Month: July 2022

The Central government on Friday said it has no proposal to constitute a Birsa Munda regiment in the Indian Army.

The information was given by Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt in a written reply in the Lok Sabha to a question on whether the government proposes to form a Birsa Munda regiment in the Indian Army keeping in view the sacrifices made by the people of Jharkhand in the army.
“No such proposal is under consideration. Recruitment to the Indian Army is based on domicile and merit. As per government policy on the subject, all citizens irrespective of their class, creed, region or religion are eligible for recruitment in the Indian Army. After Independence, it has been the policy of the Government not to raise any new Regiment for a particular class/community/religion or region. Adequate vacancies are being provided to all classes to ensure equitable opportunity for recruitment into the Army,” said the Ministry of Defence.

Further, to the question of whether the government proposes to raise a regiment in the army by the name of Assam Regiment on the lines of Jat regiment, Rajputana Regiment etc, the Defence Ministry said, “Assam Regiment is already part of Indian Army since independence (Raised on 15 June, 1941).”

The Monsoon Session of Parliament commenced on July 18 and will continue till August 12. There will be 18 sittings during the Session. (ANI)

Ajay Devgn and Suriya shared the best actor award at the 68th National Film Awards announced here.

The best actor in female category was won by Aparna Balamurali for ‘Soorarai Pottru.’
Ajay Devgn won the award for his role in ‘Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior’ and Suriya won it for ‘Soorarai Pottru.’

This is the third time Ajay Ajay Devgn has won this award.

Tanahji was released in January 2020 and quickly grabbed the hearts of audiences in India and around the world.

‘Soorarai Pottru’ is a dramatized portrayal of retired Army Captain GR Gopinath’s life as the founder of the low-cost airline Air Deccan. Despite having a straight OTT release, the film was a big success, with fans flooding Twitter with rave reviews. Suriya and Guneet Monga both co-produced the film.

Madhya Pradesh bagged the award for Most Film-Friendly State at the National Film Awards.

Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh bagged Most Film-Friendly (Special mention) Award.

“Most film-friendly (special mention) award goes to Uttarakhand and UP. Most film-friendly film state goes to Madhya Pradesh,” Neerja Sekhar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said.

Madhya Pradesh has received the award earlier also.

A 10-member jury led by director-producer Vipul Shah met Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Friday morning to submit its report on the 68th National Film Awards.

This year, there are 50 categories with over 300 feature films and 150 non-feature films competing for the prizes. There are 30 different languages in the movies.

Apart from chairperson Shah, the jury members included cinematographer Dharam Gulati, National award-winning fame Bengali actor Sreelekha Mukherjee, cinematographer GS Bhaskar, A Karthikraaja, VN Aditya, Viji Thampi, Sanjeev Rattan, S Thangadurai and Nishigandha.

Producer-director Vipul Shah told ANI, “It has been heartening to see the kind of response that was received and the number of films that we got to see. And these were very difficult COVID times during which these films were either made or being made.”

Chitrartha Singh who headed the non-feature jury stated, “We have been able to review close to 140 non-feature films including documentaries and it is amazing to see the kind of content that has come forth, especially from areas like the north-east.”

Journalist Anant Vijay chaired the Best Writing on Cinema category. (ANI)

Indian Railways suffered a loss of Rs 259.44 crores due to damage and destruction of its assets in agitations against the Agnipath Scheme, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told the Rajya Sabha on Friday.

Giving a written reply to a series of questions asked by Congress leader Akhilesh Prasad Singh, the Minister further said, “a separate data regarding the amount of refund granted to passengers due to disruption of rail services on account of public disorder consequent to agitation like those held after launching of Agneepath scheme is not maintained”.
However, Vaishnaw said, during the period from “June 14, 2022 to June 30, 2022, a total refund of approximately Rs 102.96 crores was granted on account of cancellation of trains”.

The Minister’s reply came when the Congress MP asked, “Whether it is a fact that an extensive loss of the railway property has taken place on account of the agitations against the implementation of the Agnipath scheme”.

The Minister also said that police and public order are state subjects under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India.

Therefore, Vaishnaw said, state governments are responsible for the prevention, detection, registration and investigation of crime and maintenance of law and order on Railways through their law enforcement agencies viz. Government Railway Police (GRP) and District Police. Railway Protection Force (RPF) supplements the efforts of GRP/District Police to provide better protection and security to railway property, passenger area and passengers and for matters connected therewith.

“Cases of damage, destruction of government property including railway property are registered and investigated by the concerned GRP and State Police under IPC and Railways Act.”

Trains went up in flames, and public and private vehicles were attacked, while railway stations and highways turned into battlegrounds in many states amid burgeoning protests against Agnipath, the defence recruitment scheme.

Unveiling the ‘Agnipath’ scheme, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh last month said that it was a transformative initiative that would provide a youthful profile to the armed forces.

‘Agnipath’ is a pan India merit-based recruitment scheme for enrolling soldiers, airmen and sailors. The scheme provides an opportunity for youth to serve in the regular cadre of the armed forces. All those recruited under the ‘Agnipath’ scheme will be called ‘Agniveers’.

‘Agniveers’ will be enrolled for a service duration of 4 years including a training period. After four years, only 25 per cent of the Agniveers will be retained or re-enlisted in the regular cadre based on merit, willingness and medical fitness.

They will then serve for a full term of another 15 years.

The first four years, served under a contract, are not likely to be taken into consideration for the fixation of the final pensionary benefits.

The other 75 per cent ‘Agniveers’ will be demobilized, with an exit or “Seva Nidhi” package of Rs 11-12 lakh, partly funded by their monthly contributions, as well as skill certificates and bank loans for help in their second careers. (ANI)

Acting upon the clarion call of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “Rebranding the Indian toy story”, India’s imports reduced from USD371 million in 2018-19 to USD110 million in 2021-22, witnessing a decline of 70.35 per cent.

In a big boost, Indian toy exports jumped by 61.38 per cent during the same period.
The change was visible at a recently held 13th Toy Biz International B2B Exhibition in New Delhi.

In India, where over 158 million children are in the age group of 0-6, there is a huge market for the toy industry (as of the Census 2011).

India used to import a large percentage of toys until August 2020, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the clarion call.

He emphasized the need for the right kind of toys for children, using toys as a learning resource, and designing toys based on the Indian value system, Indian history, and culture in order to strengthen domestic design and position India as a global manufacturing hub for toys.

The government devised a comprehensive action plan to boost local manufacturing and make India the global toy hub by incentivising the manufacturers. Establishing toy clusters across the country followed… R&D infrastructure for toys and games was strengthened. Subjects like Maths, Science and History were integrated into toy product development and production.

Sharad Kapoor, General Secretary of Toy Association of India said, “The Toy fair was first organised in 2009 where 116 stalls were put up in which 90 per cent of the stalls were of imported toys. This year, 96 stalls are put up and 100 per cent of them are selling Made in India’ toys. The Toy Industry, in reality, has acknowledged the Prime Minister’s call for “Rebranding the Indian toy story”.

As per the National Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency, the Indian toy industry is estimated to be valued at approximately 1.5 billion USD making up 0.5 per cent of the global market share.

The sector is fragmented, however, with 90 per cent of the market lacking organization and 4,000 toy industry units from the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises sectors.

Observers say that the Indian toy industry has the potential to grow to 2-3 billion USD by 2024. The industry leaders are optimistic about the growth and are looking forward to making India the global export hub of toys.

Amitabh Kharbanda, Executive Director of Sunlord Toys said, “Because of the QCO, the Indian Industry has realized that they can do a lot more products than they thought they were even capable of. And in the future, I think they are going to grow much more than this”.

A huge investment potential lies in India’s toy industry, as the sector becomes increasingly organized.

As the domestic toy demand is forecasted to grow at 10-15 per cent against the global average of 5 per cent, the industry is expected to grow further in the future. (ANI)

Dinesh Gunawardena was sworn in as the prime minister of Sri Lanka by President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday along with 17 other cabinet ministers.

Gunawardena, parliamentarian of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party, took his oath in the capital Colombo in the presence of other senior legislators.
Along with Prime Ministership, Gunawardena has additional charge of Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Council, and Local Government.

Other ministers included: Douglas Devananda (Fisheries), Susil Premajayantha (Education), Bandula Gunawardena (Transport & Highways, and Media), Keheliya Rambukwella (Health and Water Supply), Mahinda Amaraweera (Agriculture, Wildlife, and Forest Conservations), Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe (Justice, Prisons, and Constitutional Reforms), Harin Fernando (Tourism and Lands), Ramesh Pathirana (Plantations and Industries), Prasanna Ranatunga (Urban Development and Housing), and Ali Sabry (External Affairs).

Vidura Wickramanayake (Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs), Kanchana Wijesekera (Power and Energy), Naseer Ahamed (Environment), Roshan Ranasinghe (Sports and Youth Affairs, and Irrigation), Manusha Nanayakkara (Labour and Foreign Employment), Tiran Alles (Public Security) and Nalin Fernando (Trade, Commerce and Food Security) are the other ministers to be sworn in.

Wickremesinghe was elected as the new president of the island nation in a parliamentary vote on Wednesday and was sworn in as Sri Lankan president on Thursday.

During Wednesday’s vote, Wickremesinghe received 134 votes following the resignation of Gotabaya Rajapaksa from the presidency last week amid severe economic turmoil in the country.

After his official residence in Colombo was stormed by tens of thousands of angry protesters last week, Sri Lanka’s ex-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country to the Maldives before flying out to Singapore. Rajapaksa had offered his resignation after fleeing the country.

Sri Lanka’s economy is bracing for a sharp contraction due to the unavailability of basic inputs for production, an 80 per cent depreciation of the currency since March 2022, coupled with a lack of foreign reserves and the country’s failure to meet its international debt obligations.

As Sri Lanka scrambles to get back on track after the election of a new President, the people in the country — who are facing severe economic hardship — are still uncertain about the future. (ANI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday congratulated all the students who have passed the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class 12 exams and urged them to follow their inner calling and pursue subjects they are passionate about.

In a series of tweets, PM Modi hailed students and said they prepared for these exams during a time when humanity faced a monumental challenge and achieved this success.
“Congratulations to all my young friends who passed the CBSE Class XII exams. The grit and dedication of these youngsters is commendable. They prepared for these exams through a time when humanity faced a monumental challenge and achieved this success,” he said.

The Prime Minister further said there are innumerable opportunities that await the young exam warriors, who passed the Class 12 exams.

“There are innumerable opportunities that await our young Exam Warriors, who passed the CBSE Class XII exams. I urge them to follow their inner calling and pursue subjects they are passionate about. My best wishes for their future endeavours,” the PM said.

He also said that some students may not be happy with their results but they must know that one exam will never define who they are.

“Some students may not be happy with their results but they must know that one exam will never define who they are. I am certain they will find more success in the times to come. Also sharing this year’s PPC where we discussed aspects relating to exams,” he added.

Earlier in the morning, the CBSE declared the Class 12 board results in which girls have outshined boys by 3.29 per cent.

Girls outperformed boys with an overall pass percentage of 94.54 per cent, while boys secured 91.25 per cent.

Over 33,000 students scored above 95 per cent, while 1.34 lakh got above 90 per cent.

The overall pass percentage was 99.37 per cent in 2021 as compared to 92.71 per cent this year.

A total of 1435366 students appeared for the exam of which 1330662 have passed. 92.71 per cent of students have passed the CBSE 12 board examination.

Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala has recorded the highest pass percentage at 98.83 per cent followed by Bengaluru with 98.16 per cent, Chennai with 97.79 per cent, Delhi east and Delhi West with 96.29 per cent. However, Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj has recorded the lowest pass percentage at 83.71 per cent.

Meanwhile, 4.72 per cent of students have been placed in the compartment.

This year, the board conducted exams in two terms, that is, Term 1 and Term 2. 30 per cent weightage was given to Term 1 exams and 70 per cent weightage to Term 2.

This year, the board will issue the merit certificate to 0.1 per cent of students who have scored the highest marks in the subjects. However, as per the earlier decision of the Board to avoid unhealthy competition amongst the students, no merit list will be declared. In this regard, it is also informed that Board is not awarding first, second or third division to its students.

Students can check their results on official website, cbseresults.nic.in and results.cbse.nic.in. Students can also check their results on DigiLocker or UMANG app.

Class 12 Board exams were held from April 26 to June 15. (ANI)

The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the central government to continue providing security cover to Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani and his family in Mumbai.

A bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli quashed proceedings in the PIL pending before Tripura High Court challenging security to the Ambanis.
The apex court questioning the locus of the petitioner, said that there was no reason for proceedings to continue before the Tripura High Court which is scrutinising the need for the security. It noted that the family was paying cost of security provided by the government.

“We see no reason for the proceedings in this case to continue before the Tripura High Court,” said the bench.

Earlier, the vacation bench had stayed the High Court orders that had sought from Centre the details of threat perception based on which security cover was provided to the Ambanis.

The Centre had challenged in the top court the orders of the High Court seeking security details of the Ambani family.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, had told the apex court that the High Court had sought details of threat perception based on which security cover was provided to the Ambanis in Mumbai.

Solicitor General had said that the security provided to a family in Mumbai has nothing to do with Tripura government and that High Court had no jurisdiction to entertain the PIL.

Central Government had filed the appeal against High Court’s order asking the government to place the original file maintained by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) regarding threat perception and assessment report of Ambani family prepared by it.

The appeal in the apex court said “the PIL is filed by an individual person who had no locus in the matter and was just a meddlesome interloper, claiming himself to be a social activist and student by profession.”

“The petition is a misconceived, frivolous and motivated public interest litigation petition, where no violation of any fundamental right was even pleaded, the High Court has sought to exercise its judicial review jurisdiction over a decision which has been taken by trained experts on public order, individual and national security,” the government in its plea had stated.

The High Court has failed to appreciate that the family members were neither residents of Tripura nor any part of cause of action remotely arising from Tripura existed. Therefore, the High Court had no territorial jurisdiction nor subject matter jurisdiction over the matter, it had said. (ANI)

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday rubbished the allegations made against Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia for violating the new excise policy terming it to be a false case and alleged that the central government could not bear to see the expansion of the Aam-Aadmi Party (AAP).

“Whole case is false. I know Sisodia for the past 22 years. He is honest. When he became minister, Delhi government schools were in poor condition. He worked day and night to bring them up to a level where a judge’s child and a rickshaw driver’s child sit together to study,” Kejriwal said at a press briefing here today.
The central government has levelled several allegations against our people as the Aam Aadmi Party has been growing since its win in Punjab.

“They cannot bear to see us rise to a national level and thus are resorting to such measures. But nothing will stop us,” he said adding that he is neither “scared of jails, nor scared of the noose.”

Earlier today, Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena recommended an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the alleged violations of the Arvind Kejriwal-led government’s new contentious excise policy including “deliberate and gross procedural lapses” made by deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia to “provide post tender undue benefits to liquor licensees.”

A report on July 8 by the Chief Secretary established prima facie violations of GNCTD Act 1991, Transaction of Business Rules (ToBR) 1993, Delhi Excise Act 2009, and Delhi Excise Rules 2010.

The report indicates substantively financial quid pro quo at the top political level and that the Delhi excise policy was implemented with the sole aim of benefitting private liquor barons for financial benefits to individuals at the highest rungs of the government leading up to Manish Sisodia.

The Minister in charge of the Excise Department, Manish Sisodia took and got executed, major decisions/actions in violation of the statutory provisions and the notified Excise Policy that had huge financial implications, officials at the LG office said.

The LG office said that Sisodia also extended “undue financial favours” to the liquor licensees much after the tenders had been awarded and thus caused huge losses to the exchequer.

Sisodia’s role is under the scanner for alleged deliberate and gross procedural lapses which provided undue benefits to the tender process for liquor licensees for the year 2021-22, officials in the Lieutenant-Governor’s office told ANI.

The new Excise policy 2021-22 was implemented in November last year.

AAP national spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj told reporters the CBI investigation has been ordered at the behest of the central government.

He lashed out at the Central government saying that the Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were jealous of the rising popularity of AAP across the country and would do anything to stop them. (ANI)

Hours after declaring the Class 12 board exam results, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Friday announced the Class 10 exam results. The overall pass percentage in CBSE Class 10 results is 94.40 per cent.

Similar to class 12 exam results, the girls outperformed boys by 1.14 per cent in class 10 too. Girls outshined with an overall pass percentage of 95.21 per cent while boys secured 93.80 per cent.
A total of 2093978 students appeared for the exam of which 1976668 have passed the CBSE Class 10 exam.

Just like Class 12, Trivandrum region students have recorded the best pass percentage with 99.68 per cent in Class 10 too followed by Bengaluru with 99.22 per cent, Chennai with 98.97 per cent, Ajmer with 98.14 per cent and Patna with 97.65 per cent. Guwahati is at the bottom of the table with 82.23 per cent.

Over 64908 students scored above 95 per cent, while 236993 lakh got above 90 per cent.

To check the results students directly click on https://cbseresults.nic.in/class-tenth/class10th22.htm or visit the official website, cbseresults.nic.in and results.cbse.nic.in.

Earlier in the CBSE declared the Class 12 board results in which girls have outshined boys by 3.29 per cent.

The overall pass percentage was 99.37 per cent in 2021 as compared to 92.71 per cent this year.

A total of 1435366 students appeared for the exam of which 1330662 have passed. 92.71 per cent of students have passed the CBSE 12 board examination.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday congratulated all the students who have passed the CBSE Class 12 exams and urged them to follow their inner calling and pursue subjects they are passionate about.

In a series of tweets, PM Modi hailed students and said they prepared for these exams during a time when humanity faced a monumental challenge and achieved this success.

“Congratulations to all my young friends who passed the CBSE Class XII exams. The grit and dedication of these youngsters is commendable. They prepared for these exams through a time when humanity faced a monumental challenge and achieved this success,” he said.

The Prime Minister further said there are innumerable opportunities that await the young exam warriors, who passed the Class 12 exams. (ANI)

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday said that all airlines from now have to inform in writing in case they refuse to board a person with a disability.

“Under the amended rule, Airline shall not refuse carriage of any person on the basis of disability and/or reduced mobility if it happens then airlines have informed the passenger with a disability in writing with the reasons therein immediately,” said DGCA.
In order to improve the accessibility of boarding and flying for the disabled, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday amended the Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) Section-3, Series M Part I “Carriage by Air – Persons with Disability (Divyangjan) and/or Persons with Reduced Mobility”.

Under the amended rule, airlines shall not refuse carriage of any person on the basis of disability and/or reduced mobility.

However, in case, an airline perceives that the health of such a passenger may deteriorate in-flight, the said passenger will have to be examined by a doctor in person – who shall in his/her opinion, categorically state the medical condition and whether the passenger is fit to fly or not.

“After obtaining the medical opinion, the airline shall take an appropriate decision on the carriage of such passenger. In case of refusal of carriage by the airline, it shall inform the passenger in writing with the reasons therein immediately,” says the amended rule.

The DGCA said that the amendment has been done under the Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) Section-3, Series M Part I “Carriage by Air – Persons with Disability (Divyangjan) and/or Persons with Reduced Mobility”.

The proposed amendment has been carried out at Para 4.1.35 of the CAR. (ANI)