Hindu priests on Thursday slammed the Former Chief Minister of Maharashtra and Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan for his suggestions to extract gold from the Religious trusts in the country to use in the war against Coronavirus. They said that money should be taken from the Congress party instead.
Reacting to Chavan’s comment, Swamy Paramhans Tapaswi Chhawni said, “Before taking gold from Hindu temples, money should be taken to combat Coronavirus from Congress leaders who have amassed huge wealth since independence.”
Mahant Kamal Nayan Das, Uttaradhikari, Mani Ram Das Chavni alleged that the Congress leaders are involved in anti-national activities. He also questioned former CM that why is he seeking to borrow money from Hindu sects only and not from Churches and Mosques.
Prithviraj Chavan tweeted seeking money from the temples
Prithviraj Chavan had taken to twitter suggesting that Central Government should immediately appropriate all the gold lying with all the religious trusts in the country. He stated that the gold is worth at least $1 trillion, according to the World Gold Council.
#Stimulus.@PMOindia Govt. must immediately appropriate all the gold lying with all the Religious Trusts in the country, worth at least $1 trillion, according to the #WorldGoldCouncil. The gold can be borrowed through gold bonds at a low interest rate. This is an emergency.PC
While stating that the country is going through an emergency, Chavan mentioned that the gold can be borrowed by the govt through Gold bonds at a low-interest rate.
Chavan affirmed that the gold reserve lying with the religious bodies is worth 1 trillion dollar that is 76 lakh crore rupees. He had further stated, “If it is borrowed from these trusts at a nominal interest rate, the money can be generously spent on the lower middle and poor class to increase their spending capacity.”
Reports suggest that the World Gold Council (WGC) has stated that the gold reserves in India which are lying with the religious sects are worth 1 trillion-dollar. Mentioning that Chavan also said that “there is a little scope for raising funds from open market.”
Senior Karnataka Congress leader CM Ibrahim has written a letter to Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa in which he has urged him to allow Muslims to gather for mass prayers at Masjids and Idgah maidans in the state on the occasion of Eid. In a letter dated May 13, Ibrahim has asked Yediyurappa to allow prayer assemblies till 1 pm on the occasion of Eid-ul Fitr during the Coronavirus lockdown.
The letter requested the Chief Minister to consult with medical experts regarding his request before taking a call.
CM Ibrahim, a close associate of former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah wrote in his letter: “On behalf of the entire community, I would suggest that the government may take a decision by having due consultation with the medical experts to grant permission for Muslims on the day of Eid to offer prayers in the Idgah Maidan or Masjids from morning till 1 pm with all precautionary measures and safety norms.” He requested the CM to take a suitable decision to enable Muslims in the state to offer Idd prayers at Idgah Maidans or Mosques in their respective localities.
Congress leader writes to Karnataka CM
The request by the Congress leader received flak from various quarters as it was largely seen as an attempt to appease the minority community, even if it took to jeopardise the lives of many others during turbulent times of a global pandemic. It may be noted that the guidelines issued by the union home ministry on the lockdown state that religious congregations are prohibited in all zones in the entire country.
Karnataka Govt banned conducting congregational prayers in mosques during Ramzan
Earlier last month, Karnataka government announced that it was banning the five-time Namaz in mosques, Dargahs, Imam Baras during the month of Ramzan in view of coronavirus pandemic in the state.
The state government also decided to cancel the government-funded Dawat-e-Sahri or Iftar, the state-organised community feast during the religious month, in view of the highly-contagious Covid-19 outbreak.
Saudi Arabia imposes curfew during the Eid
It may be noted that Saudi Arabia, where the holiest sites for Muslims are located, has announced a 24-hour curfew for five days of Eid holidays to contain the spread of Coronavirus. According to the directives given by King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, the curfew would be imposed from May 23 to May 27, following the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina are already under curfew, which was imposed on April 2. Saudi Arabia had earlier imposed 24-hour curfews on most towns and cities but eased them for the start of Ramadan. Eid al-Fitr for the year 2020 will be observed on sundown of Saturday, May 23rd ending at sundown on Sunday, May 24th.
Muslims emerge as the trouble-maker during country’s fight against coronavirus
After the Tablighi Jamaat event undermined India’s fight against Coronavirus, the criticism not only of the Tablighi Jamaat but the Muslim community, on the whole, has seen an unprecedented upswing. In addition to the nuisance created by the Tablighi Jamaat members, Muslim mobs across the country are turning out to be quite a headache for the authorities in the fight against coronavirus. There have been innumerable incidents where Muslims have not only been caught flouting lockdown and social distancing orders by gathering at mosques to offer Namaz but have also been found guilty of conducting concerted attacks against health workers and policemen who have been risking their lives to limit the spread of the Chinese epidemic.
The Indian Army Chief Manoj Mukund Naravane has affirmed that the recent face-offs between India and China along the borders are not co-related and they don’t have any connection with any other global or local activity.
“It is reiterated that both these incidents are neither co-related nor do they have any connection with other global or local activities,” General MM Naravane mentioned in a press release.
Confirming the recent incidents along LAC, MM Naravane said, “There were two incidents at Eastern Ladakh and North Sikkim where aggressive behavior by both sides resulted in minor injuries to troops post which both sides disengaged after dialogue and interaction at the local level.”
He mentioned that such incidents are resolved mutually by both sides as per established protocols and the guidelines. The protocols established by Prime Minister after the Wuhan and Mamallaparam summits.
While mentioning the faceoffs General MM Naravane said, “Temporary and short duration faceoffs between the border guarding troops do occur along the LAC due to the differing perceptions of the alignment of boundaries which are not resolved.”
Development of infrastructure along the Northern border is on track
General Naravane further stated, “I can say with confidence that the development of infrastructure capabilities along our Northern borders is on track. Our force posture will not suffer due to the COVID pandemic.”
The Army Chief appreciated the Border Roads Organisation in creating and maintaining strategic roads and infrastructure in the border areas used by both civilians and the military.
He asserted, “Our BRO continues to work tirelessly even during COVID pandemic to connect far-flung areas so that our civil brethren living in those locations are connected and facilitate faster development to the region.”
India-China informal summit in Wuhan
In fact, The first India-China informal summit in Wuhan had ended on 28 April 2018 in which Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had mutually stressed on the importance of peace and tranquility in all areas of India-China border region.
As per the press release of the Ministry of External Affairs, India at the Wuhan summit strategic guideline was issued to the militaries of both nations to strengthen communication in order to build trust and mutual understanding and enhance predictability and effectiveness in the management of border affairs.
MEA further added, “The two leaders further directed their militaries to earnestly implement various confidence-building measures agreed upon between the two sides, including the principle of mutual and equal security, and strengthen existing institutional arrangements and information sharing mechanisms to prevent incidents in border regions.”
Chinese military choppers spotted near LAC
Chinese military choppers were found to be flying close to the Indian territory on Wednesday. Responding to aggressive posturing of the Chinese, the Indian Air Force (IAF) deployed its fighter planes on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) after Chinese military helicopters were seen flying close to the LAC.
Reportedly, the Chinese choppers did not cross the LAC into Indian territory in that particular area. The Indian Air Force frequently flies its Sukhoi 30MKI fighter aircraft fleet from Leh airbase in Ladakh along with other planes.
Troops clashed in Eastern sector
India and China were also involved in two face-offs in a span of a week in the Eastern Ladakh and near Naku La Pass in the Sikkim sector along the contentious border between the two countries.
In the first incident, the Chinese army personnel had clashed with Indian forces along the northern bank of the Pangong Lake in eastern Ladakh on May 5. The face-off ended the next morning following dialogue between the two sides. A number of soldiers on both sides had sustained minor injuries
Rehana Fathima, a controversial ultra-left wing activist who had tried to desecrate the holy shrine of Sabarimala by entering it along with her friends in 2018, has been sacked by state-run telecom firm BSNL.
According to the reports, Fathima was removed from her job after BSNL authorities after a probe found that her Facebook messages had incited communal tension and she had violated service rules.
Fathima posted a message today on her Facebook account informing that she has been ordered “mandatory retirement” from BSNL. She said that BSNL suspended her, stalled her promotion, and finally sacked her in fear of religious sentiments of some customers. She lamented that even the employee unions also refused to defend her. In her post, she also alleged some dealings to benefit Reliance Jio at the cost of BSNL, and asked if now she will be banished for Facebook also as Facebook has bought shares in Jio. She also indicated that she might contest the decision of BSNL in court.
Earlier, she was transferred to the Palarivattom telephone exchange in Kochi, where she was kept away from interacting with the public. The state-run BSNL had even initiated disciplinary procedures against Rehana Fathima and had carried out an internal enquiry after she had tried to desecrate the holy temple Sabarimala temple by entering it.
For the past 18 months, she was under suspension after BSNL had received complaints from the public about her abusive pictures and videos, which had hurt religious sentiments.
Convicted for cheque-fraud case
Rehana Fathima was also convicted in a cheque-fraud case and awarded a fine of Rs. 2.1 lakh and one day of imprisonment. In 2014, the activist had borrowed a sum of Rs 2 lakh from one Anil Kumar, a resident of Alappuzha, which was returned through a cheque. However, when he approached the bank with the cheque, it bounced as there was no money in the account.
Kumar had moved to the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate in Alappuzha in 2014 who handed her a day’s imprisonment and ordered her to pay the fine. She then filed an appeal against the verdict before the High Court. However, the High Court upheld the previous verdict as well.
Desecration of Sabarimala temple by Rehana Fathima
The controversial activist, Rehana Fathima had sparked a huge controversy after she had tried to enter the holy Sabarimala shrine and desecrate it following the controversial Supreme court judgement granting permission to women of all ages to enter the temple ignoring the shrines age-old tradition barring women of menstruating age to enter the holy place.
She had also created a controversy after she had called the age-old traditional ban on menstruating age as “unconstitutional”. In 2018, the Pathanamthitta police had registered a case against activist Rehana Fathima against a complaint filed by Sabarimala Achara Samrakshana Samithi for putting up social media posts that were “communally divisive” in nature.
The self-proclaimed activist was also expelled from the Muslim community by the Kerala Muslim Jama’ath Council for “hurting sentiments of lakhs of Hindu devotees”.
A model in the past Fathima has been a part of the ‘Kiss of Love’ campaign in Kochi in 2014 against the purported moral policing. She had also stirred a squabble after she posed topless in a photo with watermelons as a mark of protest against a Kozhikode-based college professor’s remark comparing women’s breasts to watermelons.
She has also acted in a film called “Eka” produced by her partner Manoj K Sreedhar. The film is focused on “intersexuality”. The film features nudity and several bold scenes with Fathima. The film’s poster goes, “I am intersex, I have a p**is and a v***na by birth, I want to live”.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the second tranche of relief measures under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan on Thursday. The first tranche of announcements on Wednesday had focused on providing relief to MSMEs, NBFCs, MFIs and HFCs, electric distribution companies and others. The second tranche focused on farmers, migrant workers, small traders and others.
Nirmala Sitharaman announced that three crore marginal farmers have already availed agricultural loans worth Rs 4.22 lakh crore. 25 lakh new Kisan credit cards holders have been sanctioned with a loan limit of Rs 25,000 crore, added Sitharaman. She further said that Interest Subvention and Prompt Repayment Incentive on crop loans, due from March 1, has been extended up to May 31 2020.
Source: PIB/Twitter
The Finance Minister also announced additional liquidity support for farmers and the rural economy during her second trance of announcements. FM Sitharaman said that 63 lakh loans worth Rs 86,000 crore have been approved between the 1st of March and 30th of April. Refinancing of Rs 29,500 crore has been provided by NABARD to cooperative and rural banks in March this year.
Nirmala Sitharaman said that Rs. 6,700 crores have been provided to state agencies for procurement of agricultural produce. Rs 4,200 crore has been provided under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund to states during March 2020 for rural infrastructure.
Source: PIB/Twitter
Nirmala Sitharaman announces Relief Measures for Migrant Workers
The second tranche of announcements of the Finance Minister also included relief measures for migrant workers. The relief measures included affordable housing under the PMAy through a PPP mode. In addition to that, it was announced that migrants who are neither NSFA or State Card beneficiaries in the state they are stationed at will be provided 5 kg of grains per person and 1 kg of Chana per family per month for two months. An estimated 8 crore migrants are expected to benefit. Several other relief measures were also announced by Nirmala Sitharaman.
Chandannagar Police Commissioner Humayun Kabir, an IPS officer considered to be close to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was the first to attribute a “taunt” to the communal clash in Telinipara, Hooghly, West Bengal, where the houses of many Hindus were burned by a mob on late Sunday evening and again on early Tuesday afternoon.
According to a report by Swarajya, the IPS officer had told the media that some Hindus subjected a small group of Muslim men to ‘corona’ taunt. This had allegedly triggered the Muslims, who then went on to attack the Hindus with socket bombs, gas cylinders fitted with detonators, swords and other lethal weapons, iron rods and bricks.
It is pertinent to note here that Chandannagar Police Commissioner Humayun Kabir is the same officer who was removed as Murshidabad district police chief by the Election Commission before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls on charges of favouring the ruling Trinamool Congress.
The IPS officer had said that some Hindu men hurled the “taunt” after a few Muslims from the Urdi Bazar in Chandannagar had recently tested positive for coronavirus. And it was because of this “taunt”, according to the Bengal government, that the enraged Muslims went back to their locality and informed other fellow Muslims about the taunt. They, then, returned with lethal weapons and attacked the Hindus, but police intervened promptly and peace was restored, claimed the officer.
Even if one is to believe this narrative, this Telinipara incident gives us an insight into the prevailing situation in Bengal, where a mere “taunt” can lead Muslims to attack Hindus and vandalise and torch houses and properties belonging to them, highlights the Swarajya report.
The IPS officer, Humayun Kabir had reportedly further said that after taunting the group of Muslim men, Hindus blocked access to a public toilet that is used by Muslims. The latter objected and the verbal clash that ensued eventually snowballed into a communal clash.
BJP MP Locket Chatterjee condemned the Telinipara incident, criticises WB police and Govt
Hooghly Lok Sabha MP Locket Chatterjee and others had stated that after some Muslims who returned from a pilgrimage to Ajmer very recently, tested positive for coronavirus, locals of Chandannagar became alert and tried to restrict the entry of outsiders into their localities.
“Muslims were roaming around wantonly and Hindus got alarmed. The Hindus of Chandannagar felt the Muslims were deliberately roaming around all over the place to spread the deadly virus and ensure a lot of people got infected. So Hindus erected barricades to protect themselves. Muslims broke through the barricades and attacked Hindus on late Sunday evening for erecting the barricades,” said Chatterjee.
The BJP MP furthered that West Bengal police’s inaction and callousness on Sunday had encouraged the Muslims in the area who again attacked the Hindus on Tuesday in a more ferocious manner. Chatterjee said Tuesday’s attack was premeditated and well-planned where the Muslims used socket bombs, gas cylinders fitted with detonators to attack the Hindus.
Police Commissioner Kabir said on Wednesday that a huge quantity of explosives has been seized. “Our bomb squads are there. As of now, we have recovered petrol bombs and socket bombs. They have also used cylinders as explosives.”
“The recovery of explosives points to the fact that one particular community stockpiles weapons and explosives. Why is that so? This is a grave failure on the part of the police. How can explosives be stockpiled under the nose of the police, and that too during the ongoing lockdown” asked BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha.
Internet ban by WB Govt after Telinipara incident
“The state government imposed an Internet ban only in order to ensure that the truth does not come out. People all over the country got to know about the horrifying attacks on Hindus on Tuesday and how properties belonging to Hindus were attacked and set ablaze. The state government wants to prevent a repeat of that. We do not know what is happening at Telinipara and Chandannagar,” said Lok Sabha MP Chatterjee, alleging that police and WB government were trying to conceal the truth and give out a false version of the unfortunate happenings at Chandannagar.
She further alleged that WB police were instead arresting the Hindus who had erected barricades to prevent the entry of outsiders into their localities. “The indiscriminate and one-sided arrests have spread fear and led people to believe that the police are biased. This bias, they apprehend, will embolden Sunday night’s and Tuesday afternoon’s attackers to launch another wave of attacks,” the MP said.
The gagging of the local media by the Hooghly district administration has also raised doubts about the state’s intentions. The gag order issued by the district magistrate also includes visuals of violence and statements about it by politicians.
“This is a blatant attempt to browbeat the local media and stop it from presenting the truth,” said Lok Sabha MP Chatterjee.
Tuesday’s violence
On Tuesday, there were fresh cases of violence, the videos of which have now gone viral on social media. It is alleged that the Hindu homes were set on fire and bombs were hurled by a Muslim mob. Hooghly MP Locket Chatterjee has alleged that the attacks were preplanned and the police stood as a mute spectator. Chatterjee further alleged that lethal weapons were transported in ambulances and women and children were also attacked.
West Bengal govt focuses on ‘misinformation’
As Bengal burned, the Home Department of the West Bengal government claimed that Telinipara is peaceful and warned of ‘strict action’ against those who were trying to ‘disturb the peace’. As per reports, 56 persons have been arrested and police raids are on to nab the culprits. Section 144 of the CrPC has been imposed to maintain law and order and mobile internet services are suspended.
After an intense political drama for over a month, Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray crossed a major hurdle by getting elected to Maharashtra Legislative Council unopposed.
According to the reports, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday made his debut as a legislator, even though indirectly, after he and eight others were declared elected unopposed to the state Legislative Council.
Apart from Thackeray, Council Deputy Chairperson and Shiv Sena leader Neelam Gorhe, four candidates of BJP – Ranjitsinh Mohite Patil, Gopichand Padalkar, Praveen Datke and Ramesh Karad, NCP’s Shashikant Shinde and Amol Mitkari, Rajesh Rathod of the Congress were lected for the nine seats, which fell vacant on April 24.
All the nine candidates elected unopposed
“All of them were elected unopposed. The result was officially announced on Thursday after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations ended at 3 pm,” the official said.
On Tuesday, four candidates – BJP’s Sandeep Lele and Ajit Gopchade and NCP’s Kiran Pawaskar and Shivajirao Garje had withdrawn their nominations. Another independent candidate Shehbaz Rathod’s nomination was found invalid during scrutiny.
Thackeray, who was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on November 28 last year, had to become a member of either Houses of the state legislature by May 27, as he had not contested the assembly election. Initially, he tried to get himself nominated to the Maharashtra legislative assembly. However, he had faced some criticism on social media for running away from direct elections. it was also pointed out that there is no history of a nominated member becoming chief minister, and it would set a bad precedent.
Later, Uddhav Thackeray had approached Prime Minister Narendra Modi pleading him to intervene to avoid the constitutional crisis in the state.
Uddhav Thackeray had to choose the Legislative Council route to remain as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra as byelections to the assembly could not be held due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
On Thursday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the second tranche of Modi government’s “Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan” package worth Rs 20 lakh crores to restart the economy following the coronavirus lockdown.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced comprehensive relief measures on Wednesday to support various sectors including Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Discoms, NBFCs, Micro Insurance Institutions, etc. The Modi government had also announced various relief measures for real estate sectors and also extended deadlines for various taxpayers.
▪️ Rural Poor ▪️ Migrants ▪️ Urban Poor ▪️ Farmers ▪️MSMEs ▪️Unorganised Workers ▪️Migrant Labours ▪️ Small Businesses ▪️ Street Vendors ▪️ Middle Income Group ▪️ Tribals /Adivasis and the needy among others#IndiaFightsCoronapic.twitter.com/qVfj7jdbtV
— PIB India #StayHome #StaySafe (@PIB_India) May 14, 2020
The Finance Minister Sitharaman had said the announcements will be made in many tranches. In the first tranche, Modi government had announced 16 included six measures for MSMEs, 2 for EPF, 2 for NBFCs and MFIs, 1 for discoms, 1 for contractors, 1 for real estate sector, and 3 tax measures.
Second tranche of announcements under “Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan” economic package
Finance Minister Sitharaman on Thursday said that the second tranche will be relating to migrant workers, street vendors, housing, employment generation for tribals and small farmers. A total of 9 steps will be announced today, she added.
“There are nine steps that will be announced – three for migrants, one for street vendors, one on housing, one on employment generation for tribals, two for farmers etc,” said Finance Minister.
The Finance Minister also said that the Modi government, within hours of announcing Lockdown 1.0, had come up with the PM Gareeb Kalyan Yojana, to provide money and food to the poor. “This may not be the last one though, we may come back and announce more”, clarified Finance Minister.
Relief for Farmers and Rural Economy
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that 3 crore marginal farmers have availed agricultural loans worth over Rs 4.22 lakh crore. These farmers, who availed the loans through the RBI, were initially given an interest moratorium of three months, which has now been extended till May 31, 2020.
25 lakh new Kisan credit cards holders have been sanctioned with a loan limit of Rs 25,000 crore, added Sitharaman. She added that Interest Subvention and Prompt Repayment Incentive on crop loans, due from March 1, has been extended up to May 31 2020.
Image Source: PIB
Finance Minister also announced additional liquidity support for farmers and rural economy. FM Sitharaman said that 63 lakh loans worth Rs 86,000 crore have been approved and refinancing of Rs 29,500 crore has been provided by NABARD to cooperative and rural banks in March.
She added that more than 6,000 crores have been provided to state agencies for agricultural procurement. Support of Rs 4,200 crore provided under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund to states during March 2020 for rural infrastructure, she announced.
The Modi government also sanctioned working capital limit of Rs 6,700 crore for procurement of agriculture produce to state government entities.
Image Source: PIB
Support for Urban poor
To reach out to the urban poor, the Modi government has permitted states to utilise the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to set up shelters for migrant labourers and provide them food and water, said Finance Minister.
“At least Rs 11,000 crore was sent for this purpose. We are taking care of them,” said FM Nirmala Sitharaman.
The central government has supported self-help groups, which have produced 3 crore masks, 1.20 lakh litres for sanitizers. FM Sitharaman also said that the Modi government has provided employment opportunities to the urban poor through SHGs. Further, 7,200 new SHG have been formed since March 15, 2020 to generate employment, she added.
Image Source: PIB
Relief for Migrants
Finance Minister said that the Modi government is supporting migrant labourers who have returned to their home states by creating work under the MNREGA. She added that the government is planning plans to continue MGNREGA work during the monsoon – plantations, horticulture, livestock-related work.
“For migrants who are going back home, we have generated 14.62 crore person-days of work, which is 40-50% more than before the coronavirus lockdown. We have enrolled them 2.33 crore wage seekers in 1.87 lakh gram panchayats who via MGNREGA will get enrolled and get jobs. They will be actively engaged, annual expenditure is Rs 10,000 crore, we will provide for more if needed,” said Finance Minister Sitharaman.
Average wage rate rose to Rs 202 from Rs 182 in last Financial Year, said Finance Minister. FM Sitharaman also said that a drive being undertaken to enrol returning migrant.
Image Source: PIB
Finance Minister said that migrants who are neither NFSA or state card beneficiaries in the state they are stationed will be provided 5 kg of grains per person and 1 kg chana per family per months for two months. The government has allocated Rs 3,500 crores allotted to 8 crore migrants.
This will be done through the states, which are aware where the migrant workers are currently staying, added Finance Minister.
Image Source: PIB
FM Sitharaman said that the Modi government will implement ‘One Nation One Ration Card. The scheme will cover 67 crore beneficiaries in 23 states covering 83% of the PDS population. The beneficiaries will be covered by national portability by August 2020.
“In order to benefit migrants, the govt is coming up with the National Portability Cards (One Nation One Ration Card) which can be used in any ration shop in any part of the country as migrants move from state to state,” Finance Minister said.
This initiative is a technology-driven system, as announced as a pillar of the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday.
Image Source: PIB
For migrants and the urban poor, the government has announced affordable rental accomodation under PM Awas Yojana.
“We are incentivising manufacturing and industries to build affordable housing units on their properties and looking to convert vacant buildings in metro cities for housing. This will be done via PPP mode through concessionaire agreements – which will constitute small rents and then make up, similar to the road toll. Detailed guidelines will come from ministry soon,” said Finance Minister.
Image Source: PIB
Labour codes: Benefit for workers
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman added, “We are committed to making labour codes for workers welfare and our agenda is their welfare. Minimum wage will become universal – this is what we are working on. Removing regional disparity in minimum wage thorough national floor wage concept is on the table.”
Compulsory appointment letters and annual health check-ups will be made mandatory and inter-state migrant workers will be defined so that they can better receive initiatives, FM Sitharaman announced. Portablity of welfare benefits is being considered, the Finance Ministry added.
“ESIC benefits are being looked at expanded to all establishments, even for those with less than 100 employees and for establishments with 10 or less employees will be voluntary. We want to make ESIC coverage mandatory for small units where workers are engaged in hazardous jobs.”
The Modi government also said that re-skilling of retrenched workers will be looked at and also issued a diktat that all occupations should be open for women with night working rights, social security for unorganised sector workers.
Image Source: PIB
Interest Subvention on MUDRA – Shishu loans
The government has also announced the following for small businesses under the MUDRA scheme, which has been disrupted the most due to the coronavirus, and, in turn, do not have the capacity to pay EMIs. Finance Minister announced Rs 1500 crore interest subvention for MUDRA-Shishu loan
“A Loan moratorium has already been granted by RBI. The current portfolio of MUDRA-Shishu loans is Rs 1.62 lakh crore. The Modi government will provide interest subvention of 2% for prompt payees for 12 months,” said Finance Minister. This will be a Rs 1,500 crore benefit, said FM Sitharaman.
Image Source: PIB
Relief for Street vendors
FM Nirmala Sitharaman also announced relief measures to support 50 lakh street vendors. For street vendors, the government has announced Rs 5000 crore special credit facility.
The Modi government also announced that it will launch special scheme within a month to facilitate easy access to credit to street vendor. The initial working capital up to Rs 10,000, said FM Sitharaman.
“Digital payments will be incentivised through monetary rewards and enhanced working capital credit would be made available for good repayment behaviour. Will provide liquidity of Rs 5000 crore,” said Nirmala Sitharaman.
Image Source: PIB
Special measures for Housing
Finance Minister also announced some relief measures for middle income group with annual income of Rs 6-18 lakh as the credit linked subsidy scheme introduced in May 2017 which was to last till March 31, 2020 will be extended to March 31, 2021.
“Over 3.3 lakh families previously benefited, and additional 2.5 lakh middle income families will join in. Jobs creation, steel, cement and heavy duty material will improve. Will have immediate impact on demand-side,” said Sitharaman.
“This wil lead to investiment over Rs 70,000 crore in housing sector, said FM Sitharaman
Image Source: PIB
Support measures for Tribals/Adivasis
Finance Minister said that employment creation will be done in tribal areas through Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) funds.
“The government says it has already received proposals worth Rs 6,000 crore to help generate employment for tribals and Adivasis for afforestation and plantation works, artificial regeneration etc. Considering the monsoon is approaching, these projects will kick off soon,” added Finance Minister.
Image Source: PIB
Support for Farmers
In support for farmers, the Modi government announced various measures including Rs 30,000 crore additional emergency working capital fund through NABARD.
Finance Minister announced that through KISAN Credit cards, 2 lakh crore will be made available to 2.5 crore farmers giving them access to institutional credit. She added Regional Rural Banks and Rural Cooperative banks will be the main source for credit and NABARD will extend additional refinance support of Rs 30,000 crore for crop loan requirement of rural coop banks and RRBs.
FM Sitharaman said that the additional emergency working capital fund through NABARD will be immediately released for small and marginal farmers so that post-harvest rabi produce and preparatory work for Kharif crops are supported. State cooperative banks, district cooperative banks and regional rural banks have been roped in. Will directly reach and benefit 3 crore rural farmers, said FM.
“Fishermen and animal husbandry farmers will be considered under this scheme. Will seek to enrol more farmers for KISAN cards so that they benefit,” said Sitharaman.
‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ – A mission for self-reliance
In his fifth address to the nation over the Coronavirus pandemic, on Tuesday Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an economic package under ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ amounting Rs 20 lakh crore to revamp the economy which is facing a serious crisis due to the Chinese epidemic. The economic package includes the recent announcements made by the government and the Reserve Bank of India on supporting key sectors of the country.
In his speech, PM Modi said the economic package would be around the 10 per cent of the GDP.
“I announce a special economic package today. This will play an important role in the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’. The announcements made by the government on coronavirus, decisions of RBI and today’s package totals to Rs 20 lakh crore. This is 10 per cent of India’s GDP,” PM Narendra Modi said.
The Prime Minister also said the package would help every section of society, including workers, farmers, the middle class, industrial units and the MSME sector.
The stimulus will play an important role in the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’ (Self-reliant India Campaign), PM Modi said.
“India’s self-reliance will be based on five pillars — economy, infrastructure, technology-driven system, vibrant demography and demand. When India speaks of self-reliance, it does not advocate for a self-centred system. In India’s self-reliance there is a concern for the whole world’s happiness, cooperation and peace,” PM Modi said in his address.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the second tranche of relief measures under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. The second tranche focused on farmers, migrant workers, small traders and others. The first tranche of announcements on Wednesday had focused on providing relief to MSMEs, NBFCs, MFIs and HFCs, electric distribution companies and others.
Nirmala Sitharaman announced that a scheme will be launched by the Government under PMAY to provide affordable rent to migrant labour and urban poor. Government funded housing in the cities will be converted into Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHC) under PPP mode through concessionaire. Manufacturing units, industries, institutions and central and state government organisations will be incentivised to develop ARHC on their own land and operate.
Source: PIB/Twitter
In addition to that, migrants will be enabled to avail the Public Distribution System from any Fair Price Shop in India by March 2021. Currently, 20 states have been integrated into the intra-state portability system. By August 2020, 67 crore beneficiaries in 23 states covering 83% of the PDS population will have been covered. The biggest announcement, perhaps, was that migrants who are neither NSFA or State Card beneficiaries in the state they are stationed at will be provided 5 kg of grains per person and 1 kg of Chana per family per month for two months. An estimated 8 crore migrants are expected to benefit. Rs. 3500 crores will be spent on this and the costs will be incurred fully by the Government of India. However, state governments are expected to implement the same.
Source: PIB/Twitter
The Finance Minister also announced that MNREGA will support returning migrants. 14.62 crore person-days of work have been generated till the 13th of May 2020. The actual expenditure till date is estimated to be around Rs. 10,000 crores. Earlier, the Government had permitted state governments to utilise State Disaster Response Fund (SRDF) for setting up shelter for migrants and provide them food and water.
The leftist cabal of media in recent years has made sure that the terrorists who are hailed as martyrs by the Islamic separatists in Jammu and Kashmir are humanised and forcefully fed into our collective memory while the Indian security forces who along with their families are the first victims of the Islamic separatist movement or “Jihad” as Islamists call it are wiped off from the memory of this nation.
Not only this, but the Islamists intelligentsia has also created a narrative and an ecosystem where hatred against the Army personnel is normalised. The recent “sheroes” of Barkha Dutt and Ravish Kumar Ladeeda and Ayesha Renna who celebrated the Pulwama massacre and are ardent sympathizers of Afzal Guru and supporters of the separatist movement in Kashmir have been lifted to glory and are being hailed as ‘Burqa-clad empowered Muslim’ women.
There are multiple such terrorist sympathisers who have spewed venom against the Indian security forces as well as India on multiple platforms labelling the army as “rapist/oppressors” and very recently “war criminals” (by Mehoor Parvez) but the leftist cabal of media always finds a way to justify such hatred against Indian army, resulting in apathy towards the soldiers.
It is the result of this common apathy that the perpetual attacks on Army personnel are forgotten and buried in an unvisited corner of our conscience. The Kaluchak Terrorist attack which took place exactly 18 years back on this same day, 14 of May has been wiped off from our collective memory.
14 May 2002, Kaluchak, Jammu and Kashmir: The Massacre
Mid May is that time of the year when Army children are eagerly waiting to revisit their hometowns and enjoy summer vacations with their extended family members who otherwise are very far away from their parent’s military posting area. May 2002 would have been the same but Operation Parakram, the biggest ever military stand-off on Pakistani border by India as a response to The Parliament Attack of 2001, was still going on and there was a possibility of a full-blown Indo-Pak War.
In the early hours of 14 May 2002, three Pakistani terrorists managed to sneak into Indian territory from Samba region. While wearing Army uniforms, they reached the highway few miles away and boarded a Himachal Pradesh Roadways bus going towards Jammu city. On entering the Jammu district, the armed terrorists masquerading as army-men asked the passengers to disembark from the bus in Kaluchak (about 15km from Jammu).
The passengers mistaking the terrorists for security personnel due to the army uniform assumed that they were being asked to get down because of some security measure. Suddenly, the terrorists started shooting at the passengers and driver. The driver Prem Kumar and 6 passengers (including woman and children) were killed and many others were injured as the terrorists threw a grenade while they were disembarking the bus.
The sounds of the gunshots and grenade explosion diverted the attention of nearby sentries of Army Camp Colony, giving terrorists an opportunity to lob hand grenades towards security perimeter and storm into the nearby family quarters of Khetarpal Vihar Lines of Kaluchak military station. In the Khetarpal Vihar, like most of India, little children were getting ready to go their nearby Army School Kaluchak or Army School Ratnuchak for one of the last few days before summer vacations begin and as a result, many of the army quarters’ front gates were open or unlocked just like any other morning.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t ‘just’ any other morning, the heavily armed terrorists entered the army family quarters, whose gates they found open and brutally shot down whoever they saw in the homes.
A two-month-old infant, Gagandeep, was killed while she was in her sleep, a child was gunned down while in the bathroom, a schoolgirl was shot dead in front of dressing table as she was getting ready for her school. A woman stood at the door to block it, that didn’t allow one of the terrorist to enter their home; another woman dragged away some of the children to a corner, while another faced all the bullets to save her little son. The loss of lives of women and children falling victim to inhumane terrorists (who enjoy massive support from the human rights lobby) added to the agony of their surviving kith and kin.
By the time security forces rushed to the scene and launched the operation to hunt down terrorists, 21 people(8 women, 10 children and 3 army men) lost their lives in the Kaluchak military station, apart from the 7 killed in the bus. Also, 47 people were severely injured in the Kaluchak. Many of the army quarters were partially damaged and carried bullet marks and were bathed with the blood of innocent women and children whose family members stand for the nation’s security. One barrack and several vehicles were destroyed in the ensuing encounter. All the terrorists involved in this attack were 19-20 yrs old and all were from Pakistan(1 from Faisalabad & 2 others from Gujranwala). This attack invited a huge rage from army families across all the cantonments and military stations, particularly in Northern Command, they demanded an attack on Pakistan, as such there was already a massive build-up of troops along the border.
Subedar Attar Singh and his wife were heartbroken and grief-stricken for life as they lost both of their children, Subedar Attar Singh said, “As a father, I can never get over the death of my own children. I only wish they had fired at me and not at my innocent children”. Subedar Gurdev Singh, who was at a forward post on the border ready to sacrifice his own life for the nation when the cowardly terrorist attack took away the lives of his wife and daughter said, “We want war with Pakistan only to reply to the numerous terrorist strikes against our people.”
Brigadier Preeti Arora who was commandant of 166 Military Hospital, Jammu said that she would never be able to forget the scenes on 14 May in her rest of the life. The dying children and cries of the wailing mothers wallowing in pain and loss of their beloved kids still echo in her ears. She further said that the need of the hour is for common people to learn from the sacrifices of defence personnel and stand up against terrorists.
While remembering and narrating the horrible course of events that took place that day Ashish Tripathi whose father was posted on the border during that time for Operation Prakaram says, “I was about their age group (11 years at that time), I wore the same army school uniform like them but while I completed my school in that uniform those children getting ready for the school never made it to school again and left the world. The attack was emotionally traumatizing for all of the Army children and families. We carry immeasurable anguish from the horrific memories of that day. The incident filled our minds with terror, trauma, and loss that we will haunt us for life.”
Timeline of the Kaluchak Massacre
All political parties in India condemned this attack and criticised Pakistan in one voice. (thankfully, no silly theories emerged as all the terrorists were identified as Pakistani citizens, unlike the Pulwama attack of 14th February 2019 in which 40 CRPF personnel martyred and hundreds of soldiers injured and instead of grieving the loss, the media made celebrities out of Ayesha Renna who wrote “Pulwama se panga nahi, bye bye” with an attached image of the list of the martyred CRPF Jawans. And the politicians were busy in indulging in divisive conspiracy theories to link the terrorist attack which was a part of the Islamic, Jihadi movement in Kashmir to the upcoming elections.)
The international leaders condemned this attack in the harshest words including George Bush of USA, European Union Presidency and leaders from Russia, Japan and Germany. Australia listed Lashkar-E-Taiyyaba as a terrorist organisation. Parvez Musharraf taken aback by the international backlash condemned this terror attack and got Hafiz Saeed arrested but ironically he carried on with his warmongering speeches.
Though Indian Army pressed on the government to attack Pakistan for this attack, the government couldn’t proceed with such request as Pakistan was serving as a military base for US troops involved in Afghanistan operations against Al-Qaeda.
The attack was gradually forgotten by the public as the government in states and centre changed in the subsequent elections and affected army persons moved out to different places of postings, yet a handful of us do remember that unfortunate day when Islamic terrorism manifested it’s brutality in this unimaginable and horrific terrorist attack, sparing not even an infant.
The financial assistance for the family who lost their kin at that time was just ₹1 lakh for the dead and ₹75k for the seriously wounded. No amount can ever compensate for the loss of lives of the innocent children, women and duty-bound courageous men, yet this financial assistance is insubstantial.
Reading about this brutal attack I realised that this too has been buried too deep in our memory as a nation to be forgotten like all other countless, incessant and unrecognized sacrifices of our army men. The nation, a youth which will wake up indifferent, unaware of the brutality that our army men have suffered and the loss they have borne to celebrate a social media hashtag of “Thursday Throwback”, and not realizing not all ‘Throw Back Thursdays’ will have happy memories; and somewhere a father, a mother, a family who readily sent their youth to fight for the country on the border will still be carrying the trauma and grief of the loss of their loved ones, how will it ever be able to empathise with them.
The apathy has been systemised but we need to remember that peace reigns because these army men stand its guard and to let their memory fade away, their sacrifices forgotten will make for our collective sin as a nation.
