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Tue, 02 March 2021
Over 150 monks test Covid positive in Himachal
Timeline Refresh
23:45 Romney knocked unconscious in fall, but 'doing better'
Senator Mitt Romney said that he was knocked unconscious in a fall over the weekend, but he was "doing better".
The Utah Republican said the accident happened when he was spending time with his grandchildren in Boston. He told reporters he was taken to a hospital and got stitches on his right eyebrow and lip.
"I had kind of a tough, tough weekend," Romney joked. "I went to CPAC -- that was a problem."
Romney did not attend the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, over the weekend.
The event was largely a celebration of former US President Donald Trump. Romney was one of just seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump in his Senate impeachment trial last month.
23:16 Over 150 monks test Covid positive in Himachal
Over 150 monks have tested positive for coronavirus at Gyuto Buddhist monastery near here and the area has been declared a containment zone, officials said on Tuesday. The COVID-19 cluster came to light last week when 20 cases were detected. Around 330 monks have been tested and 154 were found to be infected with the virus in the last eight days, Gurdarshan Gupta, the districts Chief Medical Officer of Kangra district, said.
Investigation into the cluster at Gyato Monestary revealed that incident started at the monastery (Tibetan new year) festival on February 14. About 15 monks came from Karnataka and Delhi. First cases were reported on February 23, Kangra District Collectiir Rakesh Prajapati said. The infected monks, a majority of whom are reported to be asymptomatic, have no travel history and are being quarantined within the monastery compound.
Surprisingly, all persons coming from outside have tested negative. Only one patient in moderate category was shifted to Tanda Medical College Hospital. The rest are being managed in home isolation at the monastery, the DC said. The area has been declared a containment zone and sealed by Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Dharamsala until further notice.
Everyone above the age of 60 in the monastery shall be vaccinated, the DC said. The Gyuto Tantric Monastery here is an important institution of the Geluk school of Tibetan Buddhism where monks from Tibet, Mongolia, Ladakh, Sikkim and Spiti are resident students of Buddhist studies.
22:44 Emergency was wrong, says Rahul
Congress leader and the party's former president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said that the Emergency imposed in the country during the tenure of his grandmother the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was wrong.
Gandhi, who was participating in a webinar organised by US university Cornell also hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. "There is a fundamental difference between what happened in the Emergency, which was wrong, and what is happening now. Congress party, at no point, attempted to capture India's constitutional framework. Our design doesn't allow us that. Even if we want to do it, we can't," said the Wayanad MP in interaction with Prof Kaushik Basu.
Hitting out at the RSS, Gandhi alleged that democracy in India was being strangled by the systemic penetration of RSS in all institutions in the country.
"RSS is doing something fundamentally different. They are filling institutions with their people. Even if we defeat BJP in the election, we are not going to get rid of their people in the institutional structure" the Congress leader said.
"Modern democracies function because there is institutional balance in a country. Institutions that operate independently. That independence is being attacked in India. Now there is one big institution called RSS that is penetrating all Indian institutions. There is not a single one that is not being attacked and it is being systematically done...I would not say democracy is eroding, I would say it is being strangled," he added.
When asked about his party's internal democracy, the former Congress chief further said that apart from Congress no other party like BJP, BSP, and Samajwadi Party are questioned over its internal elections.
-- ANI
22:24 Covid unlikely to be over by end of year: WHO
Despite the spread of Covid-19 being slowed in some countries due to lockdowns and vaccination programs, it is premature and unrealistic to the think the pandemic will be over by the end of the year, the World Health Organizations executive director of emergency services has said.
Dr Michael Ryan said while vaccinating the most vulnerable people, including healthcare workers, would help remove the tragedy and fear from the situation, and would help to ease pressure on hospitals, the virus is very much in control.
It will be very premature, and I think unrealistic, to think that were going to finish with this virus by the end of the year, Ryan said.
If the vaccines begin to impact not only on death and not only on hospitalisation, but have a significant impact on transmission dynamics and transmission risk, then I believe we will accelerate toward controlling this pandemic.
The number of new global infections rose last week for the first time in almost two months. Reported cases increased in four of the WHOs six regions: the Americas, Europe, south-east Asia and the eastern Mediterranean.
22:01 In a first, IAF to participate in Exercise Desert Flag VI in UAE
The Indian Air Force will participate in the Exercise Desert Flag-VI along with the air forces of the UAE, the US, France, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Bahrain for the first time, it said on Tuesday.
The exercise is scheduled from March 3 to 21 at the Al-Dhafra airbase in the United Arab Emirates.
The Exercise Desert Flag is an annual multi-national large force employment warfare exercise hosted by the UAE Air Force.
"The IAF is participating for the first time in Exercise Desert Flag-VI along with air forces of United Arab Emirates, United States of America, France, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Bahrain," a statement issued by it said.
The IAF is participating with six Su-30 MKI, two C-17 and one IL-78 tanker aircraft. The C-17 Globemaster will provide support for the induction and de-induction of the IAF contingent.
-- PTI
21:37 All pvt hospitals can be vaccination centres
The government on Tuesday directed states and union territories to utilise all private hospitals as Covid-19 vaccination centres. Even those private hospitals which are not under any central schemes such as the AB-PMJAY, CGHS, and state insurance schemes can also be utilised as vaccination sites, it said.
R S Sharma, the Chairman of the Empowered Group on COVID-19 Vaccine Administration in a briefing on Tuesday said state governments are coordinating with hospitals and supplying vaccines to them and we are encouraging them to involve more and more private hospitals.
About 50 lakh people have registered themselves on the Co-WIN portal, without any system glitch, since the window opened Monday morning, the Centre said Tuesday, adding that over 2.08 lakh beneficiaries above 60 or those aged 45-60 with comorbidities have received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine till this afternoon.
The vaccination drive for those over 60 years of age and within the age bracket of 45-60 years with specified comorbidities began on March 1, and the registration opened at 9 am Monday on the Co-WIN portal cowin.gov.in. In the first two phases so far, 1,48,55,073 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the country till 1 pm on Tuesday, out of which 67,04,856 healthcare workers have been given the first dose of the vaccine and 25,98,192 healthcare workers have been administered the second dose, government officials told a press conference here.
21:28 US slaps sanctions against Russian officials over Navalny's poisoning, imprisonment
US President Joe Biden's administration has slapped sanctions on seven Russian officials in response to the poisoning and imprisonment of Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny.
This was among a series of steps the new administration had announced on Tuesday in its first significant move against Moscow, according to CNN.
Senior administration officials told CNN that it was being done in coordination with allies like the European Union, which also unveiled sanctions today. The State Department is mirroring previous EU and UK sanctions and expanding sanctions under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Act that had first been imposed over its poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal, one official said.
Furthermore, the Commerce Department will add 14 parties to the entities list for their engagement "in activities that are contrary to US national security and foreign policy interests," another official said.
"Specifically these parties are all involved in various aspects of biological agents production and chemical production," CNN quoted officials.
One senior administration official referred to the August 2020 poisoning of Navalny as an attempted assassination and another noted that the intelligence community had assessed with high confidence that Russia's security service, the FSB, had poisoned the opposition leader with the nerve agent Novichok.
"The tone and substance of our conversations with Russia and our conversations about Russia will be very different from what you saw in the previous administration," one of the officials said.
They did not name the targets of these sanctions.
Politicians from across the world have condemned the Moscow Court's sentence of Russian President Vladimir Putin's critic Navalny and have called for his release.
A Moscow court had sent him to prison for more than two-and-a-half years. CNN reported the verdict was announced after a heated hearing in which the Kremlin critic ridiculed claims that he broke his parole conditions while in a coma and denounced Russia's leader as "Putin the poisoner."
The Putin critic was previously handed a three-and-a-half-year suspended sentence for violating probations in a fraud case.
Navalny was initially detained by the Russian state in January following his arrival from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from Novichok poisoning he blamed on the Russian government. The Kremlin has denied any involvement in the incident.
-- ANI
20:54 Bumrah has taken leave to prepare for marriage
Ahead of the upcoming fourth Test against England, pacer Jasprit Bumrah was relieved from India's squad due to personal reasons, and now it has come into knowledge that the bowler has asked for some days off as he is getting married.
Sources in the BCCI in the know of developments have confirmed that the pacer is set to get married soon and has taken a leave to prepare for the same.
"He informed the BCCI that he is getting married and has taken the leave to help in preparations for the big day," the source said.
The 27-year-old Bumrah played two Tests in the ongoing four-match series against England and he returned with four wickets.
Bumrah was rested for the second Test against England at Chennai and he returned wicketless in the fourth Test as spinners did a majority of the work.
The pacer has also been rested for the upcoming five-match T20I series against England in order to do proper workload management.
India is 2-1 up in the four-match Test series against England and if the hosts win or draw the last match, then they would qualify for the finals of the World Test Championship.
-- ANI
20:39 Twitter to ban people who lie about coronavirus vaccines
Twitter will start applying warning labels to tweets that lie about coronavirus vaccines and ban people if they keep posting them, it has said.
The company has already attempted to tackle the misleading coronavirus information that spreads across its platforms.
Existing guidance has already led to more than 8,400 tweets being taken down, and 11.5 million accounts facing sanctions.
Now it will add the labels and add a system of strikes intended at punishing accounts that repeatedly push misleading stories.
It is the first time the company has specifially focused on posts about vaccines, though it has had broader guidance on how coronavirus misinformation more generally should be treated for some time.
It comes amid ongoing concern about the spread of anti-vaccination material on social media.
20:20 54 school students in Karnal test COVID positive
Fifty four students of a school have tested COVID-19 positive leading to suspension of classes and other academic activities, an official said on Tuesday.
Karnal Chief Medical Officer Yogesh Sharma said three students of Sainik School Kunjpura had tested positive for the virus on Monday following which the health department took samples of 390 students and staff members of the school for testing.
"The reports revealed that 54 students are COVID-19 positive," Sharma said.
Deputy Commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav said the school building and its hostels have been declared as a containment zone.
The Sainik Schools are run by the Sainik Schools Society under the Ministry of Defence and the students stay in hostels.
The Haryana education department had reopened schools for classes 9-12 in December last year and classes 3-5 from February 24.
-- PTI
19:45 No COVID death in Delhi
Delhi witnessed no coronavirus death in a day, the Health Department said on Tuesday, the fifth time within a month that there was not a single daily fatality from the pathogen in the city.
The infection tally rose to 6,39,681 with new 217 cases the previous day and 78 more people recuperated from the virus, taking the number of recoveries to 6.27 lakh, the department said.
The active cases rose to 1,543 from 1,404 and the positivity rate came down from 0.44 per cent to 0.33 per cent. As many as 66,624 samples were tested, higher than 39,733 tests conducted on Sunday, according to a health bulletin.
The cumulative positivity rate and fatality rate stands at 5.12 per cent and 1.71 per cent respectively. The number of people under home isolation rose to 777 from 739, it said.
Delhi had reported 175 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday and the death toll stands at 10,911.
Earlier, no fatality was reported on February 9, 13, 17 and 25. February 9 was the first time when the daily death count was zero after a gap of nearly nine months. There was no death from the virus on May 11, as per the official data.
-- PTI
19:22 Amazon apologises unconditionally for 'Tandav'
Streaming platform Amazon Prime Video on Tuesday apologised "unconditionally" for its show "Tandav" and said it has already removed scenes found objectionable by viewers.
The political saga, starring Saif Ali Khan and Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub, attracted huge controversy for a scene depicting a college theatrical programme, leading to allegations that the show hurt religious sentiments and multiple FIRs.
"Amazon Prime Video again deeply regrets that viewers considered certain scenes to be objectionable in the recently launched fictional series 'Tandav'. This was never our intention, and the scenes that were objected to were removed or edited when they were brought to our attention," Amazon Prime said in a statement.
"We respect our viewers' diverse beliefs and apologise unconditionally to anyone who felt hurt by these scenes. Our teams follow company content evaluation processes, which we acknowledge need to be constantly updated to better serve our audiences," the company added.
The streamer said it will continue to develop entertaining content with partners while "complying with the laws of India and respecting the diversity of culture and beliefs of our audiences".
The cast and the crew of the Ali Abbas Zafar-directed series apologised twice. Eventually, the team decided to cut the objectionable portions.
-- PTI
19:20 TMC MLA Jitendra Tiwari joins BJP
Amid an ongoing exodus from the ruling Trinamool Congress ahead of the West Bengal assembly elections, two-time party MLA from Pandabeswar in Paschim Barddhaman district and former Asansol mayor, Jitendra Tiwari, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday.
Tiwari, who had rebelled against the TMC leadership but had mellowed down after the BJP declined to induct him into the party in December last year, joined the saffron camp in the presence of party state chief Dilip Ghosh at a programme in Sreerampur in Hooghly district.
"I have joined the BJP as I want to work for the development of the state. In TMC, it was no longer possible to work for the party," he said after joining the saffron party.
Elections to the 294-member state assembly will be held in eight phases between March 27 and April 29. -- PTI
18:48 NIA to probe bomb attack on Bengal minister
The National Investigation Agency on Tuesday registered a case to probe a recent bomb explosion at a railway station in West Bengal's Murshidabad in which 22 people including state minister Jakir Hossain were injured, an agency spokesperson said here.
The case was registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Explosive Substances Act at the Azimganj GRP police station in Murshidabad district on the basis of a statement by an eyewitness, the spokesperson said.
The incident happened on February 17 when an explosion took place at Nimita railway station, leaving 22 people injured. -- PTI
18:11 Rajnath administered first dose of Covid vaccine
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh took the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine at the Army's Research and Referral Hospital in New Delhi on Tuesday, a day after the start of the second phase of the inoculation drive.
Dispelling apprehensions, he said the vaccine is completely safe.
'The first dosage of COVID-19 vaccine was administered to me at RR Hospital today. India's resolve for making the country COVID-free has been strengthened by this inoculation drive. The vaccine is completely safe and hassle free. #LargestVaccineDrive,' the minister said in a tweet.
'I salute the efforts of India's scientists and doctors who developed the vaccine in a short span of time. I also thank the doctors and paramedic staff at the RR Hospital for the vaccination. I urge everyone who is eligible to take the vaccine and make India COVID-free,' he added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, setting the pace for the second phase of the country's inoculation drive, in which coverage has been expanded to include everyone above 60 years of age and those over 45 with co-morbidities. -- PTI
18:00 BJP to unleash 6 star campaigners for Puducherry
The BJP plans to unleash a high-voltage campaign in Puducherry with a battery of central leaders as it seeks to wrest power in the union territory in the coming assembly elections.
The party in-charge for Puducherry Nirmal Kumar Surana said the BJP would field about ten star campaigners in the UT, where elections to the 30-member assembly would be held on April 6. They include Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president J P Nadda, and Union Ministers Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman and Smriti Irani, he told PTI.
Modi and Shah have already launched the party's campaign in the tiny union territory.
Surana, who is Vice-President of Karnataka unit of BJP, said discussions were underway with the All India NR Congress (AINRC) and AIADMK on seat-sharing for the elections and it would be finalised as soon as possible. Asked if the NDA plans to declare its Chief Ministerial candidate, he said: "All the matters are getting discussed".
Surana said Puducherry Assembly Speaker V P Sivakolundhu, who quit on Sunday citing health reasons, is in touch with the BJP and would decide on joining the party in a day or two.
Sivakolundhu won from the Lawspet constituency in the 2016 assembly elections on a Congress ticket. His brother V P Ramalingam joined the BJP in Karaikal in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah during his campaign visit on Sunday.
"He (Sivakolundhu) wants his brother (Ramalingam) to contest from his constituency (Lawspet)", Surana said. On how many seats the NDA hoped to win in Puducherry, he claimed that according to his assessment the Congress would not be able to win even a single seat.
Puducherry is now under President's rule after the Congress government headed by V Narayanasamy fell on February 22 on being reduced to a minority following a spate of resignation of Congress MLAs and a DMK legislator. PTI
17:52 Rs 1,13,143 cr GST collected in Feb
Some information you can mull over:
1. The gross GST revenue collected in the month of February 2021 is 1,13,143 crore of which CGST is 21,092 crore, SGST is 27,273 crore, IGST is 55,253 crore (including 24,382 crore collected on import of goods) and Cess is 9,525 crore.
2. Extension to 31.3.21 of last date to file GSTR-9 for turnover above 2 cr & GSTR-9C for turnover above 5 cr for FY 19-20. Notification 4 CT of 28.2.21.
3. 12th and last series of the government-run sovereign gold bond scheme 2020-21 opened for subscription on Monday for a period of five days. The subscription will close on March 5. Each gold bond (equivalent to one gram of gold) is priced at RS. 4,662 under the 12th tranche, according to the Reserve Bank of India.
Kind courtesy: CA (Dr) Raj Chawla
17:48 TMC poll slogan in sync with party's vision: Bengal minister
The TMC on Tuesday said its poll campaign slogan -- 'Bangla nijer meyekei chay' (Bengal wants its daughter to rule the state) -- is in "sync with the party's vision and consistent efforts" to ensure women get adequate representation on different forums.
State minister and senior party leader Chandrima Bhattacharya said at a press meet here that the TMC government helmed by Mamata Banerjee, after coming to power, raised the number of seats reserved for women at the panchayat level from 33 per cent to 50 per cent.
"The TMC has 17 women MPs in Lok Sabha which is a record of sorts if compared to other parties. In Rajya Sabha, 41 per cent of TMC MPs are women. The party, after coming to power, increased women's reservation in the three-tier panchayat system to 50 per cent from 33 per cent," she said.
Bhattacharya also pointed out the smart card doled out under the state-run health scheme, 'Swasthya Sathi', bears the name of the household matriarch, and her family members are registered as "other beneficiaries".
"The TMC has always worked for women empowerment, and the party's election campaign 'Bangla Nijer Meyekei Chay', with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as its face, is in sync with the consistent efforts made to ensure women get better representation everywhere," the minister said.
The TMC dispensation has floated several welfare schemes for minor girls and widows, she stated.
"The state government has received international accolades for its 'Kanyashree' scheme, meant to help girl children. Also, any widow over 18 years of age will now be eligible for a monthly financial assistance of Rs 1,000," Bhattacharya added. PTI
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra picks tea at a garden in Assam
17:23 No CAA if Cong wins in Assam: Priyanka
Senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi on Tuesday asserted that her party, if voted to power in Assam, will bring a new law to "nullify" the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the state.
Gandhi, during a public meeting in Tezpur, launched the 'Five Guarantees' campaign, and said her party, if given a chance to form government in the northeastern state, will dole out Rs 2,000 every month to homemakers across the state, and provide free electricity up to 200 units to all households.
The All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary, who is in poll-bound Assam on a two-day visit, also claimed that her party will hike daily wages of tea garden workers to Rs 365 from the existing Rs 167, and provide at least 25,000 government jobs to youth.
"People of Assam were cheated by a party (BJP) five years ago that promised them 25 lakh jobs but gave them CAA instead. Our party is not making empty promises but undertaking five guarantees," the Congress leader, who sported a traditional 'gamocha' around her neck with the letters CAA crossed out on it, said. PTI
Maharashtra Power Minister Nitin Raut
16:53 Maha govt to table report on power outage tomorrow
Maharashtra Power Minister Nitin Raut said he will table all the reports on the October 12 Mumbai power outage in the Assembly tomorrow.
This comes after the Maharashtra state government took cognisance of a media report, claiming the Mumbai power outage was a likely Chinese cyber attack. Home minister Anil Deshmukh sought a report from the cyber department over it.
Maharashtra Cyber Cell has submitted a preliminary report on this. The report findings state there is evidence that suggests there might have been a cyber-sabotage attempt. The report was handed over to minister Nitin Raut, Deshmuk says.
The Chinese foreign ministry spox in India said China firmly opposed and cracks down on all forms of cyber attacks. "Speculation & fabrication have no role to play on the issue of cyber-attacks. Highly irresponsible to accuse a particular party with no sufficient evidence around."
Recorded Future, a Massachusetts-based company which studies the use of the internet by state actors, in its recent report details the campaign conducted by a China-linked threat activity group RedEcho targeting the Indian power sector.
The activity was identified through a combination of large-scale automated network traffic analytics and expert analysis.
Data sources include the Recorded Future Platform, SecurityTrails, Spur, Farsight and common open-source tools and techniques, the report said.
On October 12, a grid failure in Mumbai resulted in massive power outages, stopping trains on tracks, hampering those working from home amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and hitting the stuttering economic activity hard.
16:36 Rajnath gets his jab
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh receives the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at the Army hospital Research and Referral in New Delhi.
Representational image
16:31 153 monks test COVID-19 positive in Himachal
With a sudden surge of COVID-19 infections in Kangra district, 153 monks have been tested positive at Gyuto Tantric Monastery of Karmapa in Sidhpur area of Dharamshala on Tuesday.
Following initial cases on February 23, 330 monks tested so far for COVID-19 and 153 monks have tested positive at Gyuto monastery in Himachal Pradesh, informed said Dr Gurdarshan Gupta, Chief Medical Officer, Zonal Hospital, Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh.
"During the case investigation, it was found that few of the monks travelled from Karnataka and Delhi after new year's celebration but surprisingly all the people who have travelled from outside have tested negative. One of them is shifted to Tanda Medical College as he had serious symptoms, others are in isolation in the monastery itself," said Dr Gupta.
"The entire locality has been now declared as a containment zone," he added.
Informing about the safety protocols, Secretary of the Department of Health, Palden Dhondup said, "We are taking all precautions measures and we are taking care of the monks and the situation is very grave but after 10 to 15 days everything will be alright." -- ANI
Mahindra & Mahindra was one of the top gainers
16:09 Sensex spurts 447 points to reclaim 50,000-level
The BSE Sensex zoomed 447 points to settle above the psychological 50,000-mark on Tuesday, buoyed by hectic buying in auto, banking and IT counters amid positive domestic and global cues. The 30-share index swung nearly 633 points during the session, before ending at 50,296.89, showing a rise of 447.05 points or 0.90 per cent.
Likewise, the NSE Nifty climbed 157.55 points or 1.07 per cent to settle at 14,919.10. On the Sensex chart, M&M, NTPC, Bajaj Auto, Tech Mahindra, TCS and Maruti emerged as top gainers. On the other hand, ONGC, HDFC, Dr Reddy's, PowerGrid and SBI suffered losses. Of the Sensex constituents, 25 shares ended with gains.
Analysts said investor sentiment remained upbeat due to encouraging GDP numbers for the third quarter as well as returning of calmness in global bond markets after the last week's turmoil.
Elsewhere in Asia, bourses closed with significant gains for the second straight session after halt in sell-offs in global bond markets calmed investor sentiments. Meanwhile, Brent Futures rose 0.71 per cent to trade at 63.76 per barrel. On the forex market front, the rupee surged by 18 paise to close at 73.37 against the US dollar on Tuesday. -- PTI
The PM cried in Parliament while bidding farewell to Ghulam Nabi Azad
15:54 Saddened to see Azad scolded by Cong: BJP
The BJP Tuesday took a swipe at the Congress amid a vocal dissidence within the opposition party, saying its ideology is all about fulfilling the Gandhi family's "ambition", and anyone speaking against it or standing with the rightful agenda of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is castigated.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra told a press conference that the Congress will "castigate" anyone who wants democracy in the party, wants its president to be elected, speaks in favour of politics of development or stands with Modi's rightful agenda.
While stating that the G23, a reference to the group of 23 Congress leaders who have pushed for an organisational overhaul in the party, is an internal matter of the opposition party, Patra said it is "saddening" to see senior leaders like Ghulam Nabi Azad and others being targeted.
The Congress is now all about four leaders, he alleged, referring to its president Sonia Gandhi, her son Rahul and daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra -- both party general secretaries -- and Priyanka's husband Robert Vadra.
"Their only agenda is 'hate Modi'. It has grown to such an extent that Congress workers are protesting on the streets against their own leaders who have praised good works of Modi," he said, mocking Rahul Gandhi as an empty missile.
Patra's comments, in an answer to a question, came after Azad praised Modi at an event in Jammu on Saturday, saying he speaks frankly about his past as a tea-seller and does not try to hide his background from the world. Another senior Congress leader Anand Sharma had on Monday slammed the party's tie-up with Indian Secular Front (ISF) led by Muslim cleric Abbas Siddiqui in West Bengal, saying it was against the party's core ideology and Gandhian and Nehruvian secularism.
Congress workers in Jammu on Tuesday set ablaze an effigy of Azad and accused him of conspiring against the party at the behest of the BJP to weaken it for "personal gains".
Patra also hit out at the Congress over its alliances in different states, saying they are solely aimed at maintaining the Gandhi family's relevance. The Congress has tied up with a "maulana's" party (Indian Secular Front) and the Left in West Bengal, while its fighting the Left in Kerala, he said.
The opposition party is also working to strike an alliance with Badruddin Ajmal's AIDUF in Assam and has joined hands with the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, he noted. "It (the Congress) has no ideology. Its only ideology is corruption and nepotism and to come to power anyhow," he said. Such alliances highlight the Congress' "double speak and utmost hypocrisy", he said. PTI
15:44 Yogi invokes Ram, Durga, at Bengal rally
UP CM Yogi Adityanath in Malda, West Bengal. "Durga puja gets prohibited in Bengal today, cow slaughter is forcefully started during Eid. People's sentiments are toyed with through cow smuggling. The state government remains silent. Now it's attempted to ban slogan of 'Jai Sri Ram' and attacks are executed.
"I'd like to tell the Bengal govt and request Mamata didi that there was a govt in UP that used to fire bullets at lord Ram devotees in Ayodhya. You can see the condition of that govt now. Now it's TMC govt's turn in Bengal.
"Love jihad' is being executed in Bengal. We made a law in UP. But there is appeasement politics here. So state govt is unable to stop cow smuggling and love jihad - dangerous activities that will show results in the time to come."
Bharatiya Janata Party national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya on Tuesday said that Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav will not make any difference in the West Bengal Assembly polls because people will vote for BJP due to their faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
15:39 Unemployment high in India due to demo: Manmohan
Attacking the Centre, former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said unemployment is high in the country and its informal sector is in shambles following the "ill considered demonetisation decision" taken by the BJP-led government in 2016.
He also criticised the central government for not holding regular consultations with the states.
Inaugurating a development summit virtually organised by the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Development Studies, an economic think tank aligned to the Congress ideology in poll-bound Kerala, Singh said temporary measures by the Government of India and the Reserve Bank to paper over the credit problem cannot blind us to the looming credit crisis ahead that could affect the small and medium sector.
"Unemployment is high and the informal sector is in shambles, a crisis precipitated by the ill considered demonetisation decision taken in 2016", he said at "Pratheeksha 2030."
The summit was organised to launch a Vision Document, a framework of ideas for development of Kerala well in advance of the state elections.
He said in Kerala and in many other states, public finances are in disarray with states having to resort to excessive borrowing, which creates an intolerable burden on future budgets.
"Federalism and regular consultation with states, which was the cornerstone of Indias economic and political philosophy as enshrined in the Constitution, no longer finds favour with the present Central government," he said.
Singh said while Kerala's social standards are high, there are other sectors that need strong attention in the future.
"There are many roadblocks ahead that the state has to overcome. The global downturn of the last two or three years, aggravated by the pandemic, has made the global interface of Kerala more fragile.
"While the increased use of digital modes of work may keep the IT sector afloat, tourism has been hit badly and the rate at which the pandemic is galloping in Kerala poses challenges for this industry", Singh said.
Noting that the focus on health and education has enabled Kerala to take advantage of job opportunities elsewhere in the country and in all parts of the world, Singh said this has led to a growing stream of remittances from abroad which created a booming real estate sector and sharp growth of the services sector, led by tourism and information technology.
15:02 Gujarat polls: BJP leads 1,636 seats, Cong 625
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is leading on 1,636 seats, Congress on 625 and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on 16 seats as the counting of votes for Gujarat local body election is underway.
As per the latest trends till 2 pm, out of 4,772 seats in 231 taluka panchayats in the state, the Independents are leading on 51 seats, BSP on 5 and others in 6 constituencies. Out of 980 seats in 31 district panchayats, BJP is leading on 382 seats, Congress on 84. BSP, AAP, Independents and other are leading on one seat seach.
In municipalities, BJP is leading on 1,182 seats, Congress on 214, Independents on 73, AAP on 2, BSP on 2 and others on 10.
Polling in 31 district panchayats, 231 taluka panchayats and 81 municipalities of Gujarat and by-elections of 23 municipalities and 3 taluka panchayats were held on Sunday.
The average turnout in taluka panchayats was 66.84 per cent.Out of 4,715 seats in 231 taluka panchayats in 2015, Congress got 2555, BJP got 2019 and 141 others.
In 2015, due to the Patidar movement, the BJP's tally was hit. In 4,715 seats of 231 taluka panchayats, 111 seats of BJP, 5 seats of Congress and 1 seat of others have been declared uncontested. -- ANI
14:57 Ravi Capoor appointed CEO of Sansad TV
The presiding officers of both Houses of Parliament have set the ball rolling for merger of Lok Sabha TV and Rajya Sabha TV into a single entity, SANSAD TV, by appointing retired IAS officer Ravi Capoor as its CEO for one year.
According to a circular issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat, Capoor has been appointed from March 1 for a period of one year. "Consequent upon the joint declaration of the Rajya Sabha Chairman and Lok Sabha Speaker to merge RSTV and LSTV into Sansad Television (SANSAD TV), Ravi Capoor has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer, SANSAD TV, on contract basis, for a period of one year with immediate effect, the circular reads.
Sources said though the channels are being integrated into one single entity but it will function on two platforms -- one to telecast live proceedings of Lok Sabha and the other of Rajya Sabha. They said that during the inter-session period, the two platforms will telecast almost similar content but in different languages -- Hindi and English.
The integration of two channels will lead to some savings and may result in retrenchment of a few employees, they said. In November 2019, after deliberations between Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu, a committee headed by former Prasar Bharati Chairman Surya Prakash was formed for integration of the two channels. The committee had submitted its report last year. PTI
14:42 Priyanka's chai pe charcha in Assam
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has a meal at the residence of a local tea garden worker, in Tezpur, Assam.
14:07 Kerala's social harmony under stress: Sonia
Kerala's social harmony and amity have come under stress and strain, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said on Tuesday as she advocated for a new development strategy for strengthening the bonds of brotherhood among people and overall development of the southern state.
"Kerala has been a lesson to other parts of the country and indeed the world on how to preserve and promote social harmony and amity. "This has come under stress and strain and future development strategy must have, as one of its basic objectives, the strengthening of the bonds of brotherhood (and sisterhood) that have been the hallmarks of Kerala's wonderfully diverse society," Gandhi said in a message to a virtual summit organised by Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Development Studies (RGIDS) in Thiruvananthapuram.
RGIDS is an economic think tank aligned to the Congress ideology, in the poll-bound state. The summit, Pratheeksha 2030, is the culmination of the RGIDSs elaborate and extensive consultations in India and abroad to prepare an action plan for Keralas development over the next decade. Former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh inaugurated the summit.
Referring to the much talked about Kerala Model of Development, Gandhi said today the state faces new, unprecedented challenges and it has been accentuated by COVID-19 pandemic and called for fresh thinking on economic growth and social security in the southern state.
"It's clearly time for fresh thinking on economic growth that will revive investments, create productive jobs, protect the environment, build resilience to climate change, mitigate natural disasters, enhance social security for organized and unorganized labor and improve, the well-being of farmers and their families", she said in the message read out in the summit.
The Congress president said over the past six decades and more the Kerala Model of Development has resulted in many impressive achievements for the state in areas like public health, education and literacy, gender empowerment and social justice. But Kerala faces new, and I may so, unprecedented challenges. "These challenges have been accentuated by the crisis the entire world has had to confront due to Covid-19 pandemic that has still not run its course", she said.
13:45 PM to address 20 rallies in Bengal, 6 in Assam
Ahead of Assembly polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address 20 rallies in poll-bound West Bengal and six rallies in Assam, responding to the huge demand of local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders of these two states.
According to sources, the rallies are planned in such a way that all the 23 districts of West Bengal and 33 districts of Assam will be covered in these rallies.
"The demands of PM's rally is huge in all poll-bound states but BJP is focusing more on West Bengal and Assam," a source told ANI on Tuesday.
The BJP is also gearing up to reach up to the expectations of local BJP unit to meet the demand of rallies.
BJP functionaries including Kailash Vijayvargiya, national General Secretary, Mukul Roy national Vice-President, Sanjay Singh, General Secretary and Swapan Dasgupta, MP, Rajya Sabha are looking into the preparations at Brigade Parade Ground, where PM Modi will address public meeting on March 7 at Brigade ground, Kolkata. This will be PM Modi's first rally in West Bengal post the announcement of election dates by Election Commission of India (ECI).
The core committe of BJP's West Bengal unit will hold a meeting at party headquarter on Wednesday in presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and party chief JP Nadda. They will discuss election strategy and will also discuss expected candidates for the upcoming polls of West Bengal.
13:41 Ambani, Adani grew richer in pandemic year: Report
Forty Indians entered the billionaires' club in the pandemic-stricken 2020 to take the number of those in the coveted list to 177 people, a report said on Tuesday. Mukesh Ambani continued to be the wealthiest Indian with a networth of USD 83 billion. The head of Reliance Industries witnessed a 24 per cent jump in fortunes and climbed up one spot to be the eighth richest globally, as per the Hurun Global Rich List.
Gautam Adani from Gujarat, who has had a spectacular rise in fortunes in the last few years, saw his wealth almost doubling to USD 32 billion in 2020 and climbed 20 places to be the 48th richest person globally and the second wealthiest Indian. His brother Vinod's wealth grew 128 per cent to USD 9.8 billion. The report compiles individual or family wealth in the year to January 15. It can be noted that the Indian economy is set to contract by over 7 per cent because of the impact of the pandemic, which had forced governments to go for lockdowns that had a debilitating impact on the poor.
The report comes at a time when concerns are being raised about a 'K-shaped' recovery being underway, where a select few prosper. Hurun India's Managing Director and Chief Researcher Anas Rahman Junaid said Indian wealth creation is dominated by cyclical or traditional industries compared to tech-driven wealth creation in the US and China.
IT company HCL's Shiv Nadar was the third wealthiest Indian with a fortune of USD 27 billion while some peers in the tech industry dominated the list of fastest growing wealth.
Jay Chaudhry of software company Zcaler saw a 274 per cent rise in networth to USD 13 billion during the year while Byju Raveendran and family saw a 100 per cent increase in its wealth to USD 2.8 billion, the report said.
Diversified corporate house Mahindra Group's head Anand Mahindra and family also saw a 100 per cent increase in wealth to USD 2.4 billion, it said.
Among those who saw a decline in their networth during the year was Acharya Balkrishna of Patanjali Ayurved at USD3.6 billion, down 32 per cent. The financial capital continues to lead in the country from a concentration perspective, being home to 60 of the 177 Indian billionaires, followed by New Delhi at 40 and Bengaluru at 22 billionaires, it said.
13:32 Cong vs Cong: Adhir lashes out at Anand Sharma
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury today posted a series of tweets in a scorching thread titled "Know Your Facts, Anand Sharma".
Anand Sharma had yesterday questioned the Bengal Congress for its decision to tie up with the ISF (Indian Secular Front) for polls in the state starting later this month. The Congress cannot be "selective" about fighting communalism, the former Union Minister tweeted.
Adhir Chowdhury today said he would urge "a select group of distinguished Congressmen to rise above always seeking personal comfort spots" and stop singing praises of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He appeared to refer to Anand Sharma as well as Ghulam Nabi Azad, who said he felt "proud" of leaders like PM Modi. Both are part of the Congress dissidents' group known as the "G-23", which has routinely criticized party decisions since it wrote a controversial letter calling for "full-time and visible leadership" in the party, apparently targeting the Gandhis.
"Would urge a select group of distinguished Congressmen to rise above always seeking personal comfort spots & stop wasting time singing praises of PM. They owe a duty to strengthen the Party and not undermine the tree that nurtured them," Chowdhury, the chief of the Congress in Bengal, posted.
He also said the Congress was a part of the CPI(M)-led Left Front in Bengal, which was "determined to defeat BJP". Calling the decision of the front "communal" would only play into the hands of the BJP, he commented.
13:25 Kamal Haasan gets vaccinated
Actor and Makkal Needhi Maiam President Kamal Haasan receives the first dose of COVID19 vaccine at Chennai.
12:54 BJP leads in Gujarat polls
Gujarat Municipal Election 2021 counting of votes update: Out of 231 taluka panchayats, BJP leading in 73, Congress in 11 and others in 3. Out of 31 district panchayats, BJP leading in 28. In 81 municipalities BJP leading in 60, Congress in 6 and others in 1.
12:35 Platform ticket price raised to Rs 50 at key stations in Mumbai
The Central Railway has increased the price of platform tickets at some key stations in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) to avoid over-crowding during the upcoming summer season in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, an official said on Tuesday.
A platform ticket now costs Rs 50 instead of the previous rate of Rs 10 at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Dadar and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus in Mumbai, and neighbouring Thane, Kalyan, Panvel and Bhiwandi Road stations, CR's chief public relations officer Shivaji Sutar said.
The new rate came into force on February 24 and will remain effective till June 15 this year, the official said. "The decision was taken to prevent over-crowding at these stations during the summer travel rush," he said. Since the second week of February, there has been a surge in daily COVID-19 cases in Mumbai.
12:31 Cong workers burn Ghulam Nabi Azad's effigy
Congress workers raise slogans against Ghulam Nabi Azad and burn his effigy in Jammu. They say, "Congress held him in high esteem but today when it's time to support it, he forged friendship with BJP. He didn't come for DDC election campaigning but now he's here, praising PM."
Speaking at a function organised by the Gujjar Desh Chartiable Trust in Jammu on Sunday, Azad drew parallels between himself and the Prime Minister, saying that like him, Modi too hailed from a village and has not forgotten his roots.
I like a lot of things about many leaders. There are many big leaders. Even our Prime Minister comes from a village and he used to sell tea. We are political rivals, but I appreciate the fact that he does not hide his true self, he said, adding that one should be proud of oneself.
Congress leader Kapil Sibal said he was saddened by the decision to allow party veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad to retire from Parliament and that the Congress could have used his experience better. "He (Azad) is one such leader who knows the ground reality of Congress in every district of every state. We were saddened when we realised that he is being freed from Parliament. We didn't want him to go from Parliament.
"I can't understand why Congress is not using his experience,' he said. "What is the real role of Ghulam Nabi Azad sahab? A person who flies an aircraft is an experienced person. An engineer accompanies him to detect and repair any malfunctioning in the engine. Ghulam Nabi ji is experienced as well as engineer."
The Congress leader said he and his colleagues have gathered in Jammu to address issues that the party is facing now. "The truth is that we see Congress party getting weak. That is why we have gathered here. We had gathered together earlier too and we have to strengthen the party together," he said.
12:26 Naqvi gets Covid-19 vaccine jab
Union Minister of Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi receives the first shot of COVID19 vaccine at Rampur, Uttar Pradesh.
11:51 Farooq Abdullah gets vaccinated
National Conference MP Farooq Abdullah takes his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, at Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Science in Srinagar.
11:50 Harsh Vardhan, Farooq Abdullah get vaccinated
Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan and his wife take first dose of COVID vaccine at Delhi Heart & Lung Institute.
On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off the second phase of the Covid-19 vaccination drive in the country by getting a dose of the home-grown Covaxin.
The country has now expanded its vaccination campaign to inoculate around 27 crore people including everyone above 60 and over 45 but with co-morbidities.
The Union Health Minister said the data at this stage indicated no link between new Covid-19 strains and the spike in infections, which he attributed to easing off on required restrictions like maintaining social distancing.
"The increase in the number of cases - in Maharashtra, Kerala or any other state - has nothing to do with the new Covid strains, either Brazilian, South African or from the UK," Vardhan said, adding, "I am hopeful things are going to settle down and the recent spurt is not a permanent thing."
11:45 Ravi Shastri receives first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in Ahmedabad
The Indian cricket team's head coach Ravi Shastri on Tuesday received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at a city hospital in Ahmedabad. Shastri, who is 58, thanked the staff at the Apollo Hospital for their co-operation and support.
"Got the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Thank you to the amazing medical professionals & scientists for empowering India Flag of India against the pandemic, the former India cricketer tweeted. India's inoculation drive entered its second phase on Monday in which the coverage was expanded to include everyone above 60 and those over 45 with co-morbidities.
"Extremely impressed with the professionalism shown by Kantaben & her team at Apollo, Ahmedabad in dealing with COVID-19 vaccination."
However, it is not immediately known whether any other member of the Indian team's support staff was inoculated. The Indian cricket team is locked in a Test battle against England. The fourth and final Test of the rubber will start in Ahmedabad on Thursday. India are currently leading the series 2-1. PTI
11:39 Toolkit case: Court grants one week to Delhi Police to file reply to Nikita Jacob
A court in New Delhi on Tuesday granted a week's time to the Delhi Police to file reply to the anticipatory bail plea of Nikita Jacob, a co-accused along with Disha Ravi in connection with allegedly being involved in sharing a "toolkit" on social media related to the farmers' protest.
Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana allowed the police plea to grant it time till March 9after the public prosecutor said the agency needed time to file a detailed reply to Jacob's plea. The court is scheduled to hear the anticipatory bail plea of another co-accused, Shantanu Muluk, on March 9.
During the brief hearing held through video conferencing, senior advocate Rebecca John, appearing for Jacob, said she wanted to argue on her plea as a stand alone case and not with Muluk's. The court said she could argue on March 9. The court also directed the Delhi Police to hand over a copy of its reply to Jacob's bail plea to her counsel. Jacob had got transit anticipatory bail from Bombay High Court on February 17 for three weeks, so that the accused could approach the court concerned in Delhi, where the case is lodged.
The court on February 25 granted protection from arrest to Muluk till March 9. Muluk was granted transit anticipatory bail fromthe Aurangabad bench on February 16 for 10 days. He approached Delhi court on February 23. Muluk, Ravi and Jacob were booked for alleged sedition and other charges. Ravi was arrested by a Cyber Cell team of the Delhi Police from Bengaluru and brought to Delhi. She was granted bail by the Delhi court on February 23. PTI
11:16
Bombay High Court grants bail to former BARC CEO Partho Dasgupta who is an accused in the TRP scam.
11:15 Priyanka plucks tea leaves in Assam
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra plucks tea leaves with other workers at Sadhuru tea garden, Biswanath. Priyanka is on a two-day visit to Assam.
11:11 BJP leads in Gujarat municipal polls
Counting of votes for polls to 81 municipalities, 31 district panchayat and 231 taluka is underway. In municipality polls, BJP leading with 54 seats, Congress gets 2 seats.
The polling took place on Sunday with municipalities recording a voter turnout of 58.82 per cent, while the figure was 65.80 for the district panchayats and 66.60 per cent for taluka panchayats.
The final figures were released by the State Election Commission on Monday.
Re-polling was held during the day in a booth in Ghodiya in Jhalod taluka of Dahod district after two EVMs were damaged during Sunday's polling by three people.
The booth recorded around 50 per cent turnout during the re-poll, officials said.
10:51 BJP MP Nand Singh Chauhan passes away
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Madhya Pradesh's Khandwa, Nand Kumar Singh Chauhan passed away at Medanta Hospital in Gurugram on Monday night.
He had tested positive for COVID-19 and was undergoing treatment at the hospital. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan condoled the demise of Member of Parliament and said that BJP has lost an ideal worker, a skilled organizer and a dedicated leader.
"Nandu Bhaiya, the popular public leader, left all of us. BJP has lost an ideal worker, a skilled organiser and dedicated leader. It is a personal loss for me," he tweeted.
10:44 Priyanka to address Kisan Mahapanchayat on 7th
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will address a Kisan Mahapanchayat in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut on March 7, to highlight the issues being faced by farmers.
This will be the fifth Kisan Mahapanchayat in the region. The Congress Party is organising Kisan Panchayats in 28 districts of Western Uttar Pradesh to raise a voice against the farm laws and to support farmers' demand to repeal them.
Uttar Pradesh Congress had launched the Jai Jawan Jai Kisan programme in the region on February 10 from Saharanpur through a Kisan Panchayat which was addressed by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Since then, senior leaders are addressing Kisan Panchayats from district to tehsil level but Kisan Panchayats addressed by Congress General Secretary in-charge of the state Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have been planned aiming at gaining political ground.
She had also addressed the Kisan panchayat in Saharanpur which was organised by Congress leader Imran Masood and attended by Pradesh Congress Committee Chief Ajay Singh Lallu and other senior leaders.
10:18 People throng Ganpati temple in Pune
This promises to be a Covid-19 super-spreader event: People gather outside Shreemant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati Mandir in Pune, to pray on Ganesh Angarki Chaturthi. Darshan is being allowed only from outside as the temple has been kept closed today due to a rise in COVID19 cases in the city.
10:15 Covid-19 cases 12,286 in 24 hrs, 1.48-cr vaccinations so far
India reports 12,286 new COVID-19 cases, 12,464 discharges and 91 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per the Union Health Ministry.
Total cases: 1,11,24,527
Total discharges: 1,07,98,921
Death toll: 1,57,248
Active cases: 1,68,358
Total Vaccination: 1,48,54,136
10:07 Trump 'gutted' immigration system, says Homeland Security Secretary
New Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Monday alleged that ex-United States president Donald Trump had dismantled the country's immigration system and it takes time to "rebuild it from scratch".
The previous Trump government hardened the immigration rules on those allowed to seek asylum in the US and advocated a merit-based immigration system to protect US workers.
"We are dedicated to achieving and, quite frankly, are working around the clock to replace the cruelty of the past administration with an orderly, humane, and safe immigration process. It is hard and it will take time, but rest assured we're going to get it done," Mayorkas told reporters at a White House news conference.
However, it is going to take time, because of the immigration system that the Biden administration has inherited from its predecessor, he said.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary rued the "lack" of proper facilities to administer the humanitarian laws that the Congress had passed.
"Entire systems are not rebuilt in a day or in a few weeks. To put it succinctly, the prior administration dismantled our nation's immigration system in its entirety. When I started 27 days ago, I learned that we did not have the facilities available or equipped to administer the humanitarian laws that our Congress passed years ago. We did not have the personnel, policies, procedures, or training to administer those laws. Quite frankly, the entire system was gutted," Mayorkas alleged.
"In addition, they tore down the Central American Minors Program that allowed children to access laws of protection without having to take the perilous journey north. They cut off funding to the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. No planning had been done to protect the frontline personnel of the US Customs and Border Protection and other frontline personnel that address the needs of individuals coming to our border," he claimed.
"Contracts had been entered that were unlawful or against the interests of the United States Department of Justice, and that's just the tip of it. I must tell you that it pains me profoundly to say this today on March 1st, the 18th anniversary of the US Department of Homeland Security," the DHS secretary said.
It takes time to rebuild an entire system and to process individuals at the border in a safe and just way, Mayorkas said. "It takes time to build out of the depths of cruelty that the administration before us established," he added.
"What we're seeing now at the border is the immediate result of the dismantlement of the system. It takes time to rebuild it virtually from scratch. We have, though, already begun to design and in fact have begun to implement a new innovative way to address the needs of the population that was forced to remain in Mexico during the prior administration," Mayorkas told reporters.
A day earlier, Trump at an event in Florida had alleged that the Biden administration has put the national security at risk by opening up the borders to illegal immigrants.
"It took the new administration only a few weeks to turn this unprecedented accomplishment into a self-inflicted, humanitarian, and national security disaster. By recklessly eliminating our border, security measures, controls, all of the things that we put into place, Joe Biden has triggered a massive flood of illegal immigration into our country, the likes of which we have never seen before," Trump said.
"They're coming up by the tens of thousands. They're all coming to take advantage of the things that he said, that's luring everybody to come to America. And we're one country. We can't afford the problems of the world, as much as we'd love to. We'd love to help. But we can't do that," he said.
"Perhaps worst of all, Joe Biden's decision to cancel border security has single-handedly launched a youth migrant crisis that is enriching child smugglers, vicious criminal cartels, and some of the most evil people on the planet," Trump said. -- PTI
10:02 'Wonder Woman' Gal Gadot expecting third child
Hollywood star Gal Gadot has announced she is pregnant with her third child.
The Wonder Woman 1984 star already shares daughters -- Alma, nine, and Maya, three -- with husband and real estate developer Jaron Varsano.
Gadot, 35, revealed the news on Instagram on Monday.
"Here we go again," the actor captioned a family selfie with her daughters and Varsano, 45, cradling her baby bump.
Gadot's announcement comes hours after she presented the best foreign language film award at the 2021 Golden Globes to Lee Isaac Chung's Korean-American feature Minari.
The actor sparked pregnancy rumours after she appeared in a white, flowing Givenchy mini dress with sheer sleeves at the awards ceremony on Sunday. -- PTI
09:55 Sensex tops 50,000-level in opening trade
The BSE gauge Sensex rose over 190 points to trade above the 50,000-mark in the opening session on Tuesday on account of broad-based buying by participants amid positive domestic and global cues.
Analysts said investor sentiment remained upbeat due to encouraging GDP numbers for the third quarter as well as return of calmness in global bond markets after last week's turmoil.
On the Sensex chart, 26 shares were trading with gains.
On Monday, the Sensex had risen by 749.85 points or 1.53 per cent; and the Nifty had gained 232.40 points or 1.60 per cent.
Elsewhere in Asia on Tuesday, bourses extended their strong rally for the second straight session after halt in sell-offs in global bond markets calmed investor sentiments.
Foreign investors purchased equities worth Rs 125.15 crore on a net basis in Indian capital markets on Monday, exchange data showed.
Meanwhile, global crude oil benchmark Brent Futures price eased by 0.65 per cent to trade at 62.90 per barrel. -- PTI
09:43 Man accused of sex assault kills girl's father in UP
A man who was jailed briefly in 2018 in a sex assault case, out on bail ever since, allegedly shot dead the survivor's father on Monday in a village in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras district, about 200 km from Delhi.
According to the police, an FIR has been registered against four accused, two of whom have been arrested.
"On March 1, at around 4 pm, information was received at Sasni police station that in Nojalpur village, a man named Amrish Sharma had been shot by Gaurav Sharma and his friends. Amrish died on his way to the hospital," said Vineet Jaiswal, Superintendent of Police, Hathras.
"During the investigation, it came to light that in July 2018, Amrish Sharma had filed a case of molestation against Gaurav Sharma, who was sent to jail but he came out on bail after one month. Both the families were having a dispute since then," Jaiswal added.
Speaking about the incident, the police official said, "The wife and the aunt of the main accused Gaurav Sharma and both daughters of deceased had gone to temple in the village. They had an argument there over the old case. The accused and the Amrish Sharma came there later where they argued and the accused shot the latter, who died while being taken to hospital."
The SP said that teams have been formed to nab the remaining accused and further investigation is underway. -- ANI
09:36 Bengali actor Srabanti Chatterjee joins BJP
Bengali actor Srabanti Chatterjee joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in Kolkata on Monday ahead of the upcoming West Bengal assembly elections.
The actor joined the party in the presence of West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh and party's election in-charge in the state, Kailash Vijayvargiya.
West Bengal assembly elections will be held in eight phases starting from March 27 with the final round of voting taking place on April 29.
Counting of votes will take place on May 2.
While Mamata Banerjee is seeking her third consecutive term, the BJP has set a target of winning 200 seats in the 294-member state assembly.
The Congress and the Left have stitched an alliance for the polls and had already finalised the seat-sharing agreement.
09:16 Delhi court to hear Nikita Jacob's bail plea today
The Patiala House Court in the national capital will hear Nikita Jacob's petition on Tuesday seeking anticipatory bail in the "Toolkit" document case related to farmers' protest.
Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana will hear Jacob's petition today. Jacob had been granted protection from arrest for three weeks by the Bombay High Court on February 17.
Delhi Police are probing the toolkit case against Jacob, "climate activist" Disha Ravi and others. However, the Court last week granted bail to Disha.
According to sources, Jacob was a committed operator of the Toolkit. She used to address it as a 'communication package'. The police is analysing about 115 to 120 GB of data which included WhatsApp chats, e-mails, and data recovered from Jacob's pen drive, mobile and desktop. She was using applications like Singal and Telegram for communication.
The 21-year-old activist, Disha was arrested from Bengaluru in connection with the formulation and dissemination of the 'toolkit' document, in the ongoing farmers' protest. She was one of the editors of the 'toolkit' document.
On February 3, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg had shared this 'toolkit' in a tweet, which she later deleted. Greta had also extended support to the protest by farmer unions on the borders of Delhi against the new farm laws. -- ANI
09:02 Biden admin 'undecided' on ending H-1B visa ban
The Biden administration on Monday indicated it is still undecided on ending the Trump-era ban on issuing of new H-1B visas, with the Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas asserting that its top priority is the acute needs of individuals fleeing persecution.
In January, the then President Donald Trump had extended the ban on issuing of new H-1B visas till March 31 arguing that the country is having a very high unemployment rate and the US cannot afford to have more foreign workers.
"His successor President Joe Biden has revoked dozens of the executive orders of Trump including several of those related to immigration like the lifting the Muslim visa ban or those related to Green Card, the one that imposed ban on issuing H-1B has still not been lifted. It will expire on March 31, if Biden does not issue a fresh proclamation.
"What is the status of the review of the Trump era visa bans for H1B visas and has the White House decided to lift those bans before they expire at the end of the month?" Mayorkas was asked at a White House news conference.
"I don't really (know)--I hate to end the questioning on a question. The answer to which I am not certain. But this goes to what proceeded us. We have so much work to do to repair and to restore and to rebuild that we have a prioritization matrix and of course, the acute needs of individuals fleeing persecution is a high priority. Which brings me to this meeting this morning," Mayorkas said in response.
At the same time, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services has gone ahead with its H-1B application allocation process for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2021. Last month it announced that it has received enough applications to allocate 65,000 H-1B visas and another 20,000 H-1B visas to those who have completed their higher education from US universities.
Biden has revoked a policy issued by his predecessor during the COVID-19 pandemic that blocked many Green Card applicants from entering the US, a move that will benefit many Indians working in America on the H-1B visa.
Trump, a Republican, issued the ban last year, saying it was needed to protect US workers amid high unemployment due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A Green Card, known officially as a Permanent Resident Card, is a document issued to immigrants to the US as evidence that the bearer has been granted the privilege of residing permanently.
Indian IT professionals, most of whom are highly skilled and come to the US mainly on the H-1B work visas, are the worst sufferers of the current immigration system which imposes a seven per cent per country quota on allotment of the coveted Green Card or permanent legal residency.
The H-1B visa, the most sought after among Indian IT professionals, is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.
The US is currently facing a backlog of nearly 473,000 qualified family-based Green Card requests.
As a result of Trump's ban on issuing green cards, as many as 120,000 family-based preference visas were lost. But this came as a big boon for issuing employment-based green cards, mainly those on H-1B visas.
Thousands of Indian IT professionals who painstakingly waited for their Green Card received their legal permanent residency as a result in the last few months of the Trump administration. -- PTI
08:54 Can't allow China to dominate: US lawmaker on India cyber attack report
A top American lawmaker on Monday urged the Biden administration to stand by India in view of the Chinese cyber attack on India's power grid system as reported by a United States-based company that monitors such malicious activities by the state actors.
"The US must stand by our strategic partner and condemn China's dangerous cyber-attack on India's grid, which forced hospitals to go on generators in the midst of a pandemic," Congressman Frank Pallone said in a tweet on Monday.
"We cannot allow China to dominate the region through force and intimidation," tweeted Pallone, a day after Recorded Future, a Massachusetts-based company which studies the use of the internet by state actors, said Chinese government-linked group of hackers targeted India's critical power grid system through malware, amidst the tense border tension between the two nations.
The State Department said it is aware of these reports. "For specifics, we refer you to the company that conducted the study. More broadly, however, the State Department works with partners around the world to respond to shared threats in cyberspace," a State Department spokesperson told PTI.
"In general, we continue to have concerns about states' dangerous and coercive actions, including in cyberspace, and we reaffirm the importance of joint action on cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, and supply chain security," said the spokesperson. -- PTI
08:12 Working with Congress, ISF to sort out differences: Left
The Left Front on Monday said that it was working with alliance partners Congress and Abbas Siddiqui-led Indian Secular Front to iron out the differences over seat-sharing for the assembly elections in West Bengal.
Left Front chairman Biman Bose said talks will be held between the three sides to sort out the issues.
Addressing a press conference, state Congress president Adhir Chowdhury said the seat-sharing talks were initially held between his party and the Left but the equations changed after ISF came into the picture.
"Initially, it was only the Left and the Congress so the seat adjustment was done in a particular manner. At first, we had sought 130 seats. Now, we have another party in our Sanjyukta Morcha (United Front). So the equations changed. We now have 92 seats, and few more seats are being discussed," he said.
Bose cautioned Siddiqui over speaking out against the Congress, saying it was not the way to talk when in an alliance.
"There will be a meeting on Tuesday, and we will settle all the issues," a senior Left leader said.
The ISF said that they are hopeful that the issues will be resolved at the meeting.
"We are hopeful that everything will be sorted out soon," ISF chairman Naushad Siddiqui said. -- PTI
00:13 China aims to vaccinate 40% of people by June
China is lagging in its coronavirus vaccination rollout because it has the disease largely under control, but plans to inoculate 40 per cent of its population by June, Chinese health experts said.
Zhong Nanshan, the leader of a group of experts attached to the National Health Commission, said the country has delivered 52.52 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines as of February 28.
China has been slow to vaccinate its people relative to other countries, inoculating only 3.56 per cent of its population of 1.4 billion so far, according to Zhong.
Ranked first in the world in terms of percentage of population is Israel, which has vaccinated over 90 per cent of its people. The US has vaccinated about 22 per cent of its population.
Chinese health experts say the country has enough vaccine supply for its population, although the country has pledged to provide close to half a billion doses abroad, roughly 10 times the number it has delivered at home.
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