Naidu to chair meeting of RS floor leaders ahead of Budget Session

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Naidu to chair meeting of RS floor leaders ahead of Budget Session
Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu will chair the meeting of the Rajya Sabha floor leaders on January 31, ahead of the Budget Session of the Parliament.

This meeting will take place virtually as a precautionary measure against the Covid-19 spread.

In the customary meeting ahead of the important session, the Chairman will ask for the co-operation of all political parties for the smooth running of the House.

Recently, the Rajya Sabha Chairman also tested positive for Covid-19 and now he has been recovering, sources said.

The government has called an all-party meeting on January 31 to discuss issues and legislative business for the budget session.

The all-party meeting of floor leaders will be held virtually.

Floor leaders of all the political parties in both the Houses of Parliament are invited for the meeting to discuss issues and legislative business in the ensuing smooth functioning of the Budget Session.

The meeting will be held virtually at 3 p.m.

The Budget session of parliament will be held in two parts.

First, part will be held from January 31 till February 11, and the second part will be held from March 14 to April 8.

Jagan Mohan Reddy launches Seva Portal 2.0 to speed up govt services in Andhra

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Jagan Mohan Reddy launches Seva Portal 2.0 to speed up govt services in Andhra

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday launched AP Seva Portal 2.0, an improved version of the Citizen Service Portal, to provide better services to the people.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister stated that all the officials right from village/ward secretariats to higher authorities will be using AP Seva Portal, a digitalized platform to provide citizen services in a transparent manner. The initiative will take governance much closer to the people where even those in remote villages can also avail citizen services right from their doorstep, without running from pillar to post.

With the new service, members of the public can track the status of their application by themselves without any hassles.

SMS alerts on the status of the application will also be sent to the applicants and the portal is also enabled with payment gateways to access paid services. All the applications can be approved online and the officials can also provide certificates and documents online with digital signatures. Further, he said that the applicants can avail of the services from any secretariat across the state.

The chief minister stated that the newly updated portal has over 30 services of Revenue and Land Administration, 25 services of Municipal Administration, 6 services of Civil Supplies, 3 services of Rural Development, and over 53 services of Energy departments.

He recalled that village/ward secretariat services along with a volunteer system were brought to deliver governance to the village level, where almost 4 lakh people are part of the delivery mechanism and offering over 540 services directly to the people.

Since 6 January 2020, as many as 3.46 crore government services have been provided to the public through village/ward secretariats, he said.

Ministers Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy, Botsa Satyanarayana, chief secretary Dr. Sameer Sharma and other senior officials were present.

PM mourns demise of Kathakali exponent Milena Salvini

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PM mourns demise of Kathakali exponent Milena Salvini

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday mourned the demise of Milena Salvini, the Italy-born French exponent, and teacher of Indian classical dance form Kathakali, who was honored with the Padma Shri in 2019.

Salvini passed away on Tuesday at the age of 84.

The Indian Embassy in France tweeted on Wednesday: “One of the finest exponents of Kathakali, Padma Shri Milena Salvini passed away yesterday; As a founder director of ‘Centre Mandapa’ in Paris, she promoted & taught Indian dance & music for more than four decades in France. Deepest condolences.”

Mourning her demise, Modi tweeted, “Milena Salvini will be remembered for her passion towards Indian culture. She made numerous efforts to further popularise Kathakali across France. I am anguished by her passing away. My thoughts are with her family and well-wishers. May her soul rest in peace.”

Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu also sent a condolence message, saying: “Saddened to learn about the passing away of Milena Salvini. An exponent of Kathakali, Milena Salvini played an important role in promoting Indian dance and music for over four decades in France. My deepest condolences to her family members. May her soul rest in peace.”

Salvini along with her husband had opened the Mandapa Center in Paris in 1975 to teach Indian classical dance to the western world. She had also arranged the famed Kutiyattam troupe’s Europe tour with the help of UNESCO in 1980 and again in 1999.

Good that Yogi did not contest from Ayodhya: Chief priest

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Good that Yogi did not contest from Ayodhya: Chief priest

At a time when all saints in Ayodhya wanted Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to contest the upcoming Assembly elections from Ayodhya, the chief priest of the Ram Temple, Acharya Satyendra Das, has said it is good that Adityanath is not contesting from this Assembly constituency as he would have faced a lot of opposition.

Das told media that he has suggested that the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister should contest elections from Gorakhpur instead, as people whose houses and shops were demolished in Ayodhya due to infrastructure projects in the wake of the construction of the Ram temple, were opposing him.

Acharya Satyendra Das said he advised that Yogi Adityanath should not contest from Ayodhya “after asking ‘Ram Lalla’ (Lord Ram)”.

“It is good that Yogi Adityanath is not contesting from here. I had suggested it earlier and advised that it will be better that he contest from any Assembly seat of Gorakhpur. I speak after asking Ram Lalla. I speak with Ram Lalla’s inspiration,” said Das, who is the chief priest of the makeshift Ram Lalla temple, which is now being replaced by a grand temple.

The 84-year-old priest added that the seers here are divided in their opinion and those whose houses and shops were demolished are against the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister.

“This opposition is there. He ( Yogi Adityanath) would have won from here (Ayodhya) but could have also faced problems,” he said.

The priest, however, added that the ruling BJP will not let go the Ram temple issue and it will remain on their agenda.

“Earlier, there was Ram Lalla movement, then came the court’s order and the construction of the Ram temple started. This Ram temple issue will never go away. They will say firing was opened here on karsevaks, application was moved in the court to prevent the construction — but the temple construction is on. They (BJP) will certainly take the name of Ram temple. This will not go away,” Das said.

Das hopes to see the Ram temple completed in his lifetime.

“Let us see how many days it takes for the construction to complete. Majority of those who were with me have passed away. I will serve here till my last breath,” he said.

Das had joined as the priest of the makeshift Ram Lalla temple in 1992, the year the Babri Masjid was demolished.

When asked whether any party candidate had come to take his blessings, Das added, “Till now, wife of Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Pawan Pandey has come to me. He is a strong candidate from the SP.”

Ayodhya will go to the polls in the fifth phase on February 27.

PM Modi to virtually interact with over 5L Gujarat BJP cadres

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PM Modi to virtually interact with over 5L Gujarat BJP cadres

As part of a pre-poll preparedness drive for the BJP in Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually interact with the party cadres at 11 am Tuesday.

Over five lakh BJP members will participate in the virtual meet using the NaMo application.

Apart from the five states going to the polls from next month, elections will also be held in Gujarat in the latter part of the year.

Around 5.25 lakh BJP members from Gujarat are registered on the NaMo app. According to party sources, the Gujarat page committees have 60 lakh registered members.

“This is the first time that over five lakh BJP members will be having a virtual interaction with the Prime Minister using the latest technology. The Prime Minister will guide us regarding the preparations for the upcoming Assembly elections,” said Yagnesh Dave, media convenor for Gujarat BJP.

Modi is scheduled to visit Gujarat in March, and the BJP is making all preparations to connect all the karyakartas (workers) and office-bearers of the party through the NaMo app.

The Prime Minister held similar discussions with the party cadres in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh on Monday using the NaMo app.

After Independence, many great personalities’ contributions were erased: PM

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After Independence, many great personalities’ contributions were erased: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that it is unfortunate that after Independence, along with the culture and tradition of the country, work was done to erase the contribution of many great personalities.

“The penance of lakhs of freedom fighters was sought to be diminished, but now these wrongs are being corrected.

“The freedom struggle involved the penance of lakhs of countrymen, but efforts were made to limit their history as well. But today, after decades of independence, the country is correcting those mistakes…,” he said, after unveiling a hologram statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on the occasion of his 125th birth anniversary.

Prime Minister Modi, who also gave the Subhas Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskars, said that ‘Azadi Ke Amrit Mahotsav’ resolved that India will revive its identity and inspirations.

“Netaji used to say, ‘Never lose faith in the dream of an independent India, there is no power in the world that can shake India’. Today we have a target to build a New India before we complete 100 years of independence in 2047.”

About his visit to Bose’s ancestral house in Kolkata, he said: “It is my good fortune that last year, on this very day, I had the opportunity to visit Netaji’s ancestral residence in Kolkata. The car in which he left Kolkata, the room in which he used to study, the stairs of his house, the walls of his house, seeing him, that experience is beyond words.

“I cannot forget the moment when I unfurled the flag at Red Fort on October 21, 2018, the day when the Azad Hind Government completed 75 years. It was my good fortune that our government got the opportunity to declassify the files related to Netaji.”

He said that the the hologram will be replaced by a granite statue. “The statue will not only remind us of our duties towards the nation but also inspire the generations to come,” he said.

The Prime Minister also said: “We have made all-round efforts to make disaster management more effective. We have not only focused on relief, rescue, rehabilitation but on reforms as well. We strengthened the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). From space management to planning and management, we adopted best practices.

“We have seen a lot of joint military exercises in different countries… But for the first time, India has started the tradition of joint drill for disaster management.”

PM Modi sets a new challenge for 142 districts to improve on all parameters

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PM Modi sets a new challenge for 142 districts to improve on all parameters

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the government has identified 142 districts that lag on one or two development parametres and set a new challenge for all governments to collectively work as has been done in case of aspirational districts.

“We have identified 142 districts that are otherwise progressive, developed but lacking in one or two parametres such as malnutrition or education. We now need to work collectively to improve the situation just as we have done for aspirational districts,” Modi said and added, “This is a new challenge for all of us. For the Central government, for the state governments, for the district administration everyone. We have to collectively work to achieve this.”

Modi was virtually addressing several Chief Ministers across India, District Magistrates of hundreds of districts and other officials from various ministries. Also in attendance was NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant.

The Prime Minister took direct feedback about the progress and present status of implementation of government schemes and programmes in various districts.

“Working in silos during decision making is problematic but working in silos while implementation is worse. Aspirational districts have shown how ending these silos in implementation has increased optimum utilization of resources,” the Prime Minister said and assured, “When silos are ended, 1 + 1 does not equal to 2 but actually, 1 plus 1 becomes 11. This community strength is visible in the aspirational districts.”

“The people in aspirational districts have spent a lot of time of their life in deprivation and had to struggle a lot for every single small thing. They are just eager to get out of this rut and therefore, they are ready to take risks whenever they get an opportunity,” he said.

“We need to understand their strength. The aspiration for progress brings people together.”

The Prime Minister also reiterated his wish of 100 per cent saturation of all services offered by the government in every district in next two years, be it roads, Ayushman Bharat facility, bank account, Ujjwala gas scheme, government insurance or pension or a house, and said, everything should be planned for a time bound competition.

He also appealed to all the attendees of the virtual session to identify traditional skills of the aspirational districts, which are mostly inhabited by tribals, and offer a value chain for them along with achieving the ‘Digital India’ dream for each and every village. Earlier, he also recounted the achievements in various fields achieved by scores of districts and improved targets achieved for a range of government services such as Jan Dhan accounts or construction of toilets etc along with improved health services delivery in rural areas.

Modi lauded the Chief Ministers for deputing excellent officers, giving them stable tenure and lending them all support and said, all CMs are working to bring the aspirational districts on par with rest of the states.

Modi ended the speech with an appeal to all DMs to recall their first day of joining service and asked them to renew their zeal and working with the same approach.

LS Privileges Committee summons Telangana officials on BJP MP’s complaint

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LS Privileges Committee summons Telangana officials on BJP MP’s complaint

Lok Sabha Committee of Privileges has served notices to Telangana chief secretary, home secretary, director general of police and four other police officials in connection with the breach of privileges complaint by BJP MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar.

The officials have been directed to appear before the panel on February 3 to give oral evidence on a complaint by the Lok Sabha member from Karimnagar.

Bandi Sanjay Kumar complained to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on January 3 against Karimnagar Police Commissioner V. Satyanarayana and three other police officials of Karimnagar district for ‘forcefully arresting him in an illegal manner and for attempting to produce him before the court for remand in connection with filing of alleges false cases against him’.

Sanjay appeared before the 15-member Privileges Committee on Friday and explained how the police manhandled him. He urged the panel headed by Sunil Kumar Singh to take action against the police officers involved.

The Lok Sabha Committee of Privileges has issued notices to Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, Principal Secretary (Home) Ravi Gupta, Director General of Police M. Mahendar Reddy, Karimnagar Police Commissioner V. Satyanarayana, ACP Srinivasa Rao, DSP Prakash and inspector Lakshmi Babu.

Sanjay Kumar, who is also the president of BJP’s Telangana unit, was arrested by police in Karimnagar on the night of January 2 when he along with his supporters were sitting on a ‘night vigil’ to protest against a Government Order relating to transfer of government employees and teachers.

As the police denied permission for the protest in view of the restrictions on rallies, meetings and public gatherings to curb Covid-19 in the state, the MP along with his supporters locked themselves in MP’s camp office to stage the protest. Police broke into the office to arrest the MP. He was booked for violation of Disaster Management Act and for attacking policemen.

The next day, Sanjay was produced before a magistrate, who remanded him to judicial custody. Telangana High Court later struck down the MP’s remand and ordered his release.

The MP had alleged that the police commissioner and other officials acted in a high-handed manner and manhandled him. The police officers denied the allegations.

Trinamool to go for organisational polls in next 2 months

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Trinamool to go for organisational polls in next 2 months

At a time when West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is going for her overzealous plan to reach beyond the boundaries of the state, Trinamool Congress for the first time since its inception in 1998 has decided to go for an organisational election – a move indicative enough that the party is trying to put up democratic face.

Recently the party general secretary Partha Chatterjee said that the party’s organisational polls will be conducted soon. This will be for the first time that the party would be selecting the members of the National Working Committee selected by the members of the party. The party sources indicated that there will be a huge reshuffle in the party hierarchy in the next three months.

“The delegates and voters’ list will be finalised by the end of January and the name of the poll observer will be announced. The entire process of the election and the formation of the new committee will be completed by March 31. A notification on the organisational polls will be issued soon,” a senior party leader told in an interview on condition of anonymity.

Political experts are of the opinion that Trinamool Congress established by Mamata Banerjee who owned her political lineage from Congress prior to the forming had its ideological roots on her genetic acceptability. “She was successful in creating an image that has been wholeheartedly accepted by the people of West Bengal but when she is trying to reach out to the people of the nation – the party image will become more important than her personal charisma and this is perhaps why Trinamool Congress is trying to give the party a democratic face,” a senior political expert said.

In the last few months Trinamool Congress after coming to power for the third time has tried to use the political vacuum created by Congress. The party has worked extensively not only to expand its base in the North-Eastern states but also in the Western tip of the country like Goa.

She has already roped in Sushmita Dev, the former Congress MP and ironically a close aide of Rahul, to enlarge TMC’s footprints in Assam and other northeastern states. So far Goa is concerned TMC is likely to use it as a launching pad in national politics and brand itself as a vibrant opposition against the BJP, expediting induction-spree across the country.

In Goa, where the TMC is eyeing to take a frog jump in national politics, it has inducted many influential faces including former CM Luizinho Fuleiro, tennis player Leander Peas, actor Nafisa Ali and Mirinalini Deshprabhu.

The Mamata Banerjee-led party also plans to traverse through all the prominent states of north India. “The TMC has a brain behind it to make it a national party with national and secular outlook and acts,” said a TMC leader.

In its south India move, the TMC’s first focus is on Karnataka and efforts are on to induct some Congress leaders. “There is also a plan to take the TMC into the next Assembly polls due in 2023 in the state. So, the party is zeroing on an influential face,” reliable source said.

Now some questions automatically arise. The first is what is going to be new in the organisational polls that will make Trinamool Congress more acceptable at the national level.

“Previously Trinamool Congress made some experiments to move beyond the state but that was not successful but now they are making serious attempts to take advantage of the political situation. In that case if the leaders from outside the state are not allowed to enter into the decision-making body and responsible posts, then the party is sure to lose its steam on the national platform. So, the party is bringing in major changes in the constitution to include the national leaders into the party-fold,” a senior political scientist said.

“The relevance of Mamata Banerjee or her family will never lose its relevance in the family but the party is now going for a makeover to get a democratic look so that it becomes acceptable to the people of the country,” he added.

After Modi became PM, psychological distance between NE and Delhi has reduced: Shah

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After Modi became PM, psychological distance between NE and Delhi has reduced: Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said that after Narendra Modi became Prime Minister, the mental distance between the northeastern region and the national capital Delhi has been narrowed down and the central government has committed to all round development of the region.

Shah said that now in 8 states of the NE region, the BJP and the NDA allies are in power, corruption has been removed and the central funds are being properly utilised.

The Union Home Minister in his virtual speech from Delhi at the function in Agartala on the occasion of the 50th statehood day celebrations, said that to make Tripura a gateway, waterway connectivity is being done with Bangladesh besides railway links are being established with the neighbouring country and these would attract more investments to the northeastern region.

Referring to the settlement of the long pending Reang tribal immigrants in Tripura and signing of the peace accord with the militant outfit, Shah said that peace and ethnic harmony was ensured in the state.

Appreciating the BJP led government in Tripura, Shah said that the state government has unleashed a war against misuse of drugs.

He said that Tripura’s per capita income has increased to Rs 1.30 lakh from Rs one lakh in three years.

Shah released a Vision Document – ‘Lakshya 2047′ – for making Tripura self reliant in all basic sectors in the next 25 years.

He said that during partition then king Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya was the first king who wanted to merge Tripura with the Indian Union.

On the request of the then regent Maharani Kanchan Prabha Devi, former Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel helped the erstwhile royal dynasty by providing the air force from Assam to fight against the British rulers.

Referring to the contributions of the then kings to the development of Tripura, Shah said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has renamed the Agartala airport after Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya.

He said that the Tripura kings helped the famous scientist Jagadish Chandra Bose for his scientific work and studies.

Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb highlighting the state’s successes in the last four years after the BJP led government came to power said that the present state government was able to invest Rs 11,000 crore for highway development, which was only Rs 1200 crore during the Left Front regime.

“Over 1.25 lakh jobs in various sectors including 10,000 in government departments have been provided to the youths,” the Chief Minister claimed.

Deb said the Tripura government would soon recruit 500 female constables in the police while a large number of women would be recruited in the Tripura State Rifles.

According to the Chief Minister involving over three lakh women the number of Women Self Help Groups has been increased to 26000 from 4000 in three years.

Crimes against women have substantially reduced and the conviction rate for various crimes improved three fold in three years, he said.

A postal stamp marking the 50th statehood day of Tripura was released on the occasion.

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