Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], March 18 (ANI): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has given instructions to remain vigilant in view of Covid-19 and said that full attention should be paid to social distancing and use of masks in view of the festivals ahead.
He said that the increase in the rate of coronavirus infection in many states is a warning to all. He has also given instructions to maintain an effective system of prevention and treatment of coronavirus in the state to control the infection.
According to a press statement, the Chief Minister was reviewing the unlock process at a high-level meeting convened at Lok Bhawan here today. He said that the coronavirus testing work should be conducted at full capacity. At least 45 pc of the total Covid tests conducted by various methods should be done daily with the RT-PCR method.
Effective measures should be taken to increase the RT-PCR test to 50 per cent in the total daily test. He instructed that the system of rapid antigen tests at railway stations, airports and bus stations be made more effective.
The Chief Minister said that in the coming days, a large number of people will come to various public places including markets in view of festivals. Therefore, full attention should be paid to social distancing and mandatory use of masks. Stressing the need for making people aware about Covid-19, he said that the public address system should be widely used in this work.
The Chief Minister said that the work of Covid-19 vaccination in the state should be conducted according to the guidelines and priority of the Government of India. He said that the corona vaccine is a valuable resource. Therefore, it should be ensured that not a single dose of the vaccine is wasted. He also directed for regular monitoring of Covid vaccination work in government and private hospitals. (ANI)

New Delhi [India], March 18 (ANI): Newly appointed Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) DG Kuldiep Singh on Thursday said that a total of 725 CAPF companies will be deployed in West Bengal for the upcoming polls, out of which 495 have already been sent to the state.
In an annual press conference, the DG CRPF has said that one company normally has 72 personnel.
Elections to the 294-member state assembly will be held in eight phases starting from March 27 with the final round of voting taking place on April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2.
Talking about CRPF in 2020, Singh said, “In Jammu and Kashmir where the force works in close coordination with the JKP and Indian Army, 215 terrorists were neutralised in the year 2020 and 11 terrorists have been neutralised this year. Only a few days back we neutralised four terrorists in two different operations. This included top Jaish commander Sajjad Afghani who was neutralised in Shopian in a joint operation.”
The CRPF has also been successful in ensuring conduct of free and fair DDC elections in Jammu and Kashmir which were organised in eight phases last year.
While giving details about Naxalite areas, the newly appointed DG, in a press statement, also said that in the LWE affected arrears, there has been significant reduction in the cases of Maoist violence. “With our persistent operations and capacity building we have pushed the Maoists into corners and restricted their activity,” he said.
“The force has ventured deeper into the Maoist strongholds and has set up 18 Forward Operating Bases to maximise its reach and operational effectiveness in the areas. This has enabled swifter operations and immediate actions on intelligence inputs” the DG said.
“The number of apprehensions and surrenders has increased. While 569 Maoists in 2020 and 141 in 2021 were apprehended, 340 Maoists in 2020 and 108 in 2021 have left the path of violence and surrendered. 32 Maoists have been neutralised in 2020 and 5 in 2021.
“Two days ago, On March 16, four Maoists were neutralised by 205 CoBRA and Bihar Police in Gaya district of Bihar. These include the Magadh Zonal Commander Amresh Singh Bhokta, and three sub-Zonal Commanders Shivpujan Yadav, Sita Bhuiyan, and Uday Paswan,” the DG added. (ANI)

By Joymala Bagchi
Purulia (West Bengal) [India], March 18 (ANI): Water scarcity is a regular problem in villages of Purulia district of West Bengal namely Chayanpur, Lalbazar, Mohoda, Jolduar Golamara, and Bagra.
They are facing an acute water shortage as most of the tubewells and taps are not working for several months.
Chayanpur, a village with a population of about 700 to 800 families depends on three tubewells for their daily needs. The village had seven tubewells of which only four are in working condition. Complaints made at the local administrative level did not help them to resolve their problem.
A resident of this village, Ismail Ansari (33) told ANI, “Out of seven tubewells only four are functioning. This entire village and the nearby ones are dependent on these four. Several complaints to the local administration did not bear us any result.”
Owing to the small number of tubewells, families fights among themselves and at times it leads to serious consequences.
Villagers also said that with approaching summer they are sure that out of four, a few will stop functioning. When asked why, they said this is a regular affair each year.
A resident of Mohoda village Arun said, “Due to water crisis we are often forced to skip baths during extreme summers. As an alternative, we also take bath in muddy water.”
Along with water scarcity, unemployment is also another issue which the western-most district of West Bengal is reeling under.
The villagers mostly men either go to other districts or the state’s capital Kolkata in search of livelihood.
Ashok, a 32-year-old with a family of mother, wife, and two children staying in Bagra said “I am unemployed and have no regular means of earning yet cannot see my family slipping into acute poverty. I went to Burdwan city and worked there as a mason worker.”
The situation is largely the same for many here throughout the district.
Villagers of Lalbazar complained of extremely bad roads and indifference of the local administration.
“We have made complains, wrote a letter, asked the local leadership here but all fell on deaf ears. No initiative was taken to help us out,” said a villager on the condition of anonymity.
Villagers of Chayanpur, Mohoda, Bagra told ANI about receiving comparatively less Indira Awaas Yojana units (currently known as Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awaas Yojana.)
In the 2016 assembly election Congress had won the Purulia and Baghmundi constituencies.
Sudip Kumar Mukherjee who joined BJP after resigning from Congress will be contesting against Congress’s Partha Pratim Banerjee. Sujoy Bandyopadhyay will be contesting from Trinamool.
The sitting MP from Purulia Jyotirmay Singh Mahato belongs to the Bharatiya Janata party.
As per data available from the provisional reports of Census India, the population of Purulia in 2011 is 121,067. In the education field, the total number of literates in Purulia city is 89,000.
The total number of slums in Purulia city is 9,205 in which population of 50,071 resides which is around 41.36 per cent of a total population of Purulia city.
The first phase of polling will be held in five districts and 30 assembly seats that include Purulia, West Midnapore Part I, Bankura Part I, East Midnapore Part I, and Jhargram.
Elections to the 294-member assembly will be held from March 27 to April 29. Results will be declared on May 2. (ANI)

New Delhi [India], March 18 (ANI): The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Gaganyaan programme envisages sending humans in space, said Union Minister of Atomic Energy and Space Jitendra Singh on Thursday.
In a statement laid on the table of the Rajya Sabha in reply to a question today, the Minister further said that the objective of programme is to demonstrate the capability to send humans to Low earth orbit (LEO) on board an Indian Launch vehicle and bring them back to earth safely.
“ISRO has wide experience in technological areas with respect to the launch vehicle, spacecraft management and ground infrastructure etc and it has taken steps for a human rating of existing systems to ensure crew safety. India is proud of the fact that many Indian scientists are doing significant work in collaboration with international institutions,” he added.
He further said, “If there is any proposal to get benefit out of their specialized experience, the Government of India will definitely consider such proposal in a positive manner.” (ANI)

New Delhi [India], March 18 (ANI): An FIR has been filed against two people in the West Delhi area who were seen spitting in the dough while making chapatis in a purported video.
According to Prashant Gautam, Delhi Police Additional DCP West District, local police was informed about the incident after the video surfaced on Twitter.
“We came to know of a video via Twitter wherein two people were seen spitting on the dough while making rotis. Through the video, it was also said that this was done somewhere in the Khayala area. Local police were informed of the same,” Gautam said.
He added that the video was from ‘Hotel Chand’ that was running on unlicensed premises.
“In the probe, it was found that this video is from a Hotel Chand in the area. The men in the video have been identified as Sabi Anwar and Ibrahim. We have registered an FIR. The hotel was being run on unlicensed premises,” he added. (ANI)

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], March 18 (ANI): A delegation of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders on Thursday, met West Bengal’s Chief Electoral Officer and filed a complaint against people described as the goons of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) following the alleged attack on party MP Arjun Singh.
In a letter signed by BJP leaders Sisir Bajoria Arjun Singh, it was alleged that the ‘goons’ acted at the behest of TMC leadership and openly hurled handmade grenade bombs near Singh’s resident at 7:30 pm on Wednesday.
It further named a Somenath Shyam as the chief conspirator of the alleged attack and ‘intimidated and terrorised’ voters of the Jagatdal Constituency before the upcoming State assembly elections.
“Local inhabitants named Raj Kumari Devi, Amit Tiwari, a child and others sustained grievous injury and are struggling for their lives.. they again at about 10:30 pm hurled bombs in the presence of senior police authorities,” the letter said.
The BJP leaders further claimed that the miscreants were keeping ‘huge quantities of explosives in a secret place’ for use on other occasions and requested the Election Commissioner to send the perpetrators out of the state during the election.
Earlier in the day, BJP workers carried out a wheelchair rally in Siliguri following Singh’s ‘attack’ as a symbolic protest to convey the message that the police and administration have “become paralysed” in the state.
Taking to Twitter, Singh had said, “This evening, more than dozens of bombs were hurled near my office-cum-residence Mazdoor Bhawan. This attack was done by Trinamool Congress goons. The local residents are in fear. The administration should ensure the safety of the citizens.”
BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari had also alleged an attack on a party worker and demanded the arrest of two persons involved in the “attack”.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had also alleged an attack and sustained leg injuries. She was discharged from the hospital on March 12 and has since addressed election rallies in a wheelchair.
These events come ahead of the State Assembly elections set to take place in eight phases starting from March 27.
The final round of voting for the 294-member Assembly will take place on April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2. (ANI)