RAIPUR: On the occasion of Arun Sao completing one year in office as the Chhattisgarh BJP president, a right-wing organisation greeted him with a bulldozer that showered flowers on him at the main entrance of the party headquarters in Raipur.

Sao, also a Lok Sabha member from Bilaspur, responded equivocally, conveying that if the BJP is voted to power,  the criminals or mafia operating in the state will meet punitive action. He did not rule out the use of bulldozers.

“Our party cadres and leaders are committed to fighting against injustice and will root out the non-performing corrupt Congress government. Chhattisgarh will see a BJP government again after the Assembly polls and bulldozers will be used against the rising crimes and lawbreakers in the state,” Sao affirmed.

Chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, reacting to Sao’s remarks, said that the BJP should initially think of operating the bulldozer demolition drive against their leaders involved in alleged commission-khori (corruption) during the earlier Raman Singh regime.

“We don’t believe in resorting to bulldozer punishment. The Congress party has firm faith in the rule of law. And in Chhattisgarh, there is peace and the rule of law prevails. BJP’s politics is based on hate and violence as their leaders can go to any extent to acquire power by trying to instigate the people,” CM Baghel said.

In recent years, some BJP-ruled states have been often using bulldozers to demolish the houses of alleged rioters and anti-social elements.  Many, including activists, dubbed such actions of the BJP governments as “selective.”

“Ironically Sao, who is also a lawyer, supports the bulldozer model of justice. Does he believe that there is now no need for the courts to adjudicate offences and criminal cases? With such a bulldozer model of punishments seen, is there any space left for democracy or the need for an intervention by the courts? We must understand that those operating bulldozers are not judges and in Indian law, there is no provision for bulldozer justice,” asserted Sunil Kumar, a senior editor based in Raipur.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court might have stayed the Wrestling Federation of India election slated for Saturday but the faction of sidelined WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is confident of getting it vacated in the Supreme Court next week.

With two representatives from almost 20 units already in New Delhi in the wake of elections, Brij Bhushan held a meeting at a five-star hotel in the evening following the stay.

“It was Supreme Court that said the election process cannot be stopped while vacating the stay order of the Gauhati High Court earlier and now the same has been done by a different court. If I am not wrong, it’s contempt of court,” added the office-bearer.

Earlier, the court of Justice Vinod S Bhardwaj while hearing a petition from the Haryana Wrestling Association (HWA) wherein the petitioner has challenged returning officer’s move to allow another faction, Haryana Amateur Wrestling Association, to cast votes in the WFI polls, stayed the election thus postponing the process for the third time.

While representatives from most of the units are expected to leave for their respective destinations and return once the stay is vacated, members from a few associations will stay back.

Even as Brij Bhushan was meeting his loyalists, members from another faction also gathered in the national capital to chalk out future strategies. “As all of us were in the city so we decided to meet,” said a member who was part of the meeting.

It is also learnt that a few members of the faction had a closed-door meeting on Thursday night. It is learnt that the members had discussed the pending hearing in the Punjab and Haryana High Court and its implications on the proposed election.

KATHMANDU: Nepal is ready to export tomatoes to India in bulk on a long-term basis to quell the skyrocketing prices but has sought easy access to the market and other necessary facilities.

The neighbouring country’s assurance came after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told Parliament on Thursday that India has started importing tomatoes from Nepal amid a record-high spike in prices in the country.

Nepal is desirous to export vegetables, such as tomatoes, on a long-term basis to India, but for that India has to provide easy access to its market and other necessary facilities, Agriculture Ministry spokesperson Shabnam Shivakoti told PTI here on Friday.

Though Nepal has already started exporting tomatoes to India through official channels a week ago, it is not in big quantities, she said.

Arrangements are yet to be made for large-scale export of tomatoes, she added.

Echoing her voice, Binaya Shrestha, Deputy Director at Kalimati Fruits and Vegetable Market Development Board, said, “If we are provided with easy access to the Indian market, Nepal can export huge quantities of tomatoes to India.”

“India is a good market for Nepalese tomatoes,” he pointed out.

Tomatoes are grown in abundant quantities in the three districts of Kathmandu Valley — Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur — and it is more than sufficient to meet the local demand, he said.

Some of the tomatoes grown in Kathmandu are being exported to the Indian market through unofficial channels, Shrestha admitted.

Some one-and-a-half months ago, farmers threw around 60,000 to 70,000 kg of tomatoes on the roads near Kalimati Fruits and Vegetable Market in Kathmandu after they failed to get a market for their products. At that time the farmers could not get even Rs 10 per kg of tomato in the wholesale market.

However, one month ago, the market price of tomatoes increased by four times, after traders started exporting tomatoes to India through illegal channels causing shortages in the local market, market analysts said.

The tomato which was sold in the retail market for Rs 40-50 per kg soared to Rs 200 to 250 per kg, as farmers started selling tomatoes to the Indian market through unofficial channels, according to Badri Shrestha, one of the major growers and suppliers of tomatoes in Kathmandu.

“We can fetch up to NRs 150 per kg after our products are exported to India through unofficial channels. Last month, 70,000 kg to 90,000 kg tomatoes were exported to India through unofficial channels on a daily basis,” said Badri, who grows 2,000 to 3,000 kg of tomatoes every alternate day from his farm located in Lalitpur district near Kathmandu during the vegetable season.

He claimed to have exported around 40,000 kg of tomatoes grown on his farm over the past one-month period to India through unofficial channels.

During his recent visit to India in July, Agriculture Minister Beduram Bhushal held discussions on facilitating Nepalese agricultural products, including tomatoes, to India with his Indian counterpart Narendra Singh Tomar.

Nepal has also asked Indian authorities to arrange quarantine and other facilities to export tomatoes, peas and green peppers, agriculture ministry spokesperson Shivakoti said.

Prior to importing vegetables to India, the Nepal government’s Plant Quarantine and Pesticide Control Office (PQPCO) has to issue certificates to the exporters.

Over the past week, Nepal exported tomatoes through its two border checkpoints, including one situated in Birtamode, agriculture ministry deputy spokesperson Tapendra Prasad Bohara said.

The Government of India has already included some vegetable items, including tomato, produced in Nepal in its quarantine list so as to facilitate its export to India, he said.

Meanwhile, about 10 tonnes of tomatoes imported from Nepal are in transit and the commodity will be distributed in Uttar Pradesh during the weekend at a subsidised rate of Rs 70 per kg, National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India Limited (NCCF) Managing Director Anice Joseph Chandra said on Friday.

Since July 11, the NCCF has been selling tomatoes at a discounted rate on behalf of the central government to boost domestic availability and contain prices.

So far, NCCF has sold 9,38,862 kg of tomatoes in Delhi-NCR, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

CHANDIGARH: Even as some panchayats in Haryana have called for ostracising Muslims in the aftermath of communal riots in the Nuh district, some khaps in the state are firming up plans to broker peace between the two communities.  Further, the Sarvkhap Panchayat said the activities of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal should be banned in all the villages across the state.

At the same time, some khaps said the government’s actions post-violence are justified. The state has more than 90 khaps. Their viewpoints assume significance ahead of the next year’s assembly and parliamentary elections as khaps enjoy considerable influence in villages.

A resolution was passed to restore peace in the Mewat, he said, adding that a demand was made to conduct an impartial inquiry and arrest Monu Manesar and Bittu Bajrangi. Action should also be taken against those who put provocative speeches and shared videos to incite the clashes, he said.

“Khap leaders are planning to visit Nuh in the coming days. At present, the local administration will not give permission. Once we are given permission and normalcy returns we will go there and talk to the locals of both communities and try to broker peace between them as they have been living peacefully for years,” Sube Singh Smain, national spokesperson of the Sarvkhap Panchayat, told this newspaper.

He further said: “Activities of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal should be banned in all the villages across the state.” As both assembly and Lok Sabha elections are due next year all that has happened is a larger conspiracy to divide the communities and thus polarise the voters of the state, Smain suspects.

MUZAFFARNAGAR: Some unidentified persons have been booked for allegedly vandalising an idgah in a village here, police said on Thursday.

The incident that happened in Mathura village under Charthawal police station area came to light after some people noticed that the dome of the idgah was damaged and informed the police, they said.

SP City Satyanarain Prajapat said after reaching the spot the police found that the dome was damaged and registered a case against unidentified people and started an investigation.

The police team is also trying to repair the damaged dome, he said.

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said India is today in a unique position of being optimistic and positive about its future growth when the global economy is struggling, thanks to reform agenda pursued by the Narendra Modi-led government. 

The minister was speaking during the debate on the no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha. Sitharaman reiterated that the country has emerged as the fastest growing large economies even when developed countries such as the US and the UK, and the Euro zone are facing challenging times, and big economies such as China are also facing their own issues related to consumer demand and wage stagnation.

“PM (Narendra) Modi has changed this completely. There is a transformation in our governance,” she said and asserted words such as “Milega” (you will get) have been replaced by people saying “Mil Gaya” (we have got it). “We believe in empowering all and appeasement of none,” she said.

Sitharaman talked in details about various steps taken by the union government through its tenure and compared it with the situation before 2014. The minister said defence exports have gone up, food production has increased multiple fold, and central schemes have helped people come out of poverty. 

New Delhi : Female and single male government employees are eligible for 730 days of child care leave, Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said on Wednesday.

“Female government servant and single male govt servants appointed to the civil services and posts in connection with affairs of the Union, are eligible for child care leave (CCL) under Rule 43-C of the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972 for a maximum period of seven hundred and thirty days during the entire service for taking care of two eldest surviving children up to the age of 18 years and no age limit in case of differently-abled child,” he said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.

New Delhi: Two policemen and seven civilians were injured putting out a fire that broke out at a factory in west Delhi’s Mayapuri area early Wednesday morning, officials said.

According to officials, a call was received at 2.05 am that there was a fire at a two-story sofa factory at the market known for dealing in scrap.

The fire was doused by five tenders that were rushed to the spot, they said.

The fire had sparked in the packing box of sofa springs. A drum of glue kept on the ground floor also burst in the blaze, a fire official said.

Seven men received minor burn injuries and were rushed to DDU hospital.

The injured were identified as Rakesh, 35, Ram Niwas, 60, Santosh, 27, Harichand, 35, Vikrant, 25, Kishan, 23, and Inderjeet, 33. Head constables Randhir Singh and Vikrant too received burn injuries in the incident, fire officials said.

According to police, the factory dealt in iron spring (used in making sofas) in Mayapuri Phase II.

A crime team was called at the spot to investigate the fire.

A case is being registered at Mayapuri Police Station, police added.