Cyclone Nivar: Modi dials TN & Puducherry CMs, assures support

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Cyclone Nivar: Modi dials TN & Puducherry CMs, assures support

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday spoke to the Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry ahead of the impending cyclone that is going to cross into the state and UT by Wednesday.

“Spoke to Tamil Nadu CM Shri E Panneerselvam and Puducherry CM Shri V Narayanasami regarding the situation in the wake of Cyclone Nivar. Assured all possible support from the Centre. I pray for the safety and well-being of those living in the affected areas,” the PM tweeted.

Earlier on Monday, Union Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba chaired a meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) to review the status of impending Cyclone through video conferencing with the Chief Secretaries of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry.

The Cabinet Secretary had told the officials that the Crisis Management Committee is aiming at “zero loss of life” and early restoration of normalcy in the affected areas. He has ordered strict implementation of the advisories. Fishermen are not to venture into the sea.

Jagan launches women’s safety app Abhayam in Vizag

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Jagan launches women’s safety app Abhayam in Vizag

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday launched Abhayam, an app that tracks the movements of 1,000 auto-rickshaws in Visakhapatnam, aimed at enhancing the safety of women and children who use local transportation to commute.

Reddy virtually launched the first phase of the Abhayam project, based on Internet of Things (IoT) technology, which was sanctioned by the Government of India under the Nirbhaya scheme.

“The application helps passengers travel around the city safely and securely, the vehicles are attached with IoT devices to track their movement and make sure no illicit acts take place,” said an official. Through Abhayam, a driver’s behavior can also be monitored on the dashboard at the command control center. In Visakhapatnam, 1,000 auto rickshaws equipped with GPS have been linked to Abhayam.

“Before boarding the vehicle, a passenger will need to scan the QR code affixed on the vehicle. The details of the driver and the photo will be displayed on the application,” he said.

Once a passenger boards an auto-rickshaw linked to Abhayam, three possible routes will be geo-fenced, enabling the passenger to share the trip details with any three pre-selected confidants.

“If the passenger does not have a smartphone or any phone in hand, she can press the panic button in the IoT device fitted in the vehicle. Once alerted, the intimation will reach the command control center, and officials from the nearest police station will be assigned,” said the official in case of an emergency.

Additionally, the vehicle’s engine will also be immobilized, along with the sounding of an alarm for the nearest police officials to take action.

“Women’s safety and security have been given the topmost priority, be it 50 percent reservation to women or by major schemes like Amma Vodi, YSR Cheyutha, and YSR Asara launched to support women’s empowerment. Apart from Disha police stations, the government is taking several steps to set up special courts in every district,” the Chief Minister said.

He said that the government has also ensured that a lady police officer is appointed in every village and ward secretariat.

“With the new application launched by the state government, women and children can now travel safely in the local transport. We are setting up devices to thousand vehicles in Visakhapatnam as the first installment, aiming to increase the number of vehicles to one lakh by November 2021,” Reddy added.

DMK warns TN CM and state Police of serious consequences

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DMK warns TN CM and state Police of serious consequences

Tamil Nadu’s principal opposition party DMK on Monday warned the state police and Chief Minister K. Palaniswami of serious consequences if its election campaign is stopped.

A resolution to this effect was passed at the party’s high-level working committee meeting that was held at the party’s headquarters here.

According to DMK, Palaniswami has been touring the state on the pretext of reviewing coronavirus prevention measures and converting government functions into political rallies.

Similarly, other ministers are also doing the same.

The DMK said the state police is not arresting the Chief Minister, Ministers, lawmakers, and others as they covert government functions into political functions.

On the other hand, the police are not giving permission to the DMK to meet the people and hear their problems. The DMK had kickstarted its massive pre-assembly poll outreach program on November 20.

The police had arrested DMK’s youth wing leader Udayanidhi Stalin for holding a program without police permission.

DMK said 15 party leaders will hold 15,000 meetings, travel 15,00 km, hold 10 lakh discussions to spread DMK President M. K. Stalin’s message ‘Towards the Dawn’, in four phases.

‘Nominated’ leaders should avoid making statements publicly: Congress

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‘Nominated’ leaders should avoid making statements publicly: Congress

The Congress has launched a counter-attack against the senior leaders who have made statements about the party in public.

Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said, “The nominated senior leaders have access to the party leadership and should refrain from speaking publicly.

Khera pointed out that Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is pushing for CWC elections, is a CWC nominated member who can just pick the phone and call anybody instead of making public statements.

Maintaining that every party has an internal system to discuss each issue, including the Bihar election results, Khera said, “I hope the senior leaders will put forward the best example.

Azad, who is one of the dissenters who had questioned the party leadership and functioning, has demanded that the party should hold elections to strengthen the organization and make it more responsible.

Dismissing allegations of rebellion leveled against the dissenters, Azad, the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, said, “We are reformists and want a revival of the party.”

Azad, the second senior Congress leader after former Union minister Kapil Sibal to speak about the party’s dismal show in the Bihar Assembly polls, said that the Congress should shed the five-star culture, at least during elections, and insisted that the leaders should reach out to the people. Azad also insisted that elections should be held at different levels of the party so that people become responsible and work for the party.

Azad also said that there are no issues with the first family in the Congress and gave a clean chit to interim party chief Sonia Gandhi and former President Rahul Gandhi.

He also noted that the party should be more active at the ground level during elections, a statement that has been perceived as a direct criticism of the leaders involved in the Bihar elections.

Sibal too had raised similar concerns. Contending that he was “compelled to speak publicly” as there is “no forum in the party to discuss party issues”, he said the Congress needs efficient and senior leaders to manage elections.

TRS promises free drinking water in Hyderabad

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TRS promises free drinking water in Hyderabad

Following in the footsteps of Delhi, the government of Telangana has promised a free drinking water supply to every household in Hyderabad using up to 20,000 liters per month.

Chief Minister and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday announced that people in the state capital will get free water from December.

The promise form part of the TRS manifesto for Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) polls released by the TRS chief.

KCR, as Rao is popularly known, said Hyderabad will become the second city in India after Delhi to provide free drinking water. “This move will benefit 97 percent of consumers in the city,” he said.

The TRS chief said he spoke to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal about the implementation of the scheme. “The government of Delhi is providing Rs 200-300 crore subsidy for the scheme and we estimate it will be on similar lines in Hyderabad,” he said.

KCR appealed to people to cooperate in ensuring that the water is not wasted. He said if the scheme is successfully implemented in Hyderabad, it will be extended to other municipalities.

The chief minister also announced free electricity to saloons run by Nayee Brahmin (barbers) community and to dhobi ghats and laundries of the Rajaka (washermen) community across the state.

TRS also promised a waiver of Motor Vehicle tax to the tune of Rs 267 crore for transport vehicles during the COVID-19 period (March to September).

The Chief Minister said all commercial establishments and industries in HT and LT categories will be exempted from minimum demand charges from March to September.

NDA has rolled out many projects waiting in queue for years, says PM

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NDA has rolled out many projects waiting in queue for years, says PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated a multi-storeyed residential complex for Members of Parliament, the complex has been built after demolishing eight bungalows, which will now be replaced by 76 flats.

Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said: “The problem which has persisted for years should not be overlooked but the solution should be found, not only residential complex of MPs, many projects which were stuck for years have been completed.”

“Many projects started in this government has been completed in due time, Ambedkar National Center which was discussed during Ataljis time have been built during this government,” he gave examples.

The PM said that building of the Central Information Commissioner has also been built, the police memorial was also built-in recognition of the police personnel who laid their lives.

The Prime Minister said the concepts of the green building like a solar plant, rainwater harvesting, sewage treatment were used while constructing the multi-storeyed flats for the MPs.

“Accommodation for the Members of Parliament has been a long-standing problem but it is now solved. Decades of old problems don’t end by avoiding them, but by finding solutions,” the PM added.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla was also present during the inaugural ceremony that took place virtually.

Farooq writes to J&K State election commissioner, alleges PAGD candidates not allowed to canvas

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Farooq writes to J&K State election commissioner, alleges PAGD candidates not allowed to canvas

Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) President and former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah in a letter to the state election commissioner KK Sharma on Saturday alleged that ahead of the District Development Council (DDC) elections the candidates of the PAGD are being whisked away to secure locations and not being allowed to canvass.

“I am taking the liberty of writing to you about the upcoming DDC elections. A strange and unique feature has come to the fore. Candidates put up by the PAGD are immediately whisked away to “secure locations” in the name of security and confined to those ‘secure locations’. They are not allowed to canvass, they are completely out of touch with those from whom they are supposed to seek votes,” the letter reads. “Our parties have been in power in the past and have had the opportunity to head and run the government. We are aware of the challenges posed in the realm of security in a place beset by violence. These challenges are not new but have been painfully persisting for the last three decades. But the government had structures in place which ensured security for all contestants irrespective of the ideology they espoused or the parties they represented.”

The letter further says that the current state of affairs in the realm of security is blatantly oriented towards providing security to a select few and confining others.

“This comes across more like an attempt to interfere in the democratic process than any real concern for the well-being of the contestants. Security cannot and should not be used as a tool or an excuse to interfere in democratic processes,” the letter reads.

“May I add that the evolution of democracy in J and K is distinctive compared to any other part of the country. The journey is a bloodied journey, soaked in the blood of thousands of political workers who have laid down their lives for the sake of democracy. It is a desecration of those sacrifices when the very conflict that consumed their lives is used as an alibi to customize democracy.”

The letter further reads that democracy is still in a state of fragility in Jammu and Kashmir. Governments come and go. No government has the right to alter the institutional foundations of democracy in Jammu and Kashmir nourished by the sacrifices of thousands of political workers.

“Security is a challenge and it is for the government of the day to counter that challenge in a manner which is fair and transparent. Providing security to a select few and literally interning the rest is a gross interference in democracy,” the letter reads.

After anti-China alliances in Indo-Pacific, New Delhi joins hands with Europe

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After anti-China alliances in Indo-Pacific, New Delhi joins hands with Europe

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday held the first-ever India-Luxembourg bilateral summit with his counterpart Xavier Bettel. Besides reviewing bilateral relations, the summit, the first in two decades between the countries, focused on increasing investments. The two Prime Ministers decided to ramp up relations in the financial sector, digital domain, green financing, and space applications. They also took stock of the global situation arising out of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Significantly, barely a fortnight back, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla’s first visit out of the South Asian region was a week-long tour of Europe — France, Germany, and the UK. After bonding with the US, Japan, and Australia, it is evident that India is looking at Europe with a renewed sense of camaraderie.

India and many European nations find themselves on the same side of the fence. While India is negotiating the new geopolitical order, Europe too had its own share of setbacks — the coronavirus pandemic, Brexit, migration issues from West Asia, tumultuous relations with the US, and the aftershocks of the 2008 economic crisis. The year 2020 has been one of the revelations for many a European country—the spread of Covid, technology wars, an unending flow of Chinese sarcasm-laced hostility during Europe’s most vulnerable moment at the height of Covid deaths.

The communist nation’s geopolitics has been an eye-opener globally. Fed so liberally and benevolently by the liberal democracies of the West, China bared its fangs to the smug and traditional European nations. No wonder, the Ministry of External Affairs put it so succinctly: “India’s relations with France, Germany, and the UK are built on a foundation of shared democratic values and are informed by a commonality of interest in issues such as sustainable development and climate change.”

The Europeans too are responding to India’s overtures. The European Union (EU) is looking at India as a more suitable alternative than China for strategic concerns and economic relations. India enjoys substantial trade ties and large investment flows with the EU. Moreover, India and many European countries work closely at multilateral and plurilateral platforms on various issues of common interest.

Shringla’s first pit-stop was France, where he met up with Alice Guitton, France’s Director-General of International Relations and Strategy (DGRIS), to discuss the Indo-Pacific region as well as maritime security and growing defense partnership. France is supplying the Rafale fighters and also helping it design its latest submarines. The two countries discussed a wide range of issues spanning terrorism, global warming, sustainable development, climate change as well as technology and innovation.

Owing to a fast-changing global scenario, many European nations have reworked their political outlook and are looking keenly at rapprochement with Asian nations, particularly those in the Indo-Pacific region. Germany released its new Policy Guidelines for Indo-Pacific Region in September this year, which stresses strengthening relations with Asian countries other than China.

As Germany shifts from a China-centric policy, India fits into German crosshairs. Shringla met up with German Foreign Minister of State Niels Annen besides senior diplomats and think tanks. India has seized the opportunity to remind the country how it fits as a reliable and strategic partner into the former’s vision of the Indo-Pacific.

The German reaction to the changes in the Indian Ocean region and the South China Sea is stark. Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said recently that her country would like to send its navy to patrol the Indian Ocean trade routes next year. She was speaking at an event organized by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAF), where she added that Germany would also like to have closer defense cooperation with Australia.

In London, Shringla urged the British government to come up with its own strategy of the Indo-Pacific in line with that of the European countries. He also said: “We would like the UK to come in as a major investor and innovation partner; a range of activities in the digital and cyber age which may not have been even possible to conceive earlier…”

He clearly hinted at the new-found relevance of the Indo-Pacific. Shringla said: “The rise of China and the imperative for a global rebalancing have added to the mix. A rules-based international order is achievable only with a rules-based Indo-Pacific.” It was a clear statement that China has transgressed well-defined boundaries of peace and understanding that define mutual relations between nations.

Europe is learning its lessons fast. Countries have begun to revise their understanding of China and one after the other they are looking afresh at the vast Indo-Pacific region. France was the first one off its feet, followed by the Netherlands and, lastly Germany, which finalized its Indo-Pacific strategy. India fits in well into that new strategy. It only has to up its own game and look outwards.

Cong flays Centre over DA freeze for CPSUs’ staff

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Cong flays Centre over DA freeze for CPSUs’ staff

The Congress on Friday flayed the Centre over the decision to freeze the additional Dearness Allowance of central public sector undertakings’ employees and said it is “yet another sign of a sinking economy”.

“Food inflation rises to 11.1 percent. But the Modi government is freezing DA instead of increasing it for central PSU employees. While the condition of government employees is poor, the capitalist ‘friends’ are happy,” Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted.

Addressing a press conference here, party leader Supriya Shrine said: “The economy is spinning out of control and everyone is in trouble. It is not just the unorganized sector, but even the government employees are bearing the brunt of incompetent handling of the Indian economy.”

The Congress maintained that there was a complete collapse of the Indian economy not just during the coronavirus pandemic but even before that, due to the Modi government’s “economic mismanagement”. “Now, it is taking steps that will further destroy demand and dent consumption.”

“Skyrocketing prices make matter worse. An increase in inflation to a six-year high of 7.61%, especially alarmingly high food inflation at 11.6%, is troublesome. So, simply put, a freeze on DA along with high prices amounts to salary cuts for central government employees, PSU staff, pensioners, and the armed forces,” Shrinate said.

“Why does the Modi government not shelve discretionary and vanity expenditure like the Rs 20,000-crore Central Vista project, the Rs 1.10 lakh crore bullet train project, or cut 30 percent of the wasteful expenditure of the government, which will come to close to Rs 2.5 lakh crore?” the Congress spokesperson asked.

As per a circular dated November 19, the government froze additional DA installments (due from October 1, 2020) for employees of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) till June 30, 2021. The additional DA from January 1, 2021, to April 1, 2021, will not be paid, the Department of Public Enterprises said. This decision impacts over 14.5 lakh employees across 339 central PSUs.

It follows a retrospective cut in DA and Dearness Pay for 113 lakh central government employees and pensioners, including armed forces, in April 2020.

Congress alleged that the DA freeze was a cue for the private sector to withhold salary hikes or appraisals. “Many state governments have already frozen DA and Dearness pay of their employees. They will perhaps now move to do so for state PSUs as well.”

Telangana BJP chief’s Charminar temple visit sparks tension

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Telangana BJP chief’s Charminar temple visit sparks tension

BJP’s Telangana unit President Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Friday visited Bhagyalakshmi temple abutting the historic Charminar here to swear in god’s name that he had not written to the EC to stop financial aid among floods victims, leading to tension amid rumors his temple visit was thwarted by police.

A day earlier, he had challenged Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao also to come to the temple to swear on the authenticity of a letter allegedly written by Kumar to the Election Commission to seek a stop on payment of ex gratia of Rs 10,000 to the flood-affected.

After Sanjay and some other BJP leaders reached Charminar in a convoy of vehicles from the party office in Nampally, his visit sparked some tension in the communally sensitive area. Police beefed up security to avoid any untoward incident.

Security personnel, including Rapid Action Force (RAF), were already deployed in the area in view of the Friday prayers at nearby historic Mecca Masjid and December 1 elections to Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).

Rumors started doing the rounds that police had stopped the BJP leader from visiting the temple, following which City Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar took to Twitter to deny it.

“Some people are trying to spread incorrect and false news on social media and electronic media. They are warned that action will be taken against them. Hyderabad Police is not stopping any person from going to any place of worship. Keep away from such propaganda and rumors,” he said.

After ‘darshan’ at the temple, Sanjay told reporters that his signature was “forged” on the letter, adding that he had lodged a police complaint.

Sanjay, a member of Parliament from Karimnagar, alleged that the forged letter was produced at the Chief Minister’s direction. He said that ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) was “maligning him and the BJP for electoral gains in GHMC polls”.

He reiterated that if the BJP wins the GHMC polls, every flood-affected family will be paid Rs 25,000 as ex gratia. He promised that the party will get funds from the Centre to rebuild damaged houses, furniture and give money to buy new two-wheelers and cars.

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