BJP does 'revolution', nominates woman for lone RS seat from Nagaland

BJP does 'revolution', nominates woman for lone RS seat from Nagaland

New Delhi

It is certainly a major political move and a key message on empowerment of women.

The BJP has nominated its Nagaland unit Mahila Morcha chief Ms S. Phangnon Konyak forthe ensuing polls to the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Nagaland.

"Congratulations to BJP Mahila Morcha Nagaland State President Smt. @phangnon for being declared as Rajya Sabha candidate. This shows BJP's focus on empowering Women leaders in the party. I thank PM Narendra Modi ji, J P Nadda  Ji, Amit Shah ji and  B L Santhosh ji for this decision," tweeted BJP all India Mahila Morcha chief Vanathi Srinivasan.

"Thank you Akka @VanathiBJP for the wishes and grateful to BJP leadership for giving an ordinary karyakarta like me,such a great privilege," said Ms Phangnon Konyak in her missive.

The 44-year-old Ms Konyak has Masters in English literature and hails from Chingai war of Mon town.

Her election should be easy as three political parties the BJP, NDPP of Chief Minister Neiphiu Rioand NPF are part of the ruling combine in the state. Opposition parties such as Congress or NPPdo not have any MLA in the House.

"Heartfelt congratulations to Smt @phangnon, President of Mahila Morcha Nagaland on being selected as the candidate for the biennial election to the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) from Nagaland. Her candidacy is well deserved, and I wish her the very best," tweeted Nagaland Deputy Chief Minister Y Patton. 

Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio also congratulated S. Phangnon Konyak and said, "I wish you the best for the upcoming elections and for all your future endeavours". Nagaland though known as a progressive state with high education rate and English

being the state's official language has a reputation of not sending/electing any woman legislator to the state assembly since statehood in 1963.

Only in the 1970s, Ms Rano Shaiza was elected as Nagaland MP to the Lok Sabha as UDF candidate riding the post Emergence wave.

The Nagaland BJP in their recommendation paper submitted to the central leadership has said the special committee of party leaders has made the recommendations while trying to respect 'regional dynamics' in the state of Nagaland.

All the four names were from development-starved Mon-Tuensang region and included two from Konyak tribes in Mon district and two others from Tuensang district.

Observers say the socio-political fabric favours men over women in Nagaland -- to the extent that the state is still waiting for the first female legislator in the state assembly. Even the women quota for urban local bodies was strongly opposed initially.

By and large the 33 per cent reservation for women in state legislatures was also opposed in the 1990s when the demand for the quota bill was at its peak. The influential Naga Students' Federation had written to the parliamentary select committee chairperson Geeta Mukherjee, saying the bill went against Naga tradition.

The Nagaland assembly in 1997 during Congress rule also passed a unanimous resolution moved by the then parliamentary affairs minister Zhove Lohe opposing the women's quota bill in state legislatures.

Even in Mizoram, the electors have generally favoured menfolk in comparison to women.

Addressing a workshop of Mizoram legislators in 2009 in Delhi, the first female speaker of Lok Sabha Meira Kumar had underlined that it was high time for the northeastern state to have woman MLAs.

Mizoram's only female minister so far has been Lalhlimpui, who was elected to the assembly in 1987 and became a member of the cabinet in the MNF regime under Chief Minister Laldenga, a former rebel leader.

After Lalhlimpui, only after a 27 years break in 2014 Ms C. Lalawmpuii won the Hrangturzo assembly by-election as a Congress nominee.

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-Nirendra Devpls visit my bloghttp://bestofindiarestofindia.blogspot.in/

Bihar born Indo-American medico joins Biden team as Covid 'response coordinator'

New Delhi 

Dr Ashish Jha is a practising physician and has been serving as the Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health since 2020. 

Now, he will be the White House’s next Covid-19 Response Coordinator. 

Jha replaces Jeffrey D Zients, who is set to leave the administration next month.

“As we enter a new moment in the pandemic — executing on my National Covid-19 Preparedness Plan and managing the ongoing risks from Covid — Dr Jha is the perfect person for the job,” President Biden’s statement on Jha’s appointment read. 

“I appreciate both Jeff and Dr Jha for working closely to ensure a smooth transition, and I look forward to continued progress in the months ahead.”

According to a statement released by the Brown University, Dr Jha is “a globally recognized expert on pandemic preparedness and response as well as on health policy research and practice".

Ashish Kumar Jha was born in Pursaulia, Madhubani, Bihar on December 31, 1970.

His family moved to Toronto, Canada in 1979 and to the United States in 1983.

Jha graduated from Boonton High School in Boonton, New Jersey and received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1997. He then trained as a resident in internal medicine at the University of California.

“I am honoured to accept President Biden’s invitation and do so confident that the School of Public Health will advance around critical issues including pandemic preparedness and key initiatives we have launched to improve understanding and policy in key public health issues," Dr Jha said in a statement.

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ISKCON temple attacked, vandalised in Dhaka

Nirendra Dev 

New Delhi

Twitter handle 'Voice of Bangladeshi Hindus' shared visuals that showcase damages caused to the 

Sri Sri Radhakanta Jiu Mandir run by ISKCON at Dhaka in Bangladesh.

Reports say, a frenzied Muslim mob on March 17 attacked an ISKCON temple, located on Lalmohan 

Saha Street in Wari in Dhaka Division of Bangladesh. 

According to the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), the dastardly attack was orchestrated by one 62-year-old 

Haji Shafiullah. Under his direction, an Islamist mob of 150-200 people attacked and vandalized the 

ISKCON temple. 

They desecrated the idol, vandalised the temple premises, looted money and other valuable items.

Reportedly devotees namely Sumantra Chandra Shravan, Nihar Haldar, and Bhadra Rajiv were injured during the 

attack. 

"On the night of shab-e-barat, extremists are again attacking the Wari Radhakanta ISKCON temple in Dhaka. 

We are  requesting all the Hindus to play their role in protecting the temple," the tweet from 'Voice of Bangladeshi 

Hindus' said.

“The attack on the Radhakanta ISKCON temple in Dhaka is ongoing. The Devotees informed the police but the police are not taking any action,” it was posted.

One Hindu activist Pandit Pradip Chandra also tweeted: 

“They (Islamists) forcibly took Nihar (name of the victim) away. I notified the police but they were not ready to 

believe me. After pleading with the cops several times, they agreed to look out for Nihar. Earlier, the cops 

denied that anyone was even abducted. We were, however, able to find Nihar in the end". 

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New Delhi 

India has to keep focusing on competitive energy sources as it is highly dependent on imports for the same.

Countries with oil self-sufficiency or those importing themselves from Russia "cannot credibly advocate" restrictive trading, those in the know of things say.

It may be clarified that while there is no Government to Government contract on oil import from Russia, nearly one percent of crude oil comes from that country to India.

"India’s legitimate energy transactions should not be politicized," the source
told 'Organiser' pointing out that India is highly dependent on imports for meeting its energy requirements. 

"Nearly 85 percent of crude oil requirement (5 million barrels a day) has to be imported," the source said

adding, most of New Delhi's imports are from West Asia (Iraq 23%, Saudi Arabia 18%, UAE 11%). 

Lately of course the United States has also become an important crude oil source for India; but it supplies

only  7.3 percent.  

Sources further said the imports from the US are expected to increase substantially in the current year, 

"It may probably touch around 11 percent. Its market share will be eight percent," the source said.

It is being argued in the concerned levels that the "latest geopolitical developments" have posed significant 

challenges to India's energy security. 

"For obvious reasons, we have had to stop sourcing from Iran and Venezuela. Alternative sources have often 

come at a higher cost. The jump in oil prices after the Ukraine conflict has now added to our challenges," said

the source.

The pressure for competitive sourcing has naturally increased.

"Russia has been a marginal supplier of crude oil to India (less than 1 percent of our requirement, not among top 

10 sources). There is no Govt-to-Government arrangement of import from Russia to India," the sources pointed

out.

Of course, it is well that Russian oil / gas is being procured by various countries across the world, 

particularly Europe. 

It ought to be kept in mind that nearly 75 percent of Russia’s total natural gas exports is to OECD Europe 

(like Germany, Italy, France). European countries (like Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Finland, Lithuania, Romania) 

are also large importers of Russian crude oil.

Notably, recent Western sanctions on Russia have carve outs to avoid impact on energy imports from Russia. 

The Russian banks that are the main channels for European Union payments for Russian energy imports have not been excluded from SWIFT.

The western nations know how to act cleverly and hide them too.

"India has to keep focusing on competitive energy sources. We welcome such offers from all producers. 

Indian traders too operate in global energy markets to explore best options," the source added.

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