On Monday, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said that it will contest all 182 seats in the 2022 Gujarat legislative assembly polls. The announcement was made by AAP leader and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.

“Our candidates will contest on all seats,” said Delhi CM Kejriwal during a press conference held at the circuit house.

“People here (Gujarat) think if electricity can be free in Delhi, why not here? Likewise, for hospitals also the condition has not improved in 70 years here. But things will change now,” he said.

In the 2017 state elections, AAP had contested 29 seats and got 0.62 percent votes in the contested constituencies. A total of 66 parties were in the battle wherein the BJP won 99 seats and the Congress 77 seats respectively.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was on a one-day visit to Gujarat. Kejriwal was given a grand welcome at the Ahmedabad airport by AAP workers. Later, they then reached the circuit house where they held a press conference.

Speaking about the derelict conditions of the common people in Gujarat, Kejriwal said, “Farmers of Gujarat are committing suicide, people of Gujarat are upset, traders are scared. Some time ago Gujarat Chambers invited me but the government forced the chambers to cancel my program.”

The Delhi CM also accused the Centre of ignoring PM Modi’s home state Gujarat during the pandemic, contradicting his own statement alleging partiality towards Gujarat in oxygen distribution.

Moreover, speaking about the significance of Gujarat in the political landscape of the country, AAP leader said, “Gujarat has always contributed to politics. Even during independence, we saw leaders like Sardar Patel emerge.

Kejriwal also said that the provision of basic amenities and the multifaceted development is stuck in severe bottlenecks, and held BJP and Congress responsible for the same.

“…we see only BJP and Congress fighting with each other and for past 27 years, there is only one party in Gujarat. The people of Gujarat did not have an option till now. Now, they do. We will contest in all seats in Gujarat,” said Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal.

In reply to one of the queries from the media personnel, Kejriwal said his party would not bring Delhi model to Gujarat, as each state can have its own model. The model of Gujarat will be decided by the people of Gujarat, he added.

With the arrival of the AAP, Kejriwal said, Gujarat is bracing for a change. Entry of Isudan Gadhvi would only expedite the process, Kejriwal added.

Kejriwal called Gadhvi’s joining the AAP as a “huge sacrifice of a promising career to clean the mess that the ruling party, together with the Congress, had created in Gujarat.”

“Gadhvi has left a plum career for AAP…You can bring a change from outside the system, but there is a limitation to this. So, Gadhvi decided to join the system and clean the mess,” Kejriwal added.

MUMBAI : Mumbai’s Dharavi, known as Asia’s largest slum, did not report a single Covid-19 case over the last 24 hours, the first time since 2 February, the city’s civic body said on Monday.

The tally of infection in Dharavi held steady at 6,861, according to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) which said that the active caseload of Dharavi is at 13, out of which six are in home isolation and 7 in hospitals, including 3 who are in Covid care units.

Dharavi which has a population of about 10 lakh densely packed into an area of 2.1 sq km had reported its first Covid-19 case on 1 April last year. On 8 April this year, it recorded its highest ever single day spike of 99 cases during the second wave of the virus outbreak.

Vijay Wadetttiwar, state minister for Disaster Management and Rehabilitation told ANI: “Dharavi is Asia’s largest slum and logged zero cases of Covid-19 in a single day. It is a clear indicator that Mumbai is recovering well. Credits for this go to Mumbai authorities for better Covid management and Dharavi residents. It is a clear indicator that Mumbai is strongly fighting against Covid-19.”

Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar said, “It is a success not only for the BMC, but for all the residents of Dharavi. All of them should be thanked.”

In the first wave, the number of daily cases dipped below 30 after September 2020, with no new cases reported in a period of 24 hours on six occasions. Zero cases were reported once in December 2020 and on four days in January and once in February this year.

NEW DELHI: Actor-turned-BJP MP Ravi Kishan has written a letter to Union Minister Prakash Javadekar and UP CM Yogi Adityanath demanding a law to curb vulgar content in Bhojpuri films. In the letter, he also demanded to ban obscene Bhojpuri films. He said there has been a lot of decline in the last decade in Bhojpuri films, especially its songs.

“Today’s Bhojpuri film and songs have become synonymous with obscenity. Films and songs are so vulgar that they cannot be seen or heard while sitting with family and children. This kind of downfall in content is very sad and is a matter of concern for Bhojpuri’s language and culture,” Kishan wrote.

KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that implementation of the “One Nation, One Ration” scheme is under process and her government does not have any problem with it.

“We do not have any problem with the implementation of the ‘One Nation, One Ration’ scheme. It is under process,” Banerjee told reporters. One Nation One Ration Card System ensures the availability of ration to beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and other welfare schemes, especially the migrant workers and their families at any Fair Price Shop (FPS) across the country.

The reform especially empowers the migratory population mostly labourers, daily wagers, urban poor like rag pickers, street dwellers, temporary workers in organised and unorganised sectors, domestic workers, who frequently change their place of dwelling to be self-reliant in food security.

This technology-driven reform enables the migrant beneficiaries to get their entitled quota of food grains from any electronic point of sale (e-PoS) enabled fair Price Shops of their choice anywhere in the country, according to the Ministry of Finance. ANI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that land degradation poses a special challenge to the developing world and it was the world’s sacred duty to leave a healthy planet for future generations.

Addressing UN ‘High-Level Dialogue on Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought’, he said India is working towards restoring 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030. The Prime Minister spoke at the opening segment in his capacity as the President of the 14th Session of the Conference of Parties of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

“Land degradation poses a special challenge to the developing world. In the spirit of South-South Cooperation, India is assisting fellow developing countries to develop land restoration strategies. A centre of excellence is being set up in India to promote a scientific approach towards land degradation issues,” the Prime Minister said.

“It is mankind’s collective responsibility to reverse the damage to land caused by human activity. It is our sacred duty to leave a healthy planet for our future generations. For that sake and ours, I extend my best wishes for productive deliberations at this High-level Dialogue,” he added.

PM Modi emphasised that India has always given importance to land and has taken the lead to highlight land degradation issues at international forums. He also recalled the ‘Delhi Declaration’ in 2019 that called for better access and stewardship over land and emphasised gender-sensitive transformative projects.

“We are on track to achieve our national commitment of land degradation neutrality. We are also working towards restoring 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030. This would contribute to India’s commitment to achieve an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tons of Carbon dioxide equivalent,” he said.

He also highlighted that India has undertaken some novel approaches in many areas, such as the Banni region in the Rann of Kutch, where land restoration has been done by developing grasslands, thus helping in achieving land degradation neutrality. He called for devising effective strategies for land restoration while promoting indigenous techniques.

“We believe that restoration of land can start a cycle for good soil health, increased land productivity, food security and improved livelihoods,” he said.

According to UN Convention to Combat Desertification, globally, one fifth of earth’s land area—more than 2 billion hectares—is degraded, including more than half of all agricultural land.

Each year, more than 12 million hectares of land are lost to desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD). The world loses 24 billion tons of fertile soil annually due to dryland degradation, with significant negative impacts on food production and economic activity, it said.

The High-Level Dialogue has been organized by the President of the General Assembly in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution 75/218 of December 21, 2020 entitled “Implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa”.

The High-Level Dialogue will assess the progress made in the fight against desertification, land degradation and drought and map the way forward in view of the end of the UN Decade for Deserts and the Fight against Desertification, and the beginning of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

WITH ANI INPUTS

A thunderous goal from Raheem Sterling helped England defeat Croatia 1-0 in the Group D encounter of the ongoing European Championships here at the Wembley Stadium on Sunday. England managed to gain full three points from the match against Croatia and now the Three Lions will lock horns against Scotland on June 18 while Croatia will square off against Czech Republic on the same day.

The first half between England and Croatia saw no goals and as a result, the scoreline remained 0-0 at halftime. In the first half, England held on to the ball for 58 per cent of the match, while Croatia held on to it for 42 per cent. The deadlock was finally broken in the 57th minute as Raheem Sterling registered the goal for England. This was Sterling’s first goal at a major tournament. Kalvin Phillips made a stunning run as he beat two players and then he went on to pass the ball to Sterling, and he did not disappoint and successfully netted the ball into the goalpost.No more goals were possible in the match, and in the end, England went away with a 1-0 victory. Austria will lock horns against North Macedonia while in another match, Netherlands and Ukraine will be squaring off against each other.