Ace sprinter Hima Das will be appointed as the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) in Assam Police, for her outstanding contributions in various national and international athletic meets, officials said on Wednesday.
An official said that the decision to appoint Das as DSP was taken in an Assam cabinet meeting chaired by the Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal at Dispur on Wednesday.
Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju with Hima Das
The Council of Ministers also decided to provide government jobs with class one and class two ranks to the sports persons representing Assam and India in international tournaments and championships such as Olympics, World Championships in different wings, Commonwealth and Asian Games.
The official said that the Integrated Sports Policy of Assam would be amended to provide the Class I officer and Class II Officer’s jobs to the outstanding sports men and women under different departments of the state government including police, excise and transport departments.
The Centre on Thursday categorically said in the Rajya Sabha that action will be taken against Social Media platforms if fake news and violence is spread through it.
“There is freedom of speech but Article 19A says that this is subject to reasonable restrictions,” said Communications, Electronics & Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey
“We respect social media a lot, it has empowered common people. Social media has a big role in the Digital India programme. However, if social media are misused to spread fake news and violence, then action will be taken on the misuse of social media in India whether Twitter or else,” said Prasad.
He said all the social media platforms will have to adhere to the constitution of India. The Indian constitution allows criticism of the government and the Prime Minister, but spreading fake news will not be allowed, he said.
Prasad said, “We have flagged certain issues to Twitter and social media has to take into consideration of the Indian Laws if they want to do business in the country.
Social Media (Photo: pixabay)
“Different parameters can’t be allowed for different countries. It can’t be different for the Capitol Hill incident and some other parameters and for the Red Fort incident.”
The Indian government on Wednesday expressed displeasure over Twitter’s delayed compliance on its order to remove “provocative” tweets amid the ongoing farmers’ protests.
IT Secretary Ajay Prakash Sawhney expressed Centre’s displeasure to Twitter’s management.
An official statement issued late Wednesday night said the Secretary told Monique Meche, Vice President, Global Public Policy and Jim Baker, Deputy General Counsel and Vice President Legal of Twitter that delayed compliance to lawfully passed orders are “meaningless”.
“Lawfully passed orders are binding on any business entity. They must be obeyed immediately. If they are executed days later, it becomes meaningless,” Sawhney was quoted as saying in the statement.
The official expressed his deep disappointment to Twitter leadership about the manner in which Twitter has unwillingly, grudgingly and with great delay complied with the substantial parts of the order, the statement said.
He also told Twitter that in India its Constitution and laws are supreme.
Kohli, who returned with scores of 11 and 72 in the first Test, is now placed at the fifth spot while Pujara – having accumulated a total of 88 runs across two innings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium – is now placed at the seventh spot….reports Asian Lite News
India’s Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara have moved down by a spot while Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah have moved upwards in the respective ICC Test rankings which got updated after the culmination of the first Test which England won by 227 runs on Tuesday.
Kohli, who returned with scores of 11 and 72 in the first Test, is now placed at the fifth spot while Pujara – having accumulated a total of 88 runs across two innings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium – is now placed at the seventh spot.
In the list of bowlers, Ashwin and Bumrah are placed at the seventh and eight positions respectively.
England captain Joe Root’s match-winning 218 in the first Test has helped him advance two places to third position. He has overtaken Kohli in the process.
Root, who helped his team to a memorable win in Chennai that kept England in contention for the ICC World Test Championship final, has reached 883 rating points, his highest since September 2017, after a fabulous run in the sub-continent has seen him accumulate 684 runs in three Tests, two of which were in Sri Lanka.
England captain Joe Root’
Ahead of Kohli for the first time since November 2017, the England skipper is now 36 points behind top-ranked Kane Williamson and trails Steve Smith by only eight points. With Marnus Labuschagne also in the mix, competition for the top five slots is intense with all of them above 850 rating points.
For India, Rishabh Pant’s knock of 91 in the first innings has helped him become the first full-time wicketkeeper from his country to reach 700 rating points as he retained 13th position among batsmen.
Shubman Gill has progressed seven places to 40th position while all-rounder Washington Sundar is at the 81st spot after moving up two slots. Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem too has gained two places to reach 85th position among bowlers.
The second Test, also in Chennai, will begin from Saturday.
The Chinese Ministry of National Defence spokesperson further stated that the move is in accordance with the consensus reached by both sides at the ninth round of China-India Corps Commander Level Meeting….reports Asian Lite News
China on Wednesday said that frontline troops of India and China at the southern and northern bank of the Pangong Lake at Line of Actual Control have started disengagement from Wednesday. India has made no statement in this regard so far.
Senior Colonel Wu Qian, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of National Defence, in a written statement on Wednesday said, “The Chinese and Indian frontline troops at the southern and northern bank of the Pangong Tso Lake start synchronised and organised disengagement from February 10.”
The Chinese Ministry of National Defence spokesperson further stated that the move is in accordance with the consensus reached by both sides at the ninth round of China-India Corps Commander Level Meeting.
After a 16-hour-long marathon ninth round of military dialogue, both the countries issued a joint statement wherein it was stated that they have agreed to push for an early disengagement of the frontline troops at disputed border areas across Line of Actual Control.
India’s Defence Ministry issued a statement after India and China held a 16-hour-long marathon military dialogue to resolve the border dispute and thinning of forces along the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh. It was the ninth round of Corps Commander level meet at Moldo.
“The two sides agreed that this round of meeting was positive, practical and constructive, which further enhanced mutual trust and understanding. The two sides agreed to push for an early disengagement of the frontline troops,a the joint statement stated.
It also stated that both the countries have also agreed to follow the important consensus of their state leaders, maintain the good momentum of dialogue and negotiation, and hold the 10th round of the Corps Commander Level Meeting at an early date to jointly advance de-escalation.
“The two sides agreed to continue their effective efforts in ensuring the restraint of the frontline troops, stabilise and control the situation along the LAC in the Western Sector of the China-India border, and jointly maintain peace and tranquillity,” said the statement.
India and China are engaged in a ten-month-long standoff at the LAC.
Tuesday’s was Blinken’s second call with Jaishankar since he assumed office and the discussion on Myanmar, which the US insists on referring to as Burma, shows the importance that country’s developments have for President Joe Biden’s global democracy agenda….reports Arul Louis
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the situation in Myanmar, where a military coup was staged on February 1, with India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.
Blinken reaffirmed “the strength of the US-India partnership” and they discussed “issues of mutual concern, including the situation in Burma (Myanmar)” during their conversation on Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said.
“Blinken expressed concern over the military coup and the importance of rule of law and the democratic process in Burma,” he said.
Price said that Jaishankar and Blinken “also discussed regional developments, including the value of US-India cooperation across the Indo-Pacific” and they looked forward to “expanded regional cooperation, including through the Quad, and to address the challenges of Covid and climate change”.
Security guards are seen at the entrance of the City Hall in Yangon, Myanmar
The Quad is the group of India, the US, Japan and Australia, which was reinvigorated under former President Donald Trump to counter China’s aggressive posture in the Indo-Pacific.
Taking to Twitter following the call, the Indian Minister tweeted: “Welcomed the comprehensive discussion today with Secretary Blinken. Reviewed Indo-Pacific developments and the Quad cooperation. Exchanged views on the situation in Myanmar. Look forward to remaining in touch.”
Tuesday’s was Blinken’s second call with Jaishankar since he assumed office and the discussion on Myanmar, which the US insists on referring to as Burma, shows the importance that country’s developments have for President Joe Biden’s global democracy agenda.
Myanmar also figured in Biden’s talk with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.
A White House statement after their conversation said that they “resolved that the rule of law and the democratic process must be upheld in Burma”.
The President has asserted that promotion of democracy around the world would be among his foreign policy priorities and is facing the test case of Myanmar, where the military has detained former de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party and refused to recognise the results of the November 2020 parliamentary elections that gave the NLD a resounding victory.
Biden has threatened to reimpose sanctions on Myanmar, which had been removed as the nation made progress on the road to democracy.
“The reversal of that progress will necessitate an immediate review of our sanction laws and authorities, followed by appropriate action,” he said earlier this month.
While India would also like to see Myanmar return to democracy, it would not want to see coercive action against the military government that would push it closer to China.
In the aftermath of the devastating floods that wreaked havoc in Chamoli district in Uttarakhand on Sunday, the state government on Tuesday said that its officials will be collecting DNA samples of the unattended recovered bodies.
“Till 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, 32 bodies have been recovered, while 174 are yet to be traced. The DNA samples will be kept safe and on the basis of that, the bodies will be identified,” the state government said in a statement.
Of the 32 bodies, 25 have been identified, while 7 remain unattended. Rescue operation is underway to trace 174 more people.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said, “Multi-agency operation is on at multiple sites of the state to trace the missing persons. From the Kedarnath disasterof 2013, the experience that we have gathered is that the DNA samples of the bodies’ have to kept safe for their identification in the future.”
The Uttarakhand government said that at the Tapovan Vishnugad hydroelectric project, rescuers have dug in and moved about 100 metres into a blocked tunnel in an effort to reach the persons feared trapped inside.
During the relief and rescue operations, 12 NTPC employees were rescued safely, while six others who sustined injuries have also been saved by the rescuers.
Meanwhile, the state government has reported that there is no danger of downstream flooding and the rise in water level has been contained, adding that the Centre and the state government are keeping a strict vigil on the situation.
The Chief Minister reviewed the relief and rescue operations in the disaster-hit Lata village on Tuesday. He also inquired about the joint operation by other agencies, including the NDRF and the ITBP in the Tapovan tunnel.
One column of Engineering Task Force (ETF) of the Army along with rescue equipment has also been deployed in the area. The Army men along with ETF personnel opened the tunnel mouth at Tapovan. Besides, a team of scientists flown to Dehradun on Sunday night also visited the spot.
A state control room at Haridwar has been set up to coordinate with Uttarakhand government about the rescue and relief operations.
Google-owned YouTube on Tuesday blocked a music video by famous Punjabi singer Kanwar Grewal titled ‘Ailaan’ that was related to the ongoing farmers’ protest, raking in over 60 lakh views.
YouTube has placed a notification on the original video, saying, “This content is not available on this country domain due to a legal complaint from the government.”
A YouTube spokesperson said in a statement: “We comply with valid legal requests from authorities wherever possible, consistent with our longstanding policy and act quickly to remove identified content.”
However, the fans of the singer posted the same video on various other channels on YouTube which can still be accessed.
According to media reports, another video by artiste Himmat Sandhu titled ‘Asi Vaddange’ which had 1.3 crore views has also been blocked on the platform.
Several Punjabi celebrities and singers have come out in support of the farmers, as the government toughens its stand on malicious and inflammatory accounts, posts and videos.
The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) has sent three notices to Twitter, the latest one asking the company to block 1,178 accounts believed to be linked to Khalistan sympathisers and those backed by Pakistan.
In another notice, MeitY had asked Twitter to block 257 accounts using the #ModiPlanningFarmerGenocide hashtag amid the farmers’ protest, under Section 69A of the IT Act.
The fall comes after December 2020’s registration rose on a YoY basis….reports Asian Lite News
Vehicle registrations in January 2021 declined 9.66 per cent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis.
On Tuesday, data released by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) showed that over 15.92 lakh vehicles were registered in January 2021, compared with over 17.63 lakh units in January 2020.
The fall comes after December 2020’s registration rose on a YoY basis.
Notably, December 2020’s rise was the first positive growth in a month during the current financial year.
At that time, 18.44 lakh vehicles were registered compared with over 16.61 lakh units in December 2019.
In January 2021, registration of personal vehicles fell 4.46 per cent on a YoY basis to 2.81 lakh units.
vehicles in traffic
Similarly, two-wheeler registration fell. It slid by 8.78 per cent to 11.63 lakh units.
However, tractors’ registration rose 11.14 per cent on a YoY basis in January to 60,754 units.
As per the data, dealer inventory continues to fall with personal vehicles’ inventory ranging from 10-15 days and two-wheelers’ inventory from 30-35 days.
“After witnessing a one off growth in December and January, the auto registration fell once again by 10 per cent YoY. Auto industry clearly misjudged the demand which returned post-lockdown. Industry’s under estimation of post-Covid rebound along with chipmakers prioritising higher-volume and more lucrative consumer electronics market has created a vacuum for semiconductors,” FADA President Vinkesh Gulati was quoted as saying in a statement.
“This has resulted in a shortage in supply for all categories of vehicles especially Passenger Vehicles even though enquiry levels and bookings remained high. New launches and SUV’s continued to see high traction and helped in restricting the overall PV registrations fall by a bigger margin.”
Besides, he cited recent price hike undertaken by OEMs as adding to the woos as two-wheelers which became more expensive for lower and middle income class.
“Commercial Vehicle registrations were also hit due to vehicle financing still not back to normal and high BS-6 cost.”
In addition, FADA said the Centre’s announcement of scrappage policy though voluntary is in the right direction.
“The spend on infrastructure projects like roads and public transport will help build traction for commercial vehicles over a longer period of time,” FADA said in the statement.
We are working to ensure that 40% of electric power in India is from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030…writes Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Foreign Secretary of India
We believe India has become a clean energy powerhouse and is a leader in energy transition from carbon dioxide-producing sources to renewables and non-fossil-fuel sources.
Five years after the Paris Agreement, India is among the few developing countries that are not only meeting their “green” targets but are aspiring to more ambitious climate goals.
At the recent Climate Ambition Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi articulated the Indian approach. He said that we must set our sights “even higher”, even as we do not lose sight of the past. He added that India would not only achieve its Paris Agreement targets, but would exceed them.
At the U.N. Climate Action Summit in 2019, Modi said that an ounce of practice is worth more than a ton of preaching. We are taking practical steps across all areas, including energy, industry, transport, agriculture and protection of green spaces, in our whole-of-society journey to become a leader in climate action and climate ambition.
India recognises that climate change cannot be fought in silos. It requires an integrated, comprehensive and holistic approach. It requires innovation and adoption of new and sustainable technologies. Conscious of these imperatives, India has mainstreamed climate in its national developmental and industrial strategies.
Energy is at the center of all climate strategies. We believe India has become a clean energy powerhouse and is a leader in energy transition from carbon dioxide-producing sources to renewables and non-fossil-fuel sources.
We intend to keep harnessing India’s renewable energy potential. Our renewable energy capacity is the fourth largest in the world and the capacity expansion being undertaken is also one of the largest in the world. The bulk of this will come from the cleanest energy source, the sun.
We are seeing progress already. We initially committed to 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022. We have gone further and expect to cross 220 GW in the next two years. We have an even more ambitious target of 450 GW by 2030.
We are working to ensure that 40% of electric power in India is from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030. This clean energy push goes hand-in-hand with a parallel effort to reduce the emissions intensity of our economy by 33-35% (from 2005 levels) by 2030.
The Ujala scheme – a national drive to use LED lamps – is reducing CO2 emissions by 38.5 million tonnes every year. The Ujjwala scheme, under which over 80 million households have been provided access to clean cooking gas, is one of of the largest clean energy initiatives in the world.
Climate action and sustainability is being brought into government schemes across multiple sectors. Our Smart Cities Mission is working with 100 cities to help them become more sustainable and adaptable to the challenges of climate change. The National Clean Air Programme aims to reduce air pollution (PM2.5 and PM10) by 20-30% in the next four years.
The Jal Jeevan Mission, which aims to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections by 2024 to all households in rural India, has a strong sustainability focus.
More trees are being planted and degraded land is being reclaimed to create a carbon “sink” that can absorb 2.5-3 billion tonnes of CO2.
We are also working rapidly to create a green transport network, to offset a sector known for its polluting emissions particularly in our big cities.
India is building next-generation infrastructure such as mass transit systems, green highways and waterways. A national electric mobility plan is creating an e-mobility ecosystem with the aim to have over 30% of all vehicles on India’s roads to be electric.
These initiatives are for our own good as India is among the countries most vulnerable to the impact of climate change.
We recognise there is still a long way to go but these efforts are already paying dividends. India’s emission intensity has reduced by 21% over the period 2005-2014. Over the next decade, we are expecting even greater reductions.
India intends to be a responsible global citizen in the climate space. We are not only going beyond our Paris Agreement commitments. We are adopting innovative instruments to further international cooperation in climate action.
We have created international organisations like the International Solar Alliance and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure that are working on creating global low-carbon pathways. More than 80 countries have joined the International Solar Alliance, making it one of the fastest-growing international bodies.
This combination of national action and responsible international citizenship makes India unique amongst developing countries and is placing it on the path to realise its ambitions to be a leader in thought and action on climate.
The plant is likely to scale up its capacity in four weeks after operations resume…reports Asian Lite News
Apple iPhone-maker Wistron Corporation may resume operations at its violence-hit Narasapura plant in Karnataka next week as the reconstruction is nearing completion, official sources said.
People in the know said that large-scale rehiring after extensive background checks by police is now underway. As global iPhone demand is on the rise, all-out efforts are on to get the capacity back on track to fulfil the global demand, they said.
The plant is likely to scale up its capacity in four weeks after operations resume.
In December, a large number of workers at the Narasapura facility went on a rampage allegedly over issues related to payment of salaries.
Taipei-based Wistron Corporation estimated Rs 54-crore loss due to the violence at the plant, about 60 km east of Bengaluru, leading to its shutdown. About 150 employees were arrested on December 12-13.
The company has invested about Rs 2,000 crore in the plant to roll out about 4 lakh iPhone 7 handsets per annum and second-generation iPhone SE devices.
Of nearly 10,000 workers, around 1,340 are permanent and 8,500 on contract, hired by six firms.
Following the violence, Apple placed Wistron on probation after finding fault with the company over payment delays in October and November to workers at the Narasapura facility. Also read:Apple hits record in iPhone sales
