Junior Digest

Jammu, July 4,2023: Stating that the construction of a 1.08 k long, two-lane Ramban viaduct is completed, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari on Monday said that under visionary Prime Minister Narendra Modi the government is committed in providing exceptional highway infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir.

“in Jammu and Kashmir, we have completed the construction of a 1.08 k long, two-lane Ramban viaduct. This viaduct, built at a cost of ₹140 Crore, is situated on the Udhampur-Ramban section of NH-44,” Gadkari tweeted.

Additionally, he said that another two-Lane viaduct, running parallel to this structure, is nearing completion and will be opened soon.

“Under the visionary leadership of the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, we remain unwavering in our commitment to providing Jammu and Kashmir with exceptional highway infrastructure,” he stated.

The Union Minister further said that this transformative development not only contributes to the region’s economic growth but also enhances its appeal as a premier tourist destination.

“The construction of this 26-span viaduct incorporates various structural arrangements utilizing concrete and steel girders,” he wrote on Twitter further adding that it serves a dual purpose, firstly, t relieves congestion in Ramban Bazar, ensuring smoother movement of vehicles, secondly, it facilitates the seamless passage of vehicles and pilgrim traffic during the annual Amarnath Yatra on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway 44.

Notably, on April 11 this year, during his visit to Jammu and Kashmir, Gadkari addressing a press conference at Katra had said that though the deadline for the Delhi Amritsar-Katra Green Corridor ExpressWay is December 2024, but efforts will be made to complete the mega project before Parliamentary Elections to be held in May next year so that it can be inaugurated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February-March next year.

He had said that the executing agency, NHAI has been asked to complete the work before the imposition of Code of Conduct so that it can be inaugurated before Lok Sabha elections.

The 670-kilometre, four-lane Delhi Amritsar-Katra Green Corridor ExpressWay is being constructed at the cost of Rs 40,000 crore.

Gadkari had also said that the developmental works worth Rs 1,30,000 crore are being taken up by MoRTH in Jammu and Kashmir and since 2014, around 500 km of road network has been completed in the region.

“Significant 41 tunnels are being constructed in J&K and Ladakh at a cost of Rs 45,000 crore, 18 ropeways worth Rs 5,000 crore will be constructed in the UT. The journey between Jammu and Srinagar three corridors worth Rs 35,000 crores are being constructed, which will reduce the earlier distance of 320 kms by 70 kms and time travel will be reduced from ten hours to four to five hours,” the Minister had said in the press conference.

Gadkari said, “with the development of state of the art road network across the country through every state and UT, the Kashmir to Kanyakumari will no longer be a dream for the people of India.”

Bengaluru , July 1,2023: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday promised to resume all the programmes designed for minorities.
A delegation of the Central Council of the Minority Muslim Thinkers, Chavadi, of Karnataka State met him on Friday and discussed various issues, said the government.
The Chief Minister said that five guarantees are already being implemented as announced by the government, and more grants will be allotted to minorities starting next year, said the CM office.
Chavadi has been identified with pro-people movements in Karnataka for over a decade. It has been a part of the literary field, the development of Kalyan Karnataka, student and Dalit movements, and other pro-people struggles. Chavadi has emphasised the educational, social, and economic development of the Muslim community. It is also against communalism, as the forum explained, stated the CM office.
For the past five years, the community has been deprived of government schemes, and hence the delegation appealed to the CM to increase grants to the Minority Department and Corporations, hostels, and the establishment of a Minority Polytechnic College in the district, said the government.

Lucknow, Jul 2,2023: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Sunday asserted that her party was not against the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), instead it was against the modalities of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its government in implementing it, as it should not be forced on the people of the country.

Reacting to the UCC, she said, “India has a vast population who follow different religions and have different customs, lifestyles, rules and rituals right from the birth to death.”

She further said that on the other hand, it is thought provoking that if a common law is made applicable to people of all religions, then it will not weaken the country but instead, strengthen it.

“It is also correct that it will create mutual communal harmony and brotherhood among the people and keeping this in mind, an attempt to frame a code that is Uniform Civil Code has been mentioned in the Article 44 of the Indian Constitution,” Mayawati said.

The BSP chief further said, “The provision of imposing it forcibly is not mentioned in the Constitution of Babasaheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar and for this awareness and consensus has been considered the best, but not following it and indulging in politics of narrow interest in its guise is not right in the interest of the country, because Article 44 of the Constitution describes the effort to make a uniform civil code, but not to impose it forcibly.”

She suggested that before taking any step for implementing UCC in the country, BJP should pay special attention to all these aspects.
She said it seems that BJP and its government are blowing the issue of UCC in a bid to conceal its shortcomings and distract attention of the people.

“As I have said my party is not against the UCC, but people of different religions in the country have their own customs from birth to death and whenever a law is framed then their religious traditions and sentiments must be kept into consideration,” she added.

Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) , June 29,2023: National Conference (NC) Chief Farooq Abdullah on Thursday said that the Centre before bringing the Uniform Civil Code should consider that the country is diverse.
Farooq Abdullah also extended his greetings on the occasion of Eid al-Adha. He got emotional while explaining the significance of the day, which recognises Prophet Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice everything, including his son Ismail for Allah.
Meanwhile, the former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir extended his wishes to the pilgrims embarking on the Amarnath Yatra, commencing on July 1.
“They (Central Government) should consider that the country is diverse. People of all religions, languages, and ideologies live here, and as for Muslims, they have their Shariat laws too. The Government should think about any possible storm that would come if they take a step in this direction (implement UCC)” he said.

Lucknow, June 27,2023: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday said that the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises department should develop MSME clusters by identifying land on Purvanchal, Bundelkhand and Ganga Expressway and take forward the process of setting up of Unity Malls in Lucknow, Varanasi and Agra.

While participating in the loan distribution programme organised by the banks at Lok Bhawan on the occasion of International International MSME Day, Yogi emphasised that the MSME units in UP are the source of livelihood for crores of people in the state.

“Jobs will be provided to 7.5 youths through the PM and CM Internship Programmes that are running in the state and for this our entrepreneurs will have to come forward. The entrepreneurs of the MSME sector should be provided facilities as per their requirement,” he said.

A total of Rs 20 ,000 crore was disbursed simultaneously to 3.41 lakh MSME entrepreneurs for the overall development of the sector on the occasion.

The CM said, “Under the loan distribution programme, loans are being simultaneously distributed to 3.41 lakh MSME entrepreneurs in the state. This sector is going to provide maximum employment after agriculture. The entrepreneurs of the MSME sector have given a new identity to UP by infusing new life in this sector.”

He said, “UP is the first state in the country to implement the ‘One District One Product’ (ODOP) scheme to keep the MSME sector alive, which has now become a brand within the country. Whenever MSME and ODOP are mentioned in the country today, the name of UP comes first on people’s lips.”

Praising the ODOP scheme in the state, the CM mentioned that UP is one of the leading states in the country to receive a GI tag for 52 of its products.

“Varanasi alone has obtained GI tags for 23 products. We have 75 districts, and in the coming time, many other products of UP will get a GI tag. The day is not far when the traditional products of UP will be known both within the country and across the world,” he said.

The Minister of MSME Rakesh Sachan, Joint Secretary of the Union Ministry of Commerce Amitabh Kumar, Chief Secretary Durga Shankar Mishra, GI expert Padma Shri Awardee Rajnikanth and other officials and MSME department staff were present at the event.

Panaji (Goa) , June 16,2023 : Audit institutions of countries have a crucial role to play in the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) for good governance, transparency and accountability, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India Girish Chandra Murmu said on Thursday.
CAG Murmu also inaugurated the Supreme Audit Institutions-20 (SAI20) engagement group meeting in Goa as part of India’s G20 presidency.
Speaking to ANI, CAG Murmu said, “Today, digital platform and digital infrastructure is used globally. So the IT application is already being used by the supreme audit institutions. Governments are adopting the technology. We will see how to carry out audits on digital platforms and how to make capacity building in our organisations. That is the concern for all the participations of SAI and we have been working on this technology.”
He further said that during the SAI20 meeting, the experts provided various new dimensions on the subject.
“We celebrated comprehensively on experience sharing. The experts did give us various aspects on this subject with a new dimension. In due course of time, the Supreme audit institutions will collaborate, share their knowledge and will come out with some standard guide,” he said.
The CAG said that they are planning to introduce computer education courses in recruitment to cope with technological development.
“Our officers are very competent. Mostly, they are from the engineering background and we are exposing them to various training, and capacity building. We are also planning to introduce some kind of priority Computer Education in the cutting as recruitment because in future more and more technology will be used. So, our auditor cutting edge is should be aware of this technology so that they can appreciate all the new development appropriately,” he added.

Bhopal, June 27,2023: Crossing another crucial connectivity milestone, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted five more Vande Bharat trains to the nation on Tuesday.

The visiting dignitary flagged off the Bhopal-Indore train at the Madhya Pradesh capital’s Rani Kamalapati Station. Prior to that, the senior leader even briefly boarded the train and interacted for duration of approximately ten minutes with schoolchildren, viewed the contextual paintings created by the latter and provided guidance to the pupils.

It was officially learnt that the other trains will ply between here and Jabalpur, Ranchi-Patna, Dharwad-Bengaluru and Goa-Mumbai. These are the maiden such trains for the states of Goa, Bihar and Jharkhand.

New Delhi, July 3,2023: The Manipur Government on Monday told the Supreme Court that the situation in the troubled state is improving, “though slowly”, to which the Top Indian Court directed the State Government to submit a detailed updated status report, and posted the matter for further hearing to July 10.

“The situation in the state is improving though slowly,” Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, senior law officer appearing for Manipur govt, told the Indian Apex Court.

Mehta also said that apart from police and Indian Reserve batallions, 114 columns of CAPF and 118 columns of army have been deployed leading to slow return of peace in the state. “The situation in the state is improving,” Mehta told the Apex Court.

Then, the Supreme Court sought a detailed status report from Manipur government on the measures taken to curb ethnic violence in the State.

It also asked the State to fule a report as to what steps have been taken for rehabilitation camps for homeless and violence-affected people, deployment of forces, and the law and order situation.

A bench of the Supreme Court, led by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dr Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud sought a detailed status report from Manipur government by Monday, July 10, when it would take up the matter again for further hearing.

It was hearing a batch of pleas relating to the recent incidents of violence in Manipur. One of the petitions sought directions to the Central and State governments to evacuate Manipuri Tribals who had fled to CRPF camps.

For Kuki groups, Senior advocate, Colin Gonsalves, counsel appearing for the State’s Kuki group, alleged that Meteis were killing Kukis and women were preventing army from taking action against arsonists.

At the same time, Meteis advocate, Luwang told the Apex Court that Kuki militants, mandated to stay in camps, are out of it and using sniper rifles to kill Meteis.

Chennai, June 28 ,2023: The launch of India’s third Lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 will take place using the heaviest rocket LVM-3 from the spaceport of Sriharikota at 2.30 p.m. on July 13.
ISRO sources said the launch is expected to take place from the Second Launch Pad. The GSLV-Mk3 launcher (LVM-3) will place the Chandrayaan-3 integrated module in an Elliptic Parking Orbit (EPO) of size 170 x 36500 km.
The payloads of Chandrayaan-3 had already been taken to the SHAR Range, for mandatory before integrating them with the Launch vehicle.
This will be a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 whose lander-rover configuration and the payloads aboard them after ‘Vikram’ crashed on the lunar surface while attempting a soft landing on the Lunar surface.
Chandrayaan-3 will demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface.
ISRO in its website said “Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 to demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface.”
It consists of Lander and Rover configuration. It will be launched by LVM3 from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota.
The propulsion module will carry the lander and rover configuration till 100 km lunar orbit.
The propulsion module has Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload to study the spectral and Polari metric measurements of Earth from the lunar orbit.
The Lander payloads were Radio Anatomy of Moon Bound Hypersensitive ionosphere and Atmosphere (RAMBHA), Chandra’s Surface Thermo physical Experiment (ChaSTE), Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA),Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA), while Rover paylods are Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS), Laser Induced Breakdown
Spectroscope (LIBS) Propulsion Module–Spectro-polarimetry of HAbitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) ChaSTE will measure the thermal conductivity and temperature; ILSA is for measuring the seismicity around the landing site;
Langmuir Probe (LP) to estimate the plasma density and its variations.
A passive Laser Retroreflector Array from NASA is accommodated for lunar laser ranging studies.Rover payloads Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) and Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) for deriving the elemental composition in the vicinity of landing site.
Chandrayaan-3 consists of an indigenous Lander module (LM),Propulsion module (PM) and a Rover with an objective of
developing and demonstrating new technologies required for Inter planetary missions.
The Lander will have the capability to soft land at a specified lunar site and deploy the Rover which will carry out in-situ chemical analysis of the lunar surface during the course of its mobility.
The Lander and the Rover have scientific payloads to carry out experiments on the lunar surface. The main function of PM is to carry the LM from launch vehicle injection till final lunar 100 km circular polar orbit and separate the LM from PM.
Apart from this, the Propulsion Module also has one scientific payload as a value addition which will be operated post separation of Lander Module.
The mission objectives of Chandrayaan-3 was to demonstrate Safe and Soft Landing on Lunar Surface, demonstrate Rover roving on the moon and To conduct in-situ scientific experiments.
To achieve the mission objectives, several advanced technologies are present in Lander such as, Altimeters, Velocimeters, Inertial Measurement, Propulsion System, Navigation, Guidance & Control (NGC) and Hazard Detection and Avoidance.
As part of demonstrating these advanced technologies in earth condition, several Lander special tests were carried out successfully.
The tests included Integrated Cold Test for the demonstration of Integrated Sensors & Navigation performance test using helicopter as test platform, Integrated Hot test – for the demonstration of closed loop performance test with sensors, actuators and NGC using Tower crane as test platform Lander Leg mechanism performance test on a lunar simulant test bed simulating different touch down conditions.

Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir), June 26,2023: Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) is, was and will remain a part of India and the Pakistan government will achieve nothing by repeatedly claiming PoK, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said in Jammu on Monday.
He emphasized that illegal occupation of the PoK does not make locus standi of Pakistan.
“A unanimous resolution has been passed in the Parliament of India regarding PoK that it is a part of India only. Not one but at least three proposals of this intention have now been passed in the Parliament,” Singh said.
Defence Minister was addressing a “security conclave” organized at Jammu University on internal and external dimensions of the country’s defence mechanism, with a particular focus on J-K.
“A large part of Jammu and Kashmir is under the occupation of Pakistan. People on other side are seeing that people are living their lives peacefully in J-K. People living in POK going through a lot of suffering and they will raise demand to go with India,” Singh said.
Speaking on the abrogation of Article 370 in J-K, he said that BJP abrogated the article and did justice to the people of Jammu and Kashmir who were been unfairly treated for decades.
“Because of Article 370 and 35A, the common people of Jammu and Kashmir were kept away from the mainstream of the country for a long time, it was a hindrance in taking action against any anti-national force,” he said.
He further said that the general public is happy with the decision of abrogation of Article 370. “The trouble is only for those whose shop of hatred and separatism is getting closed,” Singh said.
“We have managed to stop the funding of terrorism, stopped the supply of weapons and drugs and along with the elimination of terrorists, the work of dismantling the network of underground workers working here is also going on,” he added.
He further said that the Joint Statement issued by Prime Minister Modi with US President Joe Biden has made it clear that India has changed the mindset of the whole world including America on the issue of terrorism.
“The countries that use terrorism as a state policy have to understand very well that this game is not going to last long, today most of the big countries of the world are united against terrorism,” he said.
The minister also said that despite “perception differences” with China, there are some agreements and protocols following which the armies of both countries patrol at borders. “Our other neighbour country is China. Even with China, many times there are differences on some issues. It is true that there is a perception difference regarding the border with China for a long time. Despite this, there are some agreements and protocols following which the armies of both countries patrol at borders. These agreements were made in the time of Narasimhrao ji, Atalji and in the time of Dr Manmohan Singh ji on the basis of the consent of both the countries,” he said.
He also said that the dispute in East Ladakh in 2020 arose because Chinese forces ignored the “agreed protocols”.
“The reason for the dispute that arose in East Ladakh in the year 2020 was that the Chinese forces ignored the Agreed Protocols. Chinese Army PLA tried to make some changes on LAC in a unilateral manner which was thwarted by Indian troops,” he added.
Singh further said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government started effective action against terrorism and for the first time not only the country but the world came to know what is the meaning of Zero Tolerance against Terrorism.
“AFSPA has been removed from large parts of North East as we have successfully controlled the problem of insurgency in North East India. I am waiting for the day when there will be Permanent Peace in J-K and there will be a chance to remove AFSPA from here too,” he said.

New Delhi, June 21,2023: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has written to opposition parties for discussion on Centre’s ordinance in the meeting which will be held on June 23 in Patna.
Kejriwal, in the letter, expressed his apprehension, “Just because this has only been promulgated in Delhi, which is often considered a ‘half-state’, it does not mean that it cannot be promulgated in other states. By promulgating such ordinances, the Centre can end up dissolving all the matters that come within the concurrent list of the Constitution of India.”

Kejriwal said, “The Central government has the authority to introduce similar ordinances on any subject within the concurrent list. Therefore, it is crucial for all opposition parties to come together and deliberate on this issue to ensure the protection of states’ autonomy.”

Kolkata, June 17 ,2023: In the wake of violence at Bhangar in South 24 Parganas district over filing of nomination two days back for the coming three-tier Panchayat election in West Bengal, Governor C V Ananda Bose on Saturday summoned State Election Commissioner (SEC) Rajiva Sinha to Raj Bhavan to apprise him of the situation.

Bose, who visited the violence-torn Bhangar Friday, said victory in elections should depend on the count of votes, not the count of dead bodies.

He expressed shock to hear that the death toll in pre-election in Bengal is increasing, and said, ‘ It is revolting that the media is also under attack by the hooligans. Victory in Elections should depend on the count of votes, not the count of dead bodies.

Mumbai, July 2,2023: In a sudden political development in Maharashtra, senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar – the nephew of party chief Sharad Pawar – on Sunday split the legislative party and joined the state’s NDA ministry with eight other MLAs.

Sixty-three-year-old Ajit Pawar has joined the state’s NDA government for the second time since 2019, when he had a short-lived tryst as deputy CM before returning to the NCP fold in two days.

Ajit Pawar, so long the leader of the opposition, took over as the second Deputy Chief Minister (after BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis) on Sunday as he was administered the oath by state Governor Ramesh Bais at Raj Bhavan here in the presence of NCP veteran Praful Patel – a longtime close confidant of Sharad Pawar.

Although Patel did not take oath as state minister, there is speculation that he may be inducted into the union ministry.

A few other NCP MLAs will be included in the Shinde ministry soon, Pawar told media persons after taking his oath, and said he took the decision for the development of the country and “to solve the problems of the people of Maharashtra.” He showered praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Shinde, who himself became the chief minister a year back by engineering a similar split in the ruling Shiv Sena after rebelling against the then chief minister and party chief Uddhav Thackeray, claimed 35 out of NCP’s 54 MLAs were present in the Raj Bhavan along with Pawar. In all, the new deputy chief minister enjoyed the support of more than 40 NCP legislators, he said.

After Pawar, Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Valse-Patil, Hasan Mushrif, Dhananjay Munde, Dharmaraobaba Bhagwantrao Atram, Aditi Tatkare, Sanjay Bansode and Anil Patil also were sworn in as ministers.

Bhujbal is a leading OBC leader in the state.

Profusely praising Ajit Pawar, Shinde said he has always done the politics of development.

The Chief Minister said now his double engine government – BJP and the Shiv Sena (Shinde) – has a triple engine for the development of the state.

Pawar’s joining would give a further boost to the government which was already working for the state’s development under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shinde added.

On the other hand, NCP’s Maharashtra Chief Spokesperson Mahesh Tapase termed the developments a part of BJP’s ‘Operation Lotus’ programme..

In a statement, Tapase said all the leaders, workers, district presidents and frontal organisations are with Sharad Pawar.

Over the past couple of months, political circles in the state were agog with speculation about the possibility of Ajit Pawar jumping ship.

Ajit Pawar was said to be unhappy over being sidelined in the party, with Sharad Pawar elevating Supriya Sule and Praful Patel as working presidents.

Recently, Ajit Pawar also wanted to quit as Leader of the Opposition and sought an organisational responsibility, but the party national executive asked him to wait for two months.