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Modi announces Rs 1.25 lakh crore package for poll-bound Bihar

August 18, 2015

Ara (Bihar), Aug 18: In a major pre-poll sop for Bihar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today announced package of a whopping Rs 1.25 lakh crore, promising that the state will touch new heights of development if the BJP is voted to power.modi copy copy

Modi also hit out at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for putting the prestige of Bihar at stake for his political gains by pleading with the previous UPA government for packages and getting only Rs 12000 crore.

"I am here today to fulfill my promise to you. I am announcing a package of Rs 1.25 lakh crore for Bihar. Now you give me your blessings to change the fate of Bihar... Only development will benefit the state and eradicate its poverty. Bihar will touch new heights of development," he said at a government function where several projects were launched. Modi also made it clear that the Rs 1.25 lakh crore package will be in addition to the ongoing development projects worth Rs 40657 cr, announced previously.

Amid high-stakes Assembly election, BJP is banking heavily on the Centre's development package to wrest power from Kumar, its one time ally-turned-rival, who has now joined hands with Lalu Prasad's RJD to take on the saffron combine.

Attacking Kumar for his claim that Bihar was no longer a 'bimaru' state as claimed by Modi in his previous rally in Bihar, Modi wondered why the chief minister had been seeking packages all the time.

"Our chief minister turned very angry and said who is Modi to call Bihar a 'bimaru' state. He said with authority that Bihar is no longer a bimaru state. If it is true, then I will be the happiest person. I welcome this.

"Tell me, if somebody is healthy, will he go to a doctor. If somebody's stomach is full, will he go anywhere seeking food? I am surprised that on the one hand he says Bihar is not bimaru and on the other he keeps asking for something or the other. Let the people of Bihar decide," Modi, accompanied by many Union Ministers, said.

Building up the tempo ahead of special package announcement, Modi cited the previous two packages of Rs 10,000 crore and Rs 12,000 crore given to the state in 2003 and 2013 and said the Kumar government could not utilise them properly.

Referring to his promise made during the Lok Sabha polls that Rs 50,000 cr package would be given to Bihar, Modi said he realised after coming to power that the amount was "nothing".

The PM also compared the past assistance given by the then Atal Bihari Vajpayee NDA government and UPA government and told the Chief Minister that he should properly take note of his package announcement, "kaan theek rakh kar sun lijiye".

Referring to Kumar's split with BJP in 2013, he said the chief minister then went to 'Delhi Durbar' and pleaded that please give me something to keep my honour.

"For political benefits, he put at stake the prestige of Bihar," Modi said, adding that Rs 12000 crore given by UPA was like giving a candy to a child who cries too much.

That package played with the self respect of Bihar, he maintained. Invoking freedom fighter Babu Veer Kunwar Singh, who hailed from Arrah, and seeking Jayaprakash Narayan's blessings, he went on to ask people, "Should it be Rs 50000 crore or more, Rs 60,000 cr, Rs 70,000 cr...," he said as the crowd cheered and then stood up as he made the final announcement of Rs 1.25 lakh crore.

Wooing the electorate, he said people of Bihar were bestowed with "sharp intellect" and mentioned that Chanakya was born here.

He also spoke about the "comprehensive work" being done by his government, especially regarding skilling youth and training women, to develop the country and took a jibe at the previous dispensations, saying they had a "piecemeal" approach to progress.

Chief Minister Kumar, who had gone to receive the PM at Patna Airport, was not present at the Arrah function where the PM inaugurated & laid foundation stone of 11 National Highway projects of 700 kms at a capital cost of Rs 9700 crore. Bihar Road Construction Department minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lallan was present on the dais.

The Prime Minister spoke about his trip to UAE and said the government their had promised investment of Rs 4.5 lakh crore in India.

"In coming days, skill development is going to change the future of Bihar. The Centre does not work by throwing crumbs and nor can the country be taken forward by throwing crumbs. We don't want to work in piecemeal," he said and added that his government's 'Make in India' and 'Skill India' initiatives complemented each other.

India, he said, cannot progress without growth in eastern states like Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal and his government was working towards their development.

Reaching out to dalits and backwards, he invoked the lifelong work of new Bihar governor Ram Nath Kovind who, Modi said, had spent his life for the development of dalits, backwards, extremenly backwards and the deprived.

Giving details of Rs 40,000 crore package announced earlier, he said Rs 8000 crore would be the unspent amount of the package given by the UPA government, Rs 12,000 crore worth road projects of National Highways and Rs 20,000 crore of the factory that would come at Banka district.

Seeking to highlight the approach of the Congress, which is now a part of secular alliance with JD(U) and RJD in Bihar poll, towards the state, Modi said "the UPA provided a chocolate to Bihar in the form of Rs 12,000 crore as given to a crying child to calm him."

The PM said he was criticised for not announcing a special package during his last visit to Bihar when the Parliament session was on.

Kumar has been attacking Modi on the issue of providing special package for Bihar. Yesterday also he had said that he was waiting to see if the special package announced by PM has some new projects or "merely repackaging of old ones."

The PM also criticised Kumar for failing to spend money provided on previous two packages.

"Its a 'karwa satya' (bitter truth) that out of Rs 10,000 crore special package given by Vajpayee government in 2003 the state could not spend Rs 1000 crore and in Rs 12,000 crore package of UPA government it could spend only Rs 4000 crore," he said.

Earlier, in a bid to strike a rapport with the people, the PM opened his speech by greeting the people in Bhojpuri and remembered freedom fighter Kuer Singh, who hailed from Bhojpur district of Bihar.

The PM will address a rally at Saharsa later in the day. A host of leaders, including Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Ramvilas Paswan, Ravishankar Prasad, Radhamohan Singh, Rajiv Pratap Rudy besides, state BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, Upendra Kushwaha, Bihar Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lallan and local MP R K Singh were among others present on the dais.

Later addressing a rally in Saharasa, the Prime Minister cited latest state government crime figures to argue that Bihar was already hearing the footsteps of 'jungle raaj', a jibe at Kumar's alliance with Lalu Prasad's RJD, whose government in the 90s was criticised for the poor law and order situation.

Between January and June 2015, heinous crimes had risen by 34 per cent and murders by 46 per cent across the state, he said, adding these were signs of 'jungle raaj'. Numbers of riots had increased by 72 per cent, he said.

"Tell me, these are signs of jungle raaj or not. Your life will become difficult or not... You give us power in Patna and we will sort out all your problems," he said.

Lashing out at Kumar, Modi said he has "sat in the lap" of Congress which had jailed Jayaprakash Narayan and called it a "betrayal" with the socialist leader.

"I have announced a Rs 1.25 lakh crore package to change the fate of Bihar, to make a 'naya' Bihar. I assure you that I will change the face of Bihar," he told a rally as he sought their votes for the BJP-led NDA.

Talking of Kumar's decision to split with BJP in 2013, which Modi dubbed as a betrayal with the saffron party and the people of Bihar, the Prime Minister said he ran to the then UPA government offering his support to it if the state was given a package.

"He got Rs 12,000 crore and began dancing over it. This package played with the self-respect of Bihar... The total package I have given is Rs 1.65 lakh crore," Modi said, underlining that the Rs 1.25 cr package was in addition to several projects worth Rs 40000 cr announced earlier.

The Prime Minister also made a mention of 2008 Kosi floods, which had badly hit the region, and targeted Kumar for returning Rs 5 cr cheque sent to Bihar by him as the then Gujarat Chief Minister.

"Is this behaviour appropriate in public life? People in the Kosi region may die but I will not leave my arrogance. Those who cannot leave their arrogance should be left or not?," he said, without naming the chief minister.

Kumar had returned the cheque after Modi put out advertisements in Bihar newspapers about it, which he saw as an attempt by the BJP leader to build his political capital.

This was Modi's third rally in Bihar and first in the Mithila region, which the NDA had swept in the Lok Sabha polls.

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Agencies
May 27,2020

Lucknow, May 27: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has taken a U-turn, two days after he declared that permission would be needed if other states employ workers from UP.

The issue sparked a major controversy and an official spokesman has now said that the government would not include this clause of 'prior permission' in the bye-laws of the Migration Commission.

The government spokesman also said it was working on modalities to set up the commission to provide jobs and social security to migrant workers returning to the state. It has named the migration commission as the "Shramik Kalyan Aayog (Workers welfare commission).

About 26 lakh migrants have already returned to the state and an exercise to map their skills is being carried out to help them get jobs.

Yogi Adityanath has discussed the modalities for setting up the commission and told his officers to complete the skill mapping exercise in 15 days.

A senior official of Team 11, said, "The chief minister discussed the modalities for setting up the commission, as well. There will be no provision requiring other states to seek UP government's prior permission for employing our manpower. The commission is being set up to provide jobs and social security to the workers. We will also link the migrants to the government schemes to provide them houses and loans etc."

Yogi Adityanath said a letter should be sent to all state governments to find out about migrant workers wanting to come back to Uttar Pradesh.

Earlier, the chief minister, while speaking at a webinar on Sunday, had said, "The migration commission will work in the interest of migrant workers. If any other state wants UP's manpower, they cannot take them just like that, but will have to seek permission of the UP government. The way our migrant workers were ill-treated in other states, the UP government will take their insurance, social security in its hands now. The state government will stand by them wherever they work, whether in Uttar Pradesh, other states or other countries."

The statement had sparked a row with some political leaders and parties questioning the move.

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi sharply criticized Adityanath's stand, saying the workers were not the chief minister's personal property.

"It is very unfortunate that the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh views India in such a way. These people are not his personal property. They are not the personal property of Uttar Pradesh. These people are Indian citizens and they have the right to decide what they want to do and they have the right to live the life they want to live," he had said.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray had also taken on Adityanath and said that if UP insists on "permission" before other states can employ workers from there, "then any migrant entering Maharashtra would need to take permissions from us, from the Maharashtra state, our police force too."

Meanwhile, the government spokesman said, "The chief minister is deeply moved by the condition of migrants. They have been treated badly by other states. So, when the chief minister spoke about the need for seeking UP government's permission, he did so as a guardian for workers. It's only his concern for the migrants that came out as a political statement."

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News Network
March 7,2020

Srinagar, Mar 7: Two more accused, including a man who allegedly bought chemicals online for making improvised explosive device (IED) to be used in an attack on a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama last year, were arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday, an official said.

The terror attack left 40 CRPF personnel dead in south Kashmir's Pulwama last year.

Waiz-ul-Islam, 19, from Srinagar and Mohammad Abbass Rather, 32, from Pulwama were arrested by the NIA, taking the number of those arrested in the case in the past week to five.

"During initial interrogation, Islam disclosed that he used his Amazon online shopping account to procure chemicals for making IEDs, batteries and other accessories on the directions of Pakistani Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists," the official said.

He said Islam personally delivered the items to the JeM terrorists after buying them online as a part of the conspiracy to carry out the attack.

"Rather is an old overground worker of the JeM. He has disclosed that he gave shelter at his home to Jaish terrorist and IED expert Mohd Umar after he came to Kashmir in April-May 2018," the official said.

Rather also sheltered other JeM terrorists - suicide bomber Adil Ahmad Dar, Sameer Ahmed Dar and Kamran, a Pakistani -- at his house before the Pulwama attack, the official said.

"He also facilitated safe shelter for the JeM terrorists, including Adil, at the house of accused Tariq Ahmed Shah and his daughter Insha Jan of Hakripora, who were arrested on March 3," the official said.

He said Islam and Rather will be produced before the NIA special court in Jammu on Saturday, while further investigation in the case continues. The NIA took over the case to probe the conspiracy behind the February 14, 2019, attack in Pulwama.

The last video of Adil, which was released by the JeM from Pakistan after the terror attack, was filmed at the home of Tariq Ahmed Shah. On February 28, the NIA achieved a major breakthrough in the case when it arrested 22-year-old Shakir Bashir Magrey, a furniture shop owner and resident of Pulwama.

Magrey had given shelter and other logistical assistance to suicide bomber Adil. He was introduced to Adil in mid-2018 by Pakistani terrorist Mohammad Umar Farooq and he became a full-time OGW of the JeM.

The explosives used in the attack were determined through forensic probe to be ammonium nitrate, nitro-glycerin and RDX. During investigation into the attack, the identity of the suicide bomber to be Adil Ahmad Dar was confirmed through DNA matching with that of his father.

The other key terrorists involved in the attack have been found to be JeM's south Kashmir divisional head Muddasir Ahmad Khan, killed in an operation by the security forces on March 11 last year; Pakistani terrorists Muhammad Umar Farooq and IED expert Kamran, both killed on March 29 last year; the owner of the car Sajjad Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Anantnag who was killed on June 16 last year, and Qari Yassir, JeM's commander for Kashmir who was killed on January 25 this year.

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Agencies
July 30,2020

New Delhi, Jul 30: India witnessed a single-day spike of 52,123 COVID-19 cases as the total cases in the country reached 15,83,792, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Thursday.

The total cases include 5,28,242 active cases and 10,20,582 cured/discharged cases, the Health Ministry added.

A total of 775 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours taking the death toll to 34,968.

Maharashtra continues to be the worst-affected state as it reported 9,211 new COVID-19 cases 298 deaths on Wednesday. The total number of cases is now at 4,00,651 including 2,39,755 recovered cases, 1,46,129 active cases and 14,463 deaths.

The total number of cases in Tamil Nadu reached 2,34,114.

Delhi reported 1,035 COVID-19 cases yesterday, taking the total number of cases in the national capital to 1,32,275.

The total number of COVID-19 samples tested up to July 29 is 1,81,90,382 including 4,46,642 samples tested yesterday, said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

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