Archives for 2022

MUMBAI: In a major setback to Maharashtra’s ruling alliance of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, the BJP on Saturday won three of the six Rajya Sabha seats in the state, even as the ruling combine questioned the eight-hour delay in counting of votes.

The winners include BJP candidates Union minister Piyush Goyal and former state minister Anil Bonde and Dhananjay Mahadik. Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut, NCP’s Praful Patel and Congress’ Imran Pratapgarhi also won the fiercely-fought elections.

The contest was for the sixth seat the BJP had fielded former MP Dhananjay Mahadik and the Shiv Sena candidate was Sanjay Pawar, who lost. Mahadik and Pawar hail from Kolhapur in western Maharashtra.

The high-stake battle for the sixth turned out to be a nail-biting affair with the Congress and BJP trading charges, even approaching the Election Commission.

“Elections are contested not just for the fight, but the victory. Jai Maharashtra,” tweeted BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis, whose refusal to have consensus candidates for the Rajya Sabha led to elections in the state after 23 years.

The counting of votes started after an eight-hour delay amid complaints of cross-voting and rules violations by the BJP and the ruling alliance. Both BJP and the Shiv Sena approached the Election Commission, alleging cross-voting and seeking disqualification of votes.be poll panel directed the Rajya Sabha election returning officer of Maharashtra to reject the vote cast by Shiv Sena legislator Suhas Kande, after which the counting of votes got underway.

He said the Modi government should realise that the world will not dance to the tunes of the BJP and the RSS.

“NDA Government is well known as the ‘No Data Available’ Government. Now it is the ‘No Dissonance Allowed’ Government,” Chidambaram said on Twitter.

That is why it rejected the Environmental Performance Index that placed India at the last place among 180 countries, the former union minister added.

He recalled that earlier the government rejected the WHO report on excess Covid deaths as well as the Global Hunger Index.

“Modi Government should realise that the world will not dance to tunes of the BJP/RSS,” the Congress leader said.

NEW DELHI: Union Minister and deputy leader in Rajya Sabha, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Wednesday said here that Al-Qaeda is a “problem” and not “protection” for Muslims as the terrorist group is misusing the Islam as a “safety cover”. 

Speaking to the media, Naqvi said India’s strength of co-existence cannot be harmed by any narrow-minded communal conspiracy. 

“India’s commitment to “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” and “Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah” has ensured that followers of all religions are flourishing in the environment of equality, freedom and inclusivity”, he said

Going further, Naqvi said that out of every 10 Muslims living in the world, one Muslim lives in India with equal socio-economic, educational, religious and constitutional rights. “However, the selective silence on oppression and cruelty against minorities in our neighbouring country is something that is hypocritically shocking”, he said.

Lashing out at Pakistan, he said that the minorities’ population in Pakistan, which was about 24 per cent of the total population during the Partition, has now been reduced to even below 2 per cent. “While in India, minorities’ population which was about 8 per cent of the total population during the Partition, has now increased to over 22 per cent”, he claimed.

He added that the “Pakistan Propped Propaganda” is to cover up the persecution of minorities and safe haven of terrorism in Pakistan and at the same time, to defame India in a conspiracy to spoil the atmosphere of peace and prosperity.

Quoting figures, the minister said there are more than 3 lakh active mosques in India, and there is an equal number of other places of worship for the Muslim community.

“There are more than 50,000 registered madrasas and more than 50,000 minority educational institutions, which is more than several Islamic countries. Similarly, there are thousands of churches, gurudwaras, and places of worship for Buddhists, Parsis and Jains. These all are a reflection of “Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat” and “Unity in Diversity””, he claimed.

“Equal rights, dignity and prosperity of the minorities including Muslims are a part of India’s commitment to tolerance, harmony and inclusivity. During the last eight years, the Modi government has made all sections of the society including minorities an equal partner of peace and prosperity”, he claimed.

Naqvi further said that unable to digest this positive atmosphere of “development with trust” in the country, some people are spreading falsehood on the issue of minorities before the world which is fabricated and opposite to the ground reality. 

“These people are trying to hide the “mountain of truth” behind “bushes of lies”, he lambasted.

With 122 MLAs, including independents, BJP can ensure the victory of its two candidates (each requires 45 votes), but it is eyeing second-preference votes to elect its third candidate Siroya, who will have 32 first-preference votes. With 69 MLAs, Congress candidate Jairam Ramesh can win comfortably, but the party needs the backing of JDS to send its second candidate to the Upper House as it has just 24 additional votes. If JDS, with 32 votes, supports Congress, Mansur Ali Khan can win.

Kumaraswamy said Surjewala told him that state Congress leaders will discuss the issue with them.
Senior JDS leader HD Revanna said Congress and JDS should keep aside their minor differences to defeat the third BJP candidate. “We have to come together earlier to defeat the BJP,” he pointed out.
Kumaraswamy slammed Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah, asking him not to talk lightly of the regional party and its candidate.

JDS leaders were firm that they would not withdraw their candidate, while Congress too was adamant. The last date for formally withdrawing the candidate is already over and all three parties have issued whips to their MLAs as the election to the fourth Rajya Sabha seat hangs in a balance. KPCC president DK Shivakumar said that since Congress had withdrawn from the contest when JDS patriarch HD Deve Gowda contested the RS polls, the regional party should pay back and pull out its candidate.

ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN, WAIT AND WATCH, SAYS CM
Bengaluru: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday said people have to wait and watch till Friday to know the results of the Rajya Sabha elections. The elections are being held for four seats. Of them, BJP candidates, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Seetharaman and actor-turned-politician Jaggesh, and Congress nominee Jairam Ramesh will win easily as both parties have the required number of MLAs. But the fight is on for the fourth seat, for which BJP’s Lehar Singh Siroya, Congress’ Mansur Ali Khan and JDS’ Kupendra Reddy are in the race. BJP on Wednesday held a meeting to explain the poll process to its legislators. After the meeting, Bommai said that since there is a contest for the fourth seat, the candidate who gets the least number of first-preference votes will be eliminated. This is when the second-preference votes come into play. “We have additional 32 MLAs for the third candidate. Anything can happen,” he added.

Police on Thursday said that  Mohammad Khaja, 23, died by suicide by hanging in his house on Wednesday late at night.  
 
Khaja, in January, told his father that he started working and earning money. But, he actually raised loans through apps, which usually lure people with less interest. He had been claiming that he is working and making money while the fact is that he took loans from Apps. 

He reportedly repaid a portion of the loan. However, he is yet to pay the interest amounts. 

As usual, loan app agents contacted references that were given in the loan application. The agent made the first call to Khaja’s father and informed him about the loan amount and stated that his son failed to pay the interest amount. The same night, Khaja’s father questioned him about the loan and the recovery amount.

Police opined that perhaps he was upset that his family got to know about the loan amount and took his own life. Police are yet to ascertain the total amount of loan raised by Khaja and the dues. 

Addressing the Biotech Startup Expo here after inaugurating the two-day event, Modi said India’s ‘bio-economy’ has grown eight times in the last eight years and has reached USD 80 billion from USD 10 billion and noted the country is not far from reaching the league of top 10 countries in the global ecosystem of biotech.

He said in the last eight years the number of startups in the country has increased from a few hundreds to over 70,000, adding that his government had worked to boost the ease of doing business and promote a culture of entrepreneurship.

Modi observed that these 70,000 startups are established in about 60 different industries. Noting that exports from some sectors have hit a record, he said supporting and developing every sector is the country’s need and his government is exploring every means to give momentum to India’s development.

The biotech sector is very important in giving new momentum to the country’s development, he said.

Noting that global trust in the skill and innovation of India’s IT professionals in the world is at its new peak, he said the country’s biotech sector is drawing a similar trust.

Diverse population, diverse climatic zones, talented human capital pool, increasing efforts to boost ease of doing business, increasing demand in India for bio-products and the track record of this sector’s success are the five big reasons for India being considered a land of opportunity in biotech, he said.

Modi said the Biotech Startup Expo 2022 will strengthen the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ movement in the sector.

The Biotech Startup Expo-2022 is a two day event being held on June 9 and 10. The theme of the Expo is ‘Biotech Startup Innovations: Towards AatmaNirbhar Bharat’.

The Expo, the government has said, will act as a platform to connect entrepreneurs, investors, industry leaders, scientists, researchers, bio-incubators, manufacturers, regulators and government officials.

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CHHATTISGARH state is going to introduce Yoga and Moral Education as part of the school curricula from the current academic session that is scheduled to commence from mid-June. The new classes will be compulsory.

The purpose behind the move, according to officials, is to create awareness among schoolchildren about health, hygiene, cleanliness, besides inculcating a better understanding about fairness, caring, respect and becoming a responsible citizen among them. “We have planned to make such education compulsory from the current session. The education shouldn’t just end up as mere academic note but it should equally lead to building a good character with sound moral values. However, there will not be any examination for these two new courses,” said Alok Shukla, secretary, school education.

“The feedback about children and students often showing indiscipline, becoming irritable during the pandemic and lockdown made us realise that the thrust be also given to indoctrinate self-discipline and good behavior,” said an educationist associated with SCERT. Chhattisgarh Textbook Corporation has published the school books on Yoga and Moral Education. “It would soon be distributed in the schools along with the other academic books to the students. Besides building moral character, it will help students perform better,” said Shailesh Nitin Trivedi, chairman, Chhattisgarh Textbook Corporation.

Intended Goals 

Yoga education: To improve concentration, meditation, learn benefits of types of yoga workout
Cleanliness: on how to accomplish it at home, school, in the vicinity where students live
Discipline: its importance in schools and home. Significance of discipline in student’s life

In his Tiranga yatra on Monday, Kejriwal dared the state BJP chief CR Patil to name him as ‘maha-thug’ and quickly reminded the people of the honest works that he has done for Delhi. The AAP convener clearly put up the Delhi model against the BJP’s Gujarat model of development.

The BJP’s model had the brand name of Narendra Modi. The party draws its strength from the booth-level management that percolates down to all villages. AAP is trying to brand itself with Kejriwal, a well-known national leader who exploited the pent-up anger among voters of Punjab, resulting in the massive defeats of all mainstream parties in the February polls.

The AAP has dug in its heels against the formidable BJP in several ways. The BJP has formed a page committee to reach every corner of Gujarat. AAP is organizing village meetings (Gamdu Bethaks). Such panels formed by BJP do a good job by connecting people with the party. The village meetings of AAP bring the people of the city and the village together in one place to unite them with the party.

On the development front, AAP is countering the BJP government’s development model with that of Delhi on education and employment. While the BJP is seeking votes for developing roads, providing drinking water and other beneficiary schemes. AAP promises to provide free electricity and bus passes to workers and employment to the youth based on the Delhi model. BJP is using the slogan of Lok Sabha 2014 “Abki baar Modi sarkar” for 2022 Assembly elections, while AAP slogan is ‘Me mauko Kejriwal ne” (one chance to Kejriwal).

Head to head 

AAP is asking for votes in the name of the development model of Delhi, promoting the development work done by Arvind Kejriwal in the field of health, education, and employment in the national capital