Uttarakhand CM trolled for remarks on ripped jeans, equating PM with Lord Ram

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Uttarakhand CM trolled for remarks on ripped jeans, equating PM with Lord Ram

Days within taking over as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Tirath Singh Rawat has been trolled for commenting on women who wear ripped jeans and equating PM Narendra Modi with Lord Ram. Not just this, he was also questioned by his predecessor Trivendra Singh Rawat for easing Covid norms at the Kumbh Mela in Haridwar.

On March 10, Tirath Singh Rawat has sworn in as chief minister of the hill state. The Uttarakhand CM announced that pilgrims need not possess Covid-19 negative reports of tests conducted 72 hours prior to their arrival in Haridwar even, as his predecessor urged the government to exercise caution amid rising cases in the country.

Even as former CM Trivendra Singh Rawat questioned the easing of norms for Covid-19, netizens, including political opponents, trolled Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat for two of his controversial comments: One which equated Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Lord Ram and the other which criticized women who wear ripped jeans.

Senior Congress leader and former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat said that praising your leader (Modi) was understandable but it wasn’t correct for the Chief Minister to equate a human being with Lord Rama or Lord Krishna.

In Haridwar, Tirath Singh Rawat said that for the good work he has done for people, Prime Minister Modi would be worshipped like Lord Ram.

Trolling Rawat for his ripped jeans comment, women from all age groups flooded social media with pictures of them wearing ripped jeans.

Taking a dig at Chief Minister Rawat, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has tweeted pictures of various BJP leaders including Prime Minister Modi and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, and RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat in half pants. “Oh my God!!! Their knees are showing,” she tweeted.

Wearing ripped jeans, Shiv Sena leaders and Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chaturvedi tweeted, “The country’s ‘Sanskriti and ‘sanskaar’ are impacted by men who sit and judge women and their choices. Soch badlo Mukhyamantri Rawat ji, tabhi desh badlega. (Change your thinking Chief Minister Rawat, only then will the country change). #RippedJeansTwitter.”

On Friday, the Delhi Congress women’s wing is organizing a protest in the national capital asking participants to wear ripped jeans. Appealing to participants to join the protest, Delhi Congress women’s wing chief Amrita Dhawan tweeted, “You want to live with ripped jeans or ripped mindset?”.

Even a BJP leader said Chief Minister Rawat should have avoided making such unwanted comments.

“Chief Minister Rawat must set his priority right a year before assembly elections. He must focus on governance and controlling resentment within the party which forced the removal of Trivendra Singh Rawat from the office,” a senior saffron party leader suggested.

But another BJP leader, while defending the Uttarakhand Chief Minister, said that both the comments equating PM Modi with Lord Ram and the one on ripped jeans have been blown out of proportion.

Rs 22,724 cr tax-free deficit Budget presented in Tripura

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Rs 22,724 cr tax-free deficit Budget presented in Tripura

Tripura Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma on Friday presented a Rs 22,724.50 crore tax-free Budget for 2021-22, containing several new plans including for ‘Atmanirbhar state’, for agriculture and farmers, children and students besides for rural areas.

The fourth budget of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition government shows a Rs 773.43 crore defeat against Rs 511.41 crore deficit of the current year (2020-21).

Tabling the Budget on the first day of the weeklong Assembly session, Dev Varma, who holds the Finance portfolio, said no new tax is proposed in the budget and the deficit would be covered by better fiscal management, tax compliance, transparency, austerity besides smart tax collections.

He said that the government in the budget has given thrust in five key sectors – tourism, information technology, agriculture, and allied, health and education sectors.

“Emphasis is also given on sustainable development and green technology. More than 15,000 hectares of areas would be brought under organic farming as against 6,000 hectares of the existing area. Based on green technology, ten new bio-villages are proposed,” he said.

A new scheme, “Chief Minister’s Swanirbhar Parivar Yojna” has been proposed for “Atmanirbhar Tripura”.

Noting that a National Law University proposed to be set up in Agartala, Dev Varma said several other new schemes and missions including “Rubber Mission” were also to be undertaken in the new financial year.

“Under the Rubber Mission scheme, the state government has planned to take up rubber plantations in new 30,000 hectare areas in the next five years for rapid economic development and proper utilization of land,” he said.

Tripura is the second largest natural rubber-producing state in the country after Kerala, currently cultivating natural rubber in 85,500 hectares and producing 62,000 tonnes annually.

“Doubling the farmers’ income by 2022 was the motto of the present government. The state government has taken up a three-year plan for the purpose,” Dev Varma told the house, adding that for the dissemination of the latest technology in agriculture, 19 ‘Krishak Bandhu Kendra’s have been opened under the different agricultural subdivisions.

Later, the Deputy Chief Minister told the media that in spite of difficulties during the Covid-19 pandemic, the state government has managed its finances well in such a situation when some state governments have given lesser salaries to their employees and stopped giving dearness allowances and dearness relief, Tripura announced DA to the state government employees and pensioners with effect from March 1.

Centre has put ration doorstep delivery scheme on hold: Delhi govt

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Centre has put ration doorstep delivery scheme on hold: Delhi govt

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Delhi government has accused the Centre of putting its flagship doorstep ration delivery scheme on hold, the office of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal told IANS on Friday.

This came as the AAP and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been at loggerheads for the last few weeks especially after the Centre presented the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCTD) Bill (Amendment) 2021 in the Lok Sabha, which seeks to give more powers to the Delhi Lieutenant Governor.

“The BJP ruled Centre has put Delhi government’s doorstep delivery scheme on hold. Delhi government’s flagship scheme is to provide food grains for the people of the national capital at their doorstep,” said a source in the Delhi government.

The Kejriwal government had notified the scheme for the doorstep delivery of rations, which as per the earlier announcement was supposed to roll out by March-end this year. Kejriwal had announced the scheme during his Republic Day speech at the Delhi Secretariat.

The scheme announced under the ‘Mukhya Mantri Ghar Ghar Ration Yojna’ (MMGGRY) under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) of the National Food Security Act, 2013, was notified by the government on February 20. The MMGGRY involves the delivery of packed wheat flour and rice to beneficiaries at their doorstep.

IANS has learned that the Delhi State Civil Supplies Corporation has prepared a list of beneficiaries, their quota, and biometric specifications according to which they will have to pay a processing charge along with the cost of subsidized food grains.

Kejriwal mentioned in his Republic Day address that all beneficiaries in the Capital who have a ration card can avail the benefits of the scheme. The scheme will be optional and existing TPDS beneficiaries will have to specify to enroll under it. Delhi has nearly 17 lakh PDS beneficiaries.

2 Dy Mayors, vice chairmen part of admin reforms: YSRCP

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2 Dy Mayors, vice chairmen part of admin reforms: YSRCP

Senior Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) leader and Rajya Sabha MP V. Vijayasai Reddy said on Thursday that municipal corporations and municipalities will have two deputy mayors and an equal number of vice-chairmen as part of administrative reforms.

“As part of administrative reforms, a decision was made after the Governor’s approval of the ordinance for corporations and municipalities to have two deputy mayors and two vice-chairmen,” said Reddy.

He said this move is aimed at enabling the greater representation of various castes and called it another step that validates Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s exemplary leadership.

Meanwhile, the MP met with the newly elected municipal councilors from Visakhapatnam corporation at this camp office.

Reflecting on the recent thumping triumph in the local bodies polls, Vijayasai Reddy said the southern state’s people once again reposed their faith in Jagan Mohan Reddy.

He said they did this because of the welfare and developmental programs he has been implementing.

The YSRCP leader highlighted that the CM is ensuring that welfare activities are being extended to all communities.

Stalin promises completion of AIIMS Madurai

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Stalin promises completion of AIIMS Madurai

DMK president M.K. Stalin has said that if voted to power, he will commence construction of premium health institute the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Thoppur in Madurai.

He was speaking to the media at Madurai on Wednesday. Stalin said that while the announcement of the premium medical institute was made in 2014, the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone only in 2019 just before the general elections.

The DMK leader said that both the state and the central government failed to complete the construction of AIIMS at Thoppur in Madurai.

Stalin said that once the DMK comes to power, the National Cooperative Sugar mills at Pandiyarajapuram and Alanganallur will be reopened.

The DMK leader lashed out against AIADMK’s Nathan R. Viswanathan who was alleged to have bribed voters at Natham constituency.

Stalin said that J. Jayalalithaa as AIADMK supremo had taken action against a similar charge against Nathan R. Viswanathan. The DMK leader also alleged that the police have registered an FIR against Viswanathan citing that he has not filed his nomination papers.

All eyes on Tirupati bypolls

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All eyes on Tirupati bypolls

All eyes in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh will be on the Tirupati by-poll as it will be the first major election after the 2019 polls.

Mattila Gurumoorthy, the 36-year-old physiotherapist who has been confirmed as the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) candidate for the forthcoming Tirupati Lok Sabha by-poll has been a lifelong follower of Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy family.

Born to Maddila Munikrishnaiah, Gurumoorthy comes from a humble Dalit background from the Mala caste. Both his parents are uneducated and the family practices the Hindu faith.

The agricultural family hails from Mannasamudram village in Yerpedu Mandal of Srikalahasti constituency.

The physiotherapist is married to C. Navya Kiran and is blessed with a boy and a girl.

He pursued physiotherapy at Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Science (SVIMS) and secured 56th rank in the entrance examination and got qualified for manual therapy as well.

Gurumoorthy’s association with Reddy and his family started around 2006 when he met the then chief minister requesting him to establish the AP state physiotherapy council.

Following a favorable outcome with his request, Gurumoorthy became a strong supporter and follower of Rajasekhar Reddy from then on.

He accompanied Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy was his personal physiotherapist all through his 3,648-km-long Praja Sankalpa Yatra padayatra (marathon walkathon).

Walking along with Jagan Mohan Reddy gave him an opportunity to see the realities of the state across its length and breadth, including observing the socio-economic conditions.

Gurumoorthy was a team member of the YSRCP’s 2014 election campaign. In the 2019 polls, he served as a team member of Jagan Mohan Reddy’s mother Y.S. Vijayamma’s election campaign.

As YSRCP’s candidate, he will compete with principal opposition Telugu Desam Party’s (TDP) challenger Panabaka Lakshmi and yet to be named Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) candidate.

The candidate announcement comes at a time when the ruling party is on a high with the recent thumping triumph in the urban and rural local body polls.

Tirupati Lok Sabha seat (reserved for SC) fell vacant after incumbent Balli Durga Prasad succumbed to coronavirus in 2020.

Following his death, Reddy accommodated his son Balli Kalyan Chakravarthy is an MLC.

BJP MLC says Vikas Dubey’s kin being harassed, seeks CM’s help

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BJP MLC says Vikas Dubey’s kin being harassed, seeks CM’s help

A BJP legislator has written a letter to chief minister Yogi Adityanath, accusing the UP police of harassing and torturing the family of slain gangster Vikas Dubey.

BJP MLC Umesh Dwiwedi, who is also the president of the All India Brahminothan Mahasabha, has said that Deep Prakash Dubey, brother of Vikas Dubey, and his wife Anjali Dubey, were being implicated in false cases by the police.

The MLC has urged the chief minister to order an inquiry into the cases against the family members and ensure justice to them.

Vikas Dubey was killed in a police encounter in Kanpur on July 10 last year, a week after he and his men killed eight policemen in an ambush in Bikru village.

The police had launched extensive investigations against his family members and associates to unearth his financial dealings.

AAP to protest at Jantar Mantar

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AAP to protest at Jantar Mantar

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday announced that it will protest against the Centre’s move to amend the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill-2021, at the Jantar Mantar on Wednesday.

“AAP will hold a massive protest against (the) BJP’s anti-Constitution move of trying to curtail the powers of Delhi’s elected govt by amending the GNCTD Act,” the party said in a tweet.

Senior AAP MLA and chief spokesperson Saurav Bharadwaj told IANS that the party will oppose the Centre’s unconditional and undemocratic move to derail the elected government of the national capital.

“We will protest in and outside Parliament against this Bill. AAP will expose the BJP’s hidden agenda to rule in Delhi by giving more power to the Lieutenant-Governor. If the Centre succeeds in its plan, the Delhi government will have to wait for the L-G’s approval on every development issue and the elected Government will run on mercy his office for public service,” he added.

On Monday, the Centre tabled the new Bill in the Lok Sabha, which is an amendment to the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991, and also seeks to better define the role of the Council of Ministers and the L-G in Delhi.

The Bill gives discretionary powers to the L-G even in matters where the Legislative Assembly of Delhi is empowered to make laws.

Sooner after the Centre’s move, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Siosida accused the BJP-led Central of an attempt to run the Delhi government from the back door, giving more power to the L-G.

‘Yogi govt transferred Rs 56K cr through DBT last year’

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‘Yogi govt transferred Rs 56K cr through DBT last year’

The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh had last year transferred Rs 56,000 crore directly into bank accounts of beneficiaries of various schemes being run by the central and state government.

A government spokesperson said that due to the direct bank transfers (DBT), the government had saved more than Rs 4,402.05 crore in a single year.

The spokesman said: “Many irregularities were committed earlier in transferring funds under the various government schemes. This practice has been stopped now. With the DBT, middlemen have been eliminated from the process and the entire procedure has been made transparent.”

The state government transferred money directly into the bank accounts of beneficiaries of 136 schemes of 27 departments.

During the Covid-induced lockdown last year, the government transferred funds to accounts of lakhs of farmers, MNREGA workers, migrant laborers, women, students, and pensioners.

The government also transferred Rs 2,806.10 crore as subsidy on gas cylinders, Rs 1,412 crore for ration cards made under the National Food Security Scheme, Rs 162.58 crore under Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme, Rs 16.69 crore under the Old Age Pension Scheme, Rs 1.55 lakh under National Agricultural Development Scheme, Rs 1.92 lakh under Tuberculosis Eradication Scheme and Rs 4.63 crore under Divyang Pension Scheme.

“DBT helped us to verify a beneficiary’s Aadhaar and mobile number easily and money is transferred into the Jan Dhan account without hassles. The practice helps in eradicating middlemen as well as ensuring that the money goes to the real beneficiaries,” the spokesperson said.

The government said that over the past four years, Rs 2.53 lakh crore has been paid to farmers through DBT under various schemes. This includes Rs 36,000 crore as loan waivers, Rs 64,000 crore as minimum support price, Rs 1.22 lakh crore to sugarcane farmers, and Rs 27,101 crore to 2.42 crore farmers under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi.

The rural development department has said that over 1.14 crore workers were given employment under MNREGA till March 5, 2021. During this period, Rs 7,669.34 crore was paid to them.

A sum of Rs 445.92 crore was transferred through DBT to women help groups and their organizations working under the National Rural Livelihood Mission.

Another Rs 1,625.47 crore was transferred to OBC students in the last four years as scholarship, Rs 27.95 lakh to beneficiaries of the destitute women pension, and Rs 112.22 crore under Kanya Sumangala Yojana.

PM calls a meeting of chief ministers on March 17 to discuss rising Covid cases

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PM calls a meeting of chief ministers on March 17 to discuss rising Covid cases

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called a virtual meeting of Chief Ministers on March 17, in view of the rising cases of Corona in the country.

The virtual meeting will begin at 11 am on Wednesday. During the meeting, among other topics, effective management of the vaccination programme to tackle Covid-19 will be discussed with the Chief Ministers.

In the past, too, Prime Minister Modi has held meetings with Chief Ministers several times during the Corona period through video conferencing and discussed strategies for the prevention of the global pandemic.

In the meeting to be held on March 17, feedback and suggestions about the ground situation in the respective states will be taken from the Chief Ministers. Based on the suggestions, a strategy will be prepared to stop the resurgence of Coronavirus cases in the country.

On Sunday, 26,386 new cases of Corona were registered. This is the highest incidence of pandemic in the last 85 days.

At present, the number of active corona cases in the country is 2,19,262, while the total number of corona cases in the country stands at 1,13,85,339.

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