Rajkot (Gujarat) [India], March 22 (ANI): Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) MLA from Rajkot, Govind Patel on Monday retracted from his statement that BJP workers do not get infected with coronavirus as they work hard and said he meant to say that labourers don’t contract the virus.
“I wanted to say that labourers don’t contract coronavirus but mistakenly added ‘BJP’ also in the same sentence. I take my words back,” Patel told ANI.
“I also apologise to all who have been hurt by my statements,” he added.
He also added that everyone must follow the COVID-19 appropriate behaviour, wear masks, maintain social distancing, etc.
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Sunday informed that there would not be any lockdown but people need to follow the guidelines of COVID-19.
” Mask, sanitiser and social distancing are must to stop the spread of COVID-19,” Rupani said.(ANI)

Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], March 22 (ANI): Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday expressed condolences over the deaths of eight children in two mishaps in Rajasthan’s Bikaner and Jhunjhunu districts.
“The death of eight children in accidents in Himtasar village, Napasar (Bikaner) and Chirana Village, Udaipurwati (Jhunjhunu), is extremely heartbreaking and unfortunate. My deepest condolences are with the bereaved family, God bless them with the strength. I wish the injured child a speedy recovery,” the Chief Minister tweeted (in Hindi).
The state has witnessed the death of eight children in two different districts.
Five children suffocated to death after falling inside grain storage in Bikaner’s Himmarshee village on Sunday.
While in another incident on Saturday, three children were killed as a heap of soil fell on them in the Jhunjhunu district. (ANI)

Nandigram (West Bengal) [India], March 22 (ANI): To shed the outsider tag levelled by her protege-turned-opponent, Suvendu Adhikari, Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee has rented not one but two houses in Reyapara, Nandigram.
The Chief Minister on Sunday at a public rally asserted her plans to build a permanent residence on the banks of the Haldi river in the constituency so that she can visit more frequently.
Suvendu, in one of his first speeches made soon after filing nomination for BJP, had branded Mamata as an ‘outsider’ in Nandigram.
Those associated with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) stated that Adhikari’s attempts to brand Mamata as an outsider were futile as she was the daughter of Bengal.
While the first house has been rented for a year, according to neighbours, the other house has been rented for six months. Both houses are located at a distance of approximately 100 metres from each other in the Reyapara area.TMC went on house hunting for its chief after she announced that she would contest from Nandigram and zeroed in on these two houses.
According to locals, Mamata earlier had plans to use the first house that has rooms on the first floor — with the ground floor is rented out to shops. However, after the leg injury suffered during campaigning earlier this month, she is now likely to use the second house which has rooms on the ground floor.
“This second house has an open and levelled ground making it easy for the wheelchair. Secondly, we have taken the ground floor and the family which has rented us the house lives on the first floor. Mamata due to the leg injury would prefer to stay on the ground floor,” stated a source.
The work to cover the front and side of the second house with sheets of cloth to block the view is currently in progress. Security has been increased at the house and in its vicinity.
Sudam Chandra Parui, owner of the second rented house and her wife Rani Parui, a retired high school teacher are excited to host the Chief Minister.
“We haven’t had a chance to meet her as she is yet to visit the house. This is taken on rent just 15 days ago. I am happy that she will be here,” said 72 years old Parui who lives with her husband, daughter and grandson. Ask her about rent and she refrained from giving any other detail.
The first house now accommodates security personnel deployed for the Chief Minister’s security.
Nandigram is seeing a fierce contest between Mamata Banerjee and her protege Suvendu Adhikari.
Mamata had earlier represented Bhabanipur in the Assembly and decided to shift to Nandigram Assembly constituency in the forthcoming polls.
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. (ANI)

New Delhi [India], March 22 (ANI): In view of the rising COVID-19 cases in the national capital, State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) will be holding a meeting on Monday to formulate strategies to combat the virus.
The meeting will take place at 12:30 pm.
Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Health Minister Satyendar Jain, Chief Secretary, and other senior officials will be present in the meeting.
On Sunday, Delhi reported 823 new infections, the highest single-day spike which the national capital has registered this year.
According to the figures released by the health department yesterday, the city’s positivity rate stands at 1.03 per cent while the cumulative positivity rate is at 4.69 per cent. (ANI)

Majuli (Assam) [India], March 22 (ANI): Ahead of Assembly elections in Assam, connectivity is the major concern among locals in Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal’s constituency Majuli.
Majuli island is accessible by ferries from the city of Jorhat. Locals complain that the absence of a bridge, connecting Jorhat to Majuli, continues to cause them inconvenience.
In 2016, the BJP had promised the construction of a bridge connecting Jorhat to the island. The foundation stone of the bridge was laid in February 2016 by Union minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari before the assembly elections. But work on the project has not yet started.
Local said, “We know they promised five years back but a few months back ‘Bhoomi-Pujan’ was done but God knows when it will be completed.”
Majuli is one of the top tourist places in Assam. It has been the cultural capital of the Assamese civilization since the 16th century. it hosts all the important events, festivals and prayers. It is also a good learning centre for neo-Vaishnavite philosophy, there are 22 Vaishnava Satras in the city, the first of which was established in the 15th century by Sankaradeva, the father of Assamese culture. These attract a lot of tourists.
The festivals of Majuli are another crowd puller. The Raas Purnima, which takes place in the Hindu month Kartik showcases a dance performance based on Lord Krishna’s life and the Majuli festival during which special events are organized, sees several cultural troupes from all over Assam come to the town. The Paal Naam at the end of Autumn and the Bathow Puja where Lord Shiva is worshipped are some other exciting festivals.
But connective remains a big issue here. As if you want to come from Zorhat it takes 45 minutes to reach by ferry but the availability of ferries and timing is limited so people face problem reaching here.

A passenger Abhishek Verma, who was crossing the river with his car said, “Whenever we come to Jorhat, we ferry our cars on the boat and if we stuck for some work in Jorhat it becomes more problematic as after 4 pm, no government ferry operates and for booking a whole ferry it takes around 5500 rupees for carrying a car to Majuli which is by the river is the drive for just 45 minutes.”
Another passenger Seemant Sarma said, “Bridge is required, ‘Bhoomi-Pujan’ has bene done but let see when the work on the project starts. It is very costly as you need to take cars in Majuli and the ferry service charge is here high. Another fellow passenger Harsihankar said we face a lot of problems, you have to the reserve ferry as after 4 pm it is very expensive.”
Just before the election announcement in the state, the ‘Bhoomi-Pujan was performed for the 6.8 km bridge in February this year, which will be constructed at a cost of Rs. 925 crores and work on the project is expected to be completed by March 2025.
Most importantly it was announced by BJP in 2016 that the bridge connecting Jorhat to Majuli will be constructed soon but it took five years in Bhoomi Pujan itself. ‘Bhoomi-Pujan’ for the bridge was done on February 18, 2021, few days before the election code of conduct was announced by the election commission of India.
On the question that it took the BJP government at the Centre five years to move from foundation stone laying to ground-breaking ceremony of one bridge. No work on the bridge has started yet. BJP state president Ranjit Dass said that it is a procedure issue and now tendering and other paperwork are in process and it is expected to be completed soon.
ANI while visiting the CM constituency which is an island without a bridge, spoke to a few people travelling on the ship – People are not happy that it is the CM’S constituency and BJP promised to make the bridge but still, It is not done, they have just performed ‘ we as common people face problems though this issue has been neglected for a long time of five years. BJP promised that if voted to power this connectivity will be a priority for the government.
Another Girl Gizyasu Sarma said, ‘It’s very tough to come to the city and go back home, Bridge is the most important thing we need as without connectivity there can’t be any progress.”
Majuli is a beautiful river island in the Brahmaputra river and the first island to be made a district in India in 2016 when its MLA Sarvanand Sonewal become the chief minister of Assam.
The beautiful island earlier had an area of 880 square kilometers at the beginning of the 20th century, but having lost significantly to erosion it covers 352 square kilometers as of 2014. Majuli has shrunk as the river surrounding it has grown.
However, transport connectivity with the nearby city Jorhat is a very old and important issue for the Chief Minister Sarbananda’s constituency.
Assembly elections in Assam for 126 seats will be held in three phases starting from March 27 and the counting of votes will take place on May 2. (ANI)

Shopian (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], March 22 (ANI): All four terrorists of Lashkar-e-Taiba have been killed in an encounter between terrorists and security forces in the Munihal area of Shopian in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday.
“All the four terrorists of Lashkar-e-Taiba killed in an encounter with security forces in Shopian. The operation is over. One Indian Army personnel injured. The situation is under control,” said Vijay Kumar, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir
Earlier today, Kashmir Zone Police informed, “Two unidentified terrorists got killed in an encounter with security forces in Munihal area of Shopian, Jammu and Kashmir.”
Earlier on March 16, two terrorists were killed in an encounter in Shopian. (ANI)