Farm Laws Not Scriptures That Can’t Be Changed: Farooq

Amid the protest by farmers on the Delhi borders, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday said in Lok Sabha that the farm laws are not religious scriptures that cannot be changed.

“It (farm laws) is not a religious scripture that changes cannot be made. If they (farmers) want it to be repealed, why can’t the government talk to them? It is our nation. We belong to this nation. Let us respect everybody here,” Abdullah said in his speech in Lok Sabha.

Citing the example of revoking the Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, the NC chief said, “The government had not discussed the issue with us (stakeholder) nor did they discuss the farm laws with them (farmers).”

Farmers have been protesting at the different borders of the national capital since November 26 against the three newly enacted farm laws: Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

He expressed disappointment over how politicians criticise senior leaders of the past.

“I feel bad when we see that we are pointing fingers at Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and other leaders. Tomorrow you may not be in power. Will we talk about this PM then? This is not Indian tradition. Respect those who have gone.”

He also expressed concern over COVID-19 deaths and said it was essential to distribute coronavirus vaccines in the country.

“It is essential to distribute these vaccines in India. Very few people are getting vaccines. Efforts should be made to vaccinate the maximum number of people so that people can be protected from this disease,” said Abdullah.

The NC Chief also said, “Our numbers are less than US, UK and others. Still, we reported many deaths. Our medical services are not that good that the cause of deaths can be ascertained in villages. Still, vaccines have been developed for which I congratulate those in Pune (Serum Institute of India).”

The NC leader also said that it was essential for the government to make up for the losses caused due to the pandemic and lockdown.

“Tourism sector, industries, shopkeepers in my state suffered and there is rampant poverty across the nation. Promises were made that 50,000 jobs would be provided but not even one job has given,” he added.

Nearly 62.6 lakh beneficiaries have received COVID-19 vaccination under the countrywide exercise, according to the health ministry, as on February 9, 2021, till 8 am. (ANI)

‘Kisan Kranti’ Memorial At Ghazipur Soon: Dharmendra Malik

Amid the farmers’ agitation against the new agricultural laws at Delhi borders, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Dharmendra Malik on Tuesday said that they will build a “Kisan Kranti” memorial at Ghazipur border in the memory of those farmers who died during the agitation.

“Names of the martyred farmers will be inscribed on a stone that will be put at the memorial. A stand with the national flag and flags of the farmers’ organisations will also be installed,” Dharmendra Malik, National media in-charge of the BKU told ANI.

However, the exact location of the memorial has not been decided yet, he added.

Ghazipur border is among those sites where farmers are protesting against the new agriculture laws for over two months.

The farmer leader said soil and water collected from across the country by farmers will be used in the making of the memorial. Construction work will start soon in the coming days, he said.

However, the farmers have not given any information to the administration about the memorial, so far.

“The message behind the construction of this memorial is that our movement should always be remembered by the people and this will inspire them to fight on farmers’ issues,” Malik said.

BKU national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait had earlier said: “A memorial will be prepared at the movement site. This memorial will be built for the farmers who lost their lives in the agitation. Whenever there will be a farmer revolution in the country, this place will always be remembered.”

Farmers have been protesting at different borders of the national capital since November 26 last year against the three newly enacted farm laws: Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. (ANI)

Glacier Burst: 31 Bodies Found, 197 Missing, Rescue On

As many as 32 bodies have been recovered so far from different areas hit by the glacier burst in Chamoli district, while 197 people are still missing, Uttarakhand Police said.

“197 people are missing. 32 bodies recovered so far from various locations, 8 of these identified,” police said.

The police also issued a helpline number to provide information about bodies that have not been identified yet.

“People, who know someone who is missing, can contact DIG Law and Order on +91 7500016666, they will be sent photos of 24 bodies that are yet to be identified, on WhatsApp,” police said.

A joint team of ITBP, NDRF, SDRF and other agencies conducting rescue operations used drone cameras to see feasibility to enter beyond cleared site inside Tapovan tunnel.

They haven’t been successful so far. Machines deployed to clear slush, said ITBP.

A SDRF personnel involved in rescue work in Tapovan area said there is an accumulation of a large amount of debris and sludge inside the tunnel.

“As much as we pull out via buckets, the sludge keeps coming back. Progress is slow for now, we are trying to fasten the process,” he said.

“We have cleared up to 60m inside the tunnel and can see up to 30m more but there is still a lot of work left. A large amount of debris stocked inside. I have never witnessed such a situation before. Hope to save people stuck inside,” said a machine operator from the rescue site.

Earlier in the day, Union Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ said all the concerned authorities are working effectively on the ground and food and water are being provided on a timely basis to all.

“Teams of Army, NDRF, ITBP & SDRF are working day-night amid challenging situations to rescue people. Saving lives is the biggest challenge right now. Search underway for missing people. 206 people were missing, of which 31 bodies have been found,” Pokhriyal had said.

“Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat is regularly monitoring the situation on the ground. All the concerned authorities are working effectively on the ground and food and water are being provided on a timely basis to all,” the Union Minister said.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah informed the Lok Sabha that efforts are underway on a war footing to rescue those who are trapped in a tunnel after a glacier burst in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district on Sunday.

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has set up its control room and its 450 jawans are carrying out search and rescue operations, he added.

A glacial broke in the Tapovan-Reni area of Chamoli District of Uttarakhand on Sunday, which led to massive flooding in Dhauliganga and Alaknanda rivers and damaged houses and the nearby Rishiganga power project. (ANI)

97% Satisfied With Covid-19 Vaccine Experience: Centre

Ninety-seven per cent of the people who gave their feedback after receiving COVID-19 vaccine dose are satisfied with the overall experience, Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference here, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said under CoWin response system, the Health Ministry is using a Rapid Assessment System (RAS) of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) for taking feedback from the people receiving COVID-19 vaccine dose during pan-India COVID-19 vaccination drive.

CoWin is a mobile app to manage the vaccination drive.

Bhushan said the process of taking feedback started from January 17, 2021.

“Personalized SMS were sent to all beneficiaries a day after vaccination. SMS contains the name of person, dose (first/ second), and a URL for feedback. Once the user confirmed for vaccination against his/ her name, five questions were asked to which they gave responses,” Bhushan said.

“A total of 97 per cent people are satisfied with the overall vaccination experience. It is maintained by Conducted by NeGD (National E-Governance Division). The data is based on the feedback response of 7,75,000 people,” he added.

Dr VK Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog, said they can confidently say that the strategy to implement vaccination programme and “the experience of vaccination is now consistently, very highly rated by people.”

Bhushan also said 63,10,194 beneficiaries, including healthcare and frontline workers, have so far been vaccinated with the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

He said the second dose against COVID-19 will be administered from February 13. “We cannot indefinitely keep on scheduling and rescheduling healthcare workers. States/UTs have been advised that all healthcare workers must be scheduled at least once for vaccination by February 20. Timelines are communicated to states,” he added. (ANI)

Alia In Green Sharara

Alia Bhatt Shares Selfies From Maldives

Bollywood actor Alia Bhatt, who is currently on a holiday with her friends Akansha Ranjan Kapoor, Anushka Ranjan, and sister Shaheen Bhatt, shared a group selfie on Tuesday from her vacation in the Maldives.

The ‘Raazi’ actor took to Instagram and shared a group picture from her vacation in the Maldives. She summed up her holiday mood with the caption, “Heal, learn, grow, love.”

In the picture, Alia can be seen looking pretty as ever in a pink bikini as she poses for a happy picture along with her besties Akansha Ranjan Kapoor and Anushka Ranjan.

The post from the 27-year-old actor received more than 9 lakh likes within a span of 3 hours.

Meanwhile, Alia’s sister Shaheen also took to her social media handle to share yet another glimpse, where she can be seen living it up in the island nation with the ‘Kalank’ actor. She shared a happy picture with her sister as they pose together with the crystal blue waters of the Maldives in the backdrop.

Ditching long quotes, Shaheen captioned the picture with emoticons to let the picture do all the talking. In the selfie, Alia can be seen donning a white shirt while flashing her adorable smile with her sister who happily captured the moment.

On the work front, Alia will be next seen in Ayan Mukherji’s directorial ‘Brahmastra’, alongside her beau Ranbir Kapoor and megastar Amitabh Bachchan. Produced under Karan Johar’s banner of Dharma Productions, the superhero movie will also feature Nagarjuna and Dimple Kapadia in pivotal roles.

Apart from ‘Brahmastra’, Alia also has Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s period film ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ and SS Rajamouli’s magnum opus ‘RRR’ in the pipeline. (ANI)

Anti-Coup Protests Grow In Myanmar, Curfew In 30 Cities

Days after the military coup in Myanmar, as many as 90 townships in 30 cities across the country have been placed under curfew.

According to a report by The Myanmar Times, 90 townships in 30 cities, including 44 townships in Yangon, have been placed under an 8 pm to 4 am curfew since February 8. Besides, the residents have been banned from gathering in groups of more than five in public.

The affected areas include — Nay Pyi Taw, Lewe, Tatkone, Zeyar Thiri, Mandalay, Magwe, Sagaing, Monywa, Shwebo, Kalay, Waingmaw, Bamaw, Mokaung, Shweku, Monyin, Hpakant, Loikaw, Mawlamyine, Thanphyu Zayat, Ye, Kyaikhto, Kengtung and Taunggyi.

As per the order issued by each town’s General Administration Department, public gatherings of more than five people, delivering speeches and protests have been banned.

Action can be taken against the violators under Section 144 of the Penal Code, The Myanmar Times reported.

However, the curfew has failed to deter the people from participating in protest marches across the country calling for the release of detainees.

Earlier today, Myanmar’s political parties had rejected the Tatmadaw, also known as military locally, government’s invitation to take part in the Tatmadaw-formed peace talks committee.

According to The Myanmar Times, the military has informed the ethnic armed groups that future peace talks will be continued only with the military-formed peace committee.

“We have been informed that the NRPC has been abolished…If there is any need for talks, we should only discuss with the group formed by the military. The members of the Northern Alliance have yet to show any clear stance on the situation,” said Lamai Gum Ja, a member of the Peace-Talk Creation Group (PCG).

As things stand, the Tatmadaw government has disbanded the National Reconciliation and Peace Centre (NRPC), the leading internal peace process mechanism of the previous government and arrested some of its civilian leaders.

Myanmar’s military arrested the chief ministers of Karen State and Sagaing Region on Monday from the government residences where they were under house arrest after they posted videos supporting the protest.

Moreover, Myanmar’s military regime has warned anti-coup protesters that legal measures will be taken to prevent any offences harming the stability of the state, public safety or the rule of law. The military has issued a written order and banned the assembly of more than five people. Besides, it has imposed a night curfew (8 PM to 4 AM) in parts of Yangon, Mandalay, Monywa, Loikaw, Hpasaung, Taunggyi, Kalay, Yaykyi and Meikhtila.

Earlier today, US President Joe Biden discussed the situation in Myanmar in a call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A White House readout of their call stated that the two leaders ‘resolved that the rule of law and the democratic process must be upheld in Burma’.

The United States’ ambassador to Myanmar Thomas Vajda in a statement has supported peoples right to protest and called again for the military regime to restore the democratically elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government, restore telecommunications and release all detainees.

At the United Nations, the UN Human Rights Council will hold a special session on the situation in Myanmar on coming Friday following a request for a meeting by the UK and European Union supported so far by 47 countries.

According to media reports cited by UN, scores of people took to the streets in Yangon last week to protest the military’s takeover and the arrest of several elected leaders, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint.

The military takeover followed escalating tensions between the military and the government after the November 2020 elections, which was won by San Suu Kyi-led NLD. (ANI)

Ghulam In Farewell Speech: ‘A Proud Hindustani Muslim’

Congress MP Ghulam Nabi Azad during his retirement speech in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday summed up his more than four-decade-old political career in few Urdu couplets and a brief speech.

“I would like to depart with only a few words using a few couplets. A ten-hour speech can be summed up in merely two couplets by a poet. And I would like to take that approach. To express my thoughts on my entire political career would be a tough task to perform,” Azad said in Rajya Sabha.

Going back to the early days of partition, the senior Congress leader said, “I am among those fortunate people who never went to Pakistan. When I read about circumstances in Pakistan, I feel proud to be a Hindustani Muslim.”

“If any Muslim should feel proud in the world, it should be the Indian Muslim. Over the years, we have seen how Muslims countries from Afghanistan Iraq getting destroyed. There are no Hindus or Christians there — they are fighting amongst themselves,” he added.

Prior to this, Rajya Sabha witnessed emotional scenes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi recalled the contribution of Ghulam Nabi Azad to the country, the House and also his party.

An emotional Prime Minister Modi bid adieu to Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is retiring from the House and recalled his long association with the senior leader.

Lauding the senior Congress leader’s contribution to the causes dear to him, the Prime Minister said, “The person who will replace Ghulam Nabi ji (as Leader of Opposition) will have difficulty matching his work because he was not only concerned about his party but also about the country and the House.”

Almost teary-eyed, the Prime Minister recalled an incident where Azad’s personal intervention led to the return of survivors and corpses of Gujarat residents who had faced a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir. (ANI)

Sidhu’s Female Friend In US Put Up His Clips On Facebook

Actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu, who has been arrested for his alleged involvement in 26 January violence in the national capital, was in contact with a woman friend and actor who lives in California, the US and used to send her videos which were uploaded by her on his Facebook account.

“Deep Sidhu was in contact with a woman friend and actor who lives in California. He used to make videos and send them to her, and she used to upload them on his Facebook account,” Delhi Police sources said on Tuesday.

“By doing so, he was trying to divert the attention of agencies investigating the tractor rally violence,” they added.

Deep Sidhu, an accused in the 26th January violence case was arrested today from the Zirakpur area between Chandigarh and Ambala, the sources said. The arrest was made by the SWR Range of the Special Cell.

Delhi Police will brief the media over the arrest of Sidhu at 12 noon today.

The police had announced a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh for information of Deep Sidhu, Jugraj Singh, Gurjot Singh and Gurjant Singh.

The names of Punjabi actor Deep Sidhu and gangster Lakka Sadana were included in the FIR registered in connection with the violence at Red Fort in Delhi on January 26, Delhi Police said earlier while adding that Sidhu was involved in the incident.

“On January 26 some people hoisted the flag at Red Fort. Some of them have been identified out of which Deep Sidhu is the prime accused,” said Praveer Ranjan, Special Commissioner of Police (CP), Crime.

On Republic Day, protestors did not follow the prearranged route and broke barricades to enter Delhi, clashed with police and vandalised property in several parts of the national capital during the farmers’ tractor rally. They also entered the Red Fort and unfurled their flags from its ramparts.

Farmers have been protesting at the different borders of the national capital since November 26 against the three newly enacted farm laws: Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. (ANI)

Chinooks Steal The Show On Tuesday India-US Armed Drill

‘Yudh Abhyas 20’, an annual bilateral joint exercise between the Indian Army and US Army, saw Chinook helicopters in action on Tuesday.

The Chinook is an American twin-engined, tandem-rotor, heavy-lift helicopter. It is among the heaviest lifting Western helicopters.

Indian Air Force had inducted four Chinook heavy-lift choppers in 2019. India paid close to USD 1.5 billion for 15 of these helicopters which would be also used for deploying troops and machinery at high altitude locations.

The joint military exercise aims to enhance cooperation and interoperability in counter-terrorism operations.

It started on February 8 and will go on till February 20 at the Mahajan Field Firing Range (MFFR) in Rajasthan.

According to an official release by the US Embassy in India, the US Army Pacific-sponsored exercise involves approximately 250 US Army and 250 Indian Army soldiers.

The exercise commenced yesterday in the western sector with expert academic exchanges and professional development workshops that focus on training at the corps-level and below, combat against conventional, unconventional, and hybrid threats; humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

This annual training exercise enhances combined interoperability capabilities through training and cultural exchange, which foster enduring partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region through common defence objectives. (ANI)

BJP Will Loot Farmers, Take Their Lands: Mamata

Amid the farmers’ protest along Delhi borders against the new farm laws, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will loot the farmers and take their land.

While addressing a public rally in Purba Bardhaman’s Kalna, she said, “They (BJP) will loot the farmers and take their land. The farmers will be left with nothing. Farmers will sow and reap their crops and they will take away everything from them.”

“When (BJP) they come to take your crops, say you (farmers) will not give them. Say you will reap the crops and eat food prepared from them too,” the Chief Minister said.

Banerjee claimed that in West Bengal TMC government gave cheques to farmers and procured grains from them, adding that they will continue to buy grains.

Thousands of farmers are on protest for over two months, demanding that the government scrap its pro-reform farm laws approved by Parliament in September.

The government had several times stated that the farmers’ movement is based on misinformation that land will be snatched, and corporates will take over agriculture and the MSP will be discontinued.

So far, 11 rounds of talks have made no conclusion between farmers and representatives of the Central government.

Farmers have been protesting at different borders of the national capital since November 26 last year against the three newly enacted farm laws: Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

Assembly polls are likely to be held in West Bengal in April-May this year. (ANI)