Archives for June 2024

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday asked whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Manipur after RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s remarks on the situation in the north-eastern state. Addressing a press conference here, the former Maharashtra chief minister also sought to know what was the difference on the ground after the abrogation of Article 370, which provided special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

“Lives are being lost. Who is responsible for the terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir?” he asked.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Bhagwat on Monday expressed concern over peace eluding Manipur even after one year and said the situation in the strife-torn north eastern state must be considered with priority.

“Will Prime Minister Modi visit Manipur after RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s remarks?” Thackeray asked.

“I am concerned about future of the country and not about future of the NDA govt,” the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader said.

He also said there were no differences in the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi, comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and the NCP (SP) led by Sharad Pawar, over candidates for the upcoming state legislative council polls to four constituencies.

“There is no difference,” Thackeray asserted.

It is a fact there was a “loose connection” in the dialogue (among the MVA partners), Thackeray said, adding that he was not here after the Lok Sabha polls.

During this time, all parties declared their candidates and nominations had to be filed within the stipulated time, he said.

The deadline for filing nominations was June 7. Voting will be held on June 26 and results will be declared on July 1.

 India has slipped two places on the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap index to 129th place, while Iceland retained its top position in the rankings published on Wednesday.

Within South Asia, India was ranked fifth after Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan, while Pakistan was ranked last.

Globally, Sudan was ranked last on the index of 146 countries, while Pakistan slipped three places to 145th.

India figured among the economies with the lowest levels of economic parity, alongside Bangladesh, Sudan, Iran, Pakistan, and Morocco. All of them registered less than 30 per cent gender parity in estimated earned income.

However, India showed the best gender parity in terms of enrolment in secondary education, while it scored well on political empowerment of women at 65th rank globally.

With regard to parity in the number of years with female/male heads of state for the last 50 years, India was ranked 10th.

With a population of over 140 crore, India has closed 64.1 per cent of its gender gap in 2024 and the decline of two places from 127th last year, mainly happened due to small declines in ‘Educational Attainment’ and ‘Political Empowerment,’ parameters, while ‘Economic Participation’ and ‘Opportunity’ scores slightly improved.

The WEF said India’s economic parity score has trended upwards for the past four years.

In the Political Empowerment subindex, India scored within the top-10 on the head-of-state indicator, but its scores for women’s representation at the federal level, in ministerial positions (6.9 per cent) and in Parliament (17.2 per cent), remain relatively low, it added.

The WEF said the world has closed 68.5 per cent of the gender gap, but at the current pace it will take another 134 years — equivalent to five generations — to achieve full gender parity.

Since last year, the gender gap has closed by 0.1 percentage points.

“Despite some bright spots, the slow and incremental gains highlighted in this year’s Global Gender Gap Report underscore the urgent need for a renewed global commitment to achieving gender parity, particularly in economic and political spheres,” WEF Managing Director Saadia Zahidi said.

“We cannot wait until 2158 for parity. The time for decisive action is now,” she added.

Iceland was followed by Finland, Norway, New Zealand and Sweden in the top five.

The UK was ranked 14th, while the USA was at 43rd place.

Jaipur: Posters appeared in a locality of Jaipur on Wednesday saying houses should not be sold to “non-Hindus”.

The poster, appearing in the Shivaji Nagar in Bhatta Basti area, also appeals to the ‘Sanatani’ people to stop the “migration” of Hindus.

Some locals told a TV channel that they have pasted the posters willingly on their own homes to appeal to people in their locality to not sell their houses to non-Hindus.

When contacted, the SHO of Bhatta Basti police station area, Kailash, confirmed the development. He said people have pasted the posters on their own houses and their has been no complaint so far over this.

The posters in the name of ‘Sarv Hindu Samaj’ read in Hindi, “Sanataniyon se appeal, palayan ko roken. Sabhi Sanatan bhaiyon behnon se nivedan hai ki apna makaan gair-Hinduon ko na bechen (An appeal to Sanatanis to stop migration. A request to all Sanatani brothers and sisters to not sell their house to non-Hindus).”

The local residents alleged that some people buying houses in the area were creating problems for others.

“Due to this situation, we decided to past posters outside our houses appealing people to not sell their houses to non-Hindu. Property brokers frequently come to us, asking whether we are interested in selling our house.

“Many houses have been sold to outside people and the atmosphere in our locality has got disturbed,” a local resident told the TV channel.

The SHO said the police have not received any complaint over the matter.

“Selling and purchasing property is an individual matter. No such matter has come to light in which there was any dispute,” the SHO said.

Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot alleged Wednesday that if BJP keeps the Lok Sabha Speaker post, its alliance partners TDP and JD(U) should be prepared to witness horse-trading of their MPs.

If the BJP does not have the intention to do anything undemocratic in the future, it should give the Speaker’s post to one of its allies, the Congress leader said.

Following the principle of coalition, during the former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government from 1998 to 2004, the Speaker was from the TDP and the Shiv Sena and in the UPA government from 2004 to 2009, the Speaker was from the CPI(M) and the Lok Sabha was managed well, he said.

“Not just TDP and JD(U), but the people of the entire country are eagerly watching the election to the post of the Lok Sabha Speaker. If BJP does not have the intention to do anything undemocratic in the future, it should give the Speaker’s post to one of its allies,” Gehlot said in Hindi on ‘X’.

“TDP and JD(U) should not forget the conspiracies hatched by the BJP to topple governments in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Rajasthan. In many of these states, the government fell and parties split due to the role played by the Speaker,” he added.