Kejriwal dares Cong to give 40% tickets to women in Goa, Punjab

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Kejriwal dares Cong to give 40% tickets to women in Goa, Punjab

The Congress is offering 40 per cent reservation in tickets to women in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, because the party knows that it would not come to power in the politically crucial state anyway, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal said here on Monday.

Kejriwal also dared Congress to offer a similar quota in assembly tickets in other poll-bound states like Punjab and Goa.

“If you are sincere, why is this being done only in UP, are women in Goa any lesser? Give 40 per cent tickets to women in Punjab and Goa too. They (Congress) are offering it in UP, because they know they won’t come to power,” Kejriwal told a press conference in Panaji.

“We urge them not to politicise or perform a drama around it (women’s reservation of seats law). If you want to give reservation to women, come with a bill in Parliament, our party will be the first to support 33 per cent reservation for women,” Kejriwal said.

Pawan Kalyan’s fans annoy him, yet again

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Pawan Kalyan’s fans annoy him, yet again

Telugu film star and Jana Sena Party founder Pawan Kalyan, who has been questioning the Andhra Pradesh government on several welfare issues, had attended a strike aimed at opposing the privatisation of the state’s renowned Vizag Steel Plant.

As Pawan Kalyan was being reasonable, going by his speeches, his fans who were supposed to understand the gravity of the issue happening there, behaved in a contrasting way.

They had brought up Pawan Kalyan’s screen title ‘Powerstar’ as their slogans, which eventually irked their leader.

The angry politician asked his fans not to chant his screen name, which his fans fail to do most of the time.

“I don’t want this title ‘Powerstar’. I have no ‘Power’. How can I be a ‘Powerstar’? I am here to address some important issues. Please cooperate,” Pawan Kalyan had warned his fans.

Sunday’s strike angered Pawan Kalyan, much more than earlier.

Even the inside reports suggest that Pawan Kalyan is not happy with the behavior of his fans. His political supporters also suggest that his fans need to understand that the actor has turned into a politician, and hence must not behave in a way that disturbs his cause in the political events.

“These fans do not vote for him. But, attend the events and chant his screen names, while Pawan is trying to question the government on several important issues. This must change,” one of the Internet users wrote.

While another fan wrote: “See them shouting Powerstar as if it is a movie event. Fans themselves do not understand that his fight has such authenticity, which is to be changed.”

10-minute grocery delivery app Zepto raises $60 mn

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10-minute grocery delivery app Zepto raises $60 mn

Quick grocery delivery app Zepto on Monday said it has raised $60 million in an early-stage round to expand its 10-minute delivery service nationwide.

Zepto said that with its network of �cloud stores’ or micro-warehouses, it is able to consistently deliver in 10 minutes through a combination of technical and operational excellence.

“The data speaks for itself � once we started delivering in 10 minutes, our NPS (net promotor score) shot up and has constantly remained at around 85 with a 50%+ week-on-week user retention rate, which shows the incredibly strong customer love for our product,” said Kaivalya Vohra, Founder & CTO.

Aadit Palicha and Vohra, both computer science graduates from Stanford University in the US, have built Zepto this year with backing from institutional investors like Glade Brook Capital, Nexus and Y Combinator, along with individual investors.

Zepto said it is expanding quickly across Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR and will be launching in key areas across Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune and Kolkata in the next 30 days.

Its management includes senior leaders from Flipkart, Uber, Dream11, Pharmeasy and Pepperfry, to name a few.

“Q-Commerce in India is an opportunity of epic proportions and strong unit economics. Today, we’re consistently growing 200 per cent every single month with an unstoppable team, robust product infrastructure, and deep access to institutional capital,” said Palicha.

Priyanka Gandhi-Jayant airport meeting creates a buzz

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Priyanka Gandhi-Jayant airport meeting creates a buzz

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had a chance meeting with Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) President Jayant Chaudhary at the VIP lounge of the Lucknow airport which has created a buzz.

Priyanka Gandhi was returning from Gorakhpur after addressing a rally and Chaudhary was on his way to Delhi after releasing his party’s manifesto in Lucknow.

During the meeting for almost an hour on Sunday, they discussion the political situation and later Chaudhary left with Congress General Secretary in her aircraft to Delhi.

The meeting gains significance in view of reports that relations between Samajwadi Party and RLD have lately been under strain over seat sharing.

The RLD which is on the resurgence mode in western Uttar Pradesh following its support to the farmers’ agitation, has been seeking a larger share of seats in the region while the SP is unwilling to give more than 15 seats.

Over 69% cast votes in Assam bypolls

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Over 69% cast votes in Assam bypolls

Over 69.60 per cent of nearly eight lakh voters on Saturday cast their votes in the bypolls to the five Assembly seats in Assam, officials said.

Election officials said that the voting was held from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. under heavy security cover of the central forces and strict Covid protocols in all the 1,176 polling stations. One health worker was posted as Covid Nodal Officer in each of the polling stations, where sanitizer, infrared thermometer and social distancing were religiously followed by the voters and elections officials.

According to the election officials, the voting was peaceful and no untoward incident was reported from anywhere of the five districts, where the by-elections were conducted. The state’s Chief Electoral Officer Nitin Khade, who along with other officials monitored the polling process through webcasting, said that there has been no incident so far.

“Adequate Central Armed Police Forces were deployed at each polling station to ensure free and fair polling,” he said. Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police of the five districts personally supervised the situations.

An election official said that showcasing Assam’s vibrant traditional culture, many of the polling stations were decorated with local produce and items.

Nearly eight lakh voters, including 3,93,078 women, were eligible to decide the fate of 31 candidates in Mariani, Thowra, Bhabanipur, Gossaigaon and Tamulpur Assembly seats. The BJP has fielded turncoat candidates in three seats — Congress’ Rupjyoti Kurmi in Mariani and Sushanta Borgohain in Thowra, and All India United Democratic Front’s (AIUDF) Phanidhar Talukdar in Bhabanipur. The BJP’s ally United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) had nominated Jiron Basumatary in Gossaigaon and Jolen Daimary in Tamulpur.

The main opposition Congress, which fielded candidates in all five seats, has been trying hard to at least retain the Thowra and Mariani seats.

The AIUDF has fielded candidates in Bhabanipur and Gossaigaon, while the Akhil Gogoi-led Raijor Dal is contesting in Thowra and Mariani and Hagrama Mahilary-led Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) is contesting in Gossaigaon.

The AIUDF and the BPF were allies of the Congress-led 10-party ‘Mahajot’ (grand alliance) in the Assembly polls earlier this year.

The by-elections were necessitated due to the Covid-related deaths of two sitting MLAs belonging to UPPL and BPF while two Congress (Kurmi and Borgohain) and one AIUDF legislator (Talukdar) joined BJP after quitting their Assembly membership.

The counting of votes will take place on November 2.

Congress will end up making Modi very powerful: Mamata

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Congress will end up making Modi very powerful: Mamata

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to be very powerful because of the Congress’ inability to decide on aligning with regional parties, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Saturday, adding that apart from Tripura, Goa and Meghalaya, contesting in Uttar Pradesh was also on the party’s radar.

Speaking to mediapersons during an informal interaction here, Banerjee also said that while she loved Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, it would be wrong to assume that only the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is allowed easy passage to contest in other Indian states.

“Modiji is going to be so powerful because of Congress. If one cannot take a decision why will the country suffer for that? They have got enough opportunities. Instead of BJP they contested against me in my state.

“How they expect that they will contest me and we will only give flowers to them? And sweets to them? I want to see that all regional parties are strong. We are a union of states and the federal structure should be strong. If the state is strong the centre is strong. Delhi’s dadagiri will not do,” she said.

Banerjee said that she would not like the opposition votes to be divided, but added wherever political opportunity arose, she would grab hold of it.

“In UP also we are there (former UP Congress vice president Lalitesh Pati Tripathi) and his son and grandson have also joined the party and (from) Punjab they have sent me a letter, but wherever possible, Tripura we have started, northeast in a few parts. Uttar Pradesh also we have the target, Meghalaya also. And Goa,” Banerjee said.

Commenting on the footprint of Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party in various states other than Delhi, Banerjee said: “What do you think that only Arvind Kejriwal will contest everywhere in this country and no other political party. I love him, I have no problem for that.

“It is not that everywhere only one political party will go and another cannot go. Did I stop him from going to Punjab? So, why they will stop us from going to Goa? I cannot speak about other political parties because they have their own freedom.”

Asked about her intention of being projected as the Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2024 polls, Banerjee said: “There are some politicians in this country who are proud to say that they are VIP (very important person) and I would like to say I am LIP, less important person. Let us continue as a street fighter.”

Bihar bypolls: 6.45% turnout in Kusheshwar Asthan, 4% in Tarapur

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Bihar bypolls: 6.45% turnout in Kusheshwar Asthan, 4% in Tarapur

An estimated 6.45 per cent voter turnout was recorded in Kusheshwar Asthan and 4 per cent in Tarapur Assembly constituencies in Bihar till 9 a.m, according to the Election Commission on Saturday.

The voting, which started on a dull note, will continue till 4 p.m. Civil and police administration of Darbhanga and Munger districts have made adequate security arrangements to ensure a peaceful polling.

People were seen waiting in queues for their turn to vote amid strict protocols in both the constituencies.

Meanwhile, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav claimed that the party will win the election with a big margin.

“We are fully confident that RJD candidates will win in both the seats. The current government of Nitish Kumar and NDA will sure bite the dust,” he said.

“The difference between us and them is not much. We can easily achieve the magical figure. I am fully confident that JD(U) will split. The legislators of JD(U) know that there no future with Nitish Kumar so they will leave him and join RJD. The formula of forming the government under the leadership of Tejashwi Yadav is ready and we are just waiting for the November 2 results,” the RJD chief said.

A total of 17 candidates are in the fray.

In Kusheshwar Asthan, the Darbhanga district administration has deployed paramilitary forces.

As the 60 booths of the Constituency fall under flood affected areas, the administration has arranged 30 boats to carry out patrolling. Besides, 80 tractors are on patrol in the dry areas.

In Tarapur, the constituency has 406 polling booths, of which 52 fall under Naxal affected areas and are guarded by paramilitary troopers

The Munger district administration has sealed borders at five places.

Bypolls in lone Mizoram Assembly seat begins

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Bypolls in lone Mizoram Assembly seat begins

Voting for the bypoll to the Tuirial Assembly constituency in Kolasib district bordering Assam began on Saturday morning amid heavy security and following requisite Covid-19 protocols, officials said.

Mizoram’s Joint Chief Electoral Officer, David L. Pachuau said 18,582 voters, including 9,095 women are eligible to exercise their vote to decide the electorate fortunes of four candidates.

The ruling Mizo National Front has fielded K. Laldawngliana while Laltlanmawia of the Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM), Chalrosanga Ralte of the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s K. Laldinthara are also in the electoral fray.

The by-election was necessitated following the death of sitting Legislator, Andrew H. Thangliana of the ZPM. The counting of votes in all seats will take place on November 2.

TN CM Stalin condoles death of actor Puneeth Rajkumar

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TN CM Stalin condoles death of actor Puneeth Rajkumar

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has condoled the death of popular Kannada movie star Puneeth Rajkumar who died following a massive heart attack on Friday at Bengaluru.

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister said that he was deeply shocked and pained at the passing away of the popular actor of the Kannada film world. He said that the Kannada film world has lost one of its contemporary icons.

Stalin said that he and his family were close to Puneeth Rajkumar’s family who was the son of famous Kannada actor, the late Rajkumar.

Stalin in his condolence message said, “Deeply shocked and appalled to hear about the sudden demise of ‘Power Star’ Puneeth Rajkumar who is also the son of late legendary Kannada star Rajkumar Avargal. Both our families share a cordial bond for many decades. Thus it is a personal loss for me.”

Stalin said, “Puneeth remained a humble human being despite his stardom. His kind act of visiting our Gopalapuram residence to offer his family’s condolences for Thalaivar Kalaignar’s death still lingers in my heart”.

He said, “Kannada cine industry has lost one of its greatest contemporary icons. I offer my heartfelt condolences to Puneeth’s family and people of Karnataka who are mourning this irreparable loss.”

Mamata dodges query on PK’s comments on BJP

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Mamata dodges query on PK’s comments on BJP

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee refused to respond to a question related to her political strategist Prashant Kishor’s recent comments in which he had said that BJP is going to be at the centre of India’s polity for the next few decades.

“It is better, why don’t you ask this question to him? He is a very efficient man. You can ask him the question. You are putting his question to my mouth,” Banerjee told reporters on Friday when asked to respond to Kishor’s comment.

Banerjee is in Goa, where her party is readying to contest the 2022 state assembly polls.

Kishor, while speaking at an interaction at an art gallery late on Wednesday had also said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was perhaps wrong to assume that it was only a matter of time before the ruling BJP would be voted out by the country’s voters.

“The BJP is going to be at the centre of Indian polity whether they win, whether they lose like it was for the first 40 years for the Congress. BJP is going nowhere. Once you secure 30 plus per cent votes at all India level you are not going away in a hurry. So do not ever get into this trap that people are getting angry and they will throw away Modi. Maybe they will throw away Modi but BJP is not going anywhere, you have to fight it out for next many decades,” Kishor had said.

“That is where the problem lies with Rahul Gandhi probably, he thinks that it is just a matter of time when people will throw him away. That’s not happening… Unless you examine, understand and take cognizance of his (Modi’s) strength, you will never be able to put a counter to defeat him. The problem, I see, is most people are not spending enough time to understand his strengths, to understand what is making him popular. Only if you know then you can find a counter,” he had also said.

Yogi releases Rs 160 Cr for UP farmers

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Yogi releases Rs 160 Cr for UP farmers

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has released an amount of Rs 160 crore for 44 districts of the state, benefitting about five lakh farmers.

The government has dispensed the relief package after assessing crop losses due to floods and inclement weather.

The chief minister has also instructed the officials to give appropriate and immediate compensation to the farmers at any cost.

According to the government spokesman, the process of damage assessment has been intensified in the flood-affected districts. A loss assessment of Rs 180 crore has been done so far, out of which Rs 160 crore assistance has been released to more than one lakh farmers through State Disaster Response Fund.

It may be recalled that farmers’ crops had been badly damaged due to torrential rains and heavy floods in September and early October. The districts of Purvanchal were the most affected by the floods.

Yogi Adityanath himself visited the flood affected areas and took stock of the situation. The chief minister had also instructed ministers and MLAs to visit the flood-affected areas to help the farmers.

KTR meets French Ambassador of Digital Affairs in Paris

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KTR meets French Ambassador of Digital Affairs in Paris

Telangana’s Information Technology and Industries Minister K.T. Rama Rao, who is on a visit to France, called on French Ambassador of Digital Affairs Henri Verdier in Paris.

Possible areas of collaboration like innovation, digitisation in governance and applications of Open Data were among a host of topics discussed in the meeting, the Minister’s office said here.

KTR spoke about various digital initiatives of the Telangana government and digital infrastructure being created in the state.

Embassy of India to France’s Deputy Chief of Mission, K.M. Praphullachandra Sharma, Principal Secretary Jayesh Ranjan, Aerospace & Defence Director Praveen PA and Digital Media Director Dileep Konatham were present in the meeting.

The KTR-led delegation reached Paris on Wednesday. The Minister will address the ‘Ambition India Business Forum’ to be held on Friday, at the French Senate in Paris.

He will also meet French industrialists and CEOs of various companies to invite investments to Telangana.

The French government invited the Minister to address the Forum.

The business event organised under the patronage of French President Emmanuel Macron aims to foster trade and investment relations between France and India.

It enables companies to be aware of the challenges of the Indian market as well as learn more about investment opportunities through updates on the Indian government’s economic policies and regulatory specificities.

Congress to raise Pegasus issue in winter session: Rahul Gandhi

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Congress to raise Pegasus issue in winter session: Rahul Gandhi

Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said that the party will raise the Pegasus snooping issue in Parliament during winter session which is likely to commence in November last week.

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday in Delhi, he asked who “authorised” pegasus to spy and the party will be raising the issue in Parliament and will try for a discussion in the House.

After the Supreme Court on Wednesday set up a three-member committee to probe the Pegasus spyware snooping allegations, the Congress has welcomed the decision and said that the government was evading and diverting the issue. The Congress had been on the forefront demanding enquiry into the snoopgate.

The committee set up by the Supreme Court will be supervised by a retired top court judge Justice R.V. Raveendran, who will be assisted by Alok Joshi, former IPS officer and Dr Sundeep Oberoi. The Centre had argued that disclosing the details on the use of Pegasus spyware involves national security issues, as it refused to divulge any details. The top court, in its judgment, said mere raising national security by state would not stop it from taking up the issue, and emphasized that national security can’t be a bug bear and refused to accept the omnibus denial by the Centre. The bench noted that the Centre filed a limited affidavit, which didn’t make anything clear despite it repeatedly saying that the court is not concerned with issues of national security.

The former Congress President also raised the issue of inflation and said that in GDP (Gas, Diesel and Petrol), the government is earning huge amount of money and it’s a direct attack on the consumer as it affects directly and indirectly as it also increases inflation.

Andhra Pradesh is narcotics hub of India: Pawan Kalyan

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Andhra Pradesh is narcotics hub of India: Pawan Kalyan

Actor politician Pawan Kalyan on Wednesday alleged that Andhra Pradesh has become a narcotics hub of the nation with ‘ganja’ (marijuana) being supplied to various parts of the country from the State.

The Jana Sena leader took to Twitter to claim that Andhra Pradesh has become a narcotics hub and is filled with many druglords at every level.

“Entire nation is getting affected due to willful inaction of leaders who are in-charge of the present government,” wrote Pawan Kalyan.

“During my ‘Porata Yatra’ in 2018, which was meant to understand the socio-economic issues of people of the state, in the tribal areas of Andhra-Orissa border I had received numerous complaints about health, unemployment, illegal mining and about ‘ganja trade and its mafia’,” the actor tweeted.

The Jana Sena leader posted alleged video clips of police officials of different States and cities to support his claims.

“Andhra Pradesh — ‘Narcotics hub of the nation’ supplies ganja to Pune, Mumbai and Maharashtra, too. The Maharashtra Police have seized the ganja shipment, Pawan wrote with an alleged clip of a TV news channel’s report about seizure of 312 kg of the contraband.

“Hyderabad City-Police Commissioner’ Sri Anjani Kumar, (IPS) giving out details about how narcotics are being transported from AP to the rest of the country,” tweeted Jana Sena leader with a clip from the police official’s press conference.

He also posted the video clip of Ranganath, Superintendent of Police of Nalgonda district of Telangana. The official revealed that the Andhra Orissa Border area is the source of ganja and from there it is supplied to various parts of the country.

Pawan Kalyan posted a video clip of Bengaluru Police Commissioner Kamal Pant and also a TV report about Kerala police seizing huge amounts of ganja from Andhra Pradesh.

Another video clip is of a Madhya Pradesh police official speaking about seizure of ganja worth Rs 1 crore which was brought from Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh.

A TV report posted by Pawan is about the Rajasthan Police seizing 210 kg of ganja from Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

Another video is of Delhi Police revealing the seizure of ganja. Subsequent interrogation revealed, it came from Visakhapatnam.

Jobless youths send thousands of letters to Yogi

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Jobless youths send thousands of letters to Yogi

Thousands of letters are being posted to Uttar Prdesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, urging him to immediately fill up vacancies for 1,37,500 assistant teachers in schools across the state.

Some of the aspirants who are waiting for jobs, have written letters in blood.

Since July of this year, these candidates have been protesting at the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) office in Lucknow, alleging partiality in recruitment against them by the state government.

They claim that the government supports upper caste candidates while ignoring candidates from marginalised communities.

On October 21, the agitating candidates were brutally lathi-charged and dispersed by the police. The police have arrested 61 candidates so far and sent them to jail.

The protesters have also written letters to the President and Governor saying that ending their lives by suicide would be the only option left for them if they did not get the jobs.

The BJP came to power in Uttar Pradesh in 2017 with a thumping majority, promising jobs, and better socio-economic development in the state.

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav have supported the demands of the youths by tweeting in their favour.

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.

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