Month: February 2022

Goa government on Monday declared February 14 as a Public Holiday in view of it being the Polling Day for the Assembly elections in the state.

Goa government’s notice read: “…Government of Goa hereby declares Monday, the 14th February 2022 (Magha 25, Saka 1943) as a “Public Holiday” being the “Polling Day” for the General Elections to the Goa Legislative Assembly, 2022, throughout the State of Goa.”

The state government has also directed that the public holiday should be a paid holiday for all government/private establishments.

“The aforesaid holiday shall be a ‘paid holiday,” the notice further read.

A total of 332 candidates are in the fray for the forthcoming Assembly election in Goa this year.

The total nominations received for the Goa Assembly polls this year was 587.

Goa is scheduled to go to the Assembly polls on February 14. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI)

Extending support to Samajwadi Party, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said there is a chance of Akhilesh Yadav winning the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

Briefing mediapersons, Banerjee said, “I want Samajwadi Party to win in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. If people support him, then there is a chance of Akhilesh Ji winning this election.”

Earlier, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo had informed that the party will not contest the Uttar Pradesh elections but will field candidates in the state in the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.

“In Uttar Pradesh, I am not going to contest Assembly polls but I am going to support Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav. We (TMC) will contest from Uttar Pardesh in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls,” she had said, reflecting her national ambitions in the next general elections.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will be on a two-day visit to Uttar Pradesh on Monday to “support Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav for upcoming State Assembly elections” that are scheduled to be held in seven phases beginning from February 10.

The Trinamool Congress is seeking to increase its footprint nationally ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly is scheduled to go to the polls in seven phases on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27, March 3, and 7. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday tore into the Opposition parties in Parliament accusing the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party of contributing to the widespread spread of COVID in the initial days by pushing migrant labourers to leave Mumbai and Delhi, thereby triggering a crisis.

“The Congress Party has crossed all limits during the first wave COVID pandemic. During the first wave, when people were following lockdowns, in the entire world guidelines were suggesting that people stay where they are… then Congress leaders were standing at Mumbai station and scaring innocent people. They pushed migrant workers in Mumbai to return to their states,” the PM said in his reply to the Motion of Thanks debate in Lok Sabha.

The prime minister said that the (Congress) had crossed all limits and committed a ‘Paap’ (sin) and a ‘mahaapradh’… “pushed migrant labourers into difficulties.”

“Congress gave free train tickets to migrant workers to leave Mumbai. At the same time, the Delhi government went around slums in jeeps and announced on mics that whoever wants to go home, buses have been arranged.to leave the city…. This led to the spread of COVID in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand. What kind of politics is this? How long will this politics will continue? The entire country is shocked by the behavior of Congress,” he added.

Attacking the Opposition further, he said, “Now Congress has made up its mind not to come to power for the next 100 years. You can oppose me, but why are you (Congress) opposing the Fit India Movement and other schemes? No wonder you were voted out in many states years ago. If we are talking about being ‘vocal for local’, are we not fulfilling the dreams of Mahatma Gandhi? Then, why was it being mocked by the Opposition?”

The Prime Minister said that all this was being done because “some people thought that the coronavirus will damage the image of Modi.”

“We are firm believers in democracy. And, we also believe that criticism is an essential part of democracy. But, blind opposition to everything is never the way ahead. We are all people committed to democracy by culture, by behavior and not from today, but for centuries. It is true that criticism is the ornament of a vibrant democracy, but superstition is a disrespect to democracy,” he added.

The 2022 Budget Session of the Parliament commenced on January 31 with President Ram Nath Kovind’s address. The first part of the budget session is being held from January 31 to February 11 and the second part will take place from March 14 to April 8. (ANI)

Seven Indian Army personnel who were part of a patrol party and have been reportedly stuck by an avalanche in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang district are still missing, said an official.

A police official of West Kameng district told ANI that, the incident took place near Mammy Hut area of Jangda Basti along LAC under Jang police station in Tawang district.

Pema Wangchu, Officer-in-Charge of Jang police station said that a police team will launch a search operation along with the army on Tuesday morning.

“Mammy Hut area is about 35 km away from Jangda Basti. The JAK Rifles official informed me about the incident today morning,” Wangchu told ANI.

Sang Thinley, Officer-in-Charge of Dirang police station said that the incident happened along the LAC on Sunday (February 6).

“Seven army personnel of 19 JAK Rifles have been reportedly stuck by an avalanche in the area near Mammy Hut. Following the incident, the army officials had reported the incident at Jang police station. The area is very remote and all roads have been blocked due to snowfall,” Sang Thinley said.

Meanwhile, Tezpur based Defence PRO Lt Col Harsh Wardhan Pande said that search and rescue operations are currently underway.

“Specialised teams have been airlifted to assist in rescue operations. The area has been witnessing inclement weather with heavy snowfall since the last few days,” Lt Col Harsh Wardhan Pande said. (ANI)

Delhi reported 1,151 new COVID-19 cases during the last 24 hours with the positivity rate declining to 2.62 per cent.

With this, the total number of COVID-19 cases in the national capital has gone up to 18,45,084.
As per a bulletin provided by the health department, a total of 4,3991 samples were tested during the last 24 hours.

During the last 24 hours, 2,120 people recovered from the infection, taking the total recoveries to 18,11,201.

As many as 15 people lost their lives to the deadly virus during the last 24 hours.

The death toll in the state due to the virus stands at 25,998.

There are currently 7,885 active COVID-19 cases in Delhi, of which 5,715 are in home isolation. There are 28,980 active containment zones in the national capital.

As per the bulletin, 936 patients are admitted to hospitals across Delhi, of which 61 are suspected to have COVID-19 and 875 people are confirmed to have the disease. Of the confirmed cases of the virus, 665 are from the national capital while 210 are from outside.

The bulletin said that 93.92 per cent of beds in the dedicated COVID-19 hospitals across the national capital are vacant, with only 936 out of 14,480 beds occupied by the patients. Similarly in the COVID Care Centres, there is currently 96.89 per cent of beds vacant, with only 144 out of 4,482 beds currently occupied.

In COVID Health Centres, currently, 98.99 per cent of beds are vacant, with only 2 out of total 196 beds being occupied by the patients.

As per the bulletin, 15,532 COVID-19 vaccination doses were administered during the last 24 hours of which 3,619 people were given the first dose of the vaccine and 10,868 people received their second dose of the vaccine.

During the last 24 hours, 1,045 precaution doses of the vaccine were given to healthcare workers, frontline workers and senior citizens above 60. This takes the total precaution doses administered in the national capital to 3,16,552.

The bulletin said 5,497 beneficiaries aged 15-18 received their first dose of the vaccine during the last 24 hours, taking the list of beneficiaries who have received their first dose to 9,22,723.

To date, 2,99,63,854 vaccine doses have been administered in the national capital of which 1,70,76,521 people have received their first dose of the vaccine while 1,25,70,781 people have received the second dose of vaccine. (ANI)

The death of legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar has left a vacuum that can never be filled. People across the country have been grieving since she breathed her last on Sunday morning.

Like many others, megastar Amitabh Bachchan, too, paid tribute to India’s nightingale. Taking to Instagram, Big B shared a throwback video of Lata Mangeshkar. In the clip, he is seen welcoming Lata Mangeshkar on stage during one of the award functions.

“Kaise parichay du jo iss desh ki hi nahi, vishwa ki awaaz hai (how do I introduce someone who is not just the nation but the voice of the world)?” Big B said in the video.

He even addressed Lata Mangeshkar as “Goddess Saraswati” while introducing her to everyone present at the event.

“I also believe that music and God have a very special connection. And the wire that connects the two is Lata Mangeshkar. She is truly an avatar of Saraswati,” Big B said in Hindi.

Giving a glimpse of the video, Amitabh captioned it as, “She has left us .. the voice of a million centuries has left us .. she resounds now in the heavens.”

Regarded as one of Indian cinema’s greatest playback singers, Lata Mangeshkar started her career in her teenage years in 1942 and has sung over 25,000 songs in various Indian languages. (ANI)

The Supreme Court on Monday directed the authorities to commence within a fortnight the demolition of real estate developer Supertech’s twin 40-storey towers in its Emerald Court project in Noida.

A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Surya Kant directed the Noida CEO to convene a meeting of all concerned agencies within 72 hours to finalise the schedule for the demolition of the twin towers.

“The CEO Noida shall take all necessary steps for observing directions of this court, work of demolition shall commence no later than two weeks from this order,” the apex court ordered.

Earlier, the bench had directed Supertech Ltd to execute a contract within a week with a company to demolish its twin towers.

The top court was told by the Noida authority that Edifice Engineering has been chosen to carry out the demolition of twin towers in consultation with the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) Roorkee.

It had asked that the developer would be applying for all necessary No Objection Certificates (NOCs) within a period of one week.

The apex court had earlier dismissed a plea of Supertech seeking modification of its August 31, 2021 order by which it was directed to demolish two of its 40-storey towers at its Emerald Court housing project.

While directing the demolition of two towers over grave violations of building norms, the top court had said that it was a result of “nefarious complicity” between Noida Authority and Supertech, and ordered that company shall carry out the demolition at its own expense within three months under the supervision of the Noida Authority and an expert body like the Central Building Research Institute.

The order had come on a batch of petitions filed by homebuyers for and against the April 11, 2014 verdict of the Allahabad High Court, which had ordered the demolition of the two buildings within four months and the refund of money to apartment buyers. (ANI)

Days after shots were fired on the vehicle of AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday urged the Lok Sabha MP to accept the Z category security cover provided to him by the central government.

Shah told Parliament, “The threat to Owaisi has been reassessed and a bulletproof vehicle and Z category security has been given to him. But, as per verbal information by himself, he has refused to accept it. I request him to accept the security given to him by the central government.”

“Home Ministry took a report from the State government immediately. On basis of earlier inputs from central security agencies, the Centre had ordered to provide him security. But due to his unwillingness to avail security, Delhi and Telangana Police’s efforts to provide him security did not succeed,” Amit Shah said in the Rajya Sabha.

Informing the House further about the investigation into the attack on All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief, the Union Home Minister said, “Taking quick action two accused were arrested. Two unauthorized pistols and a car were recovered from them. The forensic team is doing a minute investigation of the car and the incident site. Evidence is being collected.”

Shah said that the district administration had no prior information of Owasi’s visit to Hapur as he did not have a prescheduled event.

“Two unidentified people had fired on the carcade. He came out safe but there were three bullet marks on the lower portion of his vehicle. The incident was witnessed by three witnesses. An FIR has been registered. Owaisi had no prescheduled event in Hapur district. No information about his movement was sent to District Control Room beforehand. After the incident, he reached Delhi safely,” said the Union Home Minister.

Notably, two men have been arrested allegedly for firing at the convoy of Asaduddin Owaisi when he was leaving Meerut’s Kithoudh area for Delhi after poll campaigning on Thursday, informed Uttar Pradesh Police.

The AIMIM president was in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut for campaigning.

Following the attack, the central government reviewed the security of the AIMIM chief and provided him with Z security of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) with immediate effect, said sources on Friday. (ANI)

Congress leader Anand Sharma on Monday during the debate on the motion of thanks to the President’s Address slammed the Centre for failing to provide a blueprint for the future and not addressing the problems faced by the country.

“It is expected from the President’s Address that the real state of the country is presented before the parliament. Achievements of the government are acknowledged and the country is made aware of the challenges. Blueprint of the future is presented. It failed to do so,” Sharma said in Rajya Sabha.

“This is not sarcasm but whoever wrote it (the President’s Address), did injustice to the President,” he said.

“This challenges the intelligence of the people and negates the difficult situation before the country,’ he added.

The 2022 Budget Session of the Parliament commenced on January 31 with President Ram Nath Kovind’s address.

The first part of the budget session is being held from January 31 to February 11 and the second part will take place from March 14 to April 8. (ANI)