Month: February 2021

The Union Cabinet recommended President’s Rule in Puducherry, said Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday, days after the resignation of V Narayanasamy from his chief ministerial post.

Addressing a press conference after a cabinet briefing, the minister said nobody staked a claim to form the government.

“As some ruling party MLAs left the government, Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy resigned. Nobody has staked claim to form the government. Citing Article 239 read with Section 51 of UT Act, Lt Governor has proposed the Assembly suspension,” Javadekar said.

“Today, the Cabinet gave approval to this suspension, now after President’s approval, Puducherry Assembly will be dissolved. Necessary steps will be taken to administer Puducherry. Model code of conduct will start in a few days and there will be elections thereafter,” he added.

Earlier on February 23, President Ram Nath Kovind has accepted the resignation of Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy and his council of ministers.

The resignations were submitted after the Narayanaswamy-led Congress government lost the floor test held in Puducherry Assembly on Monday.

Narayanasamy had resigned on February 22 ahead of a floor test after his government lost majority in the 33-member House following the resignations of five Congress and one Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) legislators in recent weeks.

Assembly Speaker VP Sivakolundhu announced that the Chief Minister has failed to prove his majority and adjourned the house sine die.

The Union Territory is going to Assembly polls later this year. The dates are yet to be announced. (ANI)

A Delhi Sessions Court on Tuesday granted bail to climate activist Disha Ravi, who was arrested for being involved in sharing a ‘toolkit’ on social media in connection with the ongoing farmers’ protest.

While granting bail to her subject to two sureties of Rs 1 lakh each, the Session Court of Patiala House Court observed, that there is no palpable reason to not grant bail to Disha who has no criminal background.

“Considering the scanty and sketchy investigation, I do not find any palpable reason to breach the rule of bail for a 22-year-old girl who has absolutely no criminal antecedents,” Additional Session Judge Dharmender Rana said in his bail order.

Advocate Abhinav Sekhri, the lawyer for Disha, sought a reduction of the bail amount and sureties, but the court refused to modify the order.

Delhi Police had produced her before the Magistrate Court seeking extended custody of four days for Disha citing that her presence is necessary to confront her with co-accused in the matter.

Yesterday, the same court had granted one-day police remand to the 22-year-old climate, who was arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi Police on February 13 from Bengaluru in connection with the ‘toolkit’ case as part of the police probe into violence on January 26 in the national capital during the tractor march called by farmers protesting against three new farm laws.

Earlier, Public Prosecutor Advocate Vikas representing Delhi Police had informed the court that, there are two other accused persons in this case – Nikita and Shantanu — who have joined the investigation. Recently, both of them have been granted protection from arrest by the Bombay High Court. She was one of the editors of the ‘Toolkit’ Google document.

Advocate Sidharth Aggarwal, who appeared for Disha, had opposed the Delhi Police remand application.

“Public prosecutor is arguing as if he is seeking police custody for the first time. They earlier asked for seven days but got five days. They did not inform the court about that. They did not inform the court that I have moved a bail application which was heard for three hours by the Sessions Court,” Aggarwal had said.

“Shantanu and Nikita are not in custody then why is my client’s custody being sought. She can be confronted with them even when she is in judicial custody,” he had added.

On February 3, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg had shared this “toolkit” in a tweet which she later deleted. Greta had also extended support to the protest by farmers’ unions on the borders of Delhi against the new farm laws. (ANI)

By Sahil Pandey & Priyanka Sharma

Even as the country’s COVID-19 trajectory is declining, India has detected two new variants of the virus– namely N440 K and E484Q in Maharashtra and Kerala, the Union Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

The Centre, however, noted that there is no scientific evidence to believe that these two newer virus strains are responsible for the surge in cases in some districts in these two states.

“Two new variants– N440K and E484Q have been found in Maharashtra, Kerala and Telangana. However, it cannot be assured that these two new virus strains are responsible for the surge of fresh COVID-19 in these states,” Dr VK Paul, Member (Health) of the NITI Aayog said during the weekly COVID-19 update.

Echoing similar views, Dr Balram Bhargava, Director General of ICMR pointed: “There is no direct relation between the recent surge in COVID19 cases in Maharashtra and some other States with the mutant virus strains N440K and E484Q of coronavirus disease.”

The E484Q strain was earlier detected in four sequences in Maharashtra as early as March and July 2020. The N440K mutation has been reported on 13 different occasions between May and September 2020 in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Assam,” Dr Bhargava said.

In the recent past, India has already reported different mutants of the Covid-19 virus. These include the UK virus strain, the variant from Brazil and the South African strain. These three virus strain all together have affected at least 194 individuals across the country.

Dr Paul further said that till date about 187 individuals have tested positive for the UK virus strain, six people with South African strain, and one with the Brazilian strain.

“The behaviour of mutations is being constantly and closely watched in the country and 3500 viruses have been sequenced so far,” said the Niti Aayog member.

“When we are doing sequencing, we are looking for any abnormal shift in the virus character. We have been watching the mutants,” he said.

“We would like to apprise you today that we are constantly watching the behaviour of mutations in our country. Today based on the information and as analysed and understood by a very eminent scientific advisory group of Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), we would like to underline the fact that we do not see attribution of mutant strains to the upsurge of the infection being seen in some districts. But this is a work in progress. We will continue to watch the situation with full responsibility,” Dr Paul said.

He also warned that a large population is still vulnerable and asked people to strictly follow COVID-appropriate behaviour, ie, wearing masks, social distancing, handwashing and not getting into crowded places.

Meanwhile, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan mentioned that 12 states and union territories including Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Odisha have administered the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to more than 75 per cent of their registered healthcare workers.

On the other hand, 11 states and UTs including Karnataka, Telangana, Delhi, Punjab and Chandigarh have inoculated the first dose to less than 60 per cent of registered healthcare workers.

So far, about 1,17,54,788 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered across the country till Tuesday at 1 pm, with 1,04,93,205 getting the first dose and 12,61,583 being given the second dose. (ANI)

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday attacked the BJP-led government over the new farm laws, saying they had been “imposed” and the farmers will break the “arrogance” of the government.

Addressing a ‘Kisan mahapanchayat’ in Mathura here, she said it is the duty of the government and the Prime Minister to listen to farmers and make an effort to resolve their issues.
She said Mathura breaks arrogance of people. “Today BJP government is imposing such laws on farmers in its arrogance which will not benefit them. The message from Kisan mahapanchayat in Mathura is clear that the farmers will rest after breaking the arrogance of this government,” she said.

“It is duty of government and Prime Minister to listen to them and make an effort to resolve their issues. Using derogatory terms for farmers is a sin. Those who form government have the duty to listen to them,” she added.

Priyanka Gandhi said when a leader becomes arrogant, his policies also turn against welfare of people.

“Just as Lord Krishna had deflated the ego of Lord Indra (the God of rain), the Prime Minister’s ego will also be broken by him (Lord Krishna),” she said.

She also cited a line from a poem by Ramdhari Singh Dinkar.

”Jab naash manushya par chata hai, pahle vivek mar jata hai,” she said, adding that “the government has lost its wisdom”.

The Congress leader also accused the government of selling public assets.

”Save the Govardhan Parvat, otherwise, the government will sell it also,” she said sarcastically.

The Congress leader alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has failed to fulfil the promises made to the people. (ANI)

Signalling a thaw after months of tensions due to standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), China has said that it supports India’s chairmanship of the BRICS summit this year.

New Delhi has assumed chairmanship of the annual summit of the BRICS grouping of emerging economies – which also includes Brazil, Russia and South Africa.
Chinese President Xi Jinping may visit India later this year for the summit.

Asked about Xi’s possible attendance at the summit and whether the border tension would affect their multilateral cooperation, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said BRICS had become an influential grouping and Beijing supported New Delhi’s efforts as host, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.

“China attaches great importance to the BRICS mechanism,” Wang said at a regular press conference on Monday. “The Chinese side supports the Indian side in hosting the meeting and is willing to work with India and other BRICS countries in expanding cooperation on economy, politics and people-to-people exchanges,” Wang added.

Wenbin’s statement comes a day after India and China “positively appraised” the smooth completion of disengagement of frontline troops in the Pangong Lake area and agreed to continue their communication and push for a mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Western Sector.

The exchange took place during the 10th round of the China-India Corps Commander level meeting. The meeting was held on the Chinese side of the Moldo/Chushul border meeting point on Saturday.

The two sides had a “candid and in-depth” exchange of views on other issues along the LAC in the Western Sector, according to India-China Joint Statement.

The two countries have had a stand-off along the LAC since April-May last year due to actions of the Chinese army and have held several rounds of military and diplomatic talks.

Soon after the 73-day stand-off between Chinese and Indian troops on the Doklam plateau in 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the BRICS summit hosted by Xi. The pair subsequently met in two informal summits, showing efforts to ease bilateral tensions and build personal chemistry, according to the SCMP. (ANI)

Exiled journalists, human rights activists, and Uyghurs on Tuesday gathered at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) headquarters in Paris to persuade the anti-terror financing organisation to place Pakistan on the blacklist.

“We have gathered here outside the FATF building as it will be meeting next week to discuss and review the case of Pakistan to make it remain under grey list or put it in the black-list,” said Taha Siddiqui, Pakistani journalist in exile and editor of South Asia press.

Siddiqui said the idea of protest was to gather dissidents from Balochistan, Pashtun areas, Tibet, Hong Kong and Uyghur community to build a united front and to remind people of Pakistan-China nexus.

“Pakistan should be held accountable for its continued support to terror groups and terror financing. We’re here to remind FATF News and its members to not come under China’s pressure when they meet this week,” tweeted South Asia Press responding to Taha Siddiqui’s statement.

Fazal Rehman Afridi, Pashtun Rights Activist said: “It’s very important for the international community. Look at the case of Daniel Pearl, the terrorist who murdered him, Omar Sheikh, who has recently been released by Sindh High Court.

“The human rights activists who are working for the rights of the people are languishing in jails. So it shows Pakistan’s duplicity, what the government is saying to the world and what actually is happening.

“Even if they promulgate laws against terrorism, they will not act upon it, because the judiciary of Pakistan has compromised its working on the dictates of the military establishment – it is involved in terror-training, terror-financing, not only in Pakistan but in the region and around the world.”

“We request the international community, particularly the EU to look into the matter of GSP Plus because Pakistan is a state that is financing terrorism, violating the human rights of its own people. Pakistani Army is involved in human rights violations, war crimes and crimes against humanity. It should be made accountable,” added Afridi.

Earlier, in March 2020, the European Union extended the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) Plus status for cash-strapped Pakistan for two years, allowing the country access to preferential duties on exports to the EU.

“Pakistani courts recently ordered release Omar Sheikh, the terrorist who killed Daniel Pearl. Pakistani judiciary is compromised. It’s working on dictates of Pakistani military which sponsors terrorism,” South Asia Press said in a tweet.

“I am Uyghur and come from eastern Turkestan. I am here today to tell FATF that the real terrorists are the Chinese. Pakistan and China have economic friendship and use terrorism to kill people like Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Muslim people in eastern Turkestan,” said Adil Qasim, exiled Uyghur dissident.

“We want to remind FATF News that the Chinese government is the real terrorist. They’re killing us Uyghurs,” said Qasim and urged FATF not to be blackmailed by China, and hold Pakistan accountable for supporting terror groups.

“Today also Quetta Shura, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Hafiz Saeed operate in Balochistan. They still hold rallies in the area, give open threats and the world does not do anything. FATF has not taken any big action; they just took a little step to put Pakistan under the grey list,” said Munir Mengal, Baloch Voice.

“We have come here with all the proof to plead against Pakistan so that it can be blacklisted. Moreover, China, the financial source of Pakistan, is also assisting Pakistan as both of them have vested interests in the region. They are spreading terrorism, regional as well as international. All the finances collected from Balochistan in the form of taxes from the province as well as looting are done to spread terrorism. This is the time to black-list Pakistan,” added Mengal. (ANI)

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday hailed the results of municipal corporation elections in Gujarat, saying the BJP won around 85 per cent of the seats it contested and that party continues on its “development journey” under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Home Minister also targeted Congress, which saw a dismal performance. He said the opposition party had won only 44 seats, which the number which BJP had won in Bhavnagar corporation alone.
“The Municipal corporation poll results have again established Gujarat as BJP’s stronghold. The BJP continues on ‘Vikas yatra’ under the leadership of Modiji. Today’s results are one of the best results in Gujarat,” the Home Minister told ANI.

“The BJP has won around 85 per cent of the seats it contested, and the Congress has suffered badly in this election. Congress won only 44 seats across the whole state, while the BJP bagged 44 seats in Bhavnagar corporation alone,” he added.

The Home Minister congratulated Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel and the newly-elected state BJP chief CR Patil for the party’s performance.

He said the opposition tried to make the fight against coronavirus an issue in elections but the way the battle was fought under the leadership of PM Modi in the country and under the leadership of Vijay Rupani in Gujarat and the people of Gujarat have put their stamp of approval over it.

Counting of votes in Gujarat local body polls that were held on Sunday, began at 9 am.

The BJP secured 93 out of the 120 seats in Surat, while the AAP secured 27. Congress and other parties did not win any seats.

In Vadodara, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Jamnagar, the BJP secured 93, 69, 68, 44, and 51 seats respectively.

The Congress, secured 7 in Vadodara, four in Rajkot, eight in Bhavnagar and 10 in Jamnagar.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) secured three seats in Jamnagar. (ANI)

India on Tuesday commenced the supply of ‘Made in India’ COVID-19 vaccines to Africa under the COVAX facility.

“Fulfilling our commitment to help the world with COVID-19 vaccines, supplies of Made in India vaccine commence today for Africa under COVAX facility,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Anurag Srivastava tweeted.
COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access, abbreviated as COVAX, is a global initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines led by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and others.

Last month, the MEA announced that India plans to supply 1 crore or 10 million vaccine doses to Africa and 10 lakh to United Nations health workers under GAVI’s COVAX facility.

WHO South-East Asia tweeted photos of the first shipment being loaded onto a truck at Serum’s manufacturing facility in Pune.

“The first batch of COVID-19 vaccines for #COVAX rolled out from @SerumInstIndia, in Pune, on Tuesday morning,” WHO South East Asia tweeted.

India has supplied a total of 229.7 lakh doses of coronavirus vaccine to the global community as of last week, according to the MEA. (ANI)

A Delhi court remanded actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu to 14-days judicial custody for his alleged involvement in the violence that took place at the Red Fort and other parts of the national capital on Republic Day.

Sidhu was presented before the Duty Metropolitan Magistrate Samarjeet Kaur at Tihar Jail on the expiry of his earlier police custody.
Meanwhile, Sidhu’s lawyers have raised apprehension regarding his security in jail.

The Duty Magistrate said the application regarding Sidhu security in jail shall be heard by the concerned court in Tis Hazari.

Sidhu was arrested by the Delhi police special cell on February 9 for his alleged involvement in 26 January violence in the national capital after which was he was sent to seven-day police custody the same day.

Delhi Police had earlier told the Court that Sidhu was the main instigator of Republic Day violence. He allegedly instigated the mob not to follow the permitted route of the Kisan parade and to breach barricades with tractors on January 26.

Delhi Police had told the Court that there was video evidence to show that Sidhu entered Red Fort with supporters carrying lathis and flags. Delhi Police also told the court that he was at the rampart of the fort where a flag was raised.

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)