India

Kanpur, Oct 9 (IANS) Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday said that people of the society should learn compassion, dedication and sense of duty from Maharishi Valmiki.

Addressing members of Valmiki Samaj on Valmiki Jayanti, Bhagwat said that Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar has established a law to give rights to the society in the constitution, but everything will not be done just by establishing a law.

Bhagwat said, "Baba Saheb Ambedkar had said while giving the constitution in Parliament that till now those who were considered backward will not remain backward. They will sit equally with everyone; we made this system. But one also must change the mind."

The RSS chief said, "Baba saheb had said that he has provided political and economic freedom by making arrangements. But it will be realised only when social freedom will come and hence, Dr Ambedkar worked to bring that spirit from Nagpur from 1925 through the Sangh."

He further said, "I consider myself blessed to come here on the auspicious occasion of Valmiki Jayanti. I have attended the inauguration of the first Valmiki temple in Nagpur. Why should Valmiki society not be described in the entire Hindu society? If Valmiki had not written Ramayana, we would not have known about Lord Rama."

Mohan Bhagwat said, "The concept of Varna and caste system should be forgotten. Today, if anyone asks about this, then all the people who think in the interest of the society should be told that the varna and caste system is a thing of the past and it should be forgotten."

"It is necessary in our mind to have the determination to take the country and ourselves forward. The Valmiki Samaj is the pride of our country. If Valmiki had not been there, Ram would not have been familiar with the world. We must learn to upgrade our society in every situation," he said.

Bhagwat earlier paid tribute to him by garlanding the statue of Valmiki installed at Nana Rao Park. He had reached Kanpur on Saturday to attend North India's first 'Swar Sangam Ghosh' camp.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Oct 9 (IANS) After the date of withdrawal of nominations for the Congress presidential poll, the party now has two contestants -- Shashi Tharoor and Mallikarjun Kharge -- for the October 17 polls, in which 67 booths have been set up in all the states, the party's central election authority (CEA) has said.

Madhusudan Mistry, Chairman of the CEA, said, "In AICC also there will be a booth, especially for all senior leaders, working committee members and all those whose identity card is from a different state but are staying in Delhi. If they write to us that they want to vote in Delhi then we will make arrangements here as well, they can also vote here in AICC."

A camp booth will be set up for Rahul Gandhi and others who are participating in the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

"So the process of campaigning for these candidates starts from Saturday onwards, officially, although they have already started the campaign earlier, because, I mean, they seem to have decided not to withdraw from the contest. Technically, according to the constitution, we have to provide them with a seven day withdrawal period."

The election will take place on October 17 in every state capital. Time is between 10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m.

The vote will be by the secret ballot. All the ballet boxes will be brought to the AICC headquarters and then, on October 19 the counting of votes will start and the result will be declared as soon as the counting gets over.

--IANS
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Lucknow, Oct 9 (IANS) The BJP and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)are going all out to woo Dalits with the former focusing on programmes held on Valmiki Jayanti and the latter observing the death anniversary of its founder, late Kanshi Ram.

Both, Valmiki Jayanti and Kanshi Ram's anniversary are on Sunday, October 9.

The birth anniversary of Maharishi Valmiki, who is credited for writing the original Ramayana during the lifetime of Lord Ram, is being marked with various events in Uttar Pradesh, including the continuous recital of the Ramayana at all temples of Lord Rama and Hanuman, as well as at all places associated with the epic along with the lighting of lamps this year.

The Yogi Adityanath government is celebrating the birth anniversary of Valmiki in a grand manner across UP this year.

Principal Secretary, Mukesh Kumar Meshram has issued directions in this regard to all divisional commissioners and the district magistrates asking them to ensure that Valmiki Jayanti is celebrated on a grand scale throughout the state.

The officials have been asked to arrange for the lighting of lamps or 'deepdan' as well as the continuous recital of the Ramayana for 8, 12 or 24 hours and organise similar other events at all places and temples related to Maharishi Valmiki on his Jayanti.

The celebration of the Valmiki Jayanti on a larger scale this year is apparently with an eye on the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and the Dalit votes. Valmiki is said to be a Dalit and the author of Ramayana.

The BJP strategy is to link Valmiki (Dalit) with Ramayana and consolidate the 'Hindu First' concept.

The state government has also revamped the 'Valmiki Ashram' in Chitrakoot which has now been developed as a tourist destination.

The Bahujan Samaj Party , on the other hand, is using the death anniversary of late Kanshi Ram to win back its cadres.

In a tweet, Mayawati, on Sunday, reminded her followers that it was BSP which had the 'master key' to power and had formed government four times in Uttar Pradesh.

"The next elections are a test for the Bahujan Samaj to get back power," she tweeted.

The BSP however, did not hold any major programme on the occasion and its leaders restricted themselves to paying floral tributes to their founder.

--IANS
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Bhopal, Oct 9 (IANS) In an attempt to give a further push to her long-standing demand for a liquor ban in specific places or control the distribution policy in Madhya Pradesh, veteran BJP leader and former Union Minister Uma Bharti has announced that she will stop living at home or inside a building from November 7.

Bharti, who has also been the only woman chief minister of Madhya Pradesh so far, said she would launch a two-month-long march as a symbolic protest against the liquor policy of her own party's government. The march will commence on November 7 and conclude on January 12, 2023, during which she would move around Madhya Pradesh and stay out of home or any building.

"During the two-month-long movement against liquor policy, I will move around Madhya Pradesh and stay out -- may be in a tent, in a temporary hut, under a tree or likewise -- from November 7 till the time a suitable liquor policy that ensures safety and security of women and girls, safe periphery to places of worship, educational institutes and hospitals etc is not introduced by the state government," Bharti said during a press conference.

Notably, it would be Bharti's fresh attempt at an indirect attack on the Shivraj Singh Chouhan led BJP government as she has been cornering the government of her own party for the last few months. In the past, she even openly attacked Chouhan and the party's state chief V. D. Sharma accusing them of not paying heed to her voice on the liquor policy.

Before it, Bharti wrote a letter to the BJP's national president J. P. Nadda, however, no heed was paid to it. Finally, Bharti had to take a U-turn and soften her attack on Shivraj Singh Chouhan while praising him for good governance earlier last month. Now, Bharti is again set to make an issue of liquor with assembly elections getting closer in Madhya Pradesh.

Political experts are of the view that the fresh movement of Bharti is another attempt to make her presence felt in Madhya Pradesh politics with the elections just 14 months away. "Ever since she resigned from the chief minister's post in August 2004, she has been ousted from Madhya Pradesh's politics. Despite being a former chief minister, she wasn't given any role in Madhya Pradesh, even during the elections. Now, when she wasn't given any role at the Centre, Bharti is making all out efforts to re-enter state politics," said N. K. Singh a political observer in Madhya Pradesh.

Singh said that Bharti had made such attempts when she had established her own political outfit - the 'Bharatiya Janshakti Party', but after the elections she merged it with the BJP. "Bharti thought that she would get the same response from people as she had got during 2003-04, but after elections it proved that her firebrand image of Hindutva was because of the BJP, she realised it and that is why she merged her party with the BJP to get back into mainstream politics," Singh added.

Political observes were also of the view that Bharti is trying to re-enter Madhya Pradesh's politics using the OBC card, which is why she alleged caste and religious imbalance in the state BJP. For instance, when Preetam Singh Lodhi was ousted from the party after using abusive language for Brahmins, Bharti stood in his support openly.

"She has been sidelined in Madhya Pradesh and now she wants to enter here again, but things have changed and individual BJP leaders have made their own space and they won't let her enter. The BJP knows that Bharti has lost her old charisma and her warnings are not going to cause any damage and that is the reason BJP leaders are not paying heed to her now," said another political observer, requesting not to be named.

--IANS
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Kolkata, Oct 9 (IANS) Late on Wednesday evening on the occasion of Dussehra, the plains in the Terai and Dooars regions in the northern part of West Bengal witnessed a tragedy because of a sudden flash flood.

So far eight people have been reported killed and several are missing following the flash flood in Mal river at Malbazar in Jalpaiguri district in north West Bengal.

During the last few years, the small and shallow rivers in the plains of north Bengal have witnessed several incidences of such sudden flash floods, which according to experts, is something unique. However, Wednesday's tragedy has resulted in the resurrection of certain questions.

Is this changing trend of frequent flash floods in the small and shallow rivers in north Bengal just a quirk of nature? Or is this basically a human-invited calamity resulting from abuse of nature like mass deforestation in the region and forceful diversion of river-flows through use of stone-bounders or sand embankments? IANS spoke to environmental experts and specialists on the changing behaviour of such rivers in north Bengal.

Environment activist and founder-secretary Jalpaiguri Science & Nature Club, Dr Raja Raut has been studying this trend for quite some time. Speaking to IANS, he said that for the sake of tourism and other trade related activities, there has been massive deforestation and illegal cutting down of the trees in the region.

"Water from rivers and springs flowing down from the hills of north Bengal, Sikkim and Bhutan is the main reason for the flash floods in the rivers in the plains of north Bengal. Now forest trees have the natural strength to control the speed of the flowing water. Because of the massive deforestation the speed of the water flow remains uncontrolled. Secondly, because of the massive deforestation the land connecting the rivers in plains is fast losing its capacity to absorb the flowing water. So, this is the first and primary reason why flash floods have become so common in the rivers in the plains of north Bengal," Raut said.

Forest minister Jyotipriyo Mullick admitted that cutting down of trees is a problem not just in the forest areas of north Bengal but also elsewhere in the state. "We have already taken some measures to control this menace. Now we are going a step further. Even cutting down privately owned trees adjacent to the scheduled forest areas will require prior permission of the forest department. Any deviation on this count will attract major legal action including penalty," he said.

Another reason, according to Raja Raut, is the frequent diversion of the water flow of these rivers through the use of stone-bounders or sand embankments. "This can be dangerous unless done with proper homework. Indiscriminate change in the river water flow can lead to a major mishap, which is exactly what happened on Wednesday leading to the loss of so many lives," he said.

Another expert Partha Pratim Biswas feels that diversion of the river water flow has to be done keeping in mind a number of aspects. "First is to identify the exact places where the boulders for diversion would be used. Second, the diversion should be avoided as far as possible when there is a forecast of heavy rain that will result in the fast flow of water from the uphill rivers or streams. During the rains these otherwise shallow and small rivers take a critical shape. In this case the forecast was there and still diversion was done to facilitate immersion. The diversion was done in a totally unscientific manner that ultimately led into the mishap," he stated.

Despite claiming that a fact-finding committee might be formed to look into allegations of illegal diversion of the river flow, Jalpaiguri district magistrate Moumita Godara Basu said that she has no information about such illegal diversion. "The Mal river is extremely shallow and probably some channels were dug for the purpose of water ponding to facilitate idol immersion. Still, if necessary, a fact-finding committee might be formed with experts in the related field," she said.

State BJP leaders, especially the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal assembly Suvendu Adhikari, have claimed that despite warnings of a flash flood the district administration did not take any precautions to prevent the people from going to the river on Wednesday night. The BJP leaders said that they were not accidental deaths but culpable murders because of the negligence of the administration.

However, Adhikari's logic has been rubbished by north Bengal development minister, Udayan Guha. "Had the administration stopped people from going in the river on the occasion of Vijaya Dashami, then the same Suvendu Adhikari would have alleged that the state government does not allow the performance of Hindu rituals. This is nothing but politics," Guha said.

--IANS
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Meerut, Oct 9 (IANS) A 12-year-old rape victim gave birth to a baby boy at the medical college in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut district.

The medical college administration confirmed that the mother and the child were healthy.

Medical college principal Dr R.K. Gupta said that the girl, a Class 7 student, who lives in Ghaziabad's Khoda police station area, was admitted to the medical college on October 1 and she gave birth through C-Section.

Her family members told reporters that a 19-year-old boy living in their apartment had threatened and raped her multiple times. His brother aged 21, too, had raped her after threatening that they will kill her parents if she did not heed to their demand.

The family also alleged that a 16-year-old girl living with the two brothers had handed the victim over to another man for money, who also took sexual advantage of her.

After the victim's relatives learnt about her trauma, they lodged a police complaint.

The victim's parents have sought capital punishment for the accused.

According to the family, the victim did not exhibit any sign of pregnancy and she remained normal till the time of delivery. While bringing her to the hospital, she was told that she had a kidney stone and that she had to undergo a surgical procedure.

Inspector in-charge of Khoda police station Altaf Ansari said the family had lodged a complaint on September 5 against the two brothers, the girl living with them, and a 35-year-old man.

All of them have been arrested and a chargesheet has been filed against them in the court, he said.

--IANS
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Bengaluru, Oct 8 (IANS) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday his party will win the upcoming assembly elections in Karnataka hands down.

The Gandhi scion, who is currently leading the party's Bharat Jodo Yatra in Karnataka, said: "I am pretty certain that the Congress party will win the elections hands down."

Answering a question on in case of fractured mandate in Karnataka, will the Congress party join hands with the regional party JD-S, he maintained that these are questions that are better answered by CLP leader and Congress party in Karnataka. "But, this question you can ask to both of them (BJP and JD-S)," Rahul Gandhi said.

"In my experience, over the last few days I have spoken to many. What I have been hearing from them is that they are tired of corruption, 40 per cent commission that this government is taking. They are also disturbed by the price rise and level of unemployment Karnataka is facing," he explained.

Talking on the opposition of the Congress party to the National Education Policy (NEP), he said: "We are opposing NEP because it is an attack on the ethos of our country, it distorts our history.

"We are opposing it because it concentrates power in the hands of few people, it takes away power and centralizes the education system and we want a decentralised education system that reflects our history, tradition and language," Rahul Gandhi said.

Answering a question on divisions within the Congress party in Karnataka, he said: "We are not a fascist party. We are a party that believes in discussion, conversation and are perfectly happy to have different viewpoints in the party."

He noted that the party understands that in order to win elections, "we have to work together as a team and that is exactly what is happening".

Commenting on the ban on PFI, he stated, "I have been saying speech after speech, it does not matter which community they come from, spreading hatred and violence is in India is an anti-national act and we will fight anybody who spreads hate and violence."

--IANS
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Guwahati, Oct 8 (IANS) While chairing a meeting with Chief Ministers of northeastern states and top police officials in Guwahati, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday asserted that stern actions would be taken to check the drug menace in the region.

He said that Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) earlier decided to destroy 75,000 kgs of drugs and it is a matter of happiness that NCB already crossed the target by destroying around 1.5 lakh kgs of narcotic substances.

"But, the war against drugs is not yet finished. We have dreamt of a drugs-free India and for that, all stakeholders should work together," he added.

Shah further said that the Union Government has formulated a two-fold approach to deal with the drug menace which has spread all over the country.

"Strong actions will be taken against those involved in drug peddling, while those who are the victim and fell into this vicious cycle, government machinery will work to bring them into the mainstream of the society," he added.

Union Home Minister also said that narcotic substances were primarily peddled into the country from Myanmar and Afghanistan. In the meeting with NCB officials and security personnel here, he has directed to increase the vigil along international borders.

Shah has virtually inaugurated destroying of around 40,000 kilograms of drugs in the northeastern states.

As per an official statement, the destroyed drugs included 7,900 kg seized in Assam, 3,900 kg in Arunachal Pradesh, 1,500 kg in Meghalaya, 400 kg in Nagaland, 1,800 kg in Manipur, 1,300 kg in Mizoram and 12,500 kg seized in Tripura.

--IANS
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Nashik, Oct 8 (IANS) The death toll in the Nashik bus accident rose to 12 with two more victims succumbing to their injuries, while another 28 are under treatment at different hospitals, officials said here on Saturday.

President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and other leaders have expressed grief over the tragedy.

At around 5 am on Saturday, a private passenger bus belonging to Chintamani Travels rammed into a truck carrying diesel on the Aurangabad Road on the outskirts of Nashik.

The impact of the crash was so severe that the bus burst into flames, trapping many of the passengers who were sleeping at that early hour.

As per details available, the bus started from Yavatmal and was bound for Mumbai via Pusad and Pune, with over 30 passengers on board.

Ordering a probe into the incident, Shinde rushed to Nashik on Saturday afternoon and visited some of the victims undergoing treatment at the local hospitals.

The Prime Minister has announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each to the kin of the 12 deceased persons, and Rs 50,000 each to the injured, while Shinde said that Rs 5 lakh each will be given to the families of the dead while the state will bear the full treatment expenses at public or private hospitals for the injured.

The spokespersons of Congress, Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena, along with Shinde group's ministers have also condoled the tragic accident and demanded an in-depth probe into the matter.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Oct 8 (IANS) The global electric vehicle production will grow at a compounded average annual growth rate (CAAGR) of 26 per cent, with volumes approaching 54.1 million units by 2029, a report has said.

The EV Powertrain semiconductor market is forecast to grow at a CAAGR of 31 per cent to reach $27.3 billion by 2029, according to the report by market research firm Strategy Analytics.

"Semiconductors required for power electronics will comprise the largest market, with growth accelerating in line with the push towards battery electric vehicles and the move towards higher performing, more efficient wide bandgap semiconductors," said Asif Anwar, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics.

The push to electric vehicles is being dictated by consumer awareness and government regulations and mandates related to climate change and the need to reduce emissions and reverse the impacts of global warming.

Battery electric vehicles will be the catalyst for the growth in semiconductor demand.

Semiconductor demand include the key systems necessary for operation of mild hybrid, full hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery electric powertrains.

This includes battery management systems, DC/DC converters, main traction inverter, electric motor, and onboard charger, said the report.

According to the report, battery electric vehicles will comprise the largest market for semiconductors growing at a CAAGR of 39 per cent and account for 82 per cent of the total electric vehicle powertrain semiconductor market opportunity in 2029.

--IANS
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