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2 killed, 2 injured in attack on CRPF convoy near Srinagar

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The Commune
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Srinagar CRPF grenade

Terrorists opened fire at a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Lawaypura on the outskirts of Srinagar on Thursday. The terrorists fired at the convoy and fled the scene.

Two CRPF personnel was killed while two others were injured. The injured have been shifted to a nearby hospital.

The attack took place at 3:45 PM. According to CRPF Deputy Inspector-General, Kashmir, Kishore Prasad, militants belonging to the terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) are responsible for the attack. “Soon they will be either arrested or killed”, he added.

Earlier this month, the Kashmir police had released a list of around 9 terrorists, who as per reports were functioning in the area and planning an attack. The search for the terrorists has intensified after Thursday’s incident.

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Centre pushes for biofuel production from surplus and damaged grains stocked with FCI

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The Commune
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biofuels
Representational Photograph | Credits: Bioenergy International

The National Policy on Biofuels – 2018 inter alia allows the use of surplus food grains for production of ethanol for blending with petrol, with the approval of National Biofuel Coordination Committee (NBCC).

The NBCC in its meetings held on 20 April, 2020 and 09 November, 2020 allowed the production of ethanol from surplus rice and maize available with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) for blending with petrol under the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme.

Based on the offers received in 2020-21, Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) allocated 41.91 crore litre of ethanol to be procured from surplus rice, maize and damaged food grains unfit for human consumption. Accordingg to information available with the Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD), the ethanol yield from one tonne of maize and rice is 380 and 450 litres, respectively. Thus, to produce 100 litres of ethanol, about 2.22 quintals of rice or about 2.63 quintals of maize is required to be used.

The cost of production of ethanol from any feedstock including rice or maize depends upon a number of factors, such as quality of feedstock, efficiency of plant, cost of other inputs, etc. This bio-ethanol produced from these feedstock is being used by OMCs for blending in petrol under the EBP Programme.

The National Policy on Biofuels – 2018 aims to achieve the goals by (a) reinforcing ongoing ethanol/bio-diesel supplies through increasing domestic production, (b) setting up second-generation (2G) bio-refineries, (c) development of new feedstock for biofuels from cellulosic and lignocelluloses route including petrochemical route, (d) development of new technologies for conversion to biofuels, (e) creating suitable environment for biofuels and its integration with the main fuels. Due to the above policy initiatives taken by the Government, ethanol procurement increased from 38 crore litre in 2013-14 to 173.03 crore litre in 2019-20.

(Published from PIB)

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“Fully compliant with the provisions of the treaty”, says India at the India-Pak Indus Commission meet

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The Commune
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Indus Waters Treaty

The Annual Meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) comprising the Indus Commissioners of India and Pakistan was held on March 23-24, 2021 in New Delhi.

The discussions were focussed on the designs of the two Indian hydroelectric power projects on the Chenab river, namely, the Pakal Dul (1000 MW) and the Lower Kalnai (48 MW).

The Indian side maintained that these projects were fully compliant with the provisions of the Treaty and provided Pakistan with the technical data supporting this position.

Pakistan requested that India share information on design of other Indian hydropower projects being planned and developed. The Indian side, in turn, assured Pakistan that information will be supplied as and when required to be supplied under the provisions of the Treaty. India has sanctioned several hydroelectric power projects in Ladakh after the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A. The Central government has approved projects in Turbuk Shiok, Shanku, Nimu Chilling, Rondo and Ratan Nag in the Leh area.

“The meeting was held in a cordial manner. Both the Commissioners reaffirmed their commitment to interact more frequently in an attempt to resolve the issues by bilateral discussions under the Treaty. It was agreed to hold the next meeting of the PIC in Pakistan on mutually convenient dates”, a press release by the Ministry of External Affairs stated.

The Indus Waters Treaty was signed between India and Pakistan in 1960. Under the provisions of the treaty, the two Commissioners from each country are required to meet at least once every year, alternately in India and Pakistan. Last year’s meeting could not be held due to the global COVID-19 pandemic conditions and the restrictions brought on by the pandemic.

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India seeks to strengthen agri and food exports to Nepal, organises virtual buyer-seller meet

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The Commune
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Nepal India exports

In a bid to strengthen the foot-print of India’s agricultural and processed food products export to Nepal, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) organised a virtual Buyer-Seller Meet (BSM) in association with the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu.

The BSM was organised on 23 March 2021 where key stakeholders, such as officials and trade representatives from India and Nepal, came on a common platform to discuss the strategic cooperation in the field of agriculture and allied sectors.

The BSM with Nepal is the seventeenth in the series of such virtual meets organized by the APEDA in recent months. The focus of BSMs have been to engage with all potential countries for providing a platform to connect exporters and importers in the agriculture and allied sectors.

Officials from APEDA, Indian Embassy, Kathmandu, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Nepal and Nepal Chamber of Commerce and other stakeholders participated in the virtual meet. Exporters from India and importers of Nepal had interactions with each other during BSM.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a shift of focus towards India and neighboring trade-partners creating new opportunities for alliances between various countries. India also continued to ensure food and nutrition supplies to Nepal during the difficult times brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2019-20, India’s total merchandise trade with Nepal stood at $7.87 billion. The value of APEDA products exported to Nepal was worth $670.6 million (volume of shipment 1,896,915 Metric Tonne).

India’s principal exports items during 2019-20 included non-basmati rice, cereal preparations, miscellaneous preparations, maize, groundnuts etc. During the same period, India’s agricultural import from Nepal were largely processed items, cereal products, processed fruits and juices, alcoholic beverages, processed vegetables etc.

(Published from PIB)

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“If 30% Muslims unite, 4 Pakistans can be created”, says TMC leader Sheikh Alam in campaign

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The Commune
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TMC 30% Muslims Sheikh Alam
Featured Image: A screengrab of the video showing TMC leader Sheikh Alam making the controversial remarks

In a shocking development harkening back to the days of Direct Action Day and Partition-related violence in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sheikh Alam spoke of uniting 30% Muslims and creating “four Pakistans” in India.

Alam’s controversial remarks drew criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday. BJP leader and the party’s co-in-charge for West Bengal, Amit Malviya tweeted a video that showed Alam making the controversial statements.

Malviya said that Alam made the remarks at Basa para, Nanoor, in Birbhum assembly constituency.

“He obviously owes his allegiance to Mamata Banerjee… Does she endorse this position? Do we want a Bengal like that?”, Malviya asked in his tweet.

“TMC leaders like Sheikh Alam have the audacity to dream of 4 Pakistan because of Mamata Banerjee’s brazen appeasement politics over the last 10 years. She reduced the majority community in WB to second grade citizens, where they had to seek court approval even for Durga visarjan!” Malviya said in another tweet.

In the video, Alam could be heard saying: “We minorities are 30%. The rest is 70%. They (BJP) think they will come to power (in Bengal) with this 70%. They should be ashamed…if the 30% minorities unite…if India’s Muslims unite, four Pakistan can be created. Where will India’s 70% go?”

Bengal’s Muslim population is a little over 27%, according to the Census in 2011, when the last such exercise happened. That Census said Muslims accounted for 14.2% of India’s population.

Earlier, in another controversy, West Bengal Minister Firhad Hakim, in an interview with the Pakistani English daily Dawn, proudly described the Garden Reach Vidhan Sabha constituency in South 24 Parganas district as a ‘Mini Pakistan’.

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Late LTTE chief V Prabhakaran appears on NTK posters along with photos of Seeman

By
The Commune
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Prabhakaran NTK Seeman
Featured Image Credits: ANI

Despite years having passed after his gruesome death, Velupillai Prabhakaran, the founder and leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), continues to be relevant in the political landscape of Tamil Nadu y appearing on posters of political parties like the NTK and the MDMK.

Shiv Raman is the Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) candidate contesting the upcoming polls from the Thirumayam constituency of Pudukottai district. The LTTE chief’s photos, along with that of NTK supremo Seeman and the candidate Shiv Raman, appear on election posters campaigning for the NTK.

The NTK and its leader Seeman are notorious for their virulently anti-Hindu Dravidianist stance.

Apart from the NTK, the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) has also used images of Prabhakaran on its campaign posters and cut-outs. The MDMK is led by Vaiko, a Rajya Sabha MP from Tamil Nadu.

The election campaigns of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi Party, led by Thol. Thirumavalavan, have also featured images of the deceased LTTE leader.

V Prabhakaran was killed in fighting with the Sri Lankan Army on May 18, 2009.

The assembly pols in Tamil Nadu will be held in a single phase on April 6 and the votes will be counted on May 2.

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Centre backs Maharashtra against 50% cap on reservation; SC asks whether Marathas are backward

By
The Commune
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"Let The Past Not Haunt The Future": Supreme Court To Hear Challenges To Places Of Worship Act supreme court allahabad high court panchayat recount vantara waqf amendment posh babri masjid facebook post

Following an almost united stand from several states against the 50% cap on reservation in government jobs and educational institutes, the Centre on Tuesday backed Maharashtra’s legislation granting reservation to people of the Maratha community.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre in the Supreme Court, said that the law is “constitutionally valid” despite breaching the 50% ceiling. A Constitution Bench of the apex court is examining whether the 1992 Indira Sawhney judgement of the Supreme Court, which imposed this 50% limit on reservations, needs a re-look.

Other states backed Maharashtra as well. Bihar, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh argued that the 50% cap was based on prevailing societal conditions in 1992 and is not a “Lakshman Rekha” which could not be crossed.

Are Marathas backward?, asks SC

However, on the eighth consecutive day of the hearing in the Maratha quota case, the constitution bench of the Supreme Court posed queries regarding the backwardness of the Maratha community so as to justify 16% quota for them as a Socially and Economically Backward Class (SEBC).

“We cannot take this 16% reservation lightly”, the bench remarked during the hearing.

The bench observed that Marathas were represented highly in services. It also said that there were reports that Marathas were doing better than other communities. “Can it be concluded from these stats that Marathas are backward?”, the bench sought to know. It also remarked that merely because most members of the community are involved in agriculture activities, it does not mean that they are backward.

It was also observed by the Court that merely because Marathas migrated to slums in cities, they could not be ascertained to be backward, and that being in agriculture and agricultural labour did not indicate that they were backward.

Earlier, the Supreme Court on 19 March had asked the counsel arguing against the 50% limit, for how many generations would reservations in jobs and education continue. The bench had also questioned whether the removal of the 50% limit on reservation would affect the right to equality under Article 14 of the Constitution, and thus lead to a “resultant inequality”.

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Chennai lit fest organised by Indoi Analytics to take place on March 26 and 27

By
The Commune
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The Chennai Literary Festival will be celebrated this year as a new venture in the world of Tamil literature. It will serve as an introductory event for several senior personalities, intellectuals and journalists to many personalities who are unknown to the public eye to date.

The festival will be hosted by a knowledge movement called Indoi Analytics. Indoi Analytics is conducting this event with a view to providing established Tamil intellectuals and creators with the means to reach out to the public and for budding writers, artists and creators to showcase their abilities.

The organizers of the Chennai Lit Fest believe that this will be an entirely new effort in the Tamil literary scene to bring out voices and viewpoints not given wider visibility till now.

All the programs will be held on March 26,27 2021 at Sri Krishna Gana Sabha in Chennai’s Thiagaraya Nagar. There will be two separate shows in Tamil and English. The attendees for the Tamil segment are Mrs Sivashankari, an outstanding literary personality and novelist; Subramaniam, ‘Dravida Maya’ Subbu and India’s top journalists Prafulla Ketkar, Mr Sunil Ambekar, Author Jadayu, Mr Sandeep Balakrishna, ‘Vidya Tapasvi’ Neyveli Santhanagopalan and many other great personalities will be participating. This is show is free of cost for people from all walks of life.

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It is ‘scams vs schemes’ in West Bengal as Amit Shah launches fresh attack on Mamata Banerjee

By
The Commune
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Amit shah West Bengal

In a scathing attack on the Trinamool Congress (TMC)’s West Bengal government, Union Home Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah on Thursday praised PM Narendra Modi for having launched new schemes to help with the development of the state.

Shah said that PM Modi had brought 115 schemes for the development of the state, while Mamata Banerjee carried out 115 scams in her tenure.

Addressing a public rally in the Baghmundi area of poll-bound West Bengal’s Purulia district, Shah said, “Mamata didi gives fluoridated water to you. Once you oust Didi from here, the BJP government will spend ₹10,000 crores to bring fresh drinking water for you.”

Shah went on to target the West Bengal Chief Minister and stated that she was responsible for automobile companies leaving the state and the lack of industrial development in the state. Shah said, “The Communists did not let industries establish here, then Didi also drove industries away. Be it TMC or Left, they cannot provide employment. If you want employment, then you must vote for the NDA government.”

He further said, “PM Narendra Modi has brought 115 schemes for the development of the state which were not implemented in the state, while Mamata Banerjee carried out 115 scams in her tenure.”

“The BJP government, if comes to the power will transfer ₹18,000 directly to the bank accounts of the farmers in the state,” he promised voters.

Shah promises board for the development of tribal people

Shah, during the rally, also promised to work for the development of the tribal people. “We have decided to start a board and another developmental board for Adivasis. The Central Government has also started work to connect this region with railways,” he said.

“We have decided to reserve 33 per cent jobs for women in the public sector. We will also build an Eklavya model school in every block. Public transport will be free for all women in the state of West Bengal”, Shah added.

The Home Minister also likened Banerjee to a diseased person with dengue and malaria, “Didi is like a friend with dengue and malaria. If you want to get rid of dengue and malaria, you must vote for BJP”, he said.

Asking people whether they want development in Bengal or want the progress of Mamata’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee, Shah said, “Modi ji wants elections to be for your welfare. Didi wants elections as a means to make her nephew the next Chief Minister. Do you want the nephew as your CM or development in Bengal?”

Elections to the 294-member state Assembly will be held in eight phases starting from March 27 with the final round of voting taking place on April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.

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“Did prime accused in the gold smuggling case work in your office or not?”, Amit Shah asks Kerala CM

By
The Commune
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Amit shah Kerala

As the assembly elections in Kerala draw closer, Union Home Minister Amit Shah in a campaign speech in Kanjirappally asked some tough questions to the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) government.

“I have seven questions for Vijayan ji – Did the prime accused in the gold smuggling case work in your office or not? Did your government give this accused ₹3 lakh per month? Did your Principal Secretary make phone calls to help these accused or not?” he asked.

“Did the accused woman make foreign trips on state funds and with Principal Secretary’s permission? Why did she come to the chief minister’s residence regularly? Did you build pressure on Customs office after gold was seized from the airport? Was attack on ED/Customs officers probed properly?” he further said.

“There have been two floods in Kerala, and over 500 people lost their lives. Left govt calls our army very late, only for their own political mileage. They do not care about the lives of the people of Kerala,” said Shah.

“LDF and UDF governments have made Kerala a hub of corruption. When UDF comes to power, there is a solar light scam and during LDF’s tenure, there are donor and gold scams,” he added.

“BJP believes that governments should not intervene in issues related to temples. It should be left to devotees. Communist party cadres, dressed in police attire, have mistreated Sabarimala bhakts,” Shah said speaking in Chathannoor.

“There are was a time when Kerala was considered as the role model of tourism and development. It was known as the most educated and peace-loving state. LDF and UDF governments have made Kerala a hub of corruption,” he added.

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