Centre releases Rs 2,200 cr as first installment to 15 states for improvement of air quality

The Centre has released 2,200 crore rupees as the first installment to 15 states for the improvement of air quality measures in their million-plus cities. The amount has been released based on the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission.
 
In a tweet, Office of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that this will help the beneficiary states to undertake air quality measures, including capacity-building of the local bodies within their million-plus cities.
 
The states which have been given the amount include Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
 
Of the total amount, 396.5 crore rupees has been released to Maharashtra, 202.5 crore rupees to Gujarat, 357 crore rupees to Uttar Pradesh and 209.5 crore rupees to West Bengal.

All 10 candidates for Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh declared elected unopposed

In Uttar Pradesh, all 10 candidates have been declared elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha. Eight BJP candidates and one each from Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party were declared elected unopposed to the upper house yesterday.
 
The BJP candidates declared elected include Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Arun Singh, Haridwar Dubey, Brij Lal, Neeraj Shekhar, Geeta Shakya, Seema Dwivedi, and BL Varma. Prof Ram Gopal Yadav of the Samajwadi Party and the BSP’s Ramji Gautam were also elected to the Upper House. All candidates except Hardeep Singh Puri and Prof Ram Gopal Yadav received their certificates from Returning Officer Ashok Kumar yesterday evening.

Polling underway for 2nd phase of assembly elections in Bihar

In Bihar, polling is underway for the Second Phase of State Assembly Elections amid tight security arrangements. Polling is being held in 94 constituencies spread over 17 districts including Patna, Vaishali, Sitamarhi, Darbhanga and Madhubani in this phase. Around 19.26 per cent of eligible voters exercised their franchise till 11 a.m. Voting began at 7 a.m. and it will close at 6 p.m. Over 2.86 crore voters will decide the fate 1,463 candidates. They include 146 women and one transgender.
 
Elaborate security arrangements have been made to ensure free and fair polling. Chief Electoral Officer H.R. Srinivasa said, polling will be upto 4 p.m. in eight Naxal-affected constituencies including Raghopur, Paru, Minapur and Alauli. Out of 41 thousand 362 booths, eight thousand 694 booths are sensitive. Election Commission has made arrangements of live webcasting from 3,548 booths.
 
Additional Chief Electoral Officer Sanjay Kumar Singh said security forces have been deployed in Naxal-infested areas to ensure trouble-free polling.
 
Election Commission has issued orders to follow COVID-19 protocol during the conduct of elections. Every person has been instructed to wear mask during election related activities.
 
The voters have to wear mask during exercising their right of franchise. Thermal scanning of all persons will be carried out and sanitizers will be made available at all locations during polling. All polling booths have already been sanitized. In view of COVID situation, only one thousand electors will exercise their right of franchise at each Polling Station instead of 1,500.
 
BJP is contesting on 46 seats, JD(U) on 43 and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) on five seats in this phase. While RJD is contesting on 56 seats, Congress has fielded 24 candidates. LJP has fielded 52 candidates, RLSP-36, BSP-33 and NCP-29 candidates.
 
This phase is crucial for RJD as the party had won 33 seats in 2015 assembly elections. JD(U) won 30 seats while BJP 20 and Congress seven seats. Four others were also elected.
 
Chief Ministerial candidate of Grand Alliance Tejaswi Yadav is seeking re-election from Raghopur constituency. Political fortunes of four Cabinet Ministers of Nand Kishore Yadav, Shravan Kumar, Rana Randhir and Ram Sevak Singh will be decided in this phase.
 
Elections are being held in three phases for 243-member Bihar Legislative Assembly. The First Phase polling was held on 28th of October, while Third and Final Phase polling will be held on 7th of November. Counting of votes will be taken up on 10th of November.

Blogger.Com Turns On HTTPS On All Blogspot Domain Blogs

  For many bloggers, enabling the free HTTPS support for your blog on blogspot offers a number of benefits. However, if the latest news from Blogger.com is true you may not need to manually enable the HTTPS support from now on. Every current non-HTTPS blogs are going to be automatically changed to HTTPS and this means a whole new world for bloggers and webmasters who use this particular domain.

First, this means that all blogs on blogspot will be granted a free SSL Certificate whether it is something that you want or not. Before, the webmaster was the one who decided whether the HTTPS was right for your site. Today, it has become mandatory which means that you will need to be prepared for the benefits and potential consequences.

Blogger.com turns on HTTPS on blogspot blogs

The Blogger.com HTTPS Notification

The notification that was sent out by Blogger.com essentially stated that everyone who visits a blog on their domain would be able to view it through an encrypted connection. In addition, all bookmarks and links will still work on your site, but the HTTPS Availability setting will no longer be present and your blog will always use the HTTPS version that is available.

Those who log into their Blogger account will see the message and can interpret for themselves the ramifications of what it truly means. It should be noted that this is only for domains on Blogger.com that are free and that the custom ones will continue to go on functioning as they have in the past. That means there will be no support provided by free SSL HTTPS to custom domains.

While this will naturally cause some concern for webmasters because Blogger.com does have some limitations that are well known, the truth is that this particular change may bring about a better, more secured experience to those visiting the sites as well as have a positive impact on search engine optimization (SEO).

What is HTTPS?

The use of Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is basically a secure version of HTTP. This means that the data which is transferred between the user and server is now encrypted and protected from access or hacking from unwanted third parties.

HTTPS as a ranking signal

Perhaps the most notable impact is how it will affect the SEO of your site. With Google in particular placing a higher importance of HTTPS as compared to HTTP sites, the secured connection actually makes a positive impact thanks to the additional security. Better security means higher ratings for your blog.

In addition, your blog might actually run a little better with a secured connection as compared to your competition, some of which might not enjoy such a connection.

Since all of your traffic will now be automatically diverted, there will not be a negative effect in terms of loss or lowering of your SEO. In fact, this is actually a good move for blogspot.com and is certainly a worthwhile addition to all of their blogs as the support offers solid benefits for every blogger who uses their domain.

HEALTHY HABITS TO KEEP YOURSELF BUSY

The ways in which you could keep yourself busy in a healthy manner are:

It’s said that keeping yourself busy would not let you mind wander over the unhappy moments of life and wouldn’t let you be unhappy.Work like a busy bee so that your mind gives the best out of it.

But there is a great diffrence between beign busy in a healthy manner and being busy in an unhealthy manner. If your brain is busy in a healthy manner it would make you meet that version of yourself which you couldn’t imagine now. But if you are keeping yourself busy in an unhealthy manner that you degrade the health of your brain and body.

  • LEARNING NEW LANGUAGE:

By learning new languages, verbal and linguistic part of the brain works in a very efficient way. You would not only learn a new language but also improve your learning & memorizing efficiency.

  • GETTING TO KNOW A NEW SKILL:

A new skill could be any thing starting from coding to cooking. From increasing your academic knowledge to improving your personal habits. It would improvise you in every way possible. With a new skill comes the power and potential to know more. And who knows which skill becomes the turning point of your life.

  • SELF LOVE:

Loving and caring yourself is one of the important tasks in life. But majorly we forget to do this. We neglect the fact that the way we treat ourself is only the way in which the society would treat ourself. So, it’s important to take out ample amount of time to take care of yourself, reward yourself whenever needed, motivate yourself and to push yourself for doing something good.

  • WRITING AND READING:

 Reading novels, articles or any other knowledgeable stuffs helps improving the knowledge and also improves the personality of oneself. And writing short stories, poems or personal dairy would help you meet with your inner self.

  • YOGA & EXCERSISE:

Along with mind its very important to keep the body maintained and active. Some early morning jogs or some evening yoga could help a lot in improving your health as well as improve the concentration power. Some early morning stretching helps you to stay active and fresh all day long.

Some other activities include cooking, keeping your surroundings clean, doing some mindful activities like handwriting practice or drawing & sketching.

Result of The Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, 2020

On the basis of the result of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, 2020 held on 04/10/2020, the candidates with the following Roll Numbers have qualified for admission to the Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2020.

The candidature of these candidates is provisional. In accordance with the Rules of the Examination, all these candidates have to apply again in the Detailed Application Form-I (DAF-I)  for the Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2020, which will be available on the website of the Union Public Service Commission (https://upsconline.nic.in) during the period from 28/10/2020 to 11/11/2020 till 6:00 P.M. All the qualified candidates are advised to fill up the DAF-I ONLINE and submit the same ONLINE for admission to the Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2020 to be held from Friday, the 08/01/2021. Important instructions for filling up of the DAF-I and its submission will also be available on the website. The candidates who have been declared successful have to first get themselves registered on the relevant page of the above website before filling up the ONLINE DAF-I.  The qualified candidates are further advised to refer to the Rules of the Civil Services Examination, 2020 published in the Gazette of India (Extraordinary) of Department of Personnel and Training Notification dated 12.02.2020.

It may be noted that mere submission of DAF‑I do not, ipso facto, confer upon the candidates any right for admission to the Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2020. The e‑Admit Card along with the Time Table of the said Examination will be uploaded on the Commission’s Website for the eligible candidates around 3‑4 weeks before the commencement of the Examination.   Changes, if any, in the postal address or email address or mobile number after submission of the DAF-I may be communicated to the Commission at once.

Candidates are also informed that marks, cut off marks and answer keys of screening test held through CS (P) Examination, 2020 will be uploaded on the Commission’s website i.e. https://upsc.gov.in only after the entire process of the Civil Services Examination, 2020 is over i.e. after the declaration of final result. 

The Union Public Service Commission has a Facilitation Counter near the Examination Hall Building in its Campus at Dholpur House, Shahjahan Road, New Delhi.  Candidates may obtain any information/clarification regarding their result of the above mentioned Examination on all working days between 10.00 AM to 5.00 PM, in person or on Tel. No. 011-23385271, 011-23098543 or 011-23381125 from the Facilitation Counter. 

Click here for the results:

Azad Hind Fauj/Indian National Army (INA): Few Historical Facts

No Indians can forget Azad Hind Fauj/ the Indian National Army’s (INA) contribution in the freedom movement (Founded on 21 October 1943) . While I was in some countries, many people of Pakistan and Bangladesh talked about the enormous contributions of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and INA/ Azad Hind Fauj. Honestly, writing many told me if Netaji Subhas would have been alive probably partition would not have taken place. Even Mahatma Gandhiji opposed the idea of ‘Two-nation Theory’. He declared, “If the Congress wishes to accept partition, it will be over my dead body. So long as I am alive, I will never agree to the partition of India. Nor will I, if I can help it, allow the Congress to accept it”.

  Indian National Army (INA/ Azad Hind Fauj) was formed by two  great persons Sri Rash Behari Bose and Sri Mohan Singh  in Southeast Asia during World War II. The main objective was to secure Indian independence from British rule. To attain the same Azad Hind Fauj/INA formed an alliance with the Empire of Japan in the latter’s campaign in the Southeast Asian theatre of WWII ( name given to the campaigns of the Pacific War in Burma, Ceylon, India, Thailand, the Philippines, Indochina, Malaya and Singapore).

  The first INA collapsed and was disbanded in December 1942 after differences between the INA leadership and the Japanese military over its role in Japan’s war in Asia. It is pertinent to mention that the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters in October, 1942 set up the Fujiwara Kikan, or the F-kikan, in Bangkok, headed by the Major Fujiwara Iwaichi, chief of intelligence of the 15th army.  As an INA member, Mohan Singh had good relations with the members of Fujiwara Kikan, but he was soon disillusioned with the Japanese Army’s behaviour. It is believed that they wanted to use the Indian National Army only as a part of Japanese army to fulfil their own objectives. In the meantime, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose arrived in Japan in 1943 and INA was invigorated.

    More than 60,000 soldiers of Indian origin were associated with Azad Hind Fauj/Indian National Army who were prisoners of war in those days and because of the initiative of Sri Mohan Singh they joined in INA/Azad Hind Fauj to fight against the British.  Out of them about 26,000 soldiers sacrificed their lives so their sacrifice must be saluted.  It may be mentioned  that the I.N.A. brigades, named after Gandhi, Azad, Nehru and Subhas, distinguished themselves in several battles which they won because  of complete bravery, courage and discipline. The INA/Azad Hind Fauj’s first success was capturing Moirang of Manipur.  On 18 April 1944, the suicide squads led by Col. Shaukat Malik broke through the British defence and captured Moirang. After Moirang, INA penetrated the Kohima road, creating a threat to the British positions in both Silchar (presently in Assam) and Kohima (now capital of Nagaland state). Col. Gulzara Singh’s column had entered 250 miles into India. Anyway rest is history as Azad Hind Fauj/INA could not succeed to come up to Delhi. Azad Hind had diplomatic relations with nine countries. These  were  Nazi Germany, the Empire of Japan, Fascist Italy, the Independent State of Croatia, Wang Jingwei’s Government in Nanjing, Thailand, Burma, Manchukuo and the Philippines. On the declaration of its formation in Singapore, President Eamon de Valera of the Irish Free State sent a note of congratulations to Bose.

It has to be admitted that  INA’s activities influenced the decision to leave India by the British. In this  regard, the views of Mr. Clement Richard Attlee, who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 may be mentioned. Mr. Attlee cited several reasons, the most important of which were the INA activities of Subhas Chandra Bose, which weakened the very foundation of the British Empire in India, and the Royal Indian Navy Mutiny which made the British realise that the support of the Indian armed forces could no longer be relied upon.  It is pertinent to mention that former Army officer Sri G.D. Bakshi in his book “ Bose or Gandhi: Who Got India Her Freedom?” appreciated Netaji’s role in the freedom movement. He  wrote on Facebook, “They (British) were not in the least bothered by the Non-violent movement of the Congress. Indeed in 1942 Quit India movement had been decisively crushed with ease. The INA trials and Naval mutiny generated such serious alarm that contingency plans for evacuation of all British nationals and soldiers from India were drawn up by Commander in chief Fd Mshl Auchinleck. Wavell (Viceroy) clearly told London they had just 18 months to get out of India before they lost the power to shape events.”

  On this auspicious occasion of 21st  October 2020, my great salute to the all INA/ Azad Hind Fauj  members. 

The following websites have been consulted to write the article

  1.  www.aicc.org.in/indian_national_army.php  
  2. https://enacademic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/618570
  3. https://www.theweek.in/news/india/2020/01/24/bose-or-gandhi-who-won-india-freedom-g-d-bakshi-launches-hindi-book.
  4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Indian_Navy_mutiny
  5. https://www.mkgandhi.org/articles/gandhi-partition.html

Dr Shankar Chatterjee, Hyderabad