What did rebel Sena MLAs achieve by backstabbing us? Ex-Maha minister Aaditya Thackeray
Mumbai: Shiv Sena MLA and former Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray has sought to know what did the rebel legislators achieve by “backstabbing” the party leadership when it supported them in every possible way. He made the remarks on Saturday at a public rally in Jalgaon, the Assembly constituency of rebel Sena leader and present state minister Gulabrao Patil. In June this year, Shiv Sena MLA Eknath Shinde and 39 other legislators revolted against the party leadership, leading to the collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, which comprised the Sena, NCP and Congress. Shinde was sworn in as the chief minister on June 30 along with BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy.
‘Blocked YouTube channels spread nuclear fear, communal hatred, monetised fake news’
New Delhi: From a “nuclear explosion” in the country to North Korea sending troops to Ayodhya, the 102 YouTube channels banned by the government were known to routinely spread disinformation about India to its lakhs of subscribers, and were “monetising fake news”, officials have said. The government started the crackdown against such YouTube channels for the first time in December last year using its emergency powers under the Information Technology Rules, 2021. According to a ministry official, the intelligence agencies have been monitoring social media accounts, websites and flagging them to the ministry for action. Last Thursday the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting ordered the blocking of eight YouTube channels, including one based in Pakistan. In January this year, the ministry ordered blocking of YouTube channels that propagated content to encourage separatism, divide India on the lines of religion, and create animosity among the various sections of the Indian society.
J-K sees increase in school enrolment rate
Srinagar: Student enrolment in government schools in Jammu and Kashmir was steadily declining before 2019, but in the last two years it has increased by 14.5 per cent, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said here. Sustained efforts were being made for early childhood care and education as recommended by the national education policy, he said on Saturday, addressing the annual day function at the Devki Arya Putri Pathshala. Under the ‘Aao School Chalein Campaign’, the UT administration has enrolled 1.65 lakh children in the last one year, and the ‘Talaash’ app is being used to identify those who had to drop out of schools due to some reasons in the past few years, he said. Till now, 86,000 such boys and girls have been identified, and they are being enrolled, the L-G added. Despite constraints, 1.24 lakh children were enrolled for early child care education, and it has been decided that this year, 2,000 kindergartens will be established, he said.
Water-stressed Karnataka proposes penalty for unnecessary use of water, restricting groundwater extraction
Bengaluru: Karnataka is one of the most water-stressed states in India, with about 61 per cent of it in drought-prone region, and the state has much to worry as its new Water Policy 2022 cautions about further scarcity of water in the days ahead. Having suffered more than 15 drought years over the last two decades, the future appears more challenging for the state with its rapidly depleting groundwater and demand for water projected to increase significantly. Amid all these concerns, the policy advocates for the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), whose approach is to be adopted to improve water availability, water resource and environmental conditions and to improve water services and performance. The policy promises measures to tackle the challenges ahead by proposing measures such as penalties for unwise use of water, restricting groundwater extraction, among others, as it aims to provide directions for strengthening water resources management and to optimise the use of the state’s limited water resources, officials from the Water Resources Department said.
Tertiary level centres to come up for treatment of people exposed to chemical, nuclear attacks
New Delhi: In a first, the Union Health Ministry has drawn up a proposal to set up two tertiary level centres for the treatment of people exposed to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) incidents or attacks. It is aimed at managing medical emergencies arising out of incidents such as the Bhopal gas tragedy, Visakhapatnam HPCL refinery blast, Tughlaqabad gas leak, Kanpur ammonia gas leak and other industrial accidents, official sources told PTI. The project aims to set up the two CBRN facilities at Stanley Medical College in Chennai, Tamil Nadu and Jhajjar Campus, AIIMS. The two facilities are to be set up over one-and-half years at an estimated cost of Rs 230 crore. Each of them is expected to be a 50 bedded facility with a bone marrow transplant centre, a decontamination shower facility and other necessary decontamination treatment and operation theatre. In addition, the government is also planning to set up seven secondary-level CBRN medical management centres in Gujarat, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
50th anniversary of expulsion of all Asians from Uganda by Idi Amin a lesson in breakdown of democratic order: expert
Johannesburg: The expulsion of tens of thousands of Asians from Uganda 50 years ago by dictator Idi Amin should be commemorated for the lessons all Ugandans learned, said Mohamed Keshavjee, a member of the steering committee set up in the UK to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Ugandan expulsion. When the democratic order breaks down, no one is safe, said the UK-based expert Keshavjee, himself a refugee twice after his family went into exile in Kenya in the 1960’s to escape the oppressive white minority apartheid regime in South Africa and then leaving Kenya for Canada when the crisis in neighbouring Uganda unfolded.
Amin in August 1972 gave the country’s Asian population of around 80,000 just 90 days to leave Uganda, alleging that they were disloyal to the country, resisted social integration, and engaged in business malpractice. Many fled to countries such as the UK, Canada, India, Pakistan, and a small number to neighbouring Kenya. Keshavjee in 2016 was awarded the Gandhi, King, Ikeda Peace Award by Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia, for his lifetime of work dedicated to mediation, peace, and human rights education. Amin was ousted in 1979 after neighbouring Tanzania, which Amin tried to annex, assisted rebel forces within Uganda. He went into exile with his family in Libya and finally settled in Saudi Arabia until his death in 2003.
Korean star Lee Joon-gi on Indian adaptation of Flower of Evil: Looking forward to Duranga
New Delhi: Popular Korean actor Lee Joon-gi says he is happy about his hit show Flower of Evil getting an Indian adaptation with Duranga, starring Gulshan Devaiah and Drashti Dhami. “Happy to see you (Indian) friends! Looking forward to it,” Lee captioned the posters of Flower of Evil alongside Duranga on Instagram. Flower of Evil, a Korean language suspense melodrama, also starred Moon Chae-won in the lead. The original series, which aired on the South Korean broadcaster tvN in 2020, is available in India on streamers Netflix and Viki. Duranga, currently streaming on ZEE5, follows Sammit (Devaiah) as the perfect man who is hiding a twisted past from his wife Ira, a super cop, played by Dhami.
Michelle Yeoh-starrer ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ to release in India on 16 Sept
Mumbai: American absurdist comedy drama Everything Everywhere All at Once, starring Michelle Yeoh, will hit Indian theatres on 16 September. The English-language film will be released in India by Mumbai-based Impact Films, a leading distributor of foreign language movies in the subcontinent. Impact Films made the announcement on their official Twitter account on Saturday. “The wait is now over! EEAAO gracing Indian Cinemas on 16th Sept. One of the best action movies in years (sic),” the tweet read. Written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, the film premiered at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival in March followed by a wide theatrical release in the US in April.
