Month: January 2022

Bollywood actor Katrina Kaif, who is currently in the Maldives, on Tuesday, treated fans with stunning glimpses from her trip.

The ‘Sooryavanshi’ actor took to her Instagram handle and posted a couple of pictures in which she could be seen posing for the camera while donning a blue bikini top and a high-rise bottom paired with a white mesh shirt.
Along with the picture, in the caption, she wrote, “Seas the day” followed by three heart emojis.

The post garnered more than 14 lakh likes within a few hours of being shared and several fans of the actor dropped heart and fire emojis in the comments section.

Meanwhile, on the film front, after her marriage to actor Vicky Kaushal, she had returned back to work. Her future projects include ‘Tiger 3’, ‘Merry Christmas’ and Farhan Akhtar’s ‘Jee Le Zara’, co-starring Priyanka Chopra and Alia Bhatt.

Apart from this, Katrina will also soon be seen in ‘Phone Bhoot’ alongside Siddhant Chaturvedi and Ishaan Khatter. (ANI)

Ahead of Goa Assembly elections, Former Congress leader Joseph Robert Sequeira who is an ex-Sarpanch from Calangute constituency on Tuesday joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant.

“We have strengthened our party again in Calangute and definitely, we are winning the upcoming Assembly elections in Goa,” said Goa CM after Sequeira joined BJP today.
The former Congress leader was asked whether he would contest Assembly elections from Calangute, Sequeira said, “If the party gives me a ticket, then I will put all my zeal towards it.”

However, before joining BJP today, he told ANI, “I will be joining BJP today to contest assembly election against Congress candidate Michael Lobo in Calangute constituency.

Goa will go to the assembly polls on February 14 and the counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI)

President Ram Nath Kovind has approved awards of 384 Gallantry for armed forces personnel and others on the eve of the 73rd Republic Day celebrations, said the Ministry of Defence on Tuesday.

These include 12 Shaurya Chakras, three Bar to Sena Medals (Gallantry), 81 Sena Medals (Gallantry) and two Vayu Sena Medals (Gallantry).
President’s Medal for Gallantry and President’s Medal for Distinguished Services as well as Gallantry Medal and Meritorious Services Medals are awarded to the personnel of armed forces and other services on Republic Day and Independence Day each year. (ANI)

Republic Day Parade 2022 will showcase India’s military might and cultural diversity and many unique initiatives have been included to mark the celebration of the 75th year of Independence as part of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’.

“Several firsts planned during the main parade include the launch of ‘Shaheedon Ko Shat Shat Naman’ programme by National Cadet Corps, a grand flypast by 75 aircraft/helicopters of the Indian Air Force, cultural performances by 480 dancers, display of ten scrolls each of 75 metres prepared during the ‘Kala Kumbh’ event,” said the Defence Ministry in an official statement.
According to the Ministry, a drone show by 1,000 indigenously developed drones has also been planned for ‘Beating the Retreat’ ceremony, along with projection mapping.

As per tradition, the National Flag will be unfurled followed by the National Anthem with a booming 21-gun salute. The parade will commence with President Ram Nath Kovind taking the salute. The parade will be commanded by Parade Commander, Lieutenant General Vijay Kumar Mishra, Ati Vishisth Seva Medal, a second-generation Army officer. Major General Alok Kacker, Chief of Staff, Delhi Area will be the Parade Second-in-Command.

A total of six marching contingents of the Indian Army will be present in the parade including the Rajput Regiment, the Assam Regiment, the Jammu & Kashmir Light Regiment, the Sikh Light Regiment, the Army Ordnance Corps and the Parachute Regiment.

The combined Band of the Madras Regimental Centre, the Kumoun Regimental Centre, Maratha Light Regimental Centre, Jammu & Kashmir Light Regimental Centre, Army Medical Corps Centre and School, 14 Gorkha Training Centre, Army Supply Corps Centre and College, Bihar Regimental Centre and Army Ordnance Corps Centre will also march past the saluting dais.

“The Indian Army will be represented by a Mounted Column of 61 Cavalry, 14 Mechanised Columns, six marching contingents and a fly past by Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) of Army Aviation. One Tank PT-76 and Centurion (On Tank Transporters) and two MBT Arjun MK-I, one APC TOPAS and BMP-I (On Tank Transporter) and Two BMP-II, one 75/24 Towed Gun (On Vehicle) and two Dhanush Gun System, one PMS Bridge and Two Sarvatra Bridge System, one HT-16 (On Vehicle) and two Tarang Shakti Electronic Warfare System, one Tiger Cat Missile & two Akash Missile System will be the main attraction in the mechanised columns,” the statement further said.

The theme of the marching contingents of the Indian Army is the evolution of the uniform and personnel weapons of the Indian Army over the last 75 years.

“The contingent of the Rajput Regiment will be wearing the uniform of Indian Army of 1947 and would be carrying .303 Rifle. The Assam Regiment will be in uniform during the period of the 1962 and carrying .303 Rifles. The Jammu and Kashmir Light Regiment would be in uniform worn during 1971 and would carry 7.62mm self loading Rifle. The contingent of the Sikh Light Regiment and the Army Ordnance Corps would be in the present day uniform with 5.56mm INSAS Rifle,” said the Defence Ministry.

“The contingent of the Parachute Regiment would be donning the new Combat Uniform of Indian Army, unveiled on January 15, 2022 and would be carrying 5.56mm x 45mm TAVOR Rifle,” it added.

Meanwhile, the Naval contingent will comprise of 96 young sailors and four officers led by Lt Cdr Aanchal Sharma as Contingent Commander.

It will be followed by the Naval Tableau which is designed with the aim to showcase the multi-dimensional capabilities of the Indian Navy. The forward part of the tableau depicts the Naval Uprising of 1946, which contributed in India’s struggle for independence. The rear section illustrates the ‘Make in India’ initiatives of the Indian Navy from 1983 to 2021. The model of New Vikrant with LCA Navy in air flanked by models of indigenously designed and built warships. The frames on the sides of the trailer depict the construction of Indian Naval platforms in India.

The Indian Air Force contingent comprises of 96 airmen and four officers and will be led by Squadron Leader Prashant Swamyanathan.

The Air Force tableau is titled ‘Indian Air Force, Transforming for the Future’. The tableau showcases scaled down models of MiG-21, Gnat, Light Combat Helicopter and Rafale aircraft, as well as the Aslesha radar.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will display two tableaux, signifying the defence technological advancements of country. The tableaux are titled ‘Suite of Indigenously Developed Sensors, Weapons and Electronic Warfare Systems for LCA Tejas’ and ‘Air Independent Propulsion System’ developed for the submarines of Indian Navy.

The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) contingent will be led by Deputy Commandant H T Manjunath. The marching contingents of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), led by Assistant Commandant Ajay Malik, 15 times winner of best marching contingent, Delhi Police, led by Assistant Commissioner of Police Vivek Bhagat, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) commanded by Assistant Commandant Mohnish Bagree, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) led by Deputy Commandant Nirupesh Kumar and Border Security Force (BSF) Camel Contingent headed by Deputy Commandant Manohar Singh Kheechee will also march past the saluting dais.

The National Cadet Corps (NCC) Boys Marching contingent, comprising of 100 Senior Division cadets, will be led by Senior Under Officer Rupendra Singh Chauhan of the Punjab Directorate. Senior Under Officer Pramila of Karnataka Directorate will head the NCC Girls Marching contingent, consisting of 100 Senior Wing Cadets drawn from all 17 Directorates. The marching contingent of National Service Scheme (NSS), comprising of 100 volunteers, will be headed by Baraiya Siddhi Ramesh from Diu Union Territory, Ahmedabad Directorate.

It will be followed by tableaux of 12 States/Union Territories and nine Ministries/Departments.

The theme of tableaux of Arunachal Pradesh is Anglo-Abor (Adi) Wars; Haryana’s is Haryana: No 1 in Sports;Chattisgarh’s is Godhan Nyay Yojana: A new path to prosperity; Goa’s is Symbols of Goan heritage; Gujarat is Tribal Revolutionaries of Gujarat; Jammu and Kashmir’s is Changing face of Jammu and Kashmir, among others.

“The grand finale and the most keenly awaited segment of the parade, the Fly Past, will, for the first time, witness 75 aircraft/helicopters of the Indian Air Force displaying a number of formations, as part of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’,” said the Defence Ministry.

Vintage as well as current modern aircraft/helicopters like Rafale, Sukhoi, Jaguar, Mi-17, Sarang, Apache and Dakota, will display different formations, including Rahat, Meghna, Eklavya, Trishul, Tiranga, Vijay and Amrit.

For the first time IAF has coordinated with Doordarshan to show cockpit videos during the fly past.

The ceremony will culminate with the national anthem and the release of Tri-colour balloons. (ANI)

Former Union Minister RPN Singh joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), soon after quitting Congress on Tuesday.

In a major setback to Congress just ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, the Jharkhand in-charge and ex-MP from Kushinagar constituency took to Twitter to inform of his joining.
“This is a new beginning for me and I look forward to my contribution to nation-building under the visionary leadership and guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President JP Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah,” he said after resigning from the Congress party.

Taking to Twitter, Singh posted his resignation letter addressed to Sonia Gandhi, “Today, at a time, we are celebrating the formation of our great Republic, I begin a new chapter in my political journey. Jai Hind.”

Notably, prior to the resignation, Singh had also changed his Twitter Bio from: My motto India, First, Always. AICC in-charge, Jharkhand, Spokesperson Congress party, Former Minister of State for Home Affairs, to “My motto India, First, Always.”

Congress Spokesperson Supriya Shrinate slammed Singh over his resignation and said, “The battle which Congress party is fighting can be fought only with bravery… It requires courage, strength and Priyanka Gandhi Ji has said that coward people can’t fight it.”

Kunwar Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh, popularly known as Raja Saheb of Padrauna was a former Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs. He was an MP from Kushinagar constituency in the 15th Lok Sabha (2009-2014).

The 57-year-old former Congress loyalist from the erstwhile royal family of Sainthwar of Kushinagar (Padrauna) was an MLA from the Padrauna constituency of Uttar Pradesh (1996-2009), just like his father CPN Singh.

Popularly known as Raja Saheb of Padrauna, the Congress party’s Jharkhand in-charge, RPN Singh has previously severed as the Minister of State from 2012 to 2014.

However, in the 16th Lok Sabha election, he lost to BJP’s Rajesh PandeyThe Doon School alumnus has also served as the All India Congress Committee’s Secretary from 2003-2006. (ANI)

Pakistan has released 20 Indian fishermen and repatriated them via Wagah Border to India, confirmed a statement issued from the country’s foreign ministry on Tuesday.
“The Government of Pakistan has released 20 Indian prisoners (fishermen) who have been repatriated via Wagah Border to India on 24 January. These prisoners have been released on completion of their sentence,” the statement read.
Arunpal Singh, Protocol Officer at the Attari-Wagah border on Monday said that the fishermen were kept in Karachi’s Landhi jail for four years.
“20 Indian fishermen repatriated by Pakistan via the Attari-Wagah border on Monday. They mistakenly entered the Pakistan territory in 2017, due to the lack of navigation, and were held captive in Karachi’s Landhi jail for 4 years,” Singh said.

Sunil, one of the fishermen to have come back to India, thanked the Indian government and the soldiers for bringing him back to the country after four years.
“I was there in the water. They came and caught me and took me away to Karachi. I was released by our government and am thankful to them and our soldiers who brought me back to my country. I have lived there for four years,” he said.
Another fisherman, Bhavesh urged the government to bring back more such prisoners stuck there in Pakistan.
“I was released after four years. I request the Indian government to bring more of our prisoners back to the country who are stuck in Pakistan. I was kept in Landhi jail in Karachi,” he said. (ANI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday while interacting with members of the Bharatiya Janata Party lauded Election Commission and said that India’s electoral process has set a benchmark for various counties.
“India is one of the countries where the Election Commission (EC) can issue notices to people and transfer officials. Our EC and electoral process set a benchmark for various countries,” said PM Modi.
PM Modi’s remark on the election commission comes on the same day as India celebrates National Voters Day.

PM Modi is interacting with panna samiti members from Gujarat on audio via the NaMo app.
According to BJP, PM will be interacting with party members all across the country today. (ANI)

India on Tuesday reported 2,55,874 new COVID cases recorded in the last 24 hours, 50,190 less than yesterday, taking the daily positivity rate down to 15.52 per cent, the Union Health Ministry informed.
With this, the active caseload stands at 22,36,842, while the weekly positivity rate is at 17.17 per cent.
As many as 2,67,753 recoveries have also been reported in the last 24 hours. With the Covid recovery rate at 93.15 per cent, the cumulative recoveries from the virus across the country stand at 3,70,71,898.

The Ministry also reported 614 COVID deaths in the last 24 hours.
Notably, 16,49,108 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours; 1,74,355 more than on Monday.
Meanwhile, in the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination drive, 162.92 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far. (ANI)