Month: February 2022

Among the many students from Bihar stranded in Ukraine, many reached their home state on Sunday.

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tarkishore Prasad, state Industries Minister Shahnawaz Hussain and state Water Resources Minister Sanjay Jha were present at the airport.

Students expressed their gratitude to the Centre and state governments for facilitating their return back home and told ANI about the ongoing situation in the war-hit Ukraine.

“The situation there is terrible. Civilians have picked up the weapons. Bomb blasts are happening at the civilian buildings. There is a lot of traffic on the border. We are happy that the Government of India is doing so much for us and we are back,” said a student to ANI.

Another student added, “It feels really great after being welcomed back in such a way. Jyotirao Scindia had come to receive us. They helped us a lot. Conditions are worse, missiles are being hit, bombs are being used. The situation is unpredictable there. Even some of our friends are in bunkers. We faced issues related to food. We were received from Romania airport. Both the Ukraine government and the Government of India deserve appreciation”

Bihar Deputy CM Tarkishore Prasad said that the government currently has a list of 273 students from the state stranded in Ukraine and the numbers can go up.

“Bihar government will bring them back on its expenses. Teams of Bihar Foundation and Bihar Bhawan in Mumbai and Delhi are working on the evacuation of students,” he added.

State Industries Minister Shehnawaz Hussain said to ANI that the Bihar and Centre governments are trying to bring the rest of the children back to their homes.

“We want to tell all the students that both governments are concerned about you. Prime Minister himself and Bihar Chief Minister are monitoring the situation,” he added.

Water Resources Minister Sanjay Jha said that the state government is coordinating with the Centre to bring students back home.

So far, a total of 469 Indian nationals have been evacuated from war-hit Ukraine, out of which 250 landed in Delhi on Sunday morning and 219 landed in Mumbai on Saturday evening.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday spoke with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and conveyed India’s deep concern for the safety and security of Indian citizens, including students, present in Ukraine.

He sought facilitation by Ukrainian authorities to expeditiously and safely evacuate Indian citizens.

As the situation in Ukraine continues to be tense, more and more people are migrating to Poland. About 100,000 people have entered Poland from Ukraine over the last several days, a media report said citing the country’s Deputy Minister of Interior and Administration Pawel Szefernaker said on Saturday. (ANI)

As many as 15 Telangana students, studying in Ukraine, arrived in Hyderabad on Sunday morning after they were evacuated and brought back to Delhi along with other students.

They were received by General Admn Dept Secretary, Shamshabad MLA T Prakash Goud and local corporator.
R Jagadishwar Reddy, DCP Shamshabad, said, “As per our info, the 2nd batch of students will be repatriated in Delhi.

rom there, Telangana-Andhra students will come to Hyderabad. All facilities provided to them to get back home, they are provided cab facility to reach home from the airport.”

“Indian Embassy was always supportive and used to send emails on what to do. Parents were worried and it was stressful while in Ukraine. The embassy took us to the Romanian border, passports were checked there & we entered Romania and were repatriated to India,” said a student.

The first flight from Romania carrying Indian students who had left the conflict situation in Ukraine reached Mumbai on Saturday as the efforts continued for the safe evacuation of Indians in the wake of Russia’s military action in Ukraine.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday spoke with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and conveyed India’s deep concern for the safety and security of Indian citizens, including students, present in Ukraine.

He sought facilitation by Ukrainian authorities to expeditiously and safely evacuate Indian citizens.

President Zelenskyy briefed the Prime Minister in detail about the ongoing conflict situation in Ukraine.

The second flight from Romania’s Bucharest carrying 250 Indian nationals who had left the conflict zone in Ukraine landed at Delhi airport during the wee hours of Sunday as the efforts continued for the safe evacuation of Indians in the wake of Russia’s military action in Ukraine.

Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and MoS MEA V Muraleedharan welcome the Indian nationals safely evacuated from Ukraine via Bucharest (Romania).

The first flight from Romania carrying 219 Indian students reached Mumbai on Saturday evening. (ANI)

Taliban have ordered the residents of Khost province in Afghanistan to remove the Afghan national flag (black, red, green) from the rooftops of their houses and their vehicles, local media reported.

The citizens of Khost province only have three days to remove flags, Khaama Press quoted Taliban provincial head, Muhammad Nabi Omari who added that though hanging the white flag of the Taliban is optional, the previous flag is no longer acceptable.

However, Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesperson had earlier said that the decision regarding the national flag or keeping the previous flag is yet not finalized.

Meanwhile, the Afghan people have been requesting the Taliban not to change the flag as it belongs to no leader and faction, the Afghan news agency reported.

The Taliban’s swift ascension to power in Afghanistan occurred in mid-August, triggering economic disarray and a dire humanitarian crisis in the country. (ANI)

With Holi and Shivratri festivals approaching, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged the people to support the ‘Vocal for Local’ campaign and buy locally made products.

Addressing the 86th episode of the monthly radio programme, ‘Mann Ki Baat’ today, PM Modi said, “Many festivals are lined up in the coming month of March. Shivratri is one of them. A few days later, we will all start preparing for Holi, which is a festival that unites us all.”

“My dear countrymen, many festivals are lined up in the coming month of March, beginning with Shivratri and later we will all start preparing for Holi. Holi is a festival that unites us all. In this festival, all differences between near-dear ones and strangers, big and small, rancour and envy disappear. That is why it is said that the colours of love and harmony are thicker than the colours of Holi. Along with Gujiya in Holi, there is a unique sweetness of relationships as well. We have to strengthen these bonds further, and relations are not only with the people of our family but also with the people who are part of your larger family,” he said.

The Prime Minister stated that by buying local products during festivals, the lives of the people living around us can become colourful and vibrant.

“This is the way of celebrating the festival through ‘Vocal for Local’. You should buy local products at festivals so that the lives of the people living around you also become colourful and vibrant. The success with which our country is fighting the battle against Corona and moving forward is imparting enthusiasm. With this very zeal, we have to celebrate our festivals, and at the same time, we have to maintain caution,” he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared his thoughts with the people in the country and abroad in the ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme on Sunday. It was the 86th episode of the monthly radio programme of the Prime Minister. (ANI)

The Special Task Force (STF) along with the Karanjia forest officials apprehended one person and seized two elephant tusks during a search operation on Saturday.

As per the details given by a senior official of STF, “On the basis of reliable information, a team of STF along with the Karanjia forest officials conducted a search along the road between the villages of Patung and Kalanda under Keonjhar district found two tusks illegally possessed by Ramakanta Pradhan.”

“During the search, two elephant tusks weighing 5.662 kg and other incriminating materials were recovered from Pradhan’s possession. He could not produce any authority in support of the possession of the tusks,” added the official.

The accused and the elephant tusks have been handed over to Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Karanjia for necessary legal action at their end, stated the STF official.

Since 2020 special drive against the wildlife criminals/poachers has been launched, the STF has seized as many as the skin of 25 leopards, 15 elephant tusks, the skin of 7 deer, 11 live pangolin, 19.5 kg of pangolin scales, 2 leopard teeth, 29 leopard claws, 46 live wild parrots and have arrested 59 wildlife criminals, told the senior official. (ANI)

Russian troops have reportedly entered Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv in the country amid fierce fighting.

A viral video on social media appears to show a number of Russian light military vehicles on the streets of the city, with some footage showing vehicles on fire.
Major General Igor Konashenkov, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, on Sunday said that Moscow’s armed forces blocked Kherson and Berdyansk, and established control over Henichesk and the Chernobaevka airfield near Kherson over the past day.

“Over the past day, the cities of Kherson and Berdyansk were completely blocked by the Russian armed forces. The city of Henichesk and the Chernobaevka airfield near Kherson were also taken under control,” Konashenkov said, according to Sputnik News Agency.

Meanwhile, there are also reports of explosions in Ukraine.

The spokesman also noted that over the past 24 hours, troops of the Luhansk People’s Republic, with fire support from the Russian military, carried out operations and established control over the settlements of Novookhtyrka, Smolyaninovo, Stanychno-Luhanskoye.

Konashenkov stressed that the depth of advancement of the Russian armed forces reached 52 kilometres (32 miles) since the beginning of the military operations in Ukraine, Sputnik reported.

The spokesperson further said that the Russian armed forces have destroyed 975 objects of the military infrastructure of Ukraine since the beginning of the aggression.

“To date, the Russian armed forces have struck 975 military infrastructure facilities in Ukraine,” Konashenkov said, Sputnik reported.

Notably, in the early hours on Thursday, Russia launched a special military operation after the recognition of Donetsk and Luhansk.

The Western countries have strongly condemned the Russian military operations and imposed severe sanctions on Moscow. (ANI)

Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Sunday extended a warm welcome to 250 Indian students after their safe return from the war-hit Ukraine via Romania’s Bucharest and said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in touch with Ukrainian President.

The second evacuation flight from the Romanian capital Bucharest carrying 250 Indian nationals who were stranded in Ukraine landed at the Delhi airport in the early hours of Sunday.

Scindia and MoS MEA V Muraleedharan welcomed the Indian nationals with flowers upon their arrival from Ukraine via Bucharest.

“Every single citizen is back home in India. Please send this message to all your friends and colleagues that we are with them and will guarantee them their safe return. PM Modi is in touch with the Ukrainian and Russian President, conservations are on to ensure that everyone is brought home safely,” Scindia said while interacting with Indian nationals at Delhi airport.

The Minister further said, “I am whole-heartedly thankful to Air India for your safe return to India. Jai Hind!.”

Students are in panic but the situation was much better where we were staying (near the Romania border) in comparison to other areas of Ukraine, says a student who returned from Ukraine.

The captain of the flight said that the decision to bring Indian students back to the country was taken on shorter notice but it was a well-coordinated effort by airlines, government agencies and individuals involved in the task.

“It was a very unfortunate incident that took place between Ukraine and Russia. We were pulled out for this flight last night but it was a well-coordinated effort by the airlines and government agencies and all individuals. Around 250 people were moved to Romania by local authorities of Ukraine. Interestingly, more than 200 kids were between the age group of 20 and 25 years old,” he said.

“We are glad that we could complete this process on time. I would be happy to go again,” he added.

Rajni Paul, the Cabin crew in charge expressed her gratitude to the Indian government for undertaking the efforts for the safe return of stranded nationals in war-hit Ukraine.

“We’re proud to be a part of the operation to fly home Indians. Some students walked 9-10 km carrying their luggage to reach the pickup point. Thanks to the Indian government (that they reached home country safely),” Paul added.

The first flight from Romania carrying 219 Indian students reached Mumbai on Saturday evening.

The third flight to Delhi with 240 Indian nationals has also taken off from Hungary’s Budapest under Operation Ganga, informed Minister of External Affairs, Dr S Jaishankar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday spoke with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and conveyed India’s deep concern for the safety and security of Indian citizens, including students, present in Ukraine.

He sought facilitation by Ukrainian authorities to expeditiously and safely evacuate Indian citizens.

As the situation in Ukraine continues to be tense, more and more people are migrating to Poland. About 100,000 people have entered Poland from Ukraine over the last several days, a media report said citing the country’s Deputy Minister of Interior and Administration Pawel Szefernaker said on Saturday. (ANI)

A special evacuation flight of Air India carrying 250 Indians landed at the Delhi airport in the early hours of Sunday. Air India’s AI-1942 has been operated as a special charter flight from Bucharest to Delhi Airport.

Aircraft Pilot-in-Command Captain Achint Bhardwaj spoke exclusively to ANI after landing at Delhi Airport and said that all Air Traffic Controls (ATCs), including that of Pakistan, extended support during the evacuation mission.

“Interesting that we have good support from all the ATCs network till the Romanian and back to Delhi, via Tehran even the Pakistan, Pakistan has also given a direct route to us without asking due to direct route we saved the time too,” Anchit Bhardwaj, Air India pilot told ANI.

Over two dozen of crew members was on board of Air India special aircraft. Five pilots, 14 cabin crew, three aircraft engineers and two security personnel were deployed for the special flight to Romania.

“It was a well-coordinated effort. It was special for us to airlift them (Indian students) back into their home country. We are glad to complete this process on time,” said Captain Anchit Bhardwaj on being asked about the challenges he faced.

“We don’t fly on the Romania route but usually overfly Romania for Europe but it was well coordinated with ATC and Government,” AI Captain said.

Unions Minister for civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and MoS MEA V Muraleedharan welcome the Indian nationals safely evacuated from Ukraine via Bucharest (Romania) at Delhi airport.

According to a viral video, Anchit Bhardwaj, who made headlines around the world after landing the aircraft in the midst of a storm in London, is the one who got the plane to land safely in London.

The first flight from Romania carrying 219 Indian students reached Mumbai on Saturday evening.

The third flight to Delhi with 240 Indian nationals has also taken off from Hungary’s Budapest under Operation Ganga, informed Minister of External Affairs, Dr S Jaishankar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday spoke with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and conveyed India’s deep concern for the safety and security of Indian citizens, including students, present in Ukraine.

He sought facilitation by Ukrainian authorities to expeditiously and safely evacuate Indian citizens. (ANI)

Under Operation Ganga, the second flight from Bucharest has taken off for Delhi carrying 250 Indian nationals, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar said on Saturday.

“#OperationGanga continues. The second flight from Bucharest has taken off for Delhi with 250 Indian nationals,” the foreign minister tweeted.

The second flight is expected to reach on Sunday morning, according to the Minister of External Affairs.

“Embassy of India, Kyiv, has started the evacuation of stranded Indian Nationals from Ukraine. The Flight from Budapest to New Delhi carrying stranded Indian Nationals from Ukraine is expected to arrive at IGI Airport, New Delhi at 7:45 am on February 27, 2022,” MEA statement read.

It said that flight number: AI 1940 is expected to depart from Budapest today at 20:45 hrs. (Local Time) and is expected to arrive at 7:45 hrs IST Delhi tomorrow.

A total of five students from Karnataka are arriving on this flight.

“The State Government has opened facilitation centre at IGI Airport, New Delhi, to coordinate and support stranded students arriving at IGI Airport hailing from Karnataka,” the MEA informed.

The first evacuation flight of Air India, AIC 1944 touched down at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai at 7.50 pm. The aircraft, which had taken off from the Henri Coanda International Airport, Bucharest, Romania this afternoon, brought home 219 passengers, mostly students from India.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal welcomed the first batch of Indian students evacuated from Ukraine at Mumbai airport.

Amid the ongoing Ukraine-Russia crisis, the Indian Embassy in Kyiv has advised Indian citizens against moving to any of the border checkpoints without prior coordination with government officials at border posts. (ANI)

Eastern Uttar Pradesh is all set to tinge its political chrome as the countdown has begun for the fifth phase of state Assembly polls scheduled on Sunday.

A total of 61 Assembly constituencies spread across 12 districts including Ayodhya, Sultanpur, Chitrakoot, Pratapgarh, Kaushambi, Prayagraj, Barabaki, Bahraich, Shrawasti, Gonda, Amethi and Raebareli are going to polls on Sunday. The polling will begin at 7 am and continue till 6 pm.

As many as 692 candidates are in the fray in the fifth phase whose political fate will be decided by around 2.24 crore electorates.

The state is witnessing a multi-cornered contest with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Samajwadi Party (SP), Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) as prime contenders.

In 2017, BJP had won 38 seats out of 55 seats in this region, while the SP had retained 15 and the Congress had won two seats.

When it comes to key issues, job losses among migrant labourers, lack of infrastructure, unemployment and most-importantly stray cattle menace hound the ruling BJP that might lead to a jerky ride for the party in this phase. Further, some sort of anti-incumbency factor exists that might reflect on the ballot box.

However, BJP is banking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s charismatic image, double-engine rhetoric, free ration during the COVID pandemic and PM Awas Yojana.

On the other hand, Akhilesh Yadav-led SP is eying on youth electorates besides its traditional game of consolidation of Yadav and Muslim vote bank. Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM which is also in the fray may prove to be a spoiler in SP’s social engineering when it comes to Muslim voters. BSP supremo Mayawati who appeared to be on relatively backfoot in terms of aggressive campaigning is relying on its core Dalit vote bank.

With Priyanka Gandhi Vadra steering Congress’ power-packed campaigns, the party is also relying on this region for a good share of seats. The party believes Priyanka Gandhi’s “Ladki hoon lad sakti hoon” campaign will mobilize women voters that might bring some good fortune.

Now, the constituency that garnered most of the limelight in this phase is Ayodhya, the reason being the construction of the Ram Mandir.

It is imperative to mention that Ayodhya will see its first big election after the 2019 Supreme Court verdict on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case. Ayodhya (earlier Faizabad) district has been the bastion of the BJP since 1991 after the Ram Janmabhoomi movement started in the 1980s.

With the development of the temple town and the sentiments of Hindu voters regarding “Ram”, BJP finds itself in a relatively comfortable position in this region than its contenders, especially the Samajwadi Party.

SP has fielded Brahmin face Tej Narayan Pandey against BJP’s sitting MLA Ved Prakash Gupta. Worth mentioning, Pandey won from the seat in the 2012 Assembly polls.

Thanks to Ram Mandir, the UP polls this time added a new aspect of temple politics. Political leaders across party lines, be it SP chief Akhilesh Yadav or Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi have not missed the chance for customary visits to temples. This can be seen as an effort to dent BJP’s vote bank.

Another most-talked about seat in this phase is Amethi which once used to be the bastion of the Congress Party.

Notably, in the last Assembly elections in 2017, the seat was bagged by the BJP. BJP’s Garima Singh defeated Samajwadi Party’s (SP) Gayatri Prasad with a margin of more than 5,000 votes in the last elections. However, the ruling party in the state denied the ticket to Garima Singh this time and fielded her husband Sanjay Sinh.

SP has fielded Prajapati’s wife Maharaji Prajapati after the SP leader was imprisoned in a gang-rape case in November last year. Congress nominated BJP turncoat Ashish Shukla against Sanjay Sinh who is also a former Congress MP and had given up his Rajya Sabha seat to join BJP in 2019.

Ashish Shukla had served as a minister during the Bahujan Samaj Party’s government. Later he tried his luck with BJP before settling for Congress. BSP supremo nominated Ragini Tiwari whereas the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) pitted Anurag from the Amethi Assembly seat.

One of the prominent candidates in this phase includes Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Aradhana Mishra who is fighting from Rampur Khas seat of Pratapgarh. Further, Raghuraj Pratap Singh, more popularly known as Raja Bhaiya, is contesting from Kunda.

Several ministers are in the fray in the fifth phase. Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya is contesting from Sirathu assembly seat in the Kaushambi district. Siddharth Nath Singh from Allahabad West, Nand Gopal Gupta Nadi from Allahabad South, Ramapati Shastri from Mankapur and Rajendra Singh alias Moti Singh from Patti (Pratapgarh).

Polling for four phases of the seven-phased Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections has already concluded. The fifth phase, which is scheduled on February 27, will majorly cover the eastern region.

The remaining two phases will take place on March 3 and March 6. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI)