01-03-2021 The Asian Independent

www.theasianindependent.co.uk
NEWS
16-02-2021 to 28-02-2021
23
Maha minister quits over
TikTok star’s death
Mumbai : Amid mounting
pressure and fierce attacks
from the opposition Bharatiya
Janata Party, Shive Sena leader
and Maharashtra Forest
Minister Sanjay Rathod -
whose name cropped up in the
death of TikTok star Pooja
Chavan - resigned on Sunday.
Rathod met Chief Minister
Uddhav Thackeray and tendered
his resignation on the eve
of the Budget session of the
Maharashtra legislature starting
Monday.
A prominent leader of the
Banjara community, Rathod
(49), accompanied by his wife
Shital, met Thackeray at the
latter’s official residence and
discussed the issue for around
30 minutes before handing his
resignation to the CM.
The Chief Minister also
refused to consider pleas from
the ’mahants’ of the Banjara
community even as the probe
report into the social media
star’s death is awaited.
Toughening BJP’s stance,
Leader of Opposition Devendra
Fadnavis threatened to withdraw
the BJP legislators from
the joint select committee of
the Shakti Bill, which is being
brought on the lines of the
New Delhi : The encouraging results in
the recent civic polls in Gujarat has boosted
the confidence of Delhi’s ruling Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP) which is now eyeing
forthcoming Assembly elections in several
states and Union territories.
Delhi Health Minister and senior AAP
leader Satyendar Jain spoke to IANS and
said that people are impressed by the Delhi
model of development that AAP has
designed here and want the party to replicate
the same in other states as well.
Brimming with confidence after emerging
as a key opposition party in Surat’s
municipal corporation election, Jain also
said that people are calling for AAP to govern
their states like it did Delhi.
"People are impressed by the Delhi
model. They want us to implement this
Disha Act proposing crucial
changes to the existing laws on
violence against women and
children.
"Sanjay Rathod resigned...
However, it does not imply that
he is innocent," said Pravin
Darekar, the Leader of
Opposition in the Maharashtra
Council. Both the leaders have
demanded that an FIR should
be lodged against Rathod in the
Chavan case, though the exminister
has consistently
denied all the allegations levelled
against him.
Rathod’s name cropped up
after the death of Chavan (22)
in Pune on February 7.
"The opposition is playing
dirty politics on this matter...
The truth will emerge in the
'People want AAP to
replicate Delhi model
in their STATES'
model in their states
as well," he said.
"They (people)
have seen our commitment
towards the
development while
they are also watching
commitment of
other two parties
(Congress and BJP),
that is towards politics
only," Jain added.
The Aam Aadmi
Party has penetrated
into the stronghold of BJP. The AAP
bagged 27 seats in the polls of Surat
Municipal Corporation (SMC) while the
BJP retained power by winning 93 seats.
The Congress failed to win even a single
seat there. Boosted by the performance in
SMC, AAP has now set its eyes on the
2022 Gujarat Assembly polls. Besides, the
party has started its preparations afresh in
the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat
and Goa, also.
Party workers said that a strategy has
been devised to promote the Delhi model
of the AAP government from door to door.
According to the party, it would be contesting
the next Assembly elections in four
states -- Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand,
Punjab and Goa. The party has appointed
in-charges in 65 districts of Uttar Pradesh.
probe. They threatened not to
allow the Legislature Session
and disrupt the proceedings,"
Rathod said after quitting.
Chavan hailed from the
Banjara community and was a
native of Parli-Vaijanath in
Beed district.
Her family wrote to the CM
decrying the moves to politicise
her death, and killing her
multiple times after she died.
They also dismissed the
moves to link the minister with
her and said they had never
sought Rathod’s resignation,
but had full faith in the ongoing
police probe.
Chavan died after falling
from the balcony of an apartment
in Pune’s Hadapsar area.
The police have registered an
accidental death report (ADR)
and are probing the matter.
After Chavan’s death,
Fadnavis had shot off a letter to
DGP Hemant Nagrale along
with 12 audio clips vis-a-vis the
incident, demanding an investigation.
Though Thackeray had
assured a probe, Rathod continued
as a minister and staged a
massive show of strength at the
Poharadevi temple in Washim
district last week
Educational
institutions to
open in B’desh
from March 30
Dhaka : The Bangladeshi government
has announced reopening of all the schools
and colleges in the country from March 30.
The country’s Education Minister Dipu
Moni made the announcement after a highlevel
meeting on Saturday night. The minister
said school and college students will
attend classes in person initially.
Students of junior classes will resume
their academic activates in phases later,
she added.
Last week Moni announced that universities
will reopen on May 24, the Xinhua
news reported.
The closure of educational institutions
nationwide ordered by the government
started on March 17 last year as part of the
country’s efforts to halt the spread of the
Covid-19 epidemic.
The closure has been extended repeatedly
and the latest extension was from
February 14 to 28 in a bid to contain the
spread of the virus in the current cold
weather.
Biden urges Senate to
quickly pass $1.9trn
relief package
Washington : US President Joe Biden has urged the Senate to
quickly pass the $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package, which was
approved by the House on Saturday.
"Now the bill moves to the United States Senate where I hope
it will receive quick action... we have no time to waste," Biden
said at the White House on Saturday, Xinhua news agency reported.
"If we act now -- decisively, quickly, and boldly -- we can
finally get ahead of this virus. We can finally get our economy
moving again," he said.
"And the people of this country have suffered far too much for
too long. We need to relieve that suffering," said the president.
"And it’s time to act." US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also said
on Saturday on the Twitter that as an economist and an American,
she applauds "the House’s favourable vote on the American
Rescue Plan." "There’s a broad consensus among economists:
People need more help putting food on the table and keeping a
roof over their head until the virus is under control. This plan does
that," she said. The rescue plan contains direct payments of $1400
per person for working families, which is on top of the $600 check
in the $900 billion relief package approved in December.
It would also boost federal unemployment benefits to $400 dollars
per week and extend the measure through the end of
September. The House-approved bill also includes a provision to
raise the federal minimum wage to $15, which would face tough
tests in the 50-50 split Senate, where parliamentarians have ruled
that the wage increase violates the budget reconciliation process
and cannot be included.
The Senate is set to tackle the bill next week. Senate
Republican leader Mitch McConnell on Saturday blasted
Democrats over the House passage of the relief package, calling it
a "deliberately partisan process". "House Democrats snapped that
bipartisan streak. They jammed through a bill that even liberal
economists and editorial boards say is not well targeted to this
stage of the fight," McConnell said.
Chinese partners uphold Covid-19 vaccine
supply commitments: Azerbaijan
Baku : Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev praised Chinese
partners on Friday for upholding their Covid-19 vaccine supply
commitments, as he expressed concern over what he believes is an
apparent disparity in global vaccine distribution.
"Despite all the statements about solidarity and combined
efforts against the coronavirus, in practice, we see that the picture
is completely contrary. For example, some countries buy vaccines
three or four times more than they need ... This means that someone
(else) would not (be able to) receive the jab," he told a video
press conference.
Azerbaijan joined COVAX, a multinational vaccine-sharing
initiative backed by the World Health Organization, at the very
beginning when it was launched, Aliyev said.
Noting that "Chinese partners have remained true to their commitments,"
the president said his country has yet to get any of the
other vaccines it needs to receive, the Xinhua news agency reported.
He said that Azerbaijan has yet to receive AstraZeneca-Oxford,
Pfizer-BioNTech, and Moderna vaccines under the initiative.
"And we are not even told when we will get it," he added.
Mass vaccination against Covid-19 in Azerbaijan kicked off
January with the use of the CoronaVac jab developed by Chinese
pharmaceutical firm Sinovac.
Ibrahim Mammadov, a spokesman for the Cabinet of Ministers,
said earlier this week that more than 207,000 Azerbaijani citizens
had received their first dose, while more than 35,000 people had
been inoculated with a second dose.