Archives for October 2021

NEW DELHI:  With the Uttar Pradesh polls around the corner, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is all set to shift base permanently to Lucknow till elections are held for sending a message that the Congress is serious about its revival plans and looking to connect with people on the ground.   

The general secretary in charge for UP, who seemingly succeeded in making a public opinion after the noises she made regarding Lakhimpur Kheri, is looking to engage with people at block and zila panchayat levels in constituencies where the party has performed well earlier.

“She will soon shift her base permanently to UP and will stay put till elections to overlook election campaign, candidate selection, possible alliances and strategy,” said a senior leader. Earlier, several leaders, including those from the opposition, had criticised Priyanka for running the show from Delhi, saying it reflected how much the Congress was serious about the welfare of UP. 

On Sunday, Congress senior leader P L Punia said that she will be the face of the party’s election campaign in UP. The Congress’ biggest challenge is lack of support base and almost no organisation in several parts of the states. Sources said that the party is looking to contest about 80-100 seats. There were around 40 seats where it came second and seven were won in 2017, they added. 

“On these seats, the party is looking to repeat the candidates and declare the names early. While on other 40 seats, we are looking for strong candidates who can take on the BJP and have some support base also. Priyanka’s strategy will be to focus on these seats and reach out to people to strengthen the party while taking up key issues at the state level,” said a senior UP Congress leader.

Following the positive public opinion after the Lakhimpur Kheri episode, the party is looking to engage with people on the ground. On Saturday, the CWC meeting applauded Priyanka’s stand. Senior leader Rahul Gandhi advised party leaders, workers not delay in reaching out to the affected people.

MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena on Monday said it can understand the use of central agencies for targeting leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra, but claimed the “harassment” of their family members shows the “inhuman face of the BJP”.

People normally say they have lost faith in a government.

But in Maharashtra, it is the opposite.

The BJP has become a “butt of jokes” in the state, an editorial in the Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ said.

“The BJP uses the CBI, Enforcement Directorate, I-T (Income Tax department) and the NCB (Narcotics Control Bureau) for its own agenda. Thackeray exposed these attacks being made through the ED and CBI the attacks are like using Shikhandi as a shield,” it said.

Bhishma, the patriarch of the Kauravas and Pandavas in the epic ‘Mahabharata’, was eliminated with the help of Shikhandi.

The Shiv Sena further hit out at the BJP and the Centre, claiming they don’t face questions and “finish” those who question them.

“The BJP and its government at the Centre do not believe in democracy, Constitution, law and order. They don’t accept chief ministers of opposition parties. This new phenomenon in politics speaks volumes (about the mindset). Such things come to their mind only due to smoking up of low quality weed,” the edit said.

After the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls, the Sena parted ways with long-term ally BJP over the issue of sharing the chief ministerial post.

The Shiv Sena subsequently tied-up with the NCP and Congress to form MVA government led by Uddhav Thackeray.

The Marathi daily said NCP president Sharad Pawar had clarified the circumstances under which Shiv Sena head Uddhav Thackeray became the chief minister.

Targeting former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil, the Sena said by attacking Thackeray on becoming the CM of the state, they were only venting out their frustration.

In his annual Dussehra rally last week, Thackeray launched a scathing attack against the BJP, saying hunger for power was like “drug addiction”, and challenged it to topple his coalition government, which will soon complete two years.

The editorial in the Marathi publication said the BJP should show the guts to accept the challenge thrown by Thackeray.

“Attacks on the Maha Vikas Aghadi government leaders can be well-understood. But, the harassment of their family members shows the inhuman face of the BJP,” the editorial claimed.

After Thackeray’s Dussehra rally last week, Fadnavis had hit back, claiming the Shiv Sena-led MVA government was the most corrupt in the history of the state with extortion being its “only agenda”.

“This is a government formed through dishonesty and I feel that respected Uddhavji should now accept that he had ambitions of becoming a chief minister which he fulfilled. In politics, having ambitions is not wrong. But if you wanted to keep the word, you could have made senior Sena leaders Diwakar Raote, Subhash Desai or Eknath Shinde a CM,” Fadnavis had said.

SHREESHA. A

What Happened and When On 14 April 1891: Bhim is born at Madhya Pradesh, the fourteen child of Subedar Ramji Sakpal and Bhimabai. 1896 Bhim’ s mother dies. 1900 : Bhim is enrolled at the government middle school in satara. 1904 : Bhim attends Elphinstone High School in Bombay. 1907: Bhim passes the matriculation examinations. 1908: Bhim is admitted to Elphinstone college, Bombay. 1912: Bhim passes the BA exams from university of Bombay. Bhim’s first son, yashwant, is born. February 1913 : Bhim’s father dies. July 1913: Bhim goes to Columbia University. 1915 : Receives an MA degree from Columbia University. June 1916: Leaves Columbia University after completing work for a PHD and joins the London school of Economic and Political science. He also trains for law at gray’s Inn. 1917: Returns to India after his scholarship is terminated by Baroda state. Appointment as military secretary to the maharaja of Baroda, but leaves Baroda soon after. 1918:Accepts a professor’s job at Sydenham college of commerce and economics, Bombay. 1919: Appears before the southborough commission. January 1920: Starts a Marathi newspaper, Mooknayak. March 1920:presides over a depressed classes conference at kolhapur. July 1920: Bhim leaves India to resume his studies in London. June 1921:London university accepts Bhim’s thesis provincial decentralization of imperial finance in British India and awards him an MSc.degree.1922:Bhim is called to the bar. 1922-13 : Spends some time reading economics at the university of Bonn in Germany. 1923: Bhim returns to India. His thesis The problem of the rupee- it’s origin and it’s solution is accepted for a DSc. Degree. 1924: Starts law practice in the Bombay high court. Founds the Bahishkrit Hitkarini sabha . 1926: Nominated member of the Bombay legislative Council. March 1927:Starts Mahad satyagraha to secure the untouchables right to drink water from the Chavdar tank . April 1927:starts and edits a bimonthly Marathi paper, Bahishkrit Bharat. June1927: awarded PHD degree from Columbia University. December 1927:Second conference at Mahad. 1928: introduces the vatan bill in the Bombay. 1930-32:Represents India untouchables at the round table conference. September 1932:Singn the Poona pact to save Gandhi’s life. 1934: Leaves his home in parents and moves residence to Rajagriha at Dadar. This was done to accommodated his ever – increasing collection of books. May 1935: His wife, Ramabai, dies. June 1935:Appointed principal of government law college, Bombay. October 1935: At the yeola conference in Nasik, he urges his community to leave Hindustan and embrace another religion. He declares :I solemnly assure you that I will not die a Hindu. August 1936: Bhim founds the independent labour Party. February 1937:The first General Election are held. Bhim is elected member of the Bombay legislative Assembly. March 1937: The Chavdar tank case is decided in a favor of the depressed classes. September 1937: Bhim introduces two bills in the Bombay assembly, one to abolish the Mahar Watan and the other to abolish the Khoti system. May 1938: Bhim resigns as principal of Government law college, Bombay. November 1938: The industrial workers strike. October 1939: Bhim meets Jawaharlal Nehru for the first time. 1941: Bhim fights to recruit Mahar in the army. The Mahar Battalion is Formed. Bhim is appointed to the defence advisory Committee. June 1942:Bhim becomes the first untouchable to join the viceroys executive Council. July 1942:Bhim founds the All- India Scheduled Caste Federation in Nagpur. 1946: Bhim is elected member of the Constituent assembly of India. April1947:Article 17 for the abolition of untouchability is moved by Sardar vallabhbhai patel in the constituent assembly. August 1947: India gets independence. Bhim joins Nehru’s cabinet as the first Law minister of independent India. The constituent assembly appoints him to the drafting committee. February 1948: Bhim completes the draft Constitution. April1948: Bhim marries Dr Sharda Kabir. November 1949: The Constitution assembly adopts the Constitution. September 1951: The Hindu code bill comes up for a final reading. Bhim resigns from the Nehru cabinet because it fails to support the bill. January 1952: Bhim faces defeat in the first Lok Sabha election. March1952: Bhim enters parliament as a member of the Rajya Sabha, representing Bombay. June1952: Columbia University confers on Bhim the honorary degree of LLD. Doctorate of Law, in bi- centennial celebrations held in New York. October 1956: Bhim embrace Buddhism at a historic ceremony in Nagpur, witnessed by thousands of followers. He declares that he will dissolve the scheduled caste federation and establish the Republican Party. December 6 , 1956: Dies at his residence in New Delhi. December 7,1956 : Ambedkar is cremated at Dadar Chowpatty, which is now known as Chaitya Bhoomi Dadar.

MUMBAI: Actor-host Pooja Bedi has tested positive for COVID-19 and says she is taking all the necessary precautions.

In an Instagram video on Sunday evening, the 51-year-old actor, who has vocally held an anti-vaccination stance, informed that her businessman-fiance Maneck Contractor and their house help have also contracted the virus.

“I have finally been diagnosed as COVID positive. I chose/choose to stay unvaccinated as it’s my personal decision to allow my own natural immunity and alternative healing and wellness practices to accelerate my healing. You do what’s right for you. Each to their own. Caution. Not panic,” Bedi wrote.

The actor, best known for the 1992 hit “Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar”, said she is optimistic that she will recover soon.

“We are now focusing on getting better, stronger. Hopefully, we will be over this in a couple of days. It’s a great way for me to relax, take it easy. I was working on long, hard schedules for months and maybe this is God’s way of telling me to slow down and take it easy,” she wrote.

In August, Bedi had slammed the vaccination drive for all, including people with no comorbidities, calling it “illogical and sinister”.

“If 99 percent survive COVID with or without the vaccine the government needs to focus on isolating, vaccinating and masking those who have com comorbidities and are in the risk bracket. Not vaccinate the whole world and certainly not discriminate against the unvaccinated! It’s illogical and sinister!” she had tweeted.

The actor also faced backlash on social media when she posted a video enjoying a speedboat ride in Goa in April amid the deadly second wave of the pandemic in the country.

“Joys of living in healthy, happy #goa. Free your mind #NoFear. Life is meant to be lived…not spent caged and masked for a year/ years in fear of a virus that’s clearly not going away! If you died tomorrow after year of masking/lockdown..what would ur greatest regret be?” she had written in the caption.

According to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday, India added 13,596 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,40,81,315, while the active cases declined to 1,89,694, the lowest in 221 days.