Jammu and Kashmir DDC election results are soon to be announced. This was the first election in the valley after the August 5 judgment last year by Amit Shah. The polling ended on December 19 last week. The District Development Council polls in Jammu & Kashmir were long being seen as the public mandate over rejection or acceptance of the new fate of the valley. The abrogation of Article 370 announced last year by Amit Shah had a major role to play in these DDC polls. If the BJP wins, it would be seen as acceptance of the abrogation. If, on the other hand, the Gupkar Alliance wins, it would amount to an appeal of restoration of the special status for the ex-state. Is PAGD the winner in the DDC election results?The final verdict of DDC election results is yet to come. Of the 280 territorial constituencies (14 each in 20 districts), the counting is left to be done in two. The voter preference is out, but the winner is still debatable. It may be too early for PAGD or the Gupkar Alliance to celebrate its victory. The alliance has won some 110 seats out of 280. However, the high percentage of independents winning clearly shows that even in the angst against BJP, voters are not with the regional mainstream parties. The Gupkar Alliance has not been heartily welcomed. The People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (or the ‘Gupkar Alliance’) is the coalition of seven regional parties of the region against the abrogation of special status for J&K. The PAGD had earlier refused to be part of any elections till the special status was restored for the state. In the fear of vanishing presence, PAGD finally bent its knee and geared up for the polls. Can BJP claim victory?Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad claimed BJP victory by stating that Lotus has finally bloomed in the valley. With 75 seats, BJP becomes the single largest party. This, however, does not necessarily mean overwhelming support for BJP from all over the region. The combined vote share of BJP and independents is over 52%! If the independents’ side by BJP, there is no stopping the saffron party then. The strike rate for BJP seats was not the best at 40.43%. Moreover, the division of territorial constituencies for the region was not done on the principle of ‘one person, one vote’. The population density of the districts was not at all considered. Srinagar district with a population of 1.2 million stood at the same pedestrian as Kishtwar district whose population is some 0.25 million. The division of districts also widened the Jammu versus Kashmir cliff as can be clearly seen by different voting patterns of the two regions. BJP is a clear victor in the districts of Jammu, Udhampur, Reasi, Kathua, Samba, and Doda. All these six districts belong to the Jammu division dominated by Hindus. What message did the voters send?One thing that is clear from the voting trend is that no single regional party can stand against BJP today. BJP has proved its mettle again. Being the single largest party was no small a feet in the region known to be hostile to the saffron party. Be it Farooq Abdullah’s NC or Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP, the burden of past deeds is clear. Congress as in all other states is on the brink of extinction. All these mainstream parties have to forget their age-old rivalry if they wish to remain in power in the region now. Also Read: The New Bengal Innings of Asaduddin Owaisi The post DDC Election Results in Jammu and Kashmir Throw New Possibilities appeared first on NC Airways. Via https://ncairways.co/ddc-election-results/
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After the performance of Asaduddin Owaisi in Bihar Assembly elections, Owaisi has become a budding star politician of India. His party, All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen or AIMIM has lots of curiosity surrounding it. Political analysts have gone at length to describe AIMIM as the next largest party for Muslims in the country. With its roots in Hyderabad, the party is slowly making inroads in northern India through UP, MP, Bihar, and now Bengal. The announcement of Asaduddin’s Bengal entry was enough to send jitters in Mamata didi’s spine. It is not BJP but Asaduddin Owaisi that is shaking grounds for Mamata in Bengal. So much is the fear, that Mamata is accusing Owaisi of being a paid pawn of BJP. Why is this so? The minority voter base of BengalThe strength of Mamata is her Muslim voters. Numbered at around 24.7 million, they constitute almost 30% of the population in Bengal today. They dominate 60-80 seats in the 294 seat Assembly constituencies of Bengal. Mamata Bannerjee openly opposes every issue that is known to hurt Muslim sentiments. Mamata is always by the side of Muslims, be it over the issue of Rohingya Muslims, Bangladeshi refugees, or CAA. Allegations of minority appeasement never deter her. This created a lot of religious polarization in Bengal politics as was evident in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Bengal. The Hindu votes went to BJP and the Muslim votes to TMC. It was in 2019 itself, that Asaduddin Owaisi decided to enter Bengal politics. The entry of another Muslim appeasing party in Bengal is sure to divide Mamata’s votes. Her fears are not unfounded. An ironic series of events panned out immediately post the Bihar elections. Her greatest fear offered her a hand of friendship. AIMIM offered Mamata Bannerjee’s party, TMC, a pre-poll pact. He wanted to consolidate the Muslim voter base of both parties. This was hard to digest pill for Mamata Bannerjee. She rejected the offer thinking that this hardcore Muslim party would alienate Hindu voters away from her. She presents TMC as a secular party. Also, she did not want to present TMC as a weak party that needed a pre-poll alliance. Since then, TMC is trying to weaken the position of AIMIM in west Bengal. It fears that if not controlled at the right stage, AIMIM will work in favor of BJP. It will be nothing but a vote cutting party by driving Muslim voters away from TMC. AIMIM is not as strong as it appearsCongress still has a strong base in some Muslim dominated seats of West Bengal. With Malda and Murshidabad in Congress’ hands, AIMIM has more to compete with than just TMC. Moreover, the Bengali-speaking Muslim of WB is not the same as the Urdu-speaking Muslim of Hyderabad. Their issues, their needs are quite different. There are not just cultural differences, but also political differences. The middle-class Bengali Muslims maintain a secular attitude on public platforms. Without any strong local Muslim leaders, AIMIM will have to struggle in the alien territory. Also, the educated Muslims of Bengal know that AIMIM can split their votes. They have seen the 2019 elections where BJP drew an advantage over the Muslim votes being divided between Congress and TMC in Malda. They will likely not repeat the same mistake. AIMIM as a party in Bengal is not organically strong. There is no credible leader for AIMIM in Bengal yet. The state President Sheikh Anwar Hussain Pasha joined TMC last month. Along with him defected 20 other AIMIM leaders. Without any strong cadre and grass-root network, it is tough to win a state where even the villages can be divided along party lines. With Owaisi likely to visit Kolkata in January, a ray of hope for AIMIM in Bengal is still alive. The groundwork has begun. In the battle between TMC and BJP, this war over Muslim votes between AIMIM and TMC would be no less interesting. Also Read: Trinamool Congress has Become a Family Party: Amit Shah The post The New Bengal Innings of Asaduddin Owaisi appeared first on NC Airways. Via https://ncairways.co/asaduddin-owaisi/ Kisan Diwas is being observed all over the country today. With the farmers sitting in agitation over MSP Bill, the significance of the day increases this year. How can we leave our ‘annadatas’ agitated, especially on their special day? The farmers are mainly concerned about their much-loved MSP system. ‘Give MSP or give resignation’ is the slogan raised by many. Although, MSP was never a part of any Indian law and is in effect as part of government policy only. The farmers now want that it should be duly protected through laws. Verbal assurances by the government do not satiate the farmers anymore. Some analysts have started calling the MSP system opium for farmers. It has become an addiction, but it is also deteriorating their farm health. In this article, we analyze if there is any truth in the statement. What is MSP?In any industry that you work for, every employee is guaranteed a minimum wage. It is a bare minimum price below which the employee should not work. MSP or a minimum support price is a similar minimum price for the work of farmers. There are 23 crops in India for which MSP is announced. MSP is the same throughout the country. The MS Swaminathan Committee in 2006 recommended fixing MSP at least 50% more than the weighted average cost of production. The Shanta Kumar Committee in 2015 recommended the same. This provision has still not been implemented. Is MSP good for farmers?The government with every MSP announcement hopes to end all farmer woes. The farmer suicides continue at the same pace. Why is the magic wand not working? MSP as a fallback price is definitely good for the farmers if set keeping political considerations aside. Soil conditions and market needs need to be taken into consideration first. A single price for the entire country can never be right. When the wage rates are different across the states, how can the cost of production be the same? If the cost of production is different, how would a uniform selling price suffice? Another major and the foremost concern is that MSP is not reaching the rightful farmers. Only about 6% of farmers actually sell at MSP according to the 2015 Shanta Kumar Committee Report. This 6% of farmers are the rich farmers with access to government ‘mandis’. The remaining 94% of small and marginal farmers are left at the mercy of prices set by intermediaries. There is another sad fact that came out with a NITI Ayog study. Only 10% of the farmers are aware of the right price that they will get before the sowing. Many are totally unaware of the MSPs. Why is MSP called opium for farmers then?MSP creates artificial prices. Rather than improving productivity and market linkages, it distorts the agricultural market. Farmers ask for higher MSPs and government raises it. Liberal MSPs for a few crops shrink the crop sowing choice for farmers. This is evident from the Punjab-Haryana belt. The region is on the verge of desertification. It is still the highest producer for water-intensive crops like paddy and wheat. The water level in the region is alarmingly low. The credit goes to the year on year paddy production by farmers. Paddy is a water-intensive crop. Some 2800 liters of water is used in producing merely a kilogram of rice! Government subsidies on water and power consumption have artificially created water in the dry belt. People have private tubewells that suck groundwater. Statistics show that 88.11% of Punjab’s districts and 76.02% of Haryana’s are drought-resilient. This has been possible because of misplaced government subsidies. With this water, farmers grow water-intensive crops for which higher MSP is announced every year. The desert state is now exporting water with its crops. But how long can these artificial things last? With the current unsustainable use of groundwater and unthoughtful MSP announcements, the day is not far that kids will be crying for a glass of water in Punjab. Where does the problem lie? How do we tackle it?The problem clearly lies in inefficient MSP Bill announcements which are mostly politically motivated. The problem also lies in a single MSP being set for all the states despite very different soil conditions. If the government is really serious in its efforts to double farm incomes by 2022, it needs to rethink its MSP Bill. Only the corporatization of agriculture will not help the farmers, a revamped MSP regime is a need for the hour. In a country, where every day, 28 farmers die by suicide, it is very important to understand and work towards farmer needs. After all, our food and our very existence is dependent on them. Also Read: Are the Farm Protests Real or Fake? The post MSP Bill: Farmers Still unhappy On Kisan Diwas appeared first on NC Airways. Via https://ncairways.co/msp-bill/ The forces behind the farm agitation in IndiaThe farm protests or the kisan strike today has entered its 28th day. Congress leaders led by Rahul Gandhi have started a signature campaign against the new farm laws. Congress claims that it has already received around 20 million signatures. The same would be submitted to the President of India on Dec, 24. Some 40 farmer groups are undertaking farm protests against the laws on various Delhi borders. A UP based farmers group called Kisan Sangharsh Samiti has lent its support for the laws yesterday. In September 2020, the Central Government tried to overhaul the agricultural sector with three agri-reforms. The stated aim was to reduce the continued exploitation of farmers by intermediaries and middlemen. Farmers, on the other hand are continuing farm protests against these new laws, claiming that these will destroy their livelihood. Whether the laws are for or against the farmers, let us delve deeper ourselves. What are these new laws?Bill on Agri-markets: Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce(Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020This Bill aims to give freedom to the farmers to sell outside APMC Mandis and promote barrier-free interstate trade. This is also aimed to create a facilitative framework for electronic trading as envisioned in the e-NAM project. The grievance against this bill is mostly by state governments who will stand to lose a large part of revenue in the form of ‘mandi fees’. Fears remain that it may eventually bring an end to the much loved MSP based procurement system. The government has, however, clarified that the MSP as well as the mandi system will continue. Farmers will have the additional choice to sell outside mandis as well. Bill on Contract Farming: The Farmer (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020Under its provisions, farmers can enter into a contract with agribusiness companies to sell future farming produce at pre-agreed price and service conditions. It also lays down an effective dispute resolution mechanism with redressal timelines. Now the small and marginal farmers who stand to benefit from such a clause stand at around 86% of the total farmers in India. These farmers gain access to modern technology and farm inputs as well a price assurance for their crops. The only opposition against this bill stems from the fear that farmers in any contract would be the weak players in terms of their ability to negotiate. Also, the land-owning farmers fear the loss of their land rights under the contract farming arrangement. Bill on Agri-commodities: The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020By removing many agri-commodities like cereals, pulses, oilseeds, onions, and potatoes from the list of essential commodities, this bill does away the imposition of stock holding limits. This provision will remove the fear of regulatory interference in business operations and bring price stability. The grievance against this bill stems from the fear that big companies with large warehouses will still stock hold and have an unfair advantage. This fear is not far-fetched. Also, a recent announcement of export ban of onions raises doubts whether government is really ready to stop interference in the agricultural market. Is it the farmers who are protesting?As we have seen, all these three Bills aim to grant greater freedom to the farmers. They majorly benefit the small and marginal farmers who constitute the major chunk of our population. It is the middlemen (or ‘Arthiyas’) who stand to lose out in the process. Also, if we look closely, most of the provisions that the new laws state to bring, were already in place since 2017 through the Agricultural Produce and Livelihood Marketing (Promotion and Facilitation) Act. The grievance against weakening of Mandi system is not pan-India. Majority of agricultural marketing already happens outside the mandi-network. There are only 7,000 APMC markets. Also Read: One World, One Sun, One Grid: Is it possible? Also Read: Consumption Sector Stocks for long term wealth creation The post Are the Farm Protests Real or Fake? appeared first on NC Airways. Via https://ncairways.co/farm-protests/ When your enemies try to bring you down, it is a sign that you are on the path to success. So is said about the Lady Dabangg of Bengal, former IPS officer, Bharati Ghosh. Her political convoy was recently attacked in the Bhagabanpur area of East Midnapore district of Bengal. Such instances are not new in Bengal. But what is emerging as a new energy in Bengal needs to be talked about at length. Bharati Ghosh was once the SP of West Midnapore district. She used to share a very close association with Mamata Banerjee. Following a spat with the former Congress MLA Manas Bhunia and Mamata Banerjee, she was given a punishment posting. The fearless officer did not budge but instead, put papers. She refused to dance to the tunes of the politicians in power and decided to take power into her own hands. She took voluntary retirement from the coveted services in 2018. She joined BJP in February 2019. She fought her first elections from the Ghatal Lok Sabha seat. What gave her the tags of ‘Fire Girl’ and ‘Lady Dabangg’?Harvard and LSE graduate, UN-peacekeeper, and a top cop of Bengal became a household name in few districts of Bengal. The fearless aura of this lady cop created her space in the hearts of many. During her days as an IPS officer, she did commendable work in some of the Maoist affected areas of Jhargram and West Midnapore districts. Her iron hand and good work soon equated her to a lady Dabangg. Her political influence started to surface towards the end of the year 2017 itself. The bypoll elections in Sabang Assembly constituency reflected a remarkable rise in BJP’s vote share. It jumped from 2000 votes earlier to some 37000 votes. It was then that the Sabang SP, Bharati Ghosh was accused of plotting a conspiracy with the help of Mukul Roy, to defeat TMC. It was then that her relations with Mamata soared. She was brutally sidelined by her political Godmother. She had to resign from the services. Is she now a stooge of BJP?‘Amor Parivaar, BJP Parivaar’ (My family is BJP family) is the slogan raised by Mrs. Ghosh in every rally and gathering she addresses. She believes that for any state to prosper, being in conformity with the Centre is a must. The issues she raises like the need for CAA to stop illegal filtration in Bengal and the low healthcare expenditure are always substantiated with facts that people listen to. Her tireless rallies covering the entire length of the state, from north to south are a testimonial of her party loyalty. Somehow, she is never a frontline face in the local media of the state. It is probably because Bengal BJP cadre does not want her strong personality to overshadow them. She is deliberately kept away from the limelight. Sadly, the most googled things about her remain ‘bharati ghosh hsband name’, ‘bharati ghosh age’ and ‘bharati ghosh phone number’. Perhaps a woman’s identity is hard to be noticed beyond these benchmarks. Will Bharati Ghosh be the face of Bengal?It is not very clear to date as to what the target of Bharati Ghosh is. From where she will fight for the elections is also not revealed yet. She is found rallying from village to village in various districts of Bengal ranging from Hooghly, Barddhaman, and Midnapore in the south to Jalpaiguri and Uttar Dinajpur in the north. It, therefore, becomes difficult to gauge if she is representing herself as just another upcoming MLA or aspiring to be the next Chief Minister. Also Read: The Rise of BJP in India and the World is Unstoppable Now Also Read: BJP, TMC supporters clash after Bharati Ghosh’s convoy blocked in Bengal The post Emergence of Bharati Ghosh in Bengal to Help BJP appeared first on NC Airways. Via https://ncairways.co/bharati-ghosh/ Addressing Aligarh Muslim University on its centenary celebrations PM Narendra Modi said the nation is on a path where everyone, irrespective of religion, can be assured of their constitutional rights and their future and where no community is left behind. PM Modi also said central government’s schemes for the poor were reaching all sections “without any religious bias” and asserted that when it came to the nation’s progress and development, it was important to set aside ideological differences. Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister recalled Sir Sayyad’s remark that the ‘the first and foremost duty of one who is concerned about his country is to work for the welfare of all people. Irrespective of the caste, creed or religion.’ The Prime Minister stressed that the country is proceeding on a path where every citizen is assured of his or her constitution-given rights, no one should be left behind due one’s religion and this is the basis of the pledge ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabk viswas’. Modi gave examples of the government schemes providing benefits without any discrimination. Bank accounts of over 40 crore poor are opened without any discrimination. More than 2 crore poor were provided pucca houses, without discrimination. More than 8 crore women are getting gas connection without discrimination. About 50 crore people have availed free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh under Ayushman scheme without any discrimination. “Country’s resources belong to each and every citizen and should benefit all. Our government is working with this understanding” said the Prime Minister Modi. Vision of new India envisages that the development of the nation and society should not be seen from a political angle. Modi asked to be vigilant against misleading propaganda and keep the interest of the nation supreme in one’s heart. Politics can wait but society cannot, similarly poor belonging to whichever section, cannot wait. We cannot waste time and should work together to create an Aatamnirbhar Bharat. For attainment of national goals, all differences must be set aside, Modi added. The Prime Minister lauded Aligarh Muslim University for the unprecedented contribution to the society during the Corona pandemic. He added getting thousands of people to do free tests, building isolation wards, building plasma banks and contributing a large amount to the PM Care Fund shows the seriousness of fulfilling your obligations to society. He said today, with such organized efforts, India is successfully combating the global epidemic like Corona, keeping the country paramount. The Prime Minister said that in the last 100 years, AMU has also worked to strengthen India’s relations with many countries of the world. He further said the research done here on Urdu, Arabic and Persian languages, research on Islamic literature, gives new energy to India’s cultural relations with the entire Islamic world. He said the University has the double responsibility to further enhance the soft power of the university as well as fulfilling the obligation of nation building. The PM Narendra Modi recalled a time when the dropout rate of Muslim daughters was more than 70 percent due to lack of toilets. He said the government built separate toilets for the school-going girl students in mission mode under Swachh Bharat Mission. And now the school drop-out rate of Muslim daughters has come down to about 30 percent. He further stressed that there should be no discrimination on the basis of gender, everyone should get equal rights, everyone should get the benefit of development of the country. The PM Narendra Modi said the country took forward the efforts to build a modern Muslim society by ending the practice of triple talaq. He said earlier it was said, if a woman is educated then the whole family gets educated. Education brings with it employment and entrepreneurship. Employment and entrepreneurship bring with them economic independence. Empowerment comes from economic independence. An empowered woman contributes equally to every decision, at every level, as much as anyone else. The Prime Minister said Aligarh Muslim University has attracted many from its contemporary curriculum in higher education. He said New National Education Policy has Interdisciplinary subjects similar to one already taught at the university. He said the youth of our country is committed to advancing the country with the call of Nation First. This aspiration of India’s youth has been given priority in the new National Education Policy. He said the multiple entry and exit points in the new National Education Policy will make it easier for students to take decisions regarding their education. Also Read: “Howdy Modi” in Houston: 50,000+ Attendees Expected The post Keep the Interest of the Nation Supreme: PM Narendra Modi appeared first on NC Airways. Via https://ncairways.co/pm-narendra-modi/ Stock markets are seeing unprecedented chaos. The crash brings with it not just the destruction of wealth but also the destruction of faith in investments. So much is the panic and chaos that news channels are equating the stock market crash 2020 with bloodbath at Sensex and a Dalal street massacre. The crash was so sudden that many new investors looked perplexed. The bulls were taken aback. This market crash can change the long term outlook for a lot of new investors. It seemed that no one can judge the next Indian stock market crash prediction. Most analysts are attributing the new mutation of the ‘super-spreader’ COVID strain found in the UK as the reason for Indian stock market crash today. As the UK Health Secretary remarked that this new strain is 70 times more infectious, the panic it raised was natural. The stage was however already set for the crash. The market valuation of most companies had reached quite high. There was an all-time high inflow of FIIs into India. With the global sentiment weakening, the effect on Indian stocks was quick to follow. The intensity of the fall was something no one could predict. What happens when the stock market crashes?As the selling increases, the market sentiment weakens. This leads to more selling and a continued dip in the market. People start fearing more and a string of panic selling is triggered. Months and years of gains are wiped out in days. The quick and brutal fall is no less than a roller coaster. Imagine losing all your savings in a blow! This is why people fear the crash. Panics are turned into opportunities by few. With panic selling, most stock prices reach an all-time low. All you need to do is to wait for the lowest prices and then start buying. Buying at dips is the best strategy for a falling market. Buy and forget till the market wheel turns. Book heavy profits later. What investors should do next?As the Christmas vacations begin, the inflow of FIIs will come to a halt. The market valuations of most stocks will be corrected. The travel bans and reduced economic activity will keep the market sentiments low. The equities market is expected to remain volatile. The best thing to do now is to avoid doing anything at all, be it buying or selling. Panic selling benefits none. Sit on the market and watch. As the market shows the first signs of correction, it is then that you should buy more shares and enjoy the low prices. Add quality stocks to your portfolio when the market starts getting healthy again. Can we decipher anything from the market trend?The biggest crashes in the Indian stock market have been attributed to unstable governments, an erratic or sudden change in government policies like demonetization, the ripple effect of the international market as can be seen with COVID panic. A crash is called a crash because of its sheer velocity. The panic is the market is chaotic. While everyone was expecting the market to go down, the sudden dip is what caused the bloodbath. Almost all Sensex stocks closed in red. It is this suddenness that is not easy to predict. It is not easy to predict the exact moment when the market would start withdrawing all at once. As can be seen, most of the steep falls witnessed in near future were attributed to one or the other external forces, be it the COVID-induced panic or an international crisis. It is not very easy to predict such events. All one can do is contain the profit appetite. Start being cautious once the market shows a continued upward trend and book profits before it’s too late. Will the stock market crash 2020 attract new buyers, remains to be seen. Also Read: Beat Lockdown Blues; Try the ‘Happiest Minds Technologies’ Guide The post Will the Stock Market Crash 2020 Destroy Faith in Investments? appeared first on NC Airways. Via https://ncairways.co/stock-market-crash-2020/ Bollywood actor Sonu Sood is not just a reel life hero. His altruistic work during the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that he is for sure a genuine saint who helped a great many individuals who ran out of luck. People have even built and dedicated a temple in his honour. It is their way of expressing their respect for Sood, his works and humanitarian aids during the COVID-19 pandemic. This included his help to a great many abandoned migrant labourers reach their native places at the hour of the pandemic. Also Read: ‘I will continue to send migrants until the last migrant reaches his home’: Sonu Sood Location: Chelimi tanda under Dubba, a small hamlet with 60 houses, 10 km from the newly formed Dhulmitta mandal HQ in Telangana. Nonetheless, when the information on it arrived at Sood, his reaction on Twitter was that he felt lowered and he didn’t merit it. Sood in a statement said that it is an “extremely overwhelming” moment for him. He likewise conceded that he is only an average person who helped his siblings and sisters. Not only the villagers of Dubba love to worship Sonu Sood, several film makers agree to change the films’ script as per his new image. Filmmakers now approach Sonu Sood with lead roles in their films due to his newly gained grand philanthropic image. Sood earlier used to essay the negative roles mostly. The superstar of Telugu films, Chiranjeev, refused to hit Sonu Sood during a fight scene saying people will curse him. Sonu’s humanitarian work has been lauded by the people everywhere in the world. Earlier, one Twitter user had placed Sood’s photo in his place of worship next to photos of gods and goddesses at his home temple, Sonu Sood responded to the fan’s respect for him by saying, “My place is not here, it’s in your heart.” Sonu Sood has now become a real hero of the people. He had helped out innumerable people during the coronavirus lockdown during which neither the state nor the central government nor their agencies came forward. Now, all those humanitarian works are bearing him fruit which he always deserved. Some of his works have been:
Sood is planning to come up with a book titled – ‘I Am No Messiah’ People may continue to debate whether the villagers of Dubba did the right thing. It can not be denied that the people have started admiring and respecting him more than ever before. He has acquired the sobriquet of a Messiah for his magnanimous motions towards the penniless and the oppressed during the pandemic. May be after 200 years or so, Sood will become a GOD for people of that time. Also Read: How To Provide Online Education For Free During COVID-19 And Beyond The post Humbled Sonu Sood says, ‘Don’t Deserve This’ appeared first on NC Airways. Via https://ncairways.co/sonu-sood/ COVID vaccine update today. Panic around Coronavirus is refusing to die down. The Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has urged the Centre to stop all flights from the UK immediately. The reason being a new ‘super-spreader’ mutation of the novel coronavirus disease. In the midst of this panic, the Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan has asked people to calm down. He further announced that the first shot of the COVID vaccine will be available in any week of January. Excitement over an effective COVID vaccine is at an all-time high. People are tired of being locked up in fear and want life back to normal. There are many contenders in the race already. India’s realistic hopes hinge on two to three of these vaccines. Nonetheless, the COVID vaccine should be safe, effective, and immunogenic. Which are these contenders?Vaccine by Oxford-AstraZeneca called CovishieldIf all goes as planned, The Serum Institute of India will start rolling out the COVID vaccine in January. The greatest advantage of this vaccine is that it is being produced locally. Moreover, it can be stored at normal fridge temperatures. Hence the last mile distribution and storage will not be a challenge. The vaccine is quite fairly priced as compared to its foreign counterparts by Pfizer and Moderna. Pfizer and Moderna do not have an Indian partner either yet. Vaccine by Bharat Biotech and ICMR called CovaxinThis will be an indigenously developed vaccine. Its third phase trials starting December 21 are initiated from Haryana. It is being developed from an inactive strain of the virus. Vaccine by Gujarat based, Zydus CadilaThis too has received approvals to start phase 3 trials by Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI). Russian vaccine Sputnik-V being developed by Dr. Reddy’s LabThe second and third phase of trials for this vaccine are yet to begin in India. It has a claimed efficacy rate of 92%, very near to Pfizer’s and Moderna’s claims. Going by logistical requirements, Covishield and Covaxin will be the best suited for mass roll-out in India. They can be stored at normal fridge temperatures, just like the polio vaccine. So the storage and last-mile delivery would not be a challenge. Who gets the vaccine first in India?The Health Ministry has formed a panel called National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration or NEGVAC for vaccine management across the country. NEGVAC will identify priority groups among states, and which states to receive how many doses.
Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Bihar are the top five states with the highest percentage of people in the 50+ age group. These states will be given higher percentage of the initial vaccine doses procured by the government. Now we need to keep our fingers crossed that there is no politics or black-marketing which gets in between the distribution of this life saving vaccine. The distribution should remain as smooth as the development process was for India. If the vaccine comes in January as envisaged, 300 million people will be able to get vaccinated by July 2021, as per Union Minister, Hardeep Singh Puri. This means only the prioritized lot of population will be vaccinated by mid of next year. The battle against the virus is long. The time to relax is not near yet. But as they say, this too shall pass. Also Read: Jet Airways Revival News Brings Cheers to Jet’s Investors The post COVID Vaccine Creates All Time High Excitement appeared first on NC Airways. Via https://ncairways.co/covid-vaccine/ The West Bengal assembly elections of 2021 are one of the most awaited ones. After the COVID vaccine, one thing that is being most eagerly awaited is the game of thrones in Bengal. The elections are going to be remembered in history as the most awaited elections of all time. What makes them so different? It is not every day that a direct tussle is seen between a party winning 3 seats and a party winning 211 seats in the just previous elections. Today, the BJP leaders confidently predict that the BJP will win more than 200 of the total West Bengal assembly seats. In fact, the BJP did win 18 West Bengal Lok Sabha seats in 2019 and secured an impressive 40.64% of votes. If one looks at district wise assembly seats in West Bengal, there are a number of districts which are dominated by minority community and play a decisive role in the outcome. Who would have dreamt that a right-wing party would be able to creep in so fast in a pre-dominantly left dominated state! Who would have imagined that the red colored state would be painted saffron in such a smooth way? What makes the pollsters think that Bengal would slip from Mamata’s hands?There was a time that such was the stronghold of Mamata Banerjee in Bengal that she was considered a strong face against Prime Minister Modi in the next Lok Sabha elections. And today, the scenario is such that even her Chief Ministerial seat is precarious. The reasons are many. The West Bengal assembly election 2021 opinion poll are yet to take off, but initial trends show a distinct edge for the BJP. There is high anti-incumbency against Mamata Banerjee, who is ruling the state for the last 10 years. Her autocratic style of functioning is one reason for the anger against her. Be it allegations of minority appeasement or the use of violence to silence opposition, Mamata would not mend her ways. The history of violence in during Bengal assembly elections is not new. Since the time of CM Siddharth Shankar Ray, a well-known aid of Indira Gandhi, the left in Bengal suffered violence at the hands of Congress party. When the Left came to power in Bengal, people hoped that the picture would change. But the same story continued with TMC being at the receiving end of violence this time. The circle of violence continued with TMC using the same violent tactics. The convoy of BJP President JP Nadda being targeted is no small event. Such a security lapse with a person enjoying Z-security can not be carried out without political backing. People in Bengal are tired of this culture of political violence. The growing clout of Abhishek Banerjee, Mamata’s nephew, is another cause of resentment among the TMC workers which is working at the advantage of BJP. Many top leaders are leaving Mamata’s side to join BJP. The list includes Suvendu Adhikary, Jitendra Tiwari, Shilbhadra Dutta and Mihir Goswami. Common hatred against the political strategist, Prashant Kishor is another factor behind most of the exits in TMC. What makes the position of BJP strong?There is high anti-incumbency against TMC and no viable alternative other than BJP at present. The Left and the Congress are in no good position to contest TMC. BJP on the other hand has insider support from the Left and all other parties who want Mamata to lose. With the rise of AIMIM as seen in Bihar, even the minority votes which TMC banks on are expected to get divided. AIMIM is therefore touted as team-B of BJP, as its vote-cutting aide. Also Read: The Rise of BJP in India and the World is Unstoppable Now BJP also has a emotional card to appeal to regional sentiments. The roots of BJP were founded by Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, who is originally from Bengal. The promise of bringing Bengal in line with central ‘Vikas’ is another ray of hope for the people of Bengal distressed with underdevelopment and unemployment. What BJP now needs is a strong face for Chief Ministerial position who can challenge the charisma of Bengal’s didi. Also Read: FICCI for Start-ups Initiative The post Bengal Assembly Elections: BJP Quickly Racing Ahead appeared first on NC Airways. Via https://ncairways.co/bengal-assembly-elections/ |