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Delhi confidential: Spreading Light

Lok Sabha MP and BJP’s national media head Anil Baluni has played a key role in introducing Igas — the festival of lights in Uttarakhand — to the national capital.

Lok Sabha MP and BJP’s national media head Anil Baluni

Lok Sabha MP and BJP’s national media head Anil Baluni has played a key role in introducing Igas — the festival of lights in Uttarakhand — to the national capital. On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the special guest at the Igas celebrations at Baluni’s official bungalow. He told his guests that PM Modi’s message to people to revive local festivals inspired him to celebrate Igas with fanfare in Delhi. Baluni said he started celebrating the festival by inviting political leaders, bureaucrats and media persons to his residence. The celebrations on Monday started with Gau Pooja and later PM Modi lit the fire for Agni Pooja. Igas is celebrated 11 days after Diwali because, as per the legend, people in the hills learnt about Lord Ram’s return to Ayodhya from Lanka after these many days.

Mixed Message

A hoarding in Ambedkar Nagar district of UP has kicked off a blame game between the BJP and the Samajwadi Party. The hoarding, which has a photograph of BJP’s Katehari seat candidate Dharam Raj Nishad, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, has a controversial punch line in Bhojpuri — “Ya ta abki jitay da, ya ta takhti pa letaya da (Either make me win this time, or put me on my deathbed)”. The hoarding appeared at a prominent spot in the district on Thursday night and was soon taken down. Its punch line did not go down well with the BJP, which accused the SP of putting up the ad. The Opposition party, meanwhile, denied any link with the hoarding, saying it only showed the BJP’s “desperation”.

Green Cause

NGT chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava will be in attendance at the annual United Nations climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, later this week. It will be a rare appearance by India’s green court chief at the event. He is slated to speak on the role of the judiciary in enforcing forest laws, climate litigation and pollution, alongside judges from Pakistan, Nepal, Brazil, Azerbaijan and the European Union.

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Anil Baluni
Baku
Delhi Confidential
Narendra Modi
NGT
United Nations Climate Change Conference

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