QBullet: PM Rallies for Swachh Bharat; Nitish To Attend RSS Event
Read The Quint’s compilation of top stories in national dailies across the country.
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1. Swachh Bharat Campaign Needs Popular Support to Succeed: PM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sought popular participation to make the Swachh Bharat campaign a success, saying even a thousand Gandhis and a lakh Modis and all the CMs would not succeed unless the mission was adopted by India's 125 crore population.
Aware of the daunting targets even three years after the launch of the mission, the PM said hurdles should not be a deterrent and appealed to the opposition not to politicise the cleanliness project that aims to bring about social change.
“Just because there are difficulties, should we let it be?“ he asked and reiterated his government's resolve to take the Swachh Bharat Mission for ward. He asked his critics not to “politicise and make fun“ of the cleanliness initiative. He said people's participation in the initiative would ensure its success despite scepticism in some quarters.
(Source: Times of India)
2. Nitish at Sangh Yagna
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who had called for a "Sangh-mukt Bharat" not too long ago, is likely to share the stage with RSS sarsangchalak Mohan Bhagwat later this week at a conclave in honour of an 11th century theologian of Hinduism.
The two are expected to participate in a "Dharam Sansad" that is taking place to mark the 1,000th birth anniversary of Ramanuja Acharya, a theologian born in AD 1017 whose teachings had an influence on the Bhakti movement.
As part of the gathering, the followers of the sage have organised a yagna at Chandwa village, around 4km from Bhojpur town, on Wednesday.
(Source: The Telegraph)
3. Rs 156 Cr Set Aside for Taj Mahal Projects: UP Govt on Reports of Monument Missing From Tourism Booklet
The Uttar Pradesh government, in a press release on Monday, said that it has proposed a slew of tourism projects worth Rs 370 crore, around half of which is meant for the Taj Mahal and its surrounding areas.
The latest release came amid media reports that the historic monument had been dropped from the list of tourist destinations published by the state government. The new booklet issued by the UP government has no mention of Taj Mahal and instead carries the name of temples from Mathura, Ayodhya and Gorakhpur in the list.
Speaking on the inclusion in the booklet, Avanish Awasthi, Director General, Department of Tourism of UP government, told The Indian Express that the booklet just included a few of the projects by the state and was in no way a reflection of the complete list of tourism projects.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. BHU Vice Chancellor Girish Chandra Tripathi's Dussehra Holiday Sparks 'Indefinite Leave' Buzz
Banaras Hindu University vice chancellor Girish Chandra Tripathi has gone home for “personal reasons”, triggering a campus buzz that his leave could be indefinite but the administration said he will be back when the institute reopens after the Dussehra break on Tuesday.
The beleaguered vice chancellor’s leave activated the grapevine as the BHU has been on the edge since the 23 September police crackdown on protesters demanding action on a complaint of molestation by a hosteller.
Several students, mostly women, were wounded in the campus unrest that threatened to spread to other universities.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. Bhagwat Flashes Proactive Intent
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh will now play a more proactive role in governance and deny the Narendra Modi government free rein in spheres such as the economy and education, many in the organisation believe.
Their inference is based on Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat's annual Vijaya Dashami speech on Saturday, which is being seen in parivar circles as a report card on the government's performance, citing shortcomings and providing direction.
"If you go through the speech closely, you will see that Bhagwatji praised the Modi government where it deserves praise but was extremely critical of its failures. For instance, on the economic front, the message was clear that the government was not on the right track and needed to correct its course," a Sangh source said.
(Source: The Telegraph)
6. A Temple for Modi to Be Built in Meerut
A temple in the name of Narendra Modi to be built in Meerut where admirers of the Prime Minister can offer worship.
JP Singh, the ‘follower and supporter’ of PM Modi, told reporters that the temple would be built on five acres of land in the Sardhana area of Meerut where a 100-foot statue of the Prime Minister would be installed.
Singh, who retired on 29 September as assistant engineer in the Irrigation department, said, “I am inspired by the love Narendra Modiji has for mother India. The ‘Modi magic’ deserves that a temple be built which will also be a kind of commemoration of Modiji’s model of development.”
(Source: The Hindu)
7. No Efforts Being Made to End Corruption: Hazare Slams Modi, to Go on 'Satyagraha'
Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare on Monday accused Narendra Modi of failing to keep his promise of creating a corruption-free India, and said the Prime Minister “did nothing” to enforce the Lokpal Bill.
He said he would launch another agitation on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s 148th birth anniversary from Rajghat, where Hazare paid tribute to the Father of the Nation.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
8. Fighting on: Infants Back in Apex Court for Ban on Cracker
Three infants, whose petition led the Supreme Court to ban firecrackers last year in the capital, have approached court again.
Through their advocate fathers, the children want SC to re-impose the ban it lifted “for the time being“ allowing order of suspending the permanent licences for sale and retail of firecrackers within the National Capital Region.
SC had allowed existing licensed manufacturers to exhaust their stock.
(Source: Times of India)
9. Thieves Decamp With Ram Rahim's Dress, Shoes From Jhajjar Dera
Unidentified thieves on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday targeted the Naamcharcha Ghar of the Dera Sacha Sauda located in Daboda village in Jhajjar and decamped with several electronic items besides the dress and shoes of Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim.
The premises was abandoned by the Dera followers after Ram Rahim’s conviction in two separate rape cases on 25 August.
The police said that the thieves decamped with an inverter, two batteries, one computer monitor, four CCTV cameras, an amplifier and mattresses besides the dress and shoes of Ram Rahim that were kept as his idol for his followers to pray. The police have registered a case against unknown persons under Sections 380 (theft) and 457 (house-trespass) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
(Source: Hindustan Times)