[Nasheman news] Pryagraj With less than a month to go for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Congress General Secretary and eastern Uttar Pradesh in-charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday kicked off her political campaign from here.

Priyanka Gandhi left Swaraj Bhawan, her ancestral home, and arrived at the Bade Hanuman Mandir, popular as ‘Lete huye Hanuman Mandir’ near Prayagraj Sangam.

She offered prayers at the temple, as well as to the river Ganga.

She then embark on her much anticipated boat ride from the Manaiya Ghat in Kachnar tehsil of Prayagraj district, according to party leaders.

On the first day of her three-day river ride from Prayagraj to the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she will cover the distance up to Sitamarhi ghat in Bhadohi district.

On her way from Manaiya to Sitamarhi, she will make her first pit stop at Dumduma ghat and interact with the villagers.

The 47-year-old younger sibling of Congress President Rahul Gandhi will also hold discussion with students onboard the boat that are being called “Sanchi baat”. 

Priyanka Gandhi is also supposed to meet the family members of a slain Central Reserve Police Force trooper, who died in the February 14 Pulwama attcak.

After leaving Dumduma ghat, the Congress leader will reach Sirsa ghat and then also visit the Lakshagrih ghat.

She was expected to arrive at Sitamarhi ghat in the evening.

On Sunday, she held marathon meetings with party workers at the Nehru Bhawan party’s state headquarters in Lucknow. Congress had won only two seats from the state in 2014.

[Nasheman news] New Delhi Manohar Parrikar, who passed away at his private residence on Sunday evening after a prolonged battle with pancreatic cancer, became India’s 18th and Goa’s second Chief Minister to die in office.

Parrikar, 63, was the first Bharatiya Janata Party leader to be Goa Chief Minister. He headed the state from 2000-05 and 2012-14, before joining the Narendra Modi government as Defence Minister from 2014 before returned to state politics in 2017 to lead a coalition government.

Before Parrikar, 17 Chief Ministers including Tamil Nadu’s J. Jayalalitha, Jammu and Kashmir’s Sheikh Abdullah and Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, and Andhra Pradesh’s Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy died in harness.

Gopinath Bordoloi (Assam): The first Chief Minister of Assam , he worked closely with Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel to secure its sovereignty against China and Pakistan (as then East Pakistan bordered it) on the other before his death in 1950.

Ravishankar Shukla (Madhya Pradesh): A freedom fighter who laid special emphasis on the uplift of women and was a staunch opponent of illiteracy, purdah and dowry system, he became the first Chief Minister of the central state in 1956 but died two months into his stint. 

Sri Krishna Singh (Bihar): The first Chief Minister of Bihar, Sinha held the post right from when Congress won the elections under British rule in 1937 to 1961, save the World War II period. 

Bidhan Chandra Roy (West Bengal): An eminent freedom fighter and qualified doctor, he weas the second Chief Minister of West Bengal. After Independence, the Congress proposed his name as the state’s Chief Minister but he declined since he was more dedicated to his medical profession. However, on Mahatma Gandhi’s insistence, he accepted the position in January 1948 and held the post until his death in 1962.

Marotrao Kannamwar (Mahrashtra): The second Chief Minister of the newly-created state, he succeeded Y.B. Chavan in 1962 but died after a stint of only one year and four days.

Balwantrai Mehta (Gujarat): Succeeding Jivraj Narayan Mehta as Chief Minister on February 25, 1963, Mehta is the only Indian Chief Minister to become a war casualty. During the 1965 India-Pakistani War, his civilian aircraft was shot down by the Pakistan Air Force on September 19, 1965 as he was returning from a border area, killing him and all others aboard.

C. N. Annadurai (Madras/Tamil Nadu): Popularly known as ‘Anna’, he left an indelible mark not only on Tamil politics and society, but also national politics. The fifth and last Chief Minister of Madras from 1967 until 1969, he became the first Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu when the name of the state was changed but only held the post for 20 days. Annadurai, who had travelled to New York for medical treatment for cancer in September 1968 and underwent an operation, returned to Chennai in November and continued to attend official functions against medical advice. His health deteriorated further and he died in February 1969.

Dayanand Bandodkar (Goa): Popularly known as Bhausaheb Bandodkar, he was Goa’s first Chief Minister after liberation from Portuguese rule. He swept the polls in 1963, 1967 and in 1972 at the head of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and remained in power until his death in 1973.

Barkatullah Khan (Rajasthan): The only Muslim Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Khan died of a heart attack while in office, aged 53 years. He was Chief Minister from July 9, 1971 to October 11, 1973.

Sheikh Abdullah (Jammu and Kashmir): Known as “Sher-e-Kashmir”, Abdullah was the founder of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference and held the post of Chief Minister three times between Jammu and Kashmir’s accession to India and the early 1980s, amid a turbulent relationship with the Central government and several spells of imprisonment. He was in power when he died in 1982. 

M. G. Ramachandran (Tamil Nadu): Popularly known as MGR, he dominated Tamil films and politics. The first film actor to become a Chief Minister, he headed Tamil Nadu for 10 years from 1977, save a six-month interregnum in 1980 when his government was dismissed by the Centre, till his death in 1987.

Chimanbhai Patel (Gujarat): Replacing Ghanshyam Oza as Chief Minister in July 1973, he only served in office till February 9, 1974 being forced out of office by the ‘Nav Nirman’ movement on charges of corruption. He again became the Chief Minister on March 4, 1990 as a part of the V.P. Singh-led National Front but later switched over the the Congress, and continued in power till his death on February 17, 1994.

Beant Singh (Punjab): Credited with stamping out militancy in Punjab after becoming Chief Minister in 1992, he was assassinated when a suicide attack at the Secretariat building in Chandigarh on August 31, 1995.

Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy (Andhra Pradesh): Popularly known as YSR, Reddy was a two-time Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (2004-2009). However, early in his second stint, his helicopter crashed in a dense forest in Chitoor district on September 3, 2009. 

Dorjee Khandu: He became the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh replacing Gegong Apang in 2007. He was again sworn as Chief Minister in October 2009 but died on April 30, 2011 when the helicopter in which he was returning to Itanagar from a trip to Tawang crashed.

Mufti Mohammad Sayeed (Jammu and Kashmir): A two-time Chief Minister, Sayeed, who led the first coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir involving the BJP, died on January 7, 2016. India’s first Muslim Home Minister in the V.P. Singh government, Sayeed became Chief Minister for the first time in 2002-05 in a coalition government with the Congress. In his second stint, he allied with the BJP to become the chief minister.

J. Jayalalitha (Tamil Nadu): Jayalalithaa, who died on December 5, 2016 in her fifth stint as Chief Minister, held the post for over 14 years between 1991 and 2016.

Affectionately called “Amma” by fans and party activists, Jayalalithaa became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in 1991. She again returned to power in 2001 but had to step down after her name figured in a court case. After being cleared, she took over again in 2002 and ruled till 2006.

She wrested the state from the DMK in 2011, but had to step down in September 2014 after being convicted in a corruption case by a Bengaluru court. Acquitted, she took back the reins in May 2015 and led her party back to power in 2016. When she was admitted to Apollo Hospitals in Chennai on September 22, 2016, no one believed that she would come out of it in a coffin.

[Nasheman news] Chennai  The city police on Thursday booked Sabareesan, son-in-law of M.K. Stalin for allegedly spreading rumours about Deputy Speaker V. Jayaraman.

Jayaraman had lodged a complaint against Sabareesan for linking him and his family members to the Pollachi sexual absuse-cum-blackmail case.

Sabareesan has been charged for wantonly giving provocation for creation of riot, forgery for harming reputation, use of forged document as genuine one and for spreading rumours.

On his part Stalin has sent a legal notice to Jayaraman demanding apology for making slanderous statement against him, the DMK said in a late night statement on Thursday.

Jayaraman has charged the DMK behind is defaming him and his family.

In the legal notice to Jayaraman, the DMK President said the former had made false allegations in the media that he, his family members and his party are behind the sexual abuse case and are attempting to protect some accused involved in the criminal act which are defamatory.

[Nasheman news] New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched the ‘Main Bhi Chowkidar’ campaign, in a counter to Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s “chowkidar chor hai” jibe.

“Your Chowkidar is standing firm and serving the nation. But, I am not alone. Everyone who is fighting corruption, dirt, social evils is a Chowkidar. Everyone working hard for the progress of India is a Chowkidar,” Modi said in a series od tweets.

“Today, every Indian is saying. Main Bhi Chowkidar,” he added.

With the tweet, the Prime Minister also shared a 3.45-minute video, urging people to particiapte in the campaign.

As part of the campaign, Modi is slated to interact with people across the country via video on March 31.

Bharatiya Janata Party sources said the campaign was launched as part of its strategy to turn the tables against Gandhi’s jibe as it did in 2014 by aggressively countering former Union Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar’s “chaiwalla” jibe.

[Nasheman news]Mumbai  Six people have been reported dead and 32 injured in the past 12 hours since a portion of an overhead pedestrian bridge outside the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus came crashing down here.

Police registered cases against Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Indian Railway officials charging them with culpable homicide.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has announced Rs 5 lakh ex gratia each to the kin of deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured. He has also ordered a high level probe into the Thursday’s incident.

Railways, senior police officials, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and BMC teams were overseeing operations on Friday. 

This was the third footbridge collapse in the city in the last 18 months — occurred around 7.35 p.m. as the bridge was reportedly overloaded with commuters hurrying to their homes, the BMC Disaster Control said.

The victims identified so far include three women — Apoorva Prabhu, 35, Ranjana Tambe, 40, and Bhakti Shinde, 40. The two men dead are Zahid Siraj Khan, 32 and Tapendra Singh, 35.

Connecting the CSMT’s suburban platform No. 1 with the B.T. Lane near The Times of India Building and the Anjuman-e-Islam School, it was used by thousands of daily commuters rushing to catch the local trains on Central Railway and the Harbour Line.

Though debris have been cleared, traffic restriction on D.N. Road continues, a traffic official said. 

Nasheman News : Exactly a month after the Pulwama terror attack killed 40 CRPF troopers, Indian and Pakistani officials met on Thursday here, near Amritsar, to finalise modalities of the corridor to the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara.

This is the first time the two sides met after tension escalated between the neighbours.

Nasheman News :The government on Wednesday made it clear that operations of all Boeing 737-800 MAX aircraft will be suspended at 4 p.m.

Late on Tuesday, the Ministry of Civil Aviation tweeted: “DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) has taken the decision to ground the Boeing 737-MAX planes immediately. 

In a continuation to its Tuesday’s call to ground the B737 Max operations, the Ministry on Wednesday added: “B737Max operations will stop from or to all Indian airports. 

“Additionally no B737 Max aircraft will be allowed to enter or transit the Indian airspace effective 1600 hours Indian time or 1030 UTC.”

In India, SpiceJet and Jet Airways operate 17 Boeing 737-800 MAX aircraft. While SpiceJet has 12 aircraft, Jet has five planes of this type.

On Tuesday the DGCA tweeted: “These planes will be grounded till appropriate modifications and safety measures are undertaken to ensure their safe operations.”

“The time line is to cater to situations where aircraft can be positioned at maintenance facilities and international flights can reach their destinations.”

The suspension came after several countries including the UK, Australia, Italy, Singapore restrained their airlines from operating the aircraft type.

Globally many countries have banned the operations of the aircraft after an Ethiopian Airlines’ Boeing 737-800 MAX flight crashed on Sunday killing all 157 people on board. It came just months after an Indonesian flight met with the same fate.

On Tuesday, the EU, joined a number of other countries in banning Boeing 737 Max planes from operating in or over its airspace.

[Nasheman news] New Delhi In a stern message to social media platforms, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Tuesday that these platforms will have to respect the sovereignty and constitutional norms of privacy laid down by the Supreme Court.

“Abuse of these platforms will not be tolerated in election time. I believe in the wisdom and maturity of the people of India. They are mature enough to decide what is right and what is wrong,” the Minister said at the “Digital India Summit 2019” organised by Times Network here.

The country, he said, will not compromise on the freedom to access Internet and data imperialism by anyone.

At the rate at which the country’s digital economy was growing, India could be a $3 trillion economy in the next four to five years, Prasad emphasised.

“Average data usage per month has grown from 89 megabytes in 2014 to 5 gigabytes in 2018. The digital appetite of Indians has to appreciated,” he said, adding that the country offers the cheapest data rates in the world.

Prasad said the number of mobile phone factories had grown from two in 2014 to 127 now.

“India is now the second biggest mobile phone manufacturer in the world, employing 5-6 lakh people. Noida and Greater Noida area alone have 94 mobile factories,” he said, adding that the country would push the “Make in India” initiative if the NDA comes back to power.

“We will come back with a thumping majority,” he added.

Dismissing allegations of Aadhaar data leaks, Prasad said the Aadhaar data was “billion per cent safe”.

Nasheman News : An important characteristic of multi-phase elections is the traction the political rhetoric gets. Extended elections in multiple phases allow political parties and formations malleability and ductility. Size is obviously the biggest determinant in such an exercise for Indian states are vast with different kinds of topography. Analysts point out the high stakes: the game is afoot for 220,000 polling booths across the country.

The polarizing potential of incendiary statements and the resultant divisiveness are amplified over a prolonged period, whose consequences are evident when the results are out. A case in point is the controversial statement of BJP leader Dayashanker Singh, whose sulphurous invective against Mayawati during the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls led to a furore. High-profile BJP leaders had remained largely silent as chastising such leaders publicly would have demoralized the cadre. Such kinds of outbursts are commonplace in Hindi heartland and are used to galvanize cadre and voters.

Then, there’s the question of law and order. The Naxal angle, for instance, cannot be ignored. Nor the communal incidents, which political parties and partisan politicians use to polarize themes. Messaging and communication stratagems still work as they did during the protracted UP assembly polls. Fractiousness brought about by such incidents influence voters, one can argue, more in urban agglomerates than in rural areas. The non-committed and the less committed can well be swayed by communal incidents or by results of, say, even local body polls.

Lumpen elements, the ‘mahabalis’ and the ‘bahubalis’ (the musclemen) also need to be controlled and bottled. That is why the Election Commission is using the gambit of multi-phased elections in states where violence is feared during polls.

Yet, multi-phase polls give parties an opportunity to reassess, regroup and revise their strategies for different phases. Throw in some word-of-mouth from on-ground cadre to jump-start both lazy and active voters, and you have a successful operation going.