GIFT A FOOTBALL TO GIRLS
#GiftABall to girls from underprivileged families is a lovely campaign. Kiren Rijiju, Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports kick-started it at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in the presence of former football legend Bhaichung Bhutia, members of the Football Delhi Association, and a large gathering of girl players. The objective was to promote football among girls, especially from underprivileged backgrounds. Rijiju said, “I am extremely happy to see footballs in the hands of all-girl players. Everyone should support this initiative and motivate more girls to play football.” About 200 girls from underprivileged families were gifted football by Football Delhi. Bhutia told The Sunday Guardian that it was a great opportunity to launch #GiftABall Campaign on International Women’s Day.
IRANIAN APPLE TROUBLES LOCAL GROWERS
Apple growers of Himachal, J&K and Uttarakhand have joined hands to fight the alleged smuggling of Iranian apple into Indian markets. Harish Chauhan, president of the Fruits, Vegetables and Flowers Growers Association of Himachal Pradesh told The Sunday Guardian that the “Iranian apple is not good for Indian apple growers’ economic health.”
“Iranian apple is being brought into India through Afghanistan without paying import duty. Not only is the Union Government losing import duty but also local apple growers are being adversely affected,” says Chauhan.
Apple growers from J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand recently met in Srinagar and formed the Hill States Horticulture Forum to raise their concerns with the Central and State governments against the “dumping” of the Iranian fruit. Along with the apple growers, storage owners, arhtiyas and other stakeholders in the apple business are being roped in.
It is being claimed that the Afghanistan route is being used to bring in Iranian apple because there’s no import duty on trade between countries in the South Asian Free Trade Area, namely India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
The Iranian apple is reaching Delhi at the cost of Rs 40 to Rs 50 a kilogram. Praveen Sharma, an apple grower from Uttarakhand, says that it is difficult for Indian growers to compete at this rate. “What if China starts dumping its apple in our markets through Nepal and Sri Lanka?” asks Sharma.
HIGHWAY-LIKE QUESTIONS TO GADKARI
Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday faced the first question about the works on NH-15 in Punjab. The first supplementary question came from National Conference’s Hasnain Masoodi on the possibility of an elevated road on NH-4 in J&K and the next came from Congress’ Deepak Baij, who wanted to know if there would be a road connecting Raipur-Jagdalpur-Visakhapatnam. Addressing the Speaker, Gadkari said: “The question started on Punjab, then went to Kashmir and now reached Visakhapatnam and Odisha…” The Speaker smiled and said, “Now coming, Uttar Pradesh”. The next question was on toll plazas in UP’s Hapur district by BSP’s Danish Ali, followed by questions on road projects in Bihar and Maharashtra.
MAJU ON BOARD AIR FORCE ONE
Another Indian American, Maju Varghese, has been added to the list of “Indians” on Biden’s team. Varghese, who previously served as a key member of the Biden campaign and the inaugural committee, has been appointed as Director of the White House Military Office. As WHMO Director, Varghese will oversee all military operations aboard Air Force One on Presidential missions worldwide.
RIGHT TO PROCREATE IN JAIL?
Can a jail bar a prisoner from exercising his right to procreation in Haryana? This query was raised by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday. A Division Bench comprising Justice Rajan Gupta and Justice Karamjit Singh asked the state to reply while hearing a wife’s plea to have conjugal relations with her murder-convict husband. The petitioner-wife contended that her husband was convicted of murder and other offences by a Gurugram court on 30 May 2018. He is lodged in the Bhondsi district jail in Gurugram. Seeking a direction to the state and other respondents to permit conjugal relations with her husband, the petitioner contended that the right to procreation was alive even during incarceration. Her counsel contended the right could be traced to Article 21 of the Constitution, read with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It appeared, the Bench said, that in the case of “Jasvir Singh and another versus the State of Punjab and others” a question was framed whether the penology interest of the state permitted or ought to permit the creation of facilities to exercise the right to procreation during incarceration. Another issue before the court was whether the right could be termed as “right to life” and “personal liberty” guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. “As per the judgment, the answer appeared to be in the affirmative,” the Bench pointed out. The case will come up in March-end.