LUCKNOW: Speaking at a function in Varanasi on the occasion of Ravidas Jayanti, she urged the audience to take the teachings of the saint to the masses.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday said 14th-century sant Ravidas dreamt of a society where there is no discrimination on the basis of caste and religion, and that everyone should work towards fulfilling it.

Speaking at a function in Varanasi on the occasion of Ravidas Jayanti, she urged the audience to take the teachings of the saint to the masses. “He (Sant Ravidas) had dreamt of a society, where there is no discrimination and where every person is respected. You all should take forward his teachings to the masses, especially at a time, when there is so much violence and hatred in society. His teachings are need of the hour,” Priyanka Gandhi said. A 14th-century saint, Ravidas is revered in Buddhism, Sikhism and Hinduism. He was born in Varanasi and was a leading figure of the Bhakti Movement.

The Congress general secretary arrived in Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on a day-long visit to take part in Ravidas Jayanti programmes. Priyanka said it is her privilege that she got an opportunity to bow her head at the birthplace of Sant Ravidas. “Sant Ravidas used to say in his teachings that Ram and Rahim are one. We are all part of one god. We must learn from his teachings,” she said. Before attending the function, the Congress leader offered prayers at the Guru Ravidass Janam Sthan Mandir.

BSP supremo Mayawati on Sunday said if voted to power in Uttar Pradesh, her party will rename Bhadohi as Sant Ravidas Nagar. In a statement issued in Delhi, she said, “As soon as the BSP comes to power (in UP), it will rename Bhadohi as Sant Ravidas Nagar. The previous SP government had changed its name due to its casteist mentality.”

She also accused the Congress and the BJP of never honouring saint-poet Ravidas during their tenures.

The former CM’s assertion to rename Bhadohi as Sant Ravidas Nagar came close on the heels of a proposal to change the name of Basti, a district located in the eastern parts of the state, after Maharishi Vashisth.

As per the plans, the survey will be conducted to identify people of four communities — Goria, Moria, Desi and Jolah of the tea tribes, considered as indigenous.

GUWAHATI: Assam is likely to conduct an exercise to identify the state’s indigenous Muslim population and segregate them from Bangladeshi origin people, even as doubts over the accuracy of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) are yet to be addressed.

As per the plans, the survey will be conducted to identify people of four communities — Goria, Moria, Desi and Jolah of the tea tribes, considered as indigenous.

Assam Welfare of Minorities Minister Ranjit Dutta has convened a meeting on Tuesday with various organisations of the four communities and other stakeholders to finalise the plan.

“Assam has about 1.3 crore Muslims population, of which around 90 lakh are of Bangladeshi origin. The remaining 40 lakh are from different tribes and they need to be identified,” Assam Minority Development Board Chairman Muminul Aowal said.

The indigenous Muslims are deprived of benefits of the government welfare schemes in absence of proper identification, he claimed.

Aowal, who is also the convenor of Janagosthiya Samanway Parishad Asom (JSPA), said the entire rationale behind such an exercise is to give protection to the indigenous people from demographic changes in the state.

“The NRC included lakhs of Bangladeshi-origin people. So, we cannot rely on that. If we do not act now, one day all the indigenous tribes will be wiped out from Assam,” he added.

“Once the indigenous tribes are officially recognised, it will be better and easier to work for the development of these people. I, as a representative of these tribes, had in 2015 met the then Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh,” Aowal said.

The indigenous groups had urged Singh for such a survey, he said.

When asked how the exercise will be carried out, Aowal said, “We will request the state government to get an approval from the RGI (Registrar General of India). Without the RGI’s approval, the findings may not be legally tenable.”

The organisations representing the Muslim tribes want the paper works to be completed by March so that the actual fieldwork of enumerating people can begin early next fiscal, he said.

“The entire initiative is of the Minority Department of the state government, but it does not have the required manpower to carry out such a state-wide exercise. That is why it can be conducted through the Revenue Department, which is present at the village-level,” Aowal explained.

The NRC, which was published last year under the supervision of the Supreme Court with over 19 lakh exclusions, is being criticised by all sections for the “minimal number” of people left out.

It is being alleged that genuine Indians, mostly Hindus, were left out and many illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, mostly Muslims, were included.

The apex court is still hearing a number of petitions on the issue.

Later, a team from Indian embassy in Japan met Sarkar and promised all help. ‘The team from the Indian embassy came to meet me and assured me of all necessary help.

KOLKATA: A resident of West Bengal’s North Dinajpur district is among the 138 Indians stuck on a cruise liner quarantined at a Japanese port after some passengers were detected with Novel Coronavirus. 

Binay Kumar Sarkar, a resident of Chakulia village, is a crew member of the cruise liner ‘Diamond Princess’. Altogether, there are 132 Indian crew members and six passengers who are onboard Diamond Princess. Sarkar, 31, is on duty at the communication control room of the ship. Earlier, he had made a post on the social media pleading for help from Indian and Bengal governments for being rescued from the ship that is docked at Yokohama port.

Later, a team from Indian embassy in Japan met Sarkar and promised all help. ‘The team from the Indian embassy came to meet me and assured me of all necessary help. A medical team has been posted at the cruise liner. I am grateful to the governments for the initiatives that have been taken (so far)…,’’ Binay said over the phone. The ship is carrying 3,700 people comprising both passengers and crew members. Japan has already examined 280 people and reports of six of them came on Saturday. Among the six, three have been identified as infected with Coronavirus. 

Binay’s family members are worried about his well-being. ‘’He is staying among Coronavirus victims. My son told me that the passengers started falling victims of Coronavirus after the ship started from Hong Kong on January 25. Those who have been detected with Coronavirus have not been kept in isolation wards. I urge to the state government to initiate all efforts to bring my son back,’’ Binay’s father Chandi Sarkar pleaded. 

New Delhi: A 26-year-old sub-inspector (SI) of the Delhi Police allegedly committed suicide after shooting dead a woman SI, who was also his batchmate, near Rohini East Metro station in the national capital, officials said on Saturday.

Preeti Ahlawat (26), a 2018-batch personnel, was shot dead on Friday night allegedly by Deepanshu Rathee, who later committed suicide near Murthal in Sonepath, police said.

Ahlawat was posted at Patparganj Industrial Area police station.

She was shot dead at around 9.30 pm when she was on her way home in Rohini Sector 8 from the Metro station, they said.

Investigation has revealed that Rathee got the service revolver issued from Bhajanpura police station, where he was undergoing training. He had been stalking Ahlawat for the past three to four days to target her, a senior police official said.

Police suspect that the SIs were in a relationship but they broke up around three months ago. However, it was learnt that Rathee was pressuring Ahlawat to be with him, the official said.

Police are contacting the friends and colleagues of the deceased SIs to ascertain facts.

Rathee was identified with the help of CCTV footage where he was seen following Ahlawat after she came out from the Metro station and shot her later on her head, he said.

Three cartridges of 9mm were found from the spot, he said, adding after firing at her, Rathee walked towards his car which was parked in the same area.

The mobile location of Rathee was traced to Murthal. On reaching there, police found his car in an isolated spot near Murthal at around 2 am and his body was found on the driver’s seat with a revolver in the right hand, police said.

Ahlawat, was living with her two batchmates in Rohini while Rathee’s family lives in Sonepat and his father was retired from Haryana police, they added.

New Delhi: Three minority-dominated seats of Mustafabad, Matia Mahal and Seelampur recorded the highest voter turnout in the Delhi Assembly elections on Saturday, polls officials said.

According to the data shared by officials, Mustafabad in northeast Delhi recorded 66.29 per cent voter turnout till 5 pm while Matia Mahal in Old Delhi, the area that saw anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests, recorded a voter turnout of 65.62 per cent.

Seelampur, another minority-dominated seat in northeast Delhi, recorded 64.92 per cent voting. The are had also seen anti-CAA protests in December.

Long queues were seen outside polling stations in areas like Jaffrabad, Jamia Nagar, Turkman Gate and Shaheen Bagh which have been witnessing protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

At the Shaheen Bagh protest site, women voted in batches.

Mehzabeen Qureshi, who returned to the protest site after voting, said, “I stayed at home to let other women in the house go out and vote. Now I have joined them here at Shaheen Bagh after voting. I voted today to secure democracy.”

Delhi recorded 61.46 per cent voter turnout on Saturday, down from 67.47 per cent in 2015 assembly election, with exit polls predicting an easy win for AAP, which sought to retain power on development plank, against the BJP that ran an aggressive campaign centred around the issues of anti-CAA protests and nationalism.

New Delhi: Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari put up a brave face even as exit polls predicted a sweep for the AAP in the assembly polls, voting for which concluded on Saturday evening, claiming his party will win “48 seats” and form a government in the city.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah was expected to meet BJP’s seven Lok Sabha MPs and other leaders late in the evening, a top party leader said.

“Shah will meet the MPs and other leaders to get their feedback of the voting on the 70 Assembly seats,” he said. 

Tiwari tweeted all the exit polls will “fail” and asked his detractors to save his tweet.

“All these exit polls will fail. Save my tweet carefully. BJP will win 48 seats and form government in Delhi…please do not search excuses to blame the EVM,” Tiwari asserted in his tweet in Hindi.

Shah and BJP president JP Nadda during the whirlwind campaign for the polls had claimed that the party will win more than 45 seats in Delhi.

Exit polls for the Delhi Assembly election on Saturday predicted a comfortable victory for the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) despite a likely rise in tally for the BJP in the 70-member House.

Times Now-Ipsos exit polls predicted that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will retain his chair with the AAP winning 44 seats against 26 for the BJP.

Republic-Jan ki Baat survey gave the AAP 48-61 seats and the BJP 9-21 seats.

TV9 Bharatvarsh-Cicero predicted 54 seats for the AAP, 15 for the BJP and one for the Congress.

The AAP had scored an overwhelming victory in the 2015 assembly polls, winning 67 seats and reducing the BJP to three. 

The DGCA, in its circular to airlines on Saturday, reiterated that all visas issued to Chinese nationals before February 5 have been suspended.

NEW DELHI: As the outbreak of novel coronavirus has lead to the death of more than 700 Chinese nationals, aviation regulator DGCA on Saturday said that foreigners who went to China on or after January 15 will not be allowed to enter India.

The DGCA, in its circular to airlines on Saturday, reiterated that all visas issued to Chinese nationals before February 5 have been suspended.

However, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) clarified, “These visa restrictions will not apply to aircrew, who may be Chinese nationals or other foreign nationalities coming from China.”

“Foreigners who have been to China on or after January 15, 2020, are not allowed to enter India from any air, land or seaport, including Indo-Nepal, Indo-Bhutan, Indo-Bangladesh or Indo-Myanmar land borders,” the DGCA said.

Among Indian airlines, IndiGo and Air India have suspended all of their flights between the two countries.

SpiceJet continues to fly on Delhi-Hong Kong route.

On February 1 and 2, Air India conducted two special flights to Chinese city of Wuhan, epicentre of the outbreak, evacuating 647 Indians and seven Maldivians.

Till date, three Indians have tested positive for novel coronavirus.

Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti were among the many mainstream politicians detained after the Centre revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday said it had been six months since former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers had been detained and asked whether India is still a democracy.

Former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti were among the many mainstream politicians detained after the Centre revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370 on August 5 last year.

The state was also bifurcated into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

Priyanka Gandhi pointed out that it has been six months since the former chief ministers have been incarcerated without any charges and millions of people locked down in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Six months ago we were asking how long this will carry on? Now we are asking whether we are still a democracy or not,” she tweeted.

There will be 15 trustees in the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Theertha Kshetra Trust out of which one trustee will always be from the Dalit society, says Amit Shah.

New Delhi: The home minister said the trust will be independent to take every decision.  

Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced that the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra, set up by the government for construction of a temple in Ayodhya, will have 15 trustees and one of them will be from the Dalit community.

The statement comes a little over an hour after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in Lok Sabha about the constitution of the trust.

“There will be 15 trustees in the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust out of which one trustee will always be from the Dalit society,” he tweeted.

Amit Shah congratulated PM Modi “for such an unprecedented decision” that strengthens social harmony.

The home minister said the trust will be independent to take every decision related to the temple and 67 acres of land will be transferred to it.

“I fully believe that the waiting of millions of people for centuries will be over soon and they will be able to pay obeisance to Lord Shri Ram in his grand temple at his birthplace,” he said.

Delhi Elections 2020: “Delhi wants to know why they should vote for BJP,” Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal said.

New Delhi:  Delhi Elections 2020: Arvind Kejriwal “invited” Home Minister Amit Shah to debate him in public.

As his 1 pm deadline to the BJP to announce a chief ministerial candidate for Delhi ended, Arvind Kejriwal “invited” Home Minister Amit Shah to debate him in public ahead of the Delhi election on Saturday.

“Debate is good, come, let us debate. Amit Shah said vote us, we will give you chief minister,” the Delhi Chief Minister said.

“Delhi wants to know why they should vote for BJP,” the Aam Aadmi Party chief added.