Archives for October 2021

Amid the increasing concerns over coal shortage, the union coal minister Pralhad Joshi is visiting the headquarter of the South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (one of the subsidiaries of Coal India Limited-CIL) at Bilaspur and its coalfields on Wednesday.

Besides reviewing the mining and production works with the senior SECL officials, Joshi is likely to proceed to Korba coal mines by chopper for ground inspection.

The union minister had early this week claimed that despite adverse circumstances the country has recorded the highest coal production in October so far. “The situation will normalise in the next 3-4 days”, Joshi affirmed.

The CIL chairman Pramod Agrawal will accompany the minister.

“Coal production was impacted owing to the heavy rains in September. But the output has been augmented after the directive from the government to ensure the power sector gets sufficient supply”, said Sanish Chandra, public relation officer-SECL.

SECL has set the target of coal output at 14.73 million ton for October month and till now the production touched 2.95 million ton.

Most of the thermal power stations in Chhattisgarh had recently lowered their production fearing fewer despatches of coal supply from the mines and the plants in the state have been cited to have been left with 3-6 days of coal stocks.

CM Bhupesh Baghel said that though there is no serious power crisis or shortage of coal in the state, but the situation is being closely monitored. Baghel has asked SECL to ensure the regular requisite daily coal supply on priority to the thermal plants based in Chhattisgarh.

NEW DELHI:  Billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed Akasa Air has received no-objection certification (NoC) from the civil aviation ministry and hopes to start operations by summer of 2022. Akasa Air and three other airline companies had applied for NoC from the ministry to start scheduled air passengers services and air cargo services in August.

Akasa’s approval coincidentally comes days after Jhunjhunwala had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The investor is expected to own nearly 40% stake in the airline and is considering investing $35 million in the venture.

Akasa will now have to apply for the Directorate General of Civil Aviation for its operations permit. Beside Jhunjhunwala, Akasa is backed by industry veteran Vinay Dube, the former CEO of Jet Airways who will also head operations at Akasa. Previous CEO of IndiGo Aditya Ghosh is also associated with the airline.

“We are extremely happy and grateful to the Ministry of Civil Aviation for their support and for the grant of the NoC. We will continue to work with the regulatory authorities on all additional compliances required to successfully launch Akasa Air,” Dube, now CEO of Akasa Air, said in a statement.

He added, “Akasa Air will serve all Indians regardless of their socio economic or cultural backgrounds with warmth, inclusiveness and respect. Because at the end of the day, it is these qualities that connect people and cultures and help Indians realise their dreams.”

The airline is in talks with US-based aircraft manufacturer Boeing for buying up to 100 737 Max plane. According to reports, Airbus too has pitched its narrow-body Airbus A320Neo to Akasa’s management.
The approval comes at a time when India’s aviation industry  is showing signs of a string recovery.

The industry is also going through a structural change with India’s largest conglomerate Tata Group winning bid for ailing national carrier Air India and Jet Airways’ new management confident of restarting operations early next year. However, rising oil prices and uncertainties around Covid-19 pandemic continues to pose a big risk to the sector.

NEW DELHI: Child marriage kills more than 60 girls a day globally and six girls a day in South Asia, according to a new analysis released on the International Day of the Girl Child that claimed over an estimated 22,000 girls a year are dying from pregnancy and childbirth resulting from child marriage.

The report by Save The Children said South Asia sees 2,000 child marriage-related deaths every year (or six every day), followed by East Asia and the Pacific with 650 deaths (or two every day), and Latin American and the Caribbean, with 560 annual deaths (or nearly two a day).

“More than an estimated 22,000 girls a year are dying from pregnancy and childbirth resulting from child marriage. Child marriage kills more than 60 girls a day, globally and 6 girls a day in South Asia,” the report noted.

However, West and Central Africa has the highest rate of child marriage in the world and accounts for nearly half (9,600) of all estimated child marriage-related deaths globally, or 26 deaths a day.

The regional teenage maternal mortality rate is four times higher than anywhere else in the world.

“Although nearly 80 million child marriages globally have been prevented in the last 25 years, progress had stalled even before the COVID-19 pandemic, which has only worsened inequalities that drive child marriage.

“With school closures, health services under strain or closed, and more families being pushed into poverty, women and girls face an increased risk of violence during lengthy lockdowns. A further 10 million girls are now expected to marry by 2030, leaving more girls at risk of dying,” the report said.

Inger Ashing, CEO of Save the Children International, said child marriage is one of the worst and deadliest forms of sexual and gender-based violence against girls.

Every year, millions are forced into wedlock with men who are often much older, robbing them of an opportunity to keep learning, be children, and in many cases, to survive.

“Childbirth is the number one killer of teenage girls because their young bodies aren’t ready to bear children. The health risks of children having children cannot, and must not, be ignored.

Governments must prioritise girls and ensure they’re protected from child marriage and premature childbirth-related deaths. This can only happen if girls have a say in the decisions that affect them,” Ashing said.

Sudarshan, CEO, Save the Children, India said, “We at Save the Children India; Bal Raksha Bharat would like to see child marriage confined to museums and history. It is our collective failure that even in this century such a crime against humanity is prevalent and perpetuated.All those who are not a part of the solution should consider themselves a part of the problem.”

“To deny children, and more specifically the girl children their basic right to learn, and enjoy a happy and carefree childhood is a human rights violation and needs to be condemned.

It should not be dismissed as a cultural element and instead seen as a denial of basic right to life and liberty,” he said.

In a global report released on Monday by Save the Children, Global Girlhood Report 2021: Girls’ rights in crisis, the organisation is calling on governments to raise girls’ voices by supporting their right to safe and meaningful participation in all public decision-making, address immediate and ongoing risks of gender-based violence, including child marriage, by putting girls’ rights and gender equality at the centre of COVID-19 and humanitarian responses, development policy, and wider efforts to build forward better.

The organisation also demanded that governments must guarantee the rights of all girls, including those impacted by different forms of inequality and discrimination (including on the basis of gender, race, disability, economic background, etc.), by developing inclusive policies and programmes.

NEW DELHI:  In a setback to the BJP ahead of the Assembly elections, Uttarakhand Cabinet minister Yashpal Arya and his MLA son returned to the Congress on Monday. A prominent leader from the backward community, Arya along with son Sanjeev met former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi before joining the party. He had left the Congress ahead of the 2017 elections after his son was not given party ticket.

The joining Congress holds importance as former chief minister Harish Rawat had recently said that the party may have a Dalit chief minister on the lines of Punjab. Arya was a speaker and minister during the erstwhile Congress rule in the hill state.   

“It is my ‘ghar wapsi’ as I have returned to my family. If the Congress emerges stronger, then democracy will be strengthened further,” said Arya.  While the six-time MLA represents Bajpur (SC) constituency, his son Sanjeev represents Nainital. 

The Congress said that Arya’s come back is a positive sign that it will win in the state.  “This is one of the happiest moments for the Congress party as Yashpal and Sanjeev Arya have decided to join the Congress, giving a clear-cut indication of coming elections in Uttarakhand. The wind is in favour of the Congress in Uttarakhand,” General Secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal told reporters after the father-son duo formally joined the party which is eyeing to trounce the ruling BJP in Uttarakhand.

CHANDIGARH:  A special CBI court on Friday found Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and four others guilty on the charge of murdering his follower Ranjit Singh in 2002. The quantum of punishment will be pronounced on October 12.

The verdict was pronounced by CBI Special Judge Sushil Garg in Panckula. 

The Dera chief is the main accused in the case. The other accused are Krishan Lal, Jasbir Singh, Avtar Singh and Sabdil. Another accused Inder Sain had died in October 2020.

Ranjit Singh was a staunch follower of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. He was murdered on July 10, 2002. As per the charge sheet filed by the CBI, Ram Rahim had suspected that Singh had circulated an anonymous letter among the Dera followers which allegedly accused him of sexually exploiting women followers. This was the same letter which Sirsa-based journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati highlighted in his news report.