NEWS

Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat hit back at Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant who accused the opposition of ‘unparliamentary actions’ after they wore black armbands and held up placards in the legislative assembly during the Governor’s maiden address on Monday.

Opposition legislators including Aleixo Lourenco, Vijai Sardesai and Rohan Khaunte had held up placards in a protest that was somewhat muted because Governor of Goa and Maharashtra B S Koshyari cut short his maiden speech claiming that he had health problems.

“On the first day of the Assembly session, we saw inappropriate and unparliamentary actions of the opposition benches towards the Honourable Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari ji. The opposition should introspect and uphold the democratic values, and also work in the interest of the people,” Sawant said.

Unfurling of the tricolour and a tree plantation drive on India’s 72nd Republic Day marked the formal launch of the Ayodhya mosque project at Dhannipur village, 25km off Ramjanmabhoomi, exactly six months after Sunni Waqf Board constituted the mosque trust — Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation — following the 2019 apex court verdict that mandated construction of a temple at Ramjanmabhoomi and a mosque in the district in lieu of Babri Masjid.

The tricolour was hoisted by Trust chairman Zufar Ahmad Farooqui, and nine saplings were planted at the site by members of the mosque Trust amidst cheer and enthusiasm cutting across religious lines among villagers of Dhannipur, a nondescript hamlet which catapulted into fame after 5acre adjacent to a century-old Sufi shrine was allotted for the mosque.

Delhi on Tuesday reported 157 new cases of Covid-19, pushing its total tally to 6,34,229. This was the fifth consecutive day that the national capital recorded less than 200 Covid-19 cases in a day. However, Tuesday’s numbers marked a slight increase from the 148 cases that were reported on Monday.

Delhi has been witnessing a steady decline in daily caseload of the coronavirus disease for a few weeks now. The positivity rate has also dipped to 0.24%.

The 157 fresh cases were detected from the 64,973 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, according to Delhi government's health department. Out of these, 36,236 were RT-PCR tests and 28,737 antigen.

BJP president JP Nadda on Monday said that Himachal Pradesh has come a long way in 50 years and he is confident the state will continue its journey of progress to emerge as the number 1 state by its 75th anniversary.

“We have come a long way and have miles to go. I’m confident the model state will continue this journey of progress under (chief minister) Jai Ram Thakur’s leadership. Changing Himachal is a picture of changing India,” he said while addressing a function in Shimla to mark the state’s golden jubilee celebrations.

Urging Himachalis to preserve their cultural heritage, he said: “We have potential in tourism, horticulture and agriculture.”