West Bengal elections: Sharad Pawar congratulates Mamata as TMC emerges victorious 2
NCP supremo Sharad Pawar on Sunday congratulated Mamata Banerjee, whose party TMC was striding way ahead of the BJP in the counting of votes for the West Bengal Assembly polls.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) was ahead in 202 of the 292 seats that went to polls in West Bengal, way over the halfway mark of 147, leaving the BJP trailing far behind in 77 seats.
“Congratulations @MamataOfficial on your stupendous victory! Let us continue our work towards the welfare of people and tackling the Pandemic collectively,” tweeted Pawar, whose party shares power with the Shiv Sena and Congress in Maharashtra.
Congratulations @MamataOfficial on your stupendous victory! Let us continue our work towards the welfare of people and tackling the Pandemic collectively.
Though the TMC seemed to have successfully ridden the BJP challenge, it could well be a bittersweet moment for Chief Minister Banerjee herself with trends showing she was trailing behind her one-time loyalist and now BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram by about 3,700 votes.
In terms of vote share, the TMC had 48.5 per cent of the votes against the BJP’s 37.4 per cent.
Trends suggest TMC likely to cross halfway mark in West Bengal 4
As the day progressed, the ruling Trinamool Congress seemed to have an advantage in the race as the Trinamool Congress is leading in 202 seats while the Bharatiya Janata Party is leading in 77 seats as per the initial trends. The trends pointing towards TMC crossing the halfway mark in the state having 294 assembly seats.
The counting of votes in the state has begun on Sunday at 8 am following the COVID-19 protocol. The early trends showed that West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee is trailing from the Nandigram seat.
Bengal witnessed a fierce contest between the ruling Trinamool Congress and BJP across eight phases. The Samyukta Morcha comprising the Congress, Left parties and ISF has also tried to put up a strong fight. The BJP has made a concerted attempt to dislodge the TMC. The Election Commission has made necessary arrangements for counting. The counting is taking place amid an unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases in the country.
Several surveys gave an edge to the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC). In West Bengal, all exit polls predicted that the BJP would make major inroads and a few also said that the party would emerge victoriously. Times Now-C voter exit poll predicted 158 seats for TMC, 115 for BJP and 19 for others. ABP-C Voter predicted TMC to get 152-164 seats, BJP 109-121 seats and Left-Congress alliance 14-25 seats.
According to the Republic-CNX exit poll, BJP with 138-148 seats has an edge over TMC which is predicted to get 128-138 seats. As per India TV- People’s Pulse, BJP is expected to get 173-192 seats while TMC will be reduced to 64-88 seats and the Left-Congress alliance will get 7-12 seats.
Axis My India predicted a hung assembly in Bengal with the ruling TMC expected to get 130-156 seats and BJP 134-160 seats.
BJP will form govt in Assam, says CM Sarbananda Sonowal ahead of poll results 6
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal is confident of retaining power in the state as the trends suggest Bharatiya Janata Party leading. “As per the trends, it is clear that Bharatiya Janata Party will form the government in Assam with United People’s Party, Liberal (UPPL),” Sonowal told ANI on Sunday.
Sonowal further said, “This is the result of the support of the people. We have to wait till the vote-counting is complete but the trend shows that the people are on our side.” The counting of votes in 126 seats in the state is underway.
As per the latest trend, Sonowal is leading in the Majuli constituency while Rajib Lochan Pegu, who is the candidate of Congress in the same constituency, is trailing. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is leading in 60 seats while Congress is leading in 26 seats.
The election schedule spread across four states and one Union Territory began on March 27 and continued till April 29. The polling across Assam took place in three phases. The voting for the 126 constituencies in the state for the first phase in the state was held on March 27, the second on April 1, and the third phase was held on April 6.
Over the three phases, the main players, the BJP and Congress-led Mahajot have been made significant efforts to woo voters. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is seeking a second term after a thumping win in the 2016 elections where the party ended Tarun Gogoi-led Congress’ 15-year rule when it won 86 out of 126 seats.
According to exit polls, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) can form the government for the second consecutive term in the state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Amit Shah, and Rajnath Singh were among the big names from BJP who tried to woo voters during the election campaign. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi too campaigned in the state.
Tributes to my media fraternity members who left us during COVID-19 8
From 2020 March to 2021 April hundreds of journalists succumbed to the coronavirus pandemic. Every day an average one journalist lost life which is not only shocking but heartbreaking. The total number of verified COVID-19 positive journalist’s deaths from 1 April 2020 to 30 April 2021 mounted to 103.
The state of Uttar Pradesh has the highest recorded death of media persons with 19 deaths, followed by Telangana at 17, and Maharashtra at 15. These are the number of those journalists who were known and had identity due to their banner, but freelance writers who actually did ground reporting and who no less than mainstream journalists reported about pandemic passed away without any mentions.
Covid has infected over 3.86 lakh more people in India, yet another disturbing daily high and killed 3,498 in the last 24 hours. The record number comes even as a huge international aid operation has been launched with many countries promising help. Maharashtra reported 66,159 new cases and 771 deaths as of now. The Mumbai civic body has cited vaccine shortage and said it is stopping vaccination for three days.
The politics is heated up, India with such a high number of COVID cases has exposed the medical infrastructure. Political blame games and diverting tactics could not erase the fact that there is no preparedness in the central government to battle the pandemic. After Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Delhi have the highest number of infections.
April 2021 which has seen the unabated rise of cases in what is being termed India’s ‘Second Wave’ has also been the worst for journalists, cops, medical staff, front line warriors in India. On average, two journalists have died every day this month.
Whichever newspaper or news channel one sees the horrible coverages of pandemic taking people’s peace away. Even if mainstream media is trying to hide something, social media is doing its job of post circulations and spamming quite aggressively. There is panic in people, a second wave of the pandemic has made people hopeless.
Social media, on the other hand, is an unfolding drapery of calamity. People beg for help finding hospital beds and life-saving medicines. Friends and acquaintances call and text asking if you know where they can get an oxygen concentrator for the home. In one way or another, everyone is battling the virus.
Everyone, it seems, except the Indian state. Once again, ordinary citizens feel as if we’ve been abandoned by our administrations. Even in the face of an unparalleled emergency, state and federal officials seem more interested in point-scoring and blame-shifting than in cooperation.
No one ever imagined such fragile Indian states. There’s no escaping the essential incongruity of 21st century India. It is one of the world’s largest economies, determined and ambitious, and its government has vast resources. But it is still a poor country with a per capita income of one-fifth China’s. The state’s capabilities are spread truly thinly across India’s billion-plus people.
Huge money got deposited to the welfare funds of the Prime minister and Chief ministers, but the tragedy is that the government preferred to spend all its money on election campaigns by making people vulnerable to COVID infection but they did not give a thought to people’s safety. The crowd was in pain to attend the rallies.
Previous lockdowns really shrunk the pockets of people. Many remained penniless, jobless. They preferred the threat of infection and death by being part of election rallies. Government spending on health, in particular, has always been shockingly low. In the villages of Uttar Pradesh, the needs of hundreds of thousands of people might be filled by just five health centres — and not a single qualified doctor.
And citizens need more than the basics. In Delhi, the local government often talks up its expenditure on primary health centres, which are indeed vital. But that hasn’t made up for the lack of tertiary care, which is what most Covid-19 patients need. According to the official dashboard, Delhi has only 5,000 usable ICU beds for its roughly 20 million citizens; less than a dozen were free on April 30. India has a younger population than most other countries, and there was discussion of preexisting immunity among the population. The government gave importance to Kumbh Mela, stadium inaugurations, public gatherings and they miserably failed to protect people.
(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us at feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)
Journalist organisations geared up to address job losses 10
“Journalists have been facing the full brunt of the Coronavirus. Many of our colleagues have been hospitalized, and sadly we have lost many friends too. The worst aspect is that instead of standing by us, most employers have used this opportunity to rationalize their businesses and retrench many employees. They have fired hundreds of our colleagues and cut their wages too. The central and state governments have offered tacit support to this bloodbath and have remained mute spectators”, says AiMea Gen Secretary, Ajayshree Ghate.
To take stock of the current situation and to make illustrations to respective authorities, a joint meeting of various journalist’s organisations such as Mumbai Press Club, Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh, Mantralaya And Vidhimandal Vartahar Sangh, Bombay News Photographers Association, TV Journalists Association, All India Media Employees Association (AiMea), Mumbai Mahanagar Palika Patrakar Sangh and Marathi Patrakar Parishad held a meeting to discuss various concerns related to the scribes of state.
The meeting took note of the high toll COVID has taken, especially among field journalists, both in the number of deaths and those who faced serious illness and hospitalization. Therefore, it was decided to compile a list of working journalists who have lost their lives over the last year in Mumbai and Maharashtra. They will share the list with both central agencies like the Press Council of India (which has set up a special committee to study the problem of job losses during the pandemic) as well the Press Information Bureau for the assistance under the Journalist Welfare Scheme.
It was also decided to compile a list of journalists who have lost their jobs in the past year in Maharashtra by termination or by forced resignation. This list will be submitted to the Press Council of India for further action. Members and journalists are requested to furnish details.
The Task Force of journalist organisations, it was decided, would also work towards setting up a ‘War Room’ with secretarial support to track and provide help wherever possible for journalists. It was also decided to request the Maharashtra government to appoint a nodal officer and a panel of doctors to help journalists and their family members in case of COVID related emergencies.
The meeting condemned the Maharashtra government for not providing recognition as ‘Essential Workers’ to journalists and for excluding them from using public transport during the lockdown. While the Press Club and other organisations have written letters to the Government of Maharashtra in this respect, it was decided to lead a delegation to the Hon’ Chief Minister to demand journalists be given due professional respect including the right to use public transport.
RIP Dear Scribes - 55 journalists in India lost their lives due to COVID-19 in the last 30 days 12
Fifteen prominent journalists of Maharashtra have succumbed to COVID-19 infection so far. Recently, Senior photojournalist Vivek Bendre was working for The Hindu along with 3 other senior journalists lost their battle with COVID-19 on Sunday.
Sadanand Shinde for Navakal, Sukhnandan Gavai for Ulhasnagar daily and Jairam Sawant, assistant editor for Dainik Sagar, also died COVID-19. April 2021 which has seen the unabated rise of cases in what is being termed India’s ‘Second Wave’ has also been the worst for journalists in India, with 55 deaths being reported in just the last 28 days alone.
This implies that on average, two journalists have died every day this month. According to a study, conducted by the Delhi-based Institute of Perception Studies, as many as 102 journalists have succumbed to COVID-19 between 1 April 2020 and 30 April 2021. The recent news is about Aaj Tak’s senior journalist Rohit Sardana.
In Maharashtra Senior journalist Sopan Bongane, Motichand Bedmutha from Osmanabad, Ashok Tupe from Pune,Fatima R Zakaria, a freelance journalist, Pandurang Raikar of TV9 Marathi, Kailassinh Pardeshi of Saamana, Haresh Munwani veteran sports journalist, Javed Jivani former Arab News staffer, Ashok Churi of Palghar Times, Roshan Dias of TV9, Rahul Dolare succumbed to COVID-19.
In an encouraging sign, the COVID-19 test positivity rate in Mumbai has dropped below 10 per cent, municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said on Friday.
According to Chahal, Mumbai’s positivity rate was 9.94 per cent on April 29, when 4,328 people tested positive for COVID-19 out of 43,525 those samples were examined.
The test positivity rate (TPR) is defined as the proportion of samples that return positive among the total tested.
“Our positivity rate is in single-digit now with nearly 44,000 tests. Perhaps, Mumbai is the only city in India with a single-digit positivity rate with high testing,” Chahal claimed.
Highlighting that 85 per cent of the new cases are asymptomatic, the IAS officer said the number of vacant beds available in city hospitals increased to 5,725 on Friday afternoon, indicating a drop in fresh admissions.
According to the data provided by Chahal, who took charge of the BMC during the pandemic last year, Mumbai had a TPR of 20.85 per cent at the beginning of April.
The highest positivity rate during the month was 27.94 per cent, reported on April 4, when 11,573 people had tested positive after 51,313 samples were examined.
The data suggested that the test positivity rate started slipping below 20 per cent from April 19.
Earlier this week, Dr Shashank Joshi, a member of the Maharashtra government’s COVID-19 task force, had said Mumbai may have turned the corner in its fight against the pandemic.
He had said the turnaround was due to the metropolis tackling the surge in cases during the second wave of the infection with the ”ATM strategy”, which is ‘Assess, Triage and Transfer, and Management.
Clampdown on citizens COVID-related grievances online will be considered ‘contempt of court’, says SC 15
The Supreme Court on Friday said there should not be any clampdown on citizens communicating their grievances related to COVID-19 on social media. The bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud is hearing a suo motu case on issues related to the oxygen supply, drug supply, and vaccine policy in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The apex court said, “We want to make it very clear that if citizens communicate their grievance on social media, then it cannot be said it is wrong information. We do not want any clampdown of information. We will treat it as a contempt of court if such grievances are considered for action.” “Let a strong message go to all the states and DGP of states that clampdown of info is contrary to basic precepts,” the court said.
The Bench headed by Justice Chandrachud also asked the Centre regarding the quantity of oxygen made available to critical states. On oxygen supply to Delhi through tankers, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who is appearing for the Centre said, “The Union government is providing tankers. There was some scarcity of tankers and now it has been eased out. Delhi is a non-industrial state and that is why the issue is more acute but we are putting more tankers to work. By and large, oxygen has been supplied to each and every heavy load state.”
“Delhi shows the demand had increased where there was 123 per cent increase and revised need was 700 MT and then you say you allocated 490 MT? If there is a 200 MT deficit then you should give that straight away to Delhi. Centre has an important responsibility as far as citizens of Delhi are concerned,” the apex court said. “You have said surplus is there in the steel sector, then use that and supply to Delhi. Between today and Monday there will be 500 deaths in our hands,” it said.
The court further said to Mehta, “Delhi represents the nation and you have to push through since you have to save lives, you have a special responsibility as the Centre. As a national authority which has a responsibility to the national capital you are answerable to the citizens.”
The apex court on April 22 took suo motu cognizance of the “alarming situation” in connection with various health emergencies including oxygen shortage, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and issued notice to the Centre seeking a response on kinds of immediate and effective action it can take to handle such situation.
The Court, during the previous hearing, asked the Centre to present and apprise it as to whether a national plan can be prepared to handle this worrisome situation. It made these remarks, after noting and taking into the record at least six different state High Courts, including the Delhi High Court, have been hearing the matter on the same issues.
Senior Journalist and Anchor Rohit Sardana succumbs to COVID-19 17
Renowned Journalist and Anchor for AajTak Rohit Sardana passes away on Friday at Delhi’s Metro hospital. Sardana was under medication for COVID-19, he died of a heart attack early morning.
The news was tweeted by Zee News editor Sudhir Chaudhary.
अब से थोड़ी पहले @capt_ivane का फ़ोन आया।उसने जो कहा सुनकर मेरे हाथ काँपने लगे।हमारे मित्र और सहयोगी रोहित सरदाना की मृत्यु की ख़बर थी।ये वाइरस हमारे इतने क़रीब से किसी को उठा ले जाएगा ये कल्पना नहीं की थी।इसके लिए मैं तैयार नहीं था।ये भगवान की नाइंसाफ़ी है.. ॐ शान्ति
Shaan Patker is a young artist from Mumbai, studying at Pace IIT & Medical at Andheri. He balances his studies and sketching to achieve the best at both. His ardent love for martial arts and sketching is his source of strength and happiness as a young boy. Lockdown gave him more time and perspective to enhance his sketching skills further, Shaan spoke about his passion with Dr Vaidehi and shared how he wants to look at his canvass.
Tell me about your journey into the world of drawings.
I used to doodle random faces and emotions on my notebooks during my school classes. Whenever I would zone out my hand would start working on the notebook and put down whatever my imagination thought of it. Then lockdown happened and I just picked up something to fill the free time and I choose drawing and I fell in love with it. Drawing for hours and hours continuously gave me a lot of innovative perspective towards my canvas. Drawing and filling up a page would satisfy me; it has become a habit and a hobby now.
Which was your first drawing? and what inspired you to draw that picture?
My first drawing was a doodle that I drew about a figure that fell apart into pieces. That is what actually inspired me to draw. See, how people sometimes fall and break into pieces like objects and they don’t get fixed the same way again. Reason can be anything, for the worst or the best. Such thought inspires me to create a beautiful sketch. That was my first artwork.
How do you plan your sketches?
My sketches depend on my feelings and emotions, at times I need an outlet to let my feelings flow. Most of the time they depend on the situations around me. I emote what comes to my mind and my heart at that moment. Sometimes I browse on the internet and search for things that motivate me, I pick up my pencil draw a rough sketch and then with a pen. This beautiful world of art keeps me close to human lives and spirits.
Have you taken any professional training or it is your inner instinct?
I don’t have any professional training I just doodle and try to put down inspired imagination on the paper. I think art is a feeling. Feelings and thoughts are my training.
How would you describe yourself in painting/ caricature or drawing?
I would describe myself in a drawing as flowing water that is pure, at its own pace and yet unstoppable. Like a beautiful calm river. I want to flow as an artist and as a human being in transparency, piousness and that too on my own terms.
I am preparing my colour box and I am excited about it.
Shaan
Which one is your most memorable drawing?
My most memorable drawing is about the thoughts coming out of a woman’s head and manifesting as those demons. It is fun to draw and came out virtuous. I see women suffering a lot in this world, they have a tough life. They need to be visualised and portrayed well and valued.
Which painter you follow the most and why?
I follow a lot of artists such as Junji it’s because he portrays the element of fear perfectly in his drawings and Shawn’s cross because he portrays human emotions seamlessly. Even someone like Van Gogh inspires me a lot because like him every person has a moment where he gets lost in his life and doesn’t know what to do. These prolapses have touched people’s hearts by art. Though I’m still learning, I would like to become better with time.
What is your biggest dream as an artist?
My biggest dream as an artist is to make something that delights me and whenever I look back, those bits of my drawings should remind me of the phases of life I lived and witnessed around me. Life has beautiful shades like a rainbow, there could be many colours to it. I am preparing my colour box and I am excited about it.
Colour or no colours? How you want your canvas to look?
I started my canvas with no colours, just a black pen and white paper and stuck with it as I always doodled black and white which been most of my medium. It motivates me and is a brilliant mode of depiction.
What is your one message to all young artists of your age?
My one message to all my buddy artists is to draw whatever they like and whatever helps them. I will insist them to put down their thoughts and don’t think about what others opinion about it. Draw for yourself and not for others. Enjoy your art. It’s a way to peace and bliss.
