Month: February 2023

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National President Jagat Prakash Nadda on Friday said that the budget has been increased by four times for the tribal communities adding that for the past 70 years, no one cared for the tribals.

The BJP national president was addressing the Vijay Sankalpa Jansabha at Amarpur in the Gomati district.
Nadda said, “It is a matter of pride for the tribal society that today our president is Droupadi Murmu. For 70 years no one cared for tribals. I am happy that eight central ministers are tribals, our CM is tribal. For tribal communities, the budget has been increased by four times.”

“Union Budget 2023-24, the first budget of ‘Amrit Kaal’ is a blueprint for India’s development; it is filled with aspirations and a framework to make the nation’s economy truly inclusive and empowered,” he added.

The BJP national president also lauded the government for the progress in Tripura.

“Today we can say with pride that it is the ‘New Tripura’ with new aspirations. PM Modi has a special concern for North East. Tripura is moving forward under BJP’s rule,” he said.

“PM Modi had said that the state of Tripura could also make progress just like any other part of the country, and these five years stand as testimony to his very belief,” said Nadda.

Stating that a few years ago, Tripura was a land of insurgency, violence, bandh, strikes and terrorism, Nadda said, “Now, under the BJP rule, Tripura has become a state possessing Peace, Development and Prosperity.”

JP Naddu also launched a scathing attack on previous governments over a large number of scams.

He said, “How was India nine years back? India was a kneeling India, it was an India that could not take a decision. It was one of the corrupt countries where scams used to happen every day.”

“But in the last nine years under the leadership of Modi ji, India has become a country of aspirations, a leapfrogging country and a strong nation which can establish itself in the world,” he added.

Targeting the previous Congress and Communist rule in the state, he said, “There had always been corruption, violence, cheating and what not under the Congress’ rule, and under the Communists’ rule. They have both stood together now, both are corrupt. But the BJP has come ahead to save Tripura from the clutches of corruption and misrule.”

Meanwhile, the BJP is likely to release its election manifesto for Tripura in the next week.

BJP posted a stunning victory in Tripura in the 2018 Assembly elections, a Left bastion with Manik Sarkar being its Chief Minister for over two decades. After its poll victory, BJP appointed Biplab Deb as Tripura Chief Minister and in May 2022 appointed Manik Saha for the role.

The party is preparing itself to register another win in Tripura and has struck an alliance with its former ally Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) which has fielded its candidates at five assembly seats.

For the elections at 60 Assembly seats in the northeastern state, which are slated to be held on February 17, the BJP has fielded 55 candidates.

Former CM Manik Sarkar, hailing from the Communist Party of India (Marxist), would also contest the upcoming Assembly polls to the state.

According to party officials, several other BJP leaders will also campaign in the northeastern state.

Earlier on January 27, BJP held a CEC meeting in the national capital to finalize the names of the candidates for the upcoming Tripura Assembly elections.

For the first time, 11 women candidates have been given tickets in the state assembly election.

Tripura is slated to go to Assembly polls on February 16. Votes will be counted on March 2 along with Nagaland and Meghalaya. (ANI)

Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday informed that the crackdown against child marriages in the state would continue in the coming days.

“Till 8 am, around 1800 people have been arrested in relation to child marriages in the state. This crackdown will continue for the next three to four days. The DGP will share the details of the crackdown with the press in the evening. Right now, even I do not have the details,” the chief minister said while talking to the media.

The CM further informed that the Director General of Police (DGP) shall share the details of the crackdown with the press on Friday evening.

“By evening, a clear picture shall emerge of the number of arrests as well as the action taken by us against them. The arrests made district-wise shall also be shared by the DGP in the evening,” the CM added.

The chief minister also talked about the National Cadet Corps (NCC) and National Service Scheme (NSS) volunteers who took part in the 74th Republic Day celebrations.

He said, “The NCC and NSS cadets take part in the Republic Day Parade. Only the selected students get a chance to take part in this parade. This time, the Assam NCC and NSS contingent went for the parade. I even met the NCC students who were under one month of training in Delhi. I met them today once again. A lot of hard work is needed to reach this position. I met everyone and extended my greetings.”

“It would be great if NCC was made compulsory. We still do not have the infrastructure big enough for people from the army, navy and air force to come and train and instruct people,” he added.

On the introduction of NCC in border schools, the CM said, “We have been asked to introduce NCC in all border area schools and colleges by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Slowly this will happen everywhere. Everything depends on the progress of the country.” (ANI)

Proceedings of Lok Sabha were adjourned till 2 pm on Firday while those of Rajya Sabha were adjourned till 2:30 pm today due to opposition parties reiterating their demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the tanking of Adani Group company shares that has led to a stock market rout.

A number of Opposition leaders including Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, DMK Rajya Sabha MP Tiruchi Siva, Congress MP Pramod Tiwari, BRS MP K Keshava Rao, Shiv Sena MP (Uddhav Thackeray faction) Priyanka Chaturvedi, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Dr Syed Naseer Hussain, and CPI(M) MP Elamaram Kareem gave suspension of Business notice to their respective Houses to hold a discussion on the allegations levelled by US-based Hindenburg Research against Adani Group.
When the Rajya Sabha assembled for the day, Jagdeep Dhankhar urged members to let the House continue with its designated business. However, as Opposition members raised slogans, he adjourned the proceedings till 2.30 pm.

In Lok Sabha, too Opposition members demanded a discussion but Speaker Om Birla disallowed it saying the House is to take up the important discussion on Presidential Address. As the opposition protest continued, the House was adjourned till 2 p.m.

Prior to the day’s session, Opposition parties held a meeting in the Parliament today.

Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh described the Adani stock row as “corruption” and alleged that it is the corruption of the Narendra Modi government.

“I have given a notice under Rule 267 today also, and we demand the constitution of a JPC or a Supreme Court-monitored time-bound inquiry of the matter. It is not the corruption of Adani alone, it is the corruption of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government. Adani has the protection of PM Modi,” Singh alleged.

He further demanded an answer from the Prime Minister and said that he cannot “escape” the questions.

“Whose black money is this? If the Prime Minister is silent on the issue, his black money is there in foreign countries which are coming to India. Whose money was brought into Adani’s company through fake companies from the foreign land? PM Modi is surrounded by questions and cannot escape from answering,” the AAP MP said.

Speaking to ANI ahead of the day’s session, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that there is no harm in demanding a JPC and a nudge from the Prime Minister’s Office would be sufficient for the constitution of a JPC.

“What is the harm in demanding the constitution of a JPC? The entire stock market has been reeling under total uncertainties. It is incumbent upon us to seek justice for the people of our country. It is easy to concede to our demand. Just a knock from the PMO is enough for the constitution of a JPC. The government should concede to the demand of the Opposition parties,” he said.

Congress MP Manish Tewari stressed on the probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee into the alleged corruption and said that it is important that the JPC looks into the “India’s regulatory architecture which governs our financial system”.

“We do not want a talk out, we want a JPC not because it is individual specific, but we are concerned about the failure of the regulatory institutions that why an unknown company puts out a report and the markets react in this manner. Has there been a failure of RBI? It is important that a JPC should look into the efficacy of India’s regulatory architecture which governs our capital markets and our financial system. So, rather than come defensive, the government must agree to a JPC,” he said.

Shiv Sena MP (Uddhav Thackeray faction), when asked about the ruckus created by the Opposition in the Parliament, said that there will be a ruckus and alleged that the voices of the Opposition are being “suppressed”.

“If there will not be a ruckus on this issue, what other issue will the ruckus be for? It is a matter of looting the country. We will definitely create a ruckus when it comes down to LIC and SBI. The Parliament should run, and we will raise the issue. But our voices are suppressed. We are with the Congress demand for a JPC probe,” he said.

Congress MP K Suresh said that the government is “not ready” to give a statement on the issue.

“We demanded a statement from the government yesterday. But the government is not ready to give any statement or clarification. The House was adjourned after he demanded a discussion on the issue. Today also we are moving an adjournment motion on the matter,” he said.

Mallikarjun Kharge, ahead of the joint meeting of Opposition parties said, “We have called the meeting of the Opposition party. We will discuss the steps to be taken further. We give notices according to the rules.”

Yesterday, both houses of Parliament were adjourned for the day after the Opposition created a ruckus and demanded a discussion on the Hindenburg report on the Adani conglomerate.

The Opposition leaders on Thursday had demanded a discussion on the Hindenburg report against Adani Enterprises while also seeking the constitution of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) into the alleged aberrations. (ANI)

Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia Deshmukh are one of the inspirational and loved couples in B-Town. The ‘Ved’ stars have completed 11 years of marital bliss on Friday.

Taking to Instagram, Genelia dropped a picture with her hubby along with an adorable anniversary wish.
She wrote, “Dated till Eternity – @riteishd. Happy Anniversary partner.”

In the picture, Genelia and Riteish were seen twinning in the grey outfit. ‘Dated till Eternity,’ was seen written on their sweatshirts.

As soon as the picture was uploaded, the couple’s fans and industry friends dropped their wishes.

Sanjay Kapoor wrote, “Happy anniversary darlings.”

One of the fans wrote, “Happy Anniversary Dada and vahin.”

Riteish and Genelia made their Bollywood debuts with the 2003 film ‘Tujhe Meri Kasam’. They fell in love with the sets of the film and have been together for close to two decades.

Riteish and Genelia tied the knot on February 3, 2012. They are doting parents to two kids, Rahyl and Riaan.

The couple was recently seen on screen in the Marathi film ‘Ved’. The movie received a positive response and continues to excel at the box office collection.

‘Ved’ marks Riteish’s directorial debut in Marathi films and also has Genelia D’Souza in the lead role. Salman Khan has a guest appearance in the film.

In the upcoming months, Riteish will be seen in an upcoming horror comedy Kakuda alongside Sonakshi Sinha and Saqib Saleem, and in Sajid Khan’s comedy 100% alongside John Abraham, Nora Fatehi, and Shehnaaz Gill. (ANI)

A Calicut-bound Air India Express flight from Abu Dhabi landed back at Abu Dhabi airport after flames were detected in one of the engines soon after take-off, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said on Friday.

Air India Express informed that the aircraft landed safely and all passengers are safe.
According to DGCA, 184 passengers were onboard when the flight took off.

“Soon after taking off and climbing to 1,000 feet, the pilot detected a flame in one of the engines and decided to go back to Abu Dhabi airport,” Air India Express told ANI.

DGCA said that Air India Express B737-800 aircraft returned to the Abu Dhabi airport due to a mid-air flameout.

“Today an Air India Express B737-800 aircraft VT-AYC operating flight IX 348 (Abu Dhabi-Calicut) was involved in Airturnback due to the No. 1 engine flameout at 1,000 ft during the climb,” DGCA said.

Earlier on January 23, an Air India Express flight from Trivandrum to Muscat landed back 45 minutes after taking off due to a technical glitch, officials said.

According to officials, the flight management system (FMS) developed a technical glitch.

“The flight took off from Trivandrum at 8.30 am and landed back at 9.17 am,” they added.

In December 2022, a snake was found on a Dubai-bound Air India Express flight.

Air India Express Boeing B-737 flight from Calicut to Dubai took off as scheduled and after landing at Dubai airport, the staff reported a snake on board the aircraft.

The aviation regulatory body, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), had ordered a detailed probe regarding the incident, the aviation body said. (ANI)

Border Security Force (BSF) troops shot down a Pakistani drone along the Indo-Pak border which intruded on the Amritsar sector in the intervening night of February 2 to February 3 at 2:30 AM.

The drone entered the area of responsibility of the Border Observation Post (BOP) Rear Kakkar in the Amritsar sector of Punjab, said BSF.
The drone was recovered on Friday morning along with a packet of contraband between the border fence and the zero line, said the BSF officials.

Further investigation is in process.

Earlier on Thursday, the BSF suspected drone activity at the Indo-Pak border near the Mumbeke village of Fazilka district in Punjab in the early hours of Wednesday. The troops intercepted the drone by firing and recovered 2.622 Kilograms of heroin.

On 01st February 2023, during night hours, Border Security Force (BSF) troops deployed at the border heard a buzzing sound and blinking red light of a suspected drone entering from Pakistan into Indian territory in the area near its bordering Village – Mumbeke in Fazilka.

As per the drill, troops tried to intercept the drone by firing. The whole area was cordoned and Police & concerned sister agencies were informed.

Further, during the search of the area, BSF troops recovered three packets of contraband, suspected to be heroin weighing 2.622 kilograms, along with a blinker device from a wheat field near village Mumbeke.

Further, during the search of the surrounding area near the bordering Village – Kabul Shah, BSF troops recovered another three packets of contraband, suspected to be heroin weighing 2.612 kilograms along with a blinker device packed together, from a wheat field.

The recovered suspected narcotics substance is six packets with a gross weight of 5.234 Kgs and two blinker devices. Both blinker devices had two batteries attached to each of them.

Stay Tuned with you for more updates. (ANI)