Rahul’s place beside Sonia, a message to dissenters?

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Rahul’s place beside Sonia, a message to dissenters?

In a clear message to party workers, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday said that discipline is paramount, giving a subtle message to the dissenters. Sonia Gandhi in the meeting of Congress General Secretaries, State In Charges and State Presidents chalked out party’s future plans ahead of assembly polls in five states.

Seated beside Sonia Gandhi was Rahul Gandhi, the former Congress president, who is likely to be the next party chief, the elections of which are to be held next year.

On Tuesday, Sonia said clearly, “I would like to re-emphasise the paramount need for discipline and unity. What should matter to each and every one of us is the strengthening of the organisation. This must override personal ambitions. In this, lies both collective and individual success.”

The optics on Tuesday showed that Congress leaders and workers have to work with Rahul Gandhi and the message was specially for the dissenters, said an insider. In the CWC meet on October 16, Sonia Gandhi had made it clear that she is taking decisions in the party, saying she is the “full-time Congress President”.

“I am, if you will allow me to say so, a full-time and hands on Congress President,” she had said while addressing the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting.

KCR unanimously re-elected TRS President

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KCR unanimously re-elected TRS President

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao was on Monday unanimously re-elected as the President of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

Rao was elected unopposed to the post for a ninth consecutive term.

TRS General Secretary M. Sreenivas Reddy, who was the election officer, announced Rao’s re-election at the party plenary attended by 6,000 delegates from across the state.

KCR, as Rao is popularly known, was declared elected unopposed as no other nomination was received for the post.

His election was a mere formality after no other TRS leader filed nomination till Friday, the last day for filing papers.

In all, 18 nominations were filed by several TRS leaders, proposing the name of Chandrasekhar Rao as President. Ministers, party MPs, MLAs and other leaders had filed nominations on behalf of KCR.

The scrutiny of nomination papers was taken up on Saturday.

The plenary later passed a resolution congratulating KCR on his re-election. He thanked the leaders for electing him unanimously for another term.

KCR presided over the plenary. He highlighted the achievements of the party during last 20 years and the schemes taken up by the TRS government during the last seven years.

He had resigned from the Telugu Desam Party in 2001 to float TRS to revive the movement for statehood to Telangana.

The separate State was carved out of Andhra Pradesh in 2014.

Kerala gives free homeopathy tablets to kids ahead of schools’ reopening

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Kerala gives free homeopathy tablets to kids ahead of schools’ reopening

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday inaugurated a state-level programme of distribution of free homeopathic preventive tablets to all school children as a precautionary measure against Covid-19 as all schools will be reopening from November 1.

Vijayan said the homeopathic medicines are proven and effective.

“Homeopathic preventive tablets will be made available through special kiosks and dispensaries. This has been proved to be very effective as well. A special helpline has also been opened for all queries,” he added.

Schools in the state have remained closed from the third week of March 2020.

The decision to distribute homoeopathic preventive tablets was first discussed between Education Minister V. Sivankutty and Health Minister Veena George and it decided to go ahead with it.

It has been decided that in the initial weeks of opening of schools that there will be no uniform and attendance will not be compulsory for school students.

The study curriculum in the first few weeks will be more of returning to schools and would centre around well-being and such related issues, with the regular curriculum being kept in abeyance for a while.

More decisions with regards on the exact nature of classes will be announced by an expert committee which is preparing the roadmap for it and for a while there will be only 25 per cent students attending classes with students coming to school in different shifts.

Modi launches pan-India health mission from Varanasi

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Modi launches pan-India health mission from Varanasi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday launched the Pradhan Mantri Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana (PMASBY) from his parliamentary constituency of Varanasi which will be one of the largest pan-India schemes to strengthen healthcare infrastructure.

The Prime Minister said that the scheme, estimated to cost Rs 64,000 crore, would make the health infrastructure self-reliant.

“Aarogya concept is needed in everyone’s life. We should invest the maximum in physical and mental wellness but, sadly this was not done in the post-Independence period. Due attention was not paid and those who were in power, kept the healthcare system deprived and lacking,” he said.

Modi said that the middle-class groups and the poor were worst sufferers in the absence of adequate facilities at the grassroots level.

“This mission will solve these problems. We are focusing on hill states like Uttarakhand and Himanchal Pradesh and also the northeast. We will address the gaps,” he said.

The Prime Minister said that special attention would be laid on early detection and 125 districts will have referral facilities.

Secondly, testing would also be stepped up and 730 districts will get integrated testing laboratories.

He said that research centres will also be upgraded and four new National Institute of Virology units would be set up so that the country can be ready to deal with new viral issues and the pandemic.

He said that as the health infrastructure developed, it would generate new employment opportunities too.

The Prime Minister also announced new development projects worth Rs 5,200 crore for Varanasi.

He said that in the past seven years, Kashi had undergone a change with building of roads, ghats, bridges, parking lots and cleaning of the Ganga and Varuna rivers.

“This could have been done earlier but the previous governments lacked political will,” he said.

Modi in UP to inaugurate medical colleges, launch mega health scheme

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Modi in UP to inaugurate medical colleges, launch mega health scheme

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate nine medical colleges and launch several development projects in Uttar Pradesh on Monday.

He will inaugurate medical colleges from Siddharth Nagar and will launch, later in Varanasi, the “Pradhan Mantri Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana”.

He will also inaugurate various developmental projects worth more than Rs 5,200 crore for his Lok Sabha constituency.

The Prime Minister Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana (PMASBY) will be one of the largest pan-India schemes for strengthening healthcare infrastructure and will be in addition to the National Health Mission.

Its objective is to fill gaps in the public health infrastructure, especially in critical care facilities and primary care in both urban and rural areas. It will provide support for 17,788 rural health and wellness centres in 10 high focus states. Further, 11,024 urban health and wellness centres will be established in all the states.

The government spokesman said that critical care services will be available in all the districts of the country with more than five lakh population through exclusive critical care hospital blocks, while the remaining districts will be covered through referral services.

People will have access to a full range of diagnostic services in the public healthcare system through a network of laboratories across the country, and integrated public health labs will be set up in all the districts.

Modi quotes from Thirukkural to thank healthcare, frontline workers

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Modi quotes from Thirukkural to thank healthcare, frontline workers

Quoting a couplet from Thirukkural in Tamil, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday thanked all healthcare and frontline workers for their selfless service during the Covid-19 pandemic, the state BJP unit said.

The party is distributing ‘thank you’ cards to doctors, nurses and other frontline workers across the state.

In his message, Modi quoted a couplet from Thirukkural which means “during troubled times, one should keep smiling without losing heart and there is nothing that can equal vanquishing that problem”.

Modi said that the Covid-19 pandemic spread like a storm across the world and threatened mankind.

“There is nothing comparable to your selfless service, putting your life at risk, forgetting your family and friends to save the people. It is your selfless service that has saved and continues to save the people,” he told them.

Fulfill poll promise relating to construction materials: Palaniswami to DMK

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Fulfill poll promise relating to construction materials: Palaniswami to DMK

Leader of Opposition and AIADMK Joint Coordinator K. Palaniswami on Saturday demanded that the ruling DMK government in Tamil Nadu include construction materials in essential commodities list and make them available to people at a fair price.

Citing the spiralling prices of cement, sand, blue metal, steel, among others soon after the DMK came to power in Tamil Nadu, Palaniswami said the incumbent government has failed to fulfil its poll promise.

The DMK had promised to bring construction materials under the essential commodities list so that people can avail them at fair prices, he added.

Tamil Nadu,he said, produces more cement than other states. But the retail price of cement is Rs 470 per bag as against Rs 370 sold before the DMK came to power.

Nowhere in the country is cement being sold at such a high rate. In Delhi, the retail price of a cement bag is Rs 350, Andhra Pradesh– Rs 370, Telangana– Rs 360 and Karnataka– Rs 380, Palaniswami added.

Similarly, the prices of M-sand have gone up to more than Rs 5,000 per unit (old price Rs 3,000), blue metal costs more than Rs 3,800 (old price Rs 2,000), one ton steel costs more than Rs 78,000 (old price Rs 48,000), bricks Rs 29,000 (old price Rs 18,000), among others, the AIADMK Joint Coordinator said.

According to him, the construction cost per sq.ft has gone up to Rs 3,100 from about Rs 2,200 at the start of 2021.

Stalin launches portals to monitor projects, increase govt-industy interaction

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Stalin launches portals to monitor projects, increase govt-industy interaction

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Friday launched two initiatives in the IT sector aimed at monitoring projects and increasing interaction between the government and industry, a statement from the Chief Minister’s office said.

He launched new web portal ‘e-Munnetram’ that provides the status of more than 200 infrastructure projects, costing around Rs 1 lakh crore, and the IT Nanban project. Both were developed by TN e-governance agency (TNeGA).

The statement said that the e-Munnetram project provides updates on the projects periodically and some details on a monthly basis, including date of agreement, start date, cost estimates, progress of the project on both financial and physical parameters on a monthly basis.

The location data and GIS layers as well as the photographs of the site would be provided periodically and allow the heads of departments to update the progress, the statement said.

The reasons for delay in the projects are also provided in the portal and the department heads will be able to even flag certain projects through the e-Munnetram portal.

The statement also said that the IT Nanban project provides all IT companies in Tamil Nadu a platform to interact with the state government and contribute to policymaking. Companies can assess all government orders, IT policies, and tenders issued by the IT Department, and will also be able to provide feedback on the latest policies of the government and flag issues that they are facing.

The IT Department will address the feedback and concerns raised by these IT companies.

It will also notify the companies periodically about all the latest news and the work done by the government. Details about emerging business opportunities will also be provided to these companies.

The official statement said that the exports from IT/ IT-enabled services (ITES) have been growing in Tamil Nadu at the rate of 10 per cent per year and that there was great potential to improve this further.

The Chief Minister also released two computing software with advanced features developed by the Tamil Virtual Academy.

According to an official statement, the Keezhadi-Thamizhinaiya keyboard will function with three types of keyboards – the Tamil’ 99 Keyboard, Phonetic Keyboard, and Old Typewriter Keyboard.

Punjab orders probe into Amarinder’s relations with Pak friend Aroosa

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Punjab orders probe into Amarinder’s relations with Pak friend Aroosa

The Punjab government on Friday ordered a probe into former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh’s relations with his Pakistani woman friend Aroosa Alam and her relation with the ISI.

Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Randhawa said the government would probe the ISI links of Aroosa Alam.

“Captain Amarinder Singh is now saying that there is a threat from the ISI. We will look into the woman’s connection with it. Captain kept raising drones issue coming from Pakistan for last four-five years,” Randhawa told the media.

“Captain Amarinder Singh kept raising the issue of drones coming over from Pakistan for the last four-and-a-half years. So Captain sahab first raised this issue and later got the BSF deployed in Punjab. So it seems a big plot which needs to be probed,” he said.

Randhawa, who also hold the Home portfolio, added he asked the Punjab Police chief to investigate the allegations.

In political circles, the decision to order probe by the government against its own party’s former Chief Minister is seen as a major embarrassment for Amarinder Singh, who on October 19 announced that he would soon announce the launch of his own political party to serve the interests of the people, including the farmers who’ve been fighting for their rights for over a year now.

The former Chief Minister also said he is hopeful of a seat-sharing arrangement with the BJP for next year’s Assembly elections in the state, if the farmers’ issues are resolved in their interest.

TDP leader sent to jail for using abusive words against Andhra CM

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TDP leader sent to jail for using abusive words against Andhra CM

A city court on Thursday sent Telugu Desam Party (TDP) spokesman K. Pattabhi Ram to judicial custody for 14 days for allegedly using abusive words against Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Ram — arrested on Wednesday night, was produced in Third Additional Metropolitan Court, which remanded him to judicial custody for two weeks.

The opposition party leader was subsequently shifted to Machilipatnam Jail.

After the arrest from his house amid high drama, Ram was taken to Thotlavalluru Police Station.

The TDP leader’s lawyer moved the bail petition but the government’s counsel opposed the same citing several cases booked against him in the past. After hearing the arguments of both sides, the magistrate rejected the bail plea and sent him to judicial custody.

Meanwhile, Ram said he was not beaten up by police during the custody. He, however, denied that he used any abusive word against the chief minister or any other leader and said he was only highlighting the government’s failures.

Ram was arrested from his house by the police on Wednesday night, a day after his remarks triggered a huge backlash from alleged supporters of ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) who attacked the TDP’s central office at Mangalagiri in Amaravati and party offices in other parts of the state.

Pattabhi Ram’s house was also attacked by unidentified people on Tuesday.

Ram’s wife Chandra said he was arrested by policemen after breaking open the door. She said if anything happened to him, the government will be responsible.

According to police, the TDP leader was arrested in connection with a case booked against him at Governorpet Police Station. He was booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 505 (2) (Statements conducing to public mischief), 353 (Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) read with 120B (criminal conspiracy).

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