1. UP Portfolios Allocation: CM Yogi Adityanath Keeps Home
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday announced the allocation of portfolios for his 47-member Council of Ministers. The CM kept Home Ministry for himself.
Deputy CM KP Maurya got Public Works Department (PWD), Food Processing, Entertainment Tax and Public Enterprises departments. Dinesh Sharma has been allocated Higher and Secondary Education, Science and Technology, Electronics and IT departments.
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. EC Freezes AIADMK Symbol for RK Nagar Bypoll
The Election Commission on Wednesday froze the AIADMK’s “Two Leaves” symbol, prohibiting its use in the coming RK Nagar byelection in Chennai.
The decision came after the EC heard the rival factions of O Panneerselvam and VK Sasikala, who had staked their claim to the symbol. Pending a final resolution of the dispute, the factions have also been barred from using the party’s name in the bypoll.
Observing that a deeper examination of the issue was required and that the more than 20,000 pages of evidence would have to be examined, the EC, in its interim order, said any hasty decision during the nomination process for the bypoll might lead to an erroneous conclusion, prejudicially impacting the rights of either or both the sides.
(Source: The Hindu)
3. Ajmer Blast Case: Devendra Gupta, Bhavesh Patel Awarded Life Imprisonment
A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Jaipur on Wednesday awarded life imprisonment to the two convicts in the 2007 Ajmer Dargah bomb blast case.
The court awarded life imprisonment to Devendra Gupta and Bhavesh Patel, while pronouncing the quantum of sentence in the case.
On 8 March, the court had convicted Bhavesh Patel, Devendra Gupta and Sunil Joshi and acquitted others, including Swami Aseemanand. Joshi died under mysterious circumstances soon after the bombing.
(Source: The Times of India)
4. Three Meat Shops Allegedly Set on Fire in Hathras
Three meat shops were allegedly set on fire in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras district on Tuesday night, NDTV reported. The perpetrators behind the act are yet to be identified.
The fire was first noticed around 2 am on Tuesday. Visuals from the site showed the smouldering remains of the shops.
NDTV reported that some sections in the opposition feel that the BJP government’s promise to shutdown illegal slaughterhouses in the state is leading to such incidents.
(Source: The Indian Express)
5. Maharashtra Government Agrees to Demands, but Doctors Continue Protests
As more doctors across the state joined protests against attacks at hospitals, the Maharashtra government stepped in on 22 March and warned of strict action – expulsion and a six-month salary cut – if the protests were not called off by 8 pm.
Well past the 8 pm deadline, however, a majority of doctors were unrelenting, continuing the protests that has disrupted medical services across the state. Only a handful of doctors resumed duties. The government said it has now started collecting names of those still protesting, to initiate action against them.
Girish Mahajan, the state medical education minister, said the government will appoint 1,100 security guards at government-run hospitals.
Meanwhile, health services at major government hospitals in Delhi are expected to be affected on 23 March as 20,000 resident doctors have threatened to go on leave to support the strike in Maharashtra.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
6. Desist From Chewing Paan, Paan Masala in Offices: Yogi Adityanath's Latest Directive
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath asked state government officials on Wednesday to desist from chewing paan and paan masala during working hours in offices. Deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya told news agency ANI that the chief minister has directed officials to avoid using plastic in office premises.
The order came after the newly-sworn chief minister made a visit to his old office, also known as the Annexe. He was reportedly furious when he saw numerous paan stains on office walls, NDTV reported.
A day after the oath taking ceremony, Adityanath had administered a cleanliness pledge to state bureaucrats and ordered them to keep office premises clean.
(Source: The Indian Express)
7. US Ban on Carry-On E-Gadgets Will Hit Indian Travellers Hard
One out of every two passengers who fly from India to the US transit through airports in the Middle East like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha and from Saturday they will need to check in all electronic devices sized larger than a smart phone like laptops, tablets, e-readers, cameras, electronic games, DVD players, etc.
Apart from not having their personal device for work or entertainment at airport lounges and on board ultra-long haul flights, air travellers will have to worry about the possibility of their e-gadgets getting lost, misplaced or stolen from their checked-in bags.
On Friday, the US department of homeland security banned "all personal electronic devices larger than a cell phone or smart phone'' from the carry on bags (bags carried on board by the flyer) of passengers who board direct flights to the US from the airports in Amman (Jordan), Cairo (Egypt), Istanbul (Turkey), Jeddah and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), Kuwait, Doha (Qatar), Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
(Source: The Times of India)
8. 'Anti-Romeo' Squads Hit UP Streets, Cops Say Shouldn't Be Construed as Moral Policing
From Gorakhpur to Meerut, ‘anti-Romeo’ squads of policemen on Wednesday fanned out across Uttar Pradesh on the orders of new chief minister Yogi Adityanath, fulfilling a pre-poll pledge of the BJP to check eve-teasing. But the police campaign aimed at ensuring safety of women, especially young girls was reportedly marked by some stray cases of harassment of innocent youths amid concerns that it could spawn moral policing.
Special squads comprising cops from local police stations kept a vigil at markets, malls, schools, colleges, coaching centres, parks and other crowded places to see if women were being harassed. The squad detained five persons in Pilibhit on Wednesday, UP police said in Lucknow. At a few places in the state, some youths were made to do sit-ups at busy crossings holding their ears and taking pledge not to indulge in eve-teasing.
(Source: The Indian Express)
9. UGC Norms: JNU students Call Strike
A day after JNU put its admission prospectus on sale, its students called a day-long strike on Wednesday against implementation of the UGC gazette notification that has led to seat cut in research-based courses in some of its most popular schools.
The protesters assembled in front of different schools and urged other students to show solidarity by either not attending classes or giving exams a miss. “We managed to get few classes in School of Social Sciences and some presentations cancelled. However, the strike was called at the last moment, and it takes time to convince non-teaching staff to join us as they share a different relationship with the administration,“ said Satarupa Chakraborty , general secretary of JNU Students Union.
(Source: The Times of India)
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