Author: LokMarg

Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas are on cloud nine as their newborn daughter Malti Marie is “finally home.”

On the occasion of Mother’s Day, Priyanka took to Instagram and shared the first photo of her baby, revealing that the little one had to be kept in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) for 100 days under observation.

“On this Mother’s Day we can’t help but reflect on these last few months and the rollercoaster we’ve been on, which we now know, so many people have also experienced. After 100 plus days in the NICU, our little girl is finally home. Every family’s journey is unique and requires a certain level of faith, and while ours was a challenging few months, what becomes abundantly clear, in retrospect, is how precious and perfect every moment is,” she wrote.

Priyanka also thanked doctors for taking proper care of Malti.

“We are overjoyed that our little girl is finally home, and just want to thank every doctor, nurse and specialist at Rady Children’s La Jolla and Cedar Sinai, Los Angeles, who were there selflessly every step of the way. Our next chapter begins now, and our baby is truly a badass. Let’s get it MM! Mommy and Daddy love you. Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers and caretakers in my life and out there. You make it look so easy. Thank you,” she added.

Priyanka did not forget to thank her hubby Nick for making her a mom.

“Also.. there is no one I’d rather do this with than you. Thank you for making me a mama @nickjonas I love you. Ps- thx @divya_jyoti masi for the picture and @akarikalai masi for MMs fit,” she concluded.

Speaking of the picture, it’s definitely a feast for the eyes. In the image, Priyanka is seen holding the baby girl in her arms while Nick looks at the little one. However, the mommy chose to hide the baby’s face by putting a white heart emoticon on the family picture.

Nick also shared the same photograph on his Instagram account and captioned it by thanking his wife Priyanka.

“Babe, you inspire me and every way, and you are taking to this new role with such ease and steadiness. I am so grateful to be on this journey with you. You are already an incredible mother. Happy Mother’s Day. I love you,” Nick wrote.

Priyanka and Nick, who tied the knot in 2018, had in January 2022 shared that they had welcomed a baby through surrogacy. (ANI)

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday predicted a heatwave for three days in Delhi and adjoining areas this week, adding that ‘April like situation’ may not arise in the month of May as a western disturbance is likely to bring down the temperature from May 13.

Speaking to ANI, Senior Scientist of Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) RK Jenamani said, ‘As of May 9, Delhi’s temperature has been within 40-42 degrees Celsius for the last seven days. So, there is a good wind condition. So, not much heatwave in the month of May month till now. There is a forecast that on the 11th, 12th and maybe 13th, for around three days we may have a heatwave at some places over Delhi. The temperature may reach 43-44 degrees on May 11-12.”
“Presently, most parts of north India is not having a heatwave and in the first 10 days of May, we do not have a heatwave over the national capital, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. For Rajasthan, we will continue to see temperature around 44-45 degrees Celsius,” added Jenamani.

The IMD scientist predicted that Delhi, Haryana and Punjab will be hit by a western disturbance on May 13 which will keep the rising temperatures under control.

“From May 13, a western disturbance is advancing. It will not give rain but will keep the temperature under control, particularly in Delhi, Punjab and Haryana. The situation in the Western Himalayan region will be better. Around May 18, another western disturbance is set to advance. So, the April type of situation will not be there in May,” he added.

The national capital recorded the second-hottest April in the last 27 years with the temperature remaining above 40 degrees celsius. (ANI)

Under the garb of environmental protection, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Tibet is carrying out the oppression of the local nomads, and damming the numerous rivers that originate on the roof of the world, a media report said, calling the actions as ‘greenwashing’.

The term greenwashing, coined by environmentalist Jay Westerveld is the “practice of construing an activity as more environmentally friendly than it really is,” Global Order reported.
Since 2006, CCP has implemented large-scale programs to accelerate the relocation and sedentarization of the nomadic population, viewed by the authorities as ignorant, backward and irrational, whose ‘overgrazing’ caused significant damage to the Tibetan grassland ecosystem, the report said.

The traditional grazing practised by Tibetan nomads is crucial for Tibetan rangelands; their technique of moving their herd from summer pasture to winter pasture in a rotational fashion helps avoid overgrazing. This renews grasslands, improves wildlife habitats and helps sustain the Tibetan plateau, the report added.

The case of Pika is another related issue that hasn’t received the attention it deserves. Pika is a native small mammal, widely regarded as the keystone species for grassland biodiversity. However, a campaign that characterized pikas as a pest for their habits of eating vegetation and digging burrows underground and deteriorating grassland quality has been underway in the Tibetan plateau for the last 30 years.

Recently, China mobilized 10,000 people in the Ngapa area to poison and exterminate marmots from the grassland, claiming that they are causing grassland degradation. The truth is that this pika poisoning project has the potential to poison all the mammals and birds in the ecosystem that the Tibetan plateau sustains.

Another supposedly “green” policy that China is pursuing in Tibet has been of building a number of dams on the plateau, to reduce the country’s dependence on coal. However, the cost of the CCP’s megaprojects is being paid by the local Tibetans, in the form of disruption of their habitats as well as dislocation of people.

Lianghekou hydropower station, for instance, which is located in Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture was estimated to help reduce raw coal consumption by 13.3 million tons and carbon dioxide emission by 21.3 million tons per year, the report said.

However, beneath the veil of “green energy”, about 6,000 people across four counties were relocated and once it is fully completed by 2023, the Lianghekou dam will reportedly drown ancestral homes, Buddhist monasteries and sacred mountains.

China is also pursuing a policy of turning vast areas of Tibet into national parks, which is expected to be used as a pretext to remove even more Tibetans from their ancestral lands, the report said.

China announced the displacement of more than 1,000 Tibetans from a nature reserve in northern Tibet in 2018, which it called “high-altitude ecological migration”.

This act of driving away nomads from their lands involuntarily to “help degraded landscapes to recover and to improve the living standards of local people” is ironic given that these nomads have been the traditional land managers for thousands of years, the report said, adding, these moves are meant only to displace them to give way for mining and damming activities.

Unless the world comes together to hold China accountable for its environmental destruction in the plateau, the rhetoric of greenwashing will continue to wash away the environmental crimes it is committing in the world’s Third Pole, the report concluded. (ANI)

Local residents of Shaheen Bagh in the national capital protested as bulldozers rolled into the area for an anti-encroachment drive conducted by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC).

Locals were seen sitting on the roads and stopping the bulldozers as the demolition drive began with assistance provided by Delhi Police.

“We have gathered here to stop the bulldozers. If the government is talking about encroachment, were they not able to see the encroachment for 15 years? Why was the MCD and government sleeping for so long? Now when the MCD tenure is ending on May 18, they recall that there is encroachment,” said a social worker.

The Chairman of the SDMC’s standing committee (central zone) said that the municipality will do its work and the bulldozers have been organised for the purpose.

“Our workers and officials are ready. Teams and bulldozers have been organised. Encroachments will be removed wherever they are be it in Tughlakabad, Sangam Vihar, New Friends Colony or Shaheen Bagh,” the chairman said. (ANI)

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, on Monday, set social media abuzz with his latest Twitter post, where he talked about “dying under mysterious circumstances.”

This trademark cryptic tweet from the world’s richest man not only confused the entire Internet but also received a stern response from his mother, Maye Musk.
“If I die under mysterious circumstances, it’s been nice knowin ya,” tweeted Musk.

Elon’s mother Maye responded with a stern warning for her son, quoting the tweet and saying, “That’s not funny!” To which, Elon Musk replied, “Sorry! I will do my best to stay alive.”

Shortly after his mysterious tweet, Musk shared a post that seemed to be a communication stating that he is involved in aiding the ‘fascist forces in Ukraine’ with communication equipment from his Starlink satellite company.

Elon’s tweets have always attracted lots of responses from the netizens, including this one.

Here are some reactions.

Elon Musk recently bought out Twitter for USD 44 Billion. (ANI)

Pakistan reported 64 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, the country’s ministry of health said on Monday, pushing the overall tally of infections to 1,528,800.

This comes amid World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that suggest that the actual number of COVID-19 deaths in Pakistan was eight times the figure reported by the government.

A total of 30,375 people died from COVID-19 in Pakistan, with no more deaths recorded on Sunday, according to the ministry’s statistics.

On Sunday, 13,190 tests for COVID-19 were conducted in Pakistan while the positivity rate stood at 0.49 per cent.

Currently, there are 92 active cases that are in critical condition in the South Asian country. (ANI)

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) recently gave security clearance to the new promoters of Jet Airways to resume commercial operations in the country.

The Jalan-Kalrock consortium is currently the promoter of Jet Airways. The airline was owned by Naresh Goyal and operated its last flight on April 17, 2019.

“MHA gave security clearance to new promoters of Jet Airways last week. Jet Airways 2.0 plans to resume commercial flight operations in next few month,” MHA official to ANI.

The airline conducted a Hyderabad-Delhi positioning ferry flight on May 5, its first flight since April 17, 2019, when it ceased operations after it went bankrupt.

“This is to clarify and reiterate that Jet Airways operated a test flight in Hyderabad earlier today, and a positioning ferry flight to Delhi thereafter. These were not Jet Airways’ proving flights. We expect to schedule the proving flights in the coming days, which would be jointly determined with the DGCA,” spokesperson, Jalan-Kalrock Consortium said.

After the successful test flight, the CEO of Jet Airways 2.0 said that it was a very emotional moment for the entire Jet Airways family.

“A very emotional moment for all the wonderful folks who have been working hard to get Jet back in the skies. This was a test flight, not a proving flight. The aircraft will position to Delhi this evening. Proving flight to be scheduled in the coming days from Delhi,” Sanjiv Kapoor said.

Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal ran the airline for more than 20 years before it went bankrupt and was shut down completely on 17 April 2019.

In 2018 Jet Airways saw its worst financial times ever and the airline reported a negative financial outlook due to mounting losses.

“In March 2019 it was reported that nearly a quarter of Jet Airways’ planes were grounded due to unpaid lease rates. On 25 March 2019, Naresh Goyal and his wife Anita Goyal resigned from the board of directors,” said a former employee of jet airways.

However, the company is yet to clarify whether the airline is going to change the logo and colors of the entire fleet. (ANI)

After ‘Khalistan’ flags were found tied on the Himachal Pradesh Assembly main gate and walls, the state police on Sunday issued orders to seal the interstate borders.

Police registered an FIR under sections 153-A and 153-B of IPC, section 3 of HP Open Places (Prevention of Disfigurement) Act, 1985, and section 13 of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) at Dharamshala Police station after the ‘Khalistan’ flags incident.
Police booked banned outfit ‘Sikhs for Justice’ (SFJ) general counsel Gurpatwant Singh Pannun and called him the ‘main accused’ in the case.

“ADGP-CID, IG/DIG Ranges and District SPs have been directed to seal all interstate borders/barriers and keep strict vigil at the places of probable hideouts i.e. hotels and sarais etc. They have been directed to keep the Special Security Units (SsUs), Bomb Disposal Squads and Quick Reactions Teams (QRTs) in position and on high alert and strengthen the security of dams, railway stations, bus stands, towns, government building and vital installations,” the statement added.

The field formations have been directed to sensitize all the security staff and chowkidars of government buildings, banks, and public sector undertakings with regard to the threat and they may be advised to report any matter of concern to the local police station immediately.

Earlier in the day, ‘Khalistan’ flags were found tied on the main gate and boundary wall of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly in Dharamshala on Sunday morning.

Soon after the incident came to light, a police official informed that the flags were removed from the gates and walls.

Superintendent of Police, Kangra, Khushal Sharma said, “It might have happened late night or early morning today. We have removed the Khalistan flags from the Vidhan Sabha gate. It could be an act of some tourists from Punjab.” (ANI)

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday conducted raids at over a dozen locations in Mumbai against associates of Pakistan-based gangster Dawood Ibrahim and a few hawala operators.

The raids are being conducted in Nagpada, Goregaon, Borivali, Santacruz, Mumbra, Bhendi Bazar, and other places.

The probe agency said that it had registered a case against hawala operators and drug peddlers who were associated with Dawood in February. However, the raids began today.

Further information is awaited. (ANI)