Heena Sharma Blog

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with the Chief Ministers and heads of 21 States and Union Territories on Tuesday. The meeting with heads of Punjab, Assam, Kerala, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Tripura, Manipur, Nagaland, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, among others, is scheduled for 3 pm today. A similar meeting with heads of the rest 15 states and UTs is also scheduled to take place tomorrow. Earlier on Saturday (June 13), Prime Minister Modi had held a detailed meeting with senior ministers and officials to review India's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Read More

Delhi recorded its highest single-day spike of 2,224 in coronavirus cases on Monday, taking its total to 41,182. In the past 7 days alone, the national capital has added 13,528 cases, or 33% of all its cases. While 15,823 patients have recovered, 1,327 have died so far. Today, Union Home Minister Amit Shah is holding an all-party meeting to review the management of Covid-19 situation in Delhi. Unable to keep up with the rising number of coronavirus cases, the Delhi government had earlier asked the Indian Railways to allocate isolation coaches for Covid-19 patients of the national capital. At least, 500 railway coaches, with a combined capacity of 8,000 beds, have been allocated to Delhi. Private hospitals, too, have been told to earmark 60 per cent of beds for Covid-19 patients at lower rates. The Arvind Kejirwal-led Delhi government has estimated that the city could witnessed around 550,000 cases by the end of July. Read More

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Union Home Minister Amit Shah discussed on Monday the state's preparedness for Cyclone Nisarga , which is predicted to hit the west coast on June 3. Thackeray, in the meeting held through video conferencing, said Mumbai city, its suburbs, Thane, Palghar, Raigad, Ratnagiri, and Sindhudurg are on alert for the cyclone. The state's disaster management, relief, and rehabilitation department is fully prepared to deal with the cyclone. Fishermen have been called in from the sea and the coast guard has been notified, the slum dwellers in the Mumbai metropolitan area, especially in the low-lying areas, have also been instructed to evacuate. Read More

The nationwide lockdown is all set to be extended beyond May 3, at least until the middle of the month in the red zones of the country, as many states told Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a video-conference meeting on Monday that it’s not the time yet to lift the curbs. This means more activities may be allowed to resume in green zones of the country. Most Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states support extending the lockdown, but will wait and abide by the Centre’s fresh guidelines. Telangana has already extended the lockdown until May 7, and will take a decision on further extension on May 5. Odisha, Meghalaya and some others support extending it by a month. Congress-led governments want the lockdown to be lifted in areas other than hotpots or containment zones. Read More

More than 1,000 migrant workers in Mumbai gathered outside the station in Bandra on Tuesday and demanded transportation arrangements to go back to their hometowns, hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the extension of the ongoing nationwide lockdown till May 3. Surviving on food from charitable institutions and living in cramped houses, the distressed people swarmed the station at around 3 pm on Tuesday, without any plan in mind. A case has been registered at Bandra Police station under section 143, 147, 149, 186, 188 of IPC read with Section 3 of Epidemic Act against 800-1000 unidentified people in connection with the incident of gathering in Bandra. Union Home Minister Amit Shah called up Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and expressed concern over the gathering of migrant workers in Bandra. The Union Home Minister stressed that such gatherings weaken India's fight against the coronavirus and the administration needs to stay vigilant to avoid su...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a meeting with Parliamentary floor leaders of different parties on Wednesday morning at 11 am through video conference, to decide the future course of action as far as coronavirus outbreak in India is concerned, among other key issues. The primary point on the agenda will be whether to end the shutdown or extend it and if the government wishes to withdraw it, what should be the approach. The current shutdown is slated to end on April 14. Another point of discussion will be the economic impact of the shutdown on India and how to deal with it. Money released to states, future of daily wage workers who are the worst hit due to total shutdown and scope if any possible economic package will be discussed in the meeting, according to reports. Read More

Seven more fatalities have been recorded at three hospitals, taking the total death toll in the northeast Delhi communal violence over the amended citizenship law to 34 on Thursday, according to senior officials. Till Wednesday night, the total count of casualties had stood at 27, 25 of those at GTB Hospital in Dilshad Garden. "Five more deaths recorded at GTB Hospital, and one more death at LNJP Hospital. One fatality was reported at Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital on Thursday, taking the total death toll to 34," a senior official of the Delhi Health Department told PTI. One person was declared brought dead by doctors, while another had died during treatment at the LNJP Hospital on Wednesday. Over 50 patients have been provided treatment at the LNJP Hospital since the violence broke out on Sunday in various parts of northeast Delhi, officials at the hospital said. Read More

At least 20 people have been killed in the Delhi during violent clashes between Hindu and Muslim groups over Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), according to GTB Hospital authorities, although there was an eerie calm on Wednesday in the riot-torn areas. "There are 15 patients in critical condition," the hospital official from the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital said, adding a total of 20 people had now died at the facility. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal the situation has become "alarming" and asked the Centre to bring in the Army. Meanwhile, the high court has directed police to respond by 12:30 pm on Wednesday to a plea seeking lodging of FIRs and arrests of those involved in the ongoing communal violence in parts of northeast Delhi over CAA. The Supreme court is scheduled to hear pleas claiming BJP's Kapil Mishra incited violence later in the day. Read More

After the BJP's defeat in the Delhi Assembly elections , poll managers of its West Bengal unit are divided whether to push its aggressive strategy on the CAA-NRC or mellow it down and lace it with alternate policies of governance. The BJP that recently suffered a defeat at the hands of the AAP, which won the polls for the third consecutive time on the plank of good governance, is in two minds about its strategy for 2021 Assembly polls in West Bengal. According to state BJP sources, just like West Bengal where the party won 18 out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in 2019 Parliamentary polls, it had won all the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi. "But within a few months, we saw that the results are completely opposite in Lok Sabha polls and Assembly polls in Delhi. So we cannot take it for granted that just because we won 18 seats in Bengal, we will also win the Assembly polls." Read More

Wednesday attacked BJP leaders, saying their character can be defined by the kind of slogans they raise, and claimed that the AAP was copying former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit's development model. She also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of being "hungry for publicity". "Slogans tell character. Those who worked in the nation's interest can be identified by their slogans. Our (Congress) slogans were 'Jai jawan, jai kisan', 'Mai yuva hoon', 'Mera ek sapna hai', 'Aaram haram hai', 'Roti, kapda, makaan'," the Congress leader said. "Their (BJP's) slogans are 'Goli maro; khoon se tilak karo, boli nahi goli. Ye desh jodne wale nare hain'? (Are these slogans in favour of bringing the country together)," she said at a poll rally in Chandni Chowk. The Congress general secretary also said that Dikshit during her tenure as chief minister ha...

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday flagged off the Delhi-Katra Vande Bharat Express from the New Delhi Railway Station and said it was a "big gift" for Jammu and Kashmir's development. Shah also said that Article 370 was the "biggest roadblock" in the state's development and within 10 years, it will be one of the most developed regions of the country. "Delhi-Katra Vande Bharat Express is a big gift for Jammu and Kashmir's development and for promoting religious tourism," said Shah, who was accompanied by Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, Union Ministers Dr Jitendra Singh and Dr Harsh Vardhan. Train number 22439 New Delhi-Katra Vande Bharat Express will depart from the New Delhi Railway Station at 6 am to reach Katra at 2 pm. En route, the train will halt at Ambala Cantt, Ludhiana and Jammu Tawi for two minutes each. On the return journey the same day, train number 22440 Katra-New Delhi Vande Bharat Express will leave fr...

"I say with all respect to our Constitution that it just does not matter what your Constitution says; if the people of Kashmir do not want it, it will not go there. Because what is the alternative? The alternative is compulsion and coercion...We have fought in good fight about Kashmir on the field of battle... (and) ...in many a chancellery of the world and in the United Nations, but, above all, we have fought this fight in the hearts and minds of men and women of that State of Jammu and Kashmir." - Nehru, speaking in the Lok Sabha in 1952 Nehru’s promise lies in tatters today; as does every other promise of autonomy made by the Government of India. Article 370 gives a ‘special status’ to the State of Jammu and Kashmir. On Monday, the Government effectively abolished that status. It did so without touching the provision. It also brought in a constitutional amendment, without amending the constitution. Crucially, it did all of this after zero consultation with the pe...

Rajya Sabha on Monday approved a resolution revoking the special constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir and passed a Bill to split the state into two Union Territories, as Home Minister Amit Shah promised to restore full statehood after normalcy is restored in the militancy-hit region. Under Article 370 of the Constitution, Jammu and Kashmir enjoyed complete autonomy and the state legislature was free to draft its own laws except in the areas of communications, defense, finance, and foreign affairs. Also, Indian citizens were prohibited from purchasing land in the state. So, what will exactly change in J&K if the Lok Sabha today passes the Reorganisation Bill? Read More Article Source -> Business Standard

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday moved a resolution revoking Article 370 that grants special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir in the Rajya Sabha, amid a din as Opposition members protested the move. The government on Monday also moved a Bill proposing the bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories -- the Jammu and Kashmir division and Ladakh. Home Minister Shah introduced the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill. Making the announcement in the Rajya Sabha, Shah said that the UT in Ladakh would have no legislature, like Chandigarh, while the other UT of Jammu and Kashmir would have a legislature, like Delhi and Puducherry. There was an uproar in the Rajya Sabha after the resolution was moved by the Home Minister. Reactions poured in immediately, with former J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti calling it "the darkest day in Indian democracy". Mufti tweeted that the "unilateral decision" of the Government of...

An advertising blitz by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi 's administration, which saw more than 150 newspaper ads exulting over its performance in 10 days, stopped on Monday, a day after the schedule for the next general election was announced. The election will be held over seven stages from April 11 in what will be the world's biggest democratic exercise, the Election Commission said on Sunday, when a code of conduct over election campaigning came into force. Citing the code, the commission said "no advertisements shall be issued in electronic and print media highlighting the achievements of the govt. at the cost of public exchequer". Leading English-language national dailies including the Times of India, the Hindustan Times and the Indian Express carried no government ads on Monday. The New Delhi editions of the same three newspapers had 162 government ads between March 1 and March 10, according to Reuters calculations. Of those, 93 were full page....

Whatever the final position of various parties turns out to be, it is evident that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has suffered severe body blows in the three Hindi heartland states it rules with substantial majorities – Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. It is too far behind in Chhattisgarh and will most likely not form the next government. The trends as of noon on the counting day show the Congress in the lead in the other two states as well, although these races are quite tight. Rajasthan would likely see a Congress government, though with a smaller majority than it expected. If at all the BJP wins Madhya Pradesh, it would do so by the proverbial skin of its teeth. That should come as no surprise (except to diehard BJP supporters) as all opinion surveys and most exit polls had predicted this outcome. ALSO READ: Election results LIVE: Congress stumped out of Mizoram, MNF wins 12 seats It would be tempting to attribute this result to the anti-incumbency factor ...

In the 2014 elections, the BJP won 71 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in UP on its way to secure a comfortable majority in Parliament. Its ally, Apna Dal, won two seats in the politically crucial state Economy & Policy News : With the 2019 Lok Sabha election less than a year away, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah bet on Uttar Pradesh (UP) for the party repeating its 2014 performance and returning to power at the Centre. Addressing a public meeting at Chandauli district in eastern UP, on Sunday, Shah recalled that in run up to the 2014 poll, he had said the path to victory in Lok Sabha poll would traverse through UP. “I am repeating the same today for the 2019 Lok Sabha poll that UP would play a key role in forming the next government at the Centre and re-electing the Narendra Modi government,” he added. In 2014, the BJP had won 71 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in UP, ally Apna Dal won two. Shah said he was confident the tally would rise to 74. ...