Goa registered a very high voter turnout of 78.94 per cent in polling for the 40 Assembly seats which passed off peacefully with no untoward incident reported from any part of the state which witnessed a multi-cornered contest.
As per Chief Electoral Officer Kunal, the highest voting was registered in the Sankhalim constituency in North Goa at 89.61 per cent, while the lowest voter turnout was 70.20 per cent at Benaulim in South Goa.
Party Hopper MLA Balwinder Singh Laddi Back with BJP
Congress MLA Balwinder Singh Laddi from Sri Hargobindpur constituency of Gurdaspur district shifted loyalty to BJP and then again come back to Congress but only to go back to the saffron party within a period of less than two months.
In December 2021, the sitting MLA from Sri Hargobindpur Balwinder Singh Laddi along with the Fatehjang Singh Bajwa, sitting MLA of Congress from the Qadian assembly defected the party to join BJP.
Fatehjang Bajwa is the younger brother of Member Parliament Partap Singh Bajwa. Fatehjang Singh is now BJP's candidate from the Batala assembly constituency.
Ashwani Kumar, Ex-minister, Quits Congress
Former Union Minister Ashwani Kumar quit the Congress, his party of more than four decades, calling it a decision that was "consistent with my dignity".
Ashwani Kumar was Law Minister in the Manmohan Singh-led Congress government between 2009 and 2014.
This is the latest exit from the Congress, weeks after the party lost RPN Singh, another former Union Minister and a big leader in Uttar Pradesh.
Feb 14, 2022
Govt. Approves Rs. 26,275 cr Scheme for Continuation of Police Modernisation
The Modi government approved the continuation of a mega police modernisation scheme for five years up to 2025-26 with a financial outlay of Rs. 26,275 crore.
The Union Home Ministry said that the scheme includes security-related expenditure in Jammu and Kashmir, northeastern states and Maoists-affected areas, for raising new battalions, developing high-tech forensic laboratories and other investigation tools.
This scheme comprises all relevant sub-schemes that contribute to the modernisation and improvement with a total central financial outlay of Rs. 26,275 crore.
Mamata Dissolves TMC National Office-bearers' Committee, Forms 20-member Panel
Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee dissolved the party's national office-bearers' committee, which included her nephew Abhishek Banerjee—the national general secretary, and formed a 20-member working committee to oversee the affairs amid a growing rift.
Asserting her firm control over the party, Banerjee packed the working committee with party veterans who were facing criticism publicly from the TMC's next-generation leaders, backed by Abhishek Banerjee, over holding multiple posts—within the party and the administration.
Banerjee will later name the new office-bearers of the party.
Among the leaders who found a place in the new national working committee are Amit Mitra, Partha Chatterjee, Subrata Bakshi, Sudip Bandopadhyay, Abhishek Banerjee, Anubrata Mondal, Aroop Biswas, Firhad Hakim and Yashwant Sinha.
Hijab Row Erupts in Madhya Pradesh's Satna
The hijab controversy that erupted in a pre-university college in Karnataka hit a college in Madhya Pradesh.
As per report, the fresh controversy over wearing hijab-burqa erupted at an Autonomous PG College in Madhya Pradesh's Satna district after an M.Com student Rukshana Khan arrived at the college wearing hijab to appear in the exam.
In the mean time, students from other groups, including some associated with Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), students' wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), opposed the woman wearing hijab-burqa during the examination.
Sensing that the matter could snowball into a major controversy, the college's principal-in-charge, Shivesh Pratap Singh swung into action. He not only advised Rukshana Khan not to wear hijab again in the college, but also took a written undertaking from her that she will wear only college uniform like other students in future.
The political controversy over hijab in Madhya Pradesh had erupted after School Education Minister Inder Singh Paramar supported banning of hijab in schools and also announced that new dress code will be strictly enforced from the next academic year.
Some Congress leaders who belonged to Muslim community opposed the minister's remarks and said that they would oppose MP government's proposal to ban hijab-burqa.
Feb 13, 2022
RSS' Muslim Wing Backs Burqa-clad Girl
Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM), the RSS's Muslim wing, has backed the burqa-clad student who was heckled by youth shouting 'Jai Shri Ram' slogans at a Karnataka college, saying 'purdah' is part of Indian culture.
A video of the girl, Bibi Muskan Khan, confronting the youngsters wearing saffron scarves has gone viral on social media. The group had gathered outside the college demanding a ban on hijab and burqa in educational institutions.
Hijab is a type of 'purdah' which is a part of Indian culture and India society. Even Hindu women in our society, depending on the individual, wear 'purdah'. If Hindu women are free to choose their dress code, the same applies with Muslim.
The MRM was set up in 2002 by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at the initiative of its then chief K.S. Sudarshan to allow the sangh parivar to reach out to the Muslim community on various issues including the vexed Ayodhya Ram Temple dispute.
Manipur Assembly Polls Rescheduled
The Election Commission rescheduled the dates for the two-phase assembly polls in Manipur which will now be held on February 28 and March 5.
Earlier, the polls were to be held on February 27 and March 3.
EC said that the decision is based on inputs, representations, past precedent, logistics, ground situations and "all facts and circumstances in the matter".
Setback for Congress as MP's Brother Joins SAD(B)
Politics makes strange bedfellows and this happened in the Punjab polity after the brother of a Congress Member of Parliament not only joined hands with Shiromani Akali Dal - Badal SAD(B) but also publicly announced to motivate the MP to join Akalis.
On Wednesday, Harpinder Singh Rajan Gill, a staunch Congress activist and brother of Congress MP from Khadoor Sahib Jasbir Singh Dimpa joined SAD(B) in presence of party president Sukhbir Singh Badal and Bikram Singh Majithia, an all-powerful former minister and brother in law of Sukhbir Singh Badal.
Rajan Gill was an aspirant of Congress party's ticket from Khadoor Sahib Assembly constituency but the party chose to nominate the sitting MLA Ramanjit Singh Sikki.
School Bands to Regularly Perform at National War Memorial
School bands will regularly perform at the National War Memorial in New Delhi on a rotational basis. The objective of this initiative is to inculcate the values of patriotism, devotion to duty, courage, and sacrifice among the schoolchildren and increase the participation of people, especially the youth, so that they experience the various facts associated with the ironic war memorial.
The education ministry has directed the Central Board of Secondary Education to prepare a schedule for the bands to perform. The themes and tunes of the band will be decided in coordination with the Directorate of National War Memorial and Museum and Integrated Defence Staff.
The performances will tentatively begin from February 22 ahead of the third anniversary of the memorial.
Feb 12, 2022
India- Bangladesh Webinar on Solid Waste Management
The municipalities of Indore and Dhaka North held a virtual dialogue, for sharing best practises in solid waste management.
Webinar was facilitated by High Commission of India and Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
During the webinar, waste collection methods were shared by Indore Municipal Corporation.
Municipal Corporation of Indore detailed about 100 percent door-to-door segregated waste collection system, GPS-tracked waste collection vehicle and biometric attendance system for municipal cleaners.
Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) officials also shared their best practises and held productive discussions on taking forward the cooperation in solid waste management and other municipal services.
Indore was ranked as the cleanest city of India in cleanliness Survey 2021. Since 2017, the city has won this distinction for five consecutive times because of its much-applauded waste management system including door to door collection, segregation of waste, home composting, central composting facilities and recycling of day waster.
Lata Mangeshkar's Ashes Immersed in Nashik's Ramkund
The family of Lata Mangeshkar bid farewell to the legendary singer, who died on February 6. Lata Mangeshkar's family members visited Nashik and immersed her ashes in the sacred Pavitra Ramkund on the banks of the Godavari River.
Lata's nephew, Adinath Mangeshkar and other relatives were present at the immersion ceremony.
Nashik Purohit Sangh president Satish Shukla conducted the rituals. Nashik civic commissioner Kailas Jadhav and some local politicians were also present on the occasion.
Feb 11, 2022
India's First Biomass-based Hydrogen Plant
India's first commercial-scale biomass-based hydrogen plant will be constructed in Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh.
From 30 tonnes of biomass feedstock, Biomass-based hydrogen plant will produce a tonne of hydrogen per day.
It will also produce biochar and methane.
It will be put up with an investment of Rs. 24 crore.
The plant is being put up by Watomo Energies Ltd in association with Biezel Green Energy.
Watomo Energies is headquartered in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh. Watomo Energies is a 'consulting, implementation, marketing, and project management company'. It is more like a farmer-producer organization.
Biezel Green is a company promoted by Prof Preetam Singh, from IIT BHU. It is the technology partner, owning the technology for 'thermally accelerated anaerobic digestion (TAD) reactor'.
The plant is likely to go on streem by July 2022.
PM Modi Virtually Address High-level Segment of One Ocean Summit
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the high-level segment of the One Ocean Summit through a video message.
The high-level segment of the summit was also addressed by several other heads of states and governments including Germany, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Japan and Canada.
The summit was organised by France from February 9-11 in Brest in cooperation with the United Nations and the World Bank.
The objective of the summit was to mobilise the international community to take tangible action towards preserving and supporting healthy and sustainable ocean ecosystems.
4,844 Foreigners Granted Indian Citizenship in Past 5 Years
According to Union Minister Nityanand Rai, as many as 4,844 foreigners were granted Indian citizenship in the past five years under the Citizenship Act 1955.
The minister informed that 1,773 foreigners were granted Indian citizenship in 2021, 639 in 2020, 987 in 2019, 628 in 2018 and 817 in 2017.
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