PTI

Ahmedabad, November 2

Gujarat is observing state-wide mourning on Wednesday to pay homage to the victims of the Morbi bridge collapse tragedy.

Flags were flown at half-mast, an official said, adding that no official or entertainment event would be held on Wednesday.

The decision to observe the state-wide mourning was taken on Monday in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to review the situation after the tragedy in which 135 people were killed on Sunday evening when the British-era suspension bridge on the Machchhu river collapsed.

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel had in a tweet said no official function would be held on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday called for a "detailed and extensive" inquiry into the Morbi bridge collapse tragedy and said its key learnings must be implemented at the earliest.

He had visited the collapse site and a local hospital where the injured have been admitted.

He had also chaired a high-level meeting at Morbi to review the situation, the Prime Minister's Office earlier said.

Key learnings from the inquiry must be implemented at the earliest and authorities must stay in touch with the affected families and ensure they receive all possible help in this tragic hour, the PM said. 

 Accusing the K Chandrasekhar Rao government of siding with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday declared that only Rahul Gandhi is capable of bringing the Opposition together to fight against the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Calling out Telangana Chief Minister KCR, Gandhi said that the TRS only engages in ‘drama’ before the elections, but takes orders from PM Modi.

On Tuesday, the Bharat Jodo Yatra entered Hyderabad. After getting elected as the party president, Kharge joined Gandhi’s march in Hyderabad. Kharge accused the ruling TRS of working hand-in-hand with the BJP and declared that only Gandhi is fit to lead an Opposition alliance against the BJP in 2024.

“Whenever we used to oppose any bill in Parliament, they (TRS) used to support BJP but they still say that they’ll bring a non-BJP govt. If anybody has to bring a non-BJP govt, it’s us who’ll form a non-BJP govt under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership,” said Kharge, as reported by ANI.

Accusing KCR of acting under PM Modi’s orders, Gandhi said, “Whenever there’s any bill in Parliament, TRS supports BJP & diverts attention from Opposition issues. BJP & TRS work together. Your CM (KCR) does drama before polls but he’s in direct line with PM Modi. PM Modi gives orders to your CM on phone.”

Earlier, KCR had expressed his desire to form a non-Congress Opposition front against the BJP in the run up to the 2024 general elections. He had travelled extensively and met several regional leaders like JD(S) national president Deve Gowda, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and NCP’s Sharad Pawar among others.

Bhopal, 1 November (HS): Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to celebrate the birth anniversary of Birsa Munda on November 15 as Tribal Pride Day. Madhya Pradesh government is going to implement PESA Act for the welfare of tribal people on this occasion. Many development activities and welfare schemes are being run for the tribal brothers and sisters to live with self-respect.

Chief Minister Chouhan was addressing the Gaurav Gatha program of Mangarh Dham organised on Mangarh Hill in Banswara, Rajasthan on Tuesday. Madhya Pradesh Governor Mangubhai Patel, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and union ministers were present in this program organised in the chief hospitality of Prime Minister Modi. Addressing the program, Chief Minister Chouhan said that Prime Minister Modi has done effective work to honor and recognise the tribal heroes of Mangarh. The decision to build a memorial at the sacrifice site of the heroes is a real tribute to the martyrs. Chouhan said that the tradition of worshiping martyrs has been restarted by Prime Minister Modi. On the soil of Madhya Pradesh also, work has been done to build a memorial in the memory of tribal heroes like Bhima Nayak, Tantya Mama, Raghunath Shah-Shankar Shah.

Chief Minister Chouhan said that there were many martyrs of the freedom struggle, whose sacrifice could not come to the fore. In Mangarh, Govind Guru accepted the challenge of the British to protect his religion and culture and more than 1,500 heroes made sacrifices, he said, Prime Minister Modi's decision to build a memorial at the place of sacrifice is commendable. A large number of tribal brothers and sisters from Madhya Pradesh have also come to pay obeisance to Mangarh Dham, these people should do tilak on their spear from the soil of Mangarh Dham and take this sacrificial soil to their village also, he said. Mangarh Dham is the land of sacrifice, added Chouhan, those who laid down their lives for the country will always be remembered and worshipped.

Hindusthan Samachar/ Umaid/ Mugdha

 

New Delhi, 1 November (HS): The victory flag of Hindu Padpadshahi will fly at the Red Fort of Delhi. Sangh Parivar is working on a strategy to take the glorious past of Hindu kings to each & every household. The Red Fort of Delhi is going to host a monumental play on Raja Shivaji Chhatrapati on November 2 to 6.

More than 250 artists will participate in the Mahanatya. There will be a four-storey stage at the venue. An army of cavalry would be involved to bring alive the military might of Chhatrapati Shivaji. Arrangements have been made to invite 5,000 foreign guests and to show the past in drama form in various languages for foreign guests.

An organising committee Delhi will publish a book on Hindu kings in Delhi. The book will be launched from the stage of this great play. A factual narrative of the glorious history of Hindu kings', polity and economy will be in the book. This event is a medium for the country to get acquainted with the glorious history of Hindutva. After events like Kashi Corridor, Mahakal Corridor and Ayodhya's Deepotsav, it is being seen as a sequel to taking the valour, might and their glorious history from house to house.

All the verticals of Sangh Parivar all over Delhi are engaged in making this great play a grand success. Competitions on Shivaji are being held in Delhi schools. 25,000 students are participating in these competitions. Meetings are also being held with the ambassadors of other countries so that there is no inconvenience to the foreign guests.

This great play is being considered a befitting reply of the BJP to Kejriwal. The rise of Chhatrapati Shivaji and the establishment of the Maratha empire from the eighteenth century changed the political scene of India.

The rule of Chhatrapati Shivaji had re-established the old beliefs of Rajdharma. The local government got taxation powers again, which was used for the benefit of the people in general. The practice of judging by religious prejudice had come to an end. Indian learning traditions had begun to be respected. The prestige of the Dharmacharyas was restored. Thus the eighteenth century was the century of restoration of Indian rule.

Hindusthan Samachar/ Mugdha

 PTI

Mangarh (Rajasthan), November 1

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asked the governments of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra to hold detailed discussions and prepare a roadmap to develop the Mangarh Dham.

The dham, a memorial to around 1,500 tribals massacred by the British army in 1913, is located in Rajasthan's Banswara district on the Gujarat and the desert state's border, a region with a large tribal population.

The four states together under the leadership of the Centre can develop the memorial more so that tribal leader Govind Guru's place, Mangarh Dham, can create an identity at the global level, Modi said addressing a gathering.

The tribals massacred in 1913 were being led by social reformer and tribal leader Govind Guru.

The four states together under the leadership of the Centre can develop the memorial more so that tribal leader Govind Guru's place, Mangarh Dham, can create an identity at the global level, Modi said addressing a gathering.

The tribals massacred in 1913 were being led by social reformer and tribal leader Govind Guru.

"These four states and the Centre has to take it (the dham) to a new height. In that direction, the government is fully committed," he said while addressing a gathering at the memorial.

He said it could be called a national monument or any other name can be given to it.

When the programme was going on, the Press Information Bureau tweeted, "PM@narendarmodi declares Mangadh Dham as National Monument,#Rajasthan."

At the event, the prime minister shared the dais with Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat chief ministers Ashok Gehlot, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Bhupendra Patel. 

 Hyderabad, Nov 1 (PTI) Over 2.41 lakh voters would give their verdict in the bypoll to Munugode Assembly constituency in Telangana on November 3, an election that is expected to influence the future course of state politics in the run-up to next year’s Legislative Assembly polls.

For, the by-election in this backward constituency in Nalgonda district is crucial for all the three major parties in the state – the ruling TRS, opposition BJP and the Congress.

The TRS, recently renamed as Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS), aims to demonstrate its dominance in state politics and go national with a big win here.

The message the K Chandrasekhar Rao-led party would like to send at the national level – it can take on the BJP and win.

 

A loss in the bypoll would hamper not only its national plans but also embolden the opposition ahead of the Assembly polls.

The BJP, meanwhile, hopes to give a push to its plans to emerge as the alternative to BJP with a victory in Munugode.

The party is on a high following its victories in Dubbak and Huzurabad Assembly bypolls and also the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) election during the last two years.

Even if it ends up as the runner-up behind the TRS, it can still claim to be the main opposition, leaving the Congress to the third spot.

For the beleaguered grand old party, it is almost a do or die battle in view of its below par performances in the 2014 and 2018 Assembly elections and the subsequent bypolls.

If Congress loses, it would be a double whammy for the party as Munugode was its sitting seat.

There is a Left aspect to the contest as well, with the CPI and CPI (M) announcing support to the TRS and actively campaigning for the ruling party’s victory.

The total number of eligible voters in the predominantly-rural Munugode Assembly constituency in Nalgonda district, about 85 kms from Hyderabad, is over 2.41 lakh – 1,21,720 male and 1,20,128 female.

Over 60 per cent of the electorate reportedly belong to the backward classes.

A high-octane campaign, unprecedented in many ways, has been witnessed for the bypoll ever since Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy quit Congress and also as MLA in August and joined the BJP.

Though as many as 47 candidates are in the fray, the main contest is among Rajagopal Reddy, who is seeking re-election on BJP ticket, former MLA Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy of TRS and Congress’ Palvai Sravanthi.

While banking on the popularity of Raj Gopal Reddy, the BJP has deployed Union Minister G Kishan Reddy, state unit president and MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar, party MLAs Eatala Rajender and M Raghunandan Rao among other leaders for campaign.

It was, however, the TRS that conducted an almost unheard of campaign with several state ministers, a number of MLAs and other leaders canvassing in support of their candidate covering every inch of Munugode.

This has prompted the BJP to allege that the TRS has shifted the state secretariat to Munugode.

The TRS has attacked Raj Gopal Reddy by alleging that he had switched over to BJP out of consideration of business favours.

TRS Working President K T Rama Rao had announced that he would “adopt” Munugode and personally focus on its development.

During the campaign, the TRS highlighted the various welfare schemes being implemented by the state government, including ‘Rythu Bandhu’ investment support scheme and ‘Rythu Beema’ life insurance scheme for farmers and free power to farm sector, while alleging that the NDA government at the Centre let down the country on all fronts.

TRS supremo and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao addressed a public meeting on Sunday last when he referred to the recent ‘TRS MLAs poaching case’ and accused the BJP of ‘trying to buy’ 20 or 30 MLAs of his party and topple his government.

Munugode had been a Left stronghold with CPI winning the segment in 1985, 1989, 1994, 2004 and 2009.

Congress nominee Palvai Sravanthi is banking on the goodwill of her late father Palvai Govardhan Reddy who had served as Munugode MLA and as MP.

State Congress president and MP A Revanth Reddy and other party leaders have been campaigning for the victory of Sravanthi.

Nalgonda district has been a Congress stronghold and the party had won two Lok Sabha constituencies (Nalgonda and Bhongir) in the district in the 2019 general elections.

While Rs 6.80 crore of cash and 4,560 litres of liquor had been seized by authorities till Monday evening as part of implementation of Model Code of Conduct, media reports indicate distribution of money and other inducements on a massive scale.

The Election Commission has posted teams of Income Tax, GST, besides two expenditure observers to check violations of the model code.

Campaigning will end this evening. Counting of votes would be taken up on November 6. PTI

 The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday, issued a notification empowering the collectors of Mehsana and Anand districts in Gujarat to grant citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians from Muslim-majority countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan under the provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955, reported The Indian Express.

Interestingly, the Centre has issued notification of giving citizenship certificates to the persecuted minorities from the neighbouring countries under the original Citizenship Act and not the recently passed Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA) in the Parliament.

The CAA allowed members from the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Parsi, Jain and Sikh communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, who entered India on or before December 31, 2014, to expedite their citizenship application under the process of naturalisation or registration.

The Home Ministry directed local authorities to maintain all conditions mentioned in the Constitution in granting citizenship to the religiously persecuted communities through the process of registration. In August, the Gujarat government had granted citizenship to 40 Pakistani Hindus at the Ahmedabad Collector’s office. Local authorities in the district have handed citizenship certificates to 1,032 Pakistanis since 2017.

 

 A  lioness has given birth to three healthy cubs at a zoo in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior city, an official said on Tuesday.

The eight-year-old Asiatic lioness named 'Pari' and her male partner 'Jai' (13) were brought to the civic-run Gandhi Prani Udyan here in 2012 from different zoos in Chhattisgarh, Gwalior Municipal Corporation's deputy commissioner Dr Pradeep Shrivastava said. 'Pari' gave birth to three cubs on the intervening night of Sunday-Monday, he said. The lioness and the cubs are healthy, but as a precautionary measure they will be kept in isolation for 30 days as per the protocol set by the Central Zoo Authority,'' the Gwalior zoo's veterinary officer Dr Gaurav Parihar said.

The information about the gender of the cubs will be collected after some days as going close to them may increase their risk of infection, he said.

The lioness had in 2020 given birth to three cubs including two males and a female, he added.

 

The Gir National Park in Gujarat is the only natural abode of Asiatic lions in the world.

 PTI

Bhopal, November 1

An earthquake of 4.3 magnitude hit Jabalpur and adjoining districts of Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday morning, an official from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

There was no report so far of any loss of life or property.

The moderate earthquake was experienced at 8.43 am in parts of Jabalpur, Dindori, Mandla, Anuppur, Balaghat and Umaria districts, IMD scientist Ved Prakash said.

Its epicentre was near Dindori, at a depth of 10 km, he said. 

 

 PTI

Morbi, November 1

The government hospital at Morbi has got a makeover ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the facility to meet those injured in Sunday's suspension bridge collapse which claimed 134 lives.

Workers were seen cleaning and painting a portion of the 300-bed hospital, which is a ground plus two-storey structure of three wings, ahead of Modi's visit later on Tuesday.

Six of those injured in the collapse are undergoing treatment at the hospital, while four to five other injured are being treated at a private hospital, a doctor said. So far, 56 people have been discharged, he added.

Portions of the entry gate have been painted in yellow, while some areas inside the hospital have got a coat of white paint.

The Congress tweeted images that showed repair work going on inside the Morbi hospital, to launch a tirade against the BJP.

The photos posted by the Congress on Twitter showed overnight repair work going on inside the Morbi hospital, which included a fresh coat of paint, new tiles on the walls, and minor construction work to beautify the hospital.

The Congress claimed that these arrangements are being made for PM Modi's photo op in the hospital. “They are not ashamed. So many people died and they are preparing for an event,” it said.

The Aam Aadmi Party, which is contesting all the 182 Gujarat Assembly seats, posted a video of the hospital being painted.

“Morbi civil hospital is being painted overnight so that the poor condition of the building does not get exposed during PM Modi's photoshoot,” AAP claimed.