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Putin holds a portrait of his father, war veteran Vladimir Spiridonovich Putin, as he takes part in the Immortal Regiment march on Victory Day, which marks the 77th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany. Photo: Reuters.
Demands for caste census, social justice commission raised at RLD conclave
The Jayant Chaudhary-led RLD on Sunday organised a social justice conclave which was attended by leaders of several opposition parties, including the RJD, JD(U) and the TMC, and where the demands for caste census and establishing a social justice commission were raised.
On the 35th death anniversary of former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh, a 'Samajik Nyay Sammelan (social justice conference) was organised at the Vigyan Bhawan where RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary said there will be no equality in the country until the caste census is carried out.
On the subject of the Supreme Court barring reservation over and above 50 per cent, he said, "If there is a problem of figures, then why does the government not get the count done and tell who is how much and who has what?"
"Social justice is my legacy and it is my moral responsibility to eliminate economic social inequality by conducting caste census and I will not back down," he asserted.
RJD leaders Sharad Yadav, Manoj Jha, JD(U) leader K C Tyagi, AAP leader Sanjay Singh, CPI(M) leader Subhashini Ali, TMC leader Sukhendu Shekhar Roy and Apna Dal-K leader Krishna Patel, among others, participated in the conference.
According to a resolution passed at the conclave, a demand was made for a new economic policy focused on job creation rather than wealth creation and one that incentivises agricultural sector and small and medium businesses that have been badly hit following the demonetisation exercise and the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Immediate implementation of the caste census to enable targeted affirmative action for those communities that have been left behind," the resolution said.
K'taka records 241 new Covid-19 cases, zero deaths
Karnataka saw a spike in COVID-19 cases with 241 fresh infections reported on Sunday taking the total number of affected people to 39,51,739, the state health department said.
The state had recorded 196 cases on Saturday.
There were zero fatalities due to COVID-19 in the state during the last 24 hours.
Of the new infections, Bengaluru urban district contributed 232, while Dakshina Kannada reported four, Tumakuru three and Belagavi two cases.
There were zero infections and fatalities in 27 districts of the state.
The department said 98 people were discharged, taking the total number of recoveries to 39,09,592 till date. The number of active cases stood at 2,041.
The positivity rate for the day was 1.29 per cent.
As many as 18,579 tests were conducted, including 14,053 RT-PCR tests. The total number of tests conducted till date were 6.63 crore.
There were 7,298 inoculations, taking the total vaccination count to 10.85 crore so far, the department said.
Bangladesh minister advocates visa-less travel for students in BBIN countries
Bangladesh Minister of State for Planning Shamsul Alam on Sunday said he is in favour of visa-free travel for students in the BBIN countries, as the neighbouring nation strives to become illiteracy-free by 2041.
Addressing the valedictory session of the two-day Natural Allies in Development and Interdependence' conclave here, the renowned Bangladeshi economist also stated that his country will become hunger-free by 2041.
Let us open up doors in the countries for the students. I am not talking about government centres or the scholarship programmes. I am talking about the private sector, too, Alam said.
He noted that the South Asia region does not have a visa-free regime like that of the European Union, where no visa is required to visit a country that is part of the block.
But for the students, we can have free access to the educational institutes. Let us allow the students to go freely for education as well as for tourism. We can start with the BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal) countries, Alam said.
Be it Ukraine war or COVID-19 vaccines, PM Modi's opinion sought globally on various issues: Shah
Asserting that India is progressing in all spheres under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said no discussion on the global platform is considered as complete unless Modi's opinion is taken into account - be it on Russia-Ukraine war, COVID-19 vaccines, economy or environment.
Shah also said that with international-standard sports complexes being set up in Gujarat's Ahmedabad, the city will be equipped with facilities to prepare for the Olympic games.
The prime minister has worked to enhance India's position in the world, Shah said after laying the foundation stone for the new international class sports complex, a Rs 632-crore project spread over 1.15 lakh square metres of land in Naranpura locality of Ahmedabad that falls within his Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency.
"On May 30, the Modi government will complete three years of its second term. Overall, this government has completed eight years in office. In these eight years, PM Modi has worked to take the country forward globally," Shah said.
"Whether it is about making vaccines for COVID-19 or decisions to be taken regarding economy, discussions regarding environment, or Russia-Ukraine war, unless the opinion of PM Modi is taken, the discussion is seen as incomplete. Modi has worked to establish India's position in the world," he said.
He said that before Modi became the chief minister of Gujarat, it was lagging behind other states in two fields - filling its Army recruitment quota and sports.
BJP's RS nominee from Rajasthan Ghanshyam Tiwari was a vocal critic of Raje
Ghanshyam Tiwari, who has been named the BJP's Rajya Sabha candidate from Rajasthan, was a vocal critic of Vasundhara Raje before he quit the party in June 2018 and later rejoined it in 2020.
Tiwari, a five-time legislator, had floated Bharat Vahini Parthi after resigning from the BJP due to his growing differences with the party's state and central leadership.
He merged the Vahini with the Congress in 2019 in the presence of then Congress president Rahul Gandhi. He had then alleged that crony capitalism had increased under the Modi government's tenure.
In the BJP, Tiwari had in 2017 opened a front against the then chief minister Vasundhara Raje and was served a notice for indiscipline. He resigned from the party in June 2018.
He had openly accused Raje of corruption and made several complaints against her to the party high command. However, he claimed that the party did not hear his grievances.
Tiwari floated Bharat Vahini Parthi ahead of the December 2018 assembly elections and contested from the Sanganer seat, where he lost and even forfeited his security deposit.
In 2020, he joined the BJP again after talks with the central leadership.
Moosewala's loss shocking, irreparable: Amarinder Singh
Former Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh on Sunday condemned the broad daylight murder of prominent Punjabi singer and Congress leader Sidhu Moosewala.
Expressing condolences to the bereaved family, he said, this loss was too shocking and quite irreparable.
Amarinder blamed the continuously deteriorating law and order situation in Punjab for the brutal murder of the young singer.
"This government has been a complete failure on the law and order front and I have been saying it right since the beginning," he said in a statement here.
The former Chief Minister alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party government in the state was completely clueless as to what was happening here.
"Moosewala's murder was not the first during last two months and I am afraid this might not be the last one," he said, adding, the criminals have no fear of law as the government has ceased to exist and there was total anarchy.
He criticised the Punjab government's mindless decision to withdraw Moosewala's security without assessing his threat perception.
Covid-19: J&K records 8 cases
Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday recorded eight new cases of coronavirus, taking the infection tally to 4,54,242 while no death was reported in the last 24 hours, officials said.
Six of the fresh cases were from the Jammu division while two were from the Kashmir division, they said.
Seventeen of the total 20 districts did not report a single new case.
There are 67 active Covid cases in the Union Territory, while the number of recovered patients is 4,49,423, officials said.
The death toll due to the pandemic stands at 4,752.
There are 51 confirmed cases of mucormycosis (black fungus) in the Union Territory as no fresh case was reported since Saturday evening.
Culprits will be given harshest punishment: Kejriwal on Moosewala killing
Calling Punjabi singer and politician Sidhu Moosewala's murder on Sunday shocking, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said culprits will be given the harshest punishment.
Moosewala was shot dead by unidentified assailants in a village in Punjab's Mansa district, a day after the state government withdrew his security cover.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (Mansa) Gobinder Singh said Moosewala, 27, was shot several times. He was in his car, a Mahindra Thar, in village Jawahar Ke when he was attacked.
The Aam Aadmi Party national convener urged public to maintain peace.
"Sidhu Moosewala's murder is saddening and shocking. I just spoke to Punjab CM Mann sahib. Culprits will be given the harshest punishment. I request everyone to remain strong and maintain peace. May God give peace to his soul," Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi.
Kejriwal's tweet came in response to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann's tweet on the incident.
"I am shocked and deeply saddened by the gruesome murder of Siddhu Moosewala. Nobody involved will be spared. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and his fans across the world. I appeal everyone to stay calm," Mann said in his tweet.
Leaders of the Congress and other political leaders expressed shock and anger over the daylight gunning down of famous singer, and attacked the AAP government for withdrawing his security cover a day before.
Mizoram logs 22 new Covid-19 cases
Mizoram on Sunday reported 22 new COVID-19 cases, eight more than the previous day, with the tally rising to 2,28,291, a health department official said.
The death toll remained at 698 as no new fatality due to the infection was reported during the day, he said.
Thirteen people recuperated from the infection on Sunday, raising the total number of recoveries to 2,27,439.
The daily positivity ratio stood at 10 per cent as the fresh cases were detected from 220 sample tests, the official said.
Mizoram now has 154 active cases.
The northeastern state has so far tested more than 19.30 lakh samples for COVID-19.
According to state immunisation officer Lalmuanawma Jongte, over 8.59 lakh people have been inoculated till Saturday with 7 lakh of them having received both doses of vaccines.
At least 46,282 people got the precautionary dose of COVID vaccines.
Fate of 4 Indians, 18 others unclear as bad weather hampers efforts to locate missing Nepal plane
The fate of 22 people, including four members of an Indian family, on board a Nepalese airlines plane remained unclear as bad weather and blankets of clouds made it difficult to locate the aircraft that went missing on Sunday in the mountainous region of the Himalayan nation minutes after taking off from the tourist city of Pokhara, officials said.
The condition of the plane belonging to Tara Air that took off at 10:15 am from Pokhara, 200 kilometers east of Kathmandu, is unknown till now, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) said in a statement.
The turboprop Twin Otter 9N-AET plane had four Indian nationals, two Germans and 13 Nepali passengers besides a three-member Nepali crew, said Sudarshan Bartaula, a spokesperson at the airlines.
The plane was flying from the city of Pokhara to Jomsom, a popular tourist town in central Nepal.
The airline issued the list of passengers which identified four Indians as Ashok Kumar Tripathy, his wife Vaibhavi Bandekar (Tripathy) and their children Dhanush and Ritika. The family is currently residing in Thane city near Mumbai.
21A will strengthen Parliament: Sri Lankan PM Ranil Wickremesinghe
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Sunday batted for the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, saying it will curb the president's unlimited powers while enhancing the role of parliament in policy matters once the key amendment is passed.
Making a special televised statement on the current constitutional reforms programme in motion, Wickremesinghe said the 21A would help Sri Lanka, facing an unprecedented financial crisis, in several ways.
The 21st Amendment is expected to annul the 20A to the Constitution, which gives unfettered powers to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa after abolishing the 19th Amendment that will strengthen Parliament.
The 21st Amendment to the Constitution will be passed and the parliament will be strengthened. The move is to make parliament stronger while holding the presidency accountable to the assembly, he said in his statement.
The government has launched a move to introduce 21A in order to restore the 19A of 2015.
Powers of parliament will be increased by the proposed 21A, Wickremesinghe said.
Former MLA who left seat for Adityanath among BJP Rajya Sabha names from UP
Former BJP MLA Radha Mohan Das Aggarwal who left his Gorakhpur Urban constituency for Yogi Adityanath to contest in the recent assembly polls was nominated for the Rajya Sabha elections as the party named six candidates from Uttar Pradesh on Sunday.
Aggarwal had represented Gorakhpur Urban in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly since 2002, but made way for Chief Minister Adityanath in the recent polls.
The BJP has also fielded former state unit chief Laxmikant Vajpayee and sitting Rajya Sabha MP Surendra Singh Nagar.
Bauburam Nishad, who is currently the chairman of the UP Pichhrha Varg Vitt Vikas Nigam (UP Backward Classes Finance and Development Corporation), has also been given a ticket by the party.
The BJP gave tickets to two women -- Darshana Singh and Sangeeta Yadav -- from the state.
Singh is a former state head of the party's women wing, while Yadav is a former party MLA from Chauri Chaura assembly constituency in Gorakhpur.
TMC to protests in June against Centre's 'non-payment of dues' to Bengal: Mamata
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Sunday said her party, the TMC, will organise protests on June 5 and 6 in various blocks, seeking an explanation from the Centre for the alleged non-payment of funds that it owed to the state.
Banerjee, who will be attending administrative meetings in Bankura and Purulia districts on Monday and Tuesday, was talking to reporters on her arrival at Durgapur in Paschim Bardhaman district.
"The Centre is playing a dirty political game. For the past five months, poor people employed through 100-day work scheme are having trouble getting their payments. The Centre is not releasing Rs 6,000 crore that it owes to the state under the scheme," the CM said.
She maintained that the "state wasn't asking for favours from the Centre".
"All we want is the money that has already been allocated to us. The Centre is not releasing our dues under Bangla Awas Yojana.
Papal elevation of two Indians to cardinal great honour for country's Christians
Pope Francis' Sunday announcement that 21 churchmen, including two from India, will be elevated to the rank of cardinal in a ceremony at the Vatican this summer was greeted with great joy among the faithful in the country.
The two names from India the Pope announced are Filipe Neri Antonio Sebastao di Rosario Ferrao, Archbishop of Goa and Daman, and Anthony Poola, Archbishop of Hyderabad.
Senior journalist Camil Parkhe said the announcement is a great honour for the Indian Christian community and is also an acknowledgement of the presence of a significant number of Church institutions in this country as well as the role the Indian Church has to play in the Universal Catholic Church.
Asymptomatic people not responsible for spreading Covid as thought: Study
Turns out that fears about asymptomatic Covid spread were overblown. A novel study has claimed that people infected with SARS-CoV-2 but had no symptoms are two-thirds less likely to pass virus to others.
Asymptomatic people were feared to be silent spreaders of Covid pandemic, which has so far claimed six million lives, and almost 15 million excess mortality.
But a review of 130 different studies, published in the open access journal PLOS Medicine, found that the proportion of asymptomatic infection were 50 per cent or lower in most studies.
The studies published through July 2021 showed that most SARS-CoV-2 infections were not persistently asymptomatic, and asymptomatic infections were less infectious than symptomatic infections.
"If both the proportion and transmissibility of asymptomatic infection are relatively low, people with asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection should account for a smaller proportion of overall transmission than pre-symptomatic individuals," Diana Buitrago-Garcia of the University of Bern, Switzerland and her team wrote in the paper.
The team included 130 studies, with data on 28,426 people with SARS-CoV-2 across 42 countries, including 11,923 people defined as having asymptomatic infection. An estimated 14-50 per cent of infections were asymptomatic.
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First Published: May 29 2022 | 7:08 AM IST
