New Delhi [India], March 7 (ANI): Chairman of the National School of Drama (NSD) Paresh Rawal said that the country’s prestigious theatre training school is looking forward to opening new centres in the county soon, including one in Jammu and Kashmir.
While talking to ANI, Rawal said, “I believe that NSD should be extended to centres, it should be opened everywhere in North, West, East and South. So that boys who are like me, who are not from NSD should get a chance and as I said if I was in NSD then I would have been better than what I am today.”
He added that recently a request had been received from the Lieutenant Governor of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha for opening a centre there.
“This will soon be discussed with NSD society members and the government. Hopefully, we will have a concrete plan to do it soon. In fact, we are keen to set up centres in the states of Gujarat, West Bengal, and Maharashtra,” Rawal added.
“Kashmiri boys and girls want to do something. I want to open NSD in Kashmir soon. I am very excited about that,” Rawal said.
The chairman also said that the government is actively considering giving the Institute of National Importance tag to NSD, which will further strengthen the institute by enabling it to award degrees, introduce new courses like playwriting, costume designing, property making etc, and also open up new centres.
“We are talking to the Government of India to expedite the matter. Also, the proposal of re-development of the existing NSD campus is under consideration. The issue was brought to light in a meeting with Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri last week,” added Rawal. (ANI)

Guwahati (Assam) [India] March 7 (ANI): Hitting out at Bharatiya Janata Party over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC), the Raijor Dal said that this time it along with alliance partner Assam Jatiya Parishad will decide on who will form the new government in the state.
Raijor Dal has teamed up with the Assam Jatiya Parishad to fight the upcoming Assam assembly polls together.
“BJP is going to lose the election along with alliance partner Asom Gana Parishad (AGP). People of Assam want to get rid of them. The BJP government lied about CAA, NRC, and the public has decided to remove them from power. I assure you that,” Rasel Hussain, Vice President, Raijor Dal said on Saturday.
On Friday the Raijor Dal announced that its president, jailed activist Akhil Gogoi will contest the upcoming elections from Sibsagar constituency in Upper Assam. The party also announced the list of 17 candidates it is fielding for the first two phases of the three-phase elections in the state which begins on March 27.
He further said, “This time the regional alliance of Jatiya Parishad and Raijor Dal will decide who will form government in the state after this election.
“Akhil Gogoi is the only person in the northeast since independence who will contest election from jail. Sonowal government had accused Gogoi of false cases and kept him in jail for the past 15 months,” he claimed.
Hussain said that their only target is to defeat BJP, “We are not contesting against Mahagathbandhan and that’s why we are only contesting on 17 seats in the first two phases,” he added.
Gogoi, a peasant leader has been in jail since December 2019 in connection with a National Investigation Agency (NIA) case for his role in the anti-CAA protests in Assam. He was arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Raijor Dal was launched as a political outfit in October last year in Guwahati.
In the first phase, Raijor Dal will contest in 12 out of the 47 seats where the first phase election is scheduled for March 27. In the second phase elections on April 1, it has named candidates for six out of 39 seats. Assam will go to the polls in three phases beginning March 27.
The BJP had scripted history in Assam in the last assembly polls and won an absolute majority with its allies, defeating Congress which had been in power in the state for 15 years. It had bagged 60 seats, AGP 14, and BPF 12 seats in the last assembly polls. (ANI)

Guwahati (Assam) [India], March 7 (ANI): The Congress on Saturday released its first list of 40 candidates for the upcoming three-phase election for the 126-member Assam Assembly.
Polls to the 15th Legislative Assembly polls in the state will begin on March 27 as per the schedule announced by the Election Commission of India with counting slated to be held on May 2.
Leader of Opposition Debabtata Saikia will contest from Nazira, his traditional bastion and former minister Rakibul Hussain will contest from Samuguri.
Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Ripun Bora will contest for Gohpur seat and former minister Bismita Gogoi will fight from Khumtai seat.
Angkita, the daughter of former Assam Congress president Anjan Dutta, has won party ticket for Amguri seat.

The Congress led grand alliance or ‘Mahajath’ comprises the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC), All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), Communist Party of India (CPI), the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI (M), the Communist Party of India (Marxist Leninist) Liberation or CPI(ML), and the Anchalik Gana Marcha (AGM).
The Bodoland Peoples’ Front (BPF) has also broken away from the BJP-led alliance to join the ‘Mahajath’.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had on Friday released the first list of 70 candidates for the elections. In the last assembly election in 2016, the BJP scripted history and formed the government for the first time in Assam ending Congress’ 15-year rule led by former chief minister Tarun Gogoi.
The term of the 14th legislative assembly of Assam is up to 31 May 2021. The Assembly elections for 126 seats will be held in three phases starting from March 27.
The first phase of notification is March 2 and 47 seats in 12 districts will go to the polls.
The last date of nomination March 9 and the date of poll is March 27. In the second phase, 39 constituencies in 13 districts will go to the polls on April 1.
A total of 41 constituencies in 12 districts will go to polls on April 6. (ANI)

By Amit Kumar
New Delhi[India], March 7 (ANI): With the second leg of the budget session of Parliament set to begin on March 8 with all Covid-19 protocols in place, a vaccination centre for MPs has been set up inside the parliament complex.
“For the welfare of Members of Parliament, a COVID-19 vaccination centre has been set up at the Parliament House Medical Centre from Tuesday, March 9,” a Lok Sabha bulletin said.
It said that vaccination is voluntary.
The vaccine will be administered on all working days by trained health care workers.
Family members of the MPs too will get vaccines.
“Two vaccination centres have also been set up for the family members of MPs, one at CGHS Dispensary North Avenue and the other at CGHS Dispensary South Avenue. Members can undertake vaccination in their respective constituency also,” the bulletin said.
The Rajya Sabha will function from 9 am to 2 pm while Lok Sabha will function between 4 pm to 10 pm.
In accordance with the prioritization guidelines by the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGAVAC), Members of Parliament above 60 years of age are eligible to get vaccinated in the current phase of the nationwide vaccination campaign.
Persons aged above 45 years, who have comorbidities, are also eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
According to parliamentary data, 36 per cent of Lok Sabha MPs and 62 per cent of Rajya Sabha MPs are above 60 years of age.
Several leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu and Home Minister Amit Shah took their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday.
To avail of vaccination, online registration is required. However, for the convenience of Members of Parliament, a data entry operator will be available for spot online registration at the registration counter of the medical centre.
Government sources told ANI that the scheduled time of vaccination is from 10 am to 5 pm on working days but pre-online registration or registration by data operator at the vaccination centre is required. (ANI)

New Delhi [India], March 7 (ANI): Tihar Jail authorities on Friday told the Delhi High Court that a deceased prisoner under trial at the facility was attacked by three others under trial prisoners (UTP) in November last year by an improvised sharp object.
In the status report filed in court, the Tihar Jail briefly informed the court that on November 30, a lockout was done in the morning. The Jail staff on duty heard a noise from Ward No 9. Immediately the on-duty staff rushed to the spot and saw that deceased UTP (Under Trial Prisoner) Dilsher was being grappled by another UTP Ved Prakash and he was being attacked by two others, namely Naushad and Faizal Alam with a handmade improvised sharp-edged object.
“Seeing the Jail staff members at the spot, the accused persons started inflicting injuries on themselves and on each other. The intervention of the staff broke the fight and the accused persons were controlled. The sharp object used for the attack was taken from their possession,” the status report added.
It further said that added that Dilsher was immediately rushed to the Jail hospital where he was declared brought dead at 7:25 am by the Medical Officer on duty.
The submission of the report by the Tihar Jail was sought by the Delhi HC in a petition by the father of the deceased who had approached the court, seeking compensation for the custodial death of his son.
The Bench of Justice Prathiba M Singh on Friday asked the Delhi government and Tihar Jail Authority to state whether any disciplinary action has been taken against jail officials for the security lapse in the death and posted the matter for March 22.
Advocate Sanjay Ghose, additional standing counsel of the Delhi government, informed the court that the CCTV footage of the incident has been handed over to the investigation officer of the case, and a chargesheet has also been filed in the trial court in this regard.
The petition was filed by Ali Sher through advocates Anwar A Khan and Vishal Raj Sehijpal. Ali Sher told the court that his son Dilsher Azad was an undertrial prisoner lodged in Tihar Jail since September 19, 2019.
On November 30, 2020, Ali Sher received a call from police officials informing him about the sudden death of his son Dilsher Azad in Jail, on receipt of which information, the petitioner immediately reached Tihar Jail in order to ascertain facts. There, Tihar Jail authorities did not co-operate with the petitioner at all and made him wait outside for hours together, Sher’s advocate told the court.
Later the petitioner came to know that his son has been murdered inside Tihar Jail and that too with knives.
He had also obtained a copy of the FIR of the murder case of his deceased son and was shocked and surprised to read the contents of the same and the manner in which his son was gruesomely murdered inside Tihar Jail, administration of which claims itself to be India’s most secure prison, plea states.
He submitted that although judicial inquiry has been ordered into the matter but till date, nothing has happened, and the petitioner has never been called to join any proceeding into the inquiry of murder of his son.
He said that he was felt helpless and himself witnessing the fact that nothing concrete was happening in the murder case of his son, the petitioner wrote a complaint to the Human Rights Commissioner, Lieutenant Governor, Chief Minister of Delhi and the Director General of Prisons, Tihar Jail seeking action against the erring officials, the dereliction, recklessness and carelessness that to the murder of their son, along with the prayer of a grant of compensation to the petitioner.
However, till date neither any action has been taken on the said representation of the petitioner nor he has been informed about the decision or action taken in this regard.
The petitioner advocate urged the Delhi High Court to issue an appropriate direction to grant compensation to the petitioner to the tune of Rs 5 Crore on account of the custodial death of the son of the petitioner in the judicial custody being an undertrial prisoner in Tihar Central Jail. (ANI)

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], March 7 (ANI): Music cannot be sold for money, but it is something that must be felt and taught from the heart, says B Ravi Ganesh, a visually-impaired person who has been teaching music since 1996.
Despite his blindness, B. Ravi Ganesh has been running a music institute since 1996. Starting with just one student back in 1996, Ganesh claims to have taught 1000 students till now.
B. Ravi Ganesh, the founder of Na Swaram Music Institute, told ANI, “Music is something that I have been passionate about from a young age. Music is not something that is sold for money but I think that music must come from the heart and must be taught from the heart.”
Ravi said that he found his passion in music at a young age.
“I was born with this blindness and my parents were worried about me and my future. While they were trying to figure out an secure future for me, they found out my passion for singing. I started to sing at the age of 4. At a young age, I have found my passion for music and that is when I decided to make it my future,” Ravi said.
Being a completely visually impaired person, Ravi had to face a lot of challenges since the beginning.
Ravi said, “I have faced many problems due to lack of eyesight. Despite my being blind, my parents never sent me to a blind school. I went to a normal school like other children but had to face a lot of challenges. Then I opted for B.A Music. I have practised memorising everything. And till date, I don’t have to touch my Braille notes. It has not been easy for me from the beginning.”
“As I was pursuing M.A in Music, I started teaching music to people. After I completed my music course, I established this music institute in 1996 with just one student. Till date, I have been able to teach 1,000 students of all age groups with some being older than me as well,” said Ganesh.
“From this institute, students have been going on to pursue their Diploma in music. I aim to teach as many people as I can, irrespective of their age,” he added. (ANI)