NEW DELHI: Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Wednesday recalled a ‘yatra’ he undertook in 2011 to hoist the tricolour at Srinagar’s Lal Chowk but was arrested upon entering Jammu and Kashmir, and said it was because people voted for Prime Minister Narendra Modi that Article 370 could be abrogated in 2019.

“It was almost like hoisting the tricolour was banned in our own country. In the same country, eight years later, when Modiji became the prime minister due to your votes, Article 370 and 35 A were abrogated forever,” said Thakur.
Addressing an event at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) remembering Subhash Chandra Bose ahead of his birth anniversary on January 23, Thakur said the government today is working to create an India the legendary freedom fighter dreamt of.
Thakur talked about ‘Rashtriya Ekta Yatra’ he had undertaken in 2011. He was leading the Bharatiya Janata Party’s youth wing, BJYM, at that time. He and other senior BJP leaders including then leaders of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha — the late Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley — were arrested after entering Jammu. The state then had a National Conference government led by Omar Abdullah.
Thakur said the ‘Yatra’ started from Kolkata on January 12 and was to culminate in Srinagar on January 26 with the hoisting of the national flag at Srinagar’s Lal Chowk.
Other issues that were raised included not allowing the dilution of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), and to ensure that J&K is not given “greater autonomy”, Thakur said.
“When we entered Jammu Kashmir, I was arrested and put in jail so that I can’t hoist the tricolour at Lal Chowk on January 26. Leaders of Opposition Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj were also arrested,” said Thakur.
On August 5, 2019, the Modi government passed two resolutions in Parliament – first rendering Article 370 inoperative in Jammu and Kashmir by applying the power granted under the same Article, and second for bifurcation of the state into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
Thakur also said the tricolour was hoisted across J&K during the Har Ghar Trianga campaign.
Talking about Bose, the Union minister alleged the freedom fighter who led the Indian National Army (INA) was “forgotten” after independence.
“After independence, successive governments tried to wipe away Netaji. His contribution was never mentioned. I don’t even want to talk about what was there in textbooks which even called Bhagat Singh ji extremist,” Thakur said.
Thakur stated that in order to achieve the dream of Netaji, it is important to spread awareness among the youth. “We have to work continuously to spread Netaji’s achievement to every citizen of the country and the government is also working proactively in this direction. There are a lot of learnings which need to be adopted by our youths to prosper in life,” he said.
He added the dream of Bose for India is being fulfilled today.
“What can be the true tribute to Netaji? What kind of independent India did he want to see? The independent India that Netaji had dreamt of, the country that can lead the world, the dream is being implemented today. India is hosting the G20 presidency this year. We have the SCO presidency, UNSC presidency was ours till recently,” he added.

NEW DELHI: Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir will be held keeping in mind various factors, including weather and security concerns, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar said on Wednesday.

Responding to a reporter’s question here on the possible timing of polls in the Union Territory, Kumar said, “We are conscious that in any place which is due for elections, it is our duty that we get the government in place as mandated.”
He noted that the delimitation process in Jammu and Kashmir has been completed and so is the special summary revision or revision of electoral roll. The CEC said returning officers and additional electoral registration officers have also been appointed in the rearranged and new constituencies.
“We are aware that once the process is complete, they (polls) must be held. And taking the weather, taking the security concerns and all other factors…other elections at that time…. (into consideration, we will take a decision),” he said.
The final electoral roll of Jammu and Kashmir was published on November 25 last year, paving the way for the Assembly polls, the first since the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution were abrogated in 2019 and the erstwhile state was bifurcated into Union territories.
The revision of the electoral roll was carried out after a gap of nearly three years. It was last carried out with reference to January 1, 2019 as the qualifying date.
The electoral roll could not be updated after the abrogation of the provisions of Article 370. Subsequently, the constituencies were redrawn following a delimitation exercise.
After the delimitation exercise, the number of Assembly seats in the Union Territory has gone up from 83 to 90, excluding the seats allocated to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Meanwhile, the Election Commission announced dates for assembly elections in Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland setting up the stage for the boll battle in the northeast region. The voting in Tripura will be held on February 16 and in Nagaland and Meghalaya on February 27. The results will be declared on March 2.
The results of in 3 states will be seen as a prelude to the mega General Election 2024. The poll will also decode whether the mood of people in the northeast changed or is still in favour of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) and its allies. BJP is part of the ruling establishment in all three states. Out of 3, Tripura is the key for the BJP as the saffron party is leading the ruling NDA.

NEW DELHI: India’s COVID-19 case tally rose by 134 in a day while the number of active cases has declined to 1,962 according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

India has so far recorded 4.46 crore Covid cases. The death toll stood at 5,30,728, the data updated at 8 am stated.

The daily positivity was recorded at 0.07 per cent while the weekly positivity was 0.08 per cent. Active cases now comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.80 per cent, according to the health ministry website.

Active caseload declined by 36 cases in 24 hours. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,48,815, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent.

According to the ministry’s website, 220.20 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive.

India’s COVID-19 tally 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. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

India crossed the grim milestone of three crore on June 23 last year and four crore on January 25 this year. (PTI)

In its communication to WFI, the Ministry has stated that “since the matter pertains to the well-being of athletes, the Ministry has taken a very serious view of the matter.”

The Ministry has further stated that if WFI fails to furnish the reply within the next 72 hours, the Ministry will proceed to initiate action against the federation in terms of the provisions of the National Sports Development Code, 2011.

Further, the Women National Wrestling Coaching camp, which was due to start in Sports Authority of India’s National Centre of Excellence (NCOE) in Lucknow on January 18, 2023, with 41 wrestlers and 13 coaches and support staff, has been cancelled.

The Executive Director of NCOE Lucknow has been directed to provide all facilities to national campers who have already reported and are likely to report, till the campers depart from the centre. Necessary information regarding the cancellation of the National Coaching Camp has also been sent to all campers.

Notably, Vinesh Phogat on Wednesday alleged that coaches who are favourites of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) misbehave with women and harass them. She also accused the wrestling federation chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexually harassing girls and calling her a ‘khota sikka’ after her defeat at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

On the sidelines of a sit-in protest against the WFI near Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, Phogat said, “Coaches are harassing women and some coaches, who are favourites of the Federation, misbehave with women coaches as well. They sexually harass girls. The WFI president has sexually harassed many girls.”

“After my defeat in the Tokyo Olympics, the WFI president called me a ‘khota sikka’. The Federation mentally tortured me. I would entertain thoughts of ending my life every day. If anything happens to any wrestler, the WFI president will be to blame,” she added.

Olympians Bajrang Punia, Sakshee Malikkh and Phogat led the protest at Jantar Mantar against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), alleging “harassment of wrestlers by the WFI through its arbitrary rules and regulations”.

The protesting wrestlers further accused the WFI of interfering with their personal lives and exploiting them.

“When we went to the Olympics, we did not have physio or a coach. After we started raising our voices, we were threatened,” added another wrestler.

Olympic medalist Bajrang Punia said the wrestlers want the management of the Federation to be sacked and replaced.

“We hope Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) and Home Minister (Amit Shah) will support us in our quest,” added Punia.

However, WFI President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh denied any incident of sexual harassment and remarked that if such a thing has happened, he will hang himself.

“There has been no incident of sexual harassment. If such a thing has happened, then I will hang myself,” said the president during a press conference.

He also said that he is ready for investigation.

“Sexual harassment is a big allegation. How can I take action when my own name has been dragged into this? I am ready for an investigation,” said Brij Bhushan.

A 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Bajrang Punia said the wrestlers will not tolerate the ongoing dictatorship of the Federation.

“We would not tolerate the ongoing dictatorship,” Bajrang told ANI.

The first Indian woman wrestler to win a gold medal at both the Asian and Commonwealth Games, Vinesh Phogat, expressed her displeasure with the Federation’s management on Twitter and other wrestlers including Bajrang and Sakshee also took to Twitter to raise their voices against governing body of the sport in the country.

“The players want self-respect as they prepare for the Olympics and other big events with full vigour. However, if the federation does not support them, their morale breaks down. But we won’t bog down anymore and will fight for our rights,” she wrote in a tweet.

Meanwhile, Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) Assistant Secretary, Vinod Tomar on Wednesday said he was not aware of what ace wrestlers, including Vinesh Phogat, Sakshee Malikkh, Bajrang Punia and others were protesting about.

He added that once the wrestlers approach the Federation, all the issues will be resolved and sorted out.

“Do not know what this is all about. However, we came to know from the letter to the WFI president that some wrestlers are sitting in protest. I have come to ask them about their problem,” Tomar told ANI.

Tomar stated that once the wrestlers formally approach the Federation, all issues will be sorted out.

However, he claimed the protesting wrestlers still haven’t taken the Federation into confidence about their issues.

“They have not yet told me what their grouse is. No issue has been raised with me or the Federation as yet,” he added.

At least nine people were killed and a child was injured when a speeding truck collided with their van on Mumbai-Goa highway in Maharashtra’s Raigad district on Thursday morning, police said.

The accident took place at 4.45 am at Repoli village in Raigad, located more than 130 km from Mumbai. The victims, all relatives, were going in the van to Guhagar in Ratnagiri district, Superintendent of Police Somnath Gharge said.

The truck was going towards Mumbai, he said.

“Nine people were killed. The deceased included a girl child, three women and five men,” the official said.

A four-year-old girl injured in the accident was taken to a hospital in Mangaon, the official said. The bodies were sent to a government hospital for post-mortem, he said.

The cause of the accident was yet to be ascertained, the police said.

PM Modi will make a visit to the Yadgiri and Kalaburagi districts of Karnataka in the morning hours and lay the foundation stone and inaugurate various developmental projects related to irrigation, drinking water and a National Highway development project at Kodeka in the Yadgiri district.

According to Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), in an effort to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections to all households, the foundation stone of the Yadgir multi-village drinking water supply scheme under Jal Jeevan Mission would be laid at Kodekal, Yadgiri district. A Water Treatment Plant of 117 MLD will be built under the scheme. The project, which costs more than Rs 2,050 crore, will provide potable water to about 2.3 lakh households of more than 700 rural habitations and three towns in the Yadgiri district.

During the programme, Prime Minister will also inaugurate Narayanpur Left Bank Canal – Extension Renovation and Modernisation Project (NLBC-ERM). The project, with canal carrying capacity of 10,000 cusecs, can irrigate 4.5 lakh hectares of command area. It will benefit more than three lakh farmers in 560 villages of Kalaburgi, Yadagir and Vijaypur districts. The total cost of the project is about Rs 4,700 crore, said the PMO statement.

Ahead of the Prime Minister’s programme in Karnataka, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai termed the modernisation of the Narayanpur Left Bank Canal (NLBC) as a model for the entire country and also an important milestone in the field of the irrigation sector.

In line with the Prime Minister’s vision of 100 per cent saturation of government schemes, about 1,475 unrecorded habitations have been declared as New Revenue villages in five districts of Kalaburagi, Yadgiri, Raichur, Bidar and Vijayapura.

In the afternoon, PM Modi will reach Malkhed village of Kalaburagi district, where he will distribute title deeds (hakku patra) to the eligible beneficiaries of these newly declared revenue villages. The issuance of title deeds to more than 50,000 beneficiaries, who are largely from the marginalised and vulnerable communities from the SC, ST and OBC, is a step to provide formal recognition from the government for their land and will make them eligible for receiving government services like drinking water, electricity, roads etc.

During the programme, Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone of the 71 km section of NH-150C. This six-lane Greenfield road project is also part of Surat- Chennai Expressway. It is being built at a cost of more than Rs 2,100 crore.

Surat-Chennai Expressway will pass through six states- Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. It will reduce the existing route from 1,600 km to 1,270 km.

Later in the day, PM Modi will reach Mumbai by the evening to inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of projects worth around Rs 38,800 crores in Mumbai. He will inaugurate two lines of the Mumbai Metro and also enjoy a metro ride.

To provide seamless urban mobility, he will also dedicate to the nation Mumbai Metro Rail Lines 2A and 7, worth around Rs 12,600 crore. The metro line 2A connecting Dahisar E and DN Nagar (yellow line) is around 18.6 km long, while metro line 7 connecting Andheri E – Dahisar E (red line) is around 16.5 km long. The Prime Minister had laid the foundation stone of these lines in 2015.

During the visit, PM Modi will also launch MUMBAI 1 Mobile App and National Common Mobility Card (Mumbai 1). The app will facilitate ease of travel, can be shown at the entry gates of metro stations and supports digital payment to buy tickets through UPI. The National Common Mobility Card (Mumbai 1) will initially be used in metro corridors and can be extended to other modes of mass public transit including local trains and buses as well. Commuters will not need to carry multiple cards or cash; the NCMC card will enable quick, contactless, digital transactions, thereby easing the process with a seamless experience, according to the PMO statement.

The Prime Minister will further lay the foundation stone of seven sewage treatment plants, which will be built at a cost of around Rs 17,200 crore. These sewage treatment plants will be set up in Malad, Bhandup, Versova, Ghatkopar, Bandra, Dharavi and Worli. They will have a combined capacity of around 2,460 MLD.

In an effort to strengthen health care infrastructure in Mumbai, PM would also inaugurate 20 Hinduhridaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Aapla Dawakhana. This initiative provides essential medical services like health checkups, medicines, investigations and diagnostics completely free, to the people, said PMO statement.

Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone for the redevelopment of three hospitals in Mumbai viz 360-bedded Bhandup Multispeciality Municipal Hospital, 306-bedded Siddharth Nagar Hospital, Goregaon (West) and 152-bedded Oshiwara Maternity Home.

Prime Minister will start the road concretisation project for around 400 km roads of in Mumbai.

This project will be developed at the cost of about Rs 6,100 crore. Of the total roads extending to around 2050 km in Mumbai, more than 1,200 Km of roads are either concretized or are in the process of being concretized. However, the remaining roads of about 850 km length face challenges of potholes which severely impact transportation.

The Prime Minister’s Office said the road concretisation project is aimed to overcome this challenge. These concrete roads will ensure fast travel along with enhanced security, while also providing better drainage facilities and utility ducts will ensure regular digging of roads is avoided.

PM will also lay the foundation stone for the redevelopment of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus. The redevelopment is planned with a view to decongesting the southern heritage node of the terminus, augmentation of facilities, better multi-modal integration and conserving and restoring the world-famous iconic structure to its past glory. The project will be done at a cost of over Rs 1,800 crore. Further, Prime Minister will also start the transfer of approved loans of over 1 lakh beneficiaries under PM SVANidhi Yojana.

Notably, the Mumbai Police have banned drone, paragliders, remote control microlight aircraft flying activities in the jurisdiction of Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) PS, Andheri PS, Meghwadi PS, Jogeshwari Police Station today and added that the said order shall remain in force from 12:01 am to 11 pm today.

The police have also deployed 4,500 of its personnel in the western suburbs as a part of security arrangement.

The Mumbai Police has further announced the deployment of four State Reserve Police Force (SRPF), and one unit each of the Anti-Riot Squad and Rapid Action Force, ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit to the state.