Bharat First Visit IndiaWiki.org
Arp 10, 2023 – Week 15Volume 7S-100| Pages 2
The Vibrant Villages
Programme with an
outlay of ₹ 4,800 crore,
has identified 2,967
villages in 19 districts on
India’s northern border,
including Arunachal
Pradesh, Sikkim,
Uttarakhand, and
Himachal Pradesh, and
the UT of Ladakh, for
complete development.
In its first phase, which
is three-years-long, 662
villages will be
developed. Of them,
455 are in Arunachal
Pradesh. A US Defence
report of 2021, claimed
Beijing had constructed
628 villages along the
3,488-km LAC from
eastern Ladakh to
Arunachal Pradesh.
At: FirstPost Image: Shah at Walong
War Memorial - GreaterKashmir
UP STF guns down Ahmed’s son,
aide at Jhansi in Pal murder case
SC: RSS can hold
peaceful marches
in Tamil Nadu
India’s tiger count crosses 3,000;
PM launches big-cat alliance
Apr 11, in a setback for
the Tamil Nadu’s DMK
government the Supreme
Court (SC ) set aside its
appeal against a Madras
High Court decision
permitting RSS to organize
marches in the state.
The RSS reasoned before
the SC that Article 19(1)(b)
of the Indian Constitution
guarantees a right to
peaceful assembly, and
that their march could not
be postponed because of
potential violence by PFI
as it is the state’s
responsibility to provide
appropriate security.
The state argued that
‘reasonable restrictions’
under Article 19(3) were
necessary and cited
instances where PFI had
disrupted RSS marches.
The SC dismissed the
state’s plea saying RSS
was the victim not
perpetrator of violence.
RSS is now set to hold a
route march at 45 places
across the state on Apr 16.
At: OpIndia
CBI summons Delhi
CM Kejriwal in
liquor Excise scam
Volume 7S-100| Page 2
Mafia-don Atiq Ahmed, brother shot
dead by 3 assailants; all 3 arrested
Bharat First Visit IndiaWiki.org
Apr 15, after receiving its
third squadron of the S-
400 air defence system
from Russia in February,
India had deployed it
along the border with
Pakistan to tackle aerial
attacks on Punjab and
north Rajasthan.
Every squadron has two S-
400 batteries, and each S-
400 battery comprises
four missile launch
vehicles. There are four
missile tubes with each
launch vehicle. India had
signed a $5.5 billion order
with Russia for five S-400
squadrons in Oct 2018.
With the Russian invasion
of Ukraine, there is the
prospect that the delivery
of the last two squadrons
may get delayed.
However, this may result
in bolstering ties between
the two countries instead
of souring them. India’s
appetite for S-400 systems
will not end at five
squadrons and Russia is
aware of this. From 2019
Rostech has hinted at the
possibility of development
of S-400 system or spares
in India which may see the
light of day. EurasianTImes-1-2
Pakistan: face-off
between State &
Supreme Court
Apr 12, In a shocker, the
Myanmar’s military
junta killed more than
100 people, including
children, who were
attending a ceremony
held by opponents of
army rule.
A fighter jet dropped
bombs into the crowd.
The junta regime has
increasingly been using
airstrikes against its own
people after ousting
democratically elected
Aung San Suu Kyi’s
government in Feb 2021.
At: IndiaTV
Myanmar kills
over 100 civilians
with an airstrike Apr 10, Twitter CEO
Elon Musk has riled the
BBC by labeling the
British state
broadcaster a
‘government funded
media’ organization.
The tag was added to
the broadcaster’s main
Twitter handle @BBC.
The BBC was at pains to
explain being funded by
the British government
differs from being
funded by the British
public. However,
netizens mocked its
attempts calling the tag
accurate. In reality, the
BBC does also accept
direct British
government funding.
It's own website has
admitted that it
receives ‘£ 90million
($111 million) per year
from the government to
support the BBC World
Service.’
Musk wrote, ‘I don’t
actually think the BBC is
as biased as some other
government-funded
media, but it is silly of
the BBC to claim zero
influence.’
At: RT
Apr 15, mafia-don-
turned-politician Atiq
Ahmed and his brother
Ashraf were gunned
down point-blank in a
sensational murder, by
three assailants posing
as journalists.
The duo was being
taken for a medical
checkup in Prayagraj,
Uttar Pradesh (UP)
prior to deposition in
the Umesh Pal murder
case, by more than a
dozen policemen and
surrounded by media
personnel seeking
sound bytes, when
the murders occurred,
caught on live TV. The
UP police have
arrested the three
assailants, all with a
criminal history.
UP Chief Minister
(CM) Yogi Adityanath
had declared his
government would
reduce mafia to dust
following the brazen
murder of Pal by
Ahmed’s gang in
Prayagraj. In 50 days
the gang’s assets NCP, TMC and CPI
lose national party
status
Twitter tags BBC
‘Government
Funded Media’
Apr 9, in welcome news
for wildlife enthusiasts
India's population of
wild tigers, the largest
in the world by far, has
risen above 3,000. The
census found there
were 3,167 tigers in the
wild across the country,
up from 2,967 four
years ago.
India’s flagship
conservation program,
Project Tiger, began in
Apr 14, The CBI Friday
summoned Delhi Chief
Minister (CM) Arvind
Kejriwal on Apr 16 in
connection with the excise
policy scam case, in which
his former deputy Manish
Sisodia was arrested last
month.
CBI is probing allegations
that money raised from
tweaking the policy to
favour certain liquor
dealers and the South
lobby was suspected to be
pumped in for election
purposes by the AAP.
At: TribuneIndia
Apr 11, ‘The era when
anyone could encroach
on our lands, is gone.
Now, not even land
equal to ‘sui ki noke’
(needle-tip) can be
encroached,’ thundered
India’s Home Minister
Amit Shah on stage in
Arunachal Pradesh’s (AP)
Kibithoo as he launched
the government’s
‘Vibrant Villages
Programme’.
The timing of the visit to
AP is significant as it
comes days after Beijing
announced Chinese
names for 11 places in
AP which the Dragon
claims its own. Kibithoo,
located in AP, is the first
village to be part of the
Centre’s Vibrant Villages
programme.
Largest traditional dance Bihu in Assam, Apr 14, 2023, image courtesy CNBCTV18 on the occasion of Baisakhi (IBTimes), Vishu, Mithila, Pothandusummer harvest celebrations; `AmbedkarJayanti, Apr 14, images courtesy Facebook
Shah in Arunachal launches
Vibrant Village Programme
Apr 10, 2023 - Week 15
Apr 10, the Election
Commission of India (ECI)
withdrew the national
party status of Trinamool
Congress (TMC),
Nationalist Congress Party
(NCP) and the Communist
Party of India (CPI).
To earn a national party
status, an outfit must be a
state party in four states
with at least two members
in their assemblies. It must
have 2% of the total seats
in the Lok Sabha with
members from not less
than three states. At: LiveMint
worth ₹ 1,400 crores
have been seized and six
key gang-members have
been eliminated. Despite
over a 100 criminal cases
against Ahmed, he always
escaped conviction as
witnesses disappeared or
turned hostile, until
under Adityanath he was
handed a first, life term in
the Pal abduction case.
A 3-member judicial
probe will investigate the
killing. Section 144 has
been imposed in several
places in UP to prevent
political interests from
communalizing the killings.
At:News18-1-2, Zee Image: TOI
Apr 13, the Pakistan
government is in a row
with its Supreme Court
(SC) over the holding of
snap polls in two
provinces where former
Prime Minister Imran
Khan had dissolved the
local governments this
year in a bid to force
early elections.
The government says it
is economically unviable
to hold polls ahead of a
general election due in
October as it would cost
21 billion rupees ($73.87
million). The SC had
ordered them to be held
mid May.
Chief Justice (CJ) Umar
Ata Bandial summoned
state finance officials to
examine funds available.
The CJ also set up an
eight judge panel, led by
himself, to examine a
draft law passed by
parliament to cut down
the CJ’s powers to
constitute panels, hear
appeals etc. The Law
Minister called for the
panel’s dissolution.
At: CNBCTV18
Amritpal aides
Papalpreet, Joga
Singh arrested
Apr 16, Punjab Police have
arrested Khalistani
fugitive Amritpal Singh's
main aides, Papalpreet
from Amritsar and Joga
Singh from Sirhind,
Punjab.
Papalpreet was detained
under the stringent
National Security Act.
Both were on the run with
Amritpal till Mar 28.
At: IndianExpress, MSN
Apr 15, French President
Emmanuel Macron
stayed firm on the
resolve to increase the
retirement age from 62
to 64 as he signed into
law an unpopular bill.
France's Constitutional
Council had approved
the main pension-age
increase in a ruling on
Friday stating that
Macron’s bill adhered to
the provisions in the
French Constitution.
At: Reuters
France: Macron
signs pension bill
into law
Congress red faced
after Pilot rebels
against state CM
Apr 14, Rajasthan Congress
leader Sachin Pilot
launched a day-long fast to
protest against his own
government for inaction
on corruption charges
against the former
Vasundhara Raje
government. The Congress
is now trying to avert
a crisis due to the stand-off
between Chief Minister
Ashok Gehlot and Pilot as it
threatens to derail the
party’s Assembly election
campaign. At: Hindu, CNBCTV18
Russian defence
spares to be made
in India?
Apr 13, a UP Special Task
Force (STF) eliminated
gangsters Asad, mafia-
don Ahmed’s son and his
aide Ghulam Hasan in
Jhansi. Both were
shooters in the Feb 24,
Umesh Pal murder case.
On the run from the cops
since the incident the STF
tracked them out to a
hideout at Jhansi where
the duo was planning to
free Asad’s father Ahmed
from the police. The STF
intercepted the two on a
bike around 12:30 pm
and they were killed in
retaliatory firing shortly
afterwards. A British
Bulldog Revolver and
Walther P88 bore pistol
were recovered. At: MSN, Mint
1973 after a census found
India's tigers were rapidly
becoming extinct through
habitat loss.
On Sunday, Prime
Minister Modi also
launched an International
Big Cats Alliance that will
concentrate on the
conservation of seven big
cat species — the tiger,
lion, leopard, snow
leopard, puma, jaguar
and cheetah. At: DW, Images:
Tiger: Zawya Modi: TheWeek
At: DailyPioneer
Apr 9, Prime Minister Narendra Modi with
elephants at the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve
Assam: Bihu celebrated with a
record 11,304 folk dancers
Apr 15, 11,304 dancers and 2,000 drummers did
the Rongali Bihu folk dance in Assam, setting two
Guinness World Records - the largest Bihu dance
and the largest dhol-drum set in the world. NewsNPR