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TMC, BJP MLAs come to blows in West Bengal Assembly; 5 BJP leaders suspended

On Wednesday chaotic scenes were witnessed in West Bengal Assembly as TMC and BJP MLAs exchanged blows with each other. The chaos happened after the opposition party i.e BJP demanded a statement from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the state’s Law and Order situation.

West Bengal assembly speaker Biman Bandyopadhyay suspended five BJP MLAs including Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, Manoj Tigga, Narahari Mahato, Shankar Ghosh, Dipak Barman for allegedly creating the whole ruckus.

Trinamool MLA Asit Majumdar was rushed to the hospital with a nose injury after Suvendu Adhikari allegedly punched him.

In a video shared on social media, also shared by BJP’s IT Cell Chief Amit Malviya in which we can see several MLAs in a scuffle on the floor of the House as marshals and police officers struggle to stop the fight.

Amit Malviya said TMC MLAs “assaulted BJP MLAs, including Chief Whip Manoj Tigga” after they demanded a discussion on the Rampurhat massacre.

“Absolute pandemonium in the West Bengal Assembly. After Bengal Governor, TMC MLAs now assault BJP MLAs, including Chief Whip Manoj Tigga, as they were demanding a discussion on the Rampurhat massacre on the floor of the house. What is Mamata Banerjee trying to hide?,” said Amit Malviya.

 

 

This comes after the Birbhum violence in which eight people were burnt to death, following the alleged murder of a ruling Trinamool Congress leader Bhadu Sheikh. On Friday, the Calcutta High Court intervened and handed over the case to CBI.

Pramod Sawant Takes Oath As Goa Chief Minister For 2nd Consecutive Term

On Monday, Pramod Sawant took oath as the state’s Chief Minister for the second time on Monday.

Goa Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai administered the oath to Mr Sawant in a ceremony at the Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee stadium near the state capital Panaji. Mr Sawant took the oath in Konkani language.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, BJP national president JP Nadda, were among those who attended the event.

BJP won 20 seats in the election one seat short of the majority in the 40-member House. Two MLAs from the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and three independent MLAs extended their support to BJP.

Prime Minister Narendra congratulated Pramod Sawant on the oath-taking as chief minister and tweeted, “Congratulations to Dr Pramod P Sawant Ji and all others who took oath in Goa today. I am confident this entire team will deliver good governance to the people of Goa and build on the pro-people work done in the last decade.”

Home Minister Amit Shah also congratulated Sawant and tweeted, “Congratulations to Dr Pramod P Sawant and all those who took oath today to serve Goa. I am sure that this team under the guidance of PM Narendra Modi Ji will work tirelessly to fulfil the aspirations of the people of Goa and take the state to the newer heights of progress.”

India successfully tests fires two Medium Range Surface to Air Missile off Odisha coast

On Sunday, March 27 Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) conducted two successful flight tests of the Indian Army version of Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM) at Integrated Test Range, Chandipur off the coast of Odisha.

According to the statement by the Ministry of Defence, the flight tests were carried out as part of the live firing trials against high-speed aerial targets. The missiles intercepted the aerial targets and destroyed them completely, registering direct hits at both the ranges. The first launch was to intercept a medium altitude long range target and second launch was for proving the capability of a low altitude short range target.

This MRSAM version is a Surface-to-Air Missile is developed jointly by DRDO and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Israel for use by the Indian Army. The MRSAM Army weapon system comprises multi-function radar, mobile launcher system and other vehicles.

The performance of the weapon system was validated through the flight data captured by range instruments like radars, electro-optical tracking systems and telemetry deployed by ITR, Chandipur.

The flight tests were carried out in the presence of senior officials from DRDO and Indian Army.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO, Indian Army and the Industry for the successful flight tests of MRSAM-Army. He said, both the successful tests established the capability of the weapon system in intercepting targets at critical ranges.

Secretary Department of Defence R&D and Chairman DRDO Dr G Satheesh Reddy also complimented the teams involved in the successful flight trial of the Army version of MRSAM and stated that these tests are the major milestones for an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.

President Ram Nath Kovind to confer Padma awards today

The President of India Ram Nath Kovind will confer Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and  Padma Shri Awards for the year 2022, at the Civil Investiture Ceremony-II to be held at Rashtrapati Bhavan today. The Civil Investiture Ceremony – I was held on March 21.

According to a press release by the Ministry of Home Affairs, amongst the prominent awardees at today’s Investiture ceremony will be Padma Vibhushan recipients – Dr. Prabha Atre and Shri Kalyan Singh (Posthumous). Padma Bhushan recepients – Shri Victor Banerjee, Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram (Posthumous), Dr. Pratibha Ray and Acharya Vashishtha Tripathi as also Dr. Krishna Murthy Ella and Smt. Suchitra Krishna Ella (Duo).

The Awards are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. These Awards are given in various disciplines or fields of activities such as art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc. ‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; ‘Padma Bhushan’ for distinguished service of high order and ‘Padma Shri’ for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year.

The awards are conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhawan.

“This year a total of 128 Padma Awards are being conferred, including two duo cases (in a duo case, the Award is counted as one). The list of awardees comprises four Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan and 107 Padma Shri Awards. 34 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 10 persons from the category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI and 13 Posthumous awardees,” read the press release.

Bharat Bandh: Two day nationwide strike; Electricity, banking, railways services may be hit

A joint forum of central trade unions, supported by the All India Bank Employees Association, has called for a nationwide strike today (March 28) and tomorrow (March 29) against the Central government’s policies affecting workers, farmers, and people in general which began at 6 am.

A few reasons for the strike are reduced rate of interest on Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation and rising fuel prices.

According to a statement by the trade unions, roadways, transport workers and electricity workers have also decided to join the strike. Workers from various other sectors such as coal, steel, oil, telecom, postal, income tax, copper, and insurance are also expected to participate in the strike.

Even the State Bank of India (SBI) has said that banking services may get affected due to the strike.

Bank unions are protesting against the government’s move to privatise two public sector banks as announced in this year’s Union Budget.

However, the nationwide strike may have limited impact in West Bengal as the Mamata Banerjee-led government has issued an order saying all of its offices including those provided with Grants-in-Aid by the State Government will remain open.

The memorandum issued on Saturday states, “In view of call given by different trade unions and others for a 48 hours nationwide strike/bandh on 28th and 29th March, 2022, it has been decided that all State Government offices including those provided with Grants-in-Aid by the State Government shall remain open and all the employees shall report for duty on those days.”

The memorandum also stated that no casual leave or any other leave will not be granted to any employee.

Birbhum Violence: “There is a conspiracy behind the Rampurhat incident,” says Mamata Banerjee

The CBI on Sunday started the process of taking statements in the investigation of the Rampurhat murder. Meanwhile, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said, “if they (CBI) will only follow BJP’s directions, we will be ready to protest,” while addressing a programme in Siliguri today.

While speaking the Rampurhat incident she said that she still believes that there is a conspiracy behind all this. She welcome the Calcutta High Court’s decision and said that it’s a good decision that CBI took charge but also warned that if CBI only follows BJP’s direction they will protest.

“I still think there is a conspiracy behind the Rampurhat incident. CBI took over the charge, it is a good decision, but if they will only follow BJP’s directions, we will be ready to protest,” said West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee in Siliguri.

Talking about the incident, Banerjee, who is on a six-day tour of north Bengal, said, “A Trinamool worker was killed by another party worker. But only TMC is being criticised everywhere. We have taken several steps to investigate the matter and to know the original cause of the incident. Many such incidents have taken place in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Tripura, and Assam. Our party workers were not allowed to reach the incident site, but in Birbhum, we never stopped any political party.”

Naxalbari Police recovers temple’s stolen items; three arrested

With the quick action of Naxalbari police station, three people were arrested in the case of theft from the temple behind the Naxalbari fish market.

With the arrest police were also successful to recover the idol and bell stolen from the temple have. According to the sources, on Wednesday, thieves stole away the idol of Lakshmi Narayan Bhagwan and other items from a temple located behind the Naxalbari fish market.

As soon as the news of the incident was received, the Naxalbari police station registered the case and took quick action.

Earlier in the case on Saturday one person was arrested and later with further investigation, other two accused were also arrested.

Birbhum violence: Congress and BJP stages protest; Suvendu Adhikari demands Mamata’s resignation

The Opposition parties in West Bengal staged protests against the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government over Birbhum violence in which eight people were burnt to death.

On Saturday, Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari along with other BJP leaders staged a protest in front of the SDO office of Rampurhat over the recent violence in Birbhum.

The BJP leaders demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Centre’s intervention in the matter.

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury also took out ‘Nyay Yatra’ protest march from Amta to Kolkata’s Gandhi Murti, demanding justice against the murder of student leader Anis Khan and Jhalda Municipal representative Tapan Kandu.

A total of eight people were burnt to death in the Rampurhat area of West Bengal’s Birbhum on March 22, following the killing of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Bhadu Sheikh on March 21.

West Bengal government makes it mandatory for employees to attend office during March 28, 29 trade union strike

West Bengal government reacted sharply to the nationwide strike on March 28 and 29 called by central trade unions, the West Bengal government has issued a memorandum stating that all of its offices including those provided with Grants-in-Aid by the State Government will remain open. And unauthorised absence by employees may invite a show-cause, and they may have to lose salary for the day (or days), concerned.

The memorandum issued on Saturday states, “In view of call given by different trade unions and others for a 48 hours nationwide strike / bandh on 28th and 29th March, 2022, it has been decided that all State Government offices including those provided with Grants-in-Aid by the State Government shall remain open and all the employees shall report for duty on those days.”

The memorandum also stated that no casual leave or any other leave will not be granted to any employee.

“It has been decided that no Casual Leave or any other leave for absence either in the 1st half or in the 2nd half or for the whole day shall be granted to any employee on the above-mentioned dates,” the memorandum states.

The statement said, “It is further notified that absence of employees on those days will be treated as ‘dies-non’ and no salary will be admissible unless such absence is covered by any of the following grounds:

  1. a) Hospitalization of the employees;
  2. b) Bereavement in the family;
  3. c) Severe illness and absence continuing prior to 25th March, 2022;
  4. d) Employees who had been on Child Care Leave, Maternity Leave, Medical Leave and Earned Leave sanctioned prior to 25th March, 2022.”

The memorandum says that employees will be issued show-cause for an explanation for the unauthorised absence on March 28 and 29 or on any of the two dates. And if the reply is satisfactory, leave due and admissible may be granted.

If the absence is without exceptions the memorandum states, “Where the absence is not covered by any of the above-mentioned reasons and the leave has not been approved, the same will be treated as ‘dies-non’ and no salary will be admissible for the above mentioned day(s).”

And if someone fails to respond to the show-cause notice they will be liable to disciplinary action.

 

“Demand for items made in India is increasing all over the world,” says PM Modi in Mann ki Baat

On Sunday Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed his monthly radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’ and this is his first radio programme after winning assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa.

PM Modi lauded the export figures of India and said that last week India had the export target of $ 400 billion, i.e. 30 lakh crore rupees.

Talking about the potential of India he said that at one time the export figures of India used to be 100 billion, at times 150 billion, and sometimes 200 billion but it’s 400 billion.

“In a way, this means that the demand for items made in India is increasing all over the world; the other meaning is that the supply chain of India is getting stronger by the day… and it also has a very big message. The nation takes great strides when resolves are bigger than dreams. When there is a sincere effort day and night for the resolves, those resolutions also attain fruition… and you see, the same happens in a person’s life as well. When one’s resolve, one’s efforts, become bigger than one’s dreams, success comes to the person on its own,” said PM Modi.

PM said that ever new products from all corners of the country are reaching foreign shores.

“Leather products from Hailakandi in Assam or handloom products from Osmanabad, fruits and vegetables from Bijapur or black rice from Chandauli, the exports of all of these are increasing. Now, you will also find the world famous apricot of Ladakh in Dubai too and in Saudi Arabia, you will find bananas shipped from Tamil Nadu,” he said.

He also emphasized how an array of new products are being sent to ever newer countries.

“For example, the first consignment of millets grown in Himachal and Uttarakhand was exported to Denmark. Bainganapalli and Subarnarekha mangoes from Krishna and Chittoor districts of Andhra Pradesh were exported to South Korea. Fresh jackfruits from Tripura were exported to London by air and for the first time King Chilli from Nagaland was dispatched to London. Similarly, the first consignment of Bhalia wheat was exported from Gujarat to Kenya and Sri Lanka,” said PM Modi.

He also spoke about the potential of India and said that the basis of its strength are our farmers, artisans, our weavers, engineers, our small entrepreneurs, the MSME sector; people from many different professions.

He said that small entrepreneurs are playing a major partnership role in government procurement through Government e-Market place i.e. GeM.

During the last one year through the GeM portal, the government has purchased items worth more than one lakh crore rupees. Close to 1.25 lakh small entrepreneurs, small shopkeepers from every corner of the country have sold their goods directly to the government.

PM Modi said, “There was a time when only big companies could sell goods to the government. However, the country is changing now; the old systems are also changing. Now even the smallest of shopkeepers can sell one’s goods to the government on the GeM Portal – this is the New India.”