Delhi fire

Recent investigative reports ( The Indian Express , June 19-22, 2022) bring to light proposals for deletions and changes to school textbooks across the board. The aim, purportedly, is to reduce the load on school students who have suffered a loss of learning due to extended shutdowns during the novel coronavirus pandemic. However, the changes made in the history textbooks specifically target certain areas of India’s past and will result in an ideological shift in history teaching at the school level. Curricular changes The Government is currently undertaking a series of curricular changes. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports recently tabled its Report on the Reforms in Content and Design of School Text books (November 30, 2021). The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is already in the process of formulating the new National Curricular Framework, which will direct the syllabi of central and State … [Read more...] about Rewriting ‘old history’ for a New India

Punjab’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had a major setback on Sunday as it lost the parliamentary byelection to the Sangrur constituency, so far a party bastion. Simranjit Singh Mann, a known radical Sikh leader of Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) won the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat by securing 2,53,154 votes. He defeated his nearest rival of the AAP, Gurmail Singh, by 5,822 votes. Mr. Singh secured 2,47,332 votes. The byelection is being seen as the first major test to ascertain the popularity of the three-month-old AAP government, which went into the Assembly polls earlier this year on the plank of its development work, and stern action against corruption, illegal mining and other “mafias” in the State. Losing Sangrur is being seen as a big blow against the party, especially for Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, as the constituency is his home turf. The byelection was necessitated as the seat fell vacant after Mr. Mann contested and won from the Dhuri Assembly seat in the Assembly … [Read more...] about With Sangrur bypoll win, Simranjit Singh Mann makes a comeback

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday won the byelections to the Azamgarh and Rampur Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, wresting them from the Samajwadi Party, while in a setback, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab lost the contest for the Sangrur parliamentary seat, which was vacated by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann in March, to the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar). The BJP candidate from Azamgarh, Dinesh Lal Yadav ‘Nirahua’, a Bhojpuri actor, defeated Dharmendra Yadav of the SP by a margin of 8,679 votes, according to the Election Commission of India. Mr. Dinesh had lost to SP president and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. The seat fell vacant after Mr. Akhilesh won in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election earlier this year. In Rampur, BJP candidate Ghanshyam Singh Lodhi defeated Mohammed Asim Raja of the SP by a margin of 42,192 votes. The Rampur seat was vacated by SP leader Azam Khan, who also won in the Assembly … [Read more...] about SP loses its Azamgarh, Rampur bastions in Lok Sabha bypolls

India logged 17,073 new coronavirus infections, raising its tally to 4,34,07,046, while the daily positivity crossed 5% after over four months, the Union Health Ministry said on June 27. The death toll climbed to 5,25,020 with 21 fresh fatalities, data updated at 8 a.m. by the ministry stated. The active cases increased to 94,420, comprising 0.22% of the total infections. The national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.57%, the ministry said. An increase of 1,844 cases was recorded in the active COVID-19 case count in a span of 24 hours, as per the data. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 5.62%, while the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 3.39%, it stated. The daily positivity crossed 5% after a gap of 139 days. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,27,87,606, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.21%. According to the ministry, 197.11 crore doses of vaccine have been administered in the country so far under … [Read more...] about India records 17,073 new COVID-19 cases, 21 deaths; daily positivity rate 5.62%

Homebuyers who booked flats in housing projects in the Noida-Greater Noida property market are worst affected, with over 1.65 lakh flats worth ₹1.18 lakh crore currently stalled or significantly delayed in these two cities, according to property consultant Anarock. In its research, the consultant has taken only those housing projects that were launched in 2014 or before, across seven big property markets -- Delhi-NCR, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune. Expressing concern over the plight of customers whose investments are at stake, Forum for People's Collective Efforts' (FPCE), an apex body of homebuyers, president Abhay Upadhyay told PTI that the cause of the delay of each project should be ascertained and solutions must be found. He also sought stern action against defaulting builders. According to the Anarock data, 4,79,940 units worth ₹4,48,129 crore are "stalled or heavily delayed" across these seven cities as of May 31, … [Read more...] about Homebuyers in Noida-Greater Noida worst hit; 1.65 lakh units of ₹1.18 lakh crore stalled

Days after facing a hostile environment and literally being sidelined at the AIADMK general council meeting last Thursday, party leader O. Panneerselvam said on Sunday that he would not be cowed down by threats. He undertook a road show from Madurai to his home town Theni in a “show of strength”. Mr. Panneerselvam, who strongly opposes former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s bid to undo the AIADMK’s dual leadership structure and take over as its supreme leader, had left for New Delhi on Thursday night to accompany NDA presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu during the filing of her nomination. He returned to Madurai by a scheduled flight from Chennai on Sunday afternoon. Also Read Panneerselvam’s name dropped from Namadhu Amma Stating that the people and AIADMK workers would soon come to know the truth [about the developments in the party], he told journalists, “Some forces are bent on tarnishing the party’s image. I will not be cowed by such threats. The day … [Read more...] about Will not be cowed down by threats, says Panneerselvam

SportsApp, a platform for the sports community, is planning to raise about $8 million during the next two quarters as a part of Series A fund raising to fuel expansion in India, its CEO said. “This fundraise will help us to capture about 20% of the current market and enable us to reach to over 70 lakh users with close to over 20 lakh active users for the app,” said Shashank Mishra, CEO, SportsApp. As a part of expansion, this platform will open doors for two more revenue streams in the next 12 months – monetisation and sponsorship revenue, he added. Currently active in Delhi-NCR, the app is scheduled to cover Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad shortly. “Chasing to dominate the current over $1 billion industry, which is expected to hit $3 billion to $5 billion in the next five years, we plan to capture 20% of the overall market in 5 years as we grow,” Mr. Mishra said. … [Read more...] about SportsApp plans to raise up to $8 mn

When Ustad Lachchman Singh Seen, a Himachali Rajput, passed away recently, he was identified more with Punjab and the tabla, since he was the last celebrated disciple of Punjab gharana doyen, Ustad Mian Qadir Baksh. Lachchman Singh received extensive training in Lahore, before returning to his home in Jammu after Partition. Shortly after, Jalandhar became his home. Though he was primarily known as an exponent of the tabla, Lachchman Singh had also trained in sitar, in Jammu, and remained deeply connected with the instrument, teaching at the famous Hans Raj Mahila Maha Vidyalaya in Jalandhar . Punjab was a centre of music in those days. Says Purnima Beri, who has been organising the 146-year-old Harivallabh Sangeet Sammelan , “I remember hearing from my father Balbir Singh Mehta, (who was closely associated with music, and both the premier festivals in Punjab, Harivallabh as well as the 107-year-old Lakshminarayan Sabha in Amritsar) that if there was ever a ‘baithak’ anywhere, … [Read more...] about Tribute to Ustad Lachchman Singh Seen, a pillar of the Punjab gharana

In the summer of 2005, Sajid Mir had been at the Feroze Shah Kotla stadium in New Delhi, packed amidst the hundreds of ecstatic Pakistani cricket fans who cheered their team as it powered its way to a record 159-run victory over India. Mir, though, was in India for a game of his own. The top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander's undercover visit was the first of a series of surveillance missions which culminated in the November, 2008, attacks on Mumbai. The Lashkar intelligence operative whose reconnaissance enabled the attack, Pakistani-American jihadist David Headley, reported to Mir. From a safehouse in Karachi, Mir guided the assault team using a voice-over-internet line, personally ordering the execution of several hostages. Now, western intelligence sources have told The Hindu , Mir is being held in a safehouse run by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, along with the man who travelled with him to New Delhi — a former Pakistani military officer and military trainer … [Read more...] about Sajid Mir’s war against the world

Pakistan on Thursday said that it has put the trial of seven Mumbai attacks suspects on the fast track and any delay in proceedings is due to India’s failure to decide on a request to allow a judicial commission to interview key officials in India. In a response to the Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s remarks on Wednesday that confidence between the two countries cannot be restored till Pakistan takes action against the “real culprits” behind the Mumbai incident, Interior Minister Rehman Malik indicated that New Delhi should provide more evidence to enable Islamabad to act against other suspects. “As far apprehending those responsible for the attacks is concerned, seven accused are in jail. Their trial is being conducted properly and we have put it on fast track,” Mr. Malik told reporters at the Karachi airport early on Thursday morning. “The delay in that trial is not on our part because we had a demand for a judicial commission (to visit India). Our Interior Secretary met … [Read more...] about Malik asks India to allow judicial team to interview officials