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BJP committed to Amaravati as only capital: Somu

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VISAKHAPATNAM: BJP State president Somu Veerraju has said the party is committed to Amaravati as the only capital of the State. Speaking to mediapersons during a door-to-door campaign for the MLC graduate constituency election in MVP Colony on Sunday, he said the national highway and expressway and flyover projects were sanctioned by the Centre to develop Amaravati as capital.

“Though the Centre has given thousands of crores for the development of Amaravati, the State government is not spending the funds. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, who came up with the three-capital proposal, is whiling away time without developing capital Amaravati,” he alleged.

Veerraju said Jagan who undertook Praja Sankalpa Yatra, had brought GO No 1 to prevent the opposition parties from undertaking padayatras. “The State has suffered a lot under the rule of regional parties. Hence, the BJP has laid emphasis on development,” he explained.

The BJP executive committee meeting to be held at Bhimavaram will adopt a resolution on pending issues with the Ayush Department. The Centre is giving top priority to the development of the health sector. The BJP will not compromise on its fight for the development of the State, he asserted.BJP Vizag parliamentary district president M Ravindra and official spokesperson Sushasini were present.

Pakistan hit by nationwide power outage eith cuts in all major cities

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ISLAMABAD: A massive power breakdown in Pakistan on Monday affected most of the country’s more than 220 million people, including in the mega cities of Karachi and Lahore.

Pakistan’s electricity distribution system is a complex and delicate web, and a problem in one section of the grid can lead to cascading breakdowns across the country.

The hours-long outage, the second in the past two years, was caused by a fault in the national grid at around 7:30 am (0230GMT).

“According to initial reports, the system frequency dropped at the national grid in the morning which led to a massive breakdown,” the ministry of energy tweeted.

Repair work was underway, with limited power restored in parts of the capital and the northwestern city of Peshawar.

The port city of Karachi, with a population of more than 15 million, and Lahore, with a population of more than 10 million, remained without power.

A similar breakdown in January 2021 had plunged the entire country into darkness after fault occurred in southern Pakistan tripping the transmission system of the country.

Pakistan has long been hit by energy shortages because of a combination of factors including a poor economy, mismanagement and a lack of storage facilities.

Hospitals are mostly backed up with generators while schools use gas to heat their classrooms.

Load shedding this winter has impacted domestic households and industries including textile manufacturing, one of the largest industries in Pakistan, with some plants temporarily closed.

SC to hear journalist Rana Ayyub’s plea in money laundering case on Jan 25

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Journalist Rana Ayyub

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Monday said it will hear on January 25 the petition of journalist Rana Ayyub challenging the summons issued to her by a special PMLA court in Ghaziabad in a money laundering case lodged by the ED.

A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, and Justices V Ramasubramanian and J B Pardiwala, posted the matter after senior advocate Vrinda Karat mentioned it.

Karat told the court that the Bench which was scheduled to hear the matter Monday was not available, and requested the bench to post the matter for hearing later today at 2 pm.

“We will keep this day after tomorrow before an appropriate bench. Today will be difficult,” the bench said.

On January 17, a bench led by CJI Chandrachud had agreed to consider listing the plea of Ayyub for urgent hearing after taking note of the submissions of advocate Vrinda Grover who appeared for her.

Grover had said a summons was issued by the special court in Ghaziabad against Ayyub for January 27 and therefore the matter be listed urgently.

In her writ petition, Ayyub has sought quashing of the proceedings initiated by the Enforcement Directorate in Ghaziabad citing lack of jurisdiction as the alleged offence of money laundering occurred in Mumbai.

On November 29 last year, the special PMLA court in Ghaziabad had taken cognizance of the prosecution complaint filed by the Enforcement Directorate and summoned Ayyub.

The ED chargesheet filed with under section 45 read with section 44 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 for money laundering was filed by Sanjeet Kumar Sahu, Assistant Director of ED, Delhi.

“I have perused the above mentioned prosecution complaint and have also gone through the prosecution papers as well as documents including statements.  From the perusal of the entire record there is sufficient evidence as to a prima facie case for taking cognizance against Ms Rana Ayyub with regard to commission of offence,” the special court judge said.

The special court has said that Ayyub’s crime involves taking money illegally from the general public in the name of charity via ‘Ketto’ (an online crowdfunding platform) in three campaigns without any approval, raising a huge sum in the bank account of her sister and father, and transferring it into her own bank account which was not used for the intended purpose.

On October 12 last year, the ED had filed a charge sheet against Ayyub, accusing her of cheating the public and using Rs 2.69 crore she got in charity for creating personal assets, and also violating the foreign contribution law.

“Rana Ayyub launched three fundraiser charity campaigns on the ‘Ketto platform’ starting from April 2020 and collected funds totalling Rs 2,69,44,680,” the ED had said in a statement.

The campaigns, it had said, were meant to raise funds for slum dwellers and farmers, relief work for Assam, Bihar, and Maharashtra, and help Ayyub and her team help those impacted by COVID-19 in India.

“Ayyub utilised these funds to create a fixed deposit of Rs 50 lakh for herself and also transferred Rs 50 lakh to a new bank account. Investigations found that only about Rs 29 lakh was used for relief work,” the ED had claimed.

“In order to claim more expenses towards relief work, fake bills were submitted by Ayyub and subsequently, bank balances in the accounts of Ayyub amounting to Rs 1,77,27,704 (including FD of Rs 50 Lakh) were attached under the PMLA vide a provisional attachment order dated February 4, 2022,” it had said.

The ED had initiated money laundering investigation on the basis of an FIR registered on September 7, 2021 by the Indirapuram Police Station of Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh under various sections of the IPC, Information Technology Amendment Act 2008, and Black Money Act against Ayyub.

It also alleged that Ayyub received foreign contributions without registration under FCRA.

On August 17 last year, the Delhi High Court had restrained the ED from proceeding further with the provisional attachment of funds in connection with the probe against her.

On April 4 last year, the Delhi High Court had allowed Ayyub to travel abroad and questioned the ED over a Look Out Circular (LOC) issued against her barring her from travelling abroad.

Ayyub was stopped by the ED from taking a flight to London from the Mumbai airport in March under the ‘Look out Circular’ issued against her.

PM unveils model of Netaji memorial, names 21 islands in Andamans after decorated soldiers

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PORT BLAIR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday virtually unveiled the model of a proposed memorial dedicated to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, to be set up in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and said it will infuse feelings of patriotism among people.

Modi, on the occasion of Netaji’s 126th birth anniversary, also named 21 islands of the Union Territory after Param Vir Chakra awardees. He noted that the islands will be a source of inspiration for generations to come.

The PM also said that attempts were made to downplay Netaji’s contribution to the freedom movement, but the entire country, right from Delhi and Bengal to Andaman and Nicobar Islands, is paying tribute to the great hero today, preserving history and heritage associated with him.

He also pointed out that demands to make Netaji’s files public were made by many for long, and his government has done that.

Netaji will be remembered for his fierce resistance to colonial rule, he stated

“Today, it is a proud moment for me as I address the people of Andamans because this is the land, where Subhas Chandra Bose unfurled the national flag for the first time in 1943,” he said.

Earlier, Union Home Minister Amit Shah lauded the initiative to christen the 21 islands, and said this effort will be a source of encouragement for the country’s armed forces.

He also said that the cellular jail in the Union Territory, where many freedom fighters were incarcerated, is no less than a “pilgrimage site”.

BJD burns effigies of BJP leaders in Odisha over ‘misbehaviour’

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BALANGIR: Alleging misbehaviour, the BJD unit of Balangir protesting the same, burnt effigies of BJP leader KV Singhdeo and Balangir MP Sangeeta Singhdeo here on Sunday.

According to the protestors, on January 18 KV Singhdeo had allegedly reprimanded the block development officer of Belpada citing negligence of duty. Similarly, Balangir MP Sangeeta Singhdeo had also reportedly argued with the district collector and other officers during the Disha meeting held on January 20.

“All development works are going well in Belpada block yet Singhdeo misbehaved with the BDO without any reason. We demand BJP leader KV Singhdeo and MP Sangeeta Singhdeo to apologise for their actions,” said a BJD leader of Belpada block Tina Kumbhar.

In a similar incident on January 12, senior congress MLA Santosh Singh Saluja lashed out at collector Chanchal Rana during a Zilla parishad meeting over the slashing of funds under different programmes in the district. 

China logs nearly 13,000 Covid deaths in a week

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BEIJING: China reported nearly 13,000 Covid-related deaths in hospitals between January 13 and 19, after a top health official said the vast majority of the population had already been infected.

The death toll came a week after with Covid in hospitals in just over a month — but there has been widespread scepticism over official data since Beijing abruptly axed anti-virus controls last month.

China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a statement on Saturday that 681 hospitalised patients had died of respiratory failure caused by coronavirus infection, and 11,977 had died of other diseases combined with an infection over the period.

The figures do not include anyone who died at home.

Airfinity, an independent forecasting firm, has estimated daily Covid deaths in China will peak at about 36,000 over the Lunar New Year holiday.

The firm also estimated that more than 600,000 people have died from the disease since China abandoned the zero-Covid policy in December.

China has passed the peak period of Covid patients in fever clinics, emergency rooms and with critical conditions, Guo Yanhong, an official from the National Health Commission told a news conference on Thursday.

‘No second wave’ 

Tens of millions of people have travelled across the country in recent days for long-awaited reunions with families to mark Sunday’s Lunar New Year, raising fears of fresh outbreaks.

China’s transport authorities have predicted that more than two billion trips will be made this month into February, in one of the world’s largest mass movements of people.

President Xi Jinping Wednesday expressed concerns over the spread of the virus in rural China, much of which lacks medical resources.

But a top health official said China would not experience a second wave of infections in the months after the festive migration, because nearly 80 percent of the population had already been infected by the virus.

“Although a large number of people travelling during the Spring Festival may promote the spread of the epidemic to a certain extent… the current wave of epidemic has already infected about 80 percent of the people in the country,” Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the CDC, said in a post on China’s Twitter-like Weibo platform on Saturday.

“In the short term, for example, in the next two to three months, the possibility of… a second wave of the epidemic across the country is very small.”

Residents in central China’s Wuhan, where the first coronavirus infections were reported in late 2019, celebrated the arrival of the Year of the Rabbit on Saturday night with fireworks, flowers and offerings to loved ones they lost to the virus.

Four ‘pre-election’ budget speeches of 21st century how India changed through them

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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman holds a folder case containing the Union Budget 2021-22 in Delhi. (Photo | Shekhar Yadav, EPS)

The years 2003, 2008, 2013 and 2018 marked “pre-election” budgets presented by finance ministers with distinct personalities. They also symbolised tectonic shifts in Indian polity and economy. What would Nirmala Sitharaman symbolise in the 2023 “pre-election” budget?

At 11 AM on February 1, 2023, Nirmala Sitharaman will present the fifth “pre-election” Budget of this century. History buffs who keep tabs on trivia will know that Budget speeches were delivered at 5 PM till 1999 when the first “full term” non-Congress NDA government chose to break away from the imperial tradition. Jaswant Singh delivered the “pre-election” Budget speech in 2003; P Chidambaram twice in 2008 and 2013 and Arun Jaitley in 2018.

Each finance minister had a unique style and represented a decisive phase of political and social churn in India. The suave Jaswant Singh was the original choice of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1999 when the NDA won a decisive mandate. He was vetoed by the Sangh Parivar. It was only in the fifth year of his term that Vajpayee got his say. When the man who has presented the most consequential Budget (1991) in independent India Dr Manmohan Singh was anointed as the Prime Minister by the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in 2004, P Chidambaram appeared a natural choice. After all, he was credited with presenting a “dream budget” in the 50th year of Indian independence. 

Articulate and occasionally abrasive, Chidambaram continues to punch above his electoral and political weight. His successor, Arun Jaitley, too punched way above his political and electoral weight. There were many grumbles and murmurs within the Sangh Parivar when Jaitley was given the finance portfolio (along with defence) despite losing badly to Captain Amarinder Singh (then with the Congress) in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. But the quintessential “Delhi insider” Jaitley was trusted implicitly by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His successor Nirmala Sitharaman too is in the cabinet having created a record of sorts by becoming India’s first defence and finance minister. 

A lot has changed both politically and economically since Jaswant Singh read the speech in his rich baritone 20 years ago. 

In the political arena, the BJP-led NDA has scripted “history” by winning two successive Lok Sabha mandates. There is an even chance Prime Minister Narendra Modi could equal the record set by Jawaharlal Nehru in 2024 by winning a third consecutive mandate. In the economic arena, three factoids signal the significant change and the significance of the change. In 2003; with a GDP of about $ 600 billion, India was the 12th largest economy. It is now the 5th largest economy with a GDP in excess of $ 3.5 trillion. In 2003, India boasted of $ 113 billion in foreign exchange reserves; they currently stand at $ 560 billion despite the depredations and global headwinds of 2022 that seem to have ensured that many developed countries face a recession or a drastic fall in growth in 2023. In 2003, the Sensex was within touching distance of 6,000 having registered a record 73% gain in one calendar year. Despite headwinds, the Sensex has broken through the psychological barrier of 60,000.  

Dig a little deeper and even more tectonic shifts are discernible in Indian polity and economy since Jaswant Singh read the first “pre-election” speech of this century. The year 2003 armed the high noon of coalition politics in India after decades of Congress dominance. When Sonia Gandhi-led UPA delivered a shock defeat to the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA in 2004 and won yet another mandate in 2009, it looked as if coalition politics and governments were becoming a permanent feature. The arrival of Narendra Modi has again tilted the scales. By 2003, personality cults were emerging as a new area of interest and study. By 2023, personality cults have become deeply entrenched. Look at Mamata Banerjee, Naveen Patnaik, Y S R Jagan Mohan Reddy, K Chandrashekar Rao, Pinarayi Vijayan and Arvind Kejriwal and you get the picture. The third most consequential change has been the seemingly terminal decline of the Congress and the remarkable resilience and ability of regional parties to withstand the onslaught of the BJP juggernaut. 

When it comes to the economy too, there have been tectonic shifts. Despite implementation glitches and snafus, the GST regime is creating a unified national market. The first baby steps were taken in 2003. The digital revolution is changing the Indian economy in a manner that even experts cannot foresee. Jaswant Singh, for sure, did not see it back in 2003. Then again, after decades of empty rhetoric surrounding “Garibi Hatao”, both the UPA and NDA governments have had spectacular success in reducing poverty. Budgets have played a role in this, as part of overall economic policies and measures. But arguably the most consequential change has been the emphasis on “welfare” schemes designed for the poor. In a manner of speaking, P Chidambaram set the ball rolling in his 2008 “pre-election” Budget speech by announcing a Rs 60,000 crore farm loan waiver. Today, “welfare” has become an integral part of fiscal and monetary policies. Massive increases in tax revenues have enabled finance ministers to play Santa Klaus. When Jaswant Singh read his Budget speech in 2003, total tax revenues were Rs 254,438 crores. As Nirmala Sitharaman gets ready to read her 2023 Budget speech, total tax revenues promise to cross Rs 30 Lakh crores. 

China reports nearly 60,000 COVID-related deaths in a month

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Weeks after insisting it was not necessary to put out the exact Covid fatality count from the latest wave of infections, China on Saturday revealed its data for a little over a month, which took the global community’s breath away. Its National Health Commission (NHC) revealed the country had recorded as many as 59,938 Covid-related deaths between December 8 and January 12.

While the sudden burst of glasnost was certainly welcome, the toll is expected higher as the NHC data is on deaths at hospitals alone.

The jaw-dropping figure was in contrast to the few dozen deaths that had officially been recorded for December despite visual evidence of hospitals overflowing with patients and crematoriums being overrun by the Covid surge in the country.

China’s official toll has now gone up to just 65,210 since the coronavirus first broke out in its city of Wuhan in December 2019, indicating the extent of its data doctoring.

The World Health Organisation had on Wednesday rapped China for heavily underreporting the number of Covid deaths from the current wave. On the positive side, the peak of the latest wave appears to have passed based on the decline in the number of patients visiting fever clinics, NSC official Jiao Yahui said.

The daily number of people going to those clinics fell by 83% on Thursday, he said (see box).

“The number of elderly patients dying from illness is relatively large, which suggests that we should pay more attention to them and try our best to save their lives,” said Jiao.

Amid the Covid wave, when China reopened its borders to international travellers on January 8, a host of countries, including India imposed mandatory Covid tests on arrivals from China. Beijing retaliated by suspending the issuance of new visas to fliers from South Korea and Japan.

IND vs SL: Kohli, Gill power India to series sweep with record 317-run win

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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Virat Kohli lit up the dead rubber with an epic 166 not out, his third century in four innings, as India annihilated a clueless Sri Lanka with a record 317-run win in the third ODI to sweep the series here on Sunday.

Skipper Rohit Sharma (42 off 49) and Shubman Gill (116 off 97) shared a fluent 95-run opening partnership before Kohli (166 not out off 110) propelled India to a daunting 390 for five with his 74th international hundred and 46th in the 50-over format.

Sri Lanka succumbed to the high-quality fast bowling of Mohammad Siraj who struck four times inside the 10 overs to shut the door on the opposition. Sri Lanka were all out for a meagre 73 in 22 overs, highlighting the gulf between the two teams.

It is the biggest margin of victory by runs in the history of men’s ODIs.

The night well and truly belonged to ‘King’ Kohli. The 34-year-old, who had ended a nearly three-year wait for an international hundred in the Asia Cup last year, showed that he is back to his best.

Kohli is now only three short of equalling Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 ODI centuries. Kohli’s conversion ratio is remarkable as he got to his 46th ton in 259 innings while Tendulkar had taken 452 innings to get to 49 centuries.

Before Kohli took over, Gill had played some high-quality strokes en route to his second ODI hundred.

With that effort, he repaid the faith of the team management which had picked him to open ahead of Ishan Kishan, who came into the series with a double hundred under his belt.

The 23-run over from Lahiru Kumara in the initial stage of the innings got India going. After Rohit flicked him for a six over deep mid-wicket, Gill collected four straight boundaries off Kumara, three on the offside and one was a leg-side flick off a full toss. Rohit too was looking good at the other end but got out against the run of play while trying one of his signature shots, the front foot pull.

Gill and Kohli then shared a 131-run stand in which they were hardly troubled by the Sri Lankan bowlers.

Kohli began the innings with a flurry of boundaries before accumulating runs with his exemplary running between the wickets. His first of his eight sixes came in the 80s and it was a mishit over long-on, leaving him in a chuckle.

He got to 99 with a boundary which came following a collision with Ashen Bandara and Jeffrey Vandersay, who both were running towards the ball from deep square leg and deep midwicket. Both the fielders were eventually stretchered off the field.

The last 10 overs saw India smashing 116 runs with Kohli going ballistic after his century. It was raining sixes from his bat post the milestone and one over long on had shades of MS Dhoni’s helicopter shot that left Kohli with a big smile. Most of his maximums came in the cow corner region.

In response to India’s mammoth total, Sri Lanka never really turned up in the chase.

Siraj had Avishka Fernando caught at widish slip in the second over of the innings. It was a procession thereafter with Siraj running through the top order. Mohammad Shami and Kuldeep Yadav chipped in with a couple of wickets.

Brief scores

India: 390/5 in 50 overs (Virat Kohli 166 not out, Shubman Gill 116; Kasun Rajitha 2/81)
Sri Lanka: 73 all out in 22 overs ( Nuwanidu Fernando 19; Mohammed Siraj 4/32 )

Teams

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj.
Sri Lanka: Avishka Fernando, Nuwanidu Fernando, Kusal Mendis(wk), Ashen Bandara, Charith Asalanka, Dasun Shanaka(c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Jeffrey Vandersay, Chamika Karunaratne, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara.

BJP National Executive meet to focus on Karnataka elections

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BJP Flags (Photo | PTI)

BENGALURU: Poll-bound Karnataka will be the focus of discussions at the BJP National Executive meeting at the NDMC Convention Centre in New Delhi on Monday and Tuesday. An elaborate road show leading up to the venue has been planned for Monday. 

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, former CM B S Yediyurappa, National General Secretary C T Ravi, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, state BJP president Nalin Kateel, and state BJP Organising General Secretary G V Rajesh are heading to Delhi for the meeting, where National General Secretary (Organising) B L Santosh is expected to participate. 

Sources said Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to hold detailed meetings with the Karnataka team for information on poll preparedness. Important issues like reservation for Panchamsalis, the party’s strength in Old Mysuru and organisational strength is also expected to come up for discussion. While it is true that nine states are headed for polls this year, BJP’s big worry will be Karnataka, which is the only state in the south where it is in power.

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