New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday lauded the successful placement of 36 internet satellites of a company belonging to the UK-based OneWeb Group into the intended orbits by the ISRO’s heaviest rocket, LVM3.
“It reinforces India’s leading role as a global commercial launch service provider in the true spirit of Aatmanirbharta,” Modi said in a tweet.
This was the second dedicated mission for NewSpace India Limited, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
A Indian journalist was verbally intimidated and physically assaulted by Khalistan supporters protesting outside the Indian Embassy here, drawing a strong reaction from the Indian mission which said such activities underscore the violent and anti-social tendencies of these separatists.
The US correspondent of the Press Trust of India, Lalit K Jha, was covering the pro-Khalistan protest when he came under attack. But the timely intervention by the US Secret Service and the local police saved him.
“We have seen disturbing visuals of a senior Indian journalist from the Press Trust of India being abused, threatened & assaulted physically while covering the so-called ‘Khalistan protest’ in Washington DC earlier today,” the Indian Embassy here said in a statement.
The Delhi Police have imposed section 144 in and around the area of Rajghat where the Congress on Sunday was to hold a ‘Satyagraha’ against the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from Parliament.
The Delhi Police have made it clear that they have not given any permission to the Congress party to hold any kind of protest and Satyagraha.
The Delhi Police said that the decision has been taken to maintain law and order. The Congress workers wanted to assemble at the Rajghat to show their solidarity with Rahul Gandhi.
Police force have also been deployed to avoid any untoward incident.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and party General Secretaries Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Mukul Wasnik, K.C. Venugopal have arrived at Rajghat, indicating that they will go ahead with the Satyagraha despite police denying permission.
Scores of workers and leaders have already reached the venue.
Party General Secretary K.C. Venugopal tweeted, “After silencing our voice in Parliament, the government has refused to let us hold a peaceful Satyagraha at Bapu’s Samadhi as well. It has become a habit for the Modi government to disallow every opposition protest. This will not deter us, our fight for truth, against tyranny goes on.”
The Daryaganj SHO said that section 144 is imposed in the area.
The Congress is planning a nationwide agitation from Monday, a day after Satyagraha.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that democracy is under attack and that he is “not scared to ask questions about the relationship between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Adani Group”.
He made the remarks while addressing a press conference in Delhi.
“My voice is being suppressed, ” Rahul Gandhi said and claimed that he spoke to the Speaker against the false accusations made by four ministers but was not allowed to speak.
He also alleged that the “relationship between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Gautam Adani is not new”.
“I will not stop asking questions about whose money is the Rs 20, 000 crore that has come out from shell companies, ” he added.
The senior Congress leader further said that he is here to defend the voice of the nation, adding: “I am not scared of prison sentence, disqualification and others, I am not that type of person and they do not understand me. I am not going to back down and will be on the principle.”
Rahul Gandhi was on Friday disqualified as member of Lok Sabha, a day after his conviction in the 2019 ‘Modi surname’ defamation case.
New Delhi: After a Surat court held Rahul Gandhi guilty in a 2019 criminal defamation case over his remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surname, Congress leader Renuka Chowdhury announced that she would file a defamation case against Modi since the latter supposedly linked her laughter to ‘Surupanakha’, a demoness in Hindu mythology in a House proceeding.
Taking to Twitter, Chowdhury on Friday said that Modi insulted her by his remark made in Parliament in 2018. She also posted a video of the House proceedings.
She added: “This classless megalomaniac referred to me as Surupanakha on the floor of the House. I will file a defamation case against him. Let’s see how fast courts will act now.”
In the video, Modi while addressing the Chairman said: “I request you not to say anything to Renuka ji. I am fortunate to hear such laughter today, after the Ramayana serial.”
The Chairman had asked Chowdhury to be silent after her laughter was heard during Modi’s address.
New Delhi : Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from the Lok Sabha as an attempt to silence his voice by the Centre against whom the leader had been asking tough questions and said the party will launch nationwide protests over the issue.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha a day after he was given a two-year jail term by a Surat court on March 23 in a 2019 defamation case involving his remarks on PM Modi.
Rahul Gandhi had mentioned the names of fugitives Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi along with that of PM Modi to wonder “how was it possible that all the thieves had a common surname Modi” in a speech made during the 2019 Lok Sabha poll campaign in Karnataka’s Kolar district.
The defamation case was then filed by former Surat MLA and ex-minister Purnesh Modi taking objection to Rahul Gandhi’s remarks. According to the BJP leader, Rahul had defamed the entire Modh or Modi community through his remarks.
The jail-term gave fodder to the ruling BJP whose president JP Nadda attacked the former Congress chief saying he had insulted the backward classes. Rahul was granted a bail for 30 days and the Congress said it would appeal to get a stay on conviction in the Sessions Court, High Court and even Supreme Court, if needed.
The entire Congress came out in support of Rahul Gandhi, who invoked Mahatma Gandhi to say that his fight for truth would go on. The Congress said Rahul’s conviction was both a legal and a political issue and staged nationwide protests against the targeting of their leader as part of Centre’s vendetta politics.
The disqualification came amidst a confrontation between the ruling BJP and main opposition Congress which paralyzed Parliament.
When the second half of the Budget Session of Parliament opened on March 13, both the treasury and the opposition benches adopted hard postures against each other over various issues.
The opposition accused the ruling party of deliberately disrupting the Parliament to avoid demand of a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the alleged links between PM Modi and businessman Gautam Adani.
The BJP and the Centre in turn accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of defaming Indian democracy abroad and said the Lok Sabha member should first apologize.
The core of the BJP’s attack was that Rahul had said in London that democracy had been damaged in India over the past years and that the Western powers should intervene to save the situation.
The Centre’s attack provoked the Congress to allege that it was PM Modi who had earlier defamed the country abroad and should tender an apology first. To prove its charge, the Congress released a series of old video clips showing the PM saying that earlier Indians were ashamed to be born in the country.
The Congress also claimed that Rahul had said nothing wrong during his recent visit to the United Kingdom and that the Centre was deliberately twisting his remarks to target the former party president, who was asking tough questions from the government.
Concerned over the impasse, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his senior ministers conferred with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. Later, the Finance Bill that gives effect to tax proposals for fiscal year starting April 1 was passed without a discussion amidst ruckus by opposition members demanding a JPC probe into the allegations against the Adani group of companies.
In fact, the Congress-BJP rivalry had started during the first half of the Budget Session when the Congress-led opposition disrupted the two houses for days over the Adani-Hindenburg issue.
The government argued that the Supreme Court had already appointed an expert committee which was looking into the issue and therefore a JPC probe was not needed in the matter.
The opposition argued that the SC panel was only probing the Hindenburg report which had questioned the functioning of the Adani Group and the resultant meltdown at the stock exchange had led to wealth worth billions of rupees belonging to small investors getting wiped. The opposition argued that the private businessman had benefited from his friendship with the PM and the link could only be investigated by a JPC.
New Delhi: Responding to the Gujarat court’s decision on Rahul Gandhi’s conviction in a criminal defamation case, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, “we respect the court, but do not agree with the verdict’.
In a tweet he said, “There is a conspiracy to eliminate non-BJP leaders and parties by prosecuting them. We have differences with the Congress, but it is not right to implicate Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case like this. It is the job of the public and the opposition to ask questions. We respect the court but disagree with the decision”.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said in a tweet, “This is the new India. If you raise your voice against injustice, then ED-CBI, Police, FIR will be imposed on everyone.
“Rahul Gandhi ji is also being punished for speaking the truth, for raising his voice against the dictator. The law of the country gives an opportunity to appeal to Rahul Gandhi, he will exercise this right. We are not afraid, ” he added in the same tweet.
Mahendra Singh of Modi Nagar was planning to get his wheat crops harvest in a day or two but is deeply shattered after the uncertain rainfall in the region. Half of his crops are damaged due to rainfall and hailstorm. Swaran Singh of Punjab has also planned to harvest his crops in a week but the sudden downpour is a big loss for him. This is not the story of only Swaran Singh and Mahendra Singh, farmers across the country are facing the same crisis. Unseasoned rains and hail in parts of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Maharashtra etc over the past three four days has caused damaged to the wheat, gram, pulses and other crops. The farmers across the nation are demanding adequate compensation.
The untimely rains in mid- March has damaged the Rabi crops and would result in low yield. According to a report, the rains have been beneficial for vegetables and mangos but it has damaged litchi crop in Bihar. The wheat yield is likely to impact in North-Western states, could lead to decline this year.
The farmers of Maharashtra are also facing the same issue as their crops of wheat, pulses, bananas, grapes, gram, mangoes are also damaged after this hail storm. The onion crops in Nasik is affected by 5- 10 percent. The farmers of Assam have shifted their produce of fruits and vegetables to the safer places.
The sudden impact of climate change is not only a warning but a concern. According to a report by Crisil Market Intelligence and Analytics, the cumulative rains have been 20 percent more than the normal. Vinod Kumar a farmer in Uttar Pradesh is demanding compensation, most of my crops are damaged, Our variety of wheat commands more than 4000 per quintal, but I don’t think I can get more than 2000 this time, said Kumar.
The high velocity winds and rains have cause damage to crops in Punjab and Haryana also. The Ludhiana, Mohali, Bhatinda and Moga districts are the worst affected. The Punjab government has recently ordered a special “girdawari” for crop loss assessment. Expressing the concern the Chief Minister of Punjab Bhagwant Mann said government is committed to safeguard Farmers interests. The standing wheat crops in districts like Lalitpur, Mathura, Chitrakoot and Bahraich in UP are also affected, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh has directed insurance companies and the concerned department to look into this matter and distribute compensation accordingly. The Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh is also taking measures accordingly.
Western disturbance in Himalyas is moving fast. Hailstorm and heavy winds is a deadly combination for standing crops. Wheat crop is harvested in April every year, but the damage to crops by this sudden rainfall has triggered fear among farmers, most of them are demanding adequate compensation.
The Union Minister for Home Affairs and Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah inaugurates Maa Sharda Devi Temple via video conferencing at Kupwara, in Jammu and Kashmir on March 22, 2023.
The union government will make efforts to open a corridor in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir for Sharda Peeth pilgrimage on the lines of the Kartarpur corridor in Punjab, the announcement was made by Home Minister Amit Shah after he virtually inaugurated the Sharda Devi temple at Teetwal in Kupwara district on Wednesday.
The temple has been built on the banks of the Kishanganga river along the Line of Control.
“Sharda Peeth should be opened for pilgrims on the pattern of Kartarpur corridor,” the home minister said. “The government of India will definitely make efforts in this direction.”
India has indefinitely stopped Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus services and cross LoC trade since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
Should it come through, opening a corridor for pilgrimage in PoK will be the first major step to restore contact between the two countries.
“The reconstruction of Maa Sharda’s temple in Kupwara is a necessary and important step towards the discovery of Sharda civilization and promotion of Sharda script,” Shah said.
Surat: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi arrives at Surat District Court for hearing of a criminal defamation case filed against him over his alleged ‘Modi surname’ remark, in Surat, Thursday, March 23, 2023. The court convicted Gandhi in the case. (PTI Photo)(PTI03_23_2023_000039A)
The Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad Rahul Gandhi was found guilty and sentenced to two years in prison over his remarks about PM Modi surname by a Surat court, Gujarat on Thursday. He has been released on bail and his sentence was suspended for next 30 days to let him appeal the decision.
Gandhi was convicted under Section 500 (dealing with defamation) of the Indian Penal Code by a Gujarat court in the 2019 defamation case. Surat, Gujarat is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state.
The case was filed by BJP MLA and Ex-Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi for saying “How come all thieves have the common surname Modi? Purnesh claimed Gandhi had defamed the Modi community by his remark.
After the verdict Rahul Gandhi tweeted, “My religion is based on truth and non-violence. Truth is my God, non-violence the means to get it.”
While addressing a rally at Kolar in Karnataka ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, targeting PM Modi over his last name Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, “Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi…how come they all have Modi as common surname? How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?”
