Uttarakhand Police to file FIR against those spreading forest fire rumours

Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said old pictures of forest fires in Chile and China are being circulated on social media platforms to claim that fire broke out in the forests

An FIR is being registered against people, who are spreading rumours about fire in the forests of Uttarakhand, and stringent legal action will be taken against them, said Ashok Kumar, Director General (law and order) on Wednesday. “Some people have spread rumours on social media that a massive fire has broken out in forests of Uttarakhand. It is not true. Photos being shown belong to 2016 when the fire had broken out. Some photos from foreign countries have also been used,” Kumar told ANI.

“I would like to appeal to people to not spread rumours. FIR is being registered against people who spread rumours. Stringent legal action will be taken against them,” he said. Earlier, Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said old pictures of forest fires in Chile and China are being circulated on social media platforms to claim that fire broke out in the forests of Uttarakhand.

“A misleading propaganda, using old pics of forest fires of 2016 and 2019 and that of forest fires in Chilean and Chinese forests, is raging on social media. I request everyone to not believe in such motivated campaign. Fire incidents reported until yesterday is way less than previous years,” Rawat said in a tweet…Read More

Over 22 dead in HP, 8 missing in Uttarakhand as rains ravage north India

Delhi witnessed rains with the maximum temperature settling at 29.7 degrees Celsius, four notches below the season’s average

Current Affairs: Heavy rains lashed northern parts, leaving at least 22 people dead in Himachal Pradesh and eight missing after cloudburst in Uttarakhand, while a flood alert was sounded in Delhi, Haryana and Punjab as Yamuna and other rivers were in spate.

In view of heavy discharge being released in the rivers in Haryana, the state’s Revenue and Disaster Management Department has requested to direct the concerned Army officials to be on stand by.

In southern India, the death toll in flood-ravaged Kerala climbed to 116 with the retrieval of more bodies. Ground Penetrating Radars were put into use to locate bodies at Kavalappara in Malappuram and Puthumala in Wayanad, where massive landslides had wiped out two villages.

Delhi witnessed rains with the maximum temperature settling at 29.7 degrees Celsius, four notches below the season’s average, while the minimum temperature was recorded at 24.8 degrees, two notches below the season’s average. As the water level in the Yamuna river neared warning level, the Delhi government sounded a flood alert for the city and asked people in the low-lying areas to vacate their place….Read More

Govt to put in place more checks on hospitals as Ayushman frauds pile up

A senior government official explained how some of these hospitals use loopholes in protocols

Since the dispatch of Ayushman Bharat — the lead heath care program of the Narendra Modi government — nine months back, most instances of misrepresentation have been accounted for from Uttarakhand and Jharkhand. Subsequently, the administration has fixed various guidelines to counteract these.

The main case was stopped in Nainital. From that point forward, government authorities have stopped first data reports (FIRs) and slapped fines to the tune of Rs 1 crore on emergency clinics engaged with cheats. A senior government authority clarified how a portion of these emergency clinics use escape clauses in conventions.

“Medical clinics need to get pre-authorisation inside six hours of conceding and treating patients under the plan,” he said. “In the event that the specialist concerned does not endorse inside six hours, it is esteemed to be affirmed and the medical clinic can proceed with the treatment.” The medical clinics would intentionally send cases late around evening time when there would be nobody to favor.

“Presently, we have changed the standards with the goal that customary solicitations will be engaged uniquely between 10 am and 5 pm. At different occasions, just crises will be investigated,” the authority included. Sources in the administration said they had likewise recognized some abnormal patterns and were making conventions stringent. One ailment that has been utilized by fake cases is enteric fever. Seeing that more than anticipated patients were being treated for it, the legislature has made Vidal tests compulsory for treating enteric fever…

Read More: Ayushman Bharat

Assembly Polls 2017: Exit polls suggest Modi-led BJP clearly ahead in UP

BJP may retain power in Goa, wrest power in U'khand; consolation prize for Cong in Punjab

 

If the predictions of several of the exit polls, made public on Thursday, for the five states that had Assembly elections in February-March turn out to be true, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to emerge as the most influential leader of India since Indira Gandhi, who had held sway over the country’s political landscape 40 years back.

Findings of at least four exit polls suggested that Modi’s blitzkrieg of public rallies in Uttar Pradesh Polls could help the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) either comfortably cross the majority mark of 202 in the 403-seat UP

The BJP, along with ally Apna Dal, had bagged 73 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in UP in 2014, winning a staggering 337 of the 403 Assembly segments. At least two exit polls — India Today-Axis and Today’s Chanakya — could come close to that tally by winning up to 285 seats. However, two other exit polls predicted a hung Assembly with the BJP as the single-largest party but the Samajwadi Party (SP)-Congress alliance not far behind and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in third place. As for other states, most exit polls said the BJP was likely to retain power in Goa and wrest power from the Congress in Uttarakhand. 

One exit poll, however, predicted a dead heat between the BJP and Congress in Uttarakhand, predicting that both were likely to win 35-seats each in the 70-member Assembly. 

In Manipur, one exit poll predicted that the BJP would emerge the single-largest party, while another said the incumbent Congress was most likely to return to power. 

The BJP’s only setback is likely to be Punjab, where exit polls predicted a consolation prize for the Congress, with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) likely to emerge as the principal Opposition party. But two exit polls predicted a hung Assembly, with both the AAP and Congress winning nearly the same number of seats and falling short of the majority mark of 59 seats. Four of the five exit polls said that the Shiromani Akali Dal–BJP alliance will struggle to touch double digits in the 117-member Assembly.

If the counting of votes, scheduled for Saturday, vindicates the findings of the exit polls that are predicting a near majority for the BJP in the UP Assembly, it will have ramifications on the Rajya Sabha numbers in 2018 and also on the presidential elections in July. It would also shrink the space for the Opposition, and to some extent achieve BJP chief Amit Shah’s ambition of a ‘Congress-mukt’ India. If the BJP triumphs in UP, the PM can justifiably claim it to be a referendum in favour of his November 8 demonetisation decision. A favourable electoral verdict, say sources, will embolden his government to go after tax evaders and complete the unfinished agenda of demonetisation.

The numbers in UP Assembly are likely to help BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) get its choice of presidential nominee elected to be the next President of India. Currently, the NDA is approximately 66,000 short of the majority mark in the presidential electoral college. On Thursday, the Election Commission said it has initiated the process for the holding of the presidential elections. It announced the filling of two vacancies in the Lok Sabha and of 12 legislative Assembly seats across 10 states. The polling for these bypolls will take place on April 9. The electoral victories would also help the BJP emerge the largest party in the Rajya Sabha in 2018, and reach closer to the majority mark. The lack of numbers in the Rajya Sabha has hobbled the Modi government in its efforts to push through some of its legislative agenda.| read full article