‘We are very happy’: SC on Rs 50K ex gratia to Covid victims’ kin

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‘We are very happy’: SC on Rs 50K ex gratia to Covid victims’ kin

The Supreme Court on Thursday said it is “very happy” with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) guidelines for providing Rs 50,000 ex-gratia assistance to the kin of those who succumbed to Covid.

Apprising the top court about the guidelines issued by the NDMA, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, said: “To ensure uniformity, we have decided that the states from SDRF (State Disaster Response Fund) will give 50,000 to the kin of the deceased who died due to Covid.”

“We cannot repair the loss, but we can do something,” he added.

Mehta also clarified that families of those who took their own lives, within 30 days of being detected Covid positive, will also be eligible for financial help under the Disaster Management Act.

A bench of Justices M.R. Shah and A.S. Bopanna orally said: “We are very happy. This will bring solace to a lot of people…. it will wipe the tears of many”.

It also appreciated the government’s Covid management in the country, and added: “We are happy that something is being done to wipe out tears of the person who suffered. We have to take judicial notice of the fact that what India has done, no other country could do.”

The top court noted that given the size of the population, vaccine expenses, economic situation, and the adverse circumstances, the government took exemplary steps. Mehta said India, as a nation, responded well.

According to NDMA guidelines, Rs 50,000 ex-gratia assistance will be paid to the families of those who died due to Covid-19 by the states from the SDRF.

During the hearing, Mehta emphasised that India, in context of Covid management, has done a much better job than many foreign countries. The bench said it has said this in its order also.

The top court was hearing an application seeking compliance of its June 30 judgment, where directions were issued to the NDMA to frame guidelines to grant compensation to the families of those who died due to Covid, and the Centre was also directed to issue guidelines to simplify the process of issuance of death certificates in Covid cases.

The Centre has filed a compliance affidavit, where it informed the top court about the NDMA guidelines framed to fix the ex-gratia at Rs 50,000 and also, guidelines framed to simplify the process of issuing death certificates. The top court said it will pass an order in the matter on October 4.

The top court’s June 30 judgment came on PILs which were filed by advocates Gaurav Kumar Bansal and Reepak Kansal seeking the court’s intervention for payment of Rs 4 lakh ex-gratia amount to the Covid victims’ families.

Action against graft, BJP to expel more municipal councillors in Delhi

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Action against graft, BJP to expel more municipal councillors in Delhi

Ahead of next year’s municipal polls in the national capital, the BJP has decided to take strict action against its councillors if found guilty of graft charges and indiscipline.

It is learnt that after expelling three municipal councillors from the party, the BJP is all set to expel more in the coming days.

Sources said that the BJP central leadership has directed the Delhi unit to take action against municipal councillors who are found guilty of financial irregularities and leaders who are not toeing the party line.

On September 19, the BJP Delhi unit had expelled three councillors — Rajni Babloo Pandey (New Ashok Nagar), Puja Madan (Mukherjee Nagar) and Sanjay Thakur (Said-ul-Ajaib) from the party for six years for their alleged involvement in financial irregularities. Hours later the same day after her expulsion, Puja Madan joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

A senior BJP functionary said that there were complaints of financial irregularities against some councillors and after internal enquiry some of the allegations were found true.

“There are three to four councillors against whom allegations are found to be true and they will be thrown out of the party in the coming days. We have clear instructions from the Central leadership to not tolerate cases of corruption or financial irregularities,” he said.

BJP Delhi chief Adesh Gupta had told IANS that there will be zero tolerance against corruption and more councillors will face the music for their involvement in corrupt practice.

“In coming weeks, strict action will be taken against more councillors and municipal officials,” Gupta had said.

Another saffron party leader pointed that direction has come from the top, clearly stating that the message should be strong and loud that there is no place for corruption in the BJP.

It is learnt that while taking note of reports of indiscipline, the central leadership has also directed the state unit to take strict action. “No one is bigger than the party and everyone has to follow the party line. Those not following will be shown the door,” a senior party leader said.

Will fight Sidhu’s elevation to Chief Ministership: Amarinder

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Will fight Sidhu’s elevation to Chief Ministership: Amarinder

Amarinder Singh on Wednesday said he would fight Navjot Sidhu’s elevation to Punjab Chief Ministership tooth and nail, and was ready to make any sacrifice to save the country from such a “dangerous man”.

Even as he reiterated his intention to counter any move to make Sidhu the state’s Chief Minister face, Amarinder Singh said he will pit a strong candidate against him in the 2022 Assembly polls to ensure his defeat.

“He (Sidhu) is dangerous for the state,” said the former Chief Minister in a series of media interviews.

Asserting that he will only leave politics on a high, he said: “I was ready to leave after a victory but never after a loss.”

He disclosed that he had offered his resignation to party President Sonia Gandhi three weeks earlier but she had asked him to continue. “If she had just called me and asked me to step down, I would have,” he said, adding that “as a soldier, I know how to do my task and leave once I am called back”.

He said he had even told Sonia Gandhi that he was ready to hang his boots and allow someone else to take over as the Chief Minister after leading the Congress to another sweeping win in Punjab. “But that did not happen, so I will fight,” he asserted, taking strong exception at being subjected to “humiliation” by calling a Congress Legislative Party meeting in a secretive manner, without taking him into confidence.

“I would not have taken MLAs on a flight to Goa or some place. That is not how I operate. I don’t do gimmicks, and the Gandhi siblings know that is not my way,” he said, adding: “Priyanka and Rahul (Gandhi) are like my children… this should not have ended like this. I am hurt.”

He claimed that the Gandhi siblings were “quite inexperienced” and “their advisors were clearly misguiding them”.

Indicating that he was still keeping his political options open, the former Chief Minister said he was talking to his friends before deciding on his future course of action.

“You can be old at 40 and young at 80,” he quipped, making it clear that he did not see his age as a hurdle.

On allegations of inaccessibility, Amarinder Singh said he had been elected to the Vidhan Sabha seven times and twice to the Parliament.

“There must be something right with me,” he remarked, adding that the Congress leadership had evidently decided on making the change (in Punjab) and were trying to make up a case.

Congress demands Vijayan call all-party meeting on jihad row

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Congress demands Vijayan call all-party meeting on jihad row

Almost two weeks after the now controversial statement made by a Catholic bishop on “love and narcotic jihad” in Kerala, and the varied reactions to it, the Congress on Wednesday slammed Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for “playing hide and seek” and demanded things are brought under control by calling an all-party meeting to discuss the issue.

Pala Archdiocese’s Bishop Mar Joseph Kallarangat, speaking at a function at Marth Mariam Pilgrim Church at Kuruvilangad in Kottayam district on September 9, alleged that non-Muslims in Kerala are subjected to “love and narcotic jihad”, which is the spoiling lives, particularly of young people, by making them addicted to drugs.

Addressing the media here, Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan alleged that while the Sangh Parivar forces are waiting for differences between two minority communities to worsen, Vijayan and his CPI-M wants the present discontentment to continue.

“We all heard the statement of state Cooperation Minister V.N. Vasavan saying soon after his meeting with the bishop, that the issue is a closed chapter and with that being the case, Vijayan appears to have reopened the issue…. its here we want Vijayan and the CPI-M to come clean on this issue. He should call a meeting of religious leaders to easily settle the issue… we want to ask what has Vijayan done in this issue,” he said

“It has been so many days and Vijayan is silent. We have made our stand very clear and it is that we will not do anything to disturb the secular credentials of our state and we will never make political capital out of it, while Vijayan is trying his best to make political gains and all what he does is to make statements. Instead of statements, he should ensure things are sorted out amicably. We, the opposition, have created a very good atmosphere for talks and the government if it wished can use that platform. The need of the hour is both the media and political parties have to handle this issue with caution,” he added.

Satheesan also came down heavily on Vijayan for lack of action even after “social media is flush with a baseless campaign to destroy peace”.

“Not a single person has been arrested for this violation… what is the use of Cyber Police then. Vijayan is yet to reply to our letter on this aspect,” he said.

Is Mamata’s Trinamool looking to make political splash in Goa?

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Is Mamata’s Trinamool looking to make political splash in Goa?

Is West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress founder Mamata Banerjee looking to make a political splash in 2022 Goa assembly polls?

Amid reports that the West Bengal-based party’s scouts have reached out to several politicians across party lines ahead of the assembly polls, a former Congress MLA Agnelo Fernandes on Tuesday said that he had received feelers from the TMC over the last few days.

“I have been with the Congress through thick and thin. Feelers have been sent to us, saying Congress wants to take (Ports Minister Michael Lobo) Michael, why are you with the Congress? But I refused to participate in such a conversation,” Fernandes told IANS on Tuesday.

Fernandes and Lobo, a BJP MLA, are political rivals vis a vis the Calangute assembly constituency in North Goa. However, with Lobo repeatedly questioning the leadership of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, speculation is rife about him looking to switch political party in the months leading to the polls.

Reports about the Trinamool Congress’ possible foray in the Goa polls come at a time when a several member-strong team of I-PAC, a political lobbying agency headed by political strategist Prashant Kishor has been in Goa for the last couple of weeks to assess the political ground reality in the poll-bound state.

The team has been meeting politicians, journalists, social activists, businessmen and a cross section of the state’s population.

A section of the local media has mentioned the name of former two-time Chief Minister Luizinho Faleiro, as one of the potential targets for Mamata Banerjee’s party. Responding to the reports, Faleiro told IANS: “Lot of people are doing surveys. They are meeting all the leaders”.

If the Trinamool Congress does make a political play in Goa, it would not be its first. The party made its first venture into state politics in the 2012 state assembly polls, when the party’s Goa unit was headed by former Chief Minister Dr Wilfred de Souza.

Canadians vote to elect new PM

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Canadians vote to elect new PM

Canadians headed to the polls across the country to choose a new Prime Minister who will form the next federal government after a 36-day election campaign amid the fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Due to Covid-19 public health restrictions, Canadians have cast their votes in some ways different from the past elections, reports Xinhua news agency.

About 6.8 million Canadians have already voted, most of whom cast their ballots in the advanced polling on September 10-13.

Millions of others who voted on Monday had to abide by certain Covid-19 protocols like physical distancing, sanitization, and wearing masks, which resulted in longer lines than usual at some polling places.

Throughout the election campaign, six political party leaders have made promises on Canada’s pandemic response, economy, child care, climate change, spending, indigenous reconciliation, taxes and housing.

On Sunday, party leaders made last-minute appeals in whirlwind tours in an effort to convince voters to choose them.

Incumbent Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s ruling Liberal Party and the Erin O’Toole-led Conservative Party have been locked neck-and-neck and bounced back and forth in the lead position, with each claiming between 30 per cent and 32 per cent support in public polling.

A win for either would result in a minority government — and for the governing Liberal Party, not the majority Trudeau sought when he called the snap election on August 15.

The Liberals have the advantage for a win on Monday based on the slight edge of support the party is registering in Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, which has the most seats, 121 out of the 338 that comprise the House of Commons.

To form a majority government, the Liberals would need to win 170 seats.

Most election winners will be decided by the end of Monday, but Elections Canada has warned it might take up to four days to finish counting the special ballots, meaning some close races won’t have official winners for several days.

With millions of Canadians heading out to vote on Monday for Canada’s 44th national election, there have been some reports about long lines and disturbances at polling stations.

In Toronto, several lines were spotted at voting locations.

In Edmonton, the capital city of Alberta province, police were reportedly called in over a disturbance at a polling station where two people refused to wear masks.

Nadda slams Oppn for ‘irresponsible’ remarks on record Covid vaccinations

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Nadda slams Oppn for ‘irresponsible’ remarks on record Covid vaccinations

Bharatiya Janata Party National President J. P. Nadda launched a scathing attack on the ‘irresponsible’ and ‘laughable’ remarks made by opposition parties, calling the Covid-19 vaccination campaign in the country the world’s largest and fastest-moving health drive.

Speaking to the media after visiting the Covid vaccination centre at AIIMS hospital in Delhi as part of the ‘Seva and Samarpan’ campaign of the BJP, Nadda said the number of Covid vaccinations in the country has already crossed 84 crore.

He claimed that the world’s largest and fastest vaccination campaign is being conducted in India but the opposition parties have been making ‘irresponsible’ and ‘ridiculous’ statements about the vaccination programme since the last one year.

He said more than 2.5 crore people were vaccinated in the country on September 17, which was also the birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but the silence of the opposition parties on this day was surprising.

Nadda said the opposition parties must introspect about their usefulness and significance.

He congratulated Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, the health ministers of all the states and medical staff serving at vaccination centres across the country for making the vaccination campaign a huge success under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

While visiting the vaccination centre at AIIMS Delhi, Nadda interacted with several people who came there for receiving vaccine jabs, inquired about the facilities available at the hospital and motivated the medical staff and nurses.

Earlier, on June 21, Nadda had visited the Covid vaccination centre at Ram Manohar Lohia hospital in Delhi. Nadda has previously served as Union Health Minister in the Modi government.

Three roads in Baghpat to be named after Jat stalwarts

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Three roads in Baghpat to be named after Jat stalwarts

In order to appease farmers in western Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has decided to name three roads in Baghpat district after former Prime Minister, late Chaudhary Charan Singh, farmer leader Mahendra Singh Tikait and Chandro Tomar, also known as Shooter Dadi.

The chief minister’s office gave this information through a tweet.

According to sources, the Chaprauli-Tanda road will be named as Chaudhary Charan Singh Marg.

The Chaprauli-Barnawa road will be named as Mahendra Singh Tikait Marg while the Johdi-Bijwada road will be named after Shooter Dadi.

All three stalwarts belong to the Jat community which is predominantly leading the farmers’ agitation against three farm laws enacted by the Centre last year.

The Yogi government, through this decision, aims to pacify the Jat community.

The chief minister will also be unveiling a statue of Mihir Bhoj who is said to be a Gurjar leader though the Rajput organizations claim that he was a Rajput. The statue will be unveiled in Grater Noida on September 22.

Congress challenges Mayawati to declare Dalit CM candidate in Punjab

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Congress challenges Mayawati to declare Dalit CM candidate in Punjab

After criticism from BSP supremo Mayawati over the appointment of a Dalit Chief Minister, the Congress has thrown a challenge to Mayawati to declare a Dalit Chief Minister candidate in Punjab.

The BSP is in alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in the state with the Parkash Singh Badal family at the helm. Congress Chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala to a question responded, “we respect Mayawati as an elder and senior leader but request her to announce Dalit Chief Minister candidate in Punjab where it is in alliance with SAD.”

As per media reports, Mayawati congratulated Charanjit Singh Channi as Chief Minister but said that through the media she has learnt that the next Punjab assembly elections will be contested under the leadership of a non-Dalit — referring to Congress punjab in-charge Harish Rawat’s statement.

She alleged that the Congress still does not fully trust the Dalits and is scared of the SAD-BSP alliance in Punjab.

The BSP and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) are in alliance for the 2022 Assembly election in the state.

The Congress meanwhile is on an overdrive after the swearing in of Channi. Surjewala said that the Congress has created history by appointing Punjab’s first Dalit CM in Charanjit Channi.

“Let time record that this decision will singularly fortify social justice & open new doors of empowerment for our Dalit, Backward & disadvantaged brothers & sisters across India,” he said.

Jagan thanks people for YSRCP’s victory in local body polls

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Jagan thanks people for YSRCP’s victory in local body polls

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has thanked the people of the state for the landslide victory of the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) in the Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies (MPTC) and Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTC) elections.

Reddy said the mandate given by the state’s voters has further increased his responsibility.

“By the grace of God and people’s blessings this massive victory has become possible. This has increased my responsibility towards every single person and family in this state for showering all the love and support,” the Chief Minister tweeted.

After the declaration of the final results, Reddy on Monday expressed his gratitude towards the people of the state through a video message.

Making a clean sweep, the YSRCP bagged 505 of the 515 ZPTCs and 5,998 of the 7,219 MPTCs.

State Agriculture Minister Kurusala Kannababu had said that in the past, the YSRCP received 80 per cent votes but in the MPTC and ZPTC polls it will go beyond that.

He flayed the opposition Telugu Desam Party for falsely propagating that the YSRCP has won only because it had boycotted the local body polls. The Minister said that the opposition had participated in the elections, gave B-forms to the contestants and campaigned.

YSRCP Government Advisor (Social Justice), Jupudi Prabhakar said people have always chosen Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, who took governance to the people’s doorstep by bringing the volunteer system.

TDP supremo and former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had avoided holding the local body elections in 2018 and had never got favourable results in elections after that as people are well aware of his inefficiency, Prabhakar added.

MLA Ambati Rambabu said with a humiliating defeat for Chandrababu Naidu, the TDP lost its presence in Kuppam and Chandragiri constituencies, adding that the TDP should stop functioning in the state.

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