Union Budget focuses on Saving Modi’s lame govt: Harchand Singh Barsat

Chandigarh, July 24, 2024 (Yes Punjab News)

Aam aadmi Parti Punjab’s General and Secretary and Chairman Punjab Mandi Board, Harchand Singh Barsat, strongly criticized the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s for presenting the budget that blatantly ignores Punjab. He stated that this budget has been issued to appease BJP’s allied parties and safeguard the Lame Central government.

The Central government has completely ignored Punjab in this budget, whereas additional financial packages have been granted states like Bihar and Andhra Pradesh to appease them. Being a border state, Punjab continues to suffer from the international level drugs, yet the Modi government has not provided any special package for Punjab.

Last year, Punjab had to bear the brunt of floods, yet the Central government did not extend any special package to Punjab. He criticized the Modi government, saying that the budget has shown biased behaviour towards the people of Punjab.

He said that Punjab is an important sector for agriculture, but still the central government has not given any special package for the agriculture sector and farmers. He said that the budget has also failed to provide MSP guarantee to farmers, which will increase disappointment among farmers.

Earlier, the central government had stopped funds of about Rs 10,000 crore of Punjab. He said that Center Government has also reduced the budget of defence, which shows the anti-national thinking of the Modi government.

With this, the central government has also been told about taking loans, which shows that the central government does not have any kind of planning for the development of the country. The central government has already become indebted, and taking more debt will be disastrous for the country.

Harchand Singh Barsat, while targeting Union Minister of State Ravneet Singh Bittu, said that Ravneet Bittu should tell the people of Punjab what he has brought from the Central Government for food processing and what is his planning for the development of Punjab.

He said that in fact Ravneet Bittu and Sunil Jakhar have made it easy for the BJP to destroy the economic resources of Punjab.

While both of them, being Punjabis, should raise their voice for the better future of Punjab. General Secretary of AAP Punjab and Chairman of Punjab Mandi Board said that the people of Punjab will never forgive the BJP leaders for their anti-Punjab behavior.

Rahul Gandhi assures farm leaders to pressurise govt for MSP guarantee

New Delhi, July 24, 2024
A delegation of twelve farm leaders from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Karnataka met Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in the Parliament complex on Wednesday and shared their concerns over the need for a Minimum Support Price (MSP) guarantee for crops.

The Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha assured them that a legal guarantee for MSP was their right.

Later, speaking to the press, Rahul Gandhi said the Congress and the INDIA bloc allies will raise the issue of MSP in the Parliament, and also put pressure on the government on the same.

“We have mentioned in our manifesto about a legal guarantee for MSP, which can be implemented without any hassles,” he told mediapersons.

“During the meeting, we decided that we will discuss the matter with the INDIA bloc partners and then start putting pressure on the government to frame a law on MSP,” he said.

Rahul Gandhi’s meeting with the farm leaders was also attended by senior Congress leaders K.C. Venugopal, former Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi, Raja Brar, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Dharamvir Gandhi, Amar Singh, Deepender Singh Hooda, and Jai Prakash.

Earlier, Rahul Gandhi claimed that the farmer leaders were not allowed entry to the Parliament complex. It was only after he walked out of the House that the farmers were let in.

The farmer leaders said that Rahul Gandhi has also expressed solidarity with them against the ‘atrocities’ of the Haryana government.

Notably, farm bodies Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha recently announced to launch a fresh stir to push for a legalisation on MSP guarantee.

As part of the protest, they will take out a ‘long march’ to support the Opposition’s private Bills. They will also take out a tractor rally on August 15.

At a recent press conference, the leaders of Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) said that the farmers’ ‘Delhi Chalo’ march will complete 200 days on August 31, as they appealed to the people to reach Khanauri, Shambhu, etc., on the Punjab and Haryana border on that day.(Agency)

AAP MP Sanjeev Arora raises issues of health care expenditure and out of pocket expenditure

New Delhi/Chandigarh, July 24, 2024 (Yes Punjab News)

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora, on Wednesday, in his response to the budget in parliament raised very important issues related to the health sector of our country.

Punjab MP in his speech said that Global Health Care expenditure in most of the countries is 8-12% of GDP whereas we in India are still below 2%. He said that we rank 158th in the world which tells a lot.

He added that it was the Govt’s target in 2017 for 2.5% of GDP for health care expenditure by 2025 as per National Health Policy drafted by the NDA Government. But even after so many years we are still below 2%.

He also raised the issue of Out of Pocket Health Expenditure, which is 48% as per National Health Accounts estimate. It is far from accurate as in these figures the cash spent on health care like OPD, radiology, pathology & purchase of medicines is not accounted for.

If these are accounted for the figures will be somewhere around 60%. States like UP crosses 70% as per Govt record. Whereas the world average is around 17%. An Indian is spending more than 3 times the Global Average out of their pockets.

He further added that in 2023-24 budget estimate was 86,175 Crores and revised is 77,624 Crore. It should be on the higher side not toward the lower. This time the budget estimation for health is 87,656 Crores which is only around 1% increase, which is much lower than the inflation.

MP Sanjeev Arora suggested that to take care of all the issues the only way forward is to increase the Budgeted Allocation for Health Sector & make health care affordable for all.

He requested the Finance Minister to increase Budget Allocation to 2.5 % as mentioned in the 2017 report of National Health Policy. He also requested the Health Minister JP Nadda to improve the health sector and bring the needful changes soon.

Terrorists in J&K will either land in jail or be sent to hell: Union Minister

Srinagar/New Delhi, July 24, 2024
Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai, said on Wednesday that terrorists in J&K will either land in jail or be sent to hell.

While replying to a supplementary question asked by Congress MP Pramod Tiwari in the Rajya Sabha, Nityanand Rai said that the terrorists in J&K will either land in jail or be sent to ‘Jahanum’ (Hell) while asserting that the government led by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has a zero tolerance towards terrorists.

The minister said that the terror activities seen recently in J&K would soon end.

“They will not succeed in their design. In the past few days, 28 terrorists have been killed in J&K. Some security personnel have also lost their lives, which is very unfortunate,” he said.

Rai said the security forces have killed about 900 terrorists in the region after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.

The minister also said that between 2004 and 2014 when the UPA was ruling at the Centre, there were 7,217 incidents of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, which came down to 2,259 after the BJP was voted to power.

In 2019, the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into two union territories — Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

“2,829 citizens and security personnel lost their lives between 2004 and 2014. This number has come down by 67 per cent since 2014. There is also a reduction of 69 per cent in terror incidents. People in Jammu and Kashmir are now living in a peaceful environment and there is a full guarantee of security,” the minister asserted in his reply.

Earlier, the minister said that after the abrogation of article 370, tourism had boomed in J&K and during the first six months of the current year, over one crore tourists visited the union territory.(Agency)

Why Rohit Shetty says he will never make parallel, art-driven cinema

Mumbai, July 24, 2024
Bollywood director Rohit Shetty, who is known for his commercial entertainers, has said that he is happy in his space of mainstream commercial cinema, and won’t make a move to explore the middle-of-the-road kind of cinema in future.

Rohit, who frequently collaborates with Bollywood superstar Ajay Devgn, has blockbuster after blockbuster to his credit. He has a successful franchise like ‘Golmaal’ in which he allowed the audience to explore the comic side of Ajay for the first time in 2006, who was previously known for his intense roles.

He also has the cop universe to his credit with films like ‘Singham’, ‘Singham Again’, ‘Simmba’, ‘Sooryavanshi’ and the upcoming ‘Singham Again’.

He has also collaborated with Bollywood icon Shah Rukh Khan twice for ‘Chennai Express’ and ‘Dilwale’ both of which were highly successful commercially.

When asked if in future he would like to change his line of cinema, and explore a more intense or art-driven cinema, Rohit told IANS: “I’m happy in the kind of space I’m working in. Jis tarah ki films main banata hoon, I really enjoy putting them together. These demarcations of commercial cinema or arthouse cinema are given by the audience and the critics.”

He further mentioned: “It’s not our job as filmmakers to make these demarcations, cinema is cinema. You make the kind of cinema that you identify with. Cinema is more than 100 years old now, and there’s a space for every kind of filmmaker to tell their story. That’s the beauty of cinema.”

Meanwhile, Rohit is set to return as the host for the upcoming season of the stunt-based reality television show ‘Khatron Ke Khiladi 14’. The new season will soon premiere on Colors channel.(Agency)

‘You are a woman, you don’t know anything’: Bihar CM to RJD MLA amid Assembly ruckus

Patna, July 24, 2024
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday sparked a fresh controversy when he made a disparaging comment on a woman MLA amid aggressive protests by the opposition members in the Assembly.

His outburst came as the opposition legislators were protesting on the issues of reservation and the special status of Bihar, and were not letting him speak. A visibly upset CM then bust out at RJD’s Rekha Devi, saying, “You are a woman, you do not know anything.”

Soon pandemonium broke out and the opposition legislators, particularly those from the RJD, Congress, and Left parties raised slogans, like “Nitish Kumar Hai Hai”.

Earlier, as the House assembled at 11 a.m., the opposition members started protesting in the House, demanding the state’s amended reservation laws be put in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution, to safeguard it from legal challenges.

CM Nitish Kumar attempted to address the issue, but could not as the opposition continued to protest aggressively.

He urged the opposition to sit and listen to the government’s stance, suggesting that the opposition would appreciate the efforts of the government if they understood the reasoning behind them.

The opposition leaders continued to chant slogans, specifically targeting him, saying, “Chief Minister Hai Hai”. In response, the CM said, “You are saying Hai Hai to me, then Hai Hai to you too.”

This remark elicited laughter from the Assembly members. Despite the brief moment of humour, the opposition remained resolute and moved to the well of the House and continued their protest, demanding special state status and the reinstatement of the 65 per cent reservation policy.

Speaker Nand Kishore Yadav expressed his displeasure over the aggressive protests by the opposition members. He even ordered the removal of Congress MLA Munna Tiwari, which resulted in a physical altercation between the marshal and the MLA. The marshal, acting on the Speaker’s instructions, then forcibly removed a poster from Munna Tiwari’s hand.

As a result of the aggressive protests, Speaker Nand Kishore Yadav adjourned the House until 2 p.m.

Following these events, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Chaudhary criticized the opposition, stating that their disruption over the reservation issue was baseless.

Vijay Chaudhary addressed the ongoing protests by the opposition in the Assembly, stating that the government has taken steps to challenge the Patna High Court’s decision in the Supreme Court.

He emphasized the government’s commitment to defending its reservation policy and presenting a strong case in the higher court. However, he criticized the opposition for causing unnecessary disruptions within the Assembly, implying that their protests were not constructive.(Agency)

Audiobooks are bound to do well in this age of attention war: Chetan Bhagat

New Delhi, July 24, 2024
This best-selling author, who moved from romance to mystery while keeping the romance in mystery, believes that we are living in an age of attention war where Instagram and YouTube are big players, and it has become increasingly hard to write simple books that can compete with them.

“I thought a murder mystery makes for a more gripping read. Secondly, it just gave me a challenge. I have moved to a motivational book like ‘11 Rules For Life’ and want to do diverse books and different things, which makes sense for my readers and me.

It does require more research as it is new, and not something I have done before,” says Chetan Bhagat whose ‘11 Rules For Life.’ is now available as an audiobook by ‘Audible’.

Excited by its new avatar, the author finds it fascinating that it can be accessed on the phone and people can listen to it while doing other tasks.

“Another great thing about the audiobook is that it is in my voice. I narrate it the way I intended to say it. There are a lot of personal stories of mine that I have put in this book,” he tells IANS.

Bhagat, whose novels focus on youth and urban India started writing two decades back, and debuted with ‘Five Point Something’, admits that he could never imagine the kind of success he has grabbed back then.

“It was quite hard to get my first book published. It has been two decades and people still read me, and are now listening to me through audiobooks. The fact that my writing can transcend time and mediums is fascinating,” he smiles.

For someone who holds an MBA degree, and has written around 14 books, the process of writing never gets stale as he feels that through this tool, his ideas, thoughts and expressions can reach a vast majority.

“My first book is still out there… The transferring of knowledge, feelings, and emotion, through the simple written word is fascinating to me,” asserts Bhagat who was listed in Time magazine’s list of ‘World’s 100 Most Influential People’ in 2010.

This author, who has been subjected to much trolling feels it is not important to react to everything someone says. “Those who love me, read my work. And that is what matters to me.”

Considering several of his works have been adapted into films including ‘Hello’, ‘3 Idiots’, ‘Nanban’, ‘Kai Po Che’, ‘Half Girlfriend’ and ‘2 States’, he feels lucky and adds that for many others, deals have been done — some are in the process while others stuck.

“But then, that is the nature of the film business. It takes a long time to execute. But I was lucky and went on to write the screenplay of ‘Kai Po Che’ for which I won the Filmfare award. So, it’s been great. I want to do more for OTT, but I have not got the right opportunity yet.”

Talk to him about his process and he stresses that it starts with thinking about an idea for a long time. While some ideas come and go away, others stick in his head. And the latter carries the potential to become full stories and books.

“Then I take my time fleshing out the characters, figuring out what will happen. About 60 to 70 per cent of the story is there in my head before I even start writing.

I would not say 100 per cent as that would kill the fun and mystery for me when I am writing, but broadly, I need to know what I am writing. Of course, one needs to have the discipline of writing every day,” concludes the author who is thinking about writing another book and working on his health, and relationships to get the balance right.(Agency)

Bihar woman found murdered in Bengaluru PG hostel

Bengaluru, July 24, 2024
A 24-year-old woman, working at a private company, was found murdered on the premises of her Paying Guest (PG) hostel in Koramangala locality of Bengaluru.

The deceased was identified as Kriti Kumari, a native of Bihar.

Raman Gupta, Additional Police Commissioner (East), said on Wednesday that after receiving information about the crime, a team rushed to the spot.

Preliminary investigations indicated that the assailant sneaked into the PG hostel and slit Kriti’s throat with a knife near her room on the third floor at 11.30 p.m on Tuesday, leading to her on-the-spot death.

The police were reviewing CCTV footage of the hostel and checking Kriti’s Call Detail Records (CDRs).

Initial probe indicated that the murderer was a known person and that the negligence of the PG hostel owner was a contributing factor to the murder, police said.

The cause of the crime is yet to be ascertained.(Agency)

Formula 1: Max Verstappen to be handed 10-place grid penalty for Belgian GP, claim reports

Stavelot (Belgium), July 24, 2024
The 2024 Belgian Grand Prix will mark the beginning of the month-long summer break in Formula One but the last race of the first half of the season has just been made very interesting as table-topper Max Verstappen is likely to be handed a 10-spot penalty on the grid in the upcoming race.

According to a report by The Mirror, Red Bull will be replacing the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) of Max Vertappen’s car for the race at the Circuit of Spa-Francorchamps which would result in the Dutchman being handed a 10-grid penalty for the race.

Earlier this month, Team Principal Christian Horner had announced the team’s intention of replacing the unit and said they would have to do it ‘strategically.’

The team has likely noticed their struggles in recent outings with McLaren being the fastest car on the grid. The Hungarian Grand Prix was truly one of a kind which saw Verstappen finish fifth after a collision with Lewis Hamilton.

Friction was heard between the team and Verstappen on the radio making it a feisty encounter. It will be interesting to see if McLaren can cash in on the advantage that the team has been handed by Verstappen being demoted in the grid on Sunday.

Lando Norris is currently sitting 76 points behind Verstappen on the Drivers Championship standings. Although a shot at stopping the Dutch driver from winning his fourth consecutive Championship may seem improbable, Norris has stated that the team will ‘keep fighting’ to make it happen.

“I know a lot of people are going to say that there’s no chance, but we’re going to keep fighting and I’m going to give myself the best opportunity to do so,” he explained. “Especially when you see Max and Red Bull, not performing so well, making mistakes, crashing. You want to make the most of those opportunities and plenty more can happen in the future,” said Norris to Sky Sports on Wednesday.

Sunday’s race will be significant for Red Bull not just in terms of the points table, but it could also be the last time that motorsport fans will see Sergio Perez drive for Red Bull with reports indicating that the team will be having a tough conversation during the upcoming break with the Mexican having consistently underperform in a championship-winning car.

Perez’s disappointing results have helped other teams catch up on Red Bull Racing in the Constructors’ Championship with McLaren being only 61 points behind them in second place.(Agency)

Indian Navy rescues critically injured Chinese mariner off Mumbai coast

New Delhi, July 24, 2024
Braving challenging weather conditions, the Indian Navy on Wednesday successfully evacuated a critically injured Chinese mariner from Bulk Carrier Zhong Shan Men, 200 nm (approximately 370 km) from Mumbai.

The Indian Navy said that its Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Mumbai received a distress call on Tuesday night from the bulk carrier, requesting immediate evacuation of a critically injured 51-year-old mariner who had suffered heavy blood loss.

Responding to the medical emergency, a Sea King helicopter was launched from the Indian Navy Air Station Shikra at 0550 hours on Wednesday.

“Challenging weather conditions with winds over 45 knots and heavy rolling of the ship were compounded by non-availability of continuous deck. The patient was successfully airlifted from the bridge wing of the vessel and transported back to the air station and subsequently shifted to hospital for further medical management,” the Indian Navy spokesperson posted on X.

Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) Samrat was also diverted to render assistance.

“The safe and timely evacuation of the patient was a result of joint operation coordinated by MRCC (MBI) with the Indian Navy,” the spokesperson mentioned.(Agency)