PM Modi meets visiting 7 NSAs, discusses Afghan situation

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PM Modi meets visiting 7 NSAs, discusses Afghan situation

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday met National Security Advisors of the seven countries who participated in the Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan, hosted by India earlier in the day.

Soon after the completion of the Dialogue, the security representatives of five Central Asian countries – Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, along with Russia and Iran, called on the PM.

During the meet, Modi emphasised four aspects that countries in the region would need to focus on, in the context of Afghanistan – the need for an inclusive government, a zero-tolerance stance about Afghan soil being used by terrorist groups, a strategy to counter trafficking of drugs and arms from Afghanistan, and the need to address the increasingly critical humanitarian crisis in war-torn country.

The Prime Minister also expressed the hope that the Regional Security Dialogue would work to revive Central Asia’s traditions of moderation and progressive culture, and counter extremist tendencies.

The security representatives of these seven nations appreciated India’s initiative in organising the Dialogue and of the quality of the exchanges. They also conveyed the perspectives of their respective countries on the Afghan situation.

Modi also appreciated the participation of the senior dignitaries in the Delhi Security Dialogue despite the challenges posed by the Covid pandemic.

Afghanistan’s territory must not be used for any terror activities, the eight nations participating in the Delhi’s Regional Security Dialogue asserted on Wednesday in a joint declaration.

Cabinet approves restoration of MP development funds

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Cabinet approves restoration of MP development funds

 The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the restoration of the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) which was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic last year.

Addressing media, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur said that the scheme has been restored for remaining part of Financial Year 2021-22 and up to Financial Year 2025-26.

He also said that funds will be released at the rate of Rs 2 crore per MP for remaining period of FY 2021-22 in one installment and at the rate of Rs 5 crore per annum per MP during the financial year 2022-23 to FY 2025-26 in two installments of Rs 2.5 crore each.

The annual MPLADS fund entitlement per Member of Parliament is Rs 5 crore, released in two instalments of Rs.2.5 crore each, subject to the fulfillment of conditions as per the MPLADS guidelines.

The release of fund was suspended in April 2020 and diverted to the Finance Ministry to meet out the expenses to fight out the pandemic in the country.

“For managing the health and adverse impacts of Covid-19 in the society, the Cabinet, in its meeting held on 6th April 2020, had decided not to operate MPLADS during the FY 2020-21 and 2021-22 and place the fund at the disposal of Ministry of Finance for managing the impacts of Covid 19 pandemic,” the Minister said.

The total financial implication for restoration and continuation of the MPLADS for the remaining part of the Financial Year 2021-22 and up to 2025-26 will be Rs 17,417 crore, the government said in a statement.

Since the inception of this scheme, a total of 19,86,206 works/projects have been completed with the financial implication of Rs 54,171.09 crore.

Priyanka attacks Yogi govt over ‘pathetic’ condition of cow shelters

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Priyanka attacks Yogi govt over ‘pathetic’ condition of cow shelters

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday targeted the Uttar Pradesh government, saying that the condition of cow shelters in the state was “pathetic”.

She alleged that the state government is not doing enough for improving the condition of cow shelters.

Priyanka Gandhi posted on Twitter, “The Chief Minister is going to Braj which is an inspiration for cow service, and hope he will do something to improve the condition of cow shelters. Since five years, the condition is pathetic and the government is not doing enough.”

She also tagged newspaper reports on the condition of cow shelters.

In July, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had directed officials to conduct a thorough pre-monsoon inspection of all cow shelters in the state.

He had asked the officials to ensure adequate arrangements for green fodder and straw, among other things, for the cattle.

Strict action would be taken against the officer or employee concerned in the shelter, where the death of a cow is reported due to mismanagement, he had said.

On June 9, 2020, the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet had approved the Prevention of Cow Slaughter (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020.

According to the ordinance, for the first offence, a person can be jailed for one to seven years with penalties ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 3 lakh, while for the second offence, the person can be imprisoned for 10 years with a fine up to Rs 5 lakh.

Yogi to flag off trial run of Kanpur metro today

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Yogi to flag off trial run of Kanpur metro today

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will start the trial run of ‘Kanpur Metro’ on Wednesday in Kanpur.

The trial run of Kanpur Metro was scheduled later in November but has been preponed.

The chief minister will press the button for the trials of the Metro train which will not only help in establishing seamless connectivity and will ease vehicular congestion across the city but will also give a major boost to the development of the region.

During the event of the trial run, the chief minister will also inspect the facilities available in the metro coaches as well as the arrangements for the platforms.

The construction work of the Kanpur Metro Rail Project was initiated by the Yogi Adityanath government on November 15, 2019.

The Kanpur Metro Rail Project has been completed in less than a span of two years, despite the pandemic break.

According to the government spokesman, in the first phase, Metro will run on the nine-kilometre priority corridor.

Nine Metro stations have been constructed so far. The second phase of Metro work would be carried out between Moti Jheel and Transport Nagar for which underground stations will be constructed.

The trials would be carried out under the strict supervision of the Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO).

As per plans, on becoming fully operational, six Metro trains will run on the priority corridor between IIT and Moti Jheel and two trains will remain parked in the depot as reserve. Six more trains will arrive in the city by the time the commercial operations are launched.

The Kanpur Metro will be equipped with regenerative braking technology. Through this, energy will be saved up to 35 per cent. That is, if 1000 units of electricity is spent in train operation, through regenerative braking, the trains will generate about 350 units again. This will be put to use again.

The elevators installed in the stations and depots will also be able to save energy by regenerative braking technology. These will have an energy efficiency of up to 37 per cent. For conservation of energy and electricity, the metro premises have also been equipped with LED lights.

Besides, a plan has been formulated to install solar panels at metro depots and stations.

For the first time in India, Kanpur Metro will come with a Third Rail DC Traction System. Special inverter, which will enable the energy generated by the brakes in the train to be used back in the system. As of now, no such arrangement has been implemented in any metro rail project in the country. The train is also special in terms of protecting the environment and for safety management.

Jan Dhan accounts are also helping to curb crime : Report

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Jan Dhan accounts are also helping to curb crime : Report

The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) has not only helped to broaden the scope of financial inclusion providing banking services to the remotest corner of the country, but it has also enabled an environment that has reduced the incidence of crime.

According to an SBI Ecowrap report, states with higher PMJDY accounts balances have seen a perceptible decline in crime.

“We also observed that there is both statistically significant and economically meaningful drop in consumption of intoxicants such as alcohol and tobacco products in states where more PMJDY accounts are opened,” the report said.

In India, over the years crimes have been increasing. In 2020, a total of 66 lakh cognizable crimes comprising 42.5 lakh IPC crimes and 23.4 Special & Local Laws (SLL) crimes were registered, with an increase of 30 per cent in registration of cases over 2018.

Crime rate registered per lakh population has increased marginally from 383.5 in 2018 (385.5 in 2019) to 487.8 in 2020. Crimes against women and children have increased by 7.3 per cent in 2018 and 4.5 per cent in 2019, however, there is a decline of 8.3 per cent in 2020.

To see the impact of Jan Dhan accounts on crimes, SBI Ecowrap report looked at the state wise data accounts level data of PMJDY both aNo of accounts’ and ‘Balance’ and mapped with the state a number of total crimes’ from 2016 to 2020. As crime data is available till 2020, it took into account 37 states and UTs and 5- years data (2016-2020) to build a panel data model. The estimated results indicate that with the rise in the number of PMJDY accounts and balance in these accounts leads to a significant fall in crime.

“This could be because of Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile (JAM) Trinity which has helped in better channelising the government subsidies and helped in curbing the unproductive expenditure such as alcohol and tobacco expenses in rural areas,” the report said.

It also said that India has stolen a march in financial inclusion with the initiation of PMJDY accounts since 2014, enabled by a robust digital infrastructure and also careful recalibration of bank branches and thereby using the BC (banking correspondent) model judiciously for furthering financial inclusion.

Such financial inclusion has also been enabled by use of digital payments as between 2015 and 2020, mobile and Internet banking transactions per 1,000 adults have increased to 13,615 in 2019 from 183 in 2015. The number of bank branches per 1,00,000 adults rose to 14.7 in 2020 from 13.6 in 2015, which is higher than Germany, China and South Africa, SBI Ecowrap said.

Telangana CM attacks Centre on farm laws, fuel price

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Telangana CM attacks Centre on farm laws, fuel price

In a sign of the shape of political developments likely to unfold in the state, Telangana Chief Minister and TRS party supremo K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday blasted the controversial farm laws introduced by the Narendra Modi government and demanded the Centre to repeal the three farm laws.

He also accused the Central government of misleading the country over international oil prices.

The Chief Minister’s tirade came in the wake of BJP’s victory over the ruling TRS in the recent high-stakes Huzurabad Assembly bypoll. It was a viciously fought battle which former TRS leader and dismissed state minister Eatela Rajender won as a BJP candidate.

Speaking to the media on Sunday, KCR, as the Telangana Chief Minister is popularly known, fired several salvos against the Modi-led Central government.

Placing the onus of ensuring food security for the people squarely on the Centre, KCR accused it of adopting a shifting stance on paddy procurement. He said that issues like procurement, storage and export of food grains rest with the Central government.

Warning BJP’s Telangana unit chief Bandi Sanjay not to provoke farmers to cultivate paddy as a summer crop, KCR said that the farmers are free to cultivate paddy if the Central government is ready to purchase it.

KCR also accused the Centre of misleading the country over fuel prices in the international markets ever since the BJP came to power.

“The Centre has been speaking untruths on fuel prices for seven years. In 2014, crude oil prices were $105 per barrel. Even when crude prices touched a low of $30, they never reduced fuel prices in the country. The BJP is saying continuously that international oil prices have been increasing constantly,” the Chief Minister said.

KCR said that despite the Central government increasing fuel prices, the state government has not raised VAT on petrol or diesel.

The Chief Minister’s comments came at a time when the state’s road transport corporation is mulling to hike bus fares to the tune of 25-30 paise per km, citing rising diesel price.

The Telangana Chief Minister has maintained a cordial relationship with the Central government till now. However, with the BJP getting aggressive in the state, the two parties are expected to harden their positions in the days ahead.

Amit Shah holds review meeting in his Gandhinagar constituency

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Amit Shah holds review meeting in his Gandhinagar constituency

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who represents the Ganhinagar constituency in the Lok Sabha, on Saturday held a review meeting at the residence of a local BJP MLA and offered his advice to ensure that no eligible voter is left out of the electoral rolls.

The meeting was held at the residence of Arvind G. Patel (Dalal) in Ahmedabad, whose Assembly constituency falls within the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat. The voter list correction programme will kick off from November 11 in the State.

According to Patel, Shah offered guidance to ensure that no eligible voter is left out of the voters’ list.

“Shah was also here to directly interact with the party workers from his constituency. He carries out such review meetings once every three months in the presence of the MLAs from his constituency and other officials of Municipal Commissioner and District Collector levels,” Patel told the media.

The meeting was also attended by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, whose Ghatlodia Assembly seat is part of the Gandhinagar constituency.

Patel said that his area was earlier congested with lots of railway lines and it was due to Shah’s efforts that all the underbridges and overbridges proposed to ease the traffic got approved.

Shah is in Ahmedabad to celebrate Divali with his family members. On Friday, he held a public programme at his bungalow in Thaltej to exchange greetings on the occasion of Gujarati New Year.

Karnataka’s BJP govt rattled as Bitcoin allegations reach PMO

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Karnataka’s BJP govt rattled as Bitcoin allegations reach PMO

Karnataka’s ruling BJP seems to be rattled as the allegations against top state party leaders in the Bitcoin scandal have reached the Prime Minister’s Office.

Sources say that the allegations are being taken seriously and the PMO has recommended further investigation in the matter. This has created furore among a section of the leadership, especially the top-rung leaders, and party insiders say that the development could lead to major changes in the ruling establishment.

The opposition Congress has stated that it will file an application under RTI on the Bitcoin scandal, according to its state chief D.K. Shivakumar.

Sources claim that an anonymous letter contains the explosive details of the state’s top BJP leaders allegedly joining hands with main accused in the Bitcoin scandal Srikrishna Ramesh aka Sriki to make money.

Considering the seriousness of the issue, the PMO has suggested high level investigation as the scandal involving hacking of international banks has seriously damaged the image of the country.

The sources also alleged that the accused had hacked into ‘Jan Dhan project’ which has 80 lakh accounts and minted money in hundreds of crores.

It is also alleged that the main accused Sriki was hacking into various state government e-tender portals, including of the Irrigation Department and Upper Krishna Project, and big contractors had taken his help to bag lucrative contracts, the sources said.

Sources also say that the recent IT raids across the state in which hundreds of crores of disproportionate assets were found in the preliminary investigation, is also linked to Bitcoin scandal. However, the investigation agencies have yet to confirm this.

Sources also allege that an influential politician’s son in state has taken the help of Sriki to transfer huge amounts of money to Mauritius.

There is speculation that the party’s Central leadership is thinking on major changes in the state unit following this development, and it is said that the complaint and all details are provided by the BJP insiders in Karnataka.

Meanwhile, Shivakumar has again urged Chief Minster Basavaraj Bommai to make public the document referring the Bitcoin scandal to the Enforcement Directorate (ED). “The Chief Minister himself has stated that he had referred the scandal to the ED. I want him to release documents,” he demanded.

Sources in Congress say that Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah is gathering documents on the scandal and will hold a press conference on Monday to make explosive charges against ruling BJP leaders in the state.

TDP seeks protection for its candidates in local body polls

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TDP seeks protection for its candidates in local body polls

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national president N. Chandrababu Naidu on Friday demanded the State Election Commissioner (SEC) to provide security to its candidates filing nominations for local body polls after a TDP candidate was attacked in Kuppam.

The former chief minister alleged that TDP candidate V. Venkatesh was attacked when he was filing nomination for polls to Kuppam municipality.

In a letter to SEC Neelam Sawhney, Naidu said it came to his notice that the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) goons attacked V. Venkatesh, who is the TDP candidate for the 14th ward in Kuppam municipality.

Kuppam in Chittoor district is the Assembly constituency represented by Chandrababu Naidu.

The TDP chief said YSRCP leader Muniswamy and his henchmen attacked Venkatesh to prevent him from filing nomination.

Naidu told the SEC that over 25 to 30 goondas waylaid and assulted Venkatesh when he approached the nomination centre set up at MFC Junior College in Kuppam. The goons rained blows on Venkatesh and snatched away his nomination papers, tore them and then destroyed them. They also took away his cell phone.

Naidu said the attack was serious and an injured Venkatesh was thrown on the roadside, outside the nomination centre. When some of the followers of Dr Venkatesh tried to intervene, the miscreants tried to attack them. Finally, the attackers fled the scene leaving him in an unconscious state.

The TDP chief attached two photographs of Venkatesh with bleeding injury on his elbow.

Naidu demanded the SEC to provide security to candidates aspiring to contest in the present elections as directed recently by the Election Commission. He urged the poll panel to take immediate action against the culprits and also provide immediate protection to all the candidates intending to file nominations.

He also sought deployment of additional police force to ensure smooth, free and fair conduct of elections.

The SEC on Monday announced elections to local bodies, where polls were not conducted earlier for various reasons, including the death of contesting candidates.

The elections will be conducted for panchayats on November 14, municipalities on November 15 and ZPTC and MPTCs on November 16.

The elections are being held for 69 sarpanches and 533 ward members in 498 Gram Panchayats, 12 municipalities and the Nellore Municipal Corporation.

The municipalities that are going to polls include Akiveedu, Jaggayyapet, Kondapalli, Dachepalli, Gurazala, Darsi, Buchireddypalem, Kuppam, Bethamcherla, Kamalapuram, Rajampet and Penukonda.

KTR assures all help to family of six-year-old rape victim

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KTR assures all help to family of six-year-old rape victim

Telangana’s Industry and Information Technology Minister K.T. Rama Rao on Wednesday assured all support to the family of a six-year-old tribal girl who was sexually assaulted allegedly by the husband of a sarpanch belonging to the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

Rama Rao, who is also the Working President of TRS, visited government-run Niloufer Children’s Hospital where the victim is undergoing treatment and called on her parents.

He termed the incident which occurred in Rajanna Sircilla as shocking and promised to stand by the family in getting justice.

KTR, as the minister is popularly known, said that such an incident in a civilised society is shameful and the guilty, no matter who he is, should get the harshest punishment.

He directed the doctors to provide best treatment to the victim.

The minister’s visit came a day after reports that the victim was brought to the hospital after she complained of severe stomach pain and was made to wait for six hours. She was admitted after the Telangana Girijana Sangham staged a protest at the hospital, demanding immediate medical attention and justice to the victim.

BJP state President Bandi Sanjay had also visited the hospital on Tuesday. He had slammed KTR for his silence over the incident despite the fact that he represents Sircilla constituency.

Bahujan Samaj Party leader R.S. Praveen Kumar had also consoled the girl’s family at the hospital. He had demanded the government to constitute a fast-track court to deliver speedy justice to the victim and take care of her future by providing all help to the family.

The incident had occurred at a village in Yellareddypet mandal of Rajanna Sircilla district on October 27. However, it came to light two days later when the girl developed fever and she told her parents about the sexual assault.

Police arrested the 46-year-old accused on October 29. Shankar has been booked under section 6 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, section 376 of the Indian Penal Code and also under Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

According to police, the accused resorted to the sexual assault when he was alone at home and the girl had gone there to watch television. He had threatened the victim not to reveal the incident to anyone.

However, the next day she developed fever and she told the parents about the incident. They subsequently lodged a complaint with the police.

The tribal family was living on rent in the house of the sarpanch.

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