Works on to safeguard and strengthen 127 lakes in GHMC limits: KTR

So far work taken up with an estimated cost of ₹ 407 crore, Minister tells Legislative Assembly

The State government has initiated works for safeguarding and strengthening 127 out of the 185 lakes in the jurisdiction of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) with a cost of ₹ 407.3 crore.

Development of 48 out of the 127 identified lakes has been completed and the government has spent ₹ 218 crore on the works so far. The GHMC took up works

Chinese military activity near Taiwan provocative: U.S.

On Monday, the United States termed Chinese military activity near Taiwan as provocative. “We urge Beijing to seize its military, diplomatic, and economic pressure and coercion against Taiwan,” said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.

The United States on Monday termed the Chinese military activity near Taiwan as provocative.

 “We remain concerned by the People’s Republic of China’s provocative military activity near Taiwan, which is destabilising risk miscalculations and undermines regional peace and stability,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily news conference.

“We urge Beijing to seize its military, diplomatic, and economic pressure and coercion against Taiwan, and we have an abiding interest in peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” she said.

WILL CONTINUE TO ASSIST TAIWAN: US

“That’s why we will continue to assist Taiwan in maintaining a sufficient self-defence capability. We maintain our commitments, as outlined in the three communiques, Taiwan Relations Act, and the Six Assurances,” she said.

America’s commitment to Taiwan is rock-solid and contributes to the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and within the region, Psaki said.

“We have been clear, privately and publicly, about our concern about the PRC’s pressure and coercion toward Taiwan, and we will continue to watch the situation very closely,” she said.

145 CHINESE WARPLANES SINCE FRIDAY

In a separate statement, Senator Marco Rubio said 145 Chinese warplanes have flown into or near Taiwan’s air defense identification zone since Friday.

These military incursions occurred just days before Taiwan’s National Day and began on the People’s Republic of China’s National Day.

“The Chinese Communist Party’s aggressive behavior is intended to intimidate Taiwan and send a message to the rest of the free world,” Rubio said.

“If Beijing’s recklessness is not met with international condemnation, Xi Jinping will think he has a green light for further aggression. President Joe Biden must work with our allies to ensure the People’s Republic of China respects the status quo and the sovereign territory of Taiwan and its neighbours,” he said.

REGIONAL PEACE UNDERMINED: US

State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters that the US is very concerned by China’s provocative military activity near Taiwan.

“This activity is destabilizing. It risks miscalculations and undermines regional peace and stability. We strongly urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic, and economic pressure and coercion against Taiwan,” he said.

“Our commitment to Taiwan is rock solid. It contributes to the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and within the region, and we’ll continue to stand with friends and allies to advance our shared prosperity, security, and values. We will do that as we continue to deepen our ties with Taiwan,” Price said.

Raichur: Four greenfield airports may be ready in 3-4 years in Karnataka | Bengaluru News.

Over a decade after greenfield airports were proposed in Shivamogga, Vijayapura, Hassan and Raichur with an aim to increase investment opportunities in tier-II cities, the projects are inching closer to reality.Having started Kalaburagi and Bidar airports in the past two years after much delay due to land acquisition issues and AAI clearances, the state is likely to see the four greenfield airports — a term used for a new airport — ready for take off and landing of flights in the next three to four years, say government sources. While nearly 45% of the Shivamogga airport work is over, the land acquisition process has been completed for Hassan and Raichur. At Shivamogga airport, runway work is partially complete, and that on approach roads, parking area, internal and peripheral road, compound wall, passenger terminal building, watch towers and CFR buildings is under progress.Of the estimated project cost of Rs 384 crore, work costing Rs 125 crore has been completed.While land acquisition is over for Hassan and Raichur airports, commencement of work is likely to take a while. The contract has been finalised for Hassan airport and work is on to establish a site office. In Raichur, the DPR has been submitted and the tender process is scheduled to begin soon. However, Vijayapura airport has seen little progress. As per the status report, only earth work has been completed for a majority of the essential requirements for constructing the airport. Of the estimated cost of Rs 220 crore, work worth only Rs 49 crore is over.

Overall, the government is spending Rs 954 crore on the four airports. Of these, Shivamogga will be a full- fledged airport with a landing capacity for a Boeing A 320 or 737, while the other three airports will be equipped to handle ATR 72 or equivalent planes.

Mamata’s march: On West Bengal CM’s win

The West Bengal Chief Minister has reinforced her image as a leader willing to take on the BJP

The victory of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the Bhabanipur by-poll in West Bengal has come as no surprise but the margin of the victory and the little resistance put up by the Opposition parties including the Bharatiya Janata Party have come as a shot in the arm for the ruling Trinamool Congress. Ms Banerjee’s record winning margin of 58,832 votes is more than twice the margin of victory secured by the TMC candidate at the same constituency, located in the heart of Kolkata, five months ago in the State’s Assembly polls. The ruling party won all the three seats that went to the polls on September 30 in the State. In Jangipur, the margin of victory for the TMC candidate was over 92,000 votes and at Samserganj, the Trinamool Congress nominee won by over 26,000 votes. In two out of three seats, the BJP was the main opposition to the TMC but in Samserganj, the Congress nominee secured about 70,000 votes, pushing the BJP to the third position. Though Ms. Banerjee could not win the Nandigram seat in the Assembly election early this year, her decision to contest that seat considerably boosted her party. With her election as an MLA just in time to meet the six month deadline, Ms. Banerjee has capped her party’s impressive victory in May.

The outcomes also reinforce her positioning as a leader who has the gumption to confront the BJP that had left no stone unturned in its attempt to unseat her. The BJP stands further tamed after the by-poll outcomes. It put up a political greenhorn, Priyanka Tibrewal, to contest against the charismatic and popular Ms. Banerjee. The West Bengal BJP, which found it difficult to get the right candidates to contest against TMC nominees in the Assembly polls, continues to grapple with the same challenge five months later. The BJP central leadership stayed away from the campaign unlike earlier this year. The State leaders of the party were no match to the Trinamool Congress, in strategy or popularity. The State unit of the BJP was hoping that the Election Commission of India (ECI) may not announce the polls within the six-month deadline that the Chief Minister had to meet. Apparently taken by surprise, they spent time challenging the ECI decision in the courts rather than campaigning on the ground. The TMC government’s focus on cash transfer and other welfare schemes continues to draw the support of the electorate, while the issues of violence and corruption raised by the BJP did not strike a chord with them. The results also point to the continuing resistance to the BJP’s polarising tactics in West Bengal, and the party’s difficulty in tailoring a politics that is suitable for the region.

NEET SS 2021: Centre Defends Exam Pattern, Postpones Exam To January

The Centre has told the Supreme Court of India that it has decided to postpone the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) PG Super Speciality exam to January 11-12, 2022.

The Centre has told the Supreme Court of India that it has decided to postpone the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) PG Super Speciality exam to January 11-12, 2022. The decision is in favour of students and it is to ensure that candidates get sufficient time to prepare in view of the changed exam pattern, the Central government has said.

“All the authorities in participation in the above-mentioned meetings, while coming to the above-mentioned conclusion had also felt and observed that candidates must not feel that they have not been extended sufficient time to prepare for the examination under the revised scheme.. In the circumstances it was decided that NEET-SS be deferred by a period of two months and be held on January 10-11, 2022 so as to provide ample time to all of them for their preparation for the entrance examination under the revised scheme,” the affidavit filed by the Centre before the top court said according to Bar and Bench.

The Centre, in its affidavit, said that the decision to make changes to the exam pattern was taken to ensure that seats do not go unfilled.

“On the basis of the experience in the past resulting into a significant number of precious super speciality medical courses seats remaining unfilled and going waste, the examination pattern has been modified, whereby it is reasonably expected that more number of these seats will get filled up and the wastage would be minimized,” the affidavit read.

The NEET SS 2021 examination was initially scheduled for November 13 and 14. The exam dates were announced on July 23 but the change in the exam pattern was announced on August 31 through NEET SS information bulletin.

Stating the last minute changes will have an adverse affect on the students, a plea was filed in the top court by 41 PG qualified doctors. The plea challenged this abrupt last-minute changes contending that the same was done to favour general medicine candidates.

The Supreme Court had during the hearing of the matter on September 27 pulled up the National Board of Examination (NBE), National Medical Commission (NMC) and Central government for making last minute changes to the syllabus.

It had then asked the respondents to file their responses pursuant to which the Centre filed its present affidavit.

Mark Zuckerberg loses USD 7 billion in hours after WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram suffer global outage.

Mark Zuckerberg previously ranked at the third spot on Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index. According to Bloomberg, the stocks of Facebook fell by 5% on Monday, adding to a 15 percent decline since mid-September.

Social media giant Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s personal wealth went down as he lost nearly USD 7 billion in a few hours after Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram suffered a global outage on Monday.

According to a Bloomberg report, Zuckerberg also slipped to the 5th spot in the billionaires’ list after Facebook stocks plunged due to the global outage. Zuckerberg, with a total wealth of USD 121.6 billion, has fallen behind Bill Gates.

Notably, a flurry of companies pulled advertising from Facebook Inc.’s network after the social media giant apps like WhatsApp, Instagram and messenger suffered a major global outage yesterday. 

Mark Zuckerberg previously ranked at the third spot on Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index. According to Bloomberg, the stocks of Facebook fell by 5% on Monday, adding to a 15 percent decline since mid-September.