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Top Maoist leader who headed their weapons development and research wing arrested in Maharashtra

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The Maharashtra police on Friday arrested senior Maoist leader Ramanna a.k.a Vitthalanna Madru from Ballarshah town in the state’s Chandrapur district. The police also managed to arrest the wife of the 65 year old leader.

They were arrested at the Ballarpur station based on a tip-off by Gadchiroli police, after which the Chandrapur police brought them to the former’s jurisdiction. They were believed to be heading for Telangana for reasons yet unknown.

Ramanna who carried a Rs 25 lakh bounty on his head, was an expert gun maker and headed the Maoist’s research and development wing of arms. Before being arrested he was the member of CPI (Maoist)’s Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee. Such an arrest makes him the first Maoist of such a high cadre to be caught alive.

Ramanna is believed to have been working for the Maoists since 1975 and assumed the responsibility of their technical wing in 1995. Since 1996 he has worked in Maoist hotbeds like Kondagoan, Maad, Tipagarh, Aheri and Bastar.

Apart from manufacturing weapons, Ramanna was also involved in imparting weapons training to young Maoist cadres.

His wife, Padma Kodape, too carried a bounty on her head which amounted to Rs 6 lakh, and is speculated to have been working for the Maoists since 1992. She has been accused of contributing to Maoist attacks in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

Incidentally, the reports carrying this news also claim that differences had arisen between Ramanna and central committee members, who he alleged had prevented his membership to the committee.

This arrest comes in the light of the Maoist influence in the country shrinking to a mere 58 districts in light of a renewed counterinsurgency plan.

Under this plan, the security forces are backed by real-time intelligence via the use of modern tech like drones. It also involves coordinated day and night operations by security personnel, which allows Maoists to be targeted deep in the jungle.

‘Sometimes truth needs to be told as is, Aurangzeb was a terrorist’, says Maheish Girri

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BJP MP Maheish Girri, on Friday, described Aurangzeb as a ‘terrorist’ and hailed his brother, Dara Shikoh. Girri was speaking on the sidelines of the inauguration of twin events- a conference ‘Aurangzeb & Dara Shikoh: A Tale of Two Brothers’ and an exhibition, titled, ‘Dara Shikoh, the Forgotten Prince of Islam’ at the IGNCA in the national capital.

In 2015, Girri had sent the proposal to the Centre for renaming the Aurangzeb Road in Lutyens’ Delhi as Dr APJ Kalam Road in 2015 for which he received the Shivaji Award for Courage. While derided by an Indian Express journalist, Girri stood his ground unapologetically.


Addressing a gathering at the launch of the events, he said he used to feel extreme pain whenever he saw the signage of the road bearing the name of a cruel ruler. He felt it was against the idea of India and not in the interest of the country. He pointed out how in school books, history does not mention Dara Shikoh, Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan’s elder son and heir apparent, whom Aurangzeb got killed in 1659.

In recent times, many have started hailing Aurangzeb as a noble leader as against the brutal, barbaric ruler that he was. However, the systematic whitewashing of Mughal crimes has been called out as well.

While Rahul got anointed as Janeu Dhari Hindu, Congress’ wily advocates use the judiciary to shoot the Hindus in the foot

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“Diversity is a strength,” we are told. However, for the Congress Party, it has not been too much of a strength of late. The Congress Party has people who can together balance all sides of the field balance and on the face of it, their actions often seem contradictory. The apparent diversity in the actions and statements of the Congress Party is so huge that if the Congress Party were a person, it can be safely said that he or she would have been suffering from a severe case of cognitive dissonance.

For instance, when Surjewala declared Rahul Gandhi to be a Janeu-Dhari Hindu, Kapil Sibal was the lawyer for a private party batting against the Ram Temple at Ayodhya.

One would expect the politicians and advocates in the Congress party to maintain some sort of coherence in their actions but leaders of the Congress do not bother themselves with such trivialities. And thus, Congress leaders can simultaneously project Rahul Gandhi as a devout Hindu and in the Court, argue that the Ram Janambhoomi case be heard after the 2019 general elections.

There are only two possibilities here. Either the proverbial left-hand does not know what the proverbial right hand is doing and cannot control its actions in any manner or, the advocates and the politicians in the Congress are catering to two diverse groups to ensure that both sections feel they are on their side. And when looks towards the past, it seems evident that the latter is the case. It has become sort of an axiomatic truth that should a PIL be filed in Court to restrict or regulate a Hindu festival or one that proposes measures that could hurt national interests, the Congress party will inevitably be connected to the litigation in some form or the other. The Congress often castigates the BJP for questioning its patriotism and accusing it of being anti-Hindu. On the other hand, advocates in the Congress party will appear in Courts arguing for parties that will make any sensible person question their patriotism and deem them enemies of the Hindu faith. The leap from working against Hindu interests to working against India is not one that is too big. And advocates in the Congress party do not shy away from either.

Cracker Ban : 

The ban on the sale of crackers during Diwali hurt the sentiments of many devout Hindus. The PIL in court that led to the ban was filed by three toddlers, then aged between 6 months to 14 months, through their fathers. It is, of course, the most repulsive tactic used by the Left. It fires its political agenda from the shoulders of children who have no agency in a bid to emotionally blackmail the critics into submission. The fathers of the toddlers are advocates themselves and two of them were represented by Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Kapil Sibal of the Congress Party.

Jallikattu : 

We remember the massive Jallikattu protests in 2017 and how the Congress had blamed the BJP for the banning of the festival. They had even come out and said that they were in favour of the people of Tamil Nadu preserving their cultural heritage and traditions. What they had forgotten very conveniently was, they had supported a ban on the tradition in their election manifesto in May 2016 and their esteemed leader, Abhishek Manu Singhvi was arguing in the court for the Animal Welfare Board for a ban on Jallikattu and stated that it was cruelty to the animals involved.

Hadiya (formerly Akhila) marriage case :

Kapil Sibal is also the lawyer for Shafin Jahan in the Hadiya (formerly Akhila) marriage case. The NIA is probing the matter as a case of indoctrination and conversion after Akhila’s parents alleged she was brainwashed and indoctrinated into converting to Islam. The NIA has earlier pointed out in a report that there was a pattern to conversions into Islam and India Today had reported that there was a conversion mafia working towards trapping young Hindu women and converting them to Islam.

Enemy Property Act : 

That they often work against the interests of the nation, was most obvious in in the Congress’s repeated hesitation and unwillingness to enforce the Enemy Property Act. Salman Khurshid was representing the kin of Raja Mahmudabad, a person who played an integral role in the creation of Pakistan, in a case related to ancestral property while the Manmohan Singh government fiddled with the bill and ultimately allowed the ordinance it to lapse. The beneficiary of the government’s actions almost incredulously turned out to be the Salman Khurshid’s client. Surprising, is it not? The Congress opposed the Enemy Property Act, which would prevent descendants of people who had taken the citizenship of Pakistan and China from inheriting their property, on the grounds that it will hurt the sentiments of Indian Muslims.

Demonetization : 

Demonetization sparked strong reactions from across the board and it also led to PILs against it in the Court. The hero again was Kapil Sibal of the Congress party, who has an uncanny resemblance with Wormtail from the Harry Potter movies, appeared in court representing a petitioner. The Supreme Court, of course, refused to stay the order.

Juvenile Justice (care and protection) Act 2015 : 

Advocates in the Congress also appeared in Court against the Juvenile Justice (care and protection) Act 2015 which made provisions for minors who have committed heinous crimes to be tried as adults, in the aftermath of the Nirbhaya case. In this matter, the petitioner was Tehseen Poonawalla and his advocate was former minority affairs minister, Salman Khurshid. It was argued that retributive punishment instead of reformative efforts would be detrimental to the welfare of children. Thus it appears, people from Congress want another instance where rapists walk free because they are just months away from being 18.

Representing people accused of embezzling funds meant for riot victims and fabrication of evidence : 

We have Kapil Sibal again working as an advocate for Teesta Setalvad and her husband who is accused of embezzlement of funds meant for victims of the 2002 Gujarat riots. Teesta Setalvad is also under investigation for an allegation of fabrication of evidence in the 2002 Gujarat riots case and the FRCA registration of her NGO was cancelled for receiving foreign funds illegally.

Deriding Hinduism to defend Triple Talaq : 

It was again Kapil Sibal who was the counsel for AIMPLB in the triple talaq matter and he thought fit to deride Hinduism to defend a regressive practice that was being supported by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board.

While one can read his 6 awesome arguments here, these are the two arguments that truly stood out :

1. “If Hindus’ faith about Rama’s birth at Ayodhya can’t be questioned, then triple talaq, a matter of faith for Muslims shouldn’t be.”  — well, Hindus’ faith was questioned by the courts during the Ram Janmbhoomi case, and no, triple talaq is not a matter of faith, but a matter of practice. Many practices of Hindus from Dahi Handi to Jallikattu have been questioned by the courts.

2. “Hindu laws of divorce and succession are more discriminatory than triple talaq.” — even if it is true, what is the point? “What about Hindus?” Sibal seems to argue. This is classic whataboutism, which only “trolls” are accused of indulging in.

Unfortunately for the Congress, Kapil Sibal is neither omnipresent nor omnipotent. Therefore, sometimes their supporters and silent allies make their useful contribution to the cause.

Sabarimala Temple : 

Indira Jaisingh, for instance, was the advocate for petitioners who filed a PIL in the Court demanding that women between the age of 10-50 be allowed to enter the Sabarimala Temple.

Rohingya Muslim refugees : 

Prashant Bhushan, who regards Congress as the lesser evil between the two pan-India political parties and hopeful about Rahul Gandhi’s prospects, was the advocate for two Rohingyan Muslims who petitioned against the government’s plans to deport them all. Perhaps, the efforts of Congress affiliates and supporters may be better covered in a separate article afterwards.

Judge Loya : 

Another instance of Congress fiddling with the judiciary is the recent case of Judge Loya. A case, where every attempt has been made to not only bring disrepute to the judiciary itself but also raise suspicions over a seemingly natural death to tarnish Amit Shah. OpIndia had broken an exclusive story how the “whistleblowers” used by the Congress party have an extremely dubious past and are sketchy characters.

The most obvious defence for the Congress Party when these facts are pointed out is that advocates are free to practice their profession and their work does not reflect the opinions of the Congress Party. But in most of these issues, the Congress Party does have a vested political interest. The Congress Party must take us as fools if they want to us to believe that the Ram Janambhoomi case does not affect their political interests or the Enemy Property Act for example. They can conjure all sorts of excuses out of thin air as they want but the voter is smart and the voter understands that when members of the party which has a self-proclaimed Shiva Bhakt and alleged ‘Janeu-Dhari Hindu’ as the President works against Hindu interests in the Courts, it reflects the dishonesty that has become an integral feature of the Indian National Congress. While this is in no way a comprehensive list of Congress’ treachery, it is certainly indicative of their hideous use of Hindus and their strategy of Rahul being a “political Hindu”.

National Conference MLA shouts ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ inside Jammu and Kashmir assembly, Omar Abdullah refuses to apologize

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In a not-so-shocking incident, an MLA of the National Conference led by Omar Abdullah shouted Pakistan Zindabad in the J&K assembly. When asked about the incident by ANI, Akbar Lone, the MLA in question, told that it was his personal view and no one should have any problem with it. Akbar Lone was a cabinet minister holding the higher education portfolio when Omar Abdullah was chief minister. Akbar Lone currently represents Sonawari constituency.


As per a report in Greater Kashmir, a news portal in J&K, the MLA said :

“I am a Muslim first. My sentiments were hurt when they (BJP MLAs) were shouting “Pakistan Murdabad” slogans. I couldn’t control my emotions and raised Pakistan Zindabad slogans,”

Omar Abdullah refuses to apologise or ask for MLAs resignation

Former chief minister of J&K not only refused to apologise for his MLA’s behaviour but also blamed the government for failing to maintain security in Jammu.


Reports say that JKNC has distanced itself from the comments of the MLA.

But, the reaction of JKNC president on Twitter seems to have a defensive rather than apologetic in tone. What seemed to be under the covers has probably just come to light with the reaction of National Conference and Omar Abdullah.

‘Nehruvian Congressman and INC political activist’ scores a self goal, gets called out for his lies

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on an official visit to Palestine and UAE and Oman. This three-nation tour started yesterday when PM Modi reached Jordan. To reach Palestine, it is necessary to go through Jordan. In Amman, King Abdullah II of Jordan received PM Modi. PM had tweeted expressing his formal gratitude to King Abdullah II for allowing the transit.


PM Modi had posted on facebook about his Palestine visit. In the Facebook post PM had mentioned that he would be the First Indian Prime Minister to make an official visit to Palestine.

PM Modi’s post sent some Congress twitter handles into a frenzy. Congress had always preached support for Palestine but in all these years not a single Congress Prime Minister had made an official visit. Gaurav Pandhi, Congress functionary tweeted calling PM Modi ‘a liar’. He claimed that it was Nehru who had first visited Palestine and not PM Modi.


Gaurav Pandhi’s attempt at ‘fact checking’ was soon called out by twitterati as wrong and baseless. The fact is Jawaharlal Nehru had visited Gaza in 1960 and met General Inder Jit Rikhye who was stationed with the Indian troops along with UN forces in Gaza. But Gaza was under Egyptian control at that time. Palestine declared itself as an independent state only in November 1988.

Gaurav Pandhi’s massive gaffe was not taken kindly by twitter users. Many reacted to his false ‘fact checking’ and tweeted reacting to his attempt to malign the PM.

This is not the first time Congress handles have circulated fake news. But social media is a brutal place and every time fake news peddlers get called out by alert users.

Former bureaucrat reveals that PM Narasimha Rao knew about a temple under Babri Masjid, but chose to remain silent

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A startling revelation has come to light about the Ram Mandir saga in a book authored by the former principal secretary to the UP government Yogendra Narain. This allegation has emerged from the book ‘Born to Serve. Power Games in Bureaucracy’ authored by the former bureaucrat.

He has written in his book that the then Chief Minister of UP Kalyan Singh met PV Narasimha Rao. According to the book (page 78 and 79), the former principal secretary accompanied the CM to PM’s residence but remained outside when the one to one meeting happened. After the meeting, Kalyan Singh had informed him that Prime Minister told him about an ASI (Archeological Survey of India) report that had confirmed the existence of remnants of a temple under the masjid.

The bureaucrat has confirmed the incident on record to Times Now.

The bureaucrat said : [after 7: 15 in the above video ]

“These ASI findings could not have made any difference to what took place that day on December 6 and what happened thereafter, because both parties were rigid on their stance. Because one kept on saying that there was a temple there and the other said there was a masjid. The findings could have helped the Supreme Court in ascertaining. and if the Supreme Court had given the judgement, an early judgement based on those findings, perhaps this situation could have been avoided. Now, the Supreme Court must have also been depending not only on the report but, you know, reports of state government and central government. So, it is very difficult to say what would have happened, because the ASI report was only a  report was only a confidential report was made to the PM and Supreme Court because under the Supreme Court orders it had done the work. I think an early decision on this at that time by the court would have helped us.”

He also said that the BJP did not want the demolition of the temple to Times Now.

“I have a feeling that it was not the BJP party which wanted the demolition. It was these as we later found, Kar sevaks who had come from Maharashtra and other places who had very intense feelings on this, who had brought all this equipment to break [the mosque]. I would not like to take a political view of this, but I would reiterate that the PM Rao was fully aware of ASI findings, and I am sure that even if under RTI or by any other method, the reports could be taken out and given to Supreme Court or made public”

As per Yogendra Narain’s book, it appears that the Congress PM was aware of the existence of a Ram temple under the Babri Masjid, but the Congress PM had not revealed the facts to the public to gain political advantage over the BJP.

Kerala : two more retired employees of KSRTC kill self over pension woes

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Two more retired employees of KSRTC (Kerala State Road Transport Corporation) committed suicide over alleged non-receipt of pension since last four months, taking the casualties to 15 as per reports. Following the incident, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has called for an urgent meeting to form a consortium of co-operative banks, which would pay pension to the retired employees including the dues.

In Thiruvananthapuram, retired KSRTC employee Karunakaran Nadar, 69, consumed poison, while in Wayanad, another retired staff Natesh Babu, 68, was found hanging at a lodge in Sulthan Bathery. Earlier this week, another retired KSRTC employee V Roy, 59, died following lack of money to fund a cardiac surgery. As per reports, at least 15 retired employees of KSRTC have committed suicide till now.

The KSRTC has been defaulting on pensions for 38,500 retired staff due to the severe financial crisis. Trade unions of pensioners, affiliated to all political parties, have been on a warpath for the past several months demanding pension dues. The pensions stopped coming from September 2017 and the strike started in November last year.

Amidst all this, Kerala Assembly Speaker came under fire for billing the Exchequer for an expensive pair of glasses even as the government struggles to pay the pension for KSRTC employees. The RTI activist had accused the MLAs of extravagant expenses even as KSRTC struggles to pay pension and compensation to endosulfan victims. KSRTC, which operates 5,000 buses, has 42,000 employees on its rolls and 38,500 on pension rolls.

The upcoming Hindu Mandir in UAE : foundation to fruition

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India is a mystic land, a home of over 3.5 million mandirs, small and big, ancient and recent, which have actually helped generations of Hindus to sustain the daily life and progress on the path of spirituality. The spirit of coexistence and inclusiveness of Indian community has spread wherever they have settled. This time, a mandir in the Abu Dhabi will give the community a great reason to resonate with India.

Hindu mandirs have made great societal impact and contributions towards personal and social harmony. With all the enthusiasm and intrigue, when the shilanyas (Ground breaking & Foundation stone laying ceremony) day of a Hindu Mandir is to dawn on 11 Feb with PM Modi being present as chief guest there, it will herald the new era, where a Hindu community in UAE of over 3.3 million people will have a traditional Hindu stone mandir to rejoice their faith. The organization that will carry out the planning, construction and management is BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha; the same organization that has created world-renowned spiritual cultural mandir complexes such as Swaminarayan Akshardham in Delhi, Gandhinagar and upcoming in New Jersey, USA.

The dedicated efforts of the sadhus and devotees of BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha and Hindu community have culminated in the historic creation of the Mandir in UAE. The mandir complex would encompass assembly halls, exhibitions, thematic gardens, sports arena, water features, food court and a books and souvenir shop. The mandir will be a place to showcase India’s glorious culture, spiritual wisdom and universal appeal of Hinduism through interfaith dialogues.

A brief outline of spiritual activity and groundwork in UAE:

Hindus have settled in Gulf counties for many decades. To help sustain the value system, cultural, spiritual system and traditions, many have strived. P. Pramukh Swami Maharaj, spiritual head of BAPS (7 Dec 1921 – 13 Aug 2016, the 5th spiritual successor of BAPS) visited this region many a time since 1982. In 1985, 1997 and 2001, by visiting UAE and other middle east countries on many occasions; He and sadhus inspired Indian community about fostering values of righteous living and spiritual upliftment. On various occasions, they also used to meet various national leaders and representatives from Govt. and other sectors.

In Apr 2001, As part of their spiritual travelogue, P. Pramukh Swami Maharaj and sadhus met Sheikh Hamed Bin Majid Al-Qassimi – Minister of Justice of UAE and cousin brother of the Sheikh of Sharjah – Sheikh Dr Sultan. The Sheikh said, “You are doing good work. Spreading world peace can be done through saints like you … I hope this will not be our last meeting. I wish that we meet again and again.”

                                                        P. Pramukh Swami Maharaj & BAPS sadhus in UAE, Apr 2001

In Oct 2009 also, BAPS sadhus visited this region as part of their spiritual activities.

In August 2013, BAPS sadhus met the members of the royal family and other leaders to convey the message of peace, goodwill and interfaith harmony. These included meeting with HH Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister for Culture, Youth and Social Development and HH Sheikh Hasher Al Maktoum. The sadhus also met the vice-chancellor of the Higher Colleges of Technology, Dr Taiyeb Kamali.

BAPS Sadhus with Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister for Culture, Youth and Social Development in August 2013.

The new BAPS Cultural Centre in Dubai was inaugurated. The murti pratishtha vidhi was performed here.

                  BAPS Sadhus, devotees and guests doing Arti at BAPS Cultural Centre, Dubai in August 2013

In March 2016, over 1100 distinguished members of local Indian and Emirati community remained present to celebrate the launch of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam’s book ‘Transcendence: My Spiritual Experiences with Pramukh Swamiji’. Sheikh Nahyan and other guests applauded the book where Dr Kalam recounted the journey of his spiritual transformation by P. Pramkh Swamiji and had shared his holistic vision for India and the world in the book.

 

                                                                      Launch of Dr A.P.J Kalam’s book Transcendence

In Sept 2016, in The Sheikh Rashid Auditorium at the Indian High School in Dubai, the memorial assembly drew people from all communities and faith to pay a reverent tribute to P. Pramukh Swami Maharaj. The new traditional Hindu temple is estimated to have completed within 3 years, probably by 2020.

 

                     Tribute ceremony to P. Pramukh Swami Maharaj in Sheikh Rashid Auditorium, Dubai, UAE

In the tradition of great mandirs throughout the corners of India since ancient times, today,  BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha has revived the glory of mandir making in its pristine form, by creating more than 1200 mandirs and the Swaminarayan Akshardhams ,which have become the centres of to preserve Sanatan Dharma’s spiritual traditions, sustain the cultural values with a technologically stunning portrayal of art and architecture of India. Indians and Hindus living in India, Europe, Africa, Middle East, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other counties and continents have become reattached to Indian Culture and traditions due to these mandirs.

These mandirs in the form of Akshardhams and other such many BAPS mandirs in London, Nairobi, Houston, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Toronto, have revived Vedic architectural science that could be seen in India and outside, for ex. In the Sun Chariot Mandir in Konark, the soaring pinnacles of Tirupati, the delicate forms of Belur-Somnathpuri, the robust gateway of Madurai Meenakshi mandir, the awe-inspiring parikrama in Rameshwar and many more.

 

                     (Swaminarayan Akshardham inauguration, Mandir fosters spirituality, social service & national integration)

Not only various parts of worship, devotion, prayer and meditation in mandir would help one to move a step further towards strengthening one’s true identity, but these mandirs have been generators of a vast number of social activities, those serve society in building schools, hospitals, mobile dispensaries, gigantic relief works, anti addiction drives, tribal upliftment, Environmental awareness drives, thousands of children, youth and women assemblies worldwide, those provide opportunities to serve society in all manners along with holistic development of children, youth and all individuals.Highly educated 1200 BAPS sadhus and more than 55000 youth perform creation of mandirs and contribute in multiple socio-spirituo activities with the utmost devotion and precision.BAPS is in consultative status with Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

Let’s all get inspired in the new mandir at Abu Dhabi and enjoy a better tomorrow.

“The Swaminarayan temples and Akshardhams are indeed the sanctuaries of pious and virtuous living. They are abodes of peace and beacons of hope, rescuing people from the bottomless pit of self-indulgence, and, through service, reminding them of their true selves and allowing to become wholesome human beings. An increasing number of people, particularly in the developed world, are finding freedom from superficial relationships, trivial communications and the constant noise that pervade the modern world, in the counsel of and guidance of BAPS saints. May this divine presence increase! “

Dr A.P.J Abdul Kalam, in “Transcendence”, Introduction section, page xiv.

New Delhi, May 2015, Publisher: HarperCollins.

References:

Articles in Swaminarayan Prakash (Gujarati), Swaminarayan Bliss (English) published by Swaminarayan Aksharpith, BAPS. An introductory video by eterpride.com, www.divyabhaskar.co.in, Feb 9 article.

BAPS News Archives & articles from www.baps.org

 

Hardik Patel meets Mamata Banerjee, calls her ‘Lady Gandhi’

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Hardik Patel, the chief of Patidar Andolan Anamat Samiti (PAAS) met Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday. Hardik Patel was on a visit to Kolkata where he met Banerjee in her office.

Hardik Patel had described Mamata Banerjee as ‘Lady Gandhi’ in a tweet.


As per reports, Hardik spoke to media persons after the meeting and said that the West Bengal CM had invited him to join Trinamool Congress and work for Trinamool in Gujrat. He also said that he will campaign for TMC in Bengal for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Hardik went on to state that he had not met Mahatma Gandhi but after meeting Mamata he felt like meeting ‘Lady Gandhi’.

Hardik also compared Mamata to Indira Gandhi. Adding to his statements he said that he had never heard of such a feisty political leader like Mamata Banerjee since Indira Gandhi. He stated that there is no opposition in the country other than Congress and TMC and all parties should come together.

Mamata Banerjee too mentioned Hardik as a younger brother and praised him for having a good sense of politics. She also stated that she had asked Hardik to join politics as it is politicians who make policy decisions.

Hardik was earlier supported by Congress during Gujrat elections. After BJP won a majority, he was seen blaming EVMs for Congress’ loss in the Gujrat elections.

Railway ministry decides to sack 13,000 employees who have taken long and unauthorised leaves

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The Piyush Goyal led Railway Ministry has identified more than 13,000 Railway Employees who have taken long and unauthorised leaves of absence. The ministry is now in process of initiating a disciplinary action which would result in the termination of their services.

This action as per reports is part a drive which seeks to improve the organisation’s performance and boost the morale of diligent and sincere employees. As per a statement by the railways, the massive drive to identify long-term absentees in various railway departments was initiated which resulted in them earmarking about 13,000 of the total 13 lakh employees.

As per a press release by PIB, this exercise was launched under the direction of Minister Piyush Goyal and apart from the aforementioned steps, the officers and supervisors have been instructed to “weed out” the defaulting employees from the employee rolls after following due process.

Ever since coming to power the Modi government has been making a name for itself when it comes to being strict with non-performing bureaucrats.

In July it was reported that the Ministry of Personnel had given premature retirement or cut the remuneration of 381 civil servants for either being non-performers or for allegedly being involved in illegal activities.

In August the Modi government had compulsorily retired two IAS officers for being inefficient in their duty. In January two other IPS officers were also sacked by the Modi government for non-performance.

The Defence ministry too has taken such an action, with it compulsorily retiring more than 12 officials of the Indian Ordnance Factory Service (IOFS) for poor performance.

A similar cut in the workforce was witnessed in December 2015, when it was revealed that the Modi government had so far dismissed 13 officers and imposed pension cut on 45 others for unsatisfactory performance and delivery in public service. The government had then taken the decision to remove the “Deadwood” in order to make the bureaucracy performance oriented and more accountable.