NEWS

The largest slum cluster Dharavi in Mumbai on Monday reported 18 COVID-19 cases, the highest daily figure since October and a steep rise from the mostly single digit cases it was logging over the past few days. A senior Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official said the area`s caseload has gone up to 4,166. Dharavi had reported 16 new cases on February 26 this year. The first coronavirus case in Dharavi was reported on April 1 last year, nearly 20 days after the first patient was found in Mumbai. On December 25, the area had reported zero positive cases for the first time since the outbreak. A BMC ward officer said the reason for the rise in cases was because the civic body had begun to aggressively test all suspected cases once again. "We are aggressively testing as many people as possible to curb the spread.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday countered BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari for saying that if the TMC comes back to power again then West Bengal would turn into Kashmir. "If they (Trinamool Congress) come back to power, West Bengal will become Kashmir," Adhikari said during his speech at Muchipara, Behala on Saturday.

Reacting to this, Abdullah said what was wrong in Bengal becoming Kashmir as the BJP now says that J&K has become ‘paradise’ now. "But according to you BJP wallas Kashmir has become paradise after August 2019 so what's wrong with West Bengal becoming Kashmir? Anyway, Bengalis love Kashmir & visit us in large numbers so we forgive you your stupid, tasteless comment," the NC leader said.

Omar Abdullah’s remarks were aimed at the saffron party leaders who say that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir has improved after abolition of Article 370. On 5 August 2019, the Centre had scrapped special status granted to J&K under Article 370 and bifurcated the state into two Union Territories.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said that the magic of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ will work across the country. “Jai Shri Ram Uttar Pradesh mein bhi chalega, Bengal mein bhi chalega, aur poore desh mein bhi chalega (Jai Shri Ram will work in Uttar Pradesh, Bengal and all over India),” the Chief Minister said while speaking at a conclave organised by a news channel.

“Remember the beginning of 1990s decade when some people were opposing the ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan even in Uttar Pradesh. Today, the country and the world is seeing where they stand. And this is not a new thing. It has been there since the time of Ramayana. Those who are against Ram do not get a place anywhere. May God bless them with good sense that, at least, they do not ban the ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan,” he said.

The Chief Minister further said, “The people of India will not accept this. The people of Bengal have made up their minds that those who are with Lord Ram, they will be with them.”

Faced with a major shortage of IAS officers, the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar has approached the Centre seeking 54 officers from the 2020 batch for the state cadre. That's not all. According to Bijendra Yadav, minister-in-charge of the general administration department, the state government has also initiated the process of selecting 53 officers from the state civil services. The selected personnel will be promoted to the IAS cadre. With just 202 IAS officers against the sanctioned strength of 359, the Nitish government is working with a little more than half the sanctioned strength of bureaucrats.

Though a shortage of IAS officers is a country-wide phenomenon, Bihar is facing an acute shortage. The annual report of the ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions say the total authorised cadre strength of the IAS, as of January 2020, was 6,715; the number of officers available for deployment was 5,205. The IAS officers' shortage countrywide is around 23 per cent against the authorised cadre strength. In this backdrop, the shortage in Bihar is double the national average.