DMK’s Erode Iraivan lamented on stage about how the prices of alcohol, ‘use-and-throw’ cups, and ‘sidedish’ like ‘half-boil’ were steadily increasing in the state.
The DMK man quite hilariously, took to compare the price increase between alcohol and petrol. He said that more than the fact that there were increasing fuel prices, it was the price increase of alcohol sold at TASMAC that was actually disheartening. He went on to say that it was only in the AIADMK rule that the prices were increasing, adding that if DMK was to come to power, it would definitely be reduced.
He then rattled off a series of questions to the public who were present there, and asked about the prices of a ‘quarter’ (180 ml of alcohol), a half-boiled egg, a use-and-throw glass, amongst other items, and feigned surprise upon hearing the prices quoted by the public. The highlight of his speech was that he blatantly proclaimed to provide a free bottle of alcohol to anyone who voted for DMK and referred to the party symbol of the rising sun, metaphorically saying that if it rose in the east, they would get free access to alcohol.
It is to be noted that only recently, The Commune had covered the recent incident of how a DMK member was found tongue-tied when asked about the alcohol ban in the state.
Erode Iraivan is known for making crass comments during public speeches. Earlier, in a speech he had made sexist and unparliamentary remarks on DMDK chief Vijayakanth’s wife Premalatha. He had also made unsavoury remarks on Tamil actress Namitha.
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Featured Image: Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar (File Photo)
As India keeps sending its indigenously manufactured vaccines to counter the COVID-19 pandemic, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday (17 February) announced that India would gift two lakh doses of India-made vaccines to UN Peacekeeping forces.
Jaishankar made the announcement while delivering an address at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Open Debate on the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
In his virtual address to the UN Security Council, Jaishankar said, “Keeping in mind the UN Peacekeepers who operate in such difficult circumstances, we would like to announce today a gift of 200,000 doses for them.”
Made in India vaccines supplied to 25 nations: 49 countries across the world will be added soon.
Quoting the Bhagavad Gita, Jaishankar said, “Do your work with the welfare of others always in mind.”
Shortly after the announcement, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti tweeted, “Protecting the Protectors! External Affairs Minister @DrSJaishankar announces a gift of 200,000 doses of vaccines for UN peacekeepers at #UNSC. India responds immediately to request of @UN Secretary-General @antonioguterres.”
Protecting the Protectors!
External Affairs Minister @DrSJaishankar announces a gift of 200,000 doses of vaccines for UN peacekeepers at #UNSC
Jaishankar told the UNSC that India is now the ‘pharmacy of the world’ and is working to provide critical medicines, diagnostic kits, ventilators and PPEs to more than 150 countries. He added that almost 80 nations will receive aid from India on a grant basis.
“Today, the pharmacy of the world is stepping forward to meet the global vaccines challenge,” he said.
He also informed the council that that two vaccines, including one that is indigenously developed, have already been granted emergency authorisation and as many as 30 vaccine candidates are under various stages of development.
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A volley of complaints by parents against a teacher, who rubbed the vibhooti and saffron off from the foreheads of government high school students near Thuraiyur in the Tiruchirapalli district and conducted a lesson on atheism, has caused a stir.
Shanmugam is working as a math teacher in a government high school in Perumal Palayam, Thuraiyur, in the Tiruchirapalli district. The teacher, who identifies as a follower of Periyar, is accused to have preached atheism to students and insulted their religious beliefs. Shanmugam, who had protested against schoolgirls wearing bangles, flowers, and sacred threads on their wrists, at one point, wiped the vibhooti and saffron from the students’ foreheads and had scolded them using obscene words.
It is said that Shanmugam was also involved in cutting and removing the sacred threads worn by some students with scissors. There were also complaints against him saying that he performed sexual misconduct with a few female students on the pretext of guiding them.
The parents of the victims had then lodged a complaint with the Trichy District Police. A complaint was also filed with the district education office. Based on the complaint, the education authorities conducted a serious investigation on the victim student and the teacher on the orders of the Trichy District Principal Education Officer.
The investigation report was forwarded to the higher authorities of the education department through the Principal Education Officer. The district primary education officer said that action would be taken against teacher Shanmugam in a couple of days. At the same time, the parents of the victims have expressed that they expect the police to take immediate action against the teacher who behaved inappropriately with the students under the POCSO Act.
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The Samasta Kerala Sunni Students’ Federation (SKSSF), affiliated to Samastha (EK Faction), an influential body of Sunni (Shafi‘i) scholars and clerics in Kerala has demanded a new ‘Malabar state’ be carved out from Kerala, reports Organiser.
The SKSSF was formed on 19 February 1989 and is known for its puritanical views on the religious aspects of Islam. It is well known for always politically backing the Muslim League.
The SKSSF mouthpiece Satyadhara’s editor Anwar Sadique Faisi triggered a massive controversy when he wrote a post on social media platform Facebook calling for the creation of a new ‘Malabar state’ out of Kerala. This demand is due to the Muslim majority in the Malabar region. According to Faisi, Kozhikode should be the state capital of the newly carved Malabar state.
The demand has been making the rounds for the past few decades.
Recently, two Muslim men belonging to the Islamic group Popular Front of India (PFI) were arrested in Uttar Pradesh for allegedly planning to conduct terror attacks, with police also recovering weapons and explosives from the accused.
Faisi says that Malabar is not given any importance by the Kerala government and lags behind in the education and healthcare sectors, when compared to other areas in the state. He adds that he wants the ‘Telangana model’ of agitation for the creation of a new state. Faisi, in his Facebook post, appealed to all religious-political-cultural associations to stand united for demand for the creation of the Malabar state.
Faisi is not the only one who wants a new Malabar state to be carved out of Kerala. Other Muslim organisations have also made similar demands for the bifurcation of the Muslim-majority Malappuram district in Kerala in the past.
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In a major embarrassment for Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan Niazi, his planned address to the Sri Lankan Parliament has been cancelled.
During his scheduled two-day trip from 22 February to the island country, Imran Khan was to address the Parliament and to save face, the Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena had requested for cancellation on the pretext of Covid-19.
Besides his now cancelled speech on February 24, Imran Khan is to hold meetings with Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and attending an investors’ conference.
This information was confirmed by Sri Lanka’s daily Express who had quoted Foreign Secretary Jayanath Colombage. However, Naizi’s itinerary had included a speech which must have previously been agreed by the Sri Lankans with media reports giving different reasons for the cancellation of Khan’s address.
However, the Covid is just a reason because some people within the Sri Lankan government feared that if Imran Khan’s speech might harm ties with India.
Already India is not very happy with the cancellation of a deal over the East Container Terminal in Colombo port.
Also, experts note that Imran Khan using the platform to raise Kashmir issue might anger New Delhi.
Imran Khan has been raising the issue of treatment of Muslims and Islamophobia at many global platforms and the Sri Lankan government was concerned about the Pakistan PM raising the rights of Muslims in Sri Lanka.
There is already a lot of anger in Sri Lanka over the Easter terror suicide bombings attack in 2019 in which 267 people were killed, including at least 45 foreign nationals. The ripple effect of this attack also was felt by the tourism industry which this island nation depends a lot on.
However, it is also true that Muslims have faced discrimination in Sri Lanka. During the height of Covid, the government made it compulsory that anyone who had died due to complications of Covid will be cremated and this rule was applicable to Muslims who bury their dead.
Earlier this month the government exempted the Muslims from cremation and allowed them to bury their dead after a global outcry over the issue.
Imran Khan had welcomed the Sri Lankan government’s decision and said, “We welcome Sri Lankan PM Mahinda Rajapaksa’s assurance given in Sri Lankan Parliament today, allowing Muslims to bury those who died from Covid-19,”.
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In a significant boost for the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state of Kerala, “Metro Man” E. Sreedharan, is set to join the party ahead of the Assembly Elections in the state.
'Metro Man' E Sreedharan to join BJP. He will formally join the party during its Vijay Yatra that will be led by Kerala BJP chief K Surendran from 21st February.
Elattuvapil Sreedharan is a retired officer of the Indian Engineering Service and earned the title the “Metro Man” for his groundbreaking work in building the public transport in India, particularly the Delhi Metro. In 2003, he was named Asia’s Heroes by the TIME magazine.
However, Sreedharan as an engineer was responsible for developing the Konkan Railways which has been called one of the most difficult railway projects in the world.
As per reports, Sreedharan will formally join BJP during the party’s Vijay Yatra led by Kerala BJP chief K Surendran from 21 February.
Sreedharan was born in Karukaputhur what used to be the Madras Presidency and later became the state of Kerala.
His achievement and success have led him to be the advisor to several Metro projects in India, and a member of the United Nations’ High-Level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport.
He holds a degree in civil engineering from the Government Engineering College, known now as JNTUK, in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh. Before that, he studied at the Victoria College in Palghat.
Sreedharan started as a lecturer of civil engineering at the Government Polytechnic, Kozhikode, then joined the Bombay Port Trust as an apprentice. Next, he cleared the Indian Engineering Service Exam in 1953 and joined the Southern Railway in December 1954.
He quickly moved up the ladder because of his performance and reportedly, in 1964, against a six-month target set by the railways to repair a bridge that had washed away by a cyclone, he managed to repair it and finish the restoration work in 46 days.
He also had worked on Kolkata Metro, and was instrumental in Cochin Shipyard Limited’s turnaround.
However, he became famous when he was given the task of developing the Delhi Metro and true to his testament he finished projects before deadlines, and within 16 years. Known for his honesty and professionalism, he made sure there was no corruption and the labours who worked on the project received their salary on time.
Any contractor caught cheating was instantly replaced and took an uncompromising stand on safety and quality of the Delhi Metro.
At present, Delhi Metro is only one of the few Metro projects in the world that are profitable and has made totally changed how people in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) commuters every day.
Sreedharan was later offered advisory roles in Kochi Metro, Jaipur Metro, Lucknow Metro, Coimbatore Metro and proposed projects in Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada.
He is the recipient of several national and international honours for his work, including Padma Shri in 2001, Padma Vibhushan in 2008, and the French government’s Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur in 2005.
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Senior practicing advocate of Madras High Court N Vijayaraghavan has authored a new book titled “Sam Manekshaw’s Beloved Armed Forces”, reports Organiser.
Madras High Court judges G R Swaminathan and P T Asha released the book on 14 February in a videoconference function. Noted Chennai-based Tamil publishers Kalaimagal Publication published the book.
Speaking about the book, Justice Swaminathan said, “Advocate Vijayaraghavan has written this book with complete details on Sam Manekshaw. It is a wholesome book. All youths should read this book to understand the sacrifice of our defence forces which are incomparable. It would help to have faith in the nation and patriotism. We need more books on our defence forces to motivate them and to have respect for their yeoman service to the nation.”
In his foreword to the book, R Sankaranarayanan, Additional Solicitor General of India, Madras High court said, “The author of this book has tweaked the work by keeping company of the one and only Sam Manekshaw, the irrepressible Field Marshal. The anecdotal run of the work with Sam Bahadur whose life and times was full of it ― as he called himself a ‘jolly good fellow who lived life to the hilt ―is in racy, pacy genre, keeping the readers in thrall. I for one was and readily agreed to pen this foreword.”
Sankaranarayanan adds, “The book is on the three defense forces namely Army, Air Force and Navy. Author Vijayaraghavan has conceded that he was no authority on the subject and his work was more of a compilation than a dissertation. In fact, he has covered extensively almost every topic of interest to laymen and men in uniform –why some join the armed forces, how women have come to the fore and Absent dialogue between the armed forces, bureaucrats and political establishment – borrowing from the recent work of Mr Anit Mukherjee which is a dissertation by an author with matchless pedigree, as a soldier turned research analyst, alluded to the wars of 1947, 1962, 1965 and 1971 and 1999 –flagging off the gallant efforts of the men on the ground with brilliant interludes with a Sam Manekshaw connect, the social and political backdrops, the manufacture, procurement and acquisition of armaments and efforts at indigenization and to wind up the empathetic attitude the ordinary Indian needs to show towards men in uniform et at. The sweep is wide and coming from a common man’s perspective, it engages the attention of the discerning and interested very well.”
He says, “This is a work on our proud Armed forces with a thoughtful and lovely Sam Manekshaw spin, making it a colorful production that would and should appeal to every proud Indian. This book was written in catchy prose and has been brought out in style, easy on the eye.”
The author in his preface writes, “To be honest Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw, it was, who drew me in. My first, middle and end reading for this work was on Sam, Sam and more of Sam alone. The rest followed, as if on cue. Sam lived his life full. He readily said so, And kept saying so, even after he quit the forces , though once a Field Marshal always is a Field Marshall. His epic leadership role in the Indo-Pak war of 1971 which resulted in the birth of Bangladesh, alone gets pride of place oftentimes. But he was more than that said conflict. He breathed life and vigour into the forces, and loved his men, on and off the borders. So much, that he openly confessed that he never ever punished even one soldier despite court-martial proceedings. He claimed that he somehow ‘identified evidence sufficient to exculpate the delinquent’. That was he.”
The author also intends to bring out the book in Tamil.
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While India is being hailed globally for alleviating the pain and grief caused by the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic by supplying the world with its affordable and easy-to-store vaccines, there is a campaign being orchestrated by a section of the media to discredit the nation’s “vaccine maitri”.
In a bid to embarrass the Modi administration, certain politicians and a section of the mainstream left-liberal media are disseminating misinformation about the Indian-made vaccines supplied to various nations around the world as part of India’s vaccine diplomacy.
On Tuesday, some of the left-liberal media outlets and yesteryear politicians claimed on social media that South Africa had rejected the 1 million AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses supplied by the Serum Institute of India (SII) earlier this month under a commercial deal and further said that South Africa had asked for the doses to be taken back.
A report published by Economic Times claimed that South Africa wanted to return the one million COVID-19 vaccine doses received from Serum Institute of India. The report claimed that South Africa had decided to return the vaccine a week after the country said it would put on hold the use of AstraZeneca in its vaccination program after it showed reduced protection against the South African variant of the coronavirus.
A report by the Economic Times claiming that South Africa asked SII to take back COVID vaccines
Other news outlets soon picked up the story. The report had stated that South Africa had paused the rollout of Indian-made AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine doses after preliminary trial data showed they offered minimal protection against mild to moderate illness from the country’s dominant COVID-19 variant.
The country was likely to administer Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines from Wednesday, a Reuters report said.
A report by Reuters
The Hindu too reported with similar claims that Serum Institute of India has been asked take back the one million COVID-19 vaccine doses the company had sent in early February.
A news report by The Hindu
The far-left propaganda website ‘The Wire’, which has a history of peddling fake news, put out a report on similar lines, saying that Indian vaccines would be sent back.
Report by The Wire
In a strange turn of events, BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy also fell prey to the same misinformation and tweeted a report by The Hindu claiming that South Africa had asked SII to take back the vaccines.
Subramanian Swamy’s tweet
As could be expected, Pakistan too celebrated India’s supposed ‘failure’. Citing a Forbes report, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the ruling party in the terror-beholden, military-run rump state ‘hoped’ that India did not put World at risk by supplying such vaccines. Of course, Pakistan completely ignored the fact that the debt-ridden country had earlier this month secured ,via the global COVAX alliance, 7 million doses of the same India-made vaccines to protect Pakistanis from the Chinese virus.
A tweet by the Imran Khan-led PTI
Did South Africa ask the Serum Institute to take back the vaccines?
Responding to these media reports, the South African government has categorically refuted the news peddled by the media, saying that no such proposals have been made to the SII to take back the vaccines.
While South Africa had paused the rollout of AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine doses this month after one of the trials had shown that the SII vaccine offered lesser protection against the South African COVID-19 variant, it did not ask for the India-made vaccines to be taken back.
The South African government had agreed to purchase COVID-19 vaccines developed by Johnson & Johnson to combat the South African variant. The South African administration, after procuring the J&J vaccine, had decided to share the excess vaccines supplied by India to other African countries via the African Union (AU).
Speaking in the parliament, South Africa’s Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said, “I would like to clarify a few media reports that said we had returned the vaccines to India. We have not returned the AstraZeneca vaccines to India”.
Mkhize added the AstraZeneca doses that were purchased are now offered to the African Union platform, of which SA is also a member. He further said that the AU would distribute to those countries who have already expressed interest in acquiring the stock.
He stated, “I also wish to put it on record once again that the vaccines have not expired and that the expiry date of April was established through our quality control processes – a wrong impression was created that the vaccines have expired – this is simply not true”.
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The Jal Jeevan Mission announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15th August, 2019 with the aim to provide tap water connection to every rural household by 2024 has reached a new milestone by providing 3.53 Crore rural household tap water connections.
As on 15th August 2019, out of 18.93 Crore rural households, 3.23 Crore (17%) had tap water connections. The untiring efforts of States/ UTs have helped Jal Jeevan Mission provide 3.53 Crore tap water connections. Further, every family living in 52 districts and 77 thousand villages are getting assured tap water supply in their homes. Now 6.76 Crore (35.24%) i.e. more than 1/3rd of rural households are getting potable water through taps.
Goa has become the first State in the country to provide 100% tap water connection followed by Telangana. States/ UTs are now competing with each other and focusing on the target to ensure that every household in the country gets safe drinking water adhering to the core principle of ‘equity & inclusiveness’.
Jal Jeevan Mission is working in partnership with the States with an aim to provide potable water in adequate quantity and of prescribed quality on regular and long-term basis. Extensive planning exercise was undertaken by the States/ UTs following ‘bottom-up approach’. Accordingly, they have firmed up the Action Plan to provide tap water connection to every rural household. While implementing, States are giving priority to water quality-affected areas, village in drought prone and desert areas, Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe majority villages, aspirational districts and Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojna villages.
Jal Jeevan Mission journey so far has been filled with challenges and disruptions as the entire world battled with CoVid-19 pandemic. All developmental and construction work has got badly affected during lockdown in most parts of the country. Hand washing has become the most important tool for safety of individuals to fight the pandemic. States/ UTs continued building water supply infrastructure following precautions like social distancing and using masks. Continuous work despite CoVid-19 proved to be a boon for the villages, which provided employment to the migrants who had returned to their villages. The labour force which returned to their hometown were skilled in construction work and had in the past worked as masons, plumbers, fitters, pump operators in the cities.
Potable water supply to water quality-affected habitations is a top priority under Jal Jeevan Mission. Efforts are made to ensure safe drinking water to all quality-affected villages especially Arsenic and Fluoride affected rural habitations. JJM gives highest priority to potability of drinking water, which will reduce water-borne diseases and improve health of people. States/ UTs are upgrading water quality testing laboratories and opening them to public enabling them to get their water samples tested at nominal rates.
(Published from PIB)
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The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved signing of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) between India and Mauritius on February 17, 2021.
The India-Mauritius CECPA will be the first trade Agreement to be signed by India with a country in Africa. The Agreement is a limited agreement, which will cover Trade in Goods, Rules of Origin, Trade in Services, Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures, Dispute Settlement, Movement of Natural Persons, Telecom, Financial services, Customs Procedures and Cooperation in other Areas.
CECPA provides for an institutional mechanism to encourage and improve trade between the two countries. The CECPA between India and Mauritius covers 310 export items for India, including food stuff and beverages (80 lines), agricultural products (25 lines), textile and textile articles (27 lines), base metals and articles thereof (32 lines), electricals and electronic item (13 lines), plastics and chemicals (20 lines), wood and articles thereof (15 lines), and others. Mauritius will benefit from preferential market access into India for its 615 products, including frozen fish, speciality sugar, biscuits, fresh fruits, juices, mineral water, beer, alcoholic drinks, soaps, bags, medical and surgical equipment, and apparel.
As regards trade in services, Indian service providers will have access to around 115 sub-sectors from the 11 broad service sectors such as professional services, computer related services, research & development, other business services, telecommunication, construction, distribution, education, environmental, financial, tourism & travel related, recreational, yoga, audio-visual services, and transport services.
India has offered around 95 sub-sectors from the 11 broad services sectors, including professional services, R&D, other business services, telecommunication, financial, distribution, higher education, environmental, health, tourism and travel related services, recreational services and transport services.
Both sides have also agreed to negotiate an Automatic Trigger Safeguard Mechanism (ATSM) for a limited number of highly sensitive products within two years of the Signing of the Agreement.
The Agreement will be signed by the concerned from both the countries on a mutually convenient date and will come into force from 1st date of the following month.
