Junior Digest

Haridwar (Uttarakhand) , February 19,2021: The preparations are underway for Kumbh Mela 2021 to be held from 1st to 30th April in Haridwar. The Uttarakhand government has decided to limit the Kumbh this year to 30 days.
Officers in charge of the Kumbh Mela said that those who attend the religious congregation should do prior registration at a portal and have a COVID-19 negative report.
Kumbh Mela Officer in Charge Deepak Rawat told ANI, “Our front line workers posted on duty are to be administered with COVID vaccine compulsorily. Visitors should have Coronavirus negative report, issued not earlier than 72 hours,”
“The construction of permanent and temporary amenities is underway. Work at ghats, Astha path and toilet construction has been completed. The work on bridges is going on,” he said.
He also said that crowd control during Mukhya Snan is the biggest challenge that the police is expecting to face.
“Crowd ‘Hold ups’ are in place and markings at Ghats has been done to manage the crowd,” he said.
“There will be sanitisation units at each ghat. More than 2000 will be deployed to sanitise people. Large scale distribution of free masks will be done,” he added.
Sanjay Gunjiyal, Inspector General of Police in charge of Kumbh Mela, said: “Crowd and traffic management will be a big challenge as the Kumbh Mela in Haridwar takes place in a small area.”
“Other than traditional crowd management methods we will also employ the use of Artificial Intelligence for head counting, detection of unattended baggage, traffic rule violations and automatic number plate detection,” he added.
Kumbh Mela is not only a religious pilgrimage, but one of the largest mass gatherings at one place. It is celebrated four times over a course of 12 years and spans four locations namely Prayag, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik. The Maha Kumbh is celebrated in a cycle of 12 years at four river-bank pilgrimage sites across India.

New Delhi , February 8 ,2021: Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad on Monday reiterated the Congress party’s demand to restore statehood status to the Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir.
He put forth this demand while addressing the Rajya Sabha on the issue of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, 2021, which aims to merge the Jammu and Kashmir cadre of Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS), and Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officers with that of the Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram, and Union Territory (AGMUT).
He claimed that the UT status is doing more harm to Jammu and Kashmir than good.

Azad further said the habitable land is almost limited in Jammu and Kashmir as most of the areas are in the form of forests and mountains.
“Most areas in Jammu and Kashmir are forests and mountains. The habitable land is almost limited over there. When Jammu and Kashmir was made a UT, some Members of Parliament said that they will buy land over there. I replied by saying that I have myself not been able to do so. I asked them if they know the cost of land in Jammu and Srinagar. Price of land in these cities is Rs 40-50 crore per acre,” said Azad while addressing Rajya Sabha.
He also raised the issue of unemployment saying that it rose phenomenally in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. “There was a curfew and the state remained closed for a long time. After that COVID came and the tourism in the valley reduced to almost zero. Developmental works were stopped. Schools and colleges closed, due to which teachers were unable to get salaries even. People got unemployed,” he added.
Azad added that no new industries came in the UT and 60 per cent of already existing industries got shut down due to uncertainties.
Azad made these statements on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir post-abrogation of the Article 370 decision taken by the Union Government on August 5, 2019. This revoked the special status given to it. The Centre also declared Jammu and Kashmir as a Union Territory with the legislature.

Mumbai , February 18,2021: Larsen & Toubro will construct two more units of Kudankulam nuclear power plant which is India’s first light water reactor of six units with a generation capacity of 1,000 megawatts electric (MWe).
L&T is already executing similar works of Kudankulam three and four units. Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) has now asked the construction arm of L&T to build five and six units (2 x 1,000 MWe).

The scope of work includes the construction of reactor building, reactor auxiliary building, turbine building, diesel generator building and other safety-related structures in 64 months.
The value of new order is in the range of Rs 1,000 crore to 2,500 crore, said L&T in a statement on Thursday without specifying the exact amount. Kudankulam is India’s largest nuclear power station located in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu.
L&T is an Indian multinational engaged in engineering, procurement and construction projects, hi-tech manufacturing and services with over 21 billion dollars in revenue. It operates in over 30 countries worldwide.

New Delhi, Feb 11,2021: Indian Space Research Organization ISRO is designing space education and space technology as an extracurricular activity for schools.

This is to utilise the Atal Tinkering Labs,which will have the endorsement of the Ministry of Education.

Minister of State Jitendra Singh told the Rajya Sabha that ISRO has adopted Atal Tinkering Labs across the country in the field of space education and technology.

In a written reply to the House, he said the whole programme is divided into two phases.

In the first phase the programme has been adopted in 45 schools across the country and in the second phase it would adopt the rest 55.

Atal Tinkering Lab refers to space where school children can experiment with, learn, develop and conceptualise different scientific ideas. It facilitates projects similar to DIY (do it yourself) projects.

Panaji, Feb 11,2021: Professor Sunil Kumar Singh, Director, National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), has said that blue economy programme of the Centre has both economic as well as scientific advantages.

Speaking exclusively to UNI, he said the programme would be of benefit to various sectors which include power, agriculture, meteorology and fisheries, among others.

‘We have done a lot of work on polymetallic nodules. NIO started work on polymetallic nodules in the central Indian Ocean 40 years back. India was the first pioneering country to make investment in this area. This area belongs to the International Seabed Authority. So if you want to work you have to take permission from the International Seabed Authority. After getting permission we surveyed 1,54,000 sqkm in the area and out of that 75,000 sq km was relinquished for future use. In that we have found 100 million tonnes of iron and manganese deposits. We are now ready to exploit that. Lot of exploration has been done. Actually on January 26 this year we completed 40 years of survey. Now this programme has been taken over by the Ministry of Earth Sciences. Even this area has cobalt which is not available on land in our country. If we are able to extract cobalt, it would be a big achievement. This is one part of the blue economy programme,’ he said.

‘We are at an advanced stage. Now technology is being developed at National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai, which will be activated after some time. There is a rule that you have to show that the environment is not getting impacted. NIO is continuously doing the Environment Impact Assessment,’ he said.

Professor Singh said a lot of study was being done to get more information about precious metals available under the sea.

‘There is a mountain kind of structure within the ocean and there are precious metals like gold, platinum etc. We are trying to study that also. One aspect is how the movement is taking place, how the crust is forming, what is the time frame, another is economic issue. These are sources of very important mineral like rare earth minerals. There also a lot of study is taking place and that is also part of the blue economy,’ he said.

The NIO Director said the plan was being afoot to have a floating like structure which could help generate wind, solar and hydro electricity facilitating reduction in emission of carbon into the environment.

‘We are using coal for energy and for that we are creating pollution. But slowly we are moving towards non-conventional energy. Here again the ocean will serve as a huge resource. We are making a big floating structure in the sea where we are putting a hybrid energy system. That will include a solar panel, wind turbine, hydro electric turbine which will be run by waves and tides. We are planning to have a huge floating structure so that we could generate power from solar, wind and tide and wave. This is also at a very advanced stage,’ he said.

Professor Singh said the blue economy programme would not only benefit the fisheries sector but also help in more accurate prediction of monsoon and thereby helping agriculture.

‘If we talk about living resources from the sea , then fisheries comes into mind. So we are trying to understand the distribution of fisheries, particular type of fisheries, why they are available in a particular area. We are also trying to predict where fisheries will be more and where less. We mostly know about fishes available on surface water. But we want to go a bit deeper as huge resources are there. But the problem is cold. So we have to have a processing unit on board so that fish could be processed as soon as they are out of water,’ he said.

The NIO Director said,’The whole Indian economy is based on monsoon which is controlled by the sea condition. That too we are trying to study how sea is impacting monsoon. If you are able to predict monsoon in advance, agriculture can be planned accordingly. So lot of study is being done to find connections between sea and monsoon. Interestingly, the South East monsoon is not dependent on Indian ocean but they are very much dependent on pacific conditions. If Pacific conditions are changing it will impact Indian monsoon. Similarly, recent study has shown there is a connection between Atlantic sea and Indian monsoon. So whole ocean is impacting our monsoon. You cannot study monsoon in isolation unless you study the ocean. It has been found that whenever the Pacific is heating, you will have drought in India and whenever Atlantic is cooling we have drought in India.’

Ahmedabad (Gujarat) , February 17,2021: Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) has completed the acquisition of 100 per cent stake of Dighi Port Ltd (DPL) for Rs 705 crore.
DPL, the 12th port to join APSEZ’s string of economic gateways across the eastern and western coast of India will establish the company’s footprint in Maharashtra, the largest contributor to India’s GDP.
“This will enable APSEZ to service customers in Maharashtra which includes the highly industrial areas and development in the Mumbai and Pune regions,” the company said in a statement.
APSEZ also said it plans to invest over Rs 10,000 crore to develop the port into a multi-cargo hub with world-class infrastructure as well as investing in the development of rail and road evacuation infrastructure for seamless and efficient cargo movement.
The company will strengthen and repair existing infrastructure and invest in the development of facilities for dry, container, and liquid cargo.

“DPL will evolve as an alternative gateway to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), and will invite and support the development of port-based industries on port land,” it said.
The development of DPL will lead to further investments across various industries such as consumer appliances, metals, energy, petrochemicals, and chemicals business in Maharashtra and provide a tremendous fillip to the industrial development and growth in Maharashtra.
These investments will contribute to employment generation and socio-economic development of the port’s hinterland.
As per the terms and requirements of the resolution plan, the transfer of concession rights has been approved by the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) and APSEZ has settled the dues of financial creditors MMB and other admitted costs and claims.
“The successful acquisition of DPL adds another milestone in the Adani Port’s target of creating a string of ports to increase service coverage to the entire economic hinterland of India,” said Karan Adani, CEO and Whole-time Director of APSEZ.
“With our growth focus, experience and expertise in turning around acquisitions and we are confident of making DPL value accretive for all our stakeholders. Our investment and capacity augmentation plan will be aligned with policies of the government of Maharashtra for development of ports, associated infrastructure, industrial and socio-economic development in the state.”

Feb 09, 2021:Massive search and rescue operation is underway to save trapped workers from the Tapovan tunnel in Chamoli district of Uttrakhand.

The state government has officially confirmed that 197 workers remain missing in the flash flood since Sunday. The rescue team has so far recovered 26 bodies and was successful in evacuating 12 persons trapped in a tunnel.

A major rescue operation is underway involving the ITBP, Army, SSB, State Disaster Response Force and National Disaster Response Force – are working round the clock to find trapped workers.

Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has arrived in Chamoli to assess the rescue operation. He held the meeting with a senior officer last night there.

A flash flood in river Rishiganga created havoc near Reni village in district Chamoli. The Rishiganga and Tapovan power projects were badly affected by the disaster.

Providing a new theory on the flash flood, the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (a constituent unit of Indian Space Research Organisation) claims that the flash flood took place after a landslide triggered a snow avalanche. The institute rejects the earlier theory of the disaster taking place due to glacier burst.

Union Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister RK Singh has said that officials of the NTPC, THDC, and SJVNL will study about the disaster on images provided by the ISRO. After returning from the disaster-hit areas, Mr Singh said that financial assistance is being provided to the dependents of the deceased by the State Government as well as Centre.

New Delhi, Feb 9,2021: Punjabi actor-turned activist Deep Sidhu, an accused in the Republic-Day violence, was arrested on Tuesday morning by Delhi police here.

Sidhu was accused of instigating the farmers during the tractor rally held against the three contentious farm laws.

The tractor parade had taken a violent turn after the protestors deviated from the designated route, forced the way to the Red Fort and planted a Sikh religious flag on its ramparts.

Police was on a look-out for Sidhu after he went missing following the incident.

The opposition had been alleging that the 36-year-old actor is associated with the BJP and receiving its patronage after several pictures of him with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others surfaced on social media.

Sindhu was the IT cell in charge of actor-turned BJP MP Sunny Deol during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections .

New Delhi, Feb 12,2021: Making a statement on the ground situation in Eastern Ladakh in the Lok Sabha, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday assured the House that the country has not lost anything in the talks and some issues related to the deployment and patrolling in some areas on the Line of Actual Control were still pending and will be given special attention in further talks.

‘I want to assure this House that in these talks, we have not conceded anything. The House should also know that there are still some outstanding issues with regard to deployment and patrolling at some other points along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh,’ the Defence Minister said.

Mr Singh further said that these points will be the focus of further discussions with the Chinese side.

The Defence Minister informed the House that a major breakthrough has been achieved between India and China in eastern Ladakh with both the sides initiating disengagement

of troops from the southern and northern sides of Lake Pangong on a mutual agreement basis.

He said, ‘We have agreed that both sides should achieve complete disengagement at the earliest and abide fully by the bilateral agreements and protocols. By now, the Chinese side is also fully aware of our resolve.

‘India has strongly put across the message to China that it would not allow anyone to take even an inch of its land and that our defence forces have been firmly protecting the sovereignty, unity and integrity of the country along the Line of Actual Control (LAC),’ he added.

Elaborating on details of the agreement, he said, ‘I am happy to tell the House that as a result of our stand and continuous dialogue with China on the withdrawal of troops from the north and south sides of Lake Pangong, an agreement has been arrived.

‘According to this agreement, both the sides will remove the troops deployed on the advance fronts in a phased, coordinated and calibrated manner,’ he added.

The Defence Minister said that the next round of talks between the military commanders of the two nations will take place on Friday.

New Delhi, Feb 9,2021: The outgoing Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Congress stalwart Ghulam Nabi Azad on Tuesday said that he counts himself among those fortunate ones who did not go to Pakistan and felt proud of being a Hindustani Muslim.

Recollecting his memories, he said during his college days in Jammu and Kashmir, both August 14 and August 15 used to be celebrated. The majority used to celebrate August 14 but they always celebrated the Independence day on August 15. “When I read about the conditions in Pakistan, I feel proud that we are Hindustani Muslims. We are seeing that Muslim countries are fighting amongst each other, there are no Hindus there or Christians”, he said. He also said that he used get 100 per cent of Kashmiri Pandit votes while contesting University elections.

“I got a chance to be here in the Parliament because of late Indira Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi and Indiraji used to say, ‘be in touch with Atalji’, not with BJP, he said.

Sharing his experience as Parliamentary Affairs Minister, he said that when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Leader of Opposition, he was the Parliamentary Affairs Minister and his party did not have a majority. But those were the easiest five years for running the House. “I learned from Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji how to be an efficient leader of opposition”, Mr Azad said.

Recounting the period of cyclone in Odisha in 1999, he said that he cried when he saw the bodies scattered all over after the storm and informed Prime Minister Vajpayee and Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

His voice choked up while speaking about the terrorist attack on Gujarati tourists in Jammu and Kashmir during his tenure as the Chief Minister. “I did not know what to tell the children of those tourists killed by militants in Kashmir. My wish is to see an end to terrorism in this country.” he said wiping his tears and hoped that the situation of Kashmir will improve soon.

Thanking Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the outgoing leader said, “You never felt that it was a personal attack on you when I performed my role as Leader of Opposition and gave long speeches”. I will be always thankful for your affection and guidance.

Addressing the PM, he said, ‘During your speeches in the House, I had interrupted in between and commented while performing the role of LoP but you never took it otherwise or personally .You have always differentiated between the personal relation and the party’s responsibility’.

He also expressed his gratitude to all Members who spoke about him and his role as the LoP and specially mentioned about the Deputy Chairman Harivansh with whom he use to share his seat in the first row of the opposition benches. He also thanked the Upper House Secretary General and the Secretariat office.

“Two people would necessarily wish me for Eid, Diwali or birthday- the Congress president and the PM,” Mr Azad recalled and signed off with a couplet “Nahi Yaad Aayegi To Barson Nahi Aayegi, Lekin Jab Yaad Aaoge To Bahut Aaoge.”( You may not be remembered for years but when remembered, You will be remembered a lot).

One of the retiring members Nazir Ahmed Laway of PDP said, “This House needs to do something for Jammu and Kashmir. We have lost a lot…We had only one sector, tourism, which has been destroyed. There will be no representation of Jammu and Kashmir after we leave, therefore, it was responsibility of all of you to raise the issues of the Jammu and Kashmir”.

The other retiring lawmaker Mir Mohammad Fayaz said that he started his career with municipal committee elections. “I never thought I would be in the Rajya Sabha.”

“We work for this country. We have taken the flag of the country to villages. It hurts us when we are called anti-national by the media and others,” Mr. Fayaz said.

He also appealed to the Home Minister to restored the statehood and the special status of the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir.

The BJP Member Shamsher Singh Manhas, who was also retiring from the Rajya Sabha, said that the situation was very serious in Jammu and Kashmir and Jammu and Ladakh used to be ignored.

“I come from Kashmir, the mukat mani (crown jewel) of the country, and have worked for this ‘mukut mani’ and will work for it in the future too,” he said.

New Delhi, Feb 8 ,2021: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday reiterated that Minimum Support Price (MSP) for certain farm produce was there (in past), is there (now) and it will remain in the future.

Assuring the farmers of the country while replying the debate on ‘Motion of Thanks’ on President’s address in the Rajya Sabha, Mr Modi said that Mandis will be modernised and affordable ration for the poor will continue.

Appreciated the speech of the former Prime Minister HD Devegowda on the discussions on the farmer’s issue, he further said, “His words have added great perspective to the debate. He himself has a strong association with the agriculture sector”.

The Prime Minister also said that the Agriculture Minister has been talking to farmers and` there has been no tensions yet. “Protesting is your right but want to request that old farmers are sitting, ask them to go home. I want to extend the invitation through this house”, he added.

Recalling the previous efforts made by the successive Governments he said that there was a huge cry in the country to recall the Green revolution in the past and at that time nobody was ready to become Agriculture Minister during former PM Shastriji’s time. Even Planning commission also opposed the agriculture reforms then he added.

“But Shastriji moved forward. Left said the same thing then that it is being done on the instructions from America. Congress leaders were then called ‘American agents”, PM said, adding that Thousand protests were organised but Lal Bahadur Shastri moved forwards and today we have surplus production.

Quoting the observations made by the former Prime Minister and farmers’ leader late Chaudhary Charan Singh on small farmers, Mr Modi said that today 68 per cent of farmers have been small and marginal farmers and over 12 crore of farmers have less than two hectares of land.

” Don’t We have a responsibility towards 12 crore farmers? This question of Chaudhary Charan Singh still exists, should not we find a solution? Laon waivers do not benefits small farmers as they do not approach banks for loan”,he said, adding that such farmers do not even a bank account.

Reminding the Members of the House, he said “We should not lose this time, should progress, do not take the country backwards. We should give these re-firms and opportunity and see if this benefits you. If there is a lacuna, we will fix it”, Mr Modi said.

Assuring the opposition parties and agitating farmers as well indirectly, he further said “We accept good suggestions. I want to invite you to take the country forward by explaining the good features to the farmers who ware agitating”.

PM Modi also said that since 2014 the NDA Government has initiated changes in the agriculture sector aimed at empowering the farmer. The crop insurance scheme was changed to make it more farmer friendly. The PM-KISAN scheme was also brought in and the Government has been working for the small farmers too.

“NDA’s other schemes also help farmers. For example- the PMGSY. When the road connectivity improves, it enables the produce of the farmers to reach distant places. There are efforts like Kisan Rail too,” he said in Rajya Sabha.

Modi further said India is very proud of the contribution of Sikhs. This is a community that has done so much for the nation. The words and blessings of the Guru Sahibs are precious.

New Delhi , February 18,2021: Energy major GAIL India will open its buyback on February 25 for up to 6.97 crore fully paid-up equity shares of face value Rs 10 each.
This represents 1.55 per cent of the total number of equity shares in issued, subscribed and paid-up equity share capital of the company.
The company will buy back shares from all existing shareholders and beneficial owners as on record date — which is January 28 — on a proportionate basis.

GAIL said this will be done through the tender offer process at a price of Rs 150 per equity share for an aggregate consideration not exceeding Rs 1,046.35 crore.
The share buyback will close on March 10. The funds for the buyback will be met out of internally-generated cash resources, GAIL added.
GAIL is India’s leading natural gas company with diversified interests across the natural gas value chain of trading, transmission, LPG production and transmission, LNG re-gasification, petrochemicals, and city gas.
It owns and operates a network of around 12,500 km of high-pressure trunk pipelines.

Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh) , February 18,2021: Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait on Thursday said that ‘rail roko’, the blockade of trains as part of protests against farm laws, will be done in a peaceful manner and food and refreshments provided to people stranded due to the protest. He also stated that he will not join politics as he considers it “a big disease”.
“Rail roko protest will begin at 12 pm and go on till 3-4 pm. Trains are not plying anyway. It’ll be done peacefully. We’ll provide water, milk, lassi and fruits to people who are stranded. We will inform them about our issues,” he said.
“Today we have two rallies in Hisar and I am going there. I am going to a rally in Mumbai tomorrow. We will hold rallies all over the country. Farmers are suffering everywhere. The only way to get rid of the problems is to give legal backing to MSP,” he said.
He also condemned the violence that happened at Red fort on January 26 and said that Bharatiya Kisan Union has no connection with those responsible.
Speaking about his upcoming visit to West Bengal and the extension of the agitation to West Bengal, he said: “We will talk to farmers there. Their crops are not being sold at MSP. We have got nothing to do with elections.”
He dismissed any possibility of him entering the political arena.
“Politics is a big disease, I will stay away from it,” he said.
In view of the protest, Railways has deployed 20 additional companies of the Railway Protection Special Force across the country with a focus on Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
Farmers have been protesting at the different borders of the national capital since November last year, against the three newly enacted farm laws – Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

Guwahati, Feb 14,2021: Stating that Congress won’t allow Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) to be implemented in Assam, Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi said that the issue of illegal immigration could be solved through dialogue.

“Illegal immigration is an issue, but people of Assam has that capacity to solve the problem themselves through dialogue,” said Mr Gandhi who sounded Congress poll bugle in Assam from Sivsagar district today.

Sporting `No CAA’ slogan on Assamese Gamocha, Mr Gandhi said “ If Assam loses something, it will be loss for the nation. At any cost we won’t allow CAA to be implemented here.”

The Congress MP said that there is no force in the world who can break Assam.

“ `Hum do, Hamare Do’ is running Assam. Anyone who will try to touch Assam accord and spread hatred will not be spared by Congress party and people of Assam,” Mr Gandhi said.

Mr Rahul alleged that Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal is being remote controlled from Delhi and Nagpur.

He said that Congress is party of small businessman and workers.

“When we will come to power we will end the hatred and will take care of all communities,” he said.

New Delhi,Feb 17,2021:The Central government on Wednesday has submitted before the Supreme Court that the Char Dham Road Project had nothing to do with the recent disaster in the Rishi Ganga Valley in Uttarakhand.

The bench comprising Justices R.F. Nariman, Hemant gupta and B.R. Gavai was hearing a plea by the NGO Citizens for Green Doon which had raised environmental concerns regarding the Chardham highway project.

The bench had earlier constituted a high-powered committee to monitor the project and to consider the applications including that of the Ministry of Defence seeking widening of roads up to 7 metres in the Indo-China border area. The committee has attributed the glacial burst, which triggered a flood on the Rishiganga river in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli to the said project.

The Court has adjourned the matter for 2 weeks and directed the Ministry of Defence to file its response within the said period.

The Chardham highway project which stretches for about 900km aims to provide all-weather connectivity to four holy towns — Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath in Uttarakhand.

On February 7, 2021, flash floods in Uttarakhand destroyed more than 10 villages. The cause of the flash floods is said to be due to the bursting of a glacial lake which was apparently triggered by a landslide.

Thakurnagar, Feb 12,2021: Union Home Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)leader Amit Shah on Thursday reiterated that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will be implemented as soon as the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive ends.

“As soon as vaccination drive will conclude and we become Corona-free, the work of providing citizenship will be undertaken,” he said.

Addressing a rally here, which is a stronghold of Matua community, Mr Shah said, “CAA is Parliament’s law, how can you stop it? Also, you will not be in a position to stop it.”

He said, after the country was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, its implementation had to be kept in abeyance.

“In 2018, we promised to ensure justice to my Matua brothers and sisters that we will bring citizenship act. We fulfilled our promise in 2019 after Matua’s brothers and sisters fully supported us. Today, I would like to assure you that we will implement CAA once the COVID-19 vaccination process gets over,” he said.

“Mamata didi said we made a false promise. She started opposing the CAA and saying she will never allow it. The BJP always fulfils the promises it makes. We have brought this law and refugees will get citizenship.

Mr Shah said, “Mamata di is saying that she will not allow us to implement CAA. But I would like to ask her how she can stop an act from being implemented which was passed in the parliament. Also, in April she will not be on CM’s chair and we will ensure this as we are certainly going to win the upcoming State polls.”

New Delhi , February 9,2021: As many 9,110 COVID-19 cases and 14,016 discharges were reported in India in the last 24 hours, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed on Tuesday.
With this, the total number of cases in the country has reached 1,08,47,304, including 1,43,625 active cases and 1,05,48,521 discharges.
The death toll has mounted to 1,55,158 with the loss of 78 lives due to the virus in the past 24 hours.
Around 62,59,008 coronavirus vaccinations have been administered in the country so far.
A total of 20,25,87,752 samples have been tested for COVID-19 so far. Of these, 6,87,138 were tested on Monday, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) informed.
India has been recording less than 150 daily COVID-19 deaths for the last 10 days, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has said on Monday.

The effective strategy of containment, including prompt tracing and tracking, aggressive and widespread testing, combined with standardised clinical management protocols, has ensured the low mortality levels, in addition to consistent low daily positive cases, the Ministry added.