NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that life-savers like medicines, vaccines and medical devices were weaponised during the COVID-19 pandemic, and asserted that his government has been consistently trying to minimise India’s dependence on foreign countries in the health sector.

Addressing a post-budget webinar on ‘Health and Medical Research’, Modi said India’s health sector was marred by a lack of an integrated approach and long-term vision for decades but his government has not confined it to the health ministry alone and has dealt with it with the “whole of government” outlook.

Our entrepreneurs should ensure India doesn’t have to import any technology and becomes self-reliant, he said, highlighting various measures taken by his government to boost entrepreneurship in the field.

The prime minister said making treatment affordable has been a top priority, adding that the ‘Ayushman Bharat’, a government health insurance scheme, and ‘Jan Aushadhi’ centres, where medicines are sold at cheaper rates, have saved citizens Rs 80,000 crore and Rs 20,000 crore respectively.

The country’s pharma sector earned global confidence during the pandemic, Modi said, urging the sector to build and capitalise on the trust.

The health sector should be seen with a pre-Covid and post-Covid dividing line, he said, noting that the pandemic showed that even developed systems of prosperous countries are destroyed during such a crisis.

His government is not focusing on health care alone but overall wellness of citizens, he said.

Now critical health care infrastructure is being taken to tier 2 cities and smaller habitations, leading to the development of a health ecosystem there, he said.

The government is also focussing on ensuring that people get treatment, including testing facilities, near their homes, he added.

NEW DELHI: A CBI team on Monday visited the residence of former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi in connection with “further probe” in the land for jobs scam case, officials said.

There is no search or raid taking place, they said.

The CBI had already filed its charge sheet in the case and the special court has summoned the accused, including former Railways Minister Lalu Prasad and his family members and others on March 15, they said.

The agency has kept the further probe open into the alleged scam case, they said.

The visit of the CBI team is in connection with further investigation into the case, they said.

It was alleged in the FIR that some persons, although residents of Patna in Bihar, were appointed as substitutes in Group-D posts during the period 2004-2009 in different zones of the railways located in Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur and Hajipur and in lieu thereof, the individuals themselves or their family members transferred their land in the name of family members of Prasad and a company, AK Infosystems Private Limited, which was subsequently taken over by family members of Prasad.

It was further alleged that about 1,05,292 sq.ft.

land situated in Patna was acquired by the family members of Prasad from those persons through five sale deeds and two gift deeds and in most of the sale deeds, payment to the sellers was mentioned to be paid in cash.

The value of the land as per the existing circle rate was about Rs 4.39 crore.

The land was directly purchased by the family members of Prasad from the sellers at a rate lower than the prevalent circle rate.

The prevalent market value of the land was much higher than the circle rate.

It was alleged that due procedure and guidelines issued by the railway authority for the appointment of substitutes were not followed and later on, their services had also been regularised.

Kolkata: West Bengal Congress spokesperson Kaustav Bagchi was on Saturday morning arrested from his residence for his alleged comments against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, a senior police officer said.

A huge team of the city’s Burtolla police station conducted a raid at Bagchi’s residence at Barrackpore in North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal at around 3.30 AM and arrested him, he said.

A complaint was lodged against Bagchi at Burtolla police station on Friday for his alleged comments against the chief minister.

“We have arrested Kaustav Bagchi from his residence in Barrackpore. We cannot talk much about it. Our officers are talking to him,” the officer told PTI.

Bagchi, a lawyer had reacted sharply and allegedly criticised the CM and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee for her “personal attacks” on West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee President Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury after the Congress’ win in the Sagardighi bypolls.

After the arrest, Bagchi was brought to Burtolla Police Station even as party workers staged a protest outside the police station.

Bagchi has been booked under several sections of the IPC including 120(B) (criminal conspiracy), 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (criminal intimidation) and other sections, he added.

Lucknow: The Allahabad High Court on Friday granted bail to two persons arrested in a terror case.

The duo – Mohd Mustakeem and Mohd Shakeel – are suspected to be members of the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, an terror outfit affiliated to al-Qaida.

A bench of Justice A R Masoodi and Justice O P Shukla granted the accused bail but directed them to record their attendance at their police stations concerned in the first week of every month till their trial was concluded.

The two were booked for waging war against the country and conducting terror activities.

While granting them bail, the Lucknow bench of the high court said that the two did not have any criminal history and were in jail for a year.

Thane: Police have arrested 18 Bangladeshi nationals, including 10 women, from Maharashtra’s Thane district after they were found living illegally in the country, an official said on Saturday.

The arrest was made by the Navi Mumbai police during the intervening night of March 1 and 2, he said.

“The police had received a tip-off that some Bangladeshi nationals will gather to celebrate the marriage anniversary of one of them at a building in Navi Mumbai’s Ghansoli area. Acting on it, the officials of Navi Numbai police’s crime branch raided the premises at night,” the official of Rabale police station said.

Ten women and eight men were held during the operation as they were found residing in the locality since the last around one year without any valid documents like visa and passport, he added.

An offence under the Foreigners Act, 1946 and also the Passport (Entry into India) Rules, 1950 was registered against them and investigation is on, the police said.

New Delhi: In a major move, a select group of central government employees have been given a one-time option to opt for old pension scheme, according to a Personnel Ministry order.

The employees who joined the central government services against posts advertised or notified before December 22, 2003, the day National Pension System (NPS) was notified, are eligible to join the old pension scheme under the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972 (now 2021), said the order on Friday.

This option may be exercised by the government servants concerned latest by August 31, 2023.

The move came following various representations/references and court decisions in this regard, it said.

“Representations have been received…from the government servants appointed on or after 01.01.2004 requesting for extending the benefit of the pension scheme under Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972 (now 2021) on the ground that their appointment was made against the posts/vacancies advertised/notified for recruitment prior to notification for National Pension System, referring to court judgments of various Hon’ble High Courts and Hon’ble Central Administrative Tribunals allowing such benefits to applicants,” the order said.

The matter has been examined in consultation with the Department of Financial Services, Department of Personnel & Training, Department of Expenditure and Department of Legal Affairs in the light of the various representations/references and decisions of the courts in this regard, it said.

“It has now been decided that, in all cases where the central government civil employee has been appointed against a post or vacancy which was advertised/ notified for recruitment/appointment, prior to the date of notification for National Pension System i.e. 22.12.2003 and is covered under the National Pension System on joining service on or after 01.01.2004, may be given a one-time option to be covered under the CCS(Pension) Rules, 1972 (now 2021),” the order said.

Those government servants who are eligible to exercise option, “but who do not exercise this option by the stipulated date”, shall continue to be covered by the National Pension System, it added.

The option once exercised shall be final, the order said.

The matter regarding coverage under the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972 (now 2021), based on the option exercised by the government servant, shall be placed before the appointing authority.

In case the government servant fulfils the conditions for coverage under the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972 (now 2021), necessary order in this regard shall be issued latest by 31st October, 2023, it said.

The NPS account of such government servants shall, consequently, be closed with effect from December 31, 2023.

The National Movement for Old Pension Scheme (NMOPS), an umbrella body of more than 14 lakh central and state government employees, has welcomed the government decision.

“It is a good news for the eligible central government employees. We again ask the central government to amend the existing NPS to ensure that the benefits of old pension scheme can be extended to all central government staff,” NMOPS Delhi unit head Manjeet Singh Patel said.

Prayagraj (UP): Authorities demolished the house of a criminal allegedly linked to gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed here on Friday amid heavy police deployment, the third such demolition in three days.

Prayagraj Development Authority (PDA) officials arrived at the house of Mashookuddin, who has dozens of cases registered against him, in Puramufti area with bulldozers and other heavy-duty earth movers and began pulling down the structure.
PDA officials said the house was built illegally.

Officials from the police and the administration were present in large numbers as the demolition progressed.

Mashookuddin, 59, is husband of Nur Jahra, the village head of Asrauli village. He is said to be closely associated with Atiq Ahmed, who is lodged in a Gujarat prison.

Junaid Ahmed, a relative of Mashookuddin who was present outside the house at the time of the demolition said, “The house belongs to the son of Mashookuddin, who built it after taking a loan from the bank.”

The official first removed the household items from the building before it was razed to the ground at around 6:30 pm.

According to local police, there are over 15 cases lodged against Mashookuddin at different police stations of the district. He has been booked in cases ranging from murder to causing grievous hurt.

This is the third consecutive day of PDA action against “illegal” structures built by people linked to Atiq Ahmed, who has been booked by UP police in connection with the killing of Umesh Pal, a key witness in the murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal and his two security personnel last week.

Following the incident, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had vowed in the Assembly that his government would destroy the mafia in the state.

On Thursday, a two-storey building in Dhoomanganj area owned by Safdar Ali, an alleged arms trader linked to Atiq Ahmed, was demolished.

A day before that, the house of Zafar Ahmed, another alleged aide of Atiq Ahmed, was demolished in the city.

Arbaaz, an accused in the Umesh Pal murder case, was killed in an encounter with police on Monday.

On the basis of a complaint lodged by Umesh Pal’s wife Jaya Pal, a case was registered against Atiq Ahmed, his brother Ashraf, wife Shaista Parveen, two sons, aides Guddu Muslim and Gulam and nine others.

On Wednesday, Atiq Ahmed, 61, moved the Supreme Court for protection claiming that he and his family have been falsely “roped in” the case and he may be killed in a fake encounter by the Uttar Pradesh Police.

In his plea, he also referred to Adityanath’s statement in the assembly and claimed there is a “genuine and perceptible threat” to his and his family members’ lives.

He has sought directions to the Centre, the state government and others to protect his life against the “open, direct and immediate threat” from high state functionaries of Uttar Pradesh.

Chief Minister Adityanath has often spoken about the actions taken by his government to improve law and order in the state, including frequent reference to bulldozers to raze illegal property of criminals and the mafia.

Piyush Mishra |

New Delhi: One summer day some 50 years ago, a young Piyush Mishra faced sexual assault at the hands of a distant female relative. The incident scarred him for life, something that he has written about in his just released autobiographical novel “Tumhari Auqaat Kya Hai Piyush Mishra”.

Mishra says he has changed only the names and kept the truth intact in his book, published by Rajkamal Prakashan, as “revenge” was not his purpose.

“It left me shocked, I was surprised at what had happened,” Mishra told PTI while reflecting on the incident that had happened when he was studying in the 7th standard.

“Sex is such a healthy thing that your first encounter with it should be good, otherwise it scars you for life, it disturbs you for life. That sexual assault gave me complex throughout my life and it took me a long time and several partners to come out of it,” the multi-hyphnate personality said.

The book that traces his journey from narrow alleys of Gwalior to Delhi’s cultural centre of Mandi House and eventually to Mumbai.

“I wanted to hide the identity of some people. Some of them are women, and some men who are now well established in the film industry. I did not want to take revenge against anybody, or to hurt anyone.”

In the book, the noted actor, singer, and composer narrates his life through the autobiographical character of Santap Trivedi, or Hamlet, as he was known in his alma mater, the National School of Drama (NSD).

Hailing from a middle class family in Gwalior, Mishra showed promise as a multidimensional artiste from his childhood by quickly taking to vocal and instrumental music, paintings, sculptures, poetry and eventually theatre.

According to the book, even as his father pressured him to pursue a career in medical science, Mishra dropped out and decided to join NSD at the age of 20. It would start a lifelong romance with theatre and acting.

Initially reluctant to leave Delhi while friends went on to establish careers in Mumbai, Mishra eventually made the shift to the city of dreams in early 2000s.

He quickly made his mark as an actor, songwriter, singer, scriptwriter in films such as Vishal Bhardwaj’s “Maqbool” (2004), Anurag Kashyap’s “Gulaal” (2009) and most notably, “Gangs of Wasseypur in 2012, where he played the narrator.

Not just his acting, Mishra’s songs have also connected with listeners, especially the younger generation. And the lyricist and singer of music band ‘Ballimaaraan’ is surprised by the recall value some of his songs have.

“Maybe it is the way I say things that connects me with the youth, or that I talk about them, their issues… It is also possible that they see in me somebody who doesn’t use heavy words and that I don’t carry an air of superiority around me. And the more I can relate with them the better for me,” he said.

Mishra has written, composed and sung for films like “Gulaal” and “Gangs of Wasseypur”. His earlier songs “Ghar”, written for a theatrical adaptation of West Side Story – “Jab Shehar Hamara Sota Hai”, and “Husna” were later featured by international music franchise Coke Studio.

But, who does he listen to?

While Kishore Kumar is the top favourite, ghazal legends like Mehdi Hasan, Ghulam Ali and Jagjit Singh also feature in his playlist, the artiste said.

Having fiddled with and excelled at different aspects of film and theatre, Mishra has set himself a new milestone to achieve – film direction.

“I wanted to write a novel for a long time, but now it is out of the way. I don’t want to stay as a music director, neither do I want to sing. I don’t want to just act… Now, I have film direction on my mind. That is something I want to explore. Let’s see when that happens,” the 60-year-old theatre veteran said.

Mishra is happy that he has not been typecast as an actor and credits his selective nature for that.

“I don’t think I have been typecast because I have always done different roles no matter their size. I had small but different roles in ‘Tamasha’, ‘Rockstar’, ‘Maqbool’, ‘Gulaal’ and ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’.

“I don’t have a problem in getting roles. I keep rejecting a lot of stuff. I turn down roles that I feel I won’t enjoy.”

On a question about his days in NSD and how the institute is faring now, Mishra said like everything else, the premiere theatre school is also facing decline.

“What do I say, everything goes through a decline and that’s the case with every educational institute in India. What we had 30 years ago is no longer there… There are big walls around the campus now. That was not the case when we were studying.

“We would climb the wall for a tea outing or to eat ‘bhutta’. But these things have disappeared now. You don’t have that liberty now. But still it is our institute and we visit it whenever we feel like.”

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday refused to interfere with the decision of the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) to withdraw its notification declaring February 14 as ‘Cow Hug Day’.

Justice Prathiba M Singh said the celebration of any event by AWBI was within the domain of the board and the government and the court cannot interfere with it.

Petitioner Kolisetty Shiva Kumar said in his plea that being a spiritual person and a cow lover, he “made arrangements for conducting the event in a massive manner in Hyderabad and the entire Telangana State” and the sudden withdrawal of ‘Cow Hug Day’ without specifying any reason was unjust, arbitrary and contrary to the provisions of the Constitution of India.

“The celebration of any event by AWBI clearly is within the domain of policy of board and government. The same cannot be interfered with in a petition under Article 226,” said the court.

Besides assailing the withdrawal, the petitioner –represented by lawyer Sravan Kumar, also sought a direction to the authorities to take initiative for the implementation of the February 6 notification on celebration of Cow Hug Day’ on February 14.

February 14 is observed as Valentine’s Day across the world.

The petitioner had submitted that the Supreme Court has in certain cases emphasised the importance of cows and held that protection of cow progeny was needed in the interest of the nation’s economy.

The plea argued the revocation of the decision on celebrating Cow Hug Day’ was illegal.

“The notification dated 6.2.2023 was issued for protection and promotion of cows in the country in accordance with the Article 48 of the Constitution of India after due consultation and approvals from the authorities. The Cows being sacred in India holds importance very much but they are also beneficial in other manners,” the plea asserted.

“No reason was stated in the revocation notification for the withdrawal of cow day announcement. The act of the Respondent is illegal and contrary to the law,” it added.

The AWBI, which is under the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, had issued a notice appealing to people to celebrate ‘Cow Hug Day’ on February 14 to spread “positive energy” and encourage “collective happiness”, saying “All cow lovers may celebrate February 14 as Cow Hug Day keeping in mind the importance of mother cow and make life happy and full of positive energy.”

The notification was withdrawn on February 10 following directions from the government amid widespread criticism on social media.

The board, established in 1962 under Section 4 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, provides grants to animal welfare organisations and advises the Centre on animal welfare issues.

It is a statutory advisory body on animal welfare laws and promotes animal welfare in the country.