552 more Covid patients get well in Odisha

by Argus News

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

In Odisha, 552 more Covid patients have recovered and are being discharged, informed the Health and Family Welfare Department on Saturday.

Bhubaneswar, Jul 16: In Odisha, 552 more Covid patients have recovered and are being discharged, informed the Health and Family Welfare Department on Saturday.

While209 recoveries were reported from Khordha district, 118 were reported from Cuttack, 42 from Sundargarh, 29 from Puri, 16 from Mayurbhanj, 15 from Sonepur and 10 each were reported from Nuapada and Sambalpur districts.

Similarly, nine recoveries were reported from Jagatsinghpur and Nayagarh, eight from Gajapati, five each from Bhadrak, Boudh and Kalahandi, four from Jajapur, three each from Baleswar and Keonjhar, two each from Ganjam and Rayagada and one recovery each was reported from Jharsuguda, Kendrapara and Malkangiri district.

Besides, 45 recoveries were reported from the State Pool.

With these fresh recoveries, the total recovered cases of Odisha stood at 12,84,235 by Saturday evening.

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‘Two Big Mistakes By Nehru’: Amit Shah Blames First PM For PoK

by Hemanta Pande

New Delhi, Dec 6: Blaming Jawaharlal Nehru for Pakistan occupying part of Jammu and Kashmir which belongs to India, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said that due to the "two blunders" of the 1st Prime Minister, Kashmir had to "suffer for years."

While replying to a debate on the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 in Lok Sabha, Shah noted that Nehru made "two blunders"-- declared a ceasefire without winning the entire Kashmir (during India-Pakistan war in 1948) and also took the Kashmir issue to the United Nations.

Shah asserted that if Nehru had taken the right steps, PoK would be an integral part of India today.

Also Read: "PoK Hamara Hai": Amit Shah In Parliament

"I support the word that was used here -- Nehruvian blunder. Because of the blunder that was committed during the time of Nehru, Kashmir had to suffer. With responsibility, I want to say that the two blunders that happened during the tenure of Jawaharlal Nehru, due to his decisions, because of which Kashmir had to suffer for years. The first is to declare a ceasefire - when our army was winning, the ceasefire was imposed. If there had been a ceasefire after three days, PoK would have been a part of India today...The second is to take our internal issue to the UN," Shah said.

During the debate, the Home Minister also said that the root cause of terrorism in the region was nothing but Article 370, which was abrogated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government in 2019.

"During the 1994-2004 period, a total of 40,164 incidents of terrorism were registered. During the 2004-2014 period, a total of 7,217 incidents of terrorism took place. During the 2014-2023 period, under the Narendra Modi government, the total incidents of terrorism registered have been around 2,000, which marks a 70 per cent reduction in the incidents of terrorism. That is why I was right in saying that the root cause of separatism, the root cause of terrorism was nothing but Article 370," he said.

The Home Minister, during his address in the lower house, reaffirmed that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is part of the country.
He said that the Delimitation Commission, set up by the Centre for the delimitation of asssembly and parliamentary constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir, has reserved 24 seats for PoK.

Also Read: Two J&K Bills Brought To Give Justice To Those Deprived Of Rights For Last 70 Yrs: Shah

"The Delimitation (Commission) went everywhere in J-K. The representatives of several communities, including Kashmiri migrants and people displaced in PoK, had submitted applications to them regarding their representation in state assembly. I am happy that the commission has taken cognizance of this and the (then) Election Commissioner of India has nominated two seats in state assembly for Kashmiri migrants and one seat for a person displaced in PoK, which has been occupied unauthorizedly by Pakistan," Shah said.

"Earlier there were 37 seats in Jammu (division), now there are 43. Earlier there were 46 in Kashmir, now there are 47. And 24 seats for PoK have been reserved, Kyuki Woh Hamara Hai (because PoK is ours)," he added.

During the debate, Shah also said that these bills pertain to bringing justice to those against whom injustice was done.
He said that, as per figures, around 46,631 families and 1,57,967 people were displaced in their own country. "This bill is to give them rights and representation," he added.

The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 seeks to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004.
It was enacted to provide for reservation in appointment and admission in professional institutions for the members of the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and other socially and educationally backward classes.

The bill seeks to amend Section 2 of the Reservation Act to change the nomenclature of "weak and under privileged classes (social castes)" to "other backward classes" and make consequential amendments.

The other bill seeks to provide representation to "Kashmiri Migrants", "Displaced Persons from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir" and Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assembly of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir "to preserve their political rights as well as for their overall social and economic development".

Also Read: National News

It seeks to insert new sections 15A and 15B in the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 to nominate not more than two members, one of whom shall be a woman, from the community of "Kashmiri Migrants" and one Member from "Displaced Persons from Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir", to the Jammu and Kashmir assembly.

Twenty-nine members participated in the debate on the bills. (ANI)

Centre Sets Up 3 Counter-Insurgency & Anti-Terrorist Schools In Odisha For Training Police Personnel

by Hemanta Pande

New Delhi, Dec 6: The government has set up three counter-insurgency and anti-terrorist schools in Odisha for training police personnel, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

Union Minister of State for Home Nityanad Rai responded in a written reply to a query whether the National Bureau of Police Research and Development (NBPR&D) has considered setting up a Central Detective Training School in Odisha to improve training methods of State Police while investigating and dealing with cases in Left Wing Extremist (LWE) areas due to a high incidence of LWE insurgency in the state.

Read: Odisha News

"There is no proposal by the Bureau of Police Research and Development to set up a Central Detective Training Institute in Odisha. However, the Government has set up Counter Insurgency and Anti-Terrorist Schools for training police personnel. Three such schools have been set up in Odisha," said the MoS.

To strengthen the training inputs in the states affected by insurgency and terrorism, during the 11th Plan period, a scheme was approved for the establishment of 20 Counter Insurgency and Anti Terrorist Schools (CIATSs) four each in the states of Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha at the cost of Rs 52.40 crores. In these Schools, 75,000 police personnel were likely to get trained for combating terrorism and Naxalism.

The proposed training mainly is outdoor and does not require large-scale permanent constructions. Most of the required infrastructure is temporary. The contribution of this MHA towards the scheme is to provide funds mainly for the establishment of CIAT Schools, recurring expenditure thereon and equipment upgradation.

Read: National News

The land for these schools is to be provided by the concerned state governments. They are also to provide administrative support for running the CIAT Schools. The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) is to sign the Memorandum of Understandings (MOUs) to this effect with the respective state. (ANI)

Cyclone Michaung: Odisha SRC Directs District Collectors To Submit Report On Crop Loss Due To Rain

by Hemanta Pande

Bhubaneswar, Dec 6: The Odisha Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) directed District Collectors to immediately assess the damage caused to crops due to rains under the influence of cyclone Michaung.

In a letter to the Collectors, SRC Satyabrata Sahu, said, "I am to say that widespread rain has been observed across that state during the past couple of days under the influence of Cydone "Michaung', which might have caused damage to standing Kharif crops and horticulture crops. To ameliorate the sufferings of the affected farmers, Agricultural Input Subsidy (AIS), as per norms of the State Disaster Response Fund, will be provided to farmers sustaining crop loss of 33% and above."

The SRC also requested the Collectors to conduct field-level crop loss assessment through joint inquiry by the officials of the Revenue and Disaster Management department and Agriculture and Farmer Empowerment department through eye estimation to ascertain the crop area damaged of 33% and above, and submit ULB/ Bock GP/village-wise report as per the format enclosed by December 12.

"While assessing the extent of crop loss, the land schedule/ROR of affected farmers should be verified from Bhulekh. Collectors will accord approval of crop loss (famer-wise extent of crop area damaged as assessed) and intimate requirement of funds or disbursement of AIS as admissible," the letter stated.

The officer of the Special Relief Commissioner further mentioned that geo-tagged and time-stamped photographs of the damaged crop area must be taken during assessment and preserved in the case records.