News Analysis India

Tag: Yogi Adityanath

  • PM Modi inaugurates AIIMS, fertiliser plant in Gorakhpur ahead of Uttar Pradesh assembly polls

    By PTI

    GORAKHPUR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday dedicated to the nation three mega projects, including an AIIMS and a major fertiliser plant, in Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s home turf Gorakhpur.

    The other projects he inaugurated is a Regional Medical Research Centre of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

    The three big-ticket projects are worth over Rs 9,600 crore.

    The newly built fertiliser plant will be operated by the Hindustan Urvarak Rasayan Limited (HURL).

    The Gorakhpur AIIMS, built at a cost of Rs 1,011 crore, will benefit not only the people of eastern Uttar Pradesh but also a huge population of Bihar, Jharkhand and Nepal with its world-class health facilities, officials said.

    Similarly, the regional medical research centre set up at a cost of Rs 36 crore will facilitate the test and research of vector-borne diseases, they added.

    The high-tech lab will decrease the dependency of the area on big cities for tests related to vector-borne diseases.

    The inauguration of the three big projects comes just months ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.

  • PM Modi to inaugurate three mega projects in Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath’s home turf Gorakhpur

    By PTI

    GORAKHPUR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Tuesday inaugurate three megaprojects, including an AIIMS and a major fertiliser plant, in Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s home turf Gorakhpur.

    The three ambitious projects, set to give further impetus to the growth of underdeveloped eastern Uttar Pradesh, also include ICMR’s regional unit Regional Medical Research Centre here. Yogi Adityanath reached Gorakhpur on Monday evening and took stock of the preparations for Prime Minister Modi’s visit here on Tuesday.

    The Prime Minister will inaugurate on Tuesday the three ambitious projects worth over Rs 9,600 crore. The projects include the newly built fertilizer plant of Hindustan Urvarak Rasayan Limited (HURL), AIIMS building and ICMR’s regional unit Regional Medical Research Centre here.

    During the inspection of the fertilizer plant, Adityanath said Prime Minister PM Modi’s regime has been historic for the growth of Uttar Pradesh and, accordingly, the inaugural program of the plant and the AIIMS should be a grand one.

    Adityanath reached the fertilizer plant at around 5 pm and asked officials to take full care of the PM’s safety and security besides that of the common man.

    ALSO READ| Consistent efforts by UP government to empower specially-abled people: CM

    The fertiliser plant worth Rs 8,603 crore will produce 12.7 lakh metric tons of neem-coated urea per year, said officials, adding the project will not only bring prosperity to farmers’ lives but also create 20,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities for youths.

    The Gorakhpur AIIMS, built for Rs 1,011 crore, will benefit not only the people of eastern UP but also a huge population of Bihar, Jharkhand and Nepal with its world-class health facilities, they added.

    Similarly, the regional medical research centre worth Rs 36 crore will facilitate the test and research of vector-borne diseases, they said, adding the high-tech lab will decrease the dependency of the area on big cities for tests related to vector-borne diseases.

    Electric buses too will start operating in Gorakhpur from Tuesday, they said, adding that they had been waiting in the Nausad bus station premises for their inaugural run since October 28. Chief Minister Adityanath had flagged off electric buses in Lucknow on October 5 and 15 such buses had reached Gorakhpur on October 28.

  • RT-PCR test for all entrants: Uttar Pradesh issues guidelines for all districts on Omicron variant

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh government has issued guidelines for all districts regarding the Omicron variant of coronavirus, an official statement said on Monday. Apart from conducting RT-PCR tests of all passengers coming to the state, genome tests of all infected patients are also being carried out according to the guidelines, it said.

    Following the confirmation of cases of the new variant in other states of the country, the state government is ensuring strict vigil on the borders and is also emphasising on further improving the health facilities in rural and urban areas, the statement said.

    Medical facilities are rapidly being improved to deal with the virus. In the state’s Community Health Centres (CHCs) and Primary Health Centres (PHCs), 19,000 beds are being increased and 55,000 beds in medical colleges, it added.

    Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed senior officials to make proper arrangements in hospitals for dealing with the new variant. Along with this, the state government is also keeping a close watch on availability of oxygen, beds, laboratories, the statement said.

  • UP govt to start distribution of free tablets, smartphones from mid-December

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh government is set to commence the distribution of tablets and smartphones to students from the second week of December.

    The gadgets will be distributed under the scheme announced by CM Yogi Adityanath on October 5 to equip students with technology to help them pursue their studies. 

    According to official sources, the state government had floated the largest tender for smartphones and tablets worth Rs 4,700 crore on the GeM portal. A number of well-known companies, including Samsung (Vision) and Acer (Celkon) and Vishtel (Iris) for tablets and Lava, Samsung (Celcon) and Samsung (United) for smartphones — had submitted their bids which are in the stage of finalisation.

    As per the break-up of the tender money, Rs 2,500 crore would be spent to buy tablets and Rs 2,200 crore for smartphones. The work order for the distribution of tablets and phones will be issued in December’s first week. Around five lakh smartphones and 2.5 lakh tablets will be distributed in the first phase, said a senior official.

    ALSO READ | SP chief Akhilesh Yadav takes potshots at Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi, says those having no family can’t care for citizens

    To facilitate the endeavour, a dedicated portal named ‘DG Shakti’ has been created to be launched by CM Yogi soon, said a government spokesperson. The spokesperson added that the entire process from registration to smartphone and tablet delivery would be free for the students who would not have to apply or register anywhere.

    The colleges are transferring details of their students directly to the university which is feeding the data on the portal. Till Monday, data of about 27 lakh students had been uploaded on the portal, said officials.

    The free tablets and smartphones will be given to around 68 lakh students enrolled in courses including graduation, postgraduation, diploma, paramedical, nursing courses and skill development programmes under the state government as well as to skilled workers enrolled on the government’s Sewa Mitra portal.

    According to the senior government officials, the companies which will be given the work order for smartphones and tablets, will have to complete it in three months staggered as 40 percent in December, 30-30 per cent in the next two months.

  • SP chief Akhilesh Yadav takes potshots at Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi, says those having no family can’t care for citizens

    By PTI

    BANDA: Those who do not have a family will not care for the people as they cannot comprehend the pain of a common household, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said in a veiled dig at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday.

    He also sought to know from the people whether they wanted the “Yogi government or a Yogya (capable) government”.

    “We are having families which is why we understand what the family members of a labourer or a farmer go through when he dies”.Those raising a family understand the pain of an ordinary family. Those who do not have one will not and hence they will not care,” Yadav said at the ‘Samajwadi Vijay Rath Yatra’ here before moving to Mahoba.

    On BJP’s slogan of “Damdaar Sarkar” (powerful government) in Uttar Pradesh, Yadav quipped they only tell “damdaar jhooth” (big lies).

    “The BJP had assured jobs to Shiksha Mitras, However, after four-and-a-half years, it has only killed the dreams of the youth who were expecting to be gainfully employed,” he alleged.

    On the government’s move to provide tablets and smartphones to students, he retorted one cannot expect a chief minister, who cannot operate laptops and smartphones, to extend such facilities.

    “Can a Baba chief minister operate a laptop? Now it is heard that he cannot even operate a smartphone.

    If he could, the government would have given them to our youth by now,” the SP chief said in a veiled attack on Chief Minister, as Yogi is also a Mahant (chief priest) of revered Gorakhnath temple.

    Yadav alleged that the Yogi government deliberately leaked the question paper of the Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET) as it would not be in a position to provide jobs to successful candidates.

    He promised that Samajwadi Party will employ those with Basic Teachers Training and Bachelor of Education certification if voted to power.

    Yadav said though the people of Bundelkhand extended full support to the BJP in the previous assembly and Lok Sabha polls, the region saw no development. “The government’s double engine failed by the time it reached Bundelkhand,” he said.

    The SP chief alleged that the incapacity of the government had left its citizens like “orphans” during the worst period of the COVID-19 epidemic a few months back.

    Referring to an advertisement in which a popular bridge from Kolkata was inadvertently referred to as a work in Uttar Pradesh under Yogi Adityanath, Yadav said the government was visible only in pictures and there, too, it was caught with lies.

    “Those who have peddled lies even in advertisements should be shown the way out,” he said.

    Yadav said his government will either strengthen the existing schemes or launch new ones to empower the “mothers and sisters” of the region if voted to power.

    According to NITI Aayog, there are more than 32 lakh poor people in Bundelkhand.

  • AMU scholar claims his PhD degree was revoked for praising PM Modi, varsity denies charges

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: The Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) is yet again in news as one of its scholars has alleged that he was being targeted and being denied a PhD degree for “praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the media.”

    However, the AMU administration has denied the allegation saying that the student was issued a degree in the wrong subject inadvertently and no politics was involved in the matter.

    While seeking justice, Danish Rahim has not only moved High Court but has also written letters to UP CM Yogi Adityanath and PM Modi for his urgent intervention in the issue.

    Rahim, in his letter to the PM, claimed that the AMU administration had asked him to return the PhD degree in linguistic so that he could be issued another in Language in Advertising and Marketing (LAM) course instead. “It’s happening to me because I praised PM,” said the scholar adding that he was reprimanded by the chairman of the Department of Linguistics for praising PM Modi.

    The issue dates back to December 22, 2020, when Rahim had purportedly spoken to a news channel after the Prime Minister’s virtual address on the 200th foundation day of the University. “After that, the chairman of the department of linguistics called me and warned me not to praise PM in public as this is against our culture,” Rahim said in his letter to Modi.

    Rahim claimed that he was asked to refrain from giving such statements which were against the university culture. “This infers that he associates you (PM Modi) with a right-wing group and hardliner politician, which in my view, is merely a myth,” he says in the letter to the PM.

    He further added that a notice had been issued asking him to deposit his PhD degree back to the university. “I used my five years of hard work to get this degree. How can I return my degree that too for praising the PM of 138 crore Indians? If AMU cancels my PhD, my whole career will be at stake,” he wrote in the letter.

    Rahim also contended that the university was trying to change his degree to one that was “not approved anywhere at the PhD level”. 

    The AMU administration has denied all the allegations. The spokesperson of the university Prof Shafey Kidway said: “The allegations are totally baseless. He (Danish Rahim) did his MA & PhD in LAMM (Language of Advertising & Marketing) course at the Department of Linguistics, which also offers a PhD degree in linguistics. Since he did his MA in LAM, he should get PhD degree in LAM.”

    He added that the administrative decision was not influenced by politics. “By mistake, he was given PhD degree in linguistics. The mistake will be rectified… This incident has nothing to do with politics,” Prof Kidway said. The AMU administration, in a notice issued to Danish Rahim, stated: “It has been brought to notice that you were admitted to the PhD programme in LAMM under the Department of Linguistics in the academic session 2016-2017. As reported by your Supervisor and Chairman of the Department, your work throughout the research was on LAMM itself. However, at the time of submission of the thesis, and its subsequent evaluation and viva-voce, the same was inadvertently considered as  PhD in linguistics instead of PhD in LAMM under the department of linguistics.”

    The university had asked Danish Rahim to return the ‘incorrect degree’ for replacement within a week of the issuance of the notice. “The whole matter was examined and put up before the vice-chancellor who has ordered that you deposit the incorrect PhD degree already issued to you in linguistics so that the correct PhD degree in LAMM be issued to you,” the varsity said in the notice. 

  • BJP govt trying to make reservations ineffective, claims Mayawati

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief and former CM Mayawati has accused the BJP government of trying to make reservations ineffective through various ways. She also alleged that owing to its casteist mentality, the Modi government had turned a deaf ear to the demand of OBCs for a caste-based census.

    While interacting with media persons on Tuesday, the BSP chief claimed that her party leaders from the OBC community, minority community especially Muslims and Jat community were entrusted with bringing in people from their community on the reserved seats.

    “If BSP forms government in the state then just like before our government will keep in mind the rights and development of OBCs, Muslims and Jats,” stated Mayawati and added once again that BSP will be contesting the 2022 UP Polls on its own and will not be forging any pre-poll alliance.

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    Attributing the reservation benefits to OBCs in education and government jobs to the efforts of honourable Baba Saheb Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar, Mayawati accused the Congress of not implementing the recommendations of the Mandal Commission despite ruling the country for the longest after independence. “These recommendations were later implemented with the efforts of BSP during the VP Singh government at the Centre,” claimed Mayawati.

    However, she claimed that the present dispensation, both at the Centre and state, was trying to make reservations ineffective through various ways by making laws and rules and also through courts. “The atrocities on SC, ST in the country are not yet over,” she said.

    Speaking on behalf of the minority community especially the Muslims, the BSP chief said that they were also unhappy with the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh. “Their development has almost stopped under this government. They are being harassed by people who frame them in false cases, they are being terrorized through new rules and laws,” said Mayawati accusing the BJP of rendering step-motherly treatment to the Muslims. “However during the BSP regime along with their development, their safety was also ensured,” claimed the BSP chief.

    On the question of suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha MPs, the BSP chief said that the government should not be so harsh and should find a middle path of consensus.

  • Yogi’s warning to Owaisi, ‘followers of abba jaan’: Don’t try to inflame passions over CAA

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW?KANPUR: Uttar Padesh chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday again used the term ‘abba jaan’ as a jibe, threatening strict action against those who incite passion over the Citizenship Amendment act.

    His main target was AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi who recently demanded the withdrawal of the law, but the CM’s remark could be interpreted by many as a reference to the Muslim community in general.

    He called the Hyderabad-based leader, whose party is contesting the coming UP Assembly elections, an agent of the Samajwadi Party.

    The chief minister had sparked a row in September by using the Urdu term for ‘father’, saying that rations distributed by the previous state government went to those who say ‘abba jaan’.

    In Kanpur on Tuesday, Adityanath said there used to be riots every “third or fourth day” in Uttar Pradesh earlier.

    “I would like to warn the person who is once again is trying to incite feelings in the name of CAA.”

     “I am asking followers of ‘chacha jaan’ (uncle) and ‘abba jaan’ to listen carefully that if attempts are made to vitiate the atmosphere of the state by inciting feelings, the state government will deal with it strictly,” the chief minister said.

    Adityanath was addressing a convention of polling booth-level BJP leaders, also attended by party president J P Nadda.

    “Everyone knows that Owaisi is inciting feelings as an agent of the SP. But now UP is not known for riots but as a riot-free state,” he said.

    The CM said the government works for development and does not patronise mafias.

    “It is a government that runs bulldozers on the chests of the mafias,” he said in a reference to the demolition of property owned by criminals.

    While addressing a meeting in Barabanki on Sunday, Owaisi had demanded that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) should be withdrawn as well after the announcement on the repeal of the agri laws.

    “The CAA is against the Constitution. If the BJP government does not take back this law, we will come out on the streets and another Shaheen Bagh will come up here,” the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader had said.

    A long protest was staged in Shaheen Bagh locality in the national capital against the CAA last year.

    The CAA is aimed at providing Indian citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who entered the country on or before 31 December 2014.

    Adityanath said besides the Centre and the state government, only BJP workers were on the street to help people during the Covid pandemic.

    He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for launching schemes to provide foodgrain to people.

    Referring to the Kanpur region, he said its social fabric was damaged and development affected due to the politics of family (‘pariwarwad’) and caste (‘jatiwad’) since Independence.

  • Yogi Adityanath tweets photos of him taking a walk with PM Narendra Modi, speaks about ‘making new India’

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Ahead of the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, two photos of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a stroll with his hand on Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s shoulder have created quite a buzz.

    Sharing the photos on Twitter, Adityanath also wrote a poem about the commitment of making a “new India”.

    The photos of Modi with his hand on Adityanth’s shoulder deep in conversation were snapped at the Uttar Pradesh Raj Bhavan.

    हम निकल पड़े हैं प्रण करकेअपना तन-मन अर्पण करकेजिद है एक सूर्य उगाना हैअम्बर से ऊँचा जाना हैएक भारत नया बनाना है pic.twitter.com/0uH4JDdPJE
    — Yogi Adityanath (@myogiadityanath) November 21, 2021
    The prime minister, who is in Lucknow to attend the DGPs’ conference, is staying at the Raj Bhavan since Friday night.

    Adityanath had gone to meet the prime minister on Sunday morning.

    However, it is not known what discussion took place between them.

    Along with the photos, Adityanath wrote a poem in Hindi, which roughly translates to: “We have started a journey with a pledge, dedicating our mind and body, to make the sun rise; rise high above the sky and make a new India”.

    Retweeting the tweet, Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh said, “Moving towards comprehensive victory.”

    The opposition Samajwadi Party scoffed at the photos of Chief Minister Adityanath and Prime Minister Modi.

    Without a direct reference to Adityanath’s tweet, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav also wrote a poem in Hindi: “For the sake of the word, it has to be done in politics; unwillingly one has to put a hand over another’s shoulder and take a few steps together.”

  • 2022 UP polls: BJP weaves poll campaign around Yogi Adityanath’s persona

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: Deviating from its strategy of not disclosing the CM face ahead of polls, the BJP has changed the course in UP as it has made it amply clear from all possible forums that Yogi Adityanath would hold the command of the government if the party returns to power in 2022.

    The party has started highlighting Yogi’s persona as part of its poll campaign. The campaign is being woven around a discourse laced with songs, jingles and slogans eulogizing Yogi as a tough administrator, hard taskmaster, the pro-active and honest chief minister who has zero-tolerance to corruption and crime.

    Union Home Minister Amit Shah, during his speech in Azamgarh on Saturday, appealed to the people to ensure BJP’s win by adding more seats to PM Modi’s UP kitty by giving votes to Yogi Adityanath. 

    As per the BJP insiders, the party campaign cell is working day in and day out to weave a pro-Yogi narrative around the songs like a blockbuster number – Sabse bade laddiyya re (the biggest fighter) — from the movie Omkara. “We have been working on a number of songs and jingles to give more sheen to Yogi’s persona,” said a senior BJP leader.

    BJP sources claimed that it was clear that Yogi Adityanath would be the party’s face in UP and that Amit Shah would hold the reins of UP elections himself as the party had understood that accomplishing Mission 2022 would help it romp home in 2024.

    ALSO READ | Jinnah continues to dominate UP’s political discourse as Yogi now calls Akhilesh Taliban supporter

    The party sources claimed that the UP poll campaign would highlight how Yogi Adityanath had emulated PM Narendra Modi’s style of governance in UP. “How Yogi has changed the approach of governance which used to be perceived as lackadaisical and laid-back during previous UP regimes. This would be highlighted in the campaign for 2022 UP polls,” said a senior BJP leader. “The song – sabse bade ladaiyya re — sums up the traits of Yogi’s personality aptly.

    Besides being a seer who always puts his work and people’s welfare before anything, Yogi has been able to rid the state of the empire of terror of Mafia and criminals demolishing their syndicates,” says Dr Chandra Mohan, a senior BJP leader. He adds that the COVID management of the Yogi government has received accolades not only in the country but abroad also. “He even skipped the last rites of his father as he was in the thick of handling situation arisen due to the second wave of the pandemic which was at its peak then.

    He has set an example of how the seers work selflessly rising above all the worldly ties as per the demand of the time and space,” said a senior BJP leader. Moreover, besides making the electorate aware of the importance of this election during the campaign, the BJP contemplates telling the voters how this election is crucial for UP and the country as a whole.

    The saffron brigade will also try to create a perception that the BJP is pitched against no one as there is no strong opposition to be trounced. This will be substantiated by the joining of a whole lot of leaders from SP and BSP in the days to come, said the insiders.