Month: March 2022

India recorded as many as 4,194 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours with a positivity rate of 0.52 per cent, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed on Friday.

With this increase in fresh infections, the country’s total tally moved up to 4,29,84,261 including 42,219 active cases. Active cases account for 0.10 per cent of the total cases.
The Union Ministry informed that as many as 255 COVID-19 fatalities pushed India’s death toll to 5,15,714. Of the fresh fatalities, 227 fatalities were reported in Kerala itself.

The ministry informed that as per the Kerala health bulletin, 24 deaths were reported on March 10 and added 203 pending COVID deaths to the official list.

Further, the recovery rate is currently at 98.70 per cent with 6,208 recoveries being reported in the last 24 hours. With this, the total recoveries increased to 4,24,26,328 in the country, as per the government data.

Of the 77.68 crore total tests conducted so far, a weekly positivity rate of 0.55 per cent was observed.

The government informed that about 179.72 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive.

On Thursday, India reported a daily positivity rate of 0.48 per cent with 4,184 new cases. (ANI)

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a monk-turned-politician, won his first-ever Assembly election by a margin of 1,03,390 from Gorakhpur Urban constituency, defeating Samajwadi Party candidate Subhawati Upendra Dutt Shukla, who secured 62,109 votes in the recently-concluded UP Assembly election.

Adityanath secured 1,65,499 votes in the elections. This is the first time that Adityanath has been elected as an MLA. Earlier, he had become the chief minister the first time after being elected as a Member of Legislative Council. When the BJP won the 2017 Assembly election, the party chose him as the chief minister.

After becoming the CM of the state, he kept 36 ministries under his direct control, including Home, Economics and Statistics, Sainik Welfare, Home Guard, Personnel and appointment, as well as Civil Defence.

Before being sworn as UP chief minister in 2017, he was Gorakhpur MP for five consecutive terms from 1998 to 2017. At 26, Adityanath was the youngest Lok Sabha MP. He is also the head priest of the Gorakhnath Math which is a Hindu temple in Gorakhpur.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always endorsed him by praising his work as UP chief minister. PM Modi coined a new slogan on “UP plus Yogi bahut hai upyogi” (UP plus Yogi is very useful). The Gorakhpur Sadar seat had also been a bastion of the BJP, which the party had never lost since 1967 since the days of the Jan Sangh.

Bucking the trend, Yogi Adityanath will be the first chief minister in the last 37 years to return to power after completing a full term in Uttar Pradesh. Adityanath is the first CM to return to power after Uttarakhand was carved out of Uttar Pradesh. Congress stalwart Narayan Dutt Tiwari, aka ND Tiwari, was the last chief minister of undivided Uttar Pradesh to secure consecutive terms in 1985, which makes Yogi Adityanath first chief minister in 37 years to retain power in Uttar Pradesh. (ANI)

Railway operations were disrupted for two hours after a bomb was found on the railway tracks near Guraru railway station in Gaya district of Bihar, said a police officer on Thursday.

“Railway operations were disrupted for two hours after a crude bomb was found on the railway track near Guraru railway station. It is within 100 meters range of the railway station,” said Manish Kumar, Additional Superintendents of Police, Gaya.

As it was a low-intensity bomb it was defused on the tracks only.

The Police officer also said, “Investigation is ongoing” when asked about culprits behind the bomb.

This bomb scare comes a day after Naxals allegedly set a poclain machine on fire in the Gaya district

“Naxals allegedly set a poclain machine on fire near Piparwar village in Gaya’s Dumaria block,” said Sub-Divisional Police Officer Ajit Kumar on Wednesday. (ANI)

Meta, the parent company of social networks Facebook and Instagram, is planning to allow the publication of calls for violence against Russians in response to the invasion of Ukraine, media reports said on Friday.

“As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine we have temporarily made allowances for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules like violent speech such as ‘death to the Russian invaders.’ We still won’t allow credible calls for violence against Russian civilians,” Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said in a statement.

The Sputnik news agency reported the US media giant is going to allow posts that call for death to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in a number of countries, including Russia, Ukraine and Poland.

This decision comes a few days after Russia blocked access to Facebook and other social media platforms, saying that it had discriminated against Russian media and information resources.

Media reports said that the Russian websites of BBC and Deutsche Welle, Twitter, and Apple and Google’s app stores were all blocked.

“In March 2022, a decision was made to block access to the Facebook network (owned by Meta Platforms, Inc.) in the Russian Federation,” the Russian media regulator statement had said.

Meta president Nick Clegg said the company was doing “everything we can to restore our services”.

Russia launched a “military operation” in Ukraine on February 24, which it claimed was a response to calls from the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk for protection against attacks by Ukrainian troops.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the special operation is targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure only and the civilian population is not in danger.

A number of countries including the US, Canada, and Australia have rolled out a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Russia, prompting many international businesses to leave the Russian market. (ANI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that the BJP’s impressive performance in assembly polls is a vindication of the party’s “pro-poor and pro-active governance”.

Addressing the party workers at the BJP headquarters here after the party’s record-breaking performance in assembly polls in four states, PM Modi said his government has ensured that the benefits of welfare schemes reach the poor.

“The results strongly vindicate BJP’s pro-poor and pro-active governance. Earlier, the people could not reach governments for basic amenities such as electricity, gas and water. Several announcements and schemes were made for the poor, but the benefits of such schemes never reached the poor who deserved and needed them seamlessly. BJP understands that good governance and delivery of such schemes is very important, and we work to ensure the same,” he said.

Lauding the performance of the party in the states, the Prime Minister said that it is the first time in 37 years that a party has come to power for two consecutive terms in Uttar Pradesh.BJP hit ‘boundary’ of victory, assembly poll results vindicatioBJP hit ‘boundary’ of victory, assembly poll results vindication of BJP’s proactive, pro-poor governance: PM Modi n of BJP’s proactive, pro-poor governance: PM Modi

He used cricket analogy to refer to the party’s victories in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur and said the party has “hit a boundary of victory”.

“The hard work of the workers has enabled the party to hit a boundary of victory. UP has given numerous Prime Ministers to the country. But this is the first instance of a chief minister being elected for the second time after a full term in office. There is an increase in the vote share in Uttar Pradesh, Manipur and Goa where we were in the government,” he said.

PM Modi also praised the party workers for their “hard work” during the election campaign and said that they have fulfilled their promise of beginning Holi celebrations on March 10.

“It is a day of energy and celebration for democracy. The way that the youth and women have voted for the BJP is a message in itself. The first time voters took part in voting and voted for the BJP. The BJP workers had promised me that Holi would begin from March 10 only. Our workers have fulfilled their promise by registering win,” PM Modi said.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah and party national president JP Nadda were also present. (ANI)

Arvind Kejriwal, who entered the political arena in 2012, has successfully hoisted Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) flag in Punjab with a record-breaking margin by winning 92 seats in the 117-member Assembly along with giving shocking defeats to several political heavyweights across the political spectrum.

Punjab Chief Minister-elect Bhagwant Mann has won from Sangrur district’s Dhuri assembly constituency by a margin of 58,206 votes over Congress’ Dalvir Singh Goldy. He announced that his oath-taking ceremony will be held at Khatkarkalan in Nawanshahr district, the ancestral village of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.

Kejriwal showcased 7 years of his good governance in Delhi as a testament to declaring himself as a national alternative to the ruling BJP and replacing Congress as the principal opposition party.

The incumbent Chief Minister and Congress leader Charanjit Singh Channi, who was contesting on two seats – Chamkaur Sahib and Bhadaur, faced defeat by the AAP candidates.

Channi got over 26,000 votes in the Bhadaur constituency. He lost to Aam Aadmi Party’s Labh Singh Ugoke who got over 63,000 votes. While in Chamkaur Sahib, Channi got 62,000 votes, while Aam Aadmi Party’s candidate who has a similar name – Charanjit Singh – got over 70,000 votes.

Former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, who quit Congress after months of infighting with state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu and floated his own party Punjab Lok Congress to fight polls, also lost his Patiala bastion to AAP’s Ajit Pal Singh Kohli. Amarinder bagged over 28,000 votes while Kohli won over 48,000 votes.

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) patron Prakash Singh Badal, who was the Chief Minister of Punjab on five occasions, lost to AAP’s Gurmeet Singh Khudian on the Lambi Assembly seat by a margin of 11,396 votes.

Badal held the Chief Ministerial position in Punjab five times from 1970-71, 1977-80, 1997-2002, 2007-12 and 2012-17.

SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal was also defeated by AAP’s Jagdeep Kamboj by a margin of 30,930 votes.

Amritsar (East) was witnessing a key battle where Congress’s Navjot Singh Sidhu, who was the sitting MLA from the Amritsar East seat, took on former state minister and senior SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia, who is the brother-in-law of SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on the other hand fielded a female candidate Jeevan Jyot Kaur from the seat.

AAP candidate Jeevan Jyot Kaur defeated Sidhu by a margin of 6,750 votes. She also defeated Majithia on the Amritsar East Assembly seat in Punjab.

AAP’s Jagroop Singh Gill won the Bathinda Urban seat by a margin of 63,581 by defeating SAD’s Manpreet Singh Badal, who is also the Punjab Finance Minister.

Punjabi Singer Sidhu Moose Wala, who joined the Congress in December last year, lost to AAP’s Dr Vijay Singla on Mansa seat by a margin of 63,323 votes.

Punjab Cabinet Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu was also defeated by AAP’s Gurpreet Bassi Gogi on Ludhiana West by a margin of 7,512 votes.

Punjab Minister Razia Sultana lost by a margin of 21,686 votes on the Malerkotla seat to AAP’s Mohammad Jamil Ur Rahman.

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Om Parkash Soni also faced defeat on the Amritsar Central seat by a margin of 14,026 votes to AAP’s Ajay Gupta.

AAP has bagged a historic win in Punjab Assembly polls by winning a three-fourth majority with 92 seats, the highest seats won by any party in over four decades.

It is AAP’s maiden victory in the state and a vast improvement from its performance in the 2017 elections when it had finished second behind Congress.

The ruling Congress managed to secure 18 seats in the 117-member Assembly while Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ended up with two. Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has bagged three seats and Bahujan Samaj Party has won only one.

Punjab witnessed a multi-cornered contest with key players being Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Shiromani Akali Dal-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance, and the coalition of Bharatiya Janata Party-former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s Punjab Lok Congress and SAD (Sanyukt) led by SS Dhindsa. (ANI)

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has secured a majority in Manipur Assembly elections reducing other parties to single digits and will now form the government in the state for the second consecutive term.

In the elections, the BJP went solo this time and contested all seats alone. It won 32 seats out of 60 in Manipur, Congress bagged five seats and the National People’s Party has won seven seats. Other parties including the Janata Dal (United) won six seats and the Naga People’s Front (5) The Kuki People’s Alliance (2) and Independents bagged three seats.

BJP secured 37.83 per cent vote share, Congress 16.83 per cent, National People’s Party 17.3 per cent, Janata Dal (United) 10.77 per cent, Naga People’s Front 8.1 per cent and the other parties bagged 7.53 per cent vote share.

Congress has formed an alliance of six political parties and named it Manipur Progressive Secular Alliance (MPSA). The coalition partners in MPSA include Congress, Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist), Forward Bloc, Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and Janata Dal (Secular).

Chief Minister N Biren Singh has won by a margin of 24,814 votes from the Heingang constituency, defeating Congress candidate Pangeijam Saratchandra Singh.

Prominent Congress leader Nameirakpam Loken Singh lost to BJP candidate T Basanta Kumar Singh from Nambol Constituency by a margin of 3060 votes. Nemcha Kipgen of BJP has won from Kangpokpi constituency by a margin of 5396 votes.

Congress leader Okram Ibobi Singh won by 15085 votes from the Thoubal constituency seat. He fought against BJP’s Leitanthem Basanta Singh.

PWD Minister Thongam Biswajit Singh won from Thongju constituency with 15338 votes; BJP’s Govindas Konthoujam Singh won from Bishenpur; Education Minister Sorokhaibam Rajen Singh from Lamshang lost to National People’s Party candidate Pukhrambam Sumati Devi, Agriculture Minister O Lukhoi secured Wangoi seat. National People’s Party candidate and deputy chief minister Y Joykumar Singh lost the Uripok seat.

After securing a win, the Manipur Chief Minister said that the Bharatiya Janata Party will take time to stake a claim to form a government, adding that central leaders of the party will decide the Chief Minister.

“We will take time to stake a claim to form a government, let the results be out. Our national leaders will decide on Chief Minister face, we will focus on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mantra of inclusive development,” Biren Singh said.

He further said that the BJP’s historic victory in Manipur is a testament to the people’s faith in the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and citizen-centric governance.

“Thank you, Manipur! The historic victory that we have achieved today is a testament of the people’s faith in the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and citizen-centric governance. My heartiest congratulations to all the Karyakartas of BJP,” tweeted Singh.

In 2017, the BJP stunned the Congress which ruled for 15 years in Manipur as it emerged as the second-largest party winning 21 seats in the 60-member state Assembly.

The National People’s Party (NPP) and Naga People’s Front (NPF) bagged four seats each while the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) managed to secure only one constituency. The BJP bagged 36.28 per cent vote share while Congress received 35.11 per cent of the total vote.

Later, the BJP stitched a coalition with the NPP, NPF, and LJP to form the government under the leadership of Biren Singh. (ANI)

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami suffered defeat in the Khatima Assembly seat in the state even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is heading towards the majority.

He was defeated by Congress candidate Bhuwan Chandra Kapri by a margin of 6,579 votes. Dhami got a total of 41,598 votes with a vote share of 44.8 per cent as against Kapri who got 48,177 with a huge vote share of 51.89 per cent.

However, according to the Election Commission trends at 6.45 pm, the BJP has won 32 seats and is leading on 15 seats while Congress has won 12 seats and is leading on 7 seats.

The BJP is on route to a comfortable position to form government in the state for two consecutive terms, as per the trends by the ECI.

Earlier this evening, as the BJP sustained a lead in the Uttarkhand Assembly elections, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Thursday expressed gratitude to the people for giving the party a ‘two-third’ majority and said that the BJP government would fulfil all the poll promises that the party made before the elections.

“We have promised Uniform Civil Code before the polls that our new government would implement it. We will form a high-level committee of the stakeholders after the swearing-in ceremony. The committee will prepare a draft which we will implement. Besides this, we will fulfil all other promises,” he said. (ANI)

With current trends of the Assembly election results showing that the Congress is faring badly in five states – Manipur, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Goa and Punjab, party leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said that he accepts the people’s verdict and will take lessons from it.

“Humbly accept the people’s verdict. Best wishes to those who have won the mandate. My gratitude to all Congress workers and volunteers for their hard work and dedication. We will learn from this and keep working for the interests of the people of India,” Gandhi tweeted.

Of the five states that went into Assembly polls, Congress was the incumbent government only in Punjab. Congress went into the polls, battling factionalism and anti-incumbency in the state.

The election results came as another jolt to Congress which could not retain Punjab or come to power in Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur where it was the main rival of the BJP.

According to election trends at 3 pm, BJP has won three seats and is leading on 243 seats in the 403-member Uttar Pradesh assembly. Samajwadi Party is leading on 120 seats, BSP on one seat and Congress on two. The Apna Dal (Soneylal), an ally of BJP, is leading on 11 seats and its other ally NISHAD party on seven seats.

Samajwadi Party’s ally RLD is leading on 10 seats and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party on 4 seats.

In Punjab, Aam Aadmi Party is on course to three-fourths majority having won 37 seats and is leading on 54 seats in 117 member assembly. Congress has won four seats and is leading on 15, SAD has won one seat and is leading on two seats, BJP has won one seat and is leading on one more and BSP is leading on one seat.

In the 70-member Uttarakhand assembly, where exit polls had predicted a tight race, BJP is leading on 48 seats, Congress has one seat and is leading on 17, BSP is leading on two seats and independents on two seats. No party has retained power in Uttarakhand since the creation of the hill state.

In Goa, where predictions were for a hung assembly, BJP has won eight seats and is leading on 12 seats, Congress has won four seats and is leading on seven, Goa Forward Party is leading on one seat and Aam Aadmi Party has won one seat and is leading on one seat. Independents have won two seats and are leading on one. Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party is leading on two seats and Revolutionary Goans is leading on one seat in the 40-member state assembly.

In Manipur, where trends are available for 46 of 60 seats, BJP has won 10 seats and is leading on 12 seats, Congress has won two seats and is leading on one seat, JD-U won three seats and is leading on three, National People’s Party won two seats and is leading on four, Kuki People’s Alliance is leading on one seat and Naga Peoples Front is leading on five seats. Independents won two seats and are leading on one seat. (ANI)