Archives for January 2023

NEW DELHI:  Even as unease continues in the state due to the sinking of land in Joshimath, Uttarakhand got a reason to cheer on Monday. The state’s tableau bagged the top spot for the first time at the Republic Day Parade this year. The tableaux of Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh stood second and third, respectively.

The Army’s Punjab Regiment Centre contingent was declared the best marching contingent among the three services, while the Indian Air Force won the first spot in the online public poll conducted by MyGov. From among Central Armed Police Forces(CAPF) and other auxiliary forces, the Central Reserve Police Force was named as the best marching contingent.

The Uttarakhand tableau, titled Manaskhand, depicted the proposed Manaskhand corridor project that will link all major temples of the Kumaon region and develop them along the lines of the Char Dham in the Garhwal region. It showcased the famous Jageshwar Temple, besides other elements like the rich wildlife of the state. Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh had also created their presentations with a religious theme.

Maharashtra presented the three-and-a-half Shaktipeeths of Adishakti the Mahalakshmi Temple of Kolhapur, Sri Kshetra Tuljapur of Tuljabhavani, Renukadevi of Mahur, and Saptshringi Devi of Vani. The tableau of Uttar Pradesh showcased the three-day Deepotsava celebrated in Ayodhya.

Congratulating the people of the state, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami tweeted, “This achievement is a proud moment for all of us. Garhwal has been described as Kedarkhand and Kumaon as ‘Manaskhand’ in the Skanda Purana.

Jageshwar Temple too has a lot of religious belief.” Gujarat won the first spot in an online public poll conducted by MyGov, for its tableau on green energy. The second spot went to Uttar Pradesh, followed by Maharashtra. “Three panels of judges were appointed for assessing the performance of marching contingents from three Services, marching contingents from Central Armed Police Forces and other auxiliary forces and tableaux” said the ministry of defence.

Online poll was conducted for citizens to vote from January 25 to 28 on MyGov webpage. The ministry of tribal affairs tableau on ‘Eklavya model residential schools’ bagged the top position in the panel of judges section among ministries and departments. The home ministry’s presentation on CAPFs clinched the top spot in the popular choice category. A special prize went to Central Public Works Department on biodiversity conservation.

Online poll was conducted for citizens to vote
Online poll was conducted for citizens to vote from January 25 to 28 on MyGov webpage. The ministry of tribal affairs tableau on ‘Eklavya model residential schools’ bagged the top position in the panel of judges section among ministries and departments. The home ministry’s presentation on CAPFs clinched the top spot in the popular choice category. A special prize went to Central Public Works Department on biodiversity conservation.  

PESHAWAR: The death toll from a suicide bombing at a mosque in northwestern Pakistan rose to 88 on Tuesday, officials said. The assault, on a Sunni mosque inside a major police facility, was one of the deadliest attacks on Pakistani security forces in recent years.

More than 300 worshippers were praying in the mosque in the city of Peshawar, with more approaching, when the bomber set off his explosives vest on Monday morning. The blast ripped through the mosque, killing and injuring scores and also blew off a part of the roof.

What was left of the roof then caved in, injuring many more, according to Zafar Khan, a police officer. Rescuers had to remove mounds of debris to reach worshippers still trapped under the rubble.

More bodies were retrieved overnight and early Tuesday, according to Mohammad Asim, a government hospital spokesman in Peshawar, and several of those critically injured died. “Most of them were policemen,” Asim said of the victims.

Bilal Faizi, the chief rescue official, said rescue teams were still working Tuesday at the site as more people are believed trapped inside. Mourners were burying the victims at different graveyards in the city and elsewhere. The bombing also wounded more than 150 people.

It was not clear how the bomber was able to slip into the walled compound in a high-security zone with other government buildings and get to the mosque — an indication of a major security lapse.

The investigation will show “how the terrorist entered the mosque,” said Ghulam Ali, the provincial governor in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where Peshawar is the capital.

“Yes, it was a security lapse,” he added.

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif visited a hospital in Peshawar after the bombing and vowed “stern action” against those behind the attack.

“The sheer scale of the human tragedy is unimaginable. This is no less than an attack on Pakistan,” he tweeted. He expressed his condolences to the families of the victims, saying their pain ”cannot be described in words.”

Authorities have not determined who was behind the bombing. Shortly after the explosion, Sarbakaf Mohmand, a commander for the Pakistani Taliban — also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP — claimed responsibility for the attack in a post on Twitter.

But hours later, TTP spokesperson Mohammad Khurasani distanced the group from the bombing, saying it was not its policy to target mosques, seminaries and religious places, adding that those taking part in such acts could face punitive action under TTP’s policy. His statement did not address why a TTP commander had claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Pakistan, which is mostly Sunni Muslim, has seen a surge in militant attacks since November, when the Pakistani Taliban ended their cease-fire with government forces.

Earlier this month, the Pakistani Taliban claimed one of its members shot and killed two intelligence officers, including the director of the counterterrorism wing of the country’s military-based spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence. Security officials said Monday the gunman was traced and killed in a shootout in the northwest, near the Afghan border.

The TTP is separate from but a close ally of the Afghan Taliban. It has waged an insurgency in Pakistan in the past 15 years, seeking stricter enforcement of Islamic laws, the release of its members in government custody and a reduction in Pakistani military presence in areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province it has long used as its base.

The Pakistani Taliban are the dominant militant group in the province, and Peshawar has been the scene of frequent attacks. In 2014, a Pakistani Taliban faction attacked an army-run school in Peshawar and killed 154, mostly schoolchildren.

The regional affiliate of the Islamic State group has also been behind deadly attacks in Pakistan in recent years. Overall, violence increased since the Afghan Taliban seized power in neighboring Afghanistan in August 2021, as U.S. and NATO troops pulled out of the country after 20 years of war.

The Pakistani government’s truce with the TTP ended as the country was still contending with unprecedented flooding last summer that killed 1,739 people, destroyed more than 2 million homes, and at one point submerged as much as a third of the country.

The Taliban-run Afghan Foreign Ministry said it was “saddened to learn that numerous people lost their lives” in Peshawar and condemned attacks on worshippers as contrary to the teachings of Islam.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is on a visit to the Middle East, tweeted his condolences, saying the bombing in Peshawar was a “horrific attack.”

“Terrorism for any reason at any place is indefensible,” he said.

Condemnations also came from the Saudi Embassy in Islamabad, as well as the U.S. Embassy, which said that the “United States stands with Pakistan in condemning all forms of terrorism.”

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the bombing “particularly abhorrent” for targeting a place of worship, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Cash-strapped Pakistan faces a severe economic crisis and is seeking a crucial installment of $1.1 billion from the International Monetary Fund — part of its $6 billion bailout package — to avoid default. Talks with the IMF on reviving the bailout have stalled in the past months.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan also expressed his condolences, calling the bombing a “terrorist suicide attack.”

Sharif’s government came to power in April after Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament. Khan has since campaigned for early elections, claiming his ouster was illegal and part of a plot backed by the U.S. Washington and Sharif dismiss Khan’s claims.

NEW DELHI:  With an eye on the Assembly elections in nine states scheduled for this year, the OBC Morcha of BJP adopted political resolutions at its two-day national executive which concluded on Monday. The meeting, held at Gurugram in Haryana, was held after wide deliberations on various issues and activities of Morcha.

OBC Morcha national general secretary Dr Nikhil Anand said the Morcha will launch  a special campaign in all the nine poll-bound states – Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland , Karnataka, Mizoram, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh – to expose the parties doing “politics of casteism” in the name of social justice and politics of religious appeasement in the name of secularism .

He further said that the BJP OBC Morcha will soon launch the ‘Ghar Ghar Chalo, Gaon Gaon Chalo’ campaign. “Under which, the organisation will reach out to the common people sitting at the last line. The BJP OBC Morcha is determined to leave no stone unturned to ensure that  Modi ji is again the PM of India in 2024 with a big majority”, he said.

Morcha’s national president and Rajya Sabha MP Dr K Laxman said, “After the independence, for the first time the OBC society of India has become a participant in policy-making, development planning and its implementation ensuring its 100 per cent success at the ground level.”

‘Only govt to show genuine interest’
Giving constitutional status to the NCBC, reservation to the OBC in NEET and including 27 ministers from the OBC in the Cabinet, the Modi government has shown genuine interest for the betterment of OBCs in the country, Morcha’s national president and Rajya Sabha MP Dr K Laxman said.

JAIPUR: Rajasthan Assembly secretary Mahavir Prasad Sharma has informed the high court that the resignations of 81 pro-Ashok Gehlot MLAs, who put in their papers on September 25 last year, were not voluntary. He also said that it was he who recommended withdrawal of resignations to Speaker CP Joshi and  that is why they were not accepted.

Sharma has presented the complete details of 81 MLAs before the Rajasthan High Court, which is hearing a plea filed by deputy leader of Opposition and BJP leader Rajendra Rathore. “The MLAs, while requesting to withdraw individually, had clearly stated thant there was no voluntary resignation.

All the MLAs had done so under Rule 173 (4) of the Procedure and Conduct of Business of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly. This is not a matter of 10th Schedule, but of resignations of Ministers and MLAs. Therefore, the Supreme Court’s order to decide in four weeks does not apply,” the Legislative Assembly Secretariat said.

It has been stated that MLAs had not given separate resignations.  Six MLAs submitted resignations of all 81 MLAs.   On September 25, amid the possibility of Gehlot becoming the Congress President, MLAs had resigned. After this, Rathore filed a petition and raised certain questions.