Month: March 2022

Jr NTR is overjoyed with the massive success of ‘RRR’, being showered with appreciation from audiences and proving to be a blockbuster at the box office.

On Tuesday, the co-lead who plays Komaram Bheem in the hit film, penned a special message, thanking everyone who made ‘RRR’ possible.

He began, “All of you heaped praises on ‘RRR’ and showered us with love since the film’s release. I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who made ‘RRR’, a landmark film in my career, possible.”

Thanking director SS Rajamouli, he wrote, “Thank you Jakkanna for inspiring me to give my best. You truly brought out the best in me and made me feel like water, versatile. You pished me as an actor and made me mould into my character and all his layers with great ease and conviction.”

For Ram Charan, he shared that his own role would have been incomplete without him.

“Charan, my brother, I can’t imagine acting in RRR without you. No one else could have done justice to the role of Alluri Sitarama Raju. Not only RRR, but Bheem would have been incomplete without you. Thank you for being the fire to my water,” he continued.

Mentioning Ajay Devgn, he expressed, “It was an honour to work with the legendary Ajay Sir and I will greatly cherish this memory forever.”

Next, he showered appreciation for Alia Bhatt.

He wrote, “Alia, you’re a powerhouse of an actor and have added incredible strength to the film with your presence. Keep soaring.”

The note continued which he signed off by thanking his audience for their unconditional love and support.

“Last but not least, I would like to thank my fans from the bottom of my heart. Your unconditional love and support fueled me to give my best even in the most challenging times of Covid-19. I promise to entertain you all with many more films,” he concluded.

In just three days of its release, ‘RRR’ crossed Rs 500 crore worldwide gross box office collection.

The magnum opus also became India’s biggest-ever opener with Rs 223 crore worldwide, after overtaking ‘Baahubali 2’, which had made Rs 217 crore worldwide on its opening day.

Set in pre-independence India, ‘RRR’ is a fictional take on the younger days of celebrated freedom fighters, Komaram Bheem and Alluri Seetharama Raju, portrayed by Jr. NTR and Ram Charan.

The movie also features Samuthirakani, Olivia Morris, Alison Doody, and Ray Stevenson. (ANI)

Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Tuesday informed the Lok Sabha that 34 persons from outside Jammu and Kashmir have bought properties in the Union Territory (UT) after the abrogation of Article 370 from the erstwhile state.

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai shared the details in a written reply to a query of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Hazi Fazlur Rehman.

Asked whether the Minister of Home Affairs be pleased to state “the number of people from outside Jammu and Kashmir who have bought a property in this UT after the abrogation of Article 370, the Minister said. “As per the information provided by the government of Jammu and Kashmir, 34 persons from outside the Jammu and Kashmir have bought properties in UT of J-K after the abrogation of Article 370.”

“The properties are located in Jammu, Reasi, Udhampur and Ganderbal districts,” said the Minister.

Before August 5, 2019, when Article 370 was not abrogated from Jammu and Kashmir, the erstwhile state had special status and only permanent residents were able to purchase land and properties there.

The central government had abrogated Article 370 on August 5, 2019 and bifurcated the state into two Union Territories– Jammu and Kashmir with an Assembly and Ladakh without one.

After the abrogation of Article 370, the Union government changed the laws for procurement of land and properties in the Union Territories of J-K and Ladakh and new land procurement laws were formed thereafter. (ANI)

The visit of Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to India has been postponed and will be rescheduled, Muhamed Heib, spokesperson of the Israel Embassy in India said on Tuesday.

On Monday, it was reported that Naftali Bennett had tested positive for COVID-19. Israel had earlier announced Bennett’s first India visit after assuming office as Prime Minister last year.

Bennett was scheduled to visit India during April 3-5, on the occasion of the commemoration of 30 years of diplomatic relations between India and Israel, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had said in an official statement.

Bennett had planned to visit India from April 3-5 at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had said in the official statement.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart had earlier met on the sidelines of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26) in Glasgow in November last year. They also had a telephonic conversation on August 16, 2021.

India and Israel elevated their bilateral relationship to a strategic partnership during the visit of Prime Minister Modi to Israel in July 2017.

Since then, the two countries have continued to deepen their strategic partnership, with a focus on innovation and research, read the statement.

“The visit by the Prime Minister of Israel is expected to further strengthen our excellent bilateral cooperation in diverse areas, including agriculture, water, trade, education and science and technology,” the statement had said.

Israel is experiencing a modest increase in COVID-19 infections as an omicron spreads there as in many other countries. Bennett and nearly half of Israel have received three vaccinations, according to the Washington Post. (ANI)

Assam and Meghalaya governments are set to sign an agreement here in the national capital on Tuesday evening to resolve their 50-year-old pending boundary difference.

Officials in the Ministry of Home Affairs told ANI that the agreement will be signed by the Chief Ministers of Assam and Meghalaya in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah at around 3.30 pm in the office of the MHA.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Meghalaya counterpart Meghalaya Conrad K Sangma would sign the agreement in the presence of chief secretaries of both the states as well as other officials of these states and the officials of MHA.

There is an indication of a final round of discussion with the MHA before the actual Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed between Assam and Meghalaya.

A draft resolution was submitted by the Chief Ministers of Assam and Meghalaya to the Union Home Minister Amit Shah on January 31 for examination and consideration by the MHA. The governments of Assam and Meghalaya had come up with a draft resolution to resolve their border disputes in six of the 12 “areas of difference” along the 884-km boundary.

According to the proposed recommendations for the 36.79 square km of land, Assam will keep 18.51 square km and give the remaining 18.28 square km to Meghalaya.

The final agreement between Assam and Meghalaya is significant as the boundary dispute between the two states has been pending for a very long time.

The long-standing land dispute was sparked in 1972 when Meghalaya was carved out of Assam. The border issues came about as a result of different readings of the demarcation of boundaries in the initial agreement for the new state’s creation. (ANI)

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Ramesh Tawadkar has been elected as the Speaker of the Goa assembly on Tuesday.

In the election for Assembly Speaker, Tawadkar won by getting 24 votes against Congress’s Nuvem MLA Aleixo Sequeira who could secure only 15 votes.

Yesterday, Pramod Sawant took oath as the Goa Chief Minister for the second consecutive term at Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium.

Sawant has assured that the newly-formed government will work for the development with a primary focus on providing employment opportunities in the coastal state.

Sawant also assured that the party will work for boosting the tourism sector in the state and will also resume mining activities, which would automatically lead to an increase in jobs for youth.

The CM also exuded his confidence in the ruling party of Goa by saying that the BJP will give a “stable and able” government to Goa under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

After CM Pramod Sawant, Vishwajeet Rane, Mauvin Godinho, Ravi Naik, Nilesh Cabral, Subhash Shirodkar, Rohan Khaunte, Atanasio Monserrate, and Govind Gaude also took oath as cabinet ministers on Monday.

BJP emerged as the single largest party in Goa, winning 20 seats in the 40-member state Assembly and reducing Congress to 11 seats. It fell one seat short of the majority figure in Goa but is set to retain power in the state with the help of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and independent candidates. (ANI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday reiterated the Bharatiya Janata Party’s commitment to empowering women and said that under the PM Awas Yojana, women also have ownership rights to two crore houses.

During a virtual address at the ‘Grih Pravesham’ of about 5.21 lakh beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin in Madhya Pradesh, PM Modi said, “Women too have the ownership rights of around two crore houses built under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.”

“This right has strengthened the participation of women in making other financial decisions in the household. This is a matter of case study in big universities across the world,” he added.

The Prime Minister also said that to solve the problems faced by women, the Centre has taken the initiative to provide water to every household.

“Be it the BJP government in the Centre, or BJP government in the states, walking with the mantra of ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’ all of them are working to empower the poor,” PM Modi said.

Talking of Centre’s ‘Har Ghar Jal Yojna’, PM Modi said that over six crore families across India have been supplied clean drinking water.

“We are very close to supplying water through a pipeline to 50 lakh rural families in Madhya Pradesh in comparison to 13 lakh families before,” he added.

Taking a sweep at Congress, PM Modi said that some political parties raised a lot of slogans to eliminate poverty but did not do enough to empower the poor.

“I believe when the poor get empowered, it gives them the courage to fight poverty. When efforts of an honest government come together with that of an empowered poor, poverty loses,” he said. (ANI)

Two persons were arrested with 600 grams of Brown sugar worth Rs 1 crore 10 lakh (1,10,00,000) at Old Matigara Road, Siliguri on Monday. A Joint police team of the Special Operations Group (SOG) in Siliguri arrested them.

“After complying with the procedures laid down under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 600g of Brown Sugar in two plastic pouches (300g in each pouch) was recovered from the possession of the accused,” said CP Gaurav Sharma, Old Matigara Road.

“Acting on a specific tip, the SOG led by the Siliguri Metropolitan Police (SPC) and Matigara Police Station apprehended the accused Md Based and Sk Abbu Kasem,” he added.

The investigation against the accused has been started at Matigara Police Station, from where they will be presented before the Ld court on Tuesday.

Further investigation into the matter is underway. (ANI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with Bharatiya Janata Party top brass on Tuesday arrived at Ambedkar International Centre in the national capital for the BJP Parliamentary party meeting.

The BJP president JP Nadda, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are also present at the meeting today.
The agenda of the meeting is not yet ascertained.

Earlier, the BJP leaders held a meeting to analyse the results of the Assembly elections that will have an impact on the presidential polls later this year and are also significant in terms of the party’s preparations for the next Lok Sabha elections.

Senior leaders from the four states where the BJP won were in the national capital holding discussions with the party’s Central leaders, including Home Minister Amit Shah and party chief JP Nadda and party general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh.

Sources told ANI that apart from government formation, the party is also carrying out an analysis of poll results, with focus on seats won and lost by the party and the underlying reasons and factors.

The BJP won Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa Assembly elections. It was for the first time in over 35 years that a party came back to power in the electorally-crucial Uttar Pradesh. (ANI)

Fuel prices continue to rise, with prices of petrol and diesel on Tuesday further hiked by 80 paise and 70 paise per litre respectively, becoming dearer by almost Rs 5 a litre after seven revision in rates in eight days.

For the seventh time in over a week, the prices of petrol and diesel on Tuesday witnessed a hike on Tuesday, with petrol now costing over Rs 100 a litre in the national capital.

With a hike of 80 paise in petrol and 70 paise in diesel today, the total increase in fuel price is nearly Rs 5 after a week of revision.

In Delhi, petrol will cost Rs 100.21 per litre today, while diesel would cost Rs 91.47 per litre.

As for Mumbai, with an increase of 85 paise and 75 paise in petrol and diesel prices, they now cost Rs 115.04 and Rs 99.25 per litre respectively.

In Chennai, the price of petrol is Rs 105.94, increased by 76 paise, and diesel is Rs 96, increased by 67 paise. While in Kolkata, the price of petrol is Rs 109.68, increased by 83 paise, and diesel is Rs 94.62, increased by 70 paise.

There had been a pause in the revision of fuel prices since November 4 last year, which was broken on March 22 following the crude oil going upwards in the wake of the Russian military operations in Ukraine.

Prices are set to be raised further given the sharp jump in crude oil prices in the international markets. It will have a cascading impact on the prices of other items and lead to inflationary pressure and hurt growth. It will have a cascading effect on the prices of other items.

Meanwhile, Congress has decided to launch a nationwide programme ‘Mehngai Mukt Bharat Abhiyan’ against price rises under which it will organise rallies and marches across the country from March 31 to April 7.

The Rajya Sabha also saw adjournments on Monday as the opposition created a ruckus over rising prices of petroleum products as well as the general strike by the trade union in India.

Notably, on November 3 last year the Centre had cut excise duty by Rs 5 per litre on petrol and Rs 10 per litre on diesel to bring down the retail prices across the country.

Following this, several state governments had reduced Value-Added Tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel to provide relief to people. (ANI)