Month: September 2019

Amid reports of onion prices touching Rs 60 per kg in several parts of the country, Food and Public Distribution Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Tuesday said the Centre is ready to provide buffer stock of onion to the states to check price rise.

“We had kept 50,000 metric tonnes of onion in buffer stock out of which we still have 35,000 metric tonnes of onion. We are ready to give onion to the state governments at lower rates,” Paswan said at a press conference here.

He said the central government has given onion from its buffer stock to Delhi and Tripura.

The minister attributed the surge in onion prices to floods in several parts of the country especially in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. “Several parts of the country witnessed floods which hit the transportation of onion, contributing to the price hike,” he said.

Paswan noted the government is in a “wait and watch mode” on onion price spike and will crackdown on hoarders if the issue does not resolve even after using its buffer stock.

“When the price of any farm produce increases, people get agitated but there is no word when prices of industrial products spike. September, October and November is a crucial period for prices of onion, potato and tomato. Prices of potato and tomato are under control,” he said.

The prices of onion in the open market have increased drastically over the past week in several parts of India including Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Patna, Varanasi and Lucknow.

The minister was speaking to media after a meeting with the officers of the Ministry of Food and Processing, the Ministry of Commerce and others for effective enforcement of the standards of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India and the Bureau of Indian Standards.

Paswan said the government was working to enhance the standards of edible goods and aiming to increase exports.

He also said he would call a meeting to discuss the enforcement of standards for piped drinking water in the national capital. (ANI)

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The time for talking over the need to protect the climate is over, and the world needs to begin acting now, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday, while asserting that India has come to the United Nations to present a practical approach and roadmap on the issue.

Addressing the United Nations Climate Action summit 2019, Modi said: “Need and not greed is our guiding principle. India is here today to not only talk about the seriousness of this issue but to present a practical approach and a roadmap. We believe that an ounce of practice is worth more than a ton of teaching.”

Modi said that India would increase the share of non-fossil fuel share in its fuel mix and increase its renewable energy capacity to 175 Gigawatts by 2022 and “we are committed to further increase this to 450 Gigawatts.”

Recounting some of the measures taken by the country in this regard, the Prime Minister said: “We are encouraging e-mobility in our transport sector. India is also working to considerably increase the percentage of biofuel blended in petrol and diesel. We have given gas connections for clean cooking to 150 million families.”

“We have started the Jal-Jeevan mission for water conservation, rainwater harvesting and for the development of water resources and in the next few years, India is going to spend approximately 50 billion dollars on this,” added Modi. (ANI)

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Congress president Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived at Tihar jail in the National Capital to meet former Union Minister P Chidambaram on Monday.

Chidambaram’s son Karti Chidambaram also arrived at the jail to meet his father today.

Chidambaram was arrested by the CBI on August 21 and is at present in judicial custody in Tihar Jail.

He is facing a probe by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for alleged irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board clearance given to INX Media to the tune of Rs 305 crore in 2007 when he was the Union finance minister.

A Delhi court on Thursday extended Chidambaram’s judicial custody till October 3 in the corruption case filed by the CBI.

(ANI)

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Months after the terror camp in Pakistan’s Balakot was bombed by Indian Air Force fighter jets, Pakistan very recently “reactivated” the facility, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said on Monday.

“Let me tell you, Balakot has been reactivated by Pakistan very recently. Obviously that shows that Balakot was affected and damaged and destroyed. That is why people had got away from there,” Rawat said at a press conference here.

The Army Chief was responding to questions on whether there were new terror launch pads in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).

“It highlights that some action had been taken by the Indian Air Force (IAF) at Balakot and now they have got the people back there,” he said.

On February 27 this year, IAF fighters flew deep into Pakistan to bomb a Jaish-e-Mohammed terror facility at Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The action came after the February 14 suicide bombing in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama, which killed over 40 CRPF personnel. Since then tensions between India and Pakistan had escalated.

The Army Chief also responded to questions on ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, Rawat said that Pakistan violates ceasefire in order to push terrorists into India.

“We know how to deal with ceasefire violations. Our troops know how to position themselves and take action. We are alert and will ensure that maximum infiltration bids are foiled,” he said.

On being asked whether there is communication breakdown in the valley, the Army Chief said, “There is a communication breakdown between terrorists in the Kashmir Valley and their handlers in Pakistan but there is no communication breakdown amongst people. All the telephones lines have been opened up.”

The Army Chief also spoke about Islam saying, “I feel the interpretation of Islam by some elements who possibly want to create disruption is being fed to a large number of people. It is not that the religion is bad but the manner in which it is interpreted for whatever reasons, it is affecting people who listen and get carried away and swayed by such messages.”

“I think it is important we have preachers who convey the correct meaning of Islam in whatever form it was written by those who wanted Islam to be preached in a proper manner,” he added.

Highlighting the importance of securing the country’s borders, Rawat said that every nation has to secure its borders. “We have unsettled borders along the northern front and partially unsettled border along the western front. We have to be all the more alert to ensure that no intrusion takes place along the border,” he said.

“We also know that there is state-sponsored terrorism which is being sponsored by our western neighbour and terrorists do come in from that side to create violence in our territory particularly in Jammu and Kashmir. Not that the other states are devoid of terror, it is because of our intelligence agency that we are able to pick up the signs and foil a lot of incidents of violence,” he said.

“It is also important to incorporate technology while guarding the border. So emphasis is now being given on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance called ISR,” he added. (ANI)

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The time has come for a decisive battle against terrorism and against those who promote terror, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said while tearing into Pakistan at the ‘Howdy Modi!’ event in Houston on Sunday, which had US President Donald Trump in attendance.

Falling short of naming Pakistan, Modi took a clear jibe at the country when he questioned where the perpetrators of gruesome terror attacks like 9/11 and 26/11 were found.

“Be it the 9/11 in the United States or 26/11 in Mumbai, where are the conspirators found? Time has come for a decisive battle against terrorism and those who encourage terrorism,” Modi told the gathered crowd at the mega event, which was held at Houston’s NRG Stadium.

Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of 9/11 terror strikes on America, was found in Pakistan’s Abbottabad after a decade-long manhunt in Afghanistan. Hafiz Saeed, the chief conspirator of Mumbai 26/11 terror attack, also lives in Pakistan.

He also said that the people who have an issue with the abrogation of Article 370, are the same who can’t handle their own country.

While India has reiterated that its decision to remove the article which accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir is entirely a matter of its internal affairs, Pakistan has tried raking up the matter on international platforms. The global community has thrown its weight behind India. Despite finding no support for their agenda, Pakistan has vowed to bring up the issue at the upcoming UN General Assembly session in New York, a move that has been dismissed by India.

“Article 370 had deprived people of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh of development. Terror and separatist elements were misusing the situation. Now people there have got equal rights,” Modi said.

“Some people have a problem with the abrogation of article 370, these are the same people who can’t govern their own country properly. These are the same people who shield terrorism and nurture it. The whole world knows them very well,” he added.

“I want to stress on the fact that in this fight (against terrorism), President Trump is standing firmly,” Modi also said.

Sunday’s event showed the close bond shared by the leaders of the two countries, who have worked in close proximity in the fight against terrorism.

In fact, Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar was blacklisted as a global terrorist by the UN after India mounted diplomatic efforts in this regard following the brutal Pulwama terror attack which claimed the lives of 40 CRPF personnel.

The proposal to designate Azhar in the UN Security Council was moved by the USA, France, and the UK. (ANI)

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