Archives for 2021

I am reaching out to you regarding It’s A Girl Thing India, an initiative aimed to empower, inspire, and connect young women. The Kannada Edition hosted Deena Pinto, Gouthami Jadav, Mansa Manohar, Mythri Iyer, Namratha Gowda, RJ Megha, and Tanvi Geetha Ravishankar.
Basis same, Please find below note. Request to kindly check if can be carried

“I believe every girl and woman out there are super-girls and super-women,” says Kannada Actress Namratha Gowda, at the recently-held IAGT India Regional Edition

Actress Namratha Gowda’s life has been nothing but a roller coaster ride where she faced criticism at a very young age. During a session titled – ‘If you can dream it, You can Do it’ at It’s A Girl Thing, India Regional Edition, the actress shared, “As a child, I was degraded for being a girl which made me wish that I should have been born a boy. But growing up, journeying through this life, I have come to realize that I am blessed to be born a female. I believe every girl and woman out there are super-girls and super-women because they all dream of achieving something in their life. If a girl sets a goal and builds a dream, then she has the strength to achieve it no matter what. If I can inspire even a few young girls out there through this initiative to have the courage to dream, I will be content and happy.”

It’s A Girl Thing aims to build and nurture a global community that introduces young women to meaningful content, conversations, and experiences. It is an initiative which brings girls together through various formats – online, in person at festivals, cross culturally and around their interests – so they never stop dreaming of everything they want to be. An initiative for young women by women, IAGT aims to inculcate confidence that enables them to go beyond societal norms and conventions and create a spirit of self-love and sisterhood. Driven by this very vision, IAGT India will play host to women leaders from all walks of life who have charted their own path of excellence.

Driven by this very vision, IAGT India plays host to women leaders from all walks of life who have charted their own path of excellence.

London: The High Commission of India in London has condemned false assertions in a “distinctly one-sided discussion” among a group of British parliamentarians on Monday on the issue of peaceful protests and press freedoms in India, amidst the ongoing farmers’ stir against three new laws on agricultural reforms.

The Indian mission pointed out that foreign media, including British media, had been present and witnessed the events surrounding the farmers’ protests in India first-hand and therefore any “question of lack of freedom of the media in India does not arise .

“We deeply regret that rather than a balanced debate, false assertions without substantiation or facts were made, casting aspersions on the largest functioning democracy in the world and its institutions, a statement issued by the high commission said, following the debate which stemmed from an e-petition that attracted over 100,000 signatures on the parliamentary website.

The mission said it would normally refrain from commenting on an internal discussion involving a small group of honourable parliamentarians in a limited quorum.

“However, when aspersions are cast on India by anyone, irrespective of their claims of friendship and love for India or domestic political compulsions, there is a need to set the record straight,” the statement said.

It said that a false narrative over farmers’ protest was sought to be developed even though the High Commission of India has been, over a period of time, taking care to inform all concerned about the issues raised in the petition.

The statement followed a group of around dozen cross-party British MPs debating issues around the use of force against protesters opposed to agricultural reforms in India and journalists being targeted while covering the protests taking place at several border points of Delhi for over 100 days.

Farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at several Delhi border points, including Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur, since November 28, demanding a complete repeal of the three farm laws and a legal guarantee on the minimum support price for their crops.

As the UK government minister deputed to respond to the debate, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) minister Nigel Adams said the close UK-India relationship did not hinder the UK in any way from raising “difficult issues” with India, even as he reiterated the government line that agricultural reforms are a “domestic matter” for India.

This is a time of great ambition for the UK’s relationship with India. Both governments are working to advance shared priorities across trade and investment, health, sustainability and climate change and defence and security, said Adams.

We are also working with India as a force for good in the UN Security Council and as one of the Prime Minister’s [Boris Johnson] guest countries at the G7 summit later this year in June. This cooperation will help us fix global problems and it will strengthen prosperity and wellbeing in India and the UK,” he said.

“However, whilst this is an exciting time for the UK-India partnership, it does not hinder us from raising difficult issues, the minister said, adding that candid discussions on a range of issues will form part of Boris Johnson’s planned visit to India in the coming months.

While the minister acknowledged the alarm and uncertainty the farmers’ protests and their coverage in India had caused among British communities with family ties in India, he expressed hope that the ongoing dialogue between the Indian government and farmers’ unions will have positive results.

Both sides need to step back and recognise the need to come to an agreement I hope the government will commit to helping that cause and offer British skills in a negotiation and compromise to help both sides to bring this issue to a close, said Virendra Sharma, Opposition Labour MP for Ealing Southall in west London with a large Punjabi diaspora.

The debate, held in a hybrid form with some MPs participating via videolink in a room at Portcullis House in London, related to the e-petition entitled Urge the Indian Government to ensure safety of protesters & press freedom .

We have only been able to hold the government to account today [Monday] thanks to the power of democracy. A petition started by Liberal Democrat Councillor, Gurch Singh, and signed by over 100,000 people, has forced the government to stop hiding on this important issue,” said Layla Moran, Liberal Democrat MP and spokesperson for foreign affairs.

From the ruling Conservative Party backbenches, Theresa Villiers noted that agricultural reform is an issue that has proved difficult across the world over the years and pointed out that the new agricultural laws in India had been postponed to allow for greater consultation and discussion .

I understand that protesting farmers feel insecure about their future, but Prime Minister Modi’s government has repeatedly said that a core purpose of the reforms is to make farming more profitable, to raise the incomes of people who work in farming and to promote investment in agriculture to increase yields, she said.

I hear the concerns expressed about the response to the protests, but when thousands and thousands of people are involved in demonstrations and encampments lasting months and months, no policing response can altogether avoid controversial episodes, she said.

The Indian government has denied allegations that it was trying to put an end to the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and the mandi system.

Multiple rounds of talks between the government and farmer unions have not been able to resolve the deadlock.

India has emphasised that the protests by farmers must be seen in the context of India’s democratic ethos and polity and the Ministry of External Affairs said that some vested interest groups have tried to mobilise international support against the country.

“Before rushing to comment on such matters, we would urge that the facts be ascertained, and a proper understanding of the issues at hand be undertaken,” it said last month.

Kolkata: At least seven people were killed in an inferno in a multi-storeyed New Koilaghat building here on Strand Road which houses the zonal offices of Eastern and South Eastern Railways on Monday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said.

Out of them, four were firefighters, one assistant sub-inspector posted at the Hare Street police station and one RPF personnel, Fire and Emergency Services Minister Sujit Basu said.

The seventh victim is yet to be identified, he said.

The fire is now under control and the cooling process is on, he said.

Banerjee, who rushed to the spot in the city’s central business district, announced the state government will pay a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the families of those killed in the blaze and government job to a kin of each victim.

The fire broke out in the 13th floor of the sprawling building at around 6.10 pm. It also has a computerised ticket booking centre on its ground floor.

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday told youth wing leaders that had Jyotiraditya Scindia remained in the party he would have certainly become chief minister but was now a “backbencher” in the BJP, according to sources.

He said he had told Scindia so, but “he chose a different path” by joining the BJP, where he can never be the chief minister.

Gandhi while addressing the executive committee meeting of the Indian Youth Congress said that even if Scindia returns to the party fold, “he cannot be the chief minister now”.

The former Congress chief exhorted youth leaders to adopt patience and be able to digest power. He said the party is observing the contribution of all of them, sources said.

“I told Scindia that he will 100 per cent become the chief minister one day. But he chose a different path. Had he not left the party, he would have been CM. He is today a backbencher in the BJP and can never become chief minister there,” a source quoted him as telling the gathering.

Scindia had left the party along with some legislators loyal to him to join the BJP. This led to the fall of the Kamal Nath-led Congress government in Madhya Pradesh early last year.

However, IYC president B V Srinivas denied that Gandhi made any reference to Scindia and claimed it was “not correct”.

He said Gandhi told the youth that “anyone who wanted to join or quit the party was free to do so”, as he urged them to continue their fight against the RSS-BJP ideology and not fear anyone.

Sources, however, said he told the youth leaders that the coming days belonged to them and they should remain loyal to the party and continue their fight against the BJP/RSS and work hard for the party which was “observing” them and their contribution.

He said politics was a long process and one who worked sincerely for the party and remained loyal would get rewarded.

“I will continue to fight these forces. I do not fear from anyone, Gandhi said at the closed-door gathering,” the source said.

All state presidents and Indian Youth Congress national office-bearers attended the executive meeting.

The Youth Congress leaders made a presentation at the meeting on the work they proposed to do in the next year.

Gandhi told them to continue with their programme of protests on issues of price rise and unemployment and farmers’ issues and to take to the streets against the government.

Bengaluru: The Opposition leader Siddaramaiah on Monday dubbed the budget tabled by Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa in the assembly as ‘hollow’ and one which does not supplement development.

“This is not a budget that supplements development. It has no vision or target. Its a hollow budget,” opposition leader Siddaramaiah told reporters.

He said budgets presented so far in the state had allocated funds department wise, but it had been done away with this time and divided into six sectors.

“Dividing the budget into sectors will not help understand how much is to be spent department wise,” the former chief minister said, adding, that there were no adequate statistics in the budget and it lacked transparency.

Earlier in the day, the Congress had staged a walkout ahead of the tabling of budget, alleging that the BJP government was ‘carrying a bundle of sins’ and has no moral right to continue in power.

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “spreading lies and canards” against the TMC government, and said voters, this time, would witness ‘Didi versus BJP’ fight in all 294 constituencies of the poll-bound state.

Taking a dig at Modi over inclusion of his picture in COVID-19 vaccination certificates, she said the “day wasn’t far when the country will be named after him”.

Asserting that she will return to power for the third consecutive time in Bengal, the feisty TMC boss said, “The fight is between me and the BJP in all 294 seats.”

“They (BJP leaders) will come to Bengal only during elections and spread canards and lies. He is lecturing us on women’s safety. What is the situation of women in BJP-ruled states? What is the situation in Modi’s favourite Gujarat?

“The prime minister has named a stadium after him. He has put his photographs on COVID-19 vaccination certificates.

A day will come when the country will be named after him,” Banerjee, who led a rally here on the occasion of International Women’s Day, stated.

Rebutting the PM’s claim that women do not feel safe in Bengal, she said, “Had that been the case, they wouldn’t have been able to move around freely at night.”

Hitting out at the PM, Banerjee also said that Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah should shift focus on BJP- ruled states, including ‘model state’ Gujarat, “where, media reports suggest, four rapes and two killings have been recorded every day over the past two years.”

The TMC rally, which commenced in College Square area in central Kolkata, concluded near Dorina crossing, five kilometres away.

Senior party leaders Chandrima Bhattacharyaa and Mala Roy joined the march.

Among others, actresses and now TMC candidates June Maliya, Saayoni Ghosh and Sayantika Banerjee were also seen taking part in the rally.

Bengaluru: The Congress on Monday staged a walkout in the Karnataka Assembly during the tabling of budget for 2021-22 by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, prompting a strong reaction from the CM who claimed the country never had a history of opposition boycotting the budget.

The congress members had walked out of the House, claiming that the government in the state had no moral right to continue in power.

“Do we have any instance of opposition staging a walkout either in the Centre or the state during the presentation of the budget?” Yediyurappa asked, while speaking to reporters after the budget presentation.

“What morality are they (Congress) talking about? I will explain what morality they were referring to during the debate on the budget,” he said.

Yediyurappa said the opposition getting away by giving lame excuses means that they are incapable to face the situation.

“Dear Siddaramaiah, your stay in the opposition forever is guaranteed. Don’t call me Yediyurappa, if I don’t make Siddaramaiah sit in the opposition by winning 130 to 135 seats. This I am giving in writing, an angry Yediyurappa said.

When asked about Siddaramaiah demanding resignation of ministers, Yediyurappa claimed the Congress leader has developed some mental issues recently as he did not know what to speak.