Rajouri (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], March 2 (ANI): The Jammu and Kashmir bank has been providing loans to below the poverty line residents of Kotranka sub-division of Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district under various schemes of the Central government for their upliftment.
The Jammu and Kashmir bank plays an important role in the implementation of the schemes like Stand-Up India, and Back to Village-III for the residents of Kotranka tehsil, which is a far-flung area of Rajouri.
“Around 80 per cent of people in this tehsil are below the poverty line. The government has taken a lot of initiative to uplift them via the implementation and promotion of various schemes like MNREGA,” said Mohd Shafiq, a PRI representative.

“After the District Development Council (DDC) elections in the state, the schemes that were stuck earlier are now functional and soon the results would be visible,” he said.
“Schemes under Kisan Credit Card (KCC) are being implemented for fish farming and animal husbandry. Farmers have also benefitted from the Prime Minister Kisan Nidhi Yojana,” Shafiq added.
Loans are also provided so that the people can become self-employed and run their own small-scale businesses in the tehsil.

Speaking to ANI, Sanjeev Singh, Branch Manager, Jammu and Kashmir Bank, Kotranka said the government infuses capitals in the schemes and provides the people with a subsidy.
He added: “Schemes like Stand-Up India, Back to Village-III, Khadi and Village Industries Board (KVIB), Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), and Jammu and Kashmir Rural Employment Generation Programme aim at the upliftment of the poor people.”
“The bank has started a Saral/Saholiyat finance scheme under which the bank provides loans to the people who want to run shops or stores in the tehsil. Since the area is good for agricultural produce, the government is implementing a lot of agriculture-based schemes,” Singh further said.

Wajhat Hussain, a resident of the area, said that the central and state government are working together to help the people gain financial stability.
“Schemes provide loans to small scale industries which has made it easy to start and run a business in Kotranka. Schemes like UDAAN are very beneficial for the people,” Hussain said.
He requested the government to reduce the time taken in getting a loan and also ensure that they are processed faster. (ANI)

New Delhi [India], March 2 (ANI): Bahujan Samaj Party National Spokesperson Sudhindra Bhadoria on Tuesday alleged that the Hathras district has become an epicentre of crime against women in Uttar Pradesh and the state government should take strict action against accused in such cases.
Speaking to ANI, the BSP leader said, “There has been a lot of news regarding sexual abuse, murder, rape and molestation coming from Uttar Pradesh. I would like to say that Hathras district has become the centre of such activities. You have seen that a few months ago there was a murder, then another murder, now the complaint of this teenager and the murder of her father, it shows that Uttar Pradesh has become jungle raj and gundaraj. There is no protection for women, Dalits and poor.”
Bhadoria slammed the Uttar Pradesh government for the late response and called on Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to take immediate action in the latest case.
“Incidents are increasing continuously. Such reports not only coming from Hathras but also from all the districts of Uttar Pradesh. It is the Chief Minister’s responsibility to ensure that such incidents do not happen,” the BSP leader said.
Amrish Sharma, a resident of Hathras, was shot dead by another man against whom he had filed a case in July 2018 for allegedly molesting his daughter, at a village in the Sasni police station area on Monday, Uttar Pradesh police said.
According to the police, an FIR has been registered against four accused, two of whom have been arrested
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today directed officials to invoke the National Security Act (NSA) against all the four accused involved in the murder of Amrish Sharma. (ANI)

New Delhi [India], March 2 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the ‘Maritime India Summit 2021’ on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Modi inaugurated the second edition of the summit via video conferencing.
Prime Minister also launched e-book of maritime vision 2030, which is aiming to make the Indian maritime insutry at par with the top global benchmark in the next 10 years.
Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of State (MoS) Ports, Shipping and Waterways (Independent Charge) in his opening remark said that the summit is one of the biggest virtual summit in the world with the participation of 1.7 lakhs partipants from more than 100 nations.
“In the three day summit, we will have ministers from eight nations, over 50 global CEOs and more than 160 speakers which include 115 international speakers from 24 nations,” he said.
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart YS Jaganmohan Reddy also joined the event via video conferencing.
The Summit will help in furthering growth of India’s maritime economy. Several countries are participating in the event including the CEOs and Ambassadors of several countries to boost investment in the Maritime sector in India. Over one lakh participants from 50 countries have registered online for MIS summit 2021 which is scheduled from March 2 to March 4.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the Maritime India Summit 2021 is being organised by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways on a virtual platform www.maritimeindiasummit.in from March 2 to March 4 via video conferencing.
The summit will visualise a roadmap for India’s Maritime sector for next decade and will work to propel India to the forefront of the Global Maritime Sector.
Eminent speakers from several countries are expected to attend the summit and explore the potential business opportunities and investments in Indian Maritime domain. Denmark is the partner country for the three-day summit. (ANI)

New Delhi [India], March 2 (ANI): A Delhi court on Tuesday granted time to Delhi Police to file a reply on social activist and lawyer Nikita Jacob’s anticipatory bail plea in the “Toolkit” document case related to the ongoing farmers’ protest.
A bench of Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana of the Patiala House Court said that it would hear Jacob’s plea on March 9 along with the anticipatory bail plea of another accused Shantanu Muluk.
Senior Advocate Rebecca John, appearing for Jacob, informed the court that her client’s interim protection — granted by the Bombay High Court on February 17 — will end on March 10.
Delhi Police is probing the toolkit case against Jacob, climate activist Disha Ravi and others. However, the court last week granted bail to Disha.
According to sources, Jacob was a committed operator of the ‘Toolkit’. She used to address it as a ‘communication package’. The police is analysing about 115 to 120 GB of data which include WhatsApp chats, e-mails and data recovered from Jacob’s pen drive, mobile and desktop. She was using applications like Singal and Telegram for communication.
Disha, a 21-year-old activist, was arrested last month from Bengaluru in connection with the formulation and dissemination of the ‘Toolkit’ document, in the ongoing farmers’ protest against the three controversial farm laws. She was one of the editors of the ‘Toolkit’ document.
On February 3, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg had shared this ‘Toolkit’ in a tweet, which she later deleted. Greta had also extended support to the protest by farm unions on the borders of the national capital. (ANI)

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], March 2 (ANI): Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, G Kishan Reddy on Tuesday said that nearly 10,000 vaccination centres in government hospitals have been opened to provide free vaccines to the people.
The minister today took a vaccine shot as a part of the second phase of the vaccination drive against COVID-19 at Gandhi Hospital here in Hyderabad.
Speaking to the media he said, “Nearly 10,000 vaccination centres in the government hospitals have been opened to provide free vaccines to the people. The Indian government aims to make the count of vaccination centres reach 20,000. The vaccine shots given in government hospitals are free and people need not pay any amount, while the private hospitals that are assigned as vaccination centres charge Rs 250 per vaccine dose.”
He further said that the second phase of vaccination drive against COVID-19 has started from March 1, 2021, targeting individuals who are above 60 years of age and above 45 years of age with comorbidity. As a part of the vaccination drive, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken the vaccine jab.
The minister also appealed to all the people to come forward and participate in the vaccination drive without any fear.
He also said that everyone must take utmost care and follow all the safety measures required.
“India has fought the battle with COVID-19. So, I appeal to everyone to follow all the safety measures like a face mask, sanitization and social distancing.”
As per the Health Ministry, a total of 1,48,54,136 people in the country have been vaccinated against COVID-19. (ANI)

New Delhi [India], March 2 (ANI): Ghazipur border, which remained closed since January 26 following the Republic Day violence, was on Tuesday reopened for vehicular movement.
However, the movement is allowed only for those entering Uttar Pradesh from the national capital.
Following the reopening of the border, a commuter said, “Earlier, one had to go through Delhi-Noida Direct Flyway or take a different route. Now our time will be saved.”
The vehicular movement from Uttar Pradesh to Delhi is still not allowed.
The security at the Ghazipur border in the national capital was increased after violence erupted on Republic Day during the farmers’ tractor rally. Delhi Police had also cemented nails near barricades at Ghazipur (Delhi-Uttar Pradesh) and Tikri (Delhi-Haryana) borders.
Meanwhile, the farmers’ protest — which began on November 26 last year against the newly enacted three farm laws — continues as no new dates for discussions between the government and farmers’ unions have been declared.
Farmers are protesting against the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance, and Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 at Delhi’s borders. However, the implementation of the three laws was in January put on hold by the Supreme Court. (ANI)