Month: February 2022

After a section of students protested demanding to ensure ‘uniform norms’, girl students in Government Degree College in Karnataka were asked to attend classes without wearing hijab from Thursday.

The girls, who have been entering the campus wearing hijab, were asked to remove it at the waiting rooms before attending the classes.
The principal of the Government Degree College in Bhadravathi town of Shivamogga district, MG Umashankar said he had discussed the issue with the students and their parents.

“The issue has been solved now. They will not wear the Hijab in class,” he stated.

This comes after students at a Chikkamagaluru college wore saffron shawls to mark their protest against girls wearing hijabs on campus.

On Tuesday, many students also staged a dharna over the same. The cops then entered the college premises and brought the situation under control.

Amid the protest, the principal of the college MG Umashankar convinced the students to withdraw the agitation. (ANI)

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will visit Chhattisgarh’s Raipur today to lay the foundation stone of ‘Amar Jawan Jyoti’ and inaugurate Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Bhumiheen Krishi Mazduur Yojana.

According to an official statement, Amar Jawan Jyoti will be constructed on the premises of the 4th Battalion, Chhattisgarh Armed Forces Mana, Raipur. The flame of Chhattisgarh Amar Jawan Jyoti will continue to be lit in honour of the martyrs.
“We will honour the martyrdom of the sons of Chhattisgarh who sacrificed their lives for the country by joining uniformed services, as well as the Bravehearts of the country who sacrificed their lives in Chhattisgarh through ‘Chhattisgarh Amar Jawan Jyoti’,” said Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.

A wall with names of Martyrs, memorial tower and VVIP platform will also be set up at Amar Jawan Jyoti in Chhattisgarh. The wall will be constructed with brown marble with the names of Martyrs engraved on the same. This crescent-shaped wall will be about 25 feet high having a length of about 100 feet, and the thickness of this wall will be 3 feet.

The memorial tower will be set up of sandstone, brown white marble granite in front of a crescent-shaped wall. A memento will be made on its top. Rifle and helmet will be in the form of insignia on the base in front of the memorial tower. The flame of Chhattisgarh Amar Jawan Jyoti will be lit in front of this symbol which will be ignited 24 hours by fuel supply through underground pipelines.

A fort-like two-storey building will be constructed just in front of the memorial tower, the length of the base of which will be 150 feet and the width will be 90 feet. The height of this building will be 40 feet.

Gandhi will also inaugurate the Chhattisgarh government’s Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Bhumiheen Krishi Mazduur Yojana.

Under this scheme, the Chhattisgarh government will give annual financial aid of Rs 6000 to rural landless families. The registration for the scheme was started last year in September. (ANI)

Despite light rainfall in the national capital, the air quality remained in the ‘very poor’ category with an overall Air Quality Index (AQI) at 318 on Thursday morning, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).

The concentrations of PM 2.5 and PM 10 were recorded at 143 in the ‘very poor’ and 228 in the ‘moderate’ category respectively.
The SAFAR in its bulletin predicted rainfall with a gusty wind tomorrow which may improve the AQI.

“AQI today indicates ‘Very Poor’ air quality and likely to improve as relatively high wind speed enhance dispersion of pollutants. Tomorrow rainfall is likely to occur with a gusty wind that is expected to improve AQI to ‘lower end of Very Poor’ or ‘Poor’ through wet deposition and strong dispersion,” the SAFAR bulletin reads.

It further said that from February 4 onwards the air quality will gradually degrade as the rate of accumulation of pollutants is likely to be more than that of ventilation.

The bulletin advised all people belonging to sensitive groups to avoid all physical outdoor activities.

Meanwhile, the air quality in Noida and Gurugram continues to remain in the ‘very poor’ category with AQI at 326 and 313 respectively.

As per the government data, an AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.

Earlier today, the national capital witnessed a light shower of rain which pushed the minimum temperature in the city to 11 degrees Celsius.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted a partly cloudy sky and light rain with thunderstorms in Delhi today. (ANI)

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla schooled Congress Member of Parliament (MP) Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday for not following proper Parliamentary procedure during a debate on the motion of thanks to the President’s address in the Lok Sabha.

After Rahul Gandhi gave “permission” to another MP to speak while he was speaking, the Speaker said, “Who are you to give this permission? You can’t give permission, that’s my right,” Om Birla further added, “You have no right to allow anyone, only the chair has the right to allow.”
Om Birla chided Gandhi after the Congress leader while delivering his remarks paused and indicated to BJP MP Kamlesh Paswan who was on his feet and wanted to say something. “I am a democratic person and I will allow the other person to speak,” Gandhi said earning a sharp rebuke from a visibly irritated Speaker Birla.

The Congress leader during the motion of thanks on the President’s address, was seen taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi by saying, “‘India cannot be ruled as a kingdom…The King does not listen to anybody.”

The Wayanad MP also took the name of Kamlesh Paswan and who had spoken just before him and pointed out that BJP MP, who is a Dalit was in the wrong party.

“You do not listen to anybody and even not to my dear brother and sister in the BJP. I saw my Dalit colleague speak today, Paswanji. He knows the history of Dalit. He knows who has oppressed the Dalits for 3,000 years. But he is speaking with hesitancy. He is speaking without… I am proud of him. I am proud of this gentleman. He has spoken to me what is in his heart. But he is in the wrong party. Don’t worry…ghabraiye mat,” Gandhi said.

To this there was an uproar and Paswan stood up to speak in protest and motioned to the Speaker to allow him to speak only to be told by the Speaker in hindi ‘No.. not in between, afterwards.” This was when Gandhi promptly gestured to Paswan and made the declaration that he gave permission to the BJP leader to speak.

“Aap kisi ko ijazaat nahi de sakte, yeh adhikar mera hain” (You cannot give permission to anyone, this is my right), the Speaker lashed out at Gandhi leaving the Congress leader visibly embarrased.

In addition, Paswan also hit back at the Congress leader. “Rahul Gandhi said I am in the wrong party. I want to tell him that today I am being able to speak after Rahul Gandhi being the MP of Bansgaon only because of my party. My party made me MP three times. What more do I want?”

Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi was panned for his remarks in the debate. Many politicians both from BJP and Congress took to social media to speak on it.

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted, “Mr Rahul Gandhi, those who prefer to feed biscuits to dogs in the presence of leaders from Assam and then offer them the same biscuits should be the last people to talk about political decency. High command mindset is INC’s be all and end all. The people of India know it well.”(ANI)

Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a case against a Hyderabad based company, its Managing Director, Director and unknown public servants for an alleged bank fraud based on a complaint from a State Bank of India (SBI) Stressed Assets Management branch in Secunderabad, alleging that the firm caused loss of Rs 218.21 crores (approx) to the bank.

As per a press release from the agency, the accused have been identified as Haridass Ramesh and Urvashi Ramesh, Managing Director and Director respectively of the Hyderabad based firm Nandini Industries India Pvt Ltd (NIIPL). “Other unknown public servant(s) and private person(s) have also been identified as accused,” said the release.
“It was alleged that the said private company was initially sanctioned Rs. 9.5 crore (approx.) Fund based limit on September 14, 2007 which was enhanced from time to time based on the working capital requirements of the borrower. The total Fund based and Non-Fund based limits sanctioned to the said company were Rs. 89.50 crore (approx.). The loan account was declared as NPA in March 2014 due to non-payment of dues to the State Bank of India (SBI). Out of the total limits, an amount of Rs. 54.21 crore (approx.) was outstanding as on NPA date (March 30, 2014). The said amount increased to Rs. 172.71 crore (approx.) as on November 30, 2019 and to Rs. 218.21 crore (approx.) as on March 31, 2021 including interest,” read the release.

It was further alleged that the accused in collusion with their subsidiary companies & others resorted to diversion of loan proceeds and to excess drawings of loan proceeds by submitting inflated invoices to the bank. An alleged loss of Rs. 218.21 crore (approx.) was caused to SBI.

Searches were conducted at 3 places in Hyderabad which led to the recovery of several incriminating documents. (ANI)

Samajwadi Party (SP) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ram Gopal Yadav on Wednesday alleged there is no need for booster doses of COVID-19 vaccine, adding this is just an extra burden on the government exchequer.

Yadav’s remarks came during the debate on the motion of thanks to the President’s address in the Rajya Sabha.
Citing the statement of an Additional Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Yadav said the officer clearly said “no need for booster dose” of COVID-19 vaccine when he was asked by our members in presence of the Health Secretary and Director General of ICMR.

The SP leader said that COVID vaccine manufacturing companies have already made huge profits by selling vaccines against the deadly pandemic and accused that they have consumed a huge amount of Central government.

“Why is booster dose being injected when those already given such doses are getting infected with coronavirus,” Yadav asked.

The SP leader accepted that the COVID vaccine will save people from dying but it cannot stop the further spread of the disease.

“Giving booster dose is just an attempt to put an extra burden on the government exchequer,” said Yadav.

The leader’s remarks came when the Central government has given its nod for ‘precaution dose’ (booster) of COVID-19 which is being administered from January 10 to health and frontline workers, and those above 60 with comorbidities.

Booster dose will be of the same vaccine as the first and second dose, the government had earlier said.

“Those who got Covaxin will get Covaxin and those who got Covishield will get Covishield,” NITI Aayog member-health Dr VK Paul had said.

The government had made the announcement when the third wave of COVID-19 was reported across the country with daily cases surging exponentially. (ANI)

The Kerala government will set up India’s first Graphene Innovation Centre, a joint project of Digital University Kerala and Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET) with Tata Steel Limited as the industry partner, informed Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday.

The Centre will be called as India Innovation Centre for Graphene (IICG) in Ernakulam.
Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan said, “Kerala opens its doors to develop India’s first Graphene Innovation Centre (IICG), a joint project of @dukerala & @cmetindia, with @TataSteelLtd as the main industry partner. This world-class facility will catalyse India’s innovations in cutting-edge graphene-based technology.”

The cost of the project is Rs 86.41, of which Rs 49.18 crore will be funded by the Central government and Rs 11.48 crore by business partners, said CM Vijayan in a Facebook post. (ANI)

Ahead of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, BJP leader and Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday addressed a public meeting over the phone after bad weather prevented him from reaching the venue in Lakhimpur Kheri.

As scheduled, Singh arrived at Bareilly at 11 am and travelled to Lakhimpur Kheri and Pilibhit by Helicopter but even after several attempts, failed to land at either of the venues due to poor visibility because of dense fog.
Now, he will be travelling to Pilibhit by road to attend public meetings and door-to-door campaigns.

Earlier, in the day Singh tweeted that he will be visiting constituencies in Lakhimpur Kheri and Pilibhit and will interact with prominent voters.

Lakhimpur Kheri will go to the polls in the fourth phase of UP Assembly Election 2022 on February 23. And February 3 is the last day to file a nomination.

On January 31, the election commission allowed public meetings of up to 1,000 people and doorstep campaigning with up to 20 persons instead of 10 but continued ban on the ban on roadshows, vehicle rallies and processions in the five poll-bound states till February 11. (ANI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a virtual rally in five districts of Uttar Pradesh on February 4 in the afternoon to campaign for the upcoming Assembly elections in the state.

PM Modi’s rally in the districts of Aligarh, Noida, Meerut, Ghaziabad, and Harpur, will cover 23 assembly constituencies in the state.
A total of 122 locations have been identified by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) where arrangements have been made for people to listen to the virtual address of the prime minister.

With the relaxation of the election commission norms, BJP is hoping to see the in-person participation of over one lakh people across these locations.

BJP will also be telecasting this address of the Prime Minister through all the digital platforms and is hoping for at least a footprint of over 20 lakhs.

Earlier on January 31, Prime Minister Modi had launched the BJP’s campaign in the state of Uttar Pradesh by holding a virtual rally for five districts that are going to polls in the first and second phase of assembly elections.

In Uttar Pradesh, the first phase polling will be held on February 10, the second phase on February 14, the third phase on February 20, the fourth phase on February 23, the fifth phase on February 27, the sixth phase on March 3, and the seventh phase on March 7.

The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI)

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday requested States and Union Territories to direct concerned officials to accelerate the second dose coverage amongst due beneficiaries aged 15-18 years while ensuring that remaining beneficiaries for the first dose also receive it in a time-bound manner.

“I hereby request you to direct the concerned officials to accelerate the 2nd dose coverage amongst due beneficiaries aged 15-18 years while also ensuring that remaining beneficiaries for 1st dose also receive it in a time-bound manner,” read the letter by Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan to states and UTs.
The letter highlighted that the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination programme of India has been expanded in a phased manner based on available scientific evidence and global best practices and presently, all persons aged 15 years and above are eligible for vaccination.

With the proactive efforts of States/UTs, along with the Government of India, the Centre has administered more than 166.68 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine which is amongst the highest in the world.

COVID-19 vaccination for 15-18 years’ age-group started from January 3, 2022, and as on date, more than 4.66 crore doses have been administered in this age group resulting in the first dose coverage of 63 per cent in a span of less than a month.

The vaccine used in this group is Covaxin which has an interval of 28 days between the two doses to complete the primary vaccination schedule, read the letter.

The health ministry suggested that a tailored communication strategy focused at an adolescent population and their caregivers should also be rolled out to make them aware about the timely completion of vaccination schedule and sustain their vaccine confidence. (ANI)