential OBC leader and currently the state BJP president, Swatantra Dev Singh was named Congress Singh by his parents.
Born on February 13, 1964 in a village of Mirzapur district, he changed his name after joining the BJP.
Singh, who belongs to the backward Kurmi caste and played a crucial role in paving the way for the party’s second consecutive win in the UP Assembly polls, was elevated to the post of the state BJP chief in 2019.
Singh had started his career as a reporter for a Hindi daily in 1986.
He was made a minister in the Yogi Adityanath-led previous government and earlier held various positions in the party, including that of its state vice-president and general secretary.
He also held the post of the the state president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha.
At present, Singh is a member of the state Legislative Council and had played a crucial role in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2014 and 2017 election rallies in UP.
Singh holds BSc degree from Bundelkhand University.
Baby Rani Maurya: Quit as Uttarakhand Governor to enter active politics
An influential Jatav leader, Baby Rani Maurya last year resigned from the Uttarakhand governor’s post, taking a plunge into active politics.
On Friday, the 65-year-old Dalit leader was sworn-in as an Uttar Pradesh cabnet minister.
Maurya had resigned from the governor’s post in September last year, leading to speculations that the party want her to enter active politics.
She held the post for three years.
She was made the national vice-president of the party and was elected to the state Assembly from Agra (Rural) in the just-concluded elections.
With a degree in education (B.Ed) and Masters in Arts, she has been a member of the National Commission for Women.
She had contested the 2007 Assembly elections from Etmadpur on a BJP ticket but was defeated then.
Her husband Pradeep Kumar retired from a senior post in a bank.
Baby Rani Maurya had joined the BJP in 1995 and then became the mayor of Agra.
After that, she held several positions in the party.
Keshav Prasad Maurya: Back in saddle as Uttar Pradesh deputy CM
Despite having lost the recent Assembly elections, Keshav Prasad Maurya’s continuation as UP deputy chief minister speaks volumes about his popularity and hold over the backward classes, whose crucial support was instrumental in the BJP retaining power in the state.
The 52-year-old leader lost from Sirathu by nearly 7000 votes, leading to speculations of his omission from the new Adityanath-led government.
But the party reposed its faith in him.
Coming from a humble background, his political career started during the Ram temple movement under the guidance of Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s Ashok Singhal.
BJP insiders say Maurya helped his parents in agricultural work, ran a tea shop and also sold newspapers in his early days.
He also remained a “pracharak” of the VHP and the Bajrang Dal for 18 years.
Though his electoral journey witnessed early defeats, Maurya won from Sirathu seat as a BJP candidate in 2012.
Maurya came into the limelight in 2013, when he led a protest against the arrival of a Christian missionary in a college of Allahabad.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, he was fielded by the party from Phulpur and won the seat with a record number of votes.
His real test came in 2016 when he was made the state president of the BJP and he undertook extensive tours of the state to muster the support of the backwards.
His hard work paid off as the BJP defeated the ruling Samajwadi Party in the elections, winning 312 of the 403 seats, with the allies chipping in with 13 more seats.
Maurya was made the deputy chief minister in the previous government.
He resigned from Parliament and was elected to the upper house of the state legislature.
NEW DELHI: With 1,938 coronavirus infections being reported in a day, India’s total tally of cases rose to 4,30,14,687, while the active cases further declined to 22,427, according to Union health ministry data updated on Thursday.
The death toll has climbed to 5,16,672 with 67 daily fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.
The active cases comprise 0.05 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.75 per cent, the ministry said.
A reduction of 660 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
The daily positivity rate has been recorded at 0.29 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 0.35 per cent, according to the ministry.
The last 24 hours saw a total of 6,61,954 COVID-19 tests being conducted in the country and so far, over 78.49 crore tests have been done.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has increased to 4,24,75,588, while the case fatality rate has been recorded at 1.20 per cent.
The cumulative doses administered, so far, under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 182.23 crore.
India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed two crore cases on May 4 and three crore cases on June 23.
The 67 new fatalities include 61 from Kerala.
A total of 5,16,672 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 1,43,769 from Maharashtra, 67,476 from Kerala, 40,042 from Karnataka, 38,025 from Tamil Nadu, 26,148 from Delhi, 23,492 from Uttar Pradesh and 21,197 from West Bengal.
The health ministry said that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.
NEW DELHI: More than 69 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses have so far been administered to the beneficiaries in the 12-14 years age group, the Union health ministry said on Wednesday.
The cumulative number of Covid vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 182 crore on Wednesday, it added.
More than 28 lakh (28,17,612) vaccine doses were administered till 7 pm on Wednesday, the ministry said, adding that the daily vaccination tally is expected to go up with the compilation of the final reports by late night.
Over 69 lakh (69,99,528) vaccine doses have so far been administered to the beneficiaries in the 12-14 age group, according to the ministry’s data.
More than 2.21 crore (2,21,14,924) precaution doses have been given to the healthcare workers, frontline workers and those aged above 60 years, the ministry said.
The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 last year, with the healthcare workers getting inoculated in the first phase. The vaccination of the frontline workers started from February 2 last year.
The next phase of Covid vaccination commenced on March 1 last year for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.
The country launched vaccination for all people aged above 45 years from April 1 last year.
The Centre then decided to expand the vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 years of age to be inoculated against the viral disease from May 1 last year.
The next phase of Covid vaccination commenced from January 3 this year for adolescents in the age group of 15-18 years.
The country began administering precaution doses of the vaccines to the healthcare workers, the frontline workers and those aged 60 years and above with comorbidities from January 10 this year. The inoculation of children aged 12-14 started from March 16.
PATNA: Bihar Assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha on Wednesday took a serious view of the repeated absence of certain ministers at the time of tabling the budgetary demands of their respective departments in the ongoing budget session.
“Proceedings of the House cannot be taken lightly either by ministers or members. And I must say that the precedence of tabling the budgetary demand of a particular department by the minister concerned must be followed as it is an important annual legislative business,” Sinha told PTI.
The Speaker said he conveyed this to the members of the treasury benches during the day.
He, however, refused to reveal the names of ministers who remained absent at the time of tabling the budgetary demands of their respective departments.
“The ministers who are supposed to lay papers on the table of the house should not be absent. I am not talking about extreme circumstances, but it should not become a habit,” Sinha said.
Senior leaders of political parties must ensure that members follow the rules strictly and maintain the dignity of the House, he said.
The Bihar assembly was on Wednesday repeatedly disrupted on account of vociferous protests by the opposition which demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over hooch deaths around Holi, forcing adjournment of proceedings on two occasions.
The issue was first raised during Zero Hour when MLAs of Congress, RJD and the Left trooped into the well raising slogans against the chief minister and could not be pacified despite a request by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary that the matter of hooch deaths be discussed when the budgetary outlay for Home Department is put to vote on Friday.
Around 12.30 PM, Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha adjourned the House till 2 PM, and again till 4.50 PM when it reassembled for the post lunch session.
At 4.50 PM, the chief minister also came to the House and the opposition MLAs remained on their feet raising the slogan “Nitish Kumar isteefa do” (Nitish Kumar, resign) even as the speaker hurriedly conducted the business for the day and adjourned the proceedings till Thursday.
More than 20 deaths, blamed on consumption of spurious liquor, were reported around Holi from the districts of Banka, Bhagalpur, Madhepura and Buxar.
These came barely a few months after about 40 people died around Deepawali in hooch tragedies reported from some other districts.
The police has claimed that in most cases the district magistrates concerned have said the deaths had other causes like accidents or illnesses, or, the bodies had been cremated by family members before autopsy because of which further investigation was not possible.
In Bhagalpur, according to Senior SP Babu Ram, a case has been registered on the statement of Arvind Yadav, a resident of Sahibganj locality who had fallen ill and confessed to consumption of alcohol during the festivities.
Sale and consumption of alcohol were completely banned by the Nitish Kumar government in April, 2016.
While the chief minister has asserted that hooch tragedies were a reason for more stringent measures for enforcement of prohibition and ordered surveillance through drones and helicopters, the opposition has maintained that the ban on liquor remained only on paper and bootleggers were facilitating “home delivery”.
It has also been repeatedly alleged by the opposition that while poor people ended up being behind bars for flouting prohibition, the big fish enjoyed the patronage of influential politicians and bureaucrats.
BENGALURU: The state finance audit report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India for the year ended March 31, 2021 has pointed out that the share of expenditure under social services decreased by around 3 per cent during the financial year as compared to the previous year.
The CAG noted, “Adequate priority needs to be given to education and health sector as the ratio of expenditure under the sector to aggregate expenditure was less than the general category states and some of its neighbouring states.’’
Experts said the reduction was because of the pandemic and resulting poor collection of taxes. The report noted that Karnataka, which had recorded revenue surplus since 2004-05, witnessed a revenue deficit for the first time in 2020-21 to the tune of Rs 19,338 crore.
Burden of interest payment an increasing trend: CAG
AGAINST the projected revenue of Rs 69,592 crore, actual taxes collected by the state and GST compensation received aggregated to Rs 60,660.32 crore, a shortfall of Rs 8,932.17 crore. The CAG noted that open market loans amounted to 63 per cent in the total fiscal liabilities, including off-budget borrowings, by the state.
The burden of interest payment was on an increasing trend, and the ratio of interest payment to revenue receipts was highest during 2020-21 at 14.95 per cent. The CAG noted that against the total provision of Rs 2.65 lakh crore, expenditure incurred was Rs 2.42 lakh crore which meant an unspent provision of Rs 22,526.24 crore. It stated that orders were issued for incurring additional expenditure of Rs 5,281.70 crore without approval from the legislature.
These executive orders were later regularised through supplementar y demands. During 2020-21, the state government amended the Karnataka Fiscal Responsibility Act to raise the fiscal deficit from 3 per cent to 5 per cent of the estimated Gross State Domestic Product as a one time relaxation due to the pandemic.
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to accord urgent hearing on the pleas challenging the Karnataka High Court verdict which dismissed the petitions seeking permission to wear hijab inside the classroom and stated that the headscarf is not a part of the essential religious practice in Islam.
A bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justice Krishna Murari denied the request of senior advocate Devadatt Kamat who mentioned the matter seeking urgent listing saying that examinations are going on.
“Exams have nothing to do with the issue,” the bench said.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted that they are repeatedly mentioning the matter.
“Mr SG, can you wait,” the apex court said, while asking Kamat not to sensitise the issue.
“These are girls, the exams are from 28th. They are being prevented from entering the schools. One year will go,” Kamat said.
The apex court, however, did not accede to the request.
On March 16, the apex court had agreed to list for hearing after Holi vacation the pleas challenging the Karnataka High Court verdict which dismissed the petitions seeking permission to wear hijab inside the classroom saying it is not a part of the essential religious practice in the Islamic faith.
It had taken note of the submissions of senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, appearing for some students, that urgent hearing was needed keeping in mind the upcoming examinations.
Some petitions have been filed against the full bench high court verdict which held that wearing hijab is not a part of essential religious practice in the Islamic faith under Article 25 of the Constitution.
The high court had dismissed the petitions filed by a section of Muslim students from the Government Pre-University Girls College in Udupi, seeking permission to wear hijab inside the classroom.
The prescription of school uniform is only a reasonable restriction, constitutionally permissible which the students cannot object to, the high court had said.
Nasheman news
The Aam Aadmi Party state president Prithvi Reddy inaugurated the party’s state wide membership drive on Wednesday. The membership drive was inaugurated by inducting a peanut wendor in cubbon park, an auto rikshaw driver, a practicing Doctor, a lawyer, a journalist and many others joined the party.
Speaking after the inauguration, Prithvi Reddy said, “The Aam Aadmi Party has got the recognition as the fastest growing party in the country. We have come to power in two states even before the party completes 10 years. We are getting good response in Karnataka as well. We have started the membership drive in the state with the intent of building the party into a huge force.”
“We have the target of inducting 50 lakh members in a month. We are keeping in touch with the people through our pro-people demonstrations, house visits and with the help of technology. People are getting attracted to the achievements of Delhi C M Kejriwal’s government and the ideology of the Aam Aadmi Party. This membership drive will give a huge boost to the party building in the state,” Prithvi Reddy said.
“Kannadigas have always admired the Aam Aadmi Party looking at Delhi C M Kejriwal’s transparent and pro- people administration. Now the admiration has grown two fold as the party has come to power in Punjab with a good majority. Looking at all these, it is clear that our membership drive will be successful beyond expectations,” Prithvi Reddy opined.
A A P leaders such as Mohan Dasari, Nanjappa Kalegowda, Kushala Swamy, Jagadish V Sadam, Fariduddin Sheriff, Chennappa Gowda Nellooru, Usha Mohan, Vijay Shastrimath, Manjunatha Swamy, Mukund and others were present in the event.