SRINAGAR: On the direction of the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Srinagar, Mohammad Aijaz Asad, a team from the Drug Control Department conducted a special drive to inspect Pharma Dealers and Chemist Shops in various parts of Srinagar City. The aim was to ensure that pharmaceutical preparations are being sold as per the prescriptions generated by Registered Medical Practitioners.
The inspection teams, headed by Deputy Drugs Controller Nighat Jabeen, inspected various markets in Karan Nagar, Kak Sarai, Nawakadal, Khanyar, Rainawari, Magarmal Bagh and other City Markets to ascertain the implementation of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.
During the checking, 35 Chemist Stores were inspected, and the checking teams observed that some of the chemist/drug establishments were violating the provisions of the Act. Operations of 8 Medical Establishments were disallowed for contravening various provisions of Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940 and Rules.
The Deputy Commissioner of Srinagar, Aijaz Asad, has asked the inspection teams to continue the surprise checking of the pharmaceutical/medical stores running in the district to ensure strict adherence to the guidelines laid down under the Drugs & Cosmetics Act.
He also asked all Pharma/Chemist establishments operating in Srinagar to adhere to the laid-down norms strictly. The defaulters were warned to desist from any unethical trade practices, failing which strict action as warranted under the Act shall be taken against them. Aijaz further said that periodical inspections will continue.(GNS)
KUPWARA, MAY 08: The Deputy Commissioner (DC), Kupwara, Dr. Doifode Sagar Dattatray today conducted surprise inspection of various Government offices to check the attendance of the officials including ACD Office, ACP Office, Executive Engineer REW, Tehsildar Office Kupwara, JKEDI, DE&CC and Prosecution Office.
During the surprise visit, the DC found 14 officials unauthorizedly absent from their duties and put them under suspension. These officials include 11 of Rural Development Department and 3 of Tehsildar Office Kupwara.
During the visit, the DC also enquired about the work done by the departments. He also stressed upon the officers and employees to remain punctual in their duties.
The DC also inspected the Record Room of Tehsil Office Kupwara during which he directed the concerned for disposing-off the old record as per the procedure so that proper space could be made available for upkeep of latest records.
The Deputy Commissioner (DC), Kupwara, Dr. Doifode Sagar Dattatray today conducted surprise inspection of various Government offices to check the attendance of the officials including ACD Office, ACP Office, Executive Engineer REW, Tehsildar Office Kupwara, JKEDI, DE&CC and Prosecution Office.
During the surprise visit, the DC found 14 officials unauthorizedly absent from their duties and put them under suspension. These officials include 11 of Rural Development Department and 3 of Tehsildar Office Kupwara.
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During the visit, the DC also enquired about the work done by the departments. He also stressed upon the officers and employees to remain punctual in their duties.
The DC also inspected the Record Room of Tehsil Office Kupwara during which he directed the concerned for disposing-off the old record as per the procedure so that proper space could be made available for upkeep of latest records.
14 officials found unauthorizedly absent, suspended
Kupwara, May 8 (GNS): The Deputy Commissioner (DC), Kupwara, Dr. Doifode Sagar Dattatray today conducted surprise inspection of various Government offices to check the attendance of the officials including ACD Office, ACP Office, Executive Engineer REW, Tehsildar Office Kupwara, JKEDI, DE&CC and Prosecution Office.
During the surprise visit, the DC found 14 officials unauthorizedly absent from their duties and put them under suspension. These officials include 11 of Rural Development Department and 3 of Tehsildar Office Kupwara.
During the visit, the DC also enquired about the work done by the departments. He also stressed upon the officers and employees to remain punctual in their duties.
The DC also inspected the Record Room of Tehsil Office Kupwara during which he directed the concerned for disposing-off the old record as per the procedure so that proper space could be made available for upkeep of latest records.(GNS)
Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin has made an unannounced visit to two command posts in the “newly incorporated territories” from Ukraine, where he reviewed the progress of military operation against Ukrainian forces, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.
Putin travelled to the command centre of the ‘Dnieper’ battlegroup located “in the Kherson area” and received reports from the group’s commander, Colonel General Oleg Makarevich, and Colonel General Mikhail Teplinsky, the commander of Russia’s airborne troops, a Kremlin statement said, RT reported.
The President also made a trip to the Lugansk People’s Republic, where he visited the ‘Vostok’ (East) command centre of the National Guard, and discussed the situation in the area with top military officials, including Colonel General Aleksandr Lapin.
Putin’s surprise visit comes as Kiev prepares to launch a counteroffensive in which Western-supplied heavy tanks and new armored vehicles are expected to be involved. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmigal said on Monday that Kiev will start the operation “in the nearest future”.
The recent months of the Ukraine conflict have been marked by fierce fighting for the Donbass mining city of Artyomovsk, known to Ukrainians as Bakhmut.
“We were careful to create a narrative early on about who Janet was, what was at stake in this election and who Dan Kelly was, and abortion fit within that,” Guarasci said. “Our paid media ends with ‘he’s an extremist that doesn’t care about us.’ Everything related back to that.”
The insights from Protasiewicz’s campaign team offers a note of caution — and a roadmap — to Democrats who think abortion has transformed the electoral landscape in their favor. Broadly speaking, the issue plays in their favor, but the experience in Wisconsin suggests that it will take a nuanced strategy to fully reap the political benefits.
Protasiewicz’s team clearly believed it had the right formula to make abortion work as an issue after their 11-point, 200,000-plus-vote win.
Over 35 percent of general election TV spots from her and her allies mentioned the topic, according to data provided to POLITICO by the ad tracking firm AdImpact. But it wasn’t a “one-size-fits-all message” on abortion rights, Nuckels said. Their messaging on abortion rights played into the larger campaign strategy of painting their opponent, conservative former state Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly, as an extremist more broadly.
Focusing on abortion was a message that “encouraged turnout and persuaded voters, particularly suburban voters,” in regions like Madison, Milwaukee and La Crosse, he said.
But, notably, the reaction was regional. “In Green Bay,” said Nuckels, “it wasn’t a factor there.” In fact, he said, the campaign believed a broad advertising push on abortion in and around Green Bay would motivate more people to vote for Kelly over Protasiewicz. The campaign did not run a single broadcast television spot on abortion in the Green Bay media market.
“We didn’t want to drive out voters for our opponent or solidify them behind him,” Nuckels said. “We needed to have much more targeted communication in places like Green Bay.”
Instead, the campaign relied on targeted cable and satellite ads, along with digital and social media, to reach the most pro-abortion rights voters residing in the Green Bay market, an area that is still heavily Republican and remains key in any Republican turnout machine. According to data compiled by Daily Kos, Trump won over 57 percent of the vote in that market in 2020 — and Kelly won by a smaller margin, taking 53 percent of the vote.
Protasiewicz’s team also attributed its success to a strategy to advertise early in a race where the two candidates started with fairly low name identification; “Define early, don’t play defense, be aggressive,” as Guarasci put it.
They were able to adopt that aggressive posture in large part because they had a war chest that was basically unheard of for a down ballot statewide election. The campaign spent $15 million on TV ads alone, an unprecedented amount for a judicial race, and the campaign and state party combined to spend over $600,000 just on research efforts.
The campaign made an effort to reach voters beyond Democratic diehards. Guarasci said it was important to reach all voters where they were, from expansive broadcast buys to even advertising on conservative radio to — in part — needle Kelly. That also meant moving off of abortion when needed. Protasiewicz’s campaign talked about crime and public safety early and often.
In fact, crime was the top issue that Protasiewicz and her allies mentioned in TV ads, according to AdImpact data. Over 60 percent of total TV ads from her camp were about crime. Until recently, Republicans have viewed the issue as a key advantage they have over Democrats.
“For us, abortion was the single largest driving factor for most of the state. For the Republicans, for Dan Kelly, it was crime,” Nuckels said. “And so part of our early strategy was not to give Dan Kelly a free ride on public safety and crime.”
Protasiewicz was attacked relentlessly by Republicans on the issue — over 90 percent of their ads mentioned crime, often targeting her as a soft on crime jurist who gave too lenient sentences — but aides say their early advertising start helped inoculate her.
Her ads often highlighted her history as a prosecutor and a judge, saying she knows what it takes to keep a community safe. Her campaign also attacked Kelly for never overseeing a criminal case and for some clients he defended as a private attorney.
“A top line for me is do not cede public safety,” Guarasci said. “We knew that they were going to try to run up the score on that point, and if we could kind of neutralize it or not lose that issue overwhelmingly, we knew that people would hear us on abortion and all these other issues.”
The advice that Protasiewicz team gave to Democrats heading into 2024 was, ultimately, not to be afraid to go after Republicans as too extreme — and not just on abortion. Democrats win, they said, when they establish an overarching media strategy about tying the campaign to a fight against extremism.
“The extremism of the right is rejected by American voters writ large,” said Guarasci. “Don’t be afraid to point out this and label it an extremist agenda.”
The campaign also benefited, they said, from having the airwaves to themselves early in the general election. Kelly’s campaign was absent on the airwaves in the early goings of the general election, while Protasiewicz went up almost immediately.
That is not an advantage most Democrats will have in 2024. While this year’s state Supreme Court race had over $45 million of spending — the most for any judicial race in American history — that amount of money will be a small drop in the bucket next year.
Still, Protasiewicz’s aides said, there are valuable lessons for Democrats here.
“It’s what the electorate wanted. They wanted normalcy, they wanted common sense,” Verdin said.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )
Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal
New Delhi: In a surprise inspection conducted by the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) led by its chief Swati Maliwal, officials have seized around 50 litres of acid from a public toilet located opposite the G.B. Pant Hospital in central Delhi.
The operation was carried out on Thursday and the officials confirmed the seizure of the acid on Friday.
Maliwal has now asked the concerned officials from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to appear before the commission on April 11 with a detailed report on the matter.
“I was shocked to discover huge quantities of acid kept in the open at a public toilet in Delhi. It could have been used by people for criminal activities. The fact that acid is being used in public toilets for cleaning purposes on a large scale is unacceptable and shameful,” said Maliwal.
“Strict action should be taken against the authorities for encouraging the use of acid for cleaning in toilets. Also, there should be no fee for using public toilets. All the toilets should be functional at all times, and if any toilet is non-functional, strict action should be taken against the official(s) responsible for it,” she added.
During the inspection on Thursday, the commission had noticed that Rs 10 was being charged from the users each time they used the toilet.
“The commission was also informed that the toilet closes down at 10 p.m., rendering women and girls vulnerable to open defecation,” said a DCW official.
Hyderabad: Heavy rains and hailstorms in Hyderabad come as another surprise to city-dwellers this week, after India Meteorological Department – Hyderabad’s (IMD-H) forecast of a yellow alert for Hyderabad. As per the weather forecast, the downpour is here to stay for the weekend.
Several places in Hyderabad are experiencing heavy rainfalls coupled with strong winds. Some areas are even experiencing light hairstyles.
Hyderabad City police took to Twitter to share a video of a metro train in the downpour, urging the citizens to drive safely. Several netizens shared videos of hail stones and a heavy downpour on social media saying that the rains come as a much-needed respite from the hot weather the city had been experiencing.
Despite the forecast of rains, IMD predicts that the maximum temperature in Hyderabad will be in the range of 36 to 40 degrees Celsius.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) Hyderabad has issued an orange alert for the entire Telangana State till April 7, as more downpours are expected on Thursday and Friday.
Hyderabad received heavy rains on April 5, leading to power cuts in various parts of the city. Waterlogging was also witnessed at different locations, including the road under PVNR Expressway near Attapur, causing slow traffic flow for some time.
On Wednesday, as per the Telangana State Development Planning Society (TSDPS), Shaikpet recorded the highest rainfall of 26.5 mm, followed by Asifnagar (19.8 mm), Golkonda (18 mm), Rajendranagar (15.5 mm), Khairtabad (11.3 mm), and Ameerpet (10 mm).
Many shared videos of heavy rains in the Secundrabad area.
GOOD MORNING and happy Easter!This is Nick Vinocur, bringing you Playbook from an unusually sunny Brussels. We sometimes poke fun at the grisaille around here, but this week the country outdid itself: glorious sunshine for days in the Ardennes, where your author spent a family holiday. I heartily recommend a visit to the Grottes de Han — a sprawling cave system southwest of Charleroi that was an unforgettable sight for me and my 4-year-old daughter. Strongly recommend. As you enjoy the final hours of the long weekend, here’s the news …
DRIVING THE DAY: MACRON AND CHINA
MACRON INTERVIEW PROMPTS OUTCRY: Speaking to POLITICO and other media outlets on his way back from last week’s trip to China, French President Emmanuel Macron gave an interview that’s raising big questions about the transatlantic relationship, Taiwan and the concept of “strategic autonomy” for the EU.
ICYMI: Yes, it’s one of those Macron interviews. Read the full story here (or here enfrançais) by our Editor-in-Chief Jamil Anderlini and Senior France Correspondent Clea Caulcutt. Here are the key lines …
On strategic autonomy: Macron emphasized the need for Europe to develop independent capabilities that would enable the EU to become the world’s “third superpower” — alongside the United States and China, presumably. The “greatest risk” Europe faces, he said, is that the bloc “gets caught up in crises that are not ours, which prevent it from building strategic autonomy.”
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On the transatlantic relationship: Macron said “the paradox would be that, overcome with panic, we believe we are just America’s followers.”
On Taiwan, which the US has pledged to defend: “The question Europeans need to answer,” Macron said, is “is it in our interest to accelerate [a crisis] on Taiwan? No. The worst thing would be to think that we Europeans must become followers on this topic and take our cue from the U.S. agenda and a Chinese overreaction.”
Rubio weighs in: In response to Macron’s comments, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, dropped a video in which he says: “If our allies’ position is, in fact, Macron speaks for all of Europe, and their position now is they are not going to pick sides between the U.S. and China over Taiwan, maybe we shouldn’t be picking sides either. Maybe we should basically say we’re going to focus on Taiwan and the threats that China poses, and you guys handle Ukraine.”
He added: “So we need to find out: Does Macron speak for Macron or does Macron speak for Europe?”
That question was zooming around European capitals Sunday night, with diplomats texting my colleague Stuart Lau to share reactions.
Shade: “It’s hard to see how the EU was strengthened by the visits” of Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to China last week, wrote one EU diplomat who was not authorized to speak on the record. “China did not move one inch on Russia/Ukraine and created contrast between the two European leaders, even appearing to get an audience for its view on security in the Taiwan Straits.”
Sari Arho Havrén, adjunct professor at the George C. Marshall Center for Security Studies focusing on China, told Playbook that “Macron is giving Xi exactly what Xi wanted: trade to make China’s economy stronger, but also dividing and making Europe weaker in Beijing’s eyes.”
On Macron’s ‘superpower’ comment, she added: “Europe lacks pretty much all superpower attributes apart from the big single market.”
Noah Barkin, senior adviser for Rhodium Group and a visiting senior fellow at GMF, wrote in: “Macron is espousing a vision of the world that is not shared in other European capitals. In doing so, he risks dividing Europe and complicating relations with the most transatlantic U.S. administration that we have seen in many years.”
French pushback: France’s former ambassador to the U.S. disagreed. In response to a tweet questioning France’s commitment to Taiwan, Gérard Araud wrote: “First, he [Macron] didn’t say that. Secondly, our alliance doesn’t cover Asia.”
Playbook is getting a case of déjà vu. Doesn’t this feel a bit like back in 2019 when Macron told the Economist that NATO was experiencing “brain death?” Or when, following the AUKUS spat, he withdrew France’s ambassadors to the U.S. and Australia?
As in those episodes, Macron is broadcasting France’s independence from a U.S.-led alliance. But unlike other examples where the issue may have been more symbolic, this one has a clear question at its core: Is Europe’s alliance with the United States limited to Europe and its neighborhood, or does it extend to the Asia-Pacific region?
Now read this: Macron got a rockstar welcome in Guangzhou, where he fielded (carefully selected) questions from students at Sun Yat-sen University. “His star turn and spontaneous popularity also contrasted with China’s wooden communist leaders, none of whom have even half the charisma of Macron and who are generally only greeted with enthusiasm when it is in the job description of the crowd,” Jamil and Clea write. Ouch.
RUSSIAN WAR LATEST
‘SPRING IS COMING’ — UKRAINE TOUTS ‘SURPRISE’ AMID US INTEL LEAK: In a slickly produced video published Sunday, Ukraine’s defense ministry hints at an upcoming operation that would put Western training and supplies to use in its war with Russia. Watch the video, titled “Spring is coming,” here.
Intel dump: It’s no surprise that Ukraine has been preparing a counter-offensive of some type. But the video — coupled with reports on a massive dump of U.S. intelligence that’s been circulating online for weeks, but only recently picked up by big media outlets — seems to remove any “if” on whether an offensive will take place. What’s unknown is “how” and “when.”
What’s in the leaked docs: The reports go into substantial detail about the state and capabilities of Ukraine’s armed forces, as well as the composition of battle groups. To wit: the composition in armor of one brigade, the 82nd, decked out with the best Western militaries have to offer. They also show how deeply U.S. intelligence has penetrated Russian command-and-control centers — warning Ukraine of exact targets for upcoming strikes. (Playbook has not reviewed the documents ourselves.)
Spying, much? Yet the leak brings up awkward questions about U.S. spying, particularly when it comes to allies. One leaked document obtained by Reuters concerns deliberations among South Korean officials about sales of artillery shells to the United States, which the officials were concerned would be sent to Ukraine. Based on “signals intelligence” — aka intercepts — the document prompted Seoul to say it wanted to discuss the “issues raised” with the U.S.
Rings a bell: If this feels familiar, that’s because it’s reminiscent of Edward Snowden’s massive dump of U.S. National Security Agency documents in 2013, which irked Europeans. This time around, EU leaders are spared, but Ukraine’s military top brass is not, according to the New York Times, which first reported on the trove of intel. So far, there is no firm indication of who carried out the original leak — the document lay unnoticed for weeks on Discord, until a user posted it on Telegram and journalists became aware.
Tail risk: At the very least, the leaks are likely to make the Americans much more cautious on how they share intelligence, including with allied countries. That’s not ideal in a crucial planning stage, heading into a likely spring offensive.
What the leaks don’t say is when Ukraine’s counter-offensive will take place, or how it will sustain its pace given the high rates of shells expended each day on the front. Another report out over the weekend, again from the Times, casts doubt on Europe’s ability to replenish Ukraine’s supply of shells at anywhere near the rate at which they are being used.
IN OTHER NEWS
ESTONIA’S KALLAS SECURES COALITION: About a month after the election, Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas of the center-right Reform Party has reached an agreement with the centrist Estonia 200 Party and the Social Democratic Party to form a coalition government. Kallas is expected to keep her job. Laura Kayali has a write-up.
EU RISKS LOSING ENERGY ALLY: Last year’s high-profile gas deal with Azerbaijan was supposed to help the EU wean itself off Russian fossil fuels and keep supplies flowing in the short term. But Brussels’ bid to position itself as a peacemaker in the war-torn South Caucasus, and the eagerness of MEPs to call out human rights abuses, have angered Baku, which says the bloc could be to blame if a new conflict breaks out with neighboring Armenia.
European boots on the ground: “We were hoping for a different scenario with Baku,” a senior EU official admitted after Azerbaijan blasted the 100-strong border monitoring mission dispatched from European countries to Armenia earlier this year. Experts warn that more violence could force Europe to distance itself from the energy-rich nation it had hoped would help it weather Russia’s war on Ukraine. My colleague Gabriel Gavin has written about the dilemma.
RT DECLARED BANKRUPT IN FRANCE: A French court has officially declared Kremlin-backed media outlet RT France bankrupt, the company’s President Xenia Fedorova announced on Friday. In March last year, the EU banned Russian government-funded media like Sputnik and RT from broadcasting in Europe after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Laura Kayali has the story.
CHATGPT FACES REGULATORY WHIRLWIND: The world’s most famous chatbot has set itself up for a rough ride with Europe’s powerful privacy watchdogs, my colleagues Clothilde Goujard and Gian Volpicelli report. Italy imposed a temporary ban last month on the grounds that it could violate Europe’s privacy rulebook — but that’s just the start of its likely troubles. Prepare to see headaches across the bloc, as the cutting-edge technology is irking governments over risks ranging from data protection to misinformation, cybercrime, fraud and cheating on tests.
BRUSSELS CORNER
WHAT’S OPEN ON EASTER MONDAY? Not much. If you’re in Belgium, expect most shops to be closed today. But if you’re in a pinch, the Delhaize and Carrefour stores that are usually open on Sundays will be operating, as will “guard duty” pharmacies.
DELHAIZE STRIKE UPDATE: If you’re like me, you’ve been experiencing the ongoing Delhaize strikes first hand. Workers have been carrying out industrial action after the company announced it was going to turn its stores into franchises, operated by independent buyers, leading to the loss of an estimated 280 jobs (though the company is touting 72 new roles), according to l’Echo. Forty-six Delhaize stores remain closed across Belgium following court-ordered reopenings.
ICYMI — WHERE TO GO EASTER EGG HUNTING TODAY: Comic Art Museum … BELvue Museum … Chalet Robinson … Underground treasure hunt at Coudenberg Palace until April 16.
BIRTHDAYS: MEP Magdalena Adamowicz; Former MEPs Antony Hook, Geoffrey Van Orden, Luis Garicano, Florent Marcellesi and Lorenzo Fontana; Chris Heron from Eurometaux; European Commission’s David Knight; Leader of the Democratic Party of Moldova Pavel Filip, a former PM.
THANKS TO: StuartLau and our producer Jeanette Minns.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )
City Mayor inspecting animal care center in Charminar on Monday
Hyderabad: GHMC Mayor G Vijaya Laxmi on Monday conducted a surprise inspection of the Chudi Bazaar animal care center in Charminar.
The mayor said that steps have been taken to set up more such centers within the HMDA limits. Officials were directed to increase the number of dog cages and start dog-catching operations from 5:30 am.
Mayor instructed the number of sterilization operations to be increased from 45 to 70. She inspected the stray dog theaters, rehabilitation centers, sterilized dog centers as well as the kitchen area.
She directed the officials to ensure that regular food and drinking water are provided to the animals periodically and not provide hot meals to dogs.
Vijayalaxmi informed that other animal care centers in the city have been inspected at the field level and necessary infrastructure and other facilities are being provided.
