Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday along with senior party leaders began the second day of the party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra from Agasteeswaram town of Kanniyakumari district in Tamil Nadu to combat the divisive politics of the BJP-led Centre, to awaken the people of the country to dangers of economic inequalities, social polarisation and political centralisation.

Senior leaders including party MPs KC Venugopal, P Chidambaram, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and others participated in ‘Padyatra’ along with Rahul Gandhi. Jairam Ramesh, Congress General Secretary in-charge Communications said that it is a Bharat Jodo Yatra to combat the divisive politics of BJP, to awaken the country to dangers faced by India because of economic inequalities, because of social polarisation and because of political centralisation.

“This is also a Yatra that will strengthen the party organisation, mobilise party workers and the entire party is ensuring that the Bharat Jodo Yatra is a resounding and outstanding success,” said Jairam Ramesh.

He further said, “We are focussed like Arjun was focussed on the fish when he went for Draupadi’s swayamvar. We have only one vision right now – to ensure the successful completion of Bharat Jodo Yatra.”

The Congress leader further said that they don’t want to waste his time countering the arguments from the other side.

“There will always be professional critics, arm-chair critics, people who will raise questions in India for everything you do,” he added.

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said that the tricolour belongs to every religion, state and language, but it is under attack today by the BJP and the RSS that are dividing India on lines of religion and language.

Speaking at the launch of the Bharat Jodo Yatra at a rally on Wednesday, he said every single institution of the country is under attack as he sought the support of the people to help keep the country united.

A 3,500-km march from Kanyakumari to Kashmir will be undertaken by Rahul Gandhi which will be completed in 150 days and cover as many as 12 states.

After reaching Kerala on September 11, the Yatra will traverse through the state for the next 18 days, reaching Karnataka on September 30. It will be in Karnataka for 21 days before moving north.

Earlier on Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi slammed the Bhartiya Janata Party and said that the opposition was not scared of the BJP.

His remarks came while addressing the rally on its inaugural day in the evening hours.

“They (BJP) think they can frighten the opposition using CBI, ED and IT. The problem is they don’t understand Indian people. Indian people don’t get scared. Not a single opposition leader is going to be scared of the BJP,” said Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.

He further highlighted the importance of the Indian tricolour and called out the BJP for allegedly treating it as their personal property.

“It gives me great joy to begin BharatJodoYatra from this beautiful place. The national flag represents the religion and language of every single person living in this country. They (BJP and RSS) think that this flag is their personal property,” he added.

In what is being seen as a Congress’ “masterstroke” to take on the Narendra Modi government in the upcoming 2024 elections, Congress launched the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ on Wednesday in which Rahul Gandhi started the 3,570 km journey lasting about 150 days from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.

As the party begins the nationwide yatra, some pertinent questions arise about the lodging and fooding of Rahul Gandhi. However, the party has made it clear that he will not stay in any hotel but rather will complete the entire journey in a simple manner.

Rahul Gandhi will stay in the container for the next 150 days. Sleeping beds, toilets and AC are also installed in some of the containers. During the journey, the temperature and environment will differ in many areas. The arrangements have been made keeping in view the intense heat and humidity with the change of places.

“About 60 such containers have been prepared and sent to Kanyakumari where a village has been set up in which all these containers have been placed. The container will be parked in a new place every day in the shape of a village for night rest. Full-time Yatris who stay with Rahul Gandhi will eat together and stay close,” said the sources.

The sources further said that Rahul Gandhi considers the Bharat Jodo Yatra journey as a way to connect with the common people.

The 148-day march will culminate in Kashmir. The five-month Yatra is scheduled to cover a distance of 3,500 kilometres and more than 12 states. The Padyatra (march) will cover a distance of 25 km every day.

The Yatra will include Padayatras, rallies, and public meetings which will be attended by the senior Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

The Congress suffered a debacle in the assembly polls held earlier this year and the Yatra is seen as an attempt to rally the party rank and file for the upcoming electoral battles.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unveil a grand statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose near India Gate in the national capital on Thursday.

The jet black granite statue, with a height of 28 ft. will be placed under the Canopy near India Gate. The statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, which will be unveiled by the Prime Minister, will be installed in the same place where a hologram statue of Netaji was unveiled earlier this year on Parakram Diwas (January 23) by him to mark the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji.

According to an official statement, the grand statue of Netaji being unveiled has been carved from a monolithic block of granite weighing 280 MT. After 26,000 man-hours of intense artistic endeavour, the granite monolith was chiselled to produce a statue weighing 65 MT. The statue is completely hand sculpted using traditional techniques and modern tools. The team of sculptors for executing the statue was led by Arun Yogiraj.

“The 28 feet tall towering statue of Netaji is one of the tallest, realistic, monolithic, handmade sculptures in India. The PM had on 21st January 2022 assured that a grand statue of Netaji made of granite will be installed at India Gate as a symbol of the nation’s indebtedness to him,” said the statement.

A 100 feet long truck with 140 wheels was specially designed for this monolithic granite stone to travel the 1,665 km from Khammam in Telangana to New Delhi.

The Prime Minister’s arrival at the canopy for the unveiling of the statue of Netaji will be heralded with traditional Manipuri Shankh Vadayam and Kerala’s traditional Panch Vadayam and Chanda. The unveiling of the statue of Netaji would be accompanied by the tune of Kadam Kadam Badhaye jaa, the traditional INA song, informed the statement.

“To demonstrate the spirit of Ek Bharat – Shrestra Bharat and Unity in Diversity a cultural festival by 500 dancers drawn from all parts of the country, would be showcased on the Kartvya Path. A glimpse of the same would be shown to the Prime Minster on the step Amphitheatre near India Gate by around 30 artists who will perform tribal folk art forms such as Sambalpuri, Panthi, Kalbelia, Kargam and dummy horse with live music by Nashik Dhol Pathik Tasha and Drums. Mangalgaan penned by Padma Bhushan Pt. Shrikrishna Ratanjankarji on the auspicious occasion of the 1st Independence Day of India in 1947 is being presented by Pt. SuhasVashi along with a team of singers and musicians. Ashish Keskar will be the music director for the presentation,” it said.

The festival at Kartvya path (earlier Raj Path) would commence at 08.45 PM on Thursday after the main function and will also continue on September 9, 10, and 11 from 7.00 pm to 9.00 pm.

A special 10-minute Drone Show on Netaji’s life would be projected at India Gate at 08.00 pm on September 9, 10, and 11. Both the cultural festival and the drone show would be open to public with free entry.

NEW DELHI, Sept 7:
India saw a single day rise of 5,379 coronavirus infections, taking the tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,44,72,241, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated today.
Active Covid cases have declined to 50,594, while the death toll has climbed to 5,28,057 with 27 fatalities, including 11 deaths reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am showed.
The active cases comprises 0.11 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.70 per cent, the health ministry said.
A decline of 1,742 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.67 per cent and the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 2 per cent, according to the health ministry.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,38,93,590, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent.
According to the ministry, 213.91 crore doses of Covid vaccines have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive.
India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

India is keen on strengthening its partnership with Russia on Arctic subjects as there is immense scope for cooperation in the field of energy between the two countries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday virtually at the 7th Eastern Economic Forum being held in Vlady-Vostok.

“India is keen to strengthen its partnership with Russia on Arctic subjects. There is immense scope for cooperation in the field of energy. Along with energy, India has also made significant investments in the Russian Far East in the fields of pharma and diamonds,” PM Modi said in his virtual address.

Highlighting the thirty years of the establishment of the Consulate of India in Vladivostok and the fact that India was the first country to open a consulate in the city, PM Modi said that India has also made significant investments in the Russian Far East in the fields of pharma and diamonds along with energy.

In 2019, PM Modi participated in the economic forum in person and announced the “Act Far-East” policy of India as a result of which India’s cooperation with the Russian Far East has increased in various fields.

The Eastern Economic Forum was established in 2015 and has become a primary platform of international cooperation for the development of the Russian far-East.

On the ongoing war in Ukraine, the Prime Minister said that in today’s globalized world, events in one part of the world create an impact on the whole world. The Ukraine conflict and the COVID pandemic have had a major impact on global supply chains following which foodgrains, fertilizer, and fuel shortages became a major concern for developing countries.

“From the very beginning of the Ukraine conflict, we have emphasized the need to adopt the path of diplomacy and dialogue. We support all peaceful efforts to end this conflict,” PM Modi said while he thanked the Russian President for inviting him to the forum.

The year 2022 marks both 75 years of India’s Independence and the 75th Anniversary of the Russian-Indian diplomatic relations, which were established in April 1947.

The multidimensional cooperation between India-Russia is one of the world’s most elaborate ones with regular meetings of the two intergovernmental commissions, sector-wise ministerial, security advisors’ and senior officials dialogue, foreign office consultations and coordination in the global arena.

NEW DELHI, Sept 7: In a special council meeting on Wednesday, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) passed a resolution to rename Rajpath and Central Vista Lawns to Kartavya Path, said Union Minister, and NDMC member, Meenakshi Lekhi.
Ms. Lekhi added that the change came into effect “immediately” after the council’s meeting.
NDMC officials said that the stretch from Netaji Statue at India Gate to Rashtrapati Bhavan will now be known as “Kartavya Path”.
A senior official at Central Public Works Department (CPWD) said that vinyl films will be pasted on signages in 14 locations, highlighting the renaming.
“The work will be completed before the inauguration of the revamped Central Vista Avenue, which is scheduled for tomorrow,” said the senior CPWD official.
Referring to the renaming of the iconic stretch, Ms. Lekhi said that the name “Rajpath” reflected a “colonial mindset”, which had to be done away with since “India adopted a democratic system after independence”.

According to NDMC officials, a request for the renaming was received in a letter, dated September 1, from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. (Agencies)

New Delhi, September 7: Justice DY Chandrachud on Wednesday said that the Constitution bench headed by him will be a “green bench” and asked the lawyers not to submit any papers or physical documents.
“We will keep this a completely green bench so there would be no papers. Please don’t carry papers,” said Justice Chandrachud to the lawyers.
When an advocate expressed difficulty in using technology, Justice Chandrachud said that officials of the Supreme Court Registry and IT cell court officials are willing to train lawyers on Saturdays on how to use technology to present arguments.
Justice MR Shah also comprising the bench told the advocate, “We also got training, someday you have to start”.
“The Secretary-General and the IT Cell head are masters of technology, they said that they are willing to train the seniors on how to use technology on Saturdays,” Justice Chandrachud added.
The bench then directed the Registry to scan paper books and make them available to the bench and the parties.
The observation of the bench came while hearing a dispute between the Delhi government and the Centre over control of administrative services in the national capital.
The other three cases listed before the Constitution bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, MR Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli and PS Narasimha are related to the Maharashtra political crisis dispute, the validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, and the validity of extending the benefit of reservation and nomination in Legislative Assembly under Article 334 beyond the original period of operation, which is 10 years. (Agencies)