Delhi Confidential: Good gesture

The Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritwa Abhiyan award ceremony on Friday evening stood out for more reasons than one. There was, to begin with, the provision for sign language translation.

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One of the recipients for the award for care to expectant mothers by the private sector was a polio survivor, and all three ministers — Health Minister J P Nadda and two Ministers of State — stepped off the dais to hand over the award.

Good Gesture

The Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritwa Abhiyan award ceremony on Friday evening stood out for more reasons than one. There was, to begin with, the provision for sign language translation. One of the recipients for the award for care to expectant mothers by the private sector was a polio survivor, and all three ministers — Health Minister J P Nadda and two Ministers of State — stepped off the dais to hand over the award. In her speech, Health Secretary Preeti Sudan spoke about how she had lost a son in the ninth month of pregnancy to hypertension.

Europe Outreach

Congress president Rahul Gandhi is said to be planning an official visit to some European countries soon as part of his outreach to the Indian diaspora and connect with business leaders and heads of state. Rahul had last year travelled to the US and interacted with students of University of California, Berkeley. He had visited the UAE later and travelled to Singapore and Malaysia in March this year. Rahul’s Europe visit is in the planning stages and those close to him indicate that he is expected to have interactive sessions with students, meetings with business leaders, and address Indian community gatherings.

Testing The Waters

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While the Trinamool Congress is keen to have its nominee fielded as the joint opposition candidate for the post of Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, the question is whether the party would get the support of others in the Opposition. The CPI(M), TMC’s rival in West Bengal, has indicated that it would be difficult to support a TMC nominee. So has the name of a Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP been thrown into public domain to test the waters? And will the CPI(M) reluctance mean that the joint Opposition candidate will finally be from the Congress?

Platform For Success

Being the Prime Minister’s Lok Sabha constituency, Varanasi has been at the forefront of receiving the fruits of development activities of several Central ministries over the last four years, and Railways is no different. On Thursday, another feat was added when Varanasi railway station became certified by the Indian Green Building Council as a ‘green station’. It got 56 points in the rating structure and the Council’s chairman informed Northern Railways general manager about it in a letter.

‘Bangladeshis’ and ‘ghuspaithiyas’: BJP MP Brij Lal stops five sanitation workers on road in to quiz them on video

‘Bangladeshis’, ‘ghuspaithiyas’: On camera, BJP MP quizzes 5 sanitation workers

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BJP MP and former UP DGP Brij Lal has sparked controversy with a video accusing five sanitation workers in Lucknow's Gomti Nagar Extension of being Bangladeshi infiltrators. Lal, a former IPS officer, claims to know how terrorism works and alleges that these workers are a threat to the nation. He appeals to CM Yogi Adityanath to deport them and claims they have fake identities.

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