Tripura BJP says it’ll do better than exit poll predictions

LEFT AND CONGRESS CONFIDENT OF MAJORITY

AGARTALA, FEB 28

(PTI): The ruling BJP in Tripura on Tuesday claimed that it will do much better in the assembly elections than the results shown in the exit polls, while the opposition Left-Congress rejected such predictions, stating it was confident of securing full majority.

BJP state president Rajib Bhattacharjee said his party’s result will be far better than what the exit polls have predicted.

“People have seen the exit polls and I believe the result will be far better than that. In 2018, the BJP government was formed for people’s welfare, and the government has done enough to bring development to the state,” Bhattacharjee told reporters at the Agartala airport after returning from Delhi.

CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury said the BJP won 36 seats in 2018 even though there was a

Shah to inaugurate new AR complex in Mizoram on Mar 17

AIZAWL, FEB 28 (PTI):

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will inaugurate a new complex of Assam Rifles in Mizoram on March 17, Chief Minister Zoramthanga said on Tuesday.

Shah will inaugurate the AR complex at Zokhawsang near Aizawl, the CM told reporters.

Relocation of the Assam Rifles camp from the heart of Aizawl to Zokhawsang, around 15 km from the city, was among the top agendas of ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) in the last assembly polls held in November 2018. In February 2019, the Union Home Ministry had directed the Assam Rifles to shift its battalion headquarters to Zokhawsang by May 31 of that year. The country’s oldest paramilitary force has two Assam Rifles bases in Zodin and Khatla in the heart of the city. The one at Zodin is being shifted to Zokhawsang. During a meeting with Amit Shah in November last year, Zoramthanga had informed that the delay in the relocation of the AR camp was delaying infrastructural projects in the state capital.

Rijiju asks BJP workers to ensure party gets max seats in 2024 LS

becomes the MP from this area.” the formation of the next government.

“Even if the Left-Congress gets a majority, Tipra Motha is welcome to join us,” he said.

Rajib Bhattacharjee

strong wave in favour of it.

“These exit polls have given them more than 40 seats despite the fact that there is no wave in favour of the BJP because of their misrule. The predictions are ridiculous,” he said.

He claimed the LeftCongress combine will secure a comfortable majority and the exit polls were a ploy to boost the morale of BJP leaders ahead of the counting on March 2.

Rejecting the possibility of a hung assembly, Chaudhury said Tipra Motha will get “some seats” but it will not be a factor in

Senior Congress leader Sudip Roy Barman also rejected the exit polls, exuding confidence that the opposition alliance will get an absolute majority in the 60-member assembly.

He urged the people to remain calm and wait for the Left-Congress’s victory.

IndiaToday-MyAxis indicated that the BJP would get between 36-45 seats in the 60-member assembly by garnering 45 per cent of the popular vote, most of it in the plains where Bengalis live, giving it a spectacular win.

It also predicted the Left-Congress combine would get a paltry 6-11 seats with just 32 per cent of the popular vote, a huge slide from its 43 per cent vote share in 2018.

Mineral mining with machines banned: Mnp CM N Biren Singh

Correspondent

MORIGAON (ASSAM), FEB 28 (PTI): Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday urged BJP workers to make the people aware of the work undertaken by the Central government and ensure that party candidates win the maximum number of seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

If the BJP government is working for the people but does not manage to win the maximum number of seats, it will serve no good for the saffron party, seeking a third straight term at the Centre in the 2024 polls.

Addressing a meeting of elected BJP representatives at Morigaon, Rijiju said, “We have to work by setting a target for 2024 Lok Sabha poll. We have to ensure that the BJP candidate

Payeng calls for week-long lockdown globally to strike eco-system balance

Correspondent

KOKRAJHAR, FEBRUARY 28: Expressing serious concern about global warming, Padma Shri awardee environmentalist Jadav Payeng urged global leaders to call for a week-long lockdown across the world to strike a balance in the eco-system.

Payeng also known as the Forest Man of India was speaking on the theme ‘Indigenous Knowledge System’ at the ongoing Bodoland International Knowledge Festival in Kokrajhar on Tuesday.

“I would like to request to the 800 crore people of the planet to think towards striking a balance of the ecosystem. I feel if we can give a lockdown for a week in a year globally, the balance of the ecosystem will be back gradually. I’m saying this from my personal experience,” Payeng said.

The four-day knowledge festival is being organised by Bodoland University with active support from the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) government. A believer in the con- cept ‘God is nature and nature is God,’ Payeng also mentioned how he had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to preserve forests and green cover in India.

“I have personally written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that we can’t bring development by destroying forests. We must safeguard our forests and nature. The development at the cost of nature is a curse,” Payeng reckoned.

Payeng also expressed his hope that the new education policy in the country would bring some change. He further advocated for 60 percent reservation for women. “Women play a vital role in building human resource. And eventually, that will help in striking the balance of the ecosystem,” 64-year-old Payeng who has been invited to several places across the globe for environment-related issues, said.

Addressing the students, Payeng recalled his early days when he started to plant trees in 1979 which eventually turned out to be a huge forest after 30 years.

On the second day of the festival, several seminars took place on the themes like quality education, sustainable agriculture, behaviour change, science & technology, gender empowerment, communication and media, human rights, child rights & protection and peace building among others.

Earlier, the festival was inaugurated on Monday in the presence of several dignitaries including Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, Padma Shri awardee philanthropist and diamond exporter Savji Bhai Dholakia, SECMOL founder Sonam Wangchuk, Bollywood actor and philanthropist Vivek Oberoi among others. EOM

AssameyesGuinnessrecordonBihuwith11,000 performers;PMtoattend,allCMstobeinvited

tival, and will be included as Assam’s calendar event.

Morigaon comes under Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency, which was wrestled by Congress’ Pradyut Bordoloi from the BJP in the last election.

The Union Law minister asked the party leaders to visit people and make an assessment of the functioning of government schemes, like the construction of toilets, and providing potable water and LPG connections to every household.

“The public must be made aware of who has given them these facilities. We are working for winning the election. What is the use if we work but still lose?” the MP from neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh quipped.

Rijiju, who reached Morigaon on Monday night, met old members of the Jan Sangh during the day and attended a Vichar Parivar Samanvay Baithak at the local RSS office here. Rijiju is scheduled to hold a series of meetings with government officials and elected representatives before leaving on Wednesday.

IMPHAL, FEB 28: Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh assured the house of Manipur Assembly in the ongoing budget session that any activities that are disastrous to the environment will be seriously dealt with as per the law.

Singh informed the house that the cabinet has resolved to ban using machines in mining of minerals including sand in riverbeds in the state. However, manual mining will be streamlined considering the livelihood of the manual labourers. The manual workers can continue their work with prior permissions from commerce & industries and forest departments, he added.

The chief minister made the statement in reply to a calling attention put up by opposition Congress member Surjakumar Okram on the illegal mining leading to deterioration of rivers, particularly Thoubal River running in Thoubal district. The opposition member drew the attention of the chief minister who is also the leader of the house in the backdrop of hue and cry of the people residing on the banks of the river over the unusable state of the river water due to mining of sand and stones using machines.

Singh said, “We, the human beings, are selfish and some of the people have no civic sense.”

He said that 99 per cent of the people were not aware of setting up toilets properly. They built toilets on the river bank or drained toilet waste to the river without bothering that they were also consuming the contaminated water.

He informed the House that recently the government has done a mass drive of eviction of toilets and cleaning the river banks stretching from Kangpokpi to Imphal River.

He also said that Singda Dam, the main source of water for the Imphal West district was drying up because of the cutting down of trees on the hills around Singda, leading to scarcity of drinking water. He further informed that the government has taken up steps from time to time by arresting those involved in illegal mining and quarrying especially at Thoubal river.

For the survival strategy, the people were illegally mining sand and others, neglecting the consequences that affect the future generation.

“Any activities that are disastrous to the environment will be seriously dealt with as per the law,” he said.

Indian Army makes new changes in Agniveer recruitment

Correspondent

SHILLONG, FEB 28:

Candidates wanting to join the Indian Army as Agniveers will now have to first appear for an online common entrance examination (CEE), followed by physical fitness and medical tests.

Earlier, the recruitment into the Indian Army was done by first holding the physical and medical test followed by the common entrance test.

The changes were made due to the large number of candidates turning up for the physical test and thereafter failed to clear the CEE.

“The large turn up at the recruitment rallies has put pressure on the administration and so the process of recruitment has been changed,” Brigadier Harpreet Singh, Deputy Director General (RTG) told reporters on Tuesday.

He said the Indian Army is going through a transformational change in recruitment procedure of Junior Commissioned Officers and other ranks. .

Brigadier Singh said the online registration on Join India Army (JIA) website is open from 16 Feb 23 to 15 Mar 23. Candidates can either register using their Aadhar Card or their class 10th certificate.

As part of continued automation, the JIA web- site has now been linked with Digilocker for greater transparency, he said adding, complete procedure on “how to apply” has been given in a video which is available on JIA website and on YouTube.

“The Agniveer scheme has been implemented to make the army leaner and also recruit youth who would be able to handle the technological transformation the army is undergoing, ”Brigadier Singh said.