March 2023 - Page 34 of 63 - Lokmarg

India Is Not Congress’ Fiefdom Anymore: Rijiju on Rahul’s Remark

By LokMarg 16th March 2023

Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his remarks on India in the UK and said that citizens cannot remain silent over the “defamation” of the country.

Cannot digest this fact.
While talking to ANI, Rijiju said, “If Rahul Gandhi says something and Congress gets into trouble because of that, we have nothing to do with it. But if he defames our country, then as the citizens of this country, we can’t be quiet.”

He added, ” Abuse us as much as you want but we can’t let you insult the nation. Rahul has insulted the judiciary, our judicial system is a robust one. The only demand is that Rahul will have to apologize to the country for insulting it. India is not their fiefdom anymore, they can’t digest this fact.”

He further added that Rahul can say whatever he wants but nobody can insult the country.

“I’m an MP elected to the Parliament so how can I keep quiet,” he further added.

“Congress and Rahul have been rejected by the people of this country. He has undermined the reputation of our democracy and Parliament..it is not acceptable,” he stated.

Rijiju alleged that Rahul lied that he wasn’t allowed to speak in Parliament. “He (Rahul) led a yatra as per the wishes – then he is saying, he wasn’t allowed to speak?”

“Being an MP in Parliament he (Rahul) has shamed the Parliament, that’s most unfortunate,” Rijiju said.

RijijU further said, “All anti-India forces speak the same language- Rahul speaks the same language as them.”

“Modi became a Prime Minister because of the blessings of the people of the country. Talking about the representative of 140 crore Indians is unacceptable,” he stated.

On Wednesday, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha faced disruptions for the third successive day with Congress and other opposition parties insisting on their demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the Adani-Hindenburg row and the BJP members seeking an apology from Rahul Gandhi over his remarks made in London.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, while addressing a lecture at Cambridge University in London recently, said, “Everybody knows and it’s been in the news a lot that Indian democracy is under pressure and under attack. I am an Opposition leader in India, we are navigating that (Opposition) space.”

“The institutional framework which is required for a democratic Parliament, free press, the judiciary, just the idea of mobilisation, moving around all are getting constrained. So, we are facing an attack on the basic structure of Indian democracy,” he had added. (ANI)

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Idol Of Ram Lalla Will Be Placed At Its Original Place In Ayodhya Next January

By LokMarg 16th March 2023

The idol of Lord Ram Lalla will be placed at its original place in the upcoming temple in Ayodhya in the third week of January 2024, said Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra treasurer Swami Govind Dev Giri Maharaj on Wednesday.

Maharaj came to Dombivli in Maharashtra to inaugurate various programs on Wednesday.
While talking to the media persons, Maharaj said, “The work of Lord Ramchandra’s temple in Ayodhya is going on very fast and well. At present, the work of the temple is 70 per cent complete… We are sure that Ramlalla will be installed at that original place in the third week of January 2024 and arrangements will be made for devotees to visit and offer prayers from that day itself.”

“Our target is to complete the work on the sancturn sanctorum, a first floor and arrangements for darshan while the work of the rest of the temple’s craftsmanship will continue,” he added.

On November 9, 2019, a five-judge Supreme Court bench led by then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi ruled in favour of Ram Lalla and said that the entire disputed land spread over 2.7 acres will be handed over to a trust formed by the government, which will monitor the construction of a Ram Temple at the site.

In February 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the constitution of Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra, to oversee the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

On August 5, 2020, PM Modi performed the Bhoomi puja for the construction of the Ram Temple. (ANI)

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Nepal PM’s Official Twitter Account Hacked

By LokMarg 16th March 2023

Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s official Twitter handle @PM_Nepal was hacked in the early hours of Thursday.

In his Twitter account, instead of Dahal’s profile, the BLUR account, which is a Non-Fungible Token Marketplace for Pro Traders is seen.
On the Twitter account, @PM_Nepal pinned a tweet regarding the NFT which read, “The Summoning has been started. Get your BAKC/SewerPass ready and get down in the pit! https://thesummoning.party.”

The account has 690.1K followers. (ANI)

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Mumbai: 10 Hospitalised, 80 Rescued In Mulund Building Fire

By LokMarg 16th March 2023

Around 80 persons were rescued while ten, including three children, were hospitalised after a fire broke out at a seven-storey residential building in Mumbai’s Mulund on Wednesday, an official said.

The incident happened at Jagruti society in Mulund West on March 15 at around 2:55 pm.
“Total of 80 persons were rescued by BMC’s Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) from the staircase to the terrace and a few were brought down to the ground floor, out of which 10 persons were found unconscious state at the staircase, they were removed and sent to Agrawal Hospital” said the official statement.

It further said, “The fire was confined to electric wiring, electric installation, electric main cables, all meters, all switches etc. in a common electric meter cabin on the ground floor plus upper seven floored residential building.”

The fire was extinguished by BMC’s Mumbai Fire Brigade.

“Due to fire, the entire staircase was filled with smoke and some residents were trapped in the lobby,” said an official statement.

The ten persons admitted to a nearby hospital and are currently in stable condition, an official said. (ANI)

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Modi Holds Meet With Top Ministers In Parliament

By LokMarg 16th March 2023

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday held a meeting with his top ministers in Parliament.

The minister included Union Minister of Coal Pralhad Joshi, Commerce, and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister Information, and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur.
Today is the fourth day of the second leg of the Budget session of Parliament.

On Wednesday, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha faced disruptions for the third successive day with Congress and other opposition parties insisting on their demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the Adani-Hindenburg row while the BJP members seeking an apology from Rahul Gandhi over his remarks made in London.

“The institutional framework which is required for a democratic Parliament, free press, the judiciary, just the idea of mobilization, moving around all are getting constrained. So, we are facing an attack on the basic structure of Indian democracy,” he had added. (ANI)

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Mehbooba Temple Visit Sparks Row, She Says India Secular

By LokMarg 16th March 2023

People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday visited a temple in the Poonch district and offered prayers.

While the Bharatiya Janata Party termed the temple visit a “political gimmick”, a clutch of Muslim clerics derided the action.

Reacting her temple visit, Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday said, “We live in a secular country where Ganga, Yamuna and different cultures exist.”

PDP chief further said, “When I was inside the temple one of the devotees gave me a vessel containing water in my hand and asked me to offer water on Shivling.”

“When someone is offering you so much love and asking you to do something you can’t break their heart. So it would have been wrong to deny it so I offered prayers. I don’t find anything wrong,” PDP Chief said.

She said, “This is the country of Ganga and Yamuna, where Hindu-Muslim lives with love.”

Earlier in the day, BJP leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Kavinder Gupta said, “I have also just come from the temple but the news is about her (Mehbooba Mufti) because she is doing something different.” It is very obvious when elections are coming they start doing these kinds of “drama and gimmickry,” he added.(ANI)

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Can Li Qiang Deliver On Chinese Economy Front?

By LokMarg 16th March 2023

President Xi Jinping named Li Qiang, a close confidant, as the country’s next Premier, nominally in charge of the world’s second-largest economy, now facing some of its worst prospects in years. He takes on the job even as the authority of the Premier and the State Council, China’s Cabinet, has been steadily eroded by Xi as he shifts more powers to bodies directly under the ruling Communist Party.

Qiang Li is known for overseeing Shanghai’s harsh COVID-19 lockdown, which had major economic consequences. His promotion shows that loyalty to Xi now seems to matter more than competence in economic governance. Moreover, unlike previous Premiers, Li has had never held office at the national level before being elected to the Chinese Communist Party’s top leadership. Questions are being raised over his experience in running China’s vast economy, given that he skipped the traditional intermediary step of serving a term as Vice Premier before becoming Premier.

Chinese Premiers have traditionally been in charge of the Chinese economy, but this position has been weakened under Xi, who centralized power over the past decade. As Premier, Li oversees the State Council, Xi has deprived him of substantive powers by, for example, strengthening the party’s Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs.

Many overseas analysts believe that Li, who was Xi’s de facto chief of staff in Zhejiang province from 2004-07, will mainly play the role of implementer, rather than be tasked with reshaping the country’s development course. In the long run, few expect Li to be able to resurrect the strong reformist premierships of the past, such as those of Wen Jiabao under Xi’s predecessor Hu Jintao, or Zhu Rongji under the late president Jiang Zemin.

Xi, ever careful about his position at the head of the party, is expected to keep Li on a tight rein. The potential for unpredictability is going to remain a chronic risk with Xi in charge and especially with a leadership team comprised entirely of his allies. China’s economy grew just 3 per cent last year, and on the opening day of the NPC, the Government set a modest growth target of about 5 per cent for 2023, its lowest goal in nearly three decades.

Li’s top task this year will be beating that target without triggering serious inflation or piling on debt. While China has not signalled plans to unleash stimulus to jump-start growth, potential setbacks such as a collapse in exports or persistent weakness in the property sector could force Li’s hand. Li can make some repairs here and there, but he is not expected to tear down the wall and build something new. It is unlikely that Li Qiang would serve as a counterweight to Xi’s efforts to control the economy.

It is very doubtful whether Li himself will have the authority to further develop Deng Xiaoping’s reform and open door policy, the decades-long process of opening up that has appeared to be threatened under Xi. Historically, Li has shown himself to be a pragmatist with a strong business-oriented mindset. Still, his relatively low profile until recently has left the market scrambling for signs or indications of how he would manage far more sophisticated domestic issues while countering US decoupling pressure at the central-government level.

Questions remain over how he is likely to reconcile his policies with Xi’s long-term targets of self-reliance and shared prosperity, and how far he could push the reform of the fast-ageing and debt-ridden economy to bring back sustainable growth in the face of external headwinds.

All eyes would be on how Li will shape the economic policy as the economy navigates a growing array of challenges, including sluggish consumption, rising unemployment, a downturn in the housing market, lack of business confidence, local governments’ debt distress, an ageing population and increasing tension with the US over technology sanctions. In addition to lingering economic headaches, he will face an urgent need to prevent overseas orders from falling, while also considering contingency plans if relations keep deteriorating with some of China’s top export destinations and sources of technological expertise.

Xi’s new term and the appointment of loyalists to top posts underscores his near-total monopoly on Chinese political power, eliminating any potential opposition to his hyper-nationalistic agenda of building China into the top political, military and economic rival to the US and the chief authoritarian challenge to the Washington-led democratic world order.

Xi’s choice of appointees indicates that China’s economic prospects increasingly depend more on politics than supply and demand dynamics. Party cadres and officials at all levels of government will likely prioritize loyalty to Xi rather than the commitment to reform and opening up initiated by China’s last transformational leader, Deng Xiaoping, in 1978.

The weakened position of economic expertise is readily apparent in the new Politburo and its Standing Committee. There is actually precious little systematic economic knowledge among the members of the Standing Committee. (ANI)

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Amrita Arora Pens Adorable Wish On Hubby B’day

By LokMarg 16th March 2023

Actor Amrita Arora, on Wednesday, penned an adorable birthday wish for her husband Shakeel Ladak.

Taking to Instagram, Amrita shared a couple of pictures which she captioned, “Happpy happiest birthday my forever boy! No one like you celebrate you today n everyday @shaklad.”

In the picture, Amirta could be seen posing with her husband.

Soon after she shared the picture, her fans and friends flooded the comment section with red hearts and fire emoticons.

“Happy happy !! V good Confidence,” actor Kim Sharma commented.

Neha Dhupia wrote, “Happy anniversary amu n shak ! Love u guys.”

Saba Pataudi wrote, “Happy Anniversary @shaklad and @amuaroraofficial Love n Blessings Always.’

Amrita’s girl gang, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Karisma Kapoor and Malaika Arora also extended heartfelt wishes to Shakeel.

Kareena shared a picture on her stories and wrote, “Happy Birthday dearest Shak. Love you.”

Karisma Kapoor wrote, “Happy Birthday Shak.”

Malaika Arora shared a picture and wrote, “Happy birthday my darling shaq.”

Amrita and Shakeel recently completed 14 years of their marriage and the couple are doting parents to two sons — Azaan and Rayaan.

Amrita frequently post their mushy pictures on social media.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Amrita has been a part of several big Bollywood films like ‘Golmaal Returns’, ‘Kambakkht Ishq’, ‘Awaara Paagal Deewana’, ‘Kitne Door Kitne Paas’ and many more. (ANI)

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Pakistan – Hurtling From One Crisis To Another

By Mahendra Ved 16th March 2023

Pakistan has reached a precipice, going by the developments this week that point to an uncertain future. Commentators have for some time darkly warned of a fourth phase of Martial Law. But that is something one will have to wait till it actually happens — or does not happen.

It may not, if the much-vaunted ‘establishment’ pushes a via media among the squabbling politicians. The all-powerful army is silent. Its new Chief, Gen. Syed Aseem Munir, is silently settling down amidst calumny about its predecessor and the top army brass.

The saving grace from his standpoint is that the army remains both respected and feared. The politicians, even when they malign it or assert their democratic credentials, turn to it to clear the mess they accumulate — with or without the army’s contribution — from time to time.

The attempt on March 15 to arrest former Prime Minister Imran Khan miserably failed and given the judicial intervention, is unlikely to be repeated. It seemed doomed from the beginning and raised doubts about the wisdom of the incumbent government, especially Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who has an enviable record, otherwise, of governing the populous and powerful Punjab for five years.

It has made Khan a hero and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) could sweep the national elections and in the provinces, particularly Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, that seem likely to be held sooner than later.

But for that to happen, the ‘establishment’ will have to consider far too many factors, on which horse (or stable) to back. It has tried out the Bhutto-Zardaris and the Sharifs in the past and must evaluate Khan afresh.

For, Imran Khan is the latest of the army’s ‘proxies’ to turn rogue, to the extent of publicly asserting this month that he does “not need the establishment.” He has maligned it day in and day out since he lost power in April last year.

And yet, from within the confines of his home on March 15, with violence and protests raging outside, he asked the ‘establishment’ to withdraw support to the Sharif government if it wanted the political stalemate to end.

Out of power, Khan has retained political support, going by his bye-election victories. He enjoys support from the vocal middle classes. But the craze for Khan among many Pakistanis is emotional, and not rational.

Support has come from sections of polarized media; notice the way some respectable media outlets saw no difference between ‘firing’ and “firing of teargas shells” while reporting the standoff outside Khan’s Lahore residence.

Part of the confident and defiant show Khan put up came from the judiciary which has a record of acting in tandem with the army. One court ordered his arrest for failing to appear before it, and the other court halted or suspended the arrest when met with protests from Khan’s supporters. The judiciary has done and undone elections, poll schedules, even forced resignations of the prime minister, and much more, depending upon pressures coming from powerful quarters.

Khan is known to enjoy the support of sections of the army that abhors the two ‘dynasties’ and perhaps, thinks a charismatic Khan is a better horse to back, notwithstanding his famous “U-turns”. Everyone knows that his anti-military fulminations are bound to end the day general elections are announced. There will then be a scramble for support from the ‘institution’. The popular word for the favourite is ‘laadla’.

The ball remains in the army’s court – notice the way Shehbaz Sharif has belatedly joined in, long after Khan’s relentless attacks on the controversial former chief, Gen. Qaisar Javed Bajwa. Without saying it in so many words, principal contenders for power, it would seem, are looking to the current Chief to act.

What the “ides of March” and the coming weeks have in store for Pakistan, is not clear. But even the general elections, due in August anyway, may not solve the multiple issues confronting Pakistan. High on the long list is violence by militants unleashed at will by the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other groups.

The Sharif Government has so far failed to ease the economic distress with a tranche of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). That Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had to telephone the American Embassy in Islamabad seeking its intervention is an indicator.

The way the global lender has delayed it has brought the Sharif Government to its knees. The problem began with Khan who dragged his feet for nearly four years while engaging in anti-West rhetoric meant to please the domestic audiences. But this is precisely what feeds the political discourse in Pakistan and it is likely to heighten as the country nears elections.

Defence Min Introduces Bill In LS To Empower Joint Force Commanders

By LokMarg 15th March 2023

Working towards creation of theatre commands, Defence Ministry has introduced a bill in Lok Sabha to give disciplinary powers to commanders of tri services organisations over all the personnel from all three forces serving under them.

The bill – Inter-Services Organisations (Command, Control and Discipline) Bill, 2023 – also states that the central government may “by notification, constitute an Inter-services Organisation, which may include a Joint Services Command, comprising of units or service personnel who are subject to any of the Service Acts, as may be placed under the command of the Commander-in-Chief or, as the case may be, the Officer-in-Command.”
The bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on Wednesday by Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt amid din.

It has been introduced at a time in Parliament when the Defence Ministry is working on the creation of theatre commands to tackle threats in changing security environment. The post of Chief of Defence Staff has been created to work in this direction.

The bill seeks to “empower the Commander-in-Chief or the Officer-in-Command of Inter-services Organisations in respect of service personnel who are subject to the Air Force Act, 1950, the Army Act, 1950 and the Navy Act, 1957, who are serving under or attached to his command, for the maintenance of discipline and proper discharge of their duties” and for related matters.

The bill also states the Commander-in-Chief or, as the case may be, Officer-in-Command of an Inter-services Organisation, shall be the head of such Inter-services Organisation and shall exercise command and control over the personnel serving in or attached to that Inter-services Organisation, for the purpose of maintenance of discipline and proper discharge of their duties.

CDS Gen Anil Chauhan has been working with the three services chiefs to create the operational tri- services organisations or theatre commands to strengthen the forces to fight future battles.

He has been briefing top brass of the government on the work being done in the direction of improving jointness and increasing integration among the forces as directed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The bill was introduced amid din over demand of BJP members for apology from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his remarks in London and the opposition’s demand for a JPC probe in Adani-Hindenburg row.

The statement of the objects and reasons of the bill states that a need arises to empower the Commander-in-Chief and Officer-inCommand of the Inter-services Organisations to exercise control over the service personnel serving under or attached under their command, for maintenance of discipline and proper discharge of their duties,without disturbing the unique service conditions or amending the Service Acts.

The bill is an enabling legislation, which empowers the Heads of the Inter-services Organisations to exercise effective command, control and discipline on all personnel of regular Air Force, Army and Navy and to persons of other forces as notified by the Central Government, who are serving in or attached to an Inter-services Organisation, without amending the respective Acts. (ANI)