PDP chief and former J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has reacted to the recent decision of a special court rejecting the bail application of her party’s youth leader, Waheed Parra, who was arrested by CID wing of J&K police and has been in their custody.

She took to Twitter on Wednesday and said that without having any proper evidence, the court has rejected the bail of a political activist purely on the basis of accusations by police.

On Tuesday a special court, while rejecting the bail application of Waheed Parra, said that between the liberty of a person and the security of the state, the second one is more important. The court said that charges against Parra “were grave, serious and heinous in nature” and that a preliminary analysis of evidence collected so far showed that he was “aiding” militancy in Jammu and Kashmir in the garb of being a politician.

In her tweet Mehbooba said, “Worrying trend that bail is no more the rule but an exception, and an accused is assumed to be guilty without proof. Current state of affairs is such that under trials are jailed for months and even years languishing behind bars before charges are proven”.

It is in place to mention that he was first arrested by NIA and obtained a bail from NIA court on 9 January last month. The NIA had arrested Parra on 25 November last year in a terror-related case.

GHAZIPUR: Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Wednesday demanded establishment of a agriculture research centre in the Parliament premises so that rates of crops can be determined.

“The government dispels the Swaminathan report and thinks that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) that is being asked for is too much. Why not establish an agriculture research centre in the Parliament premises, grow crops there and decide their rates according to profit and loss after harvesting?” Tikait told ANI. The BKU leader also said with this farmers’ protest, political parties will now have to include farmer welfare in all elections and will have to address farmers’ issues.

Earlier, Tikait had threatened the Centre that if the three newly enacted farm laws are not repealed, the farmers will march to the Parliament with 40 lakh tractors.

Speaking at a farmers’ rally in Sikar in Rajasthan, Tikait said, “Our next call will be for a march to Parliament. We will tell them before marching. This time it won’t be just 4 lakh tractors but 40 lakh tractors will go there if farm laws are not taken back.”

Tikait also demanded that a new law should be enacted ensuring minimum support price for farmers.

This comes weeks after the violence that broke out in the national capital on January 26 during the farmers’ tractor rally.

Farmer groups protesting against the Centre’s agricultural laws strayed from the prearranged route and broke barricades to enter Delhi. They clashed with the police and vandalised property in several parts of the national capital.

Many also entered the Red Fort and unfurled their flags from its ramparts.

Several public and private properties were damaged in acts of vandalism by the protestors. A total of 22 FIRs have been filed by the Delhi Police and in an incident at ITO a farmer died after his tractor overturned during the same rally.

Farmers have been protesting on the different borders of the national capital since November 26 against the three newly enacted farm laws – 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. 

The Captain Amarinder Singh led Punjab Cabinet on Wednesday approved a new EWS Policy, paving the way for construction of more than 25000 houses for the economically weaker sections, with developers and authorities required to develop 5% of project area for EWS housing.

These houses would be constructed in reasonably sized pockets, along with social infrastructure, such as schools, community centres and dispensaries, at convenient locations to ensure comfortable living for the beneficiaries. They will be provided access to basic civic amenities.

This decision was taken during a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh through video conferencing.

The houses under the new policy would be constructed with the latest brick-less technology, using services of qualified Project Management Agencies (PMAs). They will be offered to eligible families, who will be financed by banks at affordable monthly instalment rates.

The policy provides for eligible applicants to furnish proof of birth in Punjab or of 10 years’ stay in the state from the date of application, such as Aadhaar card, copy of ration card, extract of voter list, copy of driving license, passport etc. Family income should not be more than Rs.3 lac per annum from all sources, as revised by GoI or Punjab from time to time. The applicant/his spouse/minor child must not already own freehold/leasehold residential plot/dwelling unit in Punjab or Chandigarh, and the applicant would be required to self-certify on these counts.

The applications will be received and verified by the authorised banks. Only an application for which a Bank provides loan, or applicant undertakes to make lump sum payment within 40 days of issue of letter of intent, would be considered for allotment through draw or otherwise. Applicant must be married and the application must be in the joint name of husband and wife. There will be bar on sale, gift, mortgage with possession, exchange, long lease of the so allotted EWS dwelling units for a period of 15 years except within the family case of death of allottee.

The government would fix sale price for EWS keeping in view the cost of construction of unit, proportionate cost of site development and common infrastructure such as school, community centre etc. and administrative charges such as PMC, advertisement cost, which would not exceed 5% of the total project cost. Land cost will be taken as zero and there would be exemption from EDC on such EWS projects.

Developers may consolidate their EWS areas in pockets which must be at least 1km apart, be it of 12 to 16 acre in size, in residential zones of SAS Nagar and New Chandigarh Master Plans, on already constructed master plan roads, 5 acre to 16 acre on existing roads with minimum 40 feet right of way in case of rest of Punjab, within 4km of their colonies. Apart from these, the value of area transferred to government and area reclaimed in the colony must be same as per collector rates of the two lands.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal has directed the officers concerned to develop a system under which a single educational institute could be set up for imparting education from kindergarten (KG) to post-graduate (PG) levels. He directed the officers to identify two such universities wherein such systems can be implemented initially.

The Chief Minister gave these directions while presiding over a review meeting with the State Educational Research and Training Council (SCERT), District Institute for Education and Training (DIET) and Block Institute of Teacher Education (BITE) held here on Wednesday. Haryana Education Minister Kanwar Pal was also present in the meeting.

The CM directed the officers to chalk out a plan for the accreditation of private institutions and this should be continuously monitored so that they can meet the required standards. During the meeting, it was informed that in the new National Education Policy (NEP), from the year 2030, it will be mandatory for a teacher to hold a BA-B.Ed integrated degree.

CM Manohar Lal directed that work on this programme should be started from next year rather than to wait for the year 2030. He further directed that 10 schools should be identified in three districts of Haryana including Gurugram, Jhajjar and Kurukshetra where internships for the students taking BA-B.Ed integrated degree can be provided. He said that apart from in-service training, training should be made compulsory even before recruitment.

It is a matter of pride that the 1,32,000-seater Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium in Motera has become the world’s largest cricket stadium, said President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday.

Speaking at the inauguration of the Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium and the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Sports Enclave in Ahmedabad, President Kovind also noted that the stadium also provides world-class facilities for various sporting activities. “It is a matter of pride for us that the Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium has become the world’s largest cricket stadium with a capacity of 1.32 lakh spectators. The stadium is not only the largest in the world but also provides world-class facilities for various sporting activities,” he said.

The President also congratulated officials of the Gujarat Cricket Association, who were instrumental in giving the present shape to the new stadium.

“With a gold rating of green-building certification, this is also a good example of eco-friendly development. The stadium showcases the aspirations and capabilities of the New India that has made a strong mark on the world stage,” he said.

He further said that the dominance that India has achieved in cricket reinforces the belief the country has the potential to achieve a higher position in the world in several other fields as well.

“India is called the ‘Power House of Cricket’ or ‘Hub of Cricket’, so it is quite appropriate that the world’s largest cricket stadium is also now in our country,” he said.

Highlighting that many young cricketers in India, coming from villages across the country are working hard and gradually emerging as significant sporting talents, he said: “Our youth have the capability to perform well in other sports on international levels. For this to materialise, we have to provide the world-class infrastructure the same way we have done for cricket. With this objective, it is significant that the Government of Gujarat has taken the initiative to build an international level sports enclave within the premises of the Narendra Modi Stadium.”

The sports enclave would work as a “multi-sports venue” and also provide facilities for hosting national and international events.

He further praised the Prime Minister for encouraging sportspersons in Gujarat during his tenure as Chief Minister.

“A new culture of sports is being developed by the Central Government throughout the country. Campaigns like ‘Khelo-India’ and ‘Fit-India’ are creating a trend towards encouraging good health and sports among the people,” he added.

The newly-built Motera Stadium was renamed the Narendra Modi Stadium ahead of the pink-ball Test between India and England. Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju were also in attendance on the occasion.

On February 24, 2019, the then President of United States, Donald Trump had visited Motera Stadium for the ‘Namaste Trump’ event, and exactly one year later, the newly-built stadium will now be hosting its first international cricket match.

AICC national spokesman Dasoju Sravan has flayed K.T. Rama Rao, Minister for Industries, IT and Municipal Administration, for his misleading statements regarding recruitment in about 1.32 lakh jobs in Telangana. Differing on the minister’s claims, the senior Congress leader invited KTR for an open debate for discussing the original jobs provided by the government, existing vacancies available in the government and also in the private sector.

Dr Sravan fixed the venue, time and date for the same. While criticizing the attitude of KTR, who has been deliberately ignoring the aspirations of millions of Telangana agitators and insulting the sacrifices of over 1,500 martyrs, Dr Sravan asked KTR to accept his challenge to debate on the sensitive and most important issues of Telangana. “We are not idiots to believe in your shameless, useless and false statements. You must come along with your team on Friday (26th) at 12 noon to Telangana Martyrs Memorial at Gunpark with facts of recruitment numbers, current vacancies available,” he dared KTR. Dr Sravan addressed the media at Gandhi Bhavan today.

According to the AICC leader, there are about 40 lakh unemployed youth in Telangana and more than 3 lakh jobs currently vacant in the government itself. He said that the government did nothing in the last seven years to any segment, especially to the unemployed youth, graduates and even the government employees who are eagerly waiting to get a new PRC when their counterparts received 27% PRC in Andhra Pradesh.

Warning that graduates will teach a lesson to the TRS party in the MLC elections as KCR, KTR are only filling up their family jobs and ignoring lakhs of unemployed graduates in the state. “When your sister Kavitha cannot survive without a job, how do you think these many youngsters can live without a proper job or self-employment? After all, it is the fundamental responsibility of any government to provide jobs to its citizens,” Dr Sravan said.