The Rajasthan government has made changes in the text books and removed the prefix ‘Veer’ from freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar’s name from class 12 History text books. The Ashok Gehlot led Congress government has taken this decision within six months after coming to power. The Rajasthan Board of secondary education has made several changes in the newly printed text books.
A committee was formed by the government to make amendments in text books. The changes has been made as per the recommendation made by the committee on February 13 to study if the earlier changes to school text books were made to fulfill political interest and to distort history.
The text books which were printed earlier had the prefix ‘Veer’ before Savarkar’s name. There were also references made about his contribution towards freedom struggle. However, the prefix has been removed from the newly printed text books. The freshly printed books for the Rajasthan Board for Secondary Education (RBSE) have been distributed in the market by the Rajasthan State Textbook Board (RSTB).
The Congress party on Friday appointed former revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat as the leader of Congress Legislature Party in Maharashtra. He will be the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Maharashtra Assembly. Balasaheb Thorat is supposed to be very close to the Congress President Rahul Gandhi. Congress MLA from Vidarbha Vijay Wadettiwar has been appointed Leader of Lower House.
It is worth mentioning that the monsoon session of the Maharashtra legislature is going to begin from June 17. The Congress party fought the Lok Sabha election without Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the state. The party was in immense pressure to appoint the Leader of Opposition before the monsoon session begins.
In a letter addressed to Congress General Secretary (Maharashtra) Mallikarjuna Kharge, the All India Congress Committee General Secretary K.C. Venugopal has approved the list of members appointed to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and Council, after mega-exodus of Maharashtra Congress MLAs due to the Lok Sabha defeat in the state.
Senior Congress’s Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil has quit as Maharashtra Leader of Opposition days after his son joined BJP in March this year. Later on, he quit the Congress party and joined BJP. The expansion of Fadnavis cabinet is due in near future and Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil is likely to be included in the cabinet.
The senior Congress MLA and former revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat who is also arch-rival of former LoP Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil in Ahmednagar district was being referred to as ‘the dark horse’ for this post. Balasaheb Thorat proved media speculations true. His close proximity with Congress president Rahul Gandhi made his claim to the post strong. A day after Sujay Vikhe Patil joined the BJP, Balasaheb Thorat asked Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil to make his stand clear on his son joining the BJP. Sujay Vikhe Patil joined the BJP on March 12.
On June 4, Patil had officially resigned as Congress MLA from Maharashtra’s Shirdi constituency. He had submitted his resignation to Speaker of the Vidhan Sabha. Along with him, other Congress leaders namely Abdul Sattar, Kalidas Kolambkar and Jaykumar Gore also resigned from their posts as MLA.
Congress MLA from Vidarbha Vijay Wadettiwar was also tipped off as the front runner the Leader of Opposition. Sources in the Congress had said that the party is expected to fare well in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls, particularly Vidarbha region. “In Vidarbha, the Dalit, Muslim and Kumbi (DMK) consolidation are likely to spell good poll prospects for the crumbling Congress party in the region. Apart from that, Wadettiwar’s contribution and dedication to the party made him a front runner for the post. Wadettiwar played a vital role in bringing Kunbi leader and Shiv Sena MLA Suresh Dhanorkar into the Congress. He also ensured that the ticket for Chandrapur Lok Sabha constituency goes to Dhanorkar who fight an election against former Union Minister of State, Home Affairs, Hansraj Ahir. Dhanorkar won the election and he is lone MP of the Congress in Maharashtra.
But 57-years-old Wadettiwar could not succeed in his endeavour. He is a firebrand leader of Congress and has been a vocal critic of the BJP government’s performance in the state. His proximity with state Congress president Ashok Chavan and NCP chief Sharad Pawar proved in vain.
June 14 is celebrated as the World Blood Donor Day. It is celebrated every year on the day of the birthday anniversary of Karl Landsteiner on June 14 in 1868. It is rightly said that “The future can be anything we want it to be, providing we have the faith and that we realise that peace, no less than war, required “blood and sweat and tears.” Blood donation is a big contribution to the whole life of people. Blood donation is one of the most significant contributions by the human being.
This event celebration was first started in the year 2004 aiming to raise public awareness about the need for safe blood donation (including its products) voluntarily and unpaid by the healthy person. Blood donors are the key role player on this day as they donate life-saving gifts of blood to the needed person.
Blood donation has many benefits for the blood donor. It gives certain facilities to the people while the blood was donating. It is a good thing for everyone. It is safe for blood giving people. According to the statistics, it has been noted that only 62 countries are getting sufficient blood supplies from the voluntary and unpaid blood donors whereas 40 countries are still dependent for the blood donations on the patient’s family member or paid donors. It is celebrated to motivate voluntary blood donors in the rest of the countries worldwide. It is celebrated to fulfill the need of blood transfusion and blood products transfusion to the needed person anywhere in the world. This campaign saves more than millions of lives annually and gives a natural smile on the face of blood receiver.
Blood donation is one of the most significant contributions that a person can make towards society. It is not harmful to an adult person to donate blood. The body of the donor can regenerate the blood within a few days. It poses no threat to the metabolism of the body. It is nice that health care organisations like “the World Health Organisation, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the International Federation of Blood Donor Organizations (IFBDO) and the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT)” work jointly to organise international level programs to promote people globally.
Nowadays, public awareness is noticed to donate blood. Many clubs, colleges, societies, offices, etc. organise blood donation camps on different occasions. It is a healthy gesture. We must keep this aptitude up at any cost. Our blood banks are running short of required blood. By organising such blood donation camps we may help them to enrich their capacity.
However, carefulness has to be observed while donating blood. First of all the hygiene has to be very strictly demanded to the blood donation camps regarding the needles they use. Otherwise, infections are assured to happen as well as some other harmful effects.
Blood donation is our human duty. Our body does not get affected if we donate blood. The body can repair the loss within a few days. So, we must come forward to donate blood as it can make sure the return of a dying man again into the light of life.
It brings the proud feeling in the mind that we are the reason to save the life of someone. Its consequences, we are giving blood, so we can certainly give life to people. Everyone has to give the blood for better health and save someone life. During the giving of blood as it is painless and will take about an hour only. So, whenever we have spare time, we can visit the hospital and donate the blood. We will surely feel happy as people will shower their blessings on us for giving ourselves blood and saving their life.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
As the nation has now given a clear mandate to BJP ruled NDA and its allies, it is high time now that the majority party in power puts the country’s focus quickly back on track. The governance and development issues which had taken a back seat for over two months, owing to enforcement of Model Code of Conduct, now need an immediate attention. The pomp and glory of victory should immediately subside by giving due importance to further necessary steps to quickly form the government.
The steps related to mammoth cabinet formation, ministries berth allocation, appointment of key officers to various ministries to spearhead the departments and also to fast-tack various on-going development programmes/ welfare schemes should be done fast. The nation now has no time to patiently wait for ceremonies and celebrations, apart from expecting a delay through routine transfers within the government machinery, that happens post the declaration of an every election result. Such a delay further jeopardizes a common voter’s morale on the ground w.r.t. day to day functioning of the machinery.
The incumbent government should now set an example of moving to business as usual quickly, which is now an easy task to NDA upon its second successive win. Many core issues now need an immediate attention including working out a strategy on oil import with Iran and sanctions imposed by US, clarifying the stand on distorted unemployment data, impeding agrarian crisis and much more. The quick government formation move will only help to keep the voters highly informed without anticipating much delay and ensure that the nation limps back to normalcy in a quick succession.
Varun Dambal
Govt should probe role of rating agencies
The role of rating agencies should come under the scanner of the government and the regulator. Most of the ‘downgrades’ by this agencies are made after the event when stock prices have already fallen and bottomed out leaving shareholders no room to exit. These very agencies upgrade stocks at their own whims and fancies without any reason which fools the public into a world of Ethiopia which suddenly comes crashing down overnight as events of corporate mismanagement unfolds over a period of time.
Even Corporate governance has become a big issue. CEO of companies do very well as far as their personal investments are concerned but companies they head bleed and they exit those companies one fine morning. Reliance Capital is in the doldrums but their executive who were at the helm and now exited are doing very well. The roles of CEO’s and MD’s along with top management team too should be monitored by the regulator.
S.N. Kabra
Why human rights activists are silent on rape incident?
It refers to horrible rape-cum-murder of a little 3-year old girl-child by some persons last week. Only a few days ago, a young businessman was murdered with help of his family-members in Delhi only because the victim went to house of killers to request for not being involved in eve-teasing of his daughter. A dog-owner and his associates in South-West Delhi killed a youth when the victims refused to apologies to pet dog of the killer.
Surprisingly those making Apex Court sit in mid-night in advocacy of death-sentence accused or those having candle-light march or returning awards in name of human-rights observe are silent on such brutal killings of innocent ones. Activities of all such self-acclaimed human-rights activists should be under surveillance in a manner so that they may not even think of making any kind of protests in name of human-rights for self-publicity and encouraging lawlessness including rapes and murders.
Uniform Civil Code should be implemented where Islamic law may be adopted for instant and severe-most punishment at least for crimes attracting death-sentence. Presently all cases attracting death-sentence must be finished in most supersonic manner from trial-court till disposal of mercy-petition by President of India including all in-between stages at High Court and Supreme Court to ensure that final execution of death-sentence may be done maximum within six-months of committing crime. Only such a system can create much-desired fear-psychology to drastically reduce crimes attracting death-sentence.
Subhash Chandra Agrawal
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
In 2017, as Myanmar military began a crackdown on the Rohingya ethnic minority group, over one million fled the Rakhine state and took refuge in Bangladesh. In today’s world, Rohingya refugee is the highest size of refugees in the world. A developing nation like Bangladesh has to bear the expenditure of hundreds of millions of dollars each year towards food, housing, medical and other basic needs of these unfortunate people. Ever since the emergence of this crisis, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government have been relentlessly trying to mobilize global communities in putting pressure on Myanmar in immediately resolving the crisis. Unfortunately, until now, none of the mighty nations in the world, including the United States, China, Russia, and India, in particular, are showing real interest in this issue, except for some mere lip-service, while China and India in particular, as well as Russia, are extending silently siding towards Myanmar.
Why world powers are silent on Myanmar issue
According to Myanmar’s own Department of Geological Survey and Mineral Exploration (DGSE), there is a huge stock of mineral resources such as gold, copper, tin, and zinc, within the Rakhine state, which are yet to be explored. In addition to this, there are potential gas and oil reserves. It may be mentioned here that, several nations are already competing – either openly or discreetly in deepening relations with Myanmar with the hope of getting a stake in the huge stock of mineral resources within the Rakhine state as well as other parts of the country. For this particular reason, many of the nations, particularly China and India even are shy in uttering the word ‘Rohingya’ thinking it may hurt their Burmese counterpart.
Every nation is actually eyeing on Myanmar’s natural resources and that is one of the key reasons that stop them from speaking out loud enough on the Rohingya issue. In this case, China and India already have greatly succeeded in deepening relations with Myanmar, and most definitely, for this reason, both the nations are unwilling to annoy Myanmar by helping Bangladesh in a real sense in resolving the crisis.
Rohingya a crisis is not a lone burden for Bangladesh and Myanmar
Until now, everyone in the world may think, Rohingya refugee the issue is a lone burden on Bangladesh and Myanmar and it is the responsibility of Dhaka and Naypyitaw to resolve the matter through “mutual dialogues”. What some of the countries do not realize is, for Myanmar, it is actually a priority in keeping the Rohingyas out of the land for the sake of ensuring a favorable atmosphere in the Rakhine state, which would enable Naypyitaw in having foreign investors in larger number for investing billions of dollars in the exploration of mineral resources.
Why Myanmar wants Rohingyas out of the land
The 1.5 million Muslim population in the Rakhine state in Myanmar actually is considered as a liability than human resources by the policymakers in Naypyitaw. The main reason behind such perception is –the majority of these Rohingyas are uneducated, unskilled and to some extent radicalized Muslims. Rohingyas have tried in 1947 and again in 1971 for making Rakhine state a part of the then East Pakistan and then Bangladesh. It means they are not loyal to Naypyitaw. The reason behind such sentiment is decade-old persecution and hostilities these Rohingyas have been enduring mostly from the Buddhist majority populace as well as Myanmar’s military junta. Myanmar’s military and the Buddhists see Islam as a threat to country’s peace, stability, and even integrity because the next-door neighbors of Myanmar are Bangladesh, a Muslim majority country and India, a country with over 180 million Muslim population. Myanmar does not want the Rohingyas to attain legitimacy as a citizen of the country and ultimate form any type of nexus under the garb of solidarity of the Muslim ummah.
The ultimate price of driving out the Rohingyas
Neither Myanmar nor China and India are realizing the potential risk posed by the Rohingya refugee crisis, which would definitely jeopardize regional and even global security within the next few years unless it is resolved immediately without wasting further time.
We are aware of Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), a terrorist outfit that came into existence since 2013 under the leadership of Ataullah Abu Ammar Jununi, born in Karachi, Pakistan and grown and educated in the Islamic school in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. He is of Myanmar origin. In his later years in Saudi Arabia, Ataullah served as an imam, (similarly as Islamic State (ISIS) kingpin Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi) and served as an imam to the Rohingya diaspora community of around 150,000.
According to the International Crisis Group (ICG), a report released in December 2016 states that he left Saudi Arabia in 2012, shortly after religiously motivated violence erupted in Rakhine State. A Myanmar government press release claims Ataullah spent six months of training in modern guerrilla warfare under the Taliban in Pakistan. The ICG report stated that though not confirmed, there are indications he went to Pakistan, and possibly elsewhere and that he received practical training in modern guerrilla warfare. Several members of the group also stated to ICG that he may have received additional training in Libya.
Ataullah has been an active supporter of Islamic State ever since its emergence in 2014 and according to several documents, he maintains deeper connections with Pakistani spy agency Inter-Service Intelligence.
Since 2012, Ataullah began recruiting members under the banner of Harakah al-Yaqin after the 2012 riots in Myanmar. HaY, which would become ARSA in 2017, was comprised of seething, angry young men whose lives had been destroyed by the Myanmar armed forces.
The most important point to note here is – Ataullah Abu Ammar Jununi promotes Caliphate, which is a prototype of Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi’s concept of Islamic State. Each of his directives is issued after cross-checking with the Quran and Hadith, meaning we can for granted take ARSA as the next ISIS – if not even much dangerous and mighty.
Ataullah’s confidants in ARSA, his devoted followers among the Rohingya, and his acquaintances from Saudi Arabia all unanimously describe him as one of the politest and softest-spoken people they have ever known. He even is described of his mesmeric personality, who calls upon his fellowmen to die or kill the “enemies”.
The next ISIS
Let us remember, the size of the “armies” of ARSA would be millions, as there are 1.5 million Rohingyas only now in Bangladesh [over one million Rohingya refugees] and Myanmar, while there are thousands of Rohingyas in Saudi Arabia, India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, in addition to an unknown number of Rohingyas in the western nations. There is a sharp possibility of ARSA joining hands with ISIS and may even expand up to those Islamists in Chechens and Uyghurs. There are over 110 million Uyghurs in China and thousands in Turkey, Russia, and Canada. And let us not forget those hundreds of thousands of Chechens, who are spread within Chechnya, Russia, Turkey, Middle East, United States, Canada, and the European nations. Can we realize the ultimate consequence if there is a nexus of jihadists formed in between ISIS, ARSA and beyond? Can we really afford to keep the Rohingya refugee crisis alive and open the door to the formation of a gigantic jihadist force under the theme of Caliphate?
(The author is the editor of Blitz.)
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of AFTERNOON VOICE and AFTERNOON VOICE does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)
The UPA government came under attack when the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) tabled two high-profile audit reports that could bring attention back to political corruption and misdeeds at the highest levels. The audit reports on Air India and oil exploration contracts, including the one for Reliance’s KG Basin, were tabled in the Parliament. It was in 1983 that Gas was first struck in Rajole Well No.1 when ONGC had a small office in Rajahmundry and Narsapur that was headed by Iqbal Farooqi. Since that discovery, there had been no looking back. Reliance and others are late players in that area, 14 trillion cubic feet of gas by Reliance Industries in KG-DWN-98/l (KG-D6) in 2002.
The CAG report on the performance of oil and gas blocks operated by firms including Reliance Industries and Cairn India was tabled in the Lok Sabha. The CAG in its report has asked the Oil Ministry to review the decision to allow Reliance Industries to retain entire KG-D6 block. It has also called for an in-depth review of 10 contracts, including eight awarded to Aker Group, by Reliance for developing KG-D6 finds.
According to the CAG report, RIL did not Relinquish 25 per cent of total Contract Area and violated Production Sharing Pact on KG D6. The CAG report also slammed the Directorate General Hydrocarbons (DGH) for having failed to pursue technical aspects of KG DWL Block. DGH should have stopped RIL from proceeding on D6 Phase 2. In its report on RIL’s KGD6 contract, the CAG stated that the company notified discoveries without details and declared entire contract area as discovery area.
There was a lot of noise by the rival parties on former prime minister Manmohan’s role in the 2G scam, KG Basin contract, but as the new government came to power, the scam getting diluted due to the involvement of corporate firms which are close to BJP. The role of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in both the 2G scam and the allocation of the KG Basin gas contracts can be questionable.
However, if we look at another aspect, even present PM Narendra Modi too comes under the scanner, On June 26, 2005, the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC), a State government public sector corporation, had discovered India’s biggest gas reserves in the deep waters of the Krishna Godavari (KG) river basin. He said that the discovery was 20 trillion cubic feet worth Rs 2,20,000 crore. It caught the entire nation by surprise.
Officials in the Ministry of Petroleum were flummoxed by this bold claim. Modi further, in his characteristic flamboyance, promised the nation that GSPC would start production in December 2007 and make our nation energy independent. It is 2019 now, nearly 13 years since that grandiose announcement by Modi. There has been zero gas recovered from the KG basin because there is no gas there.
GSPC spent Rs 19,700 crore during this period, ostensibly looking for the missing gas, but recovered nothing. The Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) of India has rapped the Gujarat government’s blue-chip Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) for its KG basin project, which is yet to see any production of gas, a decade after then CM Narendra Modi declared that it had struck “20 TCF gas in the KG basin block” in 2005.
The CAG noted that without any experience and expertise in exploration and production, the company acquired the blocks and then surrendered them, leading to Rs 2,514.65 crore being written off. The company went ahead acquiring overseas blocks during 2006-10 mainly as an operator with considerably high participating interests without any experience overseas,” the report said, recommending, “risks associated with cost, technology and price realization be properly considered while venturing into exploration and development activities.”
“Out of the 64 blocks on hand as on April 1, 2011, the company surrendered 37 in 2011-2015 and wrote off exploration expenditure worth Rs 2514.65 crore for 29 surrendered blocks. The CAG has slammed the company for “not recovering Rs 2,329.52 crore in dues from joint venture partners.”
The two joint venture partners are Geo Global Resources Inc and Jubilant Group. On the KG basin block, where the GSPC has invested Rs 12,249.06 crore between 2011 and 2015, has seen a huge delay in commissioning the project which was supposed to go for commercial production in 2011-12. However, the GSPC and top officials of the Gujarat government have defended the investment in the KG basin on the ground that its “high-temperature high pressure (HTHP) area where even British Petroleum (BP) in partnership with Reliance Industries (RIL) is struggling to produce the gas.
In spite of such a big scam, the Bharatiya Janata Party kept mum on the Reliance gas issue in which Mukesh Ambani is among others named in a First Information Report filed by the Anti-Corruption Branch of the Delhi government. Ambani’s KG basin scam is one of the biggest scams in the country’s history and much bigger than any other scams.
It is shocking that Modi and the BJP have remained tight-lipped on the issue. When the UPA was in power, BJP and CPI (M) made all allegations against Manmohan Singh and the UPA, however, when it’s BJP in power, all of a sudden, the KG scam became negligible? Why?
(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)
After the Congress party suffered severe drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi criticised party workers for not working hard enough to ensure the party’s victory in the general election. The moral of the party workers is low, after the Congress party’s poor performance in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. Priyanka Gandhi had accompanied her mother Sonia Gandhi for the Thanksgiving visit to Rae Bareli.
When AV spoke to Congress MLC Anant Gadgil, he said, “Priyanka has commented about the local situation of the party and not on a pan-India basis. Former prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had said that the Congress party will only defeat itself. There are several reasons for the party’s defeat.”
“In 2011, I had written an article in a renowned Marathi newspaper mentioning that Dr. Manmohan Singh had taken the nation forward by presenting new economic policy. However, the Congress has distanced itself from poor people, SC, ST, and minorities. If this situation continues then the Congress will find itself in a difficult situation. People might blame Rahul Gandhi for the Congress’s defeat but the party had won assembly polls in four states under his leadership,” he added.
In a thanksgiving rally after the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi won the election from Rae Bareli, a dejected Priyanka Gandhi said that she would only speak the truth. She stated, “I did not want to deliver any speech here but since I have been made to speak, let me speak the truth. The truth is that this election was won with the assistance of Sonia Gandhi and the people of Rae Bareli.”
Priyanka Gandhi who is made Congress eastern UP in-charge said that she will find out the names of workers who have failed to work for the victory of the party in the Lok Sabha polls. She said, “Everyone is aware of those who had worked hard and I will find out those names that have not worked for the party for the general elections.”
Even though Priyanka Gandhi had worked hard during the Lok Sabha polls but the party managed to emerge victorious in Rae Bareli only. To make matters worse, BJP leader Smriti Irani defeated Congress president Rahul Gandhi from Amethi which is known as the stronghold of the Congress.
BJP MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar said, “People lack confidence about the Congress party’s leadership which is responsible for the party’s defeat. Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are failed leaders. People were happy with the performance of the Modi government; hence, they have voted for BJP for the second time.”
Priyanka Gandhi now faces an uphill task to revive the fortunes of the Congress party in the upcoming bypolls and Uttar Pradesh assembly polls in 2022. According to sources, the weak organisational structure was responsible for the party’s defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. Priyanka Gandhi has already asked the party workers to start preparations for the upcoming bypolls on 12 seats. The party also is examining the reasons for Rahul Gandhi’s defeat in Amethi.
Political expert Abdul Wahab said, “Yes, it is true that the Congress party workers did not work which was the main reason for the party’s defeat. The VIP culture is still prevalent within the Congress. There was a lack of communication between senior leadership and the party workers. Rahul Gandhi was the lone leader who was working for the party’s development.”
“Most of the MPs and Congress president of Maharashtra have lost polls. The Congress party’s cadre too has become weak. Leaders like Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil have switched loyalties towards BJP. The party has failed to address the internal rift prevalent within the outfit,” he added.
A report citing the reasons behind the party’s defeat was also submitted to Priyanka. The non-cooperation of Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party grassroot level workers also is another reason behind the party’s poor showing in the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress put up a poor show in Lok Sabha polls by winning a meagre 52 seats. In Karnataka, the party won only one seat with senior party leader Mallikarjun Kharge losing by a huge margin. The Congress won only three seats in three states — Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh, where it formed governments in December 2018. This time also the party won’t be able to claim the post of Leader of Opposition (LoP).
NCP general secretary DP Tripathi said, “There are several reasons behind the defeat of the Congress party. The Congress leadership has failed to inspire party workers; hence, they did not work. It is not right to blame the workers for the defeat. The organisational structure of the party is weak.”
Rahul Gandhi had offered to step down in the aftermath of the Congress party’s poor performance in the Lok Sabha polls. Rahul had submitted his resignation to the Congress Working Committee but it was rejected by the CWC. Rahul, nonetheless, was adamant on his stand to resign. Later, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala stated that Rahul will continue to remain as the Congress President.
As per information received from the police department, actress Tanushree Dutta’s allegations against veteran actor Nana Patekar have fallen flat. The Mumbai Police has informed a local court that they haven’t found any evidence to prosecute actor Nana Patekar in a molestation case lodged against him by Dutta.
The suburban Oshiwara police on Wednesday filed a ‘B Summary’ report before a metropolitan magistrate in Andheri, Deputy Commissioner of Police Paramjit Singh Dahiya told PTI.
A ‘B-Summary’ report is filed when the police do not find any evidence against the accused person to file a charge sheet and seek trial.
After Hollywood felt the heat of MeToo movement and many reports came up against popular faces of the industry, Bollywood too took up the momentum following Dutta who filed a complaint against Patekar in October 2018 accusing the actor of harassing and misbehaving with her while shooting a song on the sets of the film “Horn Ok Pleasss” in 2008.
However, Tanushree Dutta’s advocate Nitin Satpute denied receiving any official information on the police closing the case.
“I have not received any official information from Oshiwara police station about classification of offence (Summary Report) from police on behalf of Tanushree Dutta, if police files any B or C classification of summery Report, that cannot be final, we can oppose before court and after hearing if court satisfies then again it can be directed police to reinvestigation or further investigations,” Satpute said.
He further added, “Police acted negligently to protect Nana Patekar, many witnesses statement not yet recorded, one Shyni Shetty’s statement was recorded partly; police have not investigated properly and we are opposing the summary reports and also going to file a writ petition before the Bombay High Court.”
She also alleged that during the shooting of the song sequence, Patekar inappropriately touched her even after she had clearly mentioned that she will not perform lewd, vulgar or uncomfortable steps. She filed an FIR and Nana Patekar has even stepped down from his upcoming film, ‘Housefull 4’. Rana Daggubati replaced Nana Patekar in the film.
A series of allegations that came out with the MeToo campaign got hell lot of support both from the industry and other fields. However, the campaign took an uglier turn when many well-known names from the industry got exposed.
Moreover, not only the entertainment industry, women from various other fields too started voicing in public about the harassment faced by them.
While Patekar’s name was creating enough hubbubs in the media, allegations of sexual misconduct against director Sajid Khan came as a shocker. Sajid Khan was that time directing ‘Housefull 4’. Starting with Saloni Chopra, Rachel White to journalist Karishma Upadhyay, all accused the filmmaker of sexual harassment. As a result, the director was pressured to step down as the director of the film.
Vikas Bahl, the director who was praised for her award-winning women-oriented film Queen starring Kangana Ranaut, was also accused of sexual harassment by an employee of Phantom Films. The victim, in an interview with HuffPost India, put some shocking allegations on the director. She alleged that Vikas Bahl masturbated on her back and also claimed that although she reached out to Anurag Kashyap, no action was taken against him. Following that, Kashyap dissolved the Phantom films production house which had Vikas Bahl as one of the co-owners. He even changed his Twitter bio to – Ashamed.
Subhash Ghai was also accused by an anonymous girl of raping her. During a Twitter conversation with writer Mahima Kukreja, the woman who didn’t want to reveal her name said that the filmmaker harassed her while she was working on a film with him. As per the Twitter chat, Ghai even spiked her drink during a late night music session and raped her in a hotel room.
The MeToo campaign came up with its ultimate shocker when the famous ‘Bapuji’ and the Bollywood’s ‘sanskari man’, the older and famous celebrity Alok Nath became next in line. He was accused of raping the writer of Tara. It took 19 years for Vinta Nanda, to speak up against the man. In a long Facebook post, Nanda explained how he misbehaved with her which eventually led to rape.
Adding more to the list, singer Sona Mohapatra accused singer Kailash Kher of sexual misconduct. T-Series head Bhushan Kumar, Chetan Bhagat, and Rajat Kapoor were also charged with the same. It was in reports that Kapoor has been accused of asking questions such as ‘Are you as sexy as you sound?’ Not just that, he also inquired about the girl’s body measurements.
Keeping the list open, a former newspaper writer accused famous actor Piyush Mishra. If reports are to be believed, then during a house party, Piyush Mishra misbehaved with a girl. Keeping herself anonymous, she mentioned that Piyush was a few drinks down. When the actor was asked the same, he was quick to apologise if it made the “lady uncomfortable”.
How and When did all these start?
MeToo movement was founded by Tarana Burke but began as a much needed social phenomenon in October 2017 as a hashtag started by American actress Alyssa Milano who shared her story of sexual assault against Harvey Weinstein. The hashtag caught like wildfire when women from across the world began talking about their survivor stories. In India, however, this MeToo movement didn’t take flight until actress Tanushree Dutta decided to speak up once against actor Nana Patekar. What began as one woman’s story soon became a phenomenon when names of powerful men in the country started surfacing. From actor Alok Nath to journalist MJ Akbar, the movement has brought to light many stories of sexual harassment and abuse.
After allegations against Harvey Weinstein, the use of the #MeToo hashtag on social media with respect to the event spread quickly in India, where sexual harassment is commonly referred to by the word ‘eve-teasing’, a term described as misleading, tame, and diluting the seriousness of the crime. In response to #MeToo, there have been attempts to teach Indian women about workplace rights and safe reporting, as well as educating men about the scope of the problem. Some have likened #MeToo to a 2012 social movement which followed a violent gang rape in New Delhi that later resulted in a woman’s death, which caused the Indian government to institute harsher punishments for rape. Others have suggested there was underlying public anger over a Delhi rape conviction that was overturned by Judge Ashutosh Kumar a month before against filmmaker and writer Mahmood Farooqui, ruling that a “feeble no” was not enough to revoke consent because it was typical for one partner to be less willing. The case is being appealed to the Supreme Court. Activist Jasmeen Patheja, head of Blank Noise, stated #MeToo’s power is in demonstrating India can no longer ignore the scope of the problem. Kaimini Jaiswal, a lawyer at the Supreme Court of India, stressed the importance of teaching women how to read, especially in rural villages, because most women in these areas are illiterate and completely financially and emotionally dependent on a male relative.
Blogger Sheena Dabolkar’s viral #MeToo tweet resulted in the boycott of Khodu Irani’s popular Pune pub High Spirits, by several well-known performers. Several women mentioned Mahesh Murthy, which initiated a police case in January 2018. Trends Desk of The Indian Express wrote that many Indian men are speaking up as a part of #MeToo, including discussions about consent and how some men are also abused. Rina Chandran of Reuters said #MeToo is ignoring the 600,000 women in India who are currently sex workers against their will and are typically poor without education or family. (With inputs from News agency)
Minister for Finance and Planning Sudhir Mungantiwar on Wednesday informed that the state government’s hilly region development program has received Rs 31.35 crores have been disbursement aiming that these regions can meet the expenses for four months from April to July 2019.
Stating that the government resolution (GR) in this regard has been issued by the planning department, Mungantiwar said that provision of Rs 95 crores was made in the state budget for the development of hilly regions for the financial year 2019-20. He said that out of this provision, this fund was made available for the hilly region.
The minister also said that the development program in the hilly areas — Thane, Palghar, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Pune, Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur, Aurangabad, Beed, Nanded, Hingoli, Nashik, Dhule, Jalgaon, Ahmednagar, Nandurbar, Amravati, Akola, Buldhana, and Yavatmal districts — would receive a boost with this fund. This money would have to be spent by adhering to prescribed terms and conditions. The GR was issued by the planning department on Wednesday.
On the other hand, the monsoon session of Maharashtra legislature will kick start on June 17 and the budget will be tabled on June 18. After a remarkable win in the recently concluded Lok Sabah polls and keeping eyes stuck on the upcoming state assembly polls while this is going to be the last budget session before the poll arrives, the budget session is expected to see maximum populist schemes. Maharashtra Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in October this year.
Besides the government’s decision to allot money for the hilly regions that were announced in the last interim budget earlier this year and which reportedly got implemented recently, the monsoon session budget likely to have schemes favouring infrastructure development and farmers incentive.
With delayed monsoons and depleting surface and groundwater levels resulting in drought-like conditions in most parts of the country especially in Maharashtra, and the apparent failure of Jalayukt Shivar scheme, the eyes are also on the recently included Jalshakti Ministry in the central government. Budget allocation towards resolving water woes in the state will also be a significant point this time. Jalshakti Ministry is one of the manifesto promises of the ruling party that became a reality on the very day of the oath-taking ceremony of the present government.
The new Jalshakti Ministry is a conglomerate of erstwhile Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation and the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, and the charge of this ministry has gone to Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
The Maharashtra government had presented an interim budget with an estimated revenue deficit of Rs 19,784 crore in February this year.
The Monsoon session will be three weeks long and there will be 15 working days. The last day of the sessions is on July 5. While June 19 and June 20 have been kept for discussion on governor’s address to both the Houses that will take place on the first day of the session, discussion on the budget will take place between June 21 and June 24. Supplementary demands will be debated on June 27.
Last year, the Monsoon session was held in Nagpur, the second capital of Maharashtra. All eyes will be on the election of deputy chairman of the Legislative Council and appointment of the Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly.
The post of the Deputy Chairman has been lying vacant since the term of Congress leader Manikrao Thakre came to end.
The post of the Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly fell vacant after incumbent Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil of Congress resigned during the Lok Sabha elections.
Top 7 cities’ unsold inventory declines from 50 months in Q1 2017 to 30 months this quarter
Unsold inventory in Delhi-NCR drops to 50% – from 90 months in Q1 2017 to 45 months in Q1 2019
Bangalore & Hyderabad’s current inventory levels at all-time low of 15 months each
Pune’s unsold inventory at 28 months, followed by Chennai with 30 months; MMR & Kolkata with 35 months each
Top 7 cities’ cumulative unsold stock declines by 16% in 2 years – at 6.65 lakh units in Q1 2019
Indian homebuyers are gradually returning to the market and taking advantage of favourable property prices and cuts in GST and home loan rates earlier this year. ANAROCK’s most recent data reveals that residential inventory in the top 7 cities overhang plunged to 30 months’ worth in Q1 2019 against 50 months in the corresponding period in 2017.
Inventory measured in months indicates how many months it will take for the current unsold housing stock on the market to sell. At any given period, an inventory overhang of 18-24 months is considered fairly healthy.
Source: ANAROCK Research
Housing sales recorded in Q1 2017 were merely 46,000 units across the top 7 cities. Sales rose by a whopping 71% in two years to reach nearly 78,520 units in Q1 2019.
Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants says, “Average property prices across cities have largely maintained status quo and saw less than 2% rise in the last two years – from INR 5,480 per sq. ft. in Q1 2017 to INR 5,570 per sq. ft. in Q1 2019. While the top 7 cities saw a cumulative drop of16% in overall unsold housing stock in the last two years, Bangalore saw the maximum decline. The city saw pent-up housing inventory reduce by a 44% – from nearly 1,18700 units in Q1 2017 to 66,820 units in Q1 2019.Hyderabad followed with a 21% decline in the same period.”
Delhi-NCR saw unsold stock decrease by a significant 18% during this period, leaving the other ‘heavyweight’ market MMR far behind. MMR cleared a mere 4% of its unsold inventory in the same period. In short, NCR has halved its unsold housing inventory overhang – from 90 months in Q1 2017 to 45 months in Q1 2019.
The current housing inventory level now stands at 6.65 lakh units across the top 7 cities – nowhere near the lowest level of 4.96 lakh units seen in 2013. However, the extremely worrisome trend of rising inventory since 2014 onwards has effectively been arrested, with data clearly suggesting a q-o-q unsold stock decline in the 7 main cities from Q1 2017 onward. In the coming quarters, a stable government at the Centre will boost buyer confidence further and increase housing sales velocity.
ANAROCK’s recent Consumer Sentiment Survey also confirms that over 60% of prospective buyers plan to take the property plunge in 2019. Apart from favourable property prices, GST rate cuts and multiple sops for first-time and budget home buyers played key roles in this improvement.
Senior Congress’s Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil has quit as Maharashtra Leader of Opposition days after his son joined BJP in March this year. Later on, he quit the Congress party and joined BJP. The expansion of Fadnavis cabinet is due in near future and Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil is likely to be included in the cabinet.
June 14 is celebrated as the World Blood Donor Day. It is celebrated every year on the day of the birthday anniversary of Karl Landsteiner on June 14 in 1868. It is rightly said that “The future can be anything we want it to be, providing we have the faith and that we realise that peace, no less than war, required “blood and sweat and tears.” Blood donation is a big contribution to the whole life of people. Blood donation is one of the most significant contributions by the human being.
BJP government should focus on governance
After the 
