February 2023 - Page 37 of 50 - Lokmarg

Lucknow To Be Renamed As ‘Lakshman Nagari’: UP Dy CM Pathak

By LokMarg 8th February 2023

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak made a statement about the demand to change the name of Lucknow and said that it is well known about Lucknow that it was the city of Laxman. The government will update about the situation regarding the name change said the Dy CM Brijesh Pathak reached the Bhadohi tour on Wednesday.

In Bhadohi, the Deputy CM held a review meeting regarding the progress of various schemes and development works the in the district. After he also unveiled the statue of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Suriyava.
On this occasion, Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak gave a big statement regarding the demand of BJP MP Sangam Lal Gupta to change the name of Lucknow.

He said that everyone knows that Lucknow was the city of Laxman. There will be further talks on the situation regarding the change of name.

The way the Deputy CM named Lucknow as Laxman Nagri, it is clear that he has the intention of renaming Lucknow as Laxman Nagri.

On the other hand, he said that Rahul Gandhi’s mental balance has completely deteriorated. Whenever Congress governments have been there, they have been completely immersed in corruption. Coal scams, commonwealth scams and many big scams took place in Congress governments. Congress is just a family party.

While attacking Rahul Gandhi, he said that Rahul Gandhi’s mental balance has completely deteriorated.

Bharatiya Janata Party MP Sangam Lal Gupta on Tuesday urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to change the name of Uttar Pradesh’s capital city of Lucknow to “Lakhanpur or Laxmanpur”.

Stating that the city was earlier named Lakhanpur and Laxmanpur in the Treta Yug, the BJP MP claimed that Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula had renamed it Lucknow.

Gupta said that Lucknow was gifted by Lord Ram to his brother and King of Ayodhya Laxman in the Treta Yug, which is why the city was known as Lakhanpur and Laxmanpur.

“Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, which according to the local belief was gifted by Maryada Purushottam Lord Shri Ram to Ayodhya King Shri Laxman ji in Treta Yug and for that reason it was named Lakhanpur and Laxmanpur, but later in the 48th century, Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula renamed and changed it to Lucknow. It has been called Lucknow in the same tradition,” the BJP MP wrote in his letter to the Home Minister.

“It is worth mentioning here that today in a country that is rich in glorious cultural heritage, it seems completely wrong to give a signal of slavery by telling stories of luxury and wastefulness of the Nawabs of Lucknow to our future generation even in the ‘Amrit Kaal’. Due to this, Lord Dalhousie acquired Awadh and merged it with the British Empire and Nawab Wajid Ali Shah accepted British subordination,” he added.

Gupta requested Shah to rename the Uttar Pradesh capital city in order to “preserve India’s cultural heritage”.

“I request you to change the name of the capital of Uttar Pradesh Lucknow to Lakhanpur or Laxmanpur in Amrit Kaal in order to preserve India’s cultural heritage and combine the glorious history by erasing the symbol of slavery,” Gupta tweeted.

Notably, various BJP leaders have also referred to Hyderabad as Bhagyanagar and demands have been raised in the past to rename the city.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also referred to Telangana’s capital as Bhagyanagar during his address to the party workers at the BJP National Executive meeting in July 2022. (ANI)

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RBI Projects India’s GDP Growth At 6.4% For 2023-24

By LokMarg 8th February 2023

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has projected India’s real GDP growth to be at 6.4 per cent for the next financial year 2023-24.

“Broad-based credit growth, improving capacity utilisation, government’s thrust on capital spending and infrastructure should bolster investment activity,” RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said on Wednesday while announcing the monetary policy meeting outcome.
“According to our surveys, manufacturing, services and infrastructure sector firms are optimistic about the business outlook. On the other hand, protracted geopolitical tensions, tightening global financial conditions and slowing external demand may continue as downside risks to domestic output.”

The GDP projections for Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4 2023-24 are estimated at 7.8 per cent, 6.2 per cent, 6.0 per cent, and 5.8 per cent, respectively, with risks, evenly balanced.

Meanwhile, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the RBI decided to raise the repo rate, at which the RBI lends money to all commercial banks, by 25 basis points to 6.5 per cent.

Four out of six members of MPC have decided to go ahead with this hike in the repo rate, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said.

The Shaktikanta Das-headed Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) started its three-day meeting on February 6 amid the rate hiking spree that started in May last year to check inflation.

India’s retail inflation during the month of December was at 5.72 per cent, versus 5.88 per cent in November and 6.77 per cent during October.

India’s retail inflation was above RBI’s six per cent target for three consecutive quarters and had managed to fall back to the RBI’s comfort zone in November 2022.

Since May last year, the RBI has increased the short-term lending rate (repo rate) by 250 basis points, including today’s, to contain inflation, driven mainly by external factors, especially global supply chain disruptions following the Russia-Ukraine war outbreak. (ANI)

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US Will Act To Protect Sovereignty If Threatened By China: Biden

By LokMarg 8th February 2023

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday (local time) highlighted the “serious challenges” America faces “across the world” and warned China that Washington “will act to protect sovereignty if threatened” by Beijing.

Biden while delivering his first major speech to a divided Congress after Republicans took control of the House of Representatives, said, “If China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country. Let’s be clear, winning the competition with China should unite all of us. We face serious challenges across the world. In the past two years, democracies have become stronger, not weaker.”
The US President said that when he took over the charge of office, the story was about how China was increasing its power and America was falling in the world.

“Not anymore. I’ve made clear with President Xi that we seek competition, not conflict,” said Biden in his second State of the Union address at the US Capitol.

He said that the US is in the strongest position in decades to compete with China or anyone else in the world.

“I will make no apologies that we are investing to make America strong. Investing in American innovation, in industries that will define the future, and that China’s government is intent on dominating. Investing in our alliances and working with our allies to protect our advanced technologies so they’re not used against us.

Modernizing our military to safeguard stability and deter aggression,” said Biden.

Biden further stated that he is committed to working with China where it can advance American interests and benefit the world.

The US President also reiterated that “winning the competition with China should unite all of us,” referring to Republicans working with him, decrying “fighting for the sake of fighting” in Washington.

“Republican friends, we could work together,” he said.

“We’re often told that Democrats or Republicans can’t work together. But over the past two years, we proved the cynics and naysayers wrong,” he said, pointing to several laws passed with bipartisan support.

Notably, the relations between US and China deteriorated after a Chinese spy balloon was spotted over American airspace.

China has rejected Washington’s request for a telephone call between US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Beijing counterpart Wei Fenghe, The New York Times reported citing Pentagon. The request was made on Saturday soon after a US fighter aircraft shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina.

The Pentagon Press Secretary Brigadier General Patrick S Ryder in an emailed statement said that Washington believes in the importance of maintaining communication between the US and China. He said that China has “declined” US’ request to arrange call between Lloyd Austin and Wei Fenghe.

Moreover, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed a trip to Beijing that was due to take place last weekend after the balloon was spotted in the American skies. The Chinese balloon was first spotted over Montana, then it traversed the country before it was shot down by US fighter aircraft. (ANI)

Zoom To Lay Off 1,300 Employees

By LokMarg 8th February 2023

Zoom on Tuesday announced that it will lay off about 1,300 employees, or approximately 15 percent of its staff, becoming the latest tech company to announce significant job cuts. In a message to employees on Zoom Blog, Zoom’s Chief Executive Officer Eric Yuan said the layoffs will impact every part of the organization.

“We have made the tough but necessary decision to reduce our team by approximately 15 percent and say goodbye to around 1,300 hardworking, talented colleagues,” Eric Yuan wrote.
Yuan stated that he and other executives will take a significant pay cut. In the message to employees, he admitted to making “mistakes” in how quickly the company grew during the pandemic.

“As the CEO and founder of Zoom, I am accountable for these mistakes and the actions we take today- and I want to show accountability not just in words but in my own actions,” Eric Yuan wrote.

He added, “To that end, I am reducing my salary for the coming fiscal year by 98 percent and foregoing my FY23 corporate bonus. Members of my executive leadership team will reduce their base salaries by 20 percent for the coming fiscal year while also forfeiting their FY23 corporate bonuses.”

In a message to employees, Eric Yuan stated that a US-based employee who is impacted will receive an email to his/her Zoom and personal inboxes in the next 30 minutes. He further stated that non-US employees will be informed after following local requirements.

Eric Yuan wrote, “If you are a US-based employee who is impacted, you will receive an email to your Zoom and personal inboxes in the next 30 minutes that reads [IMPACTED] Departing Zoom: What You Need to Know. Non-US employees will be notified following local requirements.”

“For those Zoomies waking up to this news or reading this after normal work hours, I am sorry you are finding out this way but we felt it was best to notify all impacted Zoomies as soon as possible,” he added.

Yuan stated the company staffed up “rapidly” during the early days of the pandemic to support the increase in demand as people started using Zoom to video chat with friends and colleagues. He wrote, “Within 24 months, Zoom grew 3x in size to manage this demand while enabling continued innovation.”

To those affected by Zoom layoffs in the US, the company will give up to 16 weeks’ salary and healthcare coverage, payment of earned FY’23 annual bonus based on company performance, RSU, and stock option vesting for six months for US employees, and through August 9, 2023, for non-US employees.

Furthermore, outplacement services, including 1:1 coaching, workshops, networking groups, and more will be given to departing employees. Moreover, support for Zoom employees outside the US will be similar. (ANI)

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Turkey Earthquakes: Death Toll Surpasses 7,900-Mark

By LokMarg 8th February 2023

The death toll from the earthquakes that jolted Turkey and Syria has risen to at least 7,726, CNN reported. At least 42,259 people have been injured in Turkey and Syria after deadly earthquakes.

Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said that at least 5,894 people have died and 34,810 others have been injured in Turkey after earthquakes that jolted the country on Monday. At least 1,832 people have died and 3,849 others have been injured in Syria, as per the CNN report.
Orhan Tatar, Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Agency’s general director (AFAD), said that at least 5,775 buildings collapsed after an earthquake hit Turkey on Monday, as per the news report. On Tuesday, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said that around 7,500 Turkish soldiers are working in the earthquake-affected region to assist with rescue operations.

Hulusi Akar also said an additional 1,500 personnel will join the team on Wednesday. Hulusi Akar said that 75 military aircraft have been dispatched to the region, as per the CNN report. He added that nine commando battalions have arrived in the region from the west and four commando battalions from Cyprus will arrive in the region as well.

On Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared a three-month state of emergency in 10 southern provinces which were hit by massive quakes, Anadolu Agency reported.

While addressing the State Information Coordination Center in the capital Ankara, Erdogan said, “Based on the authority given to us by Article 119 of the Constitution, we decided to declare a state of emergency.”

“We will quickly complete the presidential and parliamentary processes about the state of emergency decision, which will cover 10 provinces where earthquakes have occurred and will last for three months,” he added.

Erdogan’s remarks came after the 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck the Pazarcik district of Kahramanmaras province on Monday. Later, a 7.6 magnitude quake centered in Kahramanmaras’s Elbistan district rocked the region, affecting several other provinces, including Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, and Gaziantep, as per the Anadolu Agency report.

The third earthquake of magnitude 6.0 hit Goksun, Turkey on Monday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said. The earthquake was also felt in several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon.

In his remarks, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, “Both earthquakes were experienced at a distance of 7 kilometers on earth that exponentially increased the severity of the destruction,” Anadolu Agency reported.

He further said, “It has caused great destruction in a very wide area compared to their counterparts. Therefore, we are faced with one of the biggest disasters not only in our Republic’s history but also in our geography and the world.”

As per the Anadolu Agency report, Erdogan emphasized that considering the devastating effect of the earthquake, they ordered expert personnel and vehicles from all over the country to immediately move to the region. He stated that despite the difficulties caused by the weather conditions, the teams struggled selflessly to reach the disaster region and participate in the work. (ANI)

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Sidharth-Kiara’s Marital Status Changed On Wiki

By LokMarg 7th February 2023

Tinsel town’s most-awaited wedding of the year is finally over as Sidharth Malhotra and Kiara Advani took sacred ‘pheras’ and tied the knot in presence of family members and close friends in Jaisalmer on Tuesday evening.

As soon as the news dropped online, Wikipedia in no time changed the marital status of the couple. However, the couple is yet to make it Insta-official.
The Wikipedia pages of Sidharth and Kiara have been edited to mention both of them as each other’s spouses.

Take a look.

Sidharth and Kiara’s wedding ceremony happened at Suryagarh Palace in Jaisalmer. The couple got married as per Hindu customs with “band baaja’ and ‘baraat’. Famous ‘Jea’ wedding band from Delhi arrived at the venue on Tuesday. Sidharth made his royal entry at the wedding on the traditional ‘ghodi’.

After the ceremony, wedding band members were seen exiting Suryagarh Palace. When the reporters enquired about the wedding, the band members replied ‘shadi ho gayi’.

Kiara and Sidharth have always been tight-lipped about their relationship. The two neither accepted nor denied the dating rumours.

Sidharth and Kiara apparently fell in love with each other while shooting for ‘Shershaah’, which was released 2021. The duo was often seen hanging out together which added extra fuel to their relationship rumours.

In an episode of Koffee with Karan Season 7, Kiara revealed that she first met Sidharth at the wrap-up party of Lust Stories. She also confessed that she and Sidharth Malhotra are definitely more than “close friends.”

Fans are eager to see the first glimpse of Sidharth and Kiara as Mr and Mrs Malhotra. (ANI)

Rakhi Files Complaint Against Husband Adil

By LokMarg 7th February 2023

Actor and ‘Bigg Boss’ contestant Rakhi Sawant, on Tuesday, filed an FIR against her husband Adil Durrani, alleging he has taken money and jewellery from her.

While talking to media outside Mumbai’s Oshiwara police station, Rakhi claimed, “He came to beat me at home in the morning, I immediately called the police. He frequently visits my home and gives threats. Even today he came to beat me at home, and I was scared. He said that you defamed me in the media.”
Police have filed an FIR under IPC Sec 406 and 420 against Adil Durrani and have summoned him for interrogation.

Rakhi, last month, revealed that she had married Adil in 2022. Taking to Instagram, she shared a photograph of their purported marriage certificate which shows that the wedding took place on May 29, 2022.

Meanwhile, Rakhi also posted an Instagram reel video where she is seen garlanding Adil and reshared a video of her with Adil and what seems to be a Qazi officiating a ceremony.

Since Rakhi broke the news of her wedding on social media, several reports surfaced claiming that Adil has denied getting married to Rakhi.

Photos of the duo have been doing the rounds on the Internet.

Few days after that, Adil took to his Instagram account and confirmed his marriage with Rakhi. (ANI)

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Karan Pens Down Adorable B’day Wish For His Twins

By LokMarg 7th February 2023

Ace filmmaker Karan Johar, on Tuesday, penned down an adorable birthday wish for his twins Roohi and Yash.

Taking to Instagram, Karan shared a video which he captioned, “Precious Pieces of my heart turn 6 today… this love is difficult to describe but it feels like a burst of so much love that every other emotion takes a back seat! I am blessed to have mother with me on this parental journey! God knows I would be nowhere without her… she’s the pillar all 3 of us lean on! Happy birthday Roohi and Yash! Be anything you want to be but please Always be kind… dada loves you to the moon and back! I would like to take a beat to thank.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CoWOuvJI0x8/

In the video, Karan shared some glimpses from Roohi and Yash’s recent birthday bash.

Soon after he shared the video, fans and friends flooded the comment section with red hearts and sweet birthday wishes for the kids.

Madhuri Dixit Nene wrote, ” Happy Birthday Roohi and Yash. You guys are the cutest.”

Bhumi Pednekar wrote, “Happy birthday cuties.”

Karisma Kapoor commented, “Happy birthday to Roohi and Yash.”

Farah Khan wrote, “What a party! N donald duck touching my feet was the cherry on the birthday cake.”

On February 1 this year, Karan hosted a birthday party for his twins, Roohi and Yash, in Mumbai. In which many B-town celebs marked their presence. From Kareena Kapoor Khan to Shahid Kapoor and Mira Kapoor, celebs attended the bash with their little ones.

Karan welcomed his son Yash and daughter Roohi via surrogacy in February 2017. He named Yash after his deceased father late Yash Johar, while Roohi is an anagram of his mother’s name Hiroo.

On the work front, Karan Johar will be soon making his directorial comeback with the upcoming romantic film ‘Rocky aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani’ which stars Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Dharmendra, Jaya Bachchan and Shabana Azmi in lead roles.

The film is all set to hit the theatres on July 28, 2023. (ANI)

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SC Declines Relief To Rapido Against Ban In Maharashtra

By LokMarg 7th February 2023

The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined relief to the Rapido bike, taxi and auto aggregator, which challenged the Bombay High Court order directing the company to stop operation in Maharashtra immediately as it does not have a license to operate bike, taxi or rickshaw services.

A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala said that amendments made to the Motor Vehicles Act in 2019 made it clear that aggregators cannot operate without a valid licence.
The apex court granted the company liberty to move to the Bombay High Court to challenge January 19 notification issued by the State of Maharashtra.

It also asked the High Court to consider such challenge un-influenced.

In December 2022, the Pune RTO had rejected Rapido’s plea for licence.

Earlier, the Bombay High Court had directed Roppen Transportation Services Private Limited, which operates bike taxi aggregator Rapido, to shut operations till January 20 as the startup is yet to receive a licence from the Maharashtra government to operate.

The Bombay High Court had pulled up Pune-based bike taxi aggregator for operating without procuring a licence from the Maharashtra government and directed it to suspend the services immediately.

Roppen Transportation had moved the High Court against a communication issued to it by the Maharashtra government refusing to grant them a bike taxi aggregator licence.

The government cited the reason that there was no state policy on licensing of bike taxis and there was no fare structure policy.

The State government had told the High Court that a committee has been set up to explore the formulation of guidelines for bike taxis in the state. (ANI)

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SC Assures Bilkis Bano Of Early Hearing

By LokMarg 7th February 2023

The Supreme Court on Tuesday assured Bilkis Bano, who challenged the pre-mature release of 11 convicts for gang-raping her and murdering her family members during the 2002 Godhra riots, that her plea against the remission granted to 11 convicts will be heard soon.

A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala will constitute a bench soon for Bano’s plea.
Advocate Shobha Gupta, appearing for Bano, mentioned the matter for urgent hearing and said that a new bench needs to be constituted by the CJI as Justice Bela M Trivedi recused from hearing the plea.

“I will do so at the earliest. The matter will be listed soon,” said the CJI.

Earlier, a bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi ordered that matter be listed before the bench which Justice Trivedi is not a part of as she had recused herself from hearing the case.

Besides filing a petition against the per-mature release of convicts, Bano had also filed a review petition seeking a review of its earlier order by which it had asked the Gujarat government to consider the plea for the remission of one of the convicts.

The review petition was dismissed.

Some PILs were filed seeking directions to revoke the remission granted to 11 convicts.

The pleas were filed by the National Federation of Indian Women, whose General Secretary is Annie Raja, Member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Subhashini Ali, journalist Revati Laul, social activist and professor Roop Rekha Verma and TMC MP Mahua Moitra.

Gujarat government in its affidavit had defended remission granted to convicts saying they completed 14 years of sentence in prison and their “behaviour was found to be good”.

The State government said it has considered the cases of all 11 convicts as per the policy of 1992 and remission was granted on August 10, 2022, and the Central government also approved the ore-mature release of convicts.

It is pertinent to note that the remission was not granted under the circular governing grant of remission to prisoners as part of the celebration of “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav”, it has said.

The affidavit stated, “State government considered all the opinions and decided to release 11 prisoners since they have completed 14 years and above in prisons and their behaviour was found to be good.”

The government had also questioned the locus standi of petitioners who filed the PIL challenging the decision saying they are outsiders to the case.

The pleas said they have challenged the order of competent authority of the government of Gujarat by way of which 11 persons accused in a set of heinous offenses committed in Gujarat were allowed to walk free on August 15, 2022, pursuant to remission being extended to them.

The remission in this heinous case would be entirely against public interest and would shock the collective public conscience, as also be entirely against the interests of the victim (whose family has publicly made statements worrying for her safety), pleas stated.

The Gujarat government released the 11 convicts sentenced to life imprisonment on August 15. All the 11 life-term convicts in the case were released as per the remission policy prevalent in Gujarat at the time of their conviction in 2008.

In March 2002 during the post-Godhra riots, Bano was allegedly gang-raped and left to die with 14 members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter. She was five months pregnant when rioters attacked her family in Vadodara. (ANI)

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