Union Minister and election incharge of Punjab Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said that the Bhartiya Janata Party will give due political recognition to every segment in state while launching Nava Punjab with BJP campaign here on Thursday at the party headquarters.

Dubbing the opposition parties Congress, SAD and APP as totally bereft of any vision to lead the state to prosperity, Gajender Singh Shekhawat said, “Punjabis are disgruntled with the miserable performance of these parties and they will be routed by the people.”

He said, “The BJP in the last seven years has delivered justice to the Sikhs who suffered in the 1984 riots and after 35 years justice was delivered. The black list was abolished, the Kartarpur corridor was opened after the partition by the initiative of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, GST has been removed from langar, Bathinda AIMS, Amritsar AIMS, Sangrur and Ferozepur has got PGI satellite centres, two new airports. New tourism sectors, mega infrastructure projects.”

“We deliver and not merely promise and the party will be contesting 117 seats in the coming assembly elections and we will go to the people with an outlined agenda of bringing prosperity and opportunity for everyone and commit that the Mafia raj will be wiped out in the state,” said Shekhawat.

On the issue of farmers, the minister was categorically said that 11 rounds so far have been conducted with the unions and the government took the extra step of stalling the laws for 18 months. Our initiative to address the issue can never be doubted. Our doors are always open he said, he added.

Speaking on the issue of the Border Security Forces, Shekhawat said that national security could never be compromised and the incidents of drug smuggling and drones carrying weapons had increased manifold and the former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh had raised this pertinent issue with Union Home Minister Amit Shah number of times.

Now present Chief Minister Charanjit Channi had recently met the home minister and brought up this issue and now this session which was being called in the assembly on 8 November is nothing but a strategy to digress the people from the main issues of good governance.

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Women and Child Development on Thursday invited comments, suggestions from all stakeholders to the draft amendments to Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Model Rules, 2016, informed an official press release.

As per the release, all the stakeholders are requested to offer their comments/suggestions on the aforesaid rules by November 11, 2021, on the e-mail ID cw2section-mwcd@gov.in The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, 2021, which seeks to amend the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, was passed in the Rajya Sabha on July 28, 2021. The bill was introduced in the parliament by the government in the budget session this year. It was passed in Lok Sabha on March 24, 2021.

While introducing the bill, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Zubin Irani stressed the necessity for entrusting district magistrates with the responsibility of care and protection of vulnerable children in light of the prevailing inadequacies in the system. She recounted the commitment of the parliament towards prioritising India’s children above all issues.

The amendments include authorising District Magistrate including Additional District Magistrate to issue adoption orders under Section 61 of the JJ Act, in order to ensure speedy disposal of cases and enhance accountability. The District Magistrates (DM) have been further empowered under the Act, to ensure its smooth implementation, as well as garner synergised efforts in favour of children in distress conditions.

As per the amended provisions of the Act, any Child care Institutions shall be registered after considering the recommendations of the DM.

The Centre’s mega COVID-19 vaccination campaign ‘Har Ghar Dastak’ will be launched on November 2 on the occasion of Dhanwantari Diwas, said official sources.

The month-long door-to-door vaccination campaign is aimed towards full vaccination in poor-performing districts.

After a review COVID-19 meeting with the Health Minister’s of states and UTs on Wednesday, the Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya informed the media about the ‘Har Ghar Dastak’ campaign to ramp up vaccination against the deadly disease.

“We are going to launch a mega vaccination campaign ‘Har Ghar Dastak’. We have decided that for the next one month, healthcare workers will go door-to-door to vaccinate people eligible for the second dose and also those who have not taken the first dose,” said Mandaviya.

According to the Union Minister, 77 per cent of the eligible population in India has been vaccinated against COVID with the first dose while 32 per cent of people have received both doses.

“More than 10 crores people have not taken the second dose of vaccine. People who are eligible for the second dose should take the vaccine,” he added.

Highlighting the need to accelerate the pace and coverage of vaccination, he stated that there are more than 10.34 crore people in the country who have not taken the second dose after the prescribed interval.As many countries report a high number of Covid-19 cases, the ramping of vaccination drive in India to reduce severity becomes crucial.

Coal supply to power plants have indicated a steady increase for the last many days, said the Ministry of Coal.

The release read, “As per Central Electricity Authority (CEA) report the coal stock with power plants stood at 9.028 Million Tonnes (MT) as of 26th October 2021. With a daily increase in coal stock for the last nine days, 5 days’ stock is available at the end of the Thermal Power Plants. (TPPs) In around a week’s time it is likely to reach 6 days’ buffer stock. Coal consumed on daily basis by the TPPs is replenished by coal companies.”

Coal supplies to TPPs have been increasing consistently which is evident from the rise in stock at the Power Plant end which has started rising and the average increase during the last one week is more than two lakh tonnes per day.

Earlier this month, Union Minister for Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi held a virtual meeting with Minister of Power, R.K Singh and Minister of Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw along with senior officers of the respective ministries, CMDs and officials of the coal companies to discuss and review the steps necessary to further improve coal stock at the power plants end.

It was agreed in the meeting that supply to power plants shall be around two million tons per day from all the sources i.e Coal India Ltd., Singareni Collieries Limited and captive mines. The overall coal supply to Power has been consistently more than 2.1 MT for the last one week.

As many as eight people have lost their lives and several others were injured after a mini bus fell into a gorge near Thatri in the Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday. “Eight persons dead, several injured as a mini bus travelling from Thathri to Doda fell into a gorge. Rescue operation underway,” said the Doda Additional Superintendent of Police. Meanwhile, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said that he has spoken to Vikas Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Doda regarding the incident.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 2 lakh each from PM National Relief Fund to the next of kin of those killed in the bus accident in Jammu and Kashmir’s Thatri. The PM has also announced Rs 50,000 each to those who sustained injuries.

“The injured have been shifted to Government Medical College (GMC) Doda. Whatever further assistance required will be provided,” said the Union Minister. The Indian Air Force (IAF) MI 17 has started the evacuation operation on Thursday. According to the Jammu, PRO Defence the IAF evacuated 7 critical accident victims from Doda and landed in Jammu. A request was received by IAF from the Jammu Divisional Commissioner for air evacuation of critically injured in a bus accident in Doda district to Jammu airfield, the press statement said. IAF MI 17 helicopter from Jammu captained by Squadron Leader Ganesh Prasad Honakuppe led the evacuation operation.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah expressed his condolences to the families of eight people who lost their lives in the road accident on Thursday. He further said that he had a telephonic conversation with Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha about the incident and the administration is providing all the possible help and treatment to the injured. “Saddened by the road accident in Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda. I express my condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in this. I have talked to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, the administration is providing all possible help and treatment to the injured. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured,” the Home Minister tweeted.

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Thursday announced a compensation of Rs 3 lakh each to the next of kin of victims (NoKs) of the Doda road accident. The LG further assured that he is monitoring the situation and stated that every possible assistance would be extended to the families of the deceased as well as those injured. “J&K Govt to ensure treatment of injured in tragic Doda road mishap. Rs 2 Lakh to be given to NoKs of deceased from LG’s discretionary fund and Rs 1 Lakh from Road victim fund as immediate relief. I’m monitoring the situation and every possible assistance to grieving families will be extended,” Sinha said in a tweet.

Nepal’s Chief of Army Staff (CoAS), General Prabhuram Sharma, will be paying a four-day official visit to India next month, the Nepal Army announced on Thursday evening.

Issuing a statement, the Nepal Army confirmed that Prabhuram Sharma will be visiting India from November 9 to November 12, 2021, to receive the honorary title of General of the Indian Army. The practice follows a seven-decade-old tradition of conferring Army Chiefs of each other’s country with the honorary title. Commander-in-Chief General KM Cariappa was the first Indian Army Chief to be decorated with the title in 1950.

“During his visit, he will be conferred upon the rank of honorary General of the Indian Army by His Excellency President of the Republic of India. He will also meet with his counterpart Gen MM Naravane, the Chief of Army Staff, Indian Army and other Service Chiefs during his four day visit,” the statement further stated. Earlier in the day, a meeting of Council of Ministers had also approved CoAS General Sharma’s India visit.