Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], March 7 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Ajay Bhatt on Sunday urged Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat to review the decision of including Almora district in the newly created Gairsain administrative division.
This comes days after the Chief Minister declared the Gairsain town in Chamoli district as a new administrative division of the state.
The government announced that the Gairsain division would be comprised of four hill districts, including Almora and Bageshwar (both in Kumaon region) and Rudrapyarag and Chamoli (in Garhwal region).
Bhatt, Lok Sabha MP from Nainital constituency said that there are “doubts in the minds” of Kumaon and especially the people of Almora about the decision of the state government to include Almora in the Garsain division.
“Almora is the cultural capital of Uttarakhand which has importance not only in the state but in the country. I will talk to CM Rawat about the decision of including Almora in the Gairsain division as people have doubts in their minds. I will urge him to review this decision,” Bhatt told ANI.
“I have received phones of many people questioning the decision and hence considering the sentiments of the people, I will urge CM Rawat to review the decision,” he added.
Rawat had on March 4 last year, announced that Gairsain town will become the summer capital of the state.
Three months later, Governor Baby Rani Maurya had given her assent for the declaration of Bhararisen (Gairsain) as the summer capital. Gairsain, a tehsil in Chamoli district, is located nearly 270-km from the existing temporary capital of Dehradun. (ANI)

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], March 7 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday reached Kolkata to address his first rally at Brigade Parade Ground after the announcement of the West Bengal Assembly poll schedule
“Landed in Kolkata. On my way to the massive party rally. Looking forward to being among Party Karyakartas and the wonderful people of West Bengal,” PM Modi tweeted.
More than 1,500 CCTV cameras have been installed across the city for security purposes. Drone cameras will also be used to monitor the venue. The rally is expected to be attended by at least 7 lakh people, sources said.
At the rally, the Prime Minister will seek support for the Bharatiya Janata Party candidates in the fray for the 294 member Legislative Assembly.
Along with the main stage which is 72-feet long, two other stages have been set up, one for Tollywood actors and another for important personalities present at the rally. The two stages are 48-feet length, 24-feet width and 7-feet height.
Special Protection Group and Kolkata Police have deployed special units for the security of the rally.
Bharatiya Janata Party has installed LED screens at the ground for the convenience of the people.
West Bengal will witness Assembly election in eight phases starting from March 27 and polling for the last phase will take place on April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.
After winning 3 seats in the 2016 Assembly election in West Bengal, the BJP made deep inroads in the state in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections winning 18 seats and reducing TMC’s tally to 22. Out of the total 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal, Congress won two seats, the Left drew a blank. (ANI)

Kanyakumari (Tamil Nadu) [India], March 7 (ANI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday began the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) Vijay Sankalp Mahasampark Abhiyaan, a door-to-door campaign, in Tamil Nadu by visiting 11 homes in Kanyakumari on Sunday and exuded confidence that NDA will come to power in the state after the assembly polls.”I am confident that the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)-BJP- Paattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) government will be formed in Tamil Nadu,” Shah said.
Shah started the door-to-door campaign by visiting 11 homes at Suchindram town in Kanyakumari and appealed to the people to ensure the win of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate Pon Radhakrishnan.
Speaking to the media, Shah said, “Today, we have started our started door-to-door campaign by visiting 11 homes here. I appeal to all to ensure the win of NDA candidate Pon Radhakrishnan from Kanyakumari Lok Sabha seat in by-polls,” he said.
During the campaign in Suchindram, he said, “Through this campaign, we have initiated the process of taking Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) symbol, ‘Kamal’ (Lotus) to every home in the state. We have tried to convey Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s message to the people.”

he conducted a roadshow from Hindu college to Veppamodu Kamraj statue.
Shah offered prayers at Suchindram Temple, Kanyakumari, on Sunday morning and was accompanied by BJP leaders and supporters.

Later in the day, he is scheduled to attend the valedictory function of BJP Kerala Vijay Yatra in Thiruvananthapuram.
This is Shah’s second visit to the state in a week. Last Sunday, he visited Chennai and met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam.
BJP is contesting Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu in alliance with incumbent All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). The AIADMK late Friday night announced that it allocated 20 Assembly constituencies to the BJP for the ensuing elections along with the Kanyakumari Lok Sabha constituency.
Tamil Nadu Assembly elections for 234 constituencies will be held in a single phase on April 6 and the counting of votes will be done on May 2. As many as 6,28,23,749 electors will choose candidates for the sixteenth Legislative Assembly in Tamil Nadu. (ANI)

Kondagaon (Chhattisgarh) [India], March 7 (ANI): The 41st Battalion of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) on Sunday morning recovered an improvised explosive device (IED) inside a tiffin box in Chhattisgarh’s Kondagaon district.
According to the ITBP, the IED was recovered between Mundipadar and Matwaal villages and was placed to target forces.
In a separate incident on Friday, a Head constable of the 22nd battalion of Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF) was killed in a pressure improvised IED blast on Thursday in Dantewada’s Pahurnar area.
The IED was planted allegedly by Naxals in the area. (ANI)

Ghatkesar (Telangana) [India], March 7 (ANI): Telangana Rashtra Samithi MLC K Kavitha on Saturday said the state-run Social Welfare Residential Colleges are running on par with private institutions.
Kavitha attended the International Women’s Day Celebrations held at Social Welfare Residential College in Ghatkesar of Medchal-Malkajgiri district of Telangana on Saturday.
Speaking to ANI, Kavitha said, “The Telangana government has taken initiative to ensure that the Social Welfare Residential Colleges in the state are working on par with private institutions. We are educating about 5 lakh children today in Telangana. We are ensuring that graduate studies are being done. So, the KG to PG (Kindergarten to Post Graduation) is being well implemented in the Social Welfare Residencial Colleges.”
“On the occasion of International Women’s day celebrations, I feel very happy to see that girls getting benefited from the social welfare residential colleges here in Telangana. I am very happy to see the way they are progressing and leading to the progress of the Telangana state,” added Kavitha. (ANI)

Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) [India], March 7 (ANI): As many as 84 ghats of Ganga was cleaned as part of the cleanliness drive launched by the district administration here on Sunday.
The district administration launched the initiative with the help of several other institutions.
Speaking to ANI, Rajesh Shukla, organiser of the ‘Namami Gange’ campaign said, “A massive campaign of cleaning 84 ghats of Ganga was undertaken from 7 am to 8 am after an oath-taking ceremony at 7 am to clean Ganga.”

“Varanasi is a religious city where lakhs of pilgrims come and bath every day. They perform various rituals in the Ganga, due to which heavy silt accumulates in banks of the river,” Shukla said.
He further appealed to the people not to through plastic bags, clothes, photo frames in the holy river.
“We request the people to avoid throwing plastic bags, clothes, photo frames in the holy river. Please do not have a bath with soap in the river. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is our inspiration. We are working with a motto of’ Sabka Sath ho, Ganga saaf ho’,” Shukla said.
‘Namami Gange Programme’, is an Integrated Conservation Mission, approved as ‘Flagship Programme’ by the Union Government in June 2014 to accomplish the twin objectives of effective abatement of pollution, conservation and rejuvenation of National River Ganga. (ANI)