Archives for October 2022

RAIPUR: Political temperature across six states is set to rise following the Election Commission’s announcement of by-elections for seven Assembly seats on November 3. Besides Bihar and Maharashtra, the other states include UP (one in Gola Karan Nath in Lakhimpur Kheri), Telangana (Munigode/Nalgonda), Odisha (Dhamnagar-SC) and Haryana (Adampur).

Bihar and Maharashtra will witness two and one by-elections each, respectively. For the BJP it will be a testing ground, especially after the party’s break-up with Nitish Kumar-led JD-U a couple of months back. The seats going to the polls are Mokama and Gopalganj. 

Similarly in Maharashtra, the BJP will get a hint of the people’s mood following its ascension to power with a Shiv Sena faction led by Eknath Shinde, in Andheri-East. In Bihar, the two by-elections will be equally significant for the ruling ‘grand alliance’ that includes the JD-U, RJD and Congress besides four other parties. As per the schedule announced by the ECI, nominations will start on Oct 7. Contestants can withdraw their names till Oct 17 and the polling will take place on Nov 3. The vote is due Nov 6.

The Mokama seat fell vacant after the termination of membership of RJD MLA Anant Singh following his conviction in a criminal case. The death of sitting BJP MLA Subhash Singh necessitated a by-poll in Gopalganj. 

While Mokama is considered an RJD bastion, Gopalganj had earlier been represented by the BJP for four consecutive terms.  In Maharashtra, Andheri East belonged to Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke, who died in May this year in Dubai after a heart attack.

While the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena has fielded Latke’s wife Rutuja in the election, the BJP is fielding former corporator Murji Patel.  The Andheri by-poll will take place before the cash-rich civic body BMC goes to the polls. It will be a litmus test for the Shiv Sena, which has split vertically after a revolt.

Bihar crucial 
Bihar and Maharashtra will witness two and one by-polls each, respectively. For the BJP it will be a testing ground, especially after the party’s break-up with Nitish Kumar-led JD-U a couple of months back. The seats going to the polls are Mokama and Gopalganj. It will be equally significant for the grand alliance

MOHALI: Punjabi singer Alfaaz aka Amanjot Singh Panwar, was rushed to a private hospital in Mohali with injuries after being allegedly rammed into by a vehicle at a local Dhaba here on Saturday. Fellow Punjabi singer on Sunday night took to social media on Sunday night to update that Alfaaz was “out of danger

Reportedly, the ‘Yaar Bathere’ singer who was leaving the Pal Dhaba in the company of three of his friends was caught in an argument one Vicky, a former employee at the eatery was having with the owner.

Reportedly, Vicky requested Alfaaz to mediate and get the Dhaba owner to settle his dues. When the singer refused to intervene Vicky attempted to run away with the owner’s tempo and hit the singer while reversing the vehicle.

Reportedly the singer suffered several injuries on his head, arms and legs and was rushed to the hospital by his friends.

Vicky, the suspect managed to escape from the location but was later arrested by the Mohali Police.

Police later registered a case against the culprit at the Sohna Police station.

Fellow Punjabi singer and rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh took to his social media account and shared a picture of the ‘Haye Mera Dil’ singer from the hospital which he captioned, “My brother @itsaslialfaaz has been attacked last night, Whoever planned this won’t let u go !! Take my words !! Everyone pls pray for him.” He later deleted his post from his account.

Hours after deleting the post, Yo Yo Honey Singh shared another post, in which he shared Alfaaz’s health update and wrote, “Special thanx to Mohali police who caught the culprits who hit alfaaz with a tempo traveller on the road lastnite is now out of danger too.”

Alfaaz, a Punjabi singer, is known for his super hit songs like ‘Putt Jatt Da’, ‘Rickshaw’, ‘Gaddi’ and many more. The singer has collaborated with Yo Yo Honey Singh for chartbuster tracks like ‘Haye Mera Dil’, ‘Bebo’, ‘Birthday Bash’ and ‘Yaar Bathere’. 

BALLARI: Upparahlali village in Kampli taluk of Ballari district has been declared an alcohol-free village, thanks to the efforts of the village seniors.

It’s the first village in the district to get this ‘unique tag’ after the village heads banned the consumption and sale of alcohol in the village. If any villager is found violating the rule, the village heads fine them.

They installed an ‘Alcohol-free Village’ board at the entrance of the village recently. Many people in the village have struggled to achieve this distinction, said elders in the village.  

Nagappa Madar, a resident of Upparahalli, said that it’s a proud moment for all the residents that their village has turned alcohol-free.

“For the past two years, we were trying to declare it an alcohol-free village, but we could not do it due to many reasons. A few months ago, we created different groups in the village involving teachers, women and children. The teams would go door-to-door to create awareness of the ill-effects of alcohol. The response was positive and there was agreement by all to declare the village alcohol-free,” he said.

Besides, the teams formed by the villagers, government employees, ASHA workers and members of an NGO were also roped in for the campaign.

“Our village has a population of 1,300. We knew those who were addicted to alcohol. We spoke to their family members requesting them to convince the addicts to quit their habit. We also told villagers about the dream of village heads to get this special status for the village. The shops which used to store liquor illegally have been warned. Those who come to the village consuming alcohol have to pay a penalty,” he added.

“There were complaints of quarrels and disputes among relatives in the village, mainly from the families which had alcohol addicts. This made the village seniors achieve something unique and today our village has become a role model to others. The panchayat heads who were present during the function have promised to create awareness in other villages as well,” added another villager.

BHITIHARWA: Poll strategist Prashant Kishor on Sunday started his 3,500-km long padyatra from Bhitiharwa Gandhi Ashram and said that all political equations of major parties would be demolished if people stand against them.

“With the support and suggestions of people, we will identify thousands of ‘right people’ who want to establish a new system. I want people who wish to move parallel to me and not behind me. No power can stand before people’s power,” Kishor said addressing a large crowd. 

“Even as it’s said that I played a major role in victories and defeats of politicians, I have left the profession after 10 years,” he added. “Now, I will work for the ‘right people’ identified by the society who, as MPs, MLAs and MLCs, can work for them and their children.” 

Kishor, who was once close to Nitish Kumar, and also served as JD-U vice president before he fell out with the Bihar CM, took a dig at RJD chief Lalu Prasad and Nitish. He said, “I am not for floating a party first, as people float parties and make big promises. Bihar was the poorest and most backward state 35 years ago and remains so.” He told people, “You voted for BJP, Lalu and Nitish but no change happened. You have to vote for yourself.” 

Kishor will cover almost the entire state on foot during his one-and-a-half-year journey under his Jan Suraj Abhiyan. “I am not here to seek your votes or to form any party but to make new efforts so that we can identify the right people from the society,” Kishor said. “Even my hard critics admit that I know how to formulate election strategy. I will help the right people of the society to contest elections so that opponents find it a hard nut to crack,” he added.

Meanwhile, Nitish while replying to a media query on Kishor’s padyatra, said, “Everyone has his own wish, It doesn’t make any sense.” On the other hand, Bihar BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand said, “PK is a political middleman. He has no leadership value or electoral worth. Everyone knows he has a secret understanding with Nitishji and at the end of the day will join or collaborate with him.”

RANCHI:  In a major relief to the three suspended Congress legislators who were arrested in Kolkata with cash in their vehicle allegedly paid to them for toppling the Hemant Soren government in Jharkhand, the MP-MLA Court in Kolkata ordered the release of the vehicles seized from the spot on July 30. 

Irfan Ansari, one of the three MLAs arrested by the Kolkata Police, said that though the order was passed on September 27, the vehicles were released on Sunday. The court also said that there is nothing on record to give rise to the belief that the money recovered from them was meant for a conspiracy to topple the Jharkhand government, Ansari added. 

“It is a relief for us,” Ansari said. “It is a start of the end of our sufferings, which we have been undergoing for two months,” he added, saying that he has been framed under a conspiracy by his opponents.
“We have already been granted interim bail and the court has asked us to enjoy Durga Puja in Kolkata, which is celebrated here with great fervour. We believe that we will soon be granted regular bail as the court has already observed that no proof of any conspiracy to topple the government has been found so far,” Ansari said.

According to him, the Calcutta High Court observed, “Even if these materials are taken into consideration, apart from the solitary complaint of the de-facto complainant which was lodged after the arrest of the petitioners, there is nothing on record to give rise to the reasonable belief that the money recovered from them were in the nature of illegal gratification to induce the petitioners to participate in the conspiracy to topple the democratically elected government in Jharkhand.”

The high court on August 17 granted interim bail to all five accused persons, including the three suspended Congress MLAs – Irfan Ansari, Naman Bixal Kongari and Rajesh Kachhap, arrested by West Bengal Police in connection with the cash seizure case.

While granting bail, the High Court also directed them not to leave Kolkata for three months. Meanwhile, the court ordered for transfer of the case to the MP-MLA court for conducting the trial. The three MLAs were caught with `49 lakh in their vehicle, outside Howrah on July 30.

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday said all in the party wish to take on the BJP rather than each other.

The Thiruvananthapuram MP who is set for an electoral face-off with Congress veteran Mallikarjun Kharge for the party president’s post, said the two have no ideological difference.

His remarks came a day after Kharge said he told Tharoor that it would be better to have a consensus candidate but the Lok Sabha MP insisted on a contest for the “sake of democracy”.

The polling for the Congress presidential election will be held on October 17.

The counting of votes will be taken up on October 19 and the results will be declared the same day. More than 9,000 Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates will vote in the poll.

JODHPUR: The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Monday inducted the first fleet of indigenously-built Light Combat Helicopter (LCH), which has been developed primarily for mountain warfare after a requirement for it was felt during the Kargil war in 1999

Developed by the state-run aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), the 5.8-tonne twin-engine gunship chopper is armed with air-to-air missiles, 20 mm turret guns, rocket systems and other weapons.

The fleet comprising four helicopters was inducted into the IAF at a ceremony at the Jodhpur Air Force Station in presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari and other senior military officials. 

“It is a momentous occasion reflecting India’s capability in defence production,” Singh said.

The LCH would be effective in hitting enemy infantry, tanks, bunkers, drones and other assets in high-altitude regions, military officials said.

“Subsequently, the IAF and HAL began exploring the possibility of developing the platform with a capacity to carry an adequate weapon load, sufficient fuel and still be capable of operating in the higher reaches of the Himalayan ranges,” said an official.

JAMMU: Former Chief Minister of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state Ghulam Nabi Azad has been elected the chairman of his newly formed Democratic Azad Party (DAP), a party leader said on Saturday.

A resolution to this effect was passed at a founder members session, which was held both in Jammu and Srinagar, the leader said, adding the decision was unanimous.

Azad, 73, who quit the Congress on August 26, launched DAP in Jammu on September 26 with the support of dozens of former ministers, ex-legislators and other prominent leaders, majority of whom also resigned from the Congress in his support.

They include former deputy chief minister Tara Chand, former ministers Peerzada Mohd Sayeed, Taj Mohiuddin, G M Saroori, R S Chib, Jugal Kishore, Majid Wani and Manohar Lal Sharma among others.

Azad spent four days in Kashmir from September 27 before returning to Jammu. 

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated the 6th India Mobile Congress at Pragati Maidan in Delhi and launched 5G services

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inspected the exhibition at Pragati Maidan.

The 5G telecom services seek to provide seamless coverage, high data rate, low latency and highly reliable communications system.

The three major telecom operators of the country demonstrated one use case each in front of the Prime Minister to show the potential of 5G technology in India.

The various use cases that will be demonstrated in front of PM in the exhibition include precision drone-based farming; High-Security Routers & AI based Cyber Threat Detection platforms; Automated Guided Vehicles; Ambupod – Smart Ambulance; Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality /Mix Reality in Education and Skill Development; Sewage Monitoring System; Smart-Agri Programme; Health diagnostics, among others.5G technology will offer a wide range of benefits to the common people. It will help in providing seamless coverage, high data rate, low latency, and highly reliable communications.

Also, it will increase energy efficiency, spectrum efficiency and network efficiency. 5G technology will help in connecting billions of Internet of Things devices, will allow higher quality video services with mobility at high speed, and delivery of critical services such as telesurgery and autonomous cars among others. 5G will help in real-time monitoring of disasters, precision agriculture, and minimising the role of humans in dangerous industrial operations such as in deep mines, offshore activities etc.

Unlike existing mobile communication networks, 5G networks will allow tailoring of requirements for each of these different use cases within the same network.