Modi Partition Horrors Remembrance Day

‘Days of Rate Card For Jobs Gone’: Modi Takes A Dig At Lalu, Mamata

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday targeted parties opposed to BJP including the Congress, Trinamool Congress and RJD and said there are dynastic parties that indulge “in nepotism and corruption” while the BJP-led government works to safeguard the future of the youth.

Addressing the National Rozgar Mela via video conferencing in which he distributed about 70,000 appointment letters to new appointees in various government departments and organizations, PM Modi said the entire world is eager to partner with India in its growth journey today.
In his speech, the Prime Minister talked about the ills of “dynasty politics and nepotism in the recruitment process” without taking the name of any political party.

In an apparent reference to reports about the probe into teacher recruitment scam in West Bengal revealing “rate card” for appointment to group D and group C services in municipalities and municipal corporations, he cautioned the youth about political parties “which engage in dynastic politics and loot the youth in the name of jobs”. The “scam” took place during Trinamool Congress government headed by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

“One one side there are dynastic parties, those who indulge in corruption, indulge in the loot of the youth. Their way is ‘rate card’ while we work for safeguarding the bright future of the youth. The rate cards destroy your dreams while we are working to fulfil the dreams. The country will decide whether the future of the youth will be governed by the rate card or by the safeguard,” he said.

“How a rate card was prepared for every job posting similar to that of a menu card in a restaurant,” he asked.

PM Modi also took potshots at former Railway Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad over the “land-for-jobs scam” and said the case is being investigated by CBI and is pending in courts.

He also took a veiled dig at the Congress-led government, saying “scam and misuse of the public money was the hallmark of governance” earlier.

“Today, India is known for its political stability which means a lot in today’s world. Today, the Government of India is recognized as a decisive government. Today, the government is known for its progressive economic and social decisions,” he said, adding that global agencies are acknowledging the work in ease of living, infrastructure building and ease of doing business,” he said.

The Prime Minister talked about the various initiatives of the government that have led to the creation of jobs and emphasized that compared to a decade ago, India is a more stable, safe and strong country.

He recalled the time when scam and misuse of the public was the hallmark of governance in earlier times.

PM Modi said that the global agencies are acknowledging the work in ease of living, infrastructure building and ease of doing business.

Noting that India has made huge investments in its physical and social infrastructure, PM Modi talked about the government’s efforts to ensure safe drinking water through the Jal Jeevan Mission.

He informed that about Rs 4 lakh crore are being spent on Jal Jeevan Mission.

“At the time of its inception, on average, 15 out of 100 rural habitats had piped water and now the number has risen to 62 out of every 100 households. And the work is going on at a rapid pace.” There are an estimated 130 districts that have reported full coverage of piped water.

“This is resulting in saving time and freedom from many waterborne diseases. Studies have shown that clean water has prevented about 4 lakh diarrhoea-related deaths and financial savings of 8 lakh crore rupees of people which were spent in managing water and treatment of diseases,” PM Modi said.

He also talked about the multiplier effect of the government schemes. (ANI)

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Jaishankar on Multilateralism

Jaishankar, G20 Delegates Visit Holy Site of Sarnath

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited the sacred Buddhist temple of Sarnath in Varanasi alongwith the G20 delegates. The G20 delegates are present in Varanasi to attend G20 Development Ministers’ Meeting that was held on Monday.

EAM Jaishankar along with the G20 delegates visited Sarnath on Tuesday. This is the third day that the G20 delegates are present in Varanasi. The Development Ministers’ Meeting was a three-day long event that started on Sunday.

On Sunday, a day before the DMM, the delegates to the G20 Development Ministers’ Meeting and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar took part in the Ganga Arti ritual at the Dashashwamedh Ghat in Varanasi.

The smooth glistening pillar established by Emperor Ashoka in 273-232 B.C. marks the foundation of the Buddhist Sangha, and the Lion Capital atop this pillar is now India’s National Emblem.

Earlier, the delegates were welcomed in a traditional way at Namo Ghat. Seeing the cultural artists dance, the delegates also shook a leg. Following this, they boarded the cruise vessel and reached Dashashmaved Ghat. During the Aarti, there was a special Shankhnaad for the guests.

A day after the official event of the Development Minister’s Meeting took place, the delegates were taken to see the ancient and archaeological site of Sarnath.

The archaeological remains of Sarnath started attracting scholars in the 19th century. In the recent past, the Sarnath Circle of Archaeological Survey of India has been taking care of the excavation work in Sarnath.

The Archaeological site showcases the grandeur of ancient times. An open exhibition of structures like Mulagandha Kuti Vihar remains, Dharmrajika Stupa remains, Dhamek Stupa, Ashokan Column, monuments, relics, and monasteries from the Mauryan period are showcased here.

Sarnath, 10km from Varanasi, is one of the most revered Buddhist pilgrimage centres. It is believed that after attaining Enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, it was here that Lord Buddha preached his first sermon, sanctified as Maha Dharm Chakra Parivartan.

The great Dhamekh Stupa and several other structures stand testimony to the importance the place enjoyed at that time.

The Chaukhandi Stupa is the place where, during his first visit to Sarnath, Lord Buddha met his first five disciples.

The area is a treasure trove of archaeological findings such as Dharmrajika Stupa and Mulgandhkuti Vihar. (ANI)

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Rajeev Chandrasekhar

Twitter Ex-CEO: India Put Pressure On Twitter During Farmers Protest; Govt Rejects Claim

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Tuesday rejected Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey’s claim that the Indian government put pressure on the microblogging platform to block accounts covering the farmers’ protests terming it as an “an outright lie” and “an attempt to brush out the very dubious period” of the social media company’s history.

In an interview with YouTube channel ‘Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar’, on Monday, Dorsey who stepped down from Twitter’s board last year, alleged that the Indian government had put pressure on Twitter and said that it will shut down the company in India and raid the houses of its employees.

“…..India is one of the countries which had many requests around farmers protests, around particular journalists which were critical of the government and it manifested in ways such as we will shut Twitter down in India, India is a big marketplace for us. We would raid the homes of your employees, which they did and we will shut down your offices if you don’t follow suit and this is India, a democratic country, ” Dorsey is heard saying in the interview to the YouTube channel.

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar today said that Twitter under Jack Dorsey and his team were “in repeated and continuous violations of Indian law and that they complied only after June 2022.

“No one went to jail nor was twitter shutdown,” he said in a tweet.

He took to Twitter today to post: “This is an outright lie by @jack- perhaps an attempt to brush out that very dubious period of twitters history. @twitter undr Dorsey n his team were in repeated n continuous violations of India law. As a matter of fact they were in non-compliance with the law repeatedly from 2020 to 2022 and it was only June 2022 when they finally complied. No one went to jail nor was twitter shutdown,” he wrote.

He further said that Dorsey’s Twitter regime had a problem accepting the sovereignty of Indian law.

“It behaved as if the laws of India did not apply to it. India as a sovereign nation has the right to ensure that its laws are followed by all companies operating in India,” Rajeev Chandrasekhar wrote.

Referring to the farmer’s protest in January 2021, he said that since there was a lot of misinformation the government of India was obligated to remove such information from the platform because it had the potential to further inflame the situation based on fake news.

“During the protests in January 2021, there was a lot of misinformation and even reports of genocide which were definitely fake. GoI was obligated to remove misinformation from the platform because it had the potential to further inflame the situation based on fake news. Such was the level of partisan behaviour on Twitter under Jack regime, that they had a problem removing misinformation from the platform in India, when they did it themselves when similar events took place in the USA,” Chandrasekhar said in his tweet.

He further clarified that no one was raided or sent to jail the focus was to ensure compliance with Indian laws.

“To set the record straight, no one was raided or sent to jail. Our focus was only on ensuring compliance with Indian laws. There is ample evidence now in public domain abt Jack twitter’s arbitrary, blatantly partisan n discriminatory conduct and misuse of its power on its platform during that period,” he wrote.

“Twitter under Dorsey was not just violating Indian law, but was partisan in how it was using “deamplify” n deplatforming of some arbitrarily in violation of Art 14,19 of our constitution and also assisting in weaponising of misinformation. Our govts policies remain clear for all Intermediaries operating in India – compliance with laws to ensure the Internet is Safe&Trusted, Accountable,” he wrote further.

In November 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the repeal of the three Central farm laws.

In his address to the nation, PM Modi said then, “Today I want to tell everyone that we have decided to repeal all three farm laws.”

Farmers staged a protest in large numbers against the government’s three farm laws since the Centre passed the laws in 2020.

The three farm laws are — The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act provides for setting up a mechanism allowing the farmers to sell their farm produces outside the Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs). Any licence-holder trader can buy the produce from the farmers at mutually agreed prices. This trade of farm produces will be free of mandi tax imposed by the state governments.

The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act allows farmers to do contract farming and market their produces freely.

The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act is an amendment to the existing Essential Commodities Act. (ANI)

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Cyclone Biparjoy

Cyclone Biparjoy: Mumbai Airport ‘Closely Monitoring Situation’

In view of the impending Cyclone Biparjoy, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) has undertaken all precautionary measures as per the standard protocols, as a part of its monsoon contingency plan, Mumbai airport said on Monday.

CSMIA is closely monitoring the situation and is prepared to activate all necessary measures to mitigate any potential operational impact in case of inclement weather conditions to facilitate safe operations, it added.

As a result of the inclement weather, passengers are requested to contact their respective airlines for the status of their flights, the airport said.

Mumbai Airport has also successfully completed the recarpeting of the secondary runway 14/32 as per schedule, and has been made operational since 10th June, 2023. With both runways now fully operational before monsoons set in, the flexibility has ensured no disruption to flight movements in case of crosswinds, thus solidifying our commitment to airside operational safety and efficient flight operations.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) on Monday said that it has deployed two of its teams in addition to the already available three teams in Mumbai as a precautionary measure against Cyclone Biporjay.

NDRF said that it has moved four other teams to Gujarat as it expects to have more impact over there.

“Due to Cyclone Biporjay, we have deployed two teams in addition to the already available three teams in Mumbai as a precautionary measure. Further, we have moved four other teams to Gujarat as Cyclone Biporjay is expected to have more impact over there. Additionally, our teams at Pune are also ready,” an official statement said.

Earlier today Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an orange alert for Saurashtra and Kutch coasts in Gujarat in view of the extremely severe cyclonic storm “Biparjoy” over the east-central and adjoining northeast Arabian Sea.

An IMD release mentioned of storm surge warning in Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka, Porbandar, Jamnagar and Morbi districts of Gujarat and said a storm surge of about 2 -3 m above the astronomical tide is likely to inundate the low-lying areas of the districts during the time of landfall.

“Damage expected over Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka, Porbandar, Jamnagar, Morbi & Junagarh and Rajkot districts of Gujarat on June 15. Total destruction of thatched houses/ extensive damage to kutcha houses. Some damage to Pucca houses. The potential threat from flying objects,” it said.

The India Meteorological Department said the cyclone is very likely to move nearly northward till June 14 morning, then move north-northeastwards and cross Saurashtra and Kutch and adjoining Pakistan coasts between Mandvi (Gujarat) and Karachi (Pakistan) near Jakhau Port (Gujarat) by noon of June 15 as a very severe cyclonic storm with maximum sustained wind speed of 125-135 kmph gusting to 150 kmph.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday held a meeting to review the situation related to Cyclone Biparjoy. (ANI)

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India Wholesale Inflation Up

Retail Inflation Eases To Two-Year Low At 4.25%

Retail inflation in India further eased sharply in May to 4.25 per cent, hitting a two-year low. It was at 4.7 per cent in April and 5.7 per cent the previous month.

The inflation index for rural and urban was 4.17 per cent and 4.27 per cent, respectively. The sub-index for oils and fats, fruits declined in May, data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Monday revealed.

Retail inflation or (Consumer Price Index) in India peaked at 7.8 per cent in April 2022 to a two-year low now, driven by a reduction in food and core inflation. In some advanced countries, inflation had in fact touched a multi-decade high and even breached the 10 per cent mark.

RBI’s consistent monetary policy tightening since mid-2022 could be attributed to the substantial decline in inflation numbers in India. India’s retail inflation was above RBI’s 6 per cent target for three consecutive quarters and had managed to fall back to the RBI’s comfort zone only in November 2022.

Under the flexible inflation targeting framework, the RBI is deemed to have failed in managing price rises if the CPI-based inflation is outside the 2-6 per cent range for three quarters in a row.

Meanwhile, RBI’s monetary policy committee last week unanimously decided to keep the repo rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent. The repo rate is the rate of interest at which RBI lends to other banks.

Barring the recent pause, the RBI has raised the repo rate by 250 basis points cumulatively since May 2022 in the fight against inflation.

Raising interest rates is a monetary policy instrument that typically helps suppress demand in the economy, thereby helping the inflation rate decline

A consistent decline in inflation (currently at an 18-month low) and its potential for further decline may have prompted the central bank to put the brake on the key interest rate again.

Further, RBI lowered India’s inflation projection for 2023-24 to 5.1 per cent against its April estimate of 5.2 per cent.

On a quarterly basis, retail inflation (or Consumer Price Index) in Q1 is seen at 4.6 per cent, Q2 at 5.2 per cent, Q3 at 5.4 per cent, and Q4 at 5.2 per cent, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said Thursday while reading out the monetary policy statement after a three-day deliberation.

“Let me re-emphasise that headline inflation still remains above the target and being within the tolerance band is not enough. Our goal is to achieve the target of 4.0 per cent, going forward,” Das said.

Coming to India’s wholesale inflation, it turned negative in April at minus 0.92 per cent. This has happened for the first time since July 2020.

Wholesale inflation has been easing and in March it was at 1.34 per cent against 3.85 per cent in February.

Overall wholesale inflation was at 8.39 in October and has been falling since then. Notably, the wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation had been in double digits for 18 months in a row till September.

In April, the decrease in inflation is mainly attributed to the decline in food articles, cereals, wheat, vegetables, potato, fruits, eggs meat and fish, minerals, crude petroleum and natural gas, and steel, among others.

Wholesale inflation for May will be released later this week. (ANI)

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Uttarakhand Mahapanchayat

Owaisi Demands Ban On Uttarakhand June 15 Mahapanchayat

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday demanded a ban on Mahapanchayat proposed to be held by right-wing groups in Uttarakhand on June 15.

Taking to Twitter AIMIM president said, “The mahapanchayat to be held on 15th June should be banned immediately! Security should be provided to the people living there. Arrangements should be made to bring back the people who have migrated from there.”

Meanwhile, Owaisi also reminded the BJP government that it is their job to send the culprits to jail and restore peace.

“It is the job of the government to send the culprits to jail and peace should be established soon,” he said.

Uttarkashi town in the State recently witnessed tensions over an alleged abduction attempt on a 14-year-old girl by two men, including one from the minority community, last month, police said. Both men have been subsequently arrested.

Right-wing groups planned to hold Mahapanchayat in Uttarkashi’s Purola on June 15.

Uttarakhand Police on Monday said that strict legal action would be initiated against those violating law and order and assured that they are conducting flag marches and taking other measures in areas in the State, which has been seeing tensions between communities.

Some right-wing groups protested in front of shops that belonged to members of the minority community. Amid the tensions, people belonging to the minority community appealed to the police administration to provide security and allow them to continue their businesses. (ANI)

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Ghazipur Landfill Fire

Massive Fire Breaks Out At Ghazipur Landfill Site in NCR

A massive fire broke out at the Ghazipur landfill site in Uttar Pradesh on Monday, said the officials.

According to the Delhi Fire Service officials, 13 fire tenders are at the spot.

“The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained,” added the officials.

The area was filled with huge clouds of smoke enveloping the area and other regions.

Further details are awaited.

On Sunday, a fire broke out at a factory in Delhi’s Kirti Nagar Industrial Area, officials said.

Upon receiving the information, various firefighters engaged in an operation to douse the fire. (ANI)

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Sonnalli Seygall Mehendi

Sonnalli Seygall Shares Mehendi Pics, Check The Link

New bride in town Sonnalli Seygall on Monday shared new pictures from her mehendi ceremony.

Taking to Instagram, Sonnalli treated fans with new pictures from her wedding diaries.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CtZDaF2MAug/

In the pictures, Sonnall can be seen wearing a mustard kurta with mirrorwork and red-toned palazzo pants and a contrasting dupatta.

She kept her hair open and wore a mang tikka to compliment the occasion.

The groom, on the other hand, twinning with Sonnalli wore red embroiled red kurta and white pyjama.

Sharing the pictures, she wrote, “Mehendi ni mehendi.”

Sonnalli and Ashesh L Sajnani exchanged vows at a Gurdwara in Santa Cruz West in Mumbai on June 7. They opted for a daytime wedding. For the special day, Sonnalli wore a pastel pink saree. She accentuated her bridal look with pink chooda, silver kaleeras and silver diamond jewellery.

Ashesh was dressed in an off-white sherwani. He paired his outfit with a pink turban. Sharing the first official wedding pictures, Sonnalli took to Instagram and wrote, “Sabr & Shukr.”

The wedding was attended by the who’s who of Bollywood including Kartik Aaryan, Sunny Singh, director Luv Ranjan, Shama Sikander, Mandira Bedi and Raai Laxmi.

Sonnalli and Ashesh had been dating for quite some time now. The couple never talked about each other before their wedding reports came out.

Sonnalli rose to fame in 2011 with her role in Luv Ranjan’s ‘Pyaar Ka Punchnama’. Before entering the film industry, she was a ramp model and had also participated in Miss India Worldwide competition. After appearing in ‘Pyaar Ka Punchnama’, she was featured in films like ‘High Jack’, ‘Ishq Da Rog’ and ‘Jai Mummy Di’ among many others. (ANI)

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India Pakistan World Cup Fixture

Ahmedabad To Host India-Pakistan World Cup Cricket Match

The blockbuster India-Pakistan match during the ODI World Cup later this year is set to be played in Ahmedabad on October 15, ESPNcricifo reported citing draft schedule of the tournament shared by BCCI with ICC.

The report said India will play their campaign opener against Australia in Chennai. The 2019 World Cup finalists England and New Zealand are set to face off in the tournament opener on October 5.

According to ESPNcricinfo, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared the draft schedule with the ICC and the draft was sent to the participating countries for feedback before a final schedule is put out early next week.

The draft schedule does not mention the venues for the semi-finals likely to be played on November 15 and 16.

The final is likely to be played on November 19 in Ahmedabad.

According to the report, India are scheduled to play their league matches across nine venues.

India will play their campaign on October 8 against Australia followed by a match against Afghanistan in Delhi on October 11. After the game with Pakistan in Ahmedabad on October 15, the fourth game will be against New Zealand in Dharamshala on October 22 followed by that against England on October 29, the report said, citing the draft schedule.

The final two teams of the World Cup 2023 will be decided on the basis of Qualifier tournament to be played in Zimbabwe from June 18 to July 9.

India’s seventh and ninth opponent is yet to be decided and the matches are slated for November 2 in Delhi and November 11 in Bengaluru respectively, according to the draft schedule. India are slated to play South Africa on November 5.

The report also mentioned Pakistan fixtures and said these will be held across five venues during the league phase. (ANI)

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‘Syllabus Change Is Fine, But It Will Affect Those Sitting For Competitive Exams’

Aditya Tripathi, an educator in Uttar Pradesh, says the syllabus revision should have also taken on board other institutions that hold competitive exams post-Class X and XII. His views:

The NCERT syllabus has been revised with an aim to reduce the burden on the students of Class 10 and 12. You can hear voices in the media from academic and political circles criticizing this move. I shall not like to comment on that part of it because when you see anything from a political lens, there will always be differences of opinion. My concerns here will be limited only to how this move impacts the students and their parents.

The major concern is that most students appear for competitive examinations after clearing their board exams, that is Grade 10 and 12. There is no clarity if the competitive authorities holding exams will take into account the changes made in school syllabus while framing their set of question papers. So, in my opinion the NCERT officials should have resolved this factor before revising the curriculum, or timed it better.

School syllabus is so intrinsically interrelated that even a small change can upset the carefully laid applecart. Take, for example the syllabus of Chemistry. Subjects like Polymer Chemistry and Structure of Solid form a major chunk of questions in competitive examinations. These two subjects have been removed from the studies now. This leaves the students with no options than to join a coaching institute or hire a tutor to study the deleted parts.

ALSO READ: ‘School Syllabus Isn’t A Holy Book Cast In Stone’

Thus while the objective of reducing the burden (of class 10th and 12th students) is served by the revision, it has also created confusion among students whether the competitive exams will also follow the new structure. There is no clarity if the deletions will also be applicable to various entrance examinations to reputed institutions. Thus, ideally the deletions should have been comprehensive, covering the scope of various competitive exams and by taking everyone on the board.

This syllabus revision has also come as an additional burden on the parents who have to pay several lakhs to dummy/integrated schools, coaching classes and private tuitions to bridge the gap. Though boards like CBSE do not recognize or list dummy schools, but parents do not have a choice in this matter. Already, I am receiving queries from many parents for `remedies’ but I am myself still dumb stuck as there is little clarity on the subject.

The second matter of concern is the examinations of current academic session (2023–24) for which the dates have been revised to Feb–March 2024. It will be a Herculean task to complete the syllabus with the new changes, prepare the students for taking examinations. As far as I can perceive, the rescheduling of the examination dates have been done so as not to clash with the upcoming general elections scheduled in May next year.

Overall, I somewhat agree with the justification of the NCERT that the difficulty level of the new content is not very high, and the same can be learnt by students without intervention from the teachers. I have always been of the view that with the advancement of students to higher classes, the interference of teachers in the learning process should gradually decrease.

(The narrator has been a teacher at a Kota institute and is currently the Principal of Amarnath Inter College)

As told to Rajat Rai