Mamata Banerjee, also the TMC supremo, congratulated party workers on the occasion and said TMC is observing the day as ‘Nagorik Dibas’ (Citizens’ Day) at the booth-level.

KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday observed its 22nd Foundation Day as ‘Citizens’ Day’ as a mark of protest against the amended Citizenship Act and pledged not to stop until the “draconian law” is withdrawn.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, also the TMC supremo, congratulated party workers on the occasion and said TMC is observing the day as ‘Nagorik Dibas’ (Citizens’ Day) at the booth-level.

“We are observing the foundation day of AIT official as ‘Nagorik Dibas’ (Citizens’ Day) in every booth of #Bangla. We all are citizens and Trinamool will continue to fight for the rights of the people. Jai Hind. Jai Bangla.”

“#Trinamool22 Today @AITCofficial turns 22. The journey which began on January 1, 1998 has been full of struggles, but we have been steadfast in our resolve to fight for the people. We thank Maa-Mati-Manush for their constant support. Our workers are our biggest assets,” she tweeted.

TMC general secretary Subrata Bakshi said laws are passed to help the people and not to divide the country.

“The amended Citizenship Act is anti-people. It wants to divide the country on religious lines. So, if the people don’t accept it, this law has to be withdrawn,” he said.

Claiming that the people of West Bengal have started rejecting the BJP, Bakshi hinted that the party would use the CAA and the proposed country-wide NRC as its main issues in the upcoming municipal elections in the state.

Elections to around 107 municipalities of the state including the Kolkata Municipal Corporation are due in April- May this year.

The civic polls, in which about 60 per cent voters of the state would be eligible to take part, are being tipped as the ‘mini assembly election’ ahead of the crucial 2021 state polls.

Parties believe that the results of the civic polls will indicate the possible outcome of the assembly elections.

Banerjee had last week instructed party workers to conduct various programmes to observe the TMC’s foundation day.

The district TMC leaders have organised flag-hoisting programmes and street corner meetings to discuss and highlight the achievements of the state government and speak against the amended Citizenship Act, party sources said.

Banerjee, who has been at the forefront in opposing the CAA and nation-wide NRC, has been crisscrossing the state, holding protest marches and rallies against the new citizenship law.

On the party’s foundation day, TMC activists also organised blood donation camps in several parts of the state.

The TMC was founded by Mamata Banerjee on January 1, 1998 with an aim to oust the then Left Front regime from power.

The party achieved its goal in May 2011 after forging an alliance with the Congress.

Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti is celebrated with much joy and fervour across the world where devotees visit various gurdwaras to take part in religious activities to mark the day.

Amritsar: Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti 2020: Devotees gather at Golden Temple in Amritsar to celebrate Gurpurab.

On Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti today, thousands of devotees offered prayers in Punjab’s Golden Temple Today. They also took dip in the holy pond called sarovar and sought blessings from Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Guru of Sikhism who was born on this day. Guru Gobind Singh birth anniversary is celebrated with much joy and fervour across the world where devotees visit various gurdwaras to take part in religious activities to mark the day. Gurpurab is also dedicated to serving poor and underprivileged as directed in the teachings of the holy Guru. A spiritual master, warrior, poet and philosopher, Guru Gobind Singh was born in 1666 in Patna.

On the holy day, leaders greeted the nation on Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti 2020.

“ISRO chief K Sivan declared 2020 as the year of Gaganyaan,India’s maiden human spaceflight mission,and Chandrayaan-3, another attempt to land a rover on the south pole of the moon.”

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) chief K.Sivan said on Wednesday that the government has approved the Chandrayaan-3 project,work has started on it and it is likely to be launched in 2021.  

He said that four people have been selected for the Gaganyaan mission.The training of all the astronauts will begin in the third week of this month in Russia .  Simultaneously, the Gaganyaan Advisory Committee has been formed.

Sivan also officially announced the Chandrayaan-3 moon mission which is again set to tackle the tricky south pole of the moon. Set to cost around Rs 600 crore, Sivan said the sequel to the moon mission may take 14-16 months and will use a lander and rover configuration while relying on Chandrayaan-2’s orbiter.

Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, had said that Russia will train the Indian astronauts for Gaganyaan mission.Scheduled for 2022,the mission is expected to carry three astronauts,who will be picked from among the test pilots in the Indian armed forces. The chosen three astronauts will be sent to space for seven days onboard Gaganyaan, a crew capsule,to be launched with the help of Geo-Synchronous Launch Vehicle (GSLV).

If Gaganyaan is successful, India would become the fourth nation to achieve the feat.

K Sivan further said that this year is going to be an eventful year for ISRO.

“Just like last year, this year is also going to be an eventful year for ISRO.This year is going to the year of Chandrayan-3 and Gaganyaan.We have planned another satellite for this year i.e.GSAT 20.Many targets have been planned for 2020.For Gaganyan many systems need to be tested before flight.Crew training is another major activity that is going to happen this year,” said Sivan.

The ISRO chief said,”We had tried better during the Chandrayaan-2 mission,but could not land it on the lunar surface.  However,its orbiter is working better.This orbiter will provide data for up to seven years.”He said that the land acquisition work for the construction of the second space port is in the initial stage,which will be built at Tutukudi in Tamil Nadu.

 K Sivan said,plans to launch more than 25 missions this year:

K Sivan mentioned the success of ISRO of 2019.He said,“Our main strategy in 2019 was to expand ISRO.We wanted ISRO to have horizontal expansion.The second strategy was to expand our capacity.At the same time,the third strategy was to cut down the physical functions in ISRO.2020 will be very important for ISRO.He said that we plan to launch more than 25 missions this year.”

Union Minister had said- India will launch Chandrayaan-3 in 2020:

Union Minister,Jitendra Singh had said in a written reply to the Winter Session of Parliament that India would launch Chandrayaan-3 in 2020 and it would cost less than Chandrayaan-2.He had said that it would be wrong to call Chandrayaan-2 unsuccessful.This gave us a lot to learn.  This was India’s first attempt to land on the lunar surface.No country in the world has done so in the first attempt.

Pilot will spend seven days in space:

In May last year,the Air Force entered into an agreement with the Indian Space Research Organization to provide crew selection and training for the Gaganyaan mission.Under this, a team of four-member scientists is to be sent from Gaganyaan in 2022, which will spend at least seven days in space.The vehicle will be sent into space with GSLV Mach-3.These selected test pilots will be sent to Russia for training.  For this, ISRO signed an agreement with Russia’s space agency Glavkosmos on 2 July this year.

10 thousand crores will be spent on Gaganyaan:

The Gaganyaan mission was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Independence Day from Red Fort last year.  About 10 thousand crore rupees will be spent on the mission.It will probably be launched in 2022.For this, it was approved by the Union Cabinet in 2018.

While ISRO had said it had found Vikram’s debris on September 8 itself,it did not release any image in support.It was only recently a Chennai-based 33-year old mechanical engineer,Shanmuga Subramanian,spotted the Vikram debris on the pictures released by US space agency NASA.

Congratulating Subramanian,Sivan said, “We must appreciate the effort he put in.”

Asked why ISRO did not release visuals of the crash site earlier,Sivan attributed it to “strategy”.“ISRO is very, very transparent. We announced this as soon as we located it.”

Sivan also denied speculation of pressure from the government after Chandrayaan-2’s failed landing,adding that ISRO is trying to improve its own tech for landing.

Commenting on the famous image of being consoled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi the morning after Chandrayaan-2 lander crashed, Sivan said,“Nothing transpired.It was an emotional moment; two persons emotionally moved.It consoled us.There was no discussion or anything Sivan said.

Gen Rawat said his focus will be to ensure best and optimal use of resources allocated to the three services.

NEW DELHI: Newly- appointed Chief of the Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat on Wednesday said the armed forces stay away from politics and work as per the directives of the government of the day, remarks that come amid allegations that the forces were being politicised.

Gen Rawat also said that his focus as CDS will be to integrate the efforts of the three services and to work as a team.

“We keep ourselves away from politics. We act according to the directives of the government of the day,” he said.

Gen Rawat said his focus will be to ensure best and optimal use of resources allocated to the three services.

The actor took to Instagram and shared a series of pictures of the new member of their family and wrote a heartfelt post welcoming the baby girl – Ayat.

NEW DELHI: Actor Aayush Sharma on Tuesday shared adorable pictures of his and Arpita Khan’s new-born daughter.

The actor took to Instagram and shared a series of pictures of the new member of their family and wrote a heartfelt post welcoming the baby girl – Ayat.

“Welcome to this beautiful world Ayat. You’ve brought a lot of happiness into our lives. May you touch everyone’s life with a lot of love and joy,” read Sharma’s caption.

The couple who got married in the year 2014 were parents to a three-year-old son Ahil and, were blessed with their second child on December 27 which is also the birthday of Salman Khan, Arpita’s brother.

Earlier on Friday, the ‘Loveyatri’ actor shared a beautiful card thanking all the fans for their love and blessings on behalf of the Khan and Sharma family.

Aayush who was last seen in ‘Loveyatri’ along with newcomer Warina Hussain, will next be seen in ‘Kwatha’ which is inspired by true events. He will be seen alongside Katrina Kaif’s sister Isabelle Kaif. 

On the border dispute with China, the Army chief said that continuing peace along the border will pave the way for a solution.

NEW DELHI: The new Army chief Lieutenant General MM Naravane on Wednesday said that India needs to pay more attention to its border along China and asserted that the force is capable of dealing with any security challenge.

“We have been giving attention to our western front in the past. The northern front now also requires an equal amount of attention… The Army is capable of tackling any dangers to the country,” General Naravane told reporters after receiving the first Guard of Honour as the Army chief here.

“In that context, we are now going in for capability development and enhancement of our capacities even in our northern borders which includes the northeastern part of our country,” he said.

On the border dispute with China, the Army chief said that continuing peace along the border will pave the way for a solution.

“We have been able to maintain peace and tranquillity along borders and I’m sure that situation will prevail. By maintaining this, we will be able to set the stage for the eventual solution,” he said.

General Naravane said that operational readiness and modernisation will be among the top priorities of the Army under his leadership.

“Our priority will be to be ready to meet any challenge and to be operationally prepared at all times. This will happen as a result of modernisation. We will continue to build our capability especially in the North and Northeast region of our country,” he said.

He said that the Indian Army will pay special attention to respect human rights. “We will also pay special emphasis on raising security awareness among ranks and file and pay special attention to respect human rights,” the Army chief said.

Assuring the country on security, he said, “All three services — the Army, the Navy and the Air Force — are ready to defend the country.”

He extended wishes to people in the new year and hoped that the country will make huge progress in this decade.

General Naravane took over as the 28th Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) on Tuesday, succeeding General Bipin Rawat who has become India’s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).

General Naravane was previously the Vice Chief of Army Staff.

Pramesh Jain 

“It’s a shameful act that central government employees involved in drug racket -Bhaskar Rao.”

Sleuths attached to anti-narcotics wing of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) has busted international level drug racket and arrested four employees of postal department on the charge of drug peddling.

They were allegedly handling drugs from foreign countries in nexus with local peddlers.

The accused, has been identified as,H.Subba,34,Ramesh Kumar,47,Syed Majid, 54,and Vijay Rajan,58, all the four are working at the GPO and Chamarajpet post offices.

The CCB sleuths have recovered drugs worth Rs.20 lakh, including 339 ecstasy tablets,10 grams of MDMA crystal powder and 30 gram of brown sugar, which they received in foreign parcels from the Netherlands,Canada and the USA.

Senior officer told media persons that the accused would help the peddlers get the drugs in exchange for sums ranging from Rs.50,000 to Rs.1.5 lakh depending upon the size of the consignment.

The accused would collect the parcels and hand them over to the peddlers without the mandatory scanning and other formalities.

Inquiries revealed that the accused were involved in the crime for six months. Using their expertise,they would also scan parcels in search of drugs and steal such parcels.They would sell them to the peddlers and drug addicts.

Bengaluru city police commissioner,Bhaskar Rao,with Joint Commissioner,Crime,Sandeep Patil,DCPs,as,Kuldeep Kumar R Jain,KP Ravikumar was present at the press conference and said that,The racket came to light when one of the drug peddlers was arrested by the CCB team.

Based on information provided by the peddler,police raided the post offices and arrested the accused.

Bhaskar Rao, even said, In the last one-and-half-a-month our Narcotics wing of CCB cops have busted 4 international drug rackets.

It is very sad to note that 4 Government officials are attached to Foreign post office at Chamarajpet in Bengaluru used the dark web to develop contact with oversees drug peddlers.

By providing fake addresses they have got drugs from foreign countries and made money. Following a definitive clue. Cops of our Anti-Narcotics cell have arrested these 4 employees of the central government. I am proud to announce that Karnataka and Bengaluru police are the first to successfully penetrate dark net users.

He even said we suspect involvement of other employees, and a case has been registered against all the four accused in Kempegowdanagar police station under NDPS Act and further investigation is on.

And finally I appreciate,Joint CP,Crime, Sandeep Patil,DCPs,as,Kuldeep Kumar R Jain,KP Ravikumar,ACPs,as,Nagaraj,Venugopal with other staff who has done a commendable job and a suitable reward will be given to the team he added.

There were 80 per cent successful anti-terror operations in which 160 terrorists, including foreigners, have been killed during the year.

JAMMU: As many as 160 terrorists were killed and 102 arrested in Jammu and Kashmir in 2019, while 250 ultras were still active, Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh said on Tuesday, noting that the number of local youths joining militancy has decreased.

He said that there is 30 per cent fall in terrorist incidents, less civilian killings and 36 per cent decrease in law and order incidents as compared to last year.

“218 such (local) youths joined militant outfits in 2018 but only 139 joined in 2019,” Singh said at the annual press conference at police headquarters here.

Out of these new recruits, only 89 have survived.

“The rest have been eliminated as their shelf life is between 24 hours to 2-3 months after joining militancy. There are hardly few old terrorists surviving, which include Jehangir Saroori and Riyaz Nayikoo”, he said.

There have been only 481 law and order incidents this year as compared to 625 last year, he said “250 terrorists have been active in Jammu and Kashmir. There is a decrease in the number of active militants as compared to last year,” Singh said.

There were 80 per cent successful anti-terror operations in which 160 terrorists, including foreigners, have been killed during the year.

“Eleven valiant police personnel from Jammu and Kashmir besides 72 from other security forces have been martyred,” he said.

Singh said 102 terrorists have been arrested and 10 terrorists surrendered during the year.

Also, there was no collateral damage during anti-terror operation as people fully cooperated.

“There was zero law and order problem this year (during anti-terror operations),” he added.

The DGP said that “there has been a high degree of incidents of infiltration attempts from across the border this year and also ceasefire violations.

But security forces have successfully foiled these attempted as 130 infiltrators have entered in 2019 as compared to 143 last year”.

Replying to queries on the restoration of internet, the DGP said it is under consideration.

“I think J-K is moving towards such a situation (on law and order front). Very soon you will hear the positive announcement,” Singh said.

He said that though some people will try to misuse the internet, “in the past, we took care of them and we will take care of such people in the future too”.

Internet services in all government-run hospitals and SMS to all mobile phones will be restored from December 31 midnight in the Kashmir Valley, Jammu and Kashmir official spokesman Rohit Kansal said on Tuesday.

On December 10, some short message service (SMS) was enabled on mobile phones in order to facilitate students, scholarship applicants, traders and others.

It has now been decided to fully restore the service throughout Kashmir from midnight of December 31, Kansal said.

Mobile Internet services were restored in Kargil district of Ladakh on Friday after remaining suspended for 145 days in the wake of the Centre abrogating provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution, officials said.

Internet services were suspended on August 5, the Centre announced the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the state into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.