Washington [US], March 16,2021: In a strong condemnation of the Myanmar military’s brutal crackdown on demonstrators since the February 1 coup, the US Department of State on Monday said that the junta has responded to calls for the restoration of democracy in the country with bullets.
Speaking at a Department press briefing, Deputy Spokesperson Jalina Porter said: “…Burmese security forces brutally attacked their own people, killing dozens throughout the country. The military junta’s violence against the people of Burma is immoral and indefensible.”
“The junta has responded to calls for the restoration of democracy in Burma with bullets,” she added.
Porter stressed that the military’s hostile takeover does not represent the will of the people and said that the US continues to call on all countries to take concrete actions to oppose the coup and its escalating violence.
“…We are deeply concerned and saddened by the reports and strongly condemn the use of violence in Burma security forces against their people,” she later said.
Earlier, Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, informed that at least 138 peaceful protesters, including women and children, have been killed in Myanmar since the coup.
“This includes 38 people who were killed yesterday, the majority in the Hlaing Thayer area of Yangon, while 18 people were killed on Saturday,” he said.
Despite increasing international pressure to restore the democratically-elected government, the Myanmar junta has ignored the condemnation and has continued to violently suppress the protests against its unlawful takeover of the country. Several ousted lawmakers have even designated the military as a terrorist organisation.
New Delhi, Mar 15,2021: Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday said in Rajya Sabha that the probe into the Chamoli disaster in Uttarakhand has not been concluded yet, but it appeared to occur due to a glacial burst which brought a huge amount of water and debris along with it.
Replying to a question during the ‘Question Hour’, Mr Javadekar said that whether it happened due to the construction of a power plant in the upper reaches is yet to be confirmed and six institutes have been studying the impact of climate change on glaciers.
“Retreating of glaciers happen. This is a kind of natural phenomenon and is also aggravated by climate change. No new project has been sanctioned in the upper-Ganga region,” Mr Javadekar said.
Responding to the deputy leader of Opposition Anand Shrma on the use of dynamites by the companies which result in huge loss of tree cover not only in Uttarakhand, the Environment Minister said that it true that Himalayas are still a young mountain range but “Whether dynamite is to be used or not is a highly technical issue. A high-level team is looking into it. We ensure that forest tree cover is not cut beyond what is permissible. They have to plant 10-fold trees in the given landscape,” he added.
“Climate change is not an area-specific problem. It is a problem of the entire globe. The funds promised in 2009 were Rs 100 billion dollars per year for developing countries. It is more than 1 trillion dollars now. Funds are not coming in the way they should. Financial and technological support is basic to mitigating the impact of climate change,” Mr Javadekar informed the House.
Denying the comment of Shiv Sena Member Priyanka Chaturvedi that the government was in denial mode on climate change, Mr Javadekar said, “I never said that unseasonal rain and climate change are not linked. I said that not every change can be linked to climate change. I had a meeting with the corporates. They are also working hard to fight climate change by planting more and more trees”.
Responding to the question of the former Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh if the capacity or supply target of solar energy has been achieved, he said that the nation will have 40 percent of our energy capacity met by 2030 through solar energy.
Mumbai , March 4,2021: Maharashtra Minister Ashok Chavan on Wednesday said that the central government’s role will be very important on the issue of Maratha reservation.
“During a question on Maratha reservation, we have replied and have discussed that the central government’s role will be very important. As the hearing in the Supreme Court begins and the central government has also been made a party in this case, this case must be kept in front of a larger bench. This is a time for the central government also to get involved in it for Maratha reservation,” said Chavan.
“There are many states in which the reservation has to exceed fifty per cent too,” he added.
Last year on December 22, Chavan had chaired a meeting of the state cabinet’s sub-committee on Maratha reservation and discussed the strategy of the state government to be adopted in the final hearing of the matter before the Supreme Court which started from January 25.
The top court later posted for March 8 the final hearing of petitions challenging the Bombay High Court verdict upholding reservations to Marathas in jobs and education under Maharashtra Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act, 2018.
A five-judge constitution bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan said the matter will now be listed on March 8 for final hearing and it proposed to complete the hearing by March 18.
The top court in 2019 had restrained the Maharashtra government by an interim order to implement the quota law.
The Bombay High Court had on June 27, 2019, observed that the 50 per cent cap on total reservations imposed by the Supreme Court could be exceeded in exceptional circumstances.
An appeal filed in the top court by advocate Sanjeet Shukla, a representative of Youth for Equality, said the SEBC Act, 2018, enacted to grant reservation to the Maratha community people in jobs and education, breached the 50 per cent ceiling on reservation fixed by the apex court in its judgment in the Indira Sawhney case.
Brasilia, Feb 28,2021: Brazil registered 1,386 deaths from the Novel Coronavirus in the last 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 254,221, the Ministry of Health reported.
A total of 61,602 new cases were reported, bringing the national tally to 10,517,232, according to the ministry.
Brazil has the second largest number of deaths from the coronavirus, following the United States, and the third largest number of cases, after the United States and India.
As of Friday, 6.4 million Brazilians have received at least one dose of vaccine against Covid-19, while 1.8 million people have received both doses.
New Delhi, Feb 28,2021: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday called for making India the next global hub for manufacturing and sourcing of toys by attracting investments in the sector and promoting exports.
Mr Modi made the statement while virtually inaugurating the four-day India Toy Fair 2021 here.
Addressing more than 1,000 exhibitors, the Prime Minister called for bringing out the hidden potential of the toy industry in India and to create an identity for it as a big part of the campaign for AtmaNirbhar Bharat.
‘This first toy fair is not just a business or economic event. This program is a link to strengthen the country’s age-old culture of sports and cheer,’ he said, adding that the event is a platform where one can discuss all the aspects of the industry and exchange ideas.
Research on toys has been going since the era of Indus Valley civilization, Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, he said.
Mr Modi appealed to the country’s toy manufacturers to make toys that are better for both ecology and psychology! He asked them to make toys using things that can be recycled and less plastic.
Realising the importance of toys in the overall development of children, he said the Government has taken effective steps and brought changes through the New National Education Policy.
‘We can take the world back towards eco-friendly toys, through our software engineers computer games can bring the stories of India to the world’, he said. But despite all this, today India’s share in the $ 100 billion global toy market is very small. 85 per cent of the toys in the country are sourced from abroad, ‘ he stated. He stressed the need to change this situation.
Efforts are being made to strengthen the possibilities of toy tourism, the PM said. Toyathon-2021 was also organised to promote Indian sports based toys and more than 7000 ideas were brainstormed.
Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Nitin Gadkari and Union Minister of Textiles Smriti Irani also participated in the event.