Tag: nation

Nation looking at Bihar with great expectations for change: Arundhati Roy

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Patna: Acclaimed author Arundhati Roy said on Friday that she has great expectations from Bihar in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, as the exercise of opposition unity is starting from the state which will prove successful.
Roy was in Patna to participate in the 11th national meeting of CPI(ML) held at the Sri Krishna Memorial hall.
“We have great expectations that Bihar will play a crucial role in opposition unity ahead of next year’s Lok Sabha polls. Recently, the BJP received a big jolt in Bihar. People of the country are looking at Bihar to remove the BJP from the Centre,” Roy said.
“At present, the country is run by only four people — Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani. The country has 21 people whose wealth is more than the collective wealth of 30 crore people. Look at Adani, he is operating in almost all sectors,” Roy said.
“We need a sensible alliance to remove the BJP from the Centre. The Left parties have taken the initiative and have also invited the two alliance leaders, Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav. We are hopeful that they will participate in the CPI(ML) event on the second day,” Roy said.
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#Nation #Bihar #great #expectations #change #Arundhati #Roy

( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 18, 2023
Pompeo says Israel has biblical claim to Palestine and is ‘not an occupying nation’

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Mike Pompeo, the former US secretary of state, has defended Israel’s decades-long control of the Palestinian territories by claiming that the Jewish state has a biblical claim to the land and is therefore not occupying it.
Pompeo told the One Decision podcast that his religious beliefs, US strategic interests and his view of the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, as a “known terrorist” underpinned his support as the Trump administration’s top diplomat for the shift in US policy away from mediating a two-state solution and toward more openly siding with Israel.
“[Israel] is not an occupying nation. As an evangelical Christian, I am convinced by my reading of the Bible that 3,000 years on now, in spite of the denial of so many, [this land] is the rightful homeland of the Jewish people,” he said.
Pompeo, who referred to the occupied West Bank by its Israeli name of Judea and Samaria, declined to support a two-state solution of an independent Palestine alongside Israel – an increasingly diminishing prospect after years of failed negotiations and the rise to power of politicians in Israel who advocate annexing the occupied territories.
“I’m for an outcome that guarantees Israeli security and makes the lives better for everyone in the region,” he said.
Pompeo, who once suggested that God sent Trump to save Israel, was speaking ahead of publication of a book, Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love, that has fuelled speculation he is laying the groundwork for a presidential run.
As secretary of state he reversed a number of longstanding US policies, including overturning legal advice from 1978 that declared Israel’s settlements in the West Bank “inconsistent with international law”. Most western governments, such as the UK, say the settlements and Israel’s annexation of occupied East Jerusalem are a breach of the Geneva conventions and are therefore illegal.
Pompeo was Trump’s CIA director before his appointment as secretary of state in 2018. He played an instrumental role in an administration that recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved the US embassy to that city from Tel Aviv. The move was widely criticised, including by Washington’s allies, as pre-empting a final agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

Pompeo said it is in the US’s interests to back Israel whatever its policies, and he blamed the Palestinians for the failure of peace negotiations.
“What’s in America’s best interest? Is it to sit and wait for Abu Mazen [Abbas], a known terrorist who’s killed lots and lots of people, including Americans … to draw a line on a map? That’s what the state department would do,” he said.
“The previous secretary of state ran back and forth from Tel Aviv to Ramallah and tried to draw lines on a map. We said: ‘That’s not in America’s best interest. Let’s go create peace,’ and we did.”
Pompeo was part of the Trump administration team that negotiated the Abraham accords normalisation agreements between Israel and several formerly hostile countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Sudan. At the time he said the accords were part of the administration’s efforts to ensure that “that this Jewish state remains”.
“I am confident that the Lord is at work here,” he said.
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#Pompeo #Israel #biblical #claim #Palestine #occupying #nation
( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )

February 16, 2023
Nation pays homage to CRPF jawans killed in Pulwama attack

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Pulwama: Fifteen of the 19 militants involved in the 2019 Pulwama attack have been either been killed or arrested while the security situation in Kashmir has improved with greater synergy between agencies, officials said on Tuesday as the nation paid homage to the CRPF personnel killed in the terror strike.
In the attack by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists in the south Kashmir district on this day in 2019, 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed when an explosive-laden vehicle hit their convoy at Lethpora when they were heading from Jammu to Srinagar using the National Highway-44.
In a retaliatory strike, the Indian Air Force had carried out an air raid in Pakistan’s Balakot on February 26, 2019, targeting terrorist camps.
“Nineteen terrorists were involved in the Pulwama attack, eight have been neutralised (killed) while seven arrested. Four are still at large and of them, three are Pakistanis, including (Jaish-e-Mohammed chief) Masood azhar,” Additional Director General of Police, Kashmir Zone, Vijay Kumar, said after paying tributes to the slain CRPF personnel at the Pulwama Martyrs’ Memorial in Lethpora.
Kumar also said in the last three years, the Jaish-e-Mohammed has been “wiped out” in the Kashmir Valley. Only seven to eight terrorists are active now, he said.
“The situation in Kashmir has improved post the Pulwama attack. Stone pelting incidents do not take place anymore while ‘hartals’ have come to an end. Record tourists are arriving in Kashmir,” CRPF Inspector General (Operations) M S Bhatia told reporters at the memorial, around 21 kilometres from Srinagar.
CRPF Special Director General Daljit Singh Chaudhry and General Officer Commanding of Army’s 15 Corps Lt Gen A S Aujla also paid their tributes at the memorial.
Bhatia said there is “excellent” synergy between security agencies in Kashmir and “we are proceeding to wipe out terrorism from the Kashmir Valley”.

“We are working against the terror ecosystem and keeping an eye on OGWs (over-ground workers) who provide logistics and shelter to terrorists. We are trying to deny them space where they can execute any plans,” he said.
Several events were organised across the country to mark the fourth anniversary of the attack with the CRPF holding a series of functions, including the one at the Pulwama Martyrs’ Memorial in Kashmir’s Lethpora.
Paying tribute to the CRPF personnel killed in the 2019 attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “Remembering our valorous heroes who we lost on this day in Pulwama. We will never forget their supreme sacrifice. Their courage motivates us to build a strong and developed India.” “The nation can never forget their sacrifice. Their valour and indomitable courage will always remain an inspiration in the fight against terrorism,” Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Twitter.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh paid homage to the CRPF personnel killed in the 2019 terror attack and said the entire nation stands firmly with their families.
Elaborating on measures taken post the Pulwama attack, CRPF IG Bhatia said modernisation of weaponry and gadgets have been done to ensure that terrorists are not able to carry out another such strike.
“Modernisation is a work in progress. The national highway is under round-the-clock surveillance through CCTV cameras. We are using drones and have 12 stations along the highway. We have inducted (land) mine-proof vehicles and bullet-proof vehicles as well. The impact can be seen on the ground,” he said.
Jammu and Kashmir LG Manoj Sinha and Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Dilbag Singh also paid tributes to the 40 CRPF jawans, with the Union Territory’s police chief saying that the nation is indebted to the “our brave heart martyrs who served the nation and its citizens till their last breath while making supreme sacrifice of their lives”.
As a mark of respect to the 40 CRPF personnel, Lt General (retired) KJS Dhillon, who was the head of the army’s strategic Srinagar-based XV Corps, released his book ‘Kitne Ghazi Aaye Kitne Ghazi Gaye’ today.
In Jammu, CRPF troops held a function at the headquarters of the force’s 76 Battalion in the Channi area to pay tributes, while school children made colourful sketches to remember the jawans.
“We paid tributes today. We annually organise this function to pay tributes to the CRPF martyrs. We are always dedicated for the safety and security of India and service to the nation,” Battalion Commandant, Tarique Hussain, Khan told reporters in Jammu.
A CRPF jawan, who was driving one of the buses in the convoy that was attacked, said terror attacks cannot break the morale of troops. “We are ready to die for the nation,” he said.
Functions were also organised by people of Palura village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Samba district and Jammu University students to pay homage to the CRPF personnel killed in the Pulwama attack.
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#Nation #pays #homage #CRPF #jawans #killed #Pulwama #attack
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 14, 2023
This man topi-pehnau-ed this wonderful nation: Mahua Moitra on Adani in LS

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New Delhi: TMC MP Mahua Moitra on Tuesday launched a stinging attack on the government over the Adani-Hindenburg issue and said the billionaire businessman had ‘topi-pehnau-ed (duped)’ the country.
While participating in the debate on the ‘Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address’ in Lok Sabha, Moitra, without naming Adani, said that a famous person whose name starts with ‘A’ and ends with ‘I’ and is not Advani, who stinks of crony capitalism, had duped everyone.
Soon after she concluded her speech, there were angry exchanges between Trinamool Congress (TMC) and BJP members. Moitra was heard using certain objectionable words to which the Chair objected and urged members to avoid cuss words.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi asked Moitra to apologise out of morality and said if she does not it would reflect on her culture.
Moitra brought two birthday caps in the House to press her argument that the businessman being most talked about had “topi-pehnau-ed” the government.
She demanded that an enquiry be ordered against the activities of the Adani group.
Beginning her address by quoting from President Droupadi Murmu’s address, Moitra said, “Every word I utter is going to be an oblation and offering a truth into my ‘maha yagna’ of nation building.”
“I want to start off by saying as an ex-investment banker, I want companies to thrive. But I want honest, hardworking Indian companies to strive and not trapeze artists. As an MP colleague of mine likes to say the Chair always asked me not to get angry. I will not be angry for what I have to say. I will only say that we’ve all been fooled,” she said.

Moitra also alleged that the businessman gives the impression that doing things for him means that one would be in the prime minister and home minister’s good books.
Referring to a statement by the Adani group in which it had said that short-seller Hindenburg’s report was a calculated attack on India, she said, “The pride of India is not the wealth of one individual, pride of India lies in the robustness of its institutional structures.”
She said a company which is in infrastructure makes five to 15 per cent returns if they are lucky and if they get everything right, but the multiple with which this company ‘A’ was trading was absolutely outrageous.
Even Google, Amazon and Microsoft don’t trade on such multiples, she said.
“Honourable home minister, he has topi-pehnau-ed you…he is getting security clearances from the ministry of home affairs…Madam, finance minister he has topi-pehnau-ed you,” the TMC leader said.
“This man has been allowed to use LIC, SBI to get money as and when he likes. Honourable civil aviation, he has ‘topi-pehnau-ed’, you shipping minister, he has topi-pehna-ed you petroleum minister, he has ‘topi-pehnau-ed’ oil PSUs…power minister he has topi-pehnau-ed you,” she said.
“India is on its way to becoming the third largest economy in the world. Don’t let him smear your time in government, with a stink of crony capitalism. Please immediately order a full complete and thorough investigation into all matters…Our country’s reputation is at risk,” Moitra said.
She also said the House too has historically seen some of the greatest debates, some friendly, some not so friendly sparring matches.
“But it is more and less a sacred place where elected representatives could speak their minds without fear of favour…Today and I say this with a heavy heart, Lok Sabha is a space which stands out more for what cannot be said in this hall, then what can we say. The list of unmentionables is actually far longer than the list of mentionables,” she claimed.
“We cannot say China, we cannot say Pegasus, we can not say BBC, we cannot say Morbi, we cannot say Rafael, and sometimes we cannot even say Modi ji…,” she said.
The opposition has been demanding a joint parliamentary committee probe or a Supreme Court-monitored investigation into the allegations of fraud and manipulation made by the US-based short seller Hindenburg Research against billionaire Gautam Adani’s companies that triggered an unprecedented stock crash. The group has denied the charges.
The opposition parties have alleged that the meltdown in Adani Group shares is a ‘mega scam’ that involves common people’s money as public sector LIC and SBI have invested in them and have questioned the government on steps taken by it.
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#man #topipehnaued #wonderful #nation #Mahua #Moitra #Adani
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 8, 2023
Modi to dedicate HAL’s helicopter factory in Karnataka to nation on Feb 6

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Bengaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate to the nation a helicopter factory of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) at Tumakuru in Karnataka on February 6.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and senior officials of the Ministry of Defence will also be present on the occasion.
The Greenfield Helicopter Factory, spread across 615 acres of land, is planned with a vision of becoming a one-stop solution for all helicopter requirements of the country.
It is India’s largest helicopter manufacturing facility and will initially produce Light Utility Helicopters (LUHs).
The LUH is an indigenously designed and developed 3-tonne class, single-engine multipurpose utility helicopter with unique features of high maneuverability.
Initially, this factory will produce around 30 helicopters per year and can be enhanced to 60 and then 90 per year in a phased manner.
The first LUH has been flight tested and is ready for unveiling.
The factory will be augmented to produce other helicopters such as Light Combat Helicopters (LCHs) and Indian Multirole Helicopters (IMRHs).

It will also be used for Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul of LCH, LUH, Civil Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) and IMRH in the future. Potential exports of civil LUH will also be catered to from this factory.
The HAL plans to produce more than 1,000 helicopters in the range of 3-15 tonnes, with a total business of over Rs 4 lakh crore over a period of 20 years.
Besides generating direct and indirect employment, the Tumakuru facility will boost the development of surrounding areas through its CSR activities with large-scale community-centric programmes on which the company will spend substantial amounts. All this will result in improvement in the people’s lives in the region.
The proximity of the factory, with the existing HAL facilities in Bengaluru, will boost the aerospace manufacturing ecosystem in the region and support skill and infrastructure development such as schools, colleges and residential areas.
Medical and health care would also reach the community residing in the various nearby Panchayats.
With the establishment of facilities like heli-runway, flight hangar, final assembly hangar, structure assembly hangar, air traffic control and various supporting service facilities, the factory is fully operational.
This factory is being equipped with state-of-the-art Industry 4.0 standard tools and techniques for its operations.
The foundation stone of the facility was laid by the Prime Minister in 2016.
This factory will enable India to meet its entire requirement of helicopters without imports and give a much needed fillip to the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ in helicopter design, development, and manufacture, an official said.
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#Modi #dedicate #HALs #helicopter #factory #Karnataka #nation #Feb
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 4, 2023
‘New buildings are not for development, nation building is’: Telangana Governor

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Hyderabad: Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan said that everyone should have an equal share in development while addressing the Republic Day event on Thursday at Raj Bhavan in Hyderabad.
The Governor unfurled the national flag which was followed by the national anthem.
Soundararajan while addressing the event stated, “Chairman of the drafting committee of our Constitution BR Ambedkar said there must not be a class that has got all the privileges and a class that has got all the burdens to carry.”
“New buildings are not for development, nation building is for development,” Soundararajan said.
“All the farmers and the marginalised people should have farms and houses, few should not have farmhouses. That is not the development. Everyone should have an equal share in the development,” added Soundararajan emphasising the importance and meaning of development in her speech.
The Governor also paid respect to the freedom fighters and the members of the Constituent Assembly. She said, “There were great personalities and stalwarts of great intellect, wisdom and vision in our constituent assembly.”
In the event, the Governor also felicitated Golden Globes award-winning and Oscars nominated ‘Naatu Naatu’ song’s composer MM Keeravani and lyricist Chandrabose at the Republic Day function in Hyderabad.
However, the Chief Minister of Telangana K Chandrasekhar Rao skipped the Republic Day celebrations.
The week-long celebrations commenced on 23rd January, the birth anniversary of great freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. To mark the occasion, a one-of-a-kind Military Tattoo and Tribal Dance Festival ‘Aadi Shaurya – Parv Parakram ka’ was organised in New Delhi on January 23 and 24. The events will culminate on 30th January, which is observed as Martyrs’ Day.

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#buildings #development #nation #building #Telangana #Governor
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

January 26, 2023
Governors to voters: The state of our nation is bleak, except under me – The News Caravan

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“>Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, cast his state as the place “where woke goes to die,” to which Murphy, in his State of the State address, responded, “I’m not even sure I know what that means.”
House speaker amid hardline opposit…
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It’s not just the nation’s highest-profile chief executives getting in on the crowing, either. It may be news to most, but Jim Justice, the Republican governor of West Virginia, is aware of “jealousy” about his state, “because now, all of a sudden, we’re the diamond in the rough that they missed.”
“We’re in a never-before-seen era of contrast between red and blue states,” said Rob Stutzman, a Republican strategist. “What state you live in has become a subtext for what your politics must be, and I don’t think that was ever really true until the last six years or so.”

Covid, he said, “has thrown an accelerant on the way governors have presented their states. It became more a point of contrast – open or closed, mandate or no mandate, pro-vaccine or vaccine skeptic. There were very few governors who played it down the middle.”
The governors’ addresses have not been without some introspection about what could improve within their geographic boundaries. In Indiana, Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican, pointed last week to the relatively high rates of smoking and obesity in his state, where “our life expectancy in Indiana has declined in recent years.” In Arizona, Katie Hobbs, the newly-elected Democratic governor, warned of “potential catastrophe that will happen in just a few months” if lawmakers do not address an education funding cap, while noting the state is facing a “drought unlike anything in modern times.”
In New York, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, after a closer-than-expected election, warned that inflation was harming Empire Staters. “And on top of that,” she added, “how do you pay the monthly rent, or the mortgage? It’s just so overwhelming for our families.”
(This news/post has been generated from www.politico.com and its was posted in their category. CT is not responsible for the above information.)

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#Governors #voters #state #nation #bleak #Chenab #Times

January 18, 2023
Governors to voters: The state of our nation is bleak, except under me

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, cast his state as the place “where woke goes to die,” to which Murphy, in his State of the State address, responded, “I’m not even sure I know what that means.”
It’s not just the nation’s highest-profile chief executives getting in on the crowing, either. It may be news to most, but Jim Justice, the Republican governor of West Virginia, is aware of “jealousy” about his state, “because now, all of a sudden, we’re the diamond in the rough that they missed.”
“We’re in a never-before-seen era of contrast between red and blue states,” said Rob Stutzman, a Republican strategist. “What state you live in has become a subtext for what your politics must be, and I don’t think that was ever really true until the last six years or so.”
Covid, he said, “has thrown an accelerant on the way governors have presented their states. It became more a point of contrast – open or closed, mandate or no mandate, pro-vaccine or vaccine skeptic. There were very few governors who played it down the middle.”
The governors’ addresses have not been without some introspection about what could improve within their geographic boundaries. In Indiana, Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican, pointed last week to the relatively high rates of smoking and obesity in his state, where “our life expectancy in Indiana has declined in recent years.” In Arizona, Katie Hobbs, the newly-elected Democratic governor, warned of “potential catastrophe that will happen in just a few months” if lawmakers do not address an education funding cap, while noting the state is facing a “drought unlike anything in modern times.”
In New York, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, after a closer-than-expected election, warned that inflation was harming Empire Staters. “And on top of that,” she added, “how do you pay the monthly rent, or the mortgage? It’s just so overwhelming for our families.”
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#Governors #voters #state #nation #bleak
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

January 18, 2023