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Organisers at Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games to allow Afghan National Flag as a symbol of “solidarity and peace”

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The Commune
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In a show of solidarity with the people of Afghanistan, it has been decided that the Afghan flag rejected by the Taliban will be used as a symbol of “solidarity and peace” at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games kicks off on Tuesday night in Japan, reports CNN.

The 16th Summer Paralympics was also delayed due to the pandemic and President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Andrew Parsons said he was determined the Paralympics would be held safely.

“One of the questions I am asked very often is, ‘can we have safe Games?’ and the answer is yes, we would not be here if we did not believe we could deliver safe Games,” he said.

Parsons also confirmed that Afghanistan’s flag will be incorporated into the opening ceremony parade despite Afghan athletes pulling out of the Games due to flights being canceled from the country after the Taliban seized the capital Kabul, with thousands of people trying to flee the new regime.

“We will include the Afghanistan flag in the ceremony in a sign of solidarity and we have invited the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees representative here to act as the flagbearer,” Parsons told reporters.

“It is important to highlight that as it is a message of solidarity and peace that we send to the world,”. “We would like to have them here, unfortunately it is not possible, but they will be here in spirit, he added,.”

The Taliban who are against women going outside without male supervision has led to many sportswomen from Afghanistan not participate in this event for fear of being punished under the Islamic Sharia law.

In a statement to CNN Sport last week, the IPC said it was “supportive of the practice of sport as a basic human right.”

“Every individual should have the possibility to play sport and no-one should be discriminated against because of their disability, gender, sexual preference, race or religion,” it added.

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Moplah rioters to be removed from Dictionary of Martyr’s of India’s Freedom Struggle

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The Commune
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The Ministry of Culture and the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) is set to remove the Moplah Rebellion leaders Variamkunnath Kunhamed Haji, Ali Musaliar, and 387 other so-called “Moplah martyrs” from the Dictionary of Martyrs of India’s Freedom Struggle.

The dictionary is jointly published by the Ministry of Culture and the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) and after a three-member panel, set up the ICHR reviewed the entries in the fifth volume of the dictionary, it has reportedly stated that the 1921 rebellion was never part of the independence struggle but was a fundamentalist religious movement focused on forced conversion of Hindus to Islam.

The panel noted that none of the slogans raised by the freedom fighters was in favour of nationalism and anti-British in content but it was an elaborate religious riot in the name of Islam and the Moplah rebellion was an attempt to establish a Caliphate.

According to The Hindu newspaper, if the Moplah Muslims had succeeded, a Caliphate would have been established in the Malabar region India would have ended up losing that part from its territory.

The panel further concluded that Haji was a rioter who established a Sharia court and beheaded a large number of Hindus because they were non-believers.

The committee also revealed that a large number of alleged “Moplah martyrs,” who were awaiting trial died due to diseases such as cholera and natural causes and cannot be treated as martyrs and only a few were executed by the government after a court trial, the panel noted.

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S 400 missile defense system from Russia to reach India soon

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The Commune
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In a boost for India’s air defense, Russia will soon deliver the S-400 Triumf anti-aircraft weapon system that will augment our national security interests against Pakistan and China, reports Livemint.

Vyacheslav Dzirkaln, the deputy chief executive of Russian air and defence major Almaz-Antey said, “I can confirm that we will deliver [the S-400 system to India] by the end of 2021 in accordance with the schedule and contractual obligations of the Russian side.”

Dzirkaln also mentioned that the training of the Indian military personnel who will operate the S-400 system is underway while interacting with the reporters at the International Military-Technical Forum “ARMY-2021”.

“As for the training, the first group of Indian specialists have completed the training. The second group is undergoing training. I would not talk about the number of people but it is a sufficient number for the Indian armed forces to effectively operate our equipment,” Dzirkaln shared.

“I would like to say that the results shown by the first group of Indian specialists after the training were very high,” he said.

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Taliban gives August 31 as ultimatum to US or suffer consequences

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The Commune
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taliban india

In a strange turn of events, the Taliban have given the United States ultimatum until August 31 to leave Afghanistan or suffer the consequences.

In a stark warning given to US President Joe Biden, the Taliban made it very clear that it will not tolerate the presence of  US troops past August 31 as America struggles to evacuate its citizens and its Afghan allies. 

Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen said, “It’s a red line. President Biden announced that on 31 August they would withdraw all their military forces. So if they extend it that means they are extending occupation while there is no need for that,”.

Shaheen further added, “If the US or UK were to seek additional time to continue evacuations – the answer is no. Or there would be consequences,”.

“It will create mistrust between us. If they are intent on continuing the occupation it will provoke a reaction,” Shaheen said in remarks given to UK broadcaster Sky News.

On Sunday, Joe Biden admitted that the evacuation was going to be “hard and painful” and that “a lot could still go wrong” as he faces mounting criticism from the Republicans and members of his own party.

Meanwhile, Britain has urged the US to extend its evacuation effort in Kabul past the August 31 deadline as forces loyal to Ahmad Massoud, son of the lion of Panjshir Ahmad Shah Massoud have said that they will resist the Taliban to the end.

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NIA files draft chargesheet in Bhima Khoregaon – Elgar Parishad case, says accused wanted to wage war against nation

By
The Commune
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In a shocking development, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a draft charge sheet on those who have been accused in the Bhima Khoregaon – Elgar Parishad case and it has been revealed that students were recruited from various universities including Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) as well as Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) to carry out anti-India and other terror activities.

According to the NIA, these anti-India elements wanted to establish their own government and “wage a war against the nation” and threatened India’s sovereignty, integrity and security by conspiring against “govt or civil authorities/public functionaries”.

As per the charge sheet submitted before the NIA Special Court’s Special Judge DE Kothalikar, the NIA has alleged that the charged had all the intention to strike terror in the minds of people by using explosive substances.

“That accused recruited students from various universities including the Jawaharlal Nehru University and Tata Institute of Social Science for commission of terrorist activity,” the charge-sheet read.

As of now, sixteen people have been arrested and six are absconding in connection with the Koregaon-Bhima and Elgar Parishad cases.

The NIA further revealed that they were planning to organise ₹8 crores for “annual supply of American M4  with 4 lakh rounds and other arms” from Nepal and Manipur.

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Police nab one Mohammad Nasir in Thanjavur for indulging in voyeurism, had filmed man’s wife & daughter bathing

By
The Commune
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Police in Thanjavur have arrested a former police officer’s son identified as Mohammad Nasir who had indulged in voyeuristic pleasure by filming his neighbour’s daughters and wife bathing.

Venkatesan hailing from Thanjavur, is married and has two daughters. His wife had told him that something was gleaming inside the bathroom and asked him to have a look at it.

To their shock, they found a webcam with a power bank connected to it to keep it so that it works even if there is a power cut.

Venkatesan immediately rushed to the police station to register a complaint. Investigation revealed that Mohammad Nasir who was residing next to Venkatesh’s house, had installed a camera in Venkatesh’s bathroom to watch his wife and daughters bathing.

This is not the first time Mohammad Nasir was caught indulging in voyeurism. He was earlier caught watching Venkatesh’s wife and daughter taking bath from the terrace a few years ago. When Venkatesan confronted Nasir back then, the latter’s father who was in police service at that time had used his power to intimidate Venkatesan.

Nasir made an alternative to plan to continue his voyeurism. The house next to Venkatesh’s bathroom had been vacant. The owner of that house had given the keys to Nasir to show it to prospective tenants. Using this opportunity, he took off the bathroom glass of the empty house and mounted a webcam on Venkatesh’s bathroom. He thus began to fulfill his lust by watching his wife and daughter take bath.

Nasir confessed all these during the police interrogation.

(With inputs from News J)

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Inebriated DMK goons enter pvt hospital in Tirupur district and create ruckus

By
The Commune
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A bunch of DMK goons attacked a private hospital in Tirupur district creating commotion frightening the nurses and patients in the hospital.

About 10 DMK goons had gone to a private hospital in Udumalaipettai for getting treatment. Some of them were reportedly under the influence of alcohol and had to wait for some time.

The enraged DMK goons engaged in a heated spat with the hospital staff and nurses hurling abuses at them. They broke the glass in the hospital and started breaking other things causing panic among patients.

Those in the hospital recorded the video and which is now going viral on social media.

A complaint has been lodged at the Udumalaipettai police station on behalf of the hospital management.

(With inputs from NewsJ)

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Multi-Storeys Constructed with Thermocol could be the future Earthquake-resistant Buildings

By
The Commune
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Thermocol could be the material of the future for construction of earthquake-resistant buildings, with thermal insulation and could also save energy required to develop construction materials.

Researchers at IIT Roorkee have found that thermocol or Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) is used as a composite material in core of reinforced concrete sandwich, could resist earthquake forces on up to four-storey buildings.

The researchers tested a full-scale building and a number of wall elements constructed with thermocol sandwiched between two layers of concrete at the National Seismic Test Facility (NSTF) of the Department of Earthquake Engineering, IIT Roorkee, developed under Fund for Improvement of S&T Infrastructure (FIST) programme of Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India. Mr Adil Ahmad, the research Scholar who conducted the tests, evaluated the behaviour of the constructions under lateral forces, as earthquake causes a force predominantly in lateral direction. The investigation was supplemented with detailed computer simulation of a realistic 4-storey building. Prof. Yogendra Singh, supervising the research, informed that the analysis shows that a four-storey building constructed with this technique is capable of resisting earthquake forces, even in the most seismic zone (V) of the country, without any additional structural support.

They have attributed this earthquake resistance capability to the fact that the EPS layer is sandwiched between two layers of concrete having reinforcement in the form of welded wire mesh. The researchers said that the force being applied on a building during an earthquake arises due to the inertia effect and hence depends on the mass of the building. Thermocol resists earthquakes by reducing the mass of the building.

In this technique, the EPS core and the wire mesh reinforcement is produced in a factory. The building skeleton is first erected from the factory-made core and reinforcement panels, and then concrete is sprayed on the skeleton core. This technique does not require any shuttering and hence can be constructed very fast.

Besides resisting earthquakes, the use of expanded polystyrene core in concrete walls of a building can result in thermal comfort. The core provides the necessary insulation against the heat transfer between building interior and exterior environment. This can help in keeping the building interiors cool in hot environments and warm during cold conditions. India suffers a large variation of temperature in different parts of the country and during different seasons of the year. Therefore, thermal comfort is a crucial consideration along with structural safety.

The technology also has the potential of saving construction material and energy, with an overall reduction in carbon footprint of buildings. It replaces a large portion of concrete volume from the walls and floor/roof. This replacement of concrete with the extremely lightweight EPS not only reduces mass, thereby decreasing the earthquake force acting on a building but also diminishes the burden on the natural resources and energy required to produce the cement concrete.

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Finance Minister launches National Monetisation Pipeline, potential of Central Govt assets estimated at over ₹6.0 lakh crores

By
The Commune
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Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman, today launched the asset monetisation pipeline of Central ministries and public sector entities: ‘National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP Volumes 1 & 2)’. The pipeline has been developed by NITI Aayog, in consultation with infrastructure line ministries, based on the mandate for ‘Asset Monetisation’ under Union Budget 2021-22. NMP estimates aggregate monetisation potential of Rs 6.0 lakh crores through core assets of the Central Government, over a four-year period, from FY 2022 to FY 2025.

Volumes 1 and 2 of the report on NMP was released today in the presence of Vice Chairman (NITI Aayog), CEO (NITI Aayog), and Secretaries of infrastructure line ministries included under the pipeline—Roads, Transport and Highways, Railways, Power, Pipeline and Natural Gas, Civil Aviation, Shipping Ports and Waterways, Telecommunications, Food and Public Distribution, Mining, Coal and Housing and Urban Affairs—along with Secretary (Department of Economic Affairs) and Secretary (Department of Investment and Public Asset Management).

Union Minister of Finance, while launching the pipeline, said, “The Asset Monetisation programme has taken shape because of the vision of our Hon’ble Prime Minister who has always believed in universal access to high-quality and affordable infrastructure to the common citizen of India. Asset monetisation, based on the philosophy of Creation through Monetisation, is aimed at tapping private sector investment for new infrastructure creation. This is necessary for creating employment opportunities, thereby enabling high economic growth and seamlessly integrating the rural and semi-urban areas for overall public welfare.” Smt. Sitharaman further enumerated the reforms and initiatives undertaken by the current Government towards accelerated infrastructure development and for incentivizing private sector investments. This included the recent ‘Scheme of Financial Assistance to States for Capital Expenditure’, which incentivizes State Governments to recycle State Government-owned asset for fast-tracking greenfield infrastructure.

“The strategic objective of the programme is to unlock the value of investments in brownfield public sector assets by tapping institutional and long-term patient capital, which can thereafter be leveraged for further public investments,” Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog, said during the launch. He emphasized on the modality of such unlocking, which is envisaged to be by way of structured contractual partnership as against privatization or slump sale of assets.

NMP is envisaged to serve as a medium-term roadmap for identifying potential monetisation- ready projects, across various infrastructure sectors. CEO, NITI Aayog said, “The NMP is aimed at creating a systematic and transparent mechanism for public authorities to monitor the performance of the initiative and for investors to plan their future activities. Asset Monetisation needs to be viewed not just as a funding mechanism, but as an overall paradigm shift in infrastructure operations, augmentation and maintenance considering private sector’s resource efficiencies and its ability to dynamically adapt to the evolving global and economic reality. New models like Infrastructure Investment Trusts  & Real Estate Investment Trusts will enable not just financial and strategic investors but also common people to participate in this asset class thereby opening new avenues for investment. I hence consider the NMP document to be a criticalstep towards making India’s Infrastructure truly world class.”

NMP is a culmination of insights, feedback and experiences consolidated through multi-stakeholder consultations undertaken by NITI Aayog, Ministry of Finance and line ministries. Several rounds of discussion have been held by NITI Aayog with the stakeholders. The pipeline has been deliberated at length in inter-ministerial meeting chaired by Cabinet Secretary. This is therefore a whole of a government initiative.

Secretaries of all infrastructure ministries affirmed their resolve towards achieving their respective targets set under NMP, working jointly with NITI Aayog and Ministry of Finance.

As part of a multi-layer institutional mechanism for overall implementation and monitoring of the Asset Monetization programme, an empowered Core Group of Secretaries on Asset Monetization (CGAM) under the chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary has been constituted. The Government is committed to making the Asset Monetisation programme, avalue-accretive proposition both for the public sector and private investors/developers, through improved infrastructure quality and operations and maintenance. This is aimed at achieving the broader and longer-term vision of ‘inclusiveness and empowerment of common citizens through best in class infrastructure’.

(Published from PIB)

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Portal launched for planning of new MGNREGA assets using Remote Sensing and GIS

By
The Commune
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Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for the Ministry of Science and Technology; Ministry of Earth Sciences and Union Minister of State for Prime Minister’s Office; Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space, Jitendra Singh said that the new portal under Bhuvan “Yuktdhara”, which has been released today, will facilitate planning of new MGNREGA assets using Remote Sensing and GIS based information. The Minister said that this platform will serve as a repository of assets (Geotags) created under various national rural development programmes i.e. MGNREGA, Integrated Watershed Management Programme, Per Drop More Crop and Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana etc., along with field photographs.

Speaking at the launch of “Yuktdhara” Geospatial Planning Portal by Union Minister of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Shri Giriraj Singh, Dr. Singh said that the name given is very apt as word ‘Yukt’ is derived from Yojanam, the planning and ‘Dhara’ indicates the flow. He said that it is definitely a culmination of untiring joint efforts of ISRO and Ministry of Rural development made towards realising a G2G service for rural planning in support of decentralized decision making.

Dr. Singh acknowledged the potential and services of ISRO’s Geoportal Bhuvan and said highlighted that due to its rich information base, satellite images and analytical capabilities, Bhuvan, in fact, has become a de-facto geospatial platform for number of developmental planning activities in the country.

The Minister said that The high point is that, this portal integrates wide variety of thematic layers, multi-temporal high resolution earth observation data with analysis tools. Planners will analyse previous assets under various schemes and facilitates identification of new works using online tools. Plans prepared will be evaluated by appropriate authorities under State Departments. Thus, Yuktdhara based plans will be prepared by grassroot functionary and verified by appropriate authorities for relevance and resource allocation. This would ensure quality of plan and enable a long term monitoring of the assets created over the years.

The Minister pointed out that GeoMGNREGA on Bhuvan has received wide acclaims. The Before-During-After Geotagging of assets has successfully implemented the progress based disbursement of the funds during the process of creation of rural assets. Also, a Citizen-centric Mobile Application JANMANREGA has helped rural population for providing feedback using Bhuvan services. He was of the view that the synergy of Geographic Information and Earth Observation technology has not only brought the value of location to each rural asset, but also brought in unprecedented transparency in MGNREGA programme.

Dr. Singh said that the Customisation on Bhuvan as per process requirement of Ministry of Rural Development, continuous handholding of State functionaries and also enthusiasm demonstrated by State Department personnel in adopting the technology for building GeoMGNREGA database is noteworthy and is a first of its kind massive exercise in the whole world.

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