THE HEADLINES:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi to participate in the Krishnaguru Eknaam Akhanda Kirtan for World Peace at Barpeta in Assam today through video conferencing.
Electioneering gaining momentum in Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland.
Eminent Film Maker Dada Saheb Phalke Awardee K. Vishwanath passes away in Hyderabad.
India condemns violence by Khalistani extremists in Australia targeting Indian community; urges local authorities to investigate and punish the perpetrators.
And, in football, India to take on Bhutan in their opening match of the SAFF U-20 Women’s Championship in Dhaka today.
<><><>
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the Krishnaguru Eknaam Akhanda Kirtan for World Peace at Barpeta in Assam today through video conferencing. The Prime Minister will also address the devotees of Krishnaguru Sevashram.
Paramguru Krishnaguru Ishwar established the Krishnaguru Sevashram in 1974. He is the ninth descendant of Mahavaishnab Manohardeva, who was the follower of the great Vaishnavite saint Srimanta Sankardeva.
For the first time, a Prime Minister will participate in any of the events of the Krishnaguru Sevashram. Krishnaguru Eknaam Akhanda Kirtan for World Peace is a month-long kirtan being held from 6th January at Krishnaguru Sevashram. The Krishnaguru Sevashram was established in 1974, at Nasatra village in Barpeta district of Lower Assam. It has nearly 1 crore 50 lakh followers across the globe. Krishnaguru Sevashram has been working in the field of education, health and spirituality. MANAS PRATIM SARMA, AIR NEWS, GUWAHATI."
Electioneering is gaining momentum in Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland. Tripura will vote for a new assembly on 16th of this month and Meghalaya and Nagaland will vote on 27th of February.
In Meghalaya, the filing of nominations is going on. Meghalaya’s Chief ‘Electoral Officer, FR Kharkongor, along with other officers reviewed the poll preparedness in South Garo Hills area yesterday.
"The hill state peoples democratic party HSPDP who was part of the ruling Meghalaya democratic alliance MDA has released its manifesto for the ensuing assembly elections yesterday. The party has promised to continue for its demand for khasi jayantia state as per the article 371 of the constitution. Meanwhile The independent MLA from Baghmara constituency Samuel Sangma yesterday submitted his resignation from the state assembly. He has been given ticket by BJP from the same seat. In the last two months around 20 MLA'S have shifted their loyalties in a assembly which has only 60 members. Interestingly the turncoats have also managed to get tickets from every political party. BJP released the list of candidates for all 60 assembly seats yesterday which includes the names of turncoats like Ferlin Sangma, Samuel Sangma, Bendik Marak, Martin Danggo and Himalaya Shangpliang. SUSHIL CHANDRA TIWARI AIR NEWS SHILONG."
For Nagaland Legislative Assembly Election, three women candidates from the coalition government of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are in the fray. Two women from NDPP and one from BJP will be contesting as announced yesterday.
For decades, politics in Nagaland has not seen any women representative in the Legislative Assembly, as politics is perceived as a male-dominated realm. If they win, they will have a decisive role in breaking gender stereotypes.
Electioneering is intensifying in poll-bound Tripura . The frontline campaigners of the BJP which includes party's national president J.P. Nadda will address election rallies at Amarpur and Pabiacherra. Apart from Mr. Nadda, other campaigner, Union Minister Smriti Irani will also address election rallies for the party candidates at Nalchar and Town Bordowali. Incumbent Chief Minister and senior BJP leader, Dr. Manik Saha is contesting from Town Bordowali in a multi-cornered fight. Other campaigners of the BJP who will hold election rallies in the state are cine star Mithun Chakraborty, Union Minister of state, Pratima Bhowmik, Suvendu Adhikari, Dilip Ghosh and Locket Chatterjee.
After the last day of withdrawal of candidature yesterday, a total of 259 candidates have now been left in the fray for the February 16 polls.
In Maharashtra Legislative Council elections, Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has won 2 seats, BJP and independent won single seat each and MVA candidate is leading on one seat.
Independent Candidate and Congress Rebel Satyajit Tambe has won from the Nashik Division Graduates’ Constituency. Dnyaneshwar Mhatre from BJP won from the Konkan Teachers Constituency. MVA backed independent candidate Sudhakar Adbale won in Nagpur Teachers Constituency. NCP’s Vikram Kale won the Marathwada Teachers Constituency. Counting of votes is underway in Amravati Division Graduates’ Constituency.
Counting of votes for MLC election results is underway in Uttar Pradesh. BJP candidate Jaypal Singh is leading in Bareilly and Babulal Tiwari is leading in Jhansi. Independent candidate Rajbahadur Singh Chandel is leading in Kanpur Teachers’ seat.
Kerala’s Finance Minister K N Balagopal will present the state budget in the Legislative Assembly today. Yesterday the pre-budget economic survey report was tabled in the Assembly. According to the Economic Review tabled in the state Assembly by Finance Minister Balagopal Kerala's economy has posted a strong recovery in 2021-22 with Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) at constant prices recording a robust growth of 12.01 per cent, compared to (-) 8.43 per cent in 2020-21.
Railways have registered an increase of 73 per cent in revenue earnings of the passenger segment. The total earnings in the passenger segment from April to January 2023 are 54 thousand 733 crore rupees in comparison to around 31 thousand crore rupees last year. Railways Ministry said, the total approximate number of passengers booked during the same period is six thousand 590 lakhs as compared to six thousand 181 lakhs during the same period last year.
In Uttarakhand Preparations for the Char Dham Yatra has started. State government is taking all necessary steps in this regard. Roadmap for the yatra will be finalised in a meeting to be held under the chairmanship of Garhwal commissioner Sushil Kumar in Rishikesh on 7th February. President of Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee, Ajendra Ajay said that the yatra will be well managed.
Yatra will start from Akshaya Tritiya 22nd April. Portals of Gangotri-Yamunotri Dham will open on that day. The portals of Badrinath Dham will open on 27th April and the date of opening of the portals of Kedarnath Dham will be fixed on 18th February, on the day of Maha Shivratri.
Legendary filmmaker and Dadasaheb Phalke awardee K. Viswanath passed away at a private hospital in Hyderabad. He was 92. According to his family members, he was suffering from age-related issues for the past some time.
Popularly known as Kalatapasvi, Viswanath was born in 1930 in Andhra Pradesh and gained popularity in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi films. He made 50 movies since 1965 and was a celebrated filmmaker. He received the highest recognition in Indian Cinema, the Dadasaheb Phalke award in 2016. Starting his career in films as a sound artist, Viswanath directed award-winning films like Sankarabharanam Sagara Sangamam Swati Mutyam Saptapadi, Kaamchor, Sanjog,Jaag Utha Insaan and Sargam in his long career.
He debuted as a director with film called Aatma Gowravam, and won the state government’s prestigious Nandi Award for best feature film. He received Padma Shri in 1992, five National Awards, and 20 Nandi Awards besides 10 Filmfare trophies including the Lifetime Achievement award.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy expressed their condolences over the demise of Viswanath.
On the second day of the G20 Employment Working Group meeting being held in Jodhpur, issues related to skills and different types of workers will be discussed today. In the first session, the representative of India as the Chair of G-20 will address the meeting followed by Co-Chair addresses of Indonesia and Brazil. Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat will also address this session.
India has condemned the instances of violence by Khalistani extremists in Australia. Replying to media queries in New Delhi, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, the matter has been raised with the Australian authorities. He urged the local authorities to investigate and punish the perpetrators.
The spokesperson further stated that India has requested Australia to ensure the safety and security of members of the Indian community and their properties.
Austria's government said that it had ordered four Russian diplomats based in Vienna, including two at Moscow's mission to U.N. agencies in the city, to leave the country. The Federal Ministry, in a statement, stated, that two diplomats of the Russian Embassy have engaged in acts incompatible with their diplomatic status and they are declared personae non-gratae under Article 9 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
The statement further informed that two diplomats of the Russian Permanent Mission to the United Nations have committed acts incompatible with the Headquarters Agreement and will also have to leave the territory of the Republic of Austria within one week.
The US is tracking a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that has been spotted flying over sensitive sites in recent days. Defence officials said they were confident the "high-altitude surveillance balloon" belonged to China. It was most recently seen above the western state of Montana. But military leaders decided against shooting it down as there were concerns over the danger of falling debris.
In football, India will take on Bhutan in their opening match of the SAFF U-20 Women’s Championship in Dhaka today. Hosts Bangladesh and Nepal are the other teams in the tournament. All the matches will be played at the Bir Sherestha Shaheed Shipahi Mostafa Kamal Stadium, Dahka. After a four-team round robin, the top two teams will play the final on 9th of this month. India takes on Bangladesh on February 5th and Nepal on February 7th.
In Women's Cricket, South Africa have won the T20 Tri-Nation Series beating India in the final by Five wickets at Buffalo Park in East London yesterday. Riding on Chloe Tryon's unbeaten 57 runs knock, the hosts overhauled the target of 110 runs in just 18 overs.
Earlier, electing to bat first, India had scored 109 for the loss of 4 wickets in stipulated 20 overs. For the visitors, Harleen Deol was the highest scorer who contributed 46 runs off 56 balls.
TODAY'S NEWSPAPERS HEADLINE:
"Adani storm hits Parliament as stock meltdown continues" leads Hindustan Times. "RBI asks banks for details of exposure to Adani Group" writes The Tribune.
The Statesman quotes the Union Law Minister Kirin Rijiju as saying "No decision as of now on implementation of Uniform Civil Code".
On the Aero India 2023, The Hindu writes "LCA Tejas will be the star attraction at the India Pavilion".
"India, US discuss ways to boost ties to address global challenges" reports The Times of India.
"Sunak completes 100 days as PM, to 'deliver change' in crisis-hit UK" states The Asian Age.
"Almora's 100 year old water reservoir 'Syunrakot ka Naula' gets monumental national tag" informs The Pioneer.
"Saudi Arabia to host 2027 Asian Cup football" writes The Hindu.
And finally, "Delhi saw most hours of dense fog in December and January since 2017" reports The Indian Express.
THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN:
Electioneering gaining momentum in Tripura,Meghalaya and Nagaland.