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Mahatama Gandhi’s wheelchair-bound relative summoned by Surat official to second-floor office

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Mahatama Gandhi’s wheelchair-bound relative summoned by Surat official to second-floor office

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The granddaughter-in-law of Mahatma Gandhi Shivalaxmi Gandhi suffered difficulty trying to register a charitable trust when an official of the charity commissionerate in Surat criticized a representative of her for “using” Gandhi’s name and also added that the work will only be done if she would personally visit the office.

“The descendants of Sardar Patel never used to take his name. Why are the descendants of Mahatma Gandhi taking his name to get work done?” Assistant charity commissioner of Surat RV Patel asked when Parimal Desai, who on behalf of Shivalaxmi Gandhi had gone to the charity Commissioner’s office to get a newly formed trust registered.  Desai had been trying for four months to get the work done.

On Monday afternoon, all the trust members of Dr Shiva and Kanu Ramdas Gandhi Charitable Trust took the wheelchair-bound Shivalaxmi to the office of Assistant Charity Commissioner Officer R V Patel. This time, the work was done within ten minutes.

A couple of months ago, Shivalaxmi expressed Parimal Desai her desire to start a trust to use her life’s savings and pension for the education of underprivileged students of Surat.

Shivalaxmi, who holds a doctorate in biochemistry and has worked as a research scientist in the United States, settled down in Bhimrad village in Surat after the death of her husband, Kanu Gandhi on November 7, 2016. Kanu Gandhi, the son of Ramdas Gandhi, was 87 when he died. He had been a mathematician who worked as a scientist in NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration, US). The couple had left the US a few years ago and settled in Surat.

On account of her age and poor health, Dr Shivalaxmi pressed Desai to register the trust right away. Acting on her request, Desai, along with his son Hardik Desai, Balvant Patel of Bhimrad village and one Ravi Juneja, got the documents ready. Desai tried for four months to get the paperwork cleared.

Around a month ago, finally Assistant charity commissioner RV Patel of Surat Charity Commissioner’s office told Parimal Desai that the settler (donor) of the trust must come personally to get the work done. His office is located on the second floor of the building with no elevators.

“I told him that Dr Shivalaxmi is 92 years old and cannot come to the office due to her old age and illness, Parimal Desai told The Indian Express. “I also offered to pick up and drop the officials in my car to Dr Shivalaxmi’s place and back. Patel refused, saying there is no such provision.” That is when Desai informed the official that Dr Shivalaxmi was the granddaughter-in-law of Mahatma Gandhi and that she wanted to open the trust for the education of underprivileged students. “Patel, in front of 20 people (other applicants), told me loudly ‘The descendants of of Sardar Patel never use his name. Why are the descendants of Mahatma Gandhi using his name to get work done?’” Desai said.

Feeling insulted by the officials’ behavior he came back and told the happenings in front of the members of the trust where Dr Shivalaxmi was also present.

“One of the trust members told us that the work would be done if they were to pay a bribe of Rs 5,000 to the official,” said Desai. “Shocked by this, Dr Shivalaxmi told me she would not pay a bribe and would go to the charity commissioner’s office herself and get the documents cleared.” And so she did on Monday.

(Source: Indian Express)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Ahead of Delhi Elections, Arvind Kejriwal launches Revdi Par Charcha campaign to seek feedback on freebies

Arvind Kejriwal said 65,000 meetings will be held across Delhi at micro levels by the AAP leaders and workers.

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Ahead of Delhi Elections, Arvind Kejriwal launches Revdi Par Charcha campaign to seek feedback on freebies

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday launched a campaign with a tagline Revdi Par Charcha to seek public feedback on freebies. The campaign comes ahead of the assembly elections, which is scheduled to be held in February.

Former Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal launched the campaign with his colleagues at the party office, saying while the opposition calls freebies as revdi, the party calls it services. This campaign will start on November 25 and will continue for 15 days until December 10, discussing the issues with common man.

Notably, the opposition has been targeting the AAP for providing free electricity, water and free public buses for women among other facilities. However, AAP feels freebies help citizens live a life of dignity.

Gopal Rai, AAP’s Delhi unit chief, said that so far, politicians used to enjoy the facilities, while citizens paid taxes. He continued that Arvind Kejriwal’s government decided that the people should also get the facilities like the politicians, adding the BJP called their attempt revdis. He said that AAP is launching the ‘Revdi Par Charcha’ campaign to discuss with the people in the city if the government should provide the facilities or not.

Launching the campaign, Arvind Kejriwal said 65,000 meetings will be held across Delhi at micro levels by the AAP leaders and workers. He said that AAP has six revdis for the people of Delhi. Mentioning that the Prime Minister and BJP have said several times that Kejriwal is providing freebies to the people that should be stopped, the former Chief Minister said that now people will now tell them if they want these six freebies.  He further concluded that if the BJP is elected here, they will stop these services immediately.

While listing the six services, the AAP national convenor said that Delhi is getting free electricity round the clock. He added that there was a time when Delhi used to see power cuts for 8-10 hours, but AAP ensured that the situation changed. He also noted that his party is providing free water, free pilgrimage to senior citizens, free bus rides to women, free world-class education and free medicine and treatments. Additionally, the pamphlet launched by Arvind Kejriwal also listed that soon the women in Delhi will get Rs 1,000 per month as well, later termed as the seventh revdi by the former Chief Minister.

Reports said that the paper will be circulated across the national capital. The paper also reads that if the reader feels they are getting huge water bills, they should not pay it. It mentioned that AAP will waive all water bills once Arvind Kejriwal is re-elected.

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Rahul Gandhi says air pollution in North India a national emergency, tourism declining, global reputation crumbling

“We need a collective national response, not political blame games,” the Congress leader said on his X handle.

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Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the air pollution in North India is a national emergency that needs a collective national response and not a political blame game. The Congress leader added that due to air pollution tourism is declining and “our global reputation is crumbling”.

It is a public health crisis that is stealing children’s future and suffocating the elderly, Gandhi said, adding an environmental and economic disaster that is ruining countless lives.

“As Parliament meets in a few days, MPs will all be reminded of the crisis by our irritated eyes and sore throats. It is our responsibility to come together and discuss how India can end this crisis once and for all,” the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha said.

The former Congress chief said the poorest “among us suffer the most”, unable to escape the toxic air surrounding them. Families are gasping for clean air, children are falling sick, and millions of lives are being cut short, he added.

The Rae Bareli MP noted that the pollution cloud covers hundreds of kilometres. He said cleaning it up will require major changes and decisive action from governments, companies, experts, and citizens.

“We need a collective national response, not political blame games,” the Congress leader said on his X handle.

Gandhi also shared a video on a social media platform where he discussed the capital’s air pollution with environmentalist expert Vimalendu Jha. In the video, the Congress leader said he has been facing eye-burning and breathing issues and how the last week in Delhi has been terrible.

He said, “I tell my mother to leave town this month.” Jha explains to Gandhi that the sources of air pollution in Delhi are episodic and perennial. Episodic sources are firecrackers and stubble burning, which affect the month of November. “Vehicular contributes 50 per cent of Delhi’s pollution and construction-related roadside dust is another 30 per cent,” Jha said.

The Air Quality Index in Delhi has been severe since November 16, making it five consecutive days till Wednesday. On November 15, the average AQI was 396 (very poor).

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Indian Navy submarine collides with fishing boat near Goa coast, 2 fishermen missing

A spokesperson from the Navy told the media that eleven crew have been rescued so far.

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Indian Navy submarine collides with fishing boat near Goa coast, 2 fishermen missing

Indian Navy officials on Friday said that an Indian fishing vessel with a crew of 13 collided with an Indian Naval submarine near the Goa coast. 

Following the incident, a massive search and rescue operation has been launched by the Indian Navy, which has deployed six ships and aircraft. Reportedly, while 11 crew have been rescued, two are still missing.

The Ministry of Defence issued a statement and said that the vessel, Marthoma, collided with a Scorpene-class submarine about 70 nautical miles off the Goa coast. It added that search and rescue efforts for the remaining two are underway and are being coordinated with Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre Mumbai (MRCC). It further mentioned that additional assets including from the Coast Guard have been diverted to the area to augment the efforts.

The statement said that the cause of the incident is being investigated. Notably, Scorpene-class submarines are a major part of India’s naval power in the Indian Ocean as they can undertake multifarious types of missions, including anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, intelligence gathering, mine laying, and area surveillance.

Reports said that the state-of-the-art technology utilised for the construction of the Scorpene-class submarines has ensured superior stealth features such as advanced acoustic silencing techniques, low radiated noise levels, hydro-dynamically optimized shape and the ability to launch a crippling attack on the enemy using precision-guided weapons. Furthermore, the attack can be launched with both torpedoes and tube-launched anti-ship missiles, whilst underwater or on the surface.

Meanwhile, the Indian Navy in its statement said that 13 crew members were aboard the fishing vessel at the time of the collision. It added that while 11 crew have been rescued so far, two fishermen are still reported missing.

A spokesperson from the Navy told the media that eleven crew have been rescued so far. He stated that search and rescue efforts for the remaining two crew members of Marthoma are in progress and are being coordinated with the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), Mumbai. Additional assets including from the Coast Guard have been diverted to the area to augment the efforts, he continued.

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