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NDTV
6 hours ago
- Business
- NDTV
"PM Modi Built Ram Mandir, Brought 5G To India": Amit Shah
Prime Minister Narendra Modi built the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and also brought 5G, said Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday, underlining the government's focus on both heritage and progress. "People with leftist ideology ask what good came from building the Ram Mandir. I say they won't understand. Modi ji built the Ram temple and brought 5G to India. He took digital payments to the vegetable seller on the street," Mr Shah said, while attending 63rd Foundation Day of Bharat Vikas Parishad (BVP). The Minister also highlighted Modi government's broader efforts - from replacing colonial symbols with Indian ones to expanding AIIMS, IITs, and promoting education in regional languages. Praising BVP's legacy of selfless service inspired by Swami Vivekananda, Mr Shah said the organisation has over 1,600 branches across the country and continues to serve with dedication, especially during disasters and social causes. "It is not just an organisation, but an idea that links Indians to their identity," said Mr Shah. "BVP has been walking the path of service long before this era-and it will continue to do so," Mr Shah added.
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
SP has no moral right to talk education: Dy CM Maurya
Deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Sunday criticised the Samajwadi Party (SP) for opposing the ongoing merger of government primary schools, alleging that the party lacks real issues and is not concerned about the quality of education. UP deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya in Prayagraj on Sunday. (HT Photo) Addressing the media in Prayagraj, Maurya said, 'Only those schools with no or fewer students are being merged. The Allahabad high court has upheld this decision. SP's objection is baseless.' He accused SP of undermining educational reforms during its tenure and recalled, 'When Rajnath Singh was the education minister, an anti-cheating ordinance was introduced, but SP revoked it after coming to power.' Maurya alleged that the Samajwadi Party has consistently supported crime and mafia instead of focusing on education. 'SP has no moral right to talk about education,' he said, adding that the current BJP government has brought transparency in examinations. Taking a dig at the opposition, Maurya claimed that SP in Uttar Pradesh and RJD in Bihar give shelter to criminals during elections. 'Whenever elections approach, these parties bring criminals to the forefront. The NDA government will deal strictly with such elements,' he warned. 'Whenever elections approach, SP brings forward goons, mafias, and criminals. The same happens with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in Bihar,' he said, warning of strict action by the NDA government. Commenting on the language row in Maharashtra, Maurya said both Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray have lost public support. 'Every Indian language deserves respect. Any misbehaviour on the basis of language is unacceptable,' he said. Reacting to SP's criticism of the Kanwar Yatra, Maurya said, 'These are the same people who ordered firing on Ram devotees and used force on Shiv devotees. Akhilesh Yadav's entire rule was anti-Hindu and centred on Muslim appeasement.' On Congress leader Pramod Tiwari's remarks about the Bihar elections, Maurya said the BJP has continued to win public support, forming governments in three out of four recent state elections. He asserted that the NDA would return to power in Bihar and added, 'In 2027, just like 2017, we will win over 325 seats in Uttar Pradesh.'
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Can caste, Constitution break Hindutva in 2027 polls?
Until the 2014 general elections, in which religious polarisation became more pronounced in deciding the poll outcome, caste and caste alone was the primary ingredient of electoral politics in Uttar Pradesh (UP). So much so, that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had also constructed social coalitions alongside their main poll plank of Hindu and Hindutva for the polls. Interestingly, in the 1991 elections, when the BJP had garnered a clear majority in the UP assembly, the party leadership had got its caste calculus right even though the northern states, including UP, were caught in an unprecedented frenzy over the Ram temple campaign. Caste will likely be back on the centerstage for the 2027 assembly elections as Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav, aggressively rides on his tested PDA (Pichda or backwards, Dalit and Alpsankhyak or minorities) formula. In the 2024 general elections, he along with Congress scion Rahul Gandhi had succeeded in breaking the BJP's Hindutva plank which, along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's charisma and pro-poor schemes, had won them four state assembly and Lok Sabha elections since 2014. In fact, many political pundits had taken Akhilesh's consistent reiteration of PDA lightly until it paid him huge dividends in 2024, propelling the party into prime position in the Lok Sabha. As of now, a confident Akhilesh seems to be setting the agenda for the 2027 polls as the political narrative in the state is dominated by caste-oriented incidents -- humiliation of Yadav kathavachaks (narrator of holy scriptures) in Etawah, clash between Rajbhars and Karni Sena in Varanasi and the vandalisation of Dalit MP Ramji Lal Suman's home in Agra, to mention a few. Such clashes have not only infuriated the lower castes and OBCs, but also revived the wedge between the upper and the lower castes. It was with great effort that the BJP leadership had succeeded in removing the tag of 'a party of Brahmins, Banias and Rajputs', besides bringing various castes into the Hindutva fold, amplified by chief minister Yogi Adityanath's statements in which he had described the 2022 elections as a battle between 80% vs 20 % (Hindu vs Muslims) Yogi is retaliating, painting SP as a corrupt party which patronises criminals. Reminding people of the firing on Ram Bhakts in Ayodhya by the Mulayam Singh Yadav government, he recently said: 'Ram Manohar Lohia, a socialist had started the tradition of Ramayan mela while his current chelas ( disciples) open fire on Ram Bhakts.' However, several senior BJP leaders have started discussing the impact of the SP's PDA as Akhilesh seems to be setting the narrative in the run up to the polls. The elections are still several months away and it is going to be a tough task even for Akhilesh to sustain the tempo, even though he appears to have galvanized the cadre. The BJP is yet to show its cards. The party high command is holding discussions to decide the caste combination that would work to their advantage in the elections - something on the lines of their earlier experiment of a backward CM and an upper caste state president or vice versa. Yogi is a Rajput and, thus, there is a vacancy for a backward leader in the party. Speculation about a change of leadership has been going on incessantly but in all probability a CM in saffron, perhaps, suits both the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leadership till they plan to elevate and move him to the Centre. Deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya's recent meeting with Union home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi has added fuel to the fire. Maurya posted pictures of the meeting with Shah and posted on X, 'The Chanakya of Indian politics and the source of inspiration and guidance for millions of workers like us, the esteemed Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shahji, graciously met me, and I had the privilege of receiving detailed guidance through discussions on various important topics, including repeating the 2017 success in Uttar Pradesh in 2027 and forming the BJP government for the third time.' BJP with its allies had won 325 seats in 2017, while SP- Congress had won 54 seats. In 2022, while BJP+ seats dipped to 255, the SP+ won 125 seats. Akhilesh had recently pointed out the margin of votes polled, which comes to 8507787; the margin further reduced to 147695 votes taking into account the strength of NDA vs INDIA. Maurya's post is being interpreted in different ways as he did not mention the party's victory in the 2022 assembly polls. The 2017 elections were driven by Union minister Amit Shah and Maurya, who was then the BJP state president. He was quite hopeful of getting the coveted chair of CM as a reward for his hard work. But the crown went to Yogi, the angst of which Maurya is said to be carrying even today. Though Yogi had campaigned in the state's western region instead of confining himself to Gorakhpur, the credit for the spectacular victory, outperforming the party's clear win of 1991, was largely credited to the meticulous planning of Shah. But in 2022, Yogi became the hero as the BJP's repeat performance was viewed as public vindication of his governance. The other indication of Maurya's possible change of role is Shah's description of him as his friend from a public platform. But would he go to Delhi or would he get a bigger role in the state? He is most unlikely to return to the party state president's position. As usual, the BJP high command's decisions remain wrapped in secrecy. Caste and Hindutva A few party leaders privately said that the politics of Hindutva and Hindu or of Mandir-Masjid would not pave the way for BJP's victory in 2027 as the election is most likely to be fought on caste lines. However, what could work for the BJP is pro-poor schemes, including ration, besides Shah's planning, the party's active machinery and RSS support. Soon after the 2024 setback, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat toured the state and deployed cadres to clear misgivings about the BJP vis a vis the Constitution. The SP has not only given the PDA slogan but has relentlessly worked to convince the non-Yadav OBCs and Dalits about its sincerity through distribution of tickets, positions and by raising their issues. Akhilesh's decision to set up a party office in Azamgarh is also aimed at consolidating the party's position in the region. Eastern UP, especially the Varanasi-Azamgarh divisions, has been a stronghold of the SP and also the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the past. However, after Modi moved to Varanasi, coupled with the BJP's alliances with small caste-based regional parties like the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), the Apna Dal (Sonelal) and Nishad Party in the area, it outperformed the two UP-based parties. The three Cs – caste, constitution and caste census -- are likely to play a key role in the 2027 polls, cutting into the BJP's Hindu-Hindutva plank. While Ayodhya and Kashi paid them huge dividends in earlier polls, Mathura may not, as Yadavs consider Krishna as their ancestor.
India Gazette
2 days ago
- Politics
- India Gazette
Deployment of RAT indicates engine failure: Commercial Pilot Rajiv Pratap Rudy on Air India plane crash report
New Delhi [India], July 12 (ANI): Commercial Pilot and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy on Saturday said that the deployment of Ram Air Turbine (RAT) and the start of Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) operations in the crashed Air India flight 171 indicates towards engine failure. 'It's a preliminary report. In the first stage report, the government is coming out with the facts of what happened inside the aircraft. The facts are that the aircraft ran up to a speed that is required for takeoff, which is called the rotation speed. It lifted from the ground. It went up to the speed of 180 knots, which is a good acceleration speed. And possibly after that, technically, 2 or 3 things have happened. One is the deployment of RAT, which has happened, and the second is that the APU, auxiliary power unit, has started operations,' Rudy told ANI. He added that the fuel switches were found at the run position in the report, which is recommended to do when the aircraft starts losing control. 'This automatically happens in an aircraft when there is a twin-engine failure. So this, as indicated in the report, has happened, and both the initial stages of APU have started, and the RAT has deployed, so it indicates the engine failure has taken... When you start losing the aircraft, the pilot monitoring the situation immediately puts the fuel switch control off and instantly puts it back on. After the crash, both switches were found on,' Rudy said. The AAIB's Preliminary Report, released on Friday, said that both the engines of the aircraft were moved from 'run' to 'cutoff' in quick succession, which resulted in the fuel supply being cut off. The report says that in the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why he did the cutoff, which the other pilot denied ever doing so. 'The aircraft achieved the maximum recorded airspeed of 180 Knots IAS at about 08:08:42 UTC, and immediately thereafter, the Engine 1 and Engine 2 fuel cutoff switches transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one after another with a time gap of 01 sec. The Engine N1 and N2 began to decrease from their take-off values as the fuel supply to the engines was cut off,' the preliminary report said. 'In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why he cut off. The other pilot responded that he did not do so,' the report added. As per the Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorder (EAFR) accessed by the AAIB, engine 1's fuel cut switch transitioned from 'cutoff' to 'run' at about 8:08:52 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time), and at 8:08:56 UTC, Engine 2's fuel switch also went from 'cutoff' to run'. According to the report, just 13 seconds later, at 8:09:05 UTC, one of the pilots transmitted the Mayday call, which the Air Traffic Control Officer (ATCO) enquired about, but did not receive a reply. Shortly after, the aircraft was observed crashing outside the airport boundary, and the emergency response was activated. The Airline Pilots' Association of India on Saturday also called for a 'fair, fact-based inquiry' into the incident and rejected the 'tone and direction of the investigation', which suggested a bias towards pilot error. 'The report was leaked to the media without any responsible official signature or attribution. There is a lack of transparency in investigations as investigations continue to be shrouded in secrecy, undermining credibility and public trust. Qualified, experienced personnel, especially line pilots, are still not being included in the investigation team,' the association said in a statement. Notably, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol urged people not to draw conclusions based on the preliminary report. While speaking to mediapersons, the MoS said, 'The AAIB has brought out a preliminary report. This is not the final report. Until the final report comes out, we should not arrive at any conclusion. AAIB is an autonomous authority, and the ministry does not interfere in their work.' (ANI)
Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
A full-throttle flashback: Poonam Saxena on India's early F1 film, Apradh
Feroz Khan's directorial debut, it featured the flamboyant star in the role of a race-car driver. The opening credits consisted of four-and-a-half minutes of real racing footage from Nurburgring, Germany. (Khan is said to have bought the footage from a local TV channel.) I remember thinking it slightly curious that Khan would choose professional car-racing as the backdrop of his first movie, at a time when there was hardly any public awareness of the sport in India. But then this was an actor known for his cool Western style. He had a personal fondness for leather boots and cowboy hats. The heroines in his films wore miniskirts and short shorts. In Apradh, when the hero, Ram, first meets the heroine, Meena (Mumtaz), she is wearing a gold jacket, knee-high boots and tiny shorts (which were called hot pants back in the day). Later on, she wears a black string bikini, then considered a very daring move. Some heroines did wear swimsuits in films; Nalini Jaywant, in fact, wore one as far back as the 1950 film Sangram. But these were usually demure one-piece affairs, sometimes extending into rather long shorts. Skimpy bikinis were a rarity. In a recent TV interview, Mumtaz said she was hesitant to wear the bikini at first. Khan convinced her to give it a shot. 'He promised me he would cut the scene if I disapproved of it… when I saw the scene I thought I was looking very nice,' she said. The first half of Apradh is set in Europe and follows the racer Ram as he helps Meena escape the clutches of a vicious gang of diamond-smugglers. In the second half, the racing car is forgotten and the action shifts to India. Ram and Meena marry and he finds a job as a factory foreman. But their troubles are far from over. He must now fight another gang of criminals, this one led by his brother Harnam (Prem Chopra). The two parts seem almost like two different films, though both contain early signs of Khan's penchant for over-the-top villains. The baddies in the first half include a dazed hoodlum in sunglasses and brightly coloured clothes, and a sadistic and scantily clad moll. Back in India, Harnam's nightclub is eye-popping: it has a revolving bar surrounded by small circular pools in which bikini-clad women frolic. There is also a stuffed leopard on a wall, several fountains, and a man in a sombrero playing a guitar. It always seemed to me that Khan struggled to marry his keen Western sensibilities with the conventions of commercial Hindi cinema. Sometimes the marriage was successful, as in the box-office hit Qurbani (1980; about two men in love with the same woman, and a villain determined to use this against them). With its star cast of Khan, Vinod Khanna, Zeenat Aman, Amjad Khan and Amrish Puri, it had flourishes typical of the director. Early on, for instance, Khan smashes the villain's Mercedes to prove a point (at a time when most Indians wouldn't even have recognised the logo.) Apradh contains many elements that would become hallmarks of Khan's filmmaking style: dashing heroes, leading ladies full of oomph, fast cars, kinetic action, eye-catching costumes, great songs and, occasionally, an exotic 'foreign' connection (his 1975 film Dharmatma, a desi take on The Godfather (1972), was the first Hindi film to be shot in Afghanistan). He was sometimes called the 'Clint Eastwood of Hindi cinema', probably because of the boots and hat. But he was one of a kind. Khan, who died aged 69, in 2009, has long been acknowledged as one of the most, if not the most, stylish actor-directors in Bollywood. No wonder he chose Formula racing as the backdrop of his first film.
