BJP hits out at Rahul Gandhi for his criticism of Hindutva

A national interactive webinar for the media was organised on Friday by the Union Health Ministry to further strengthen awareness about the month-long Har Ghar Dastak campaign. The campaign aims to ensure that all the adult population is covered with the first dose of COVID vaccine, while those who are due for the second dose are also motivated to take the second dose.The interactive webinar was addressed by Additional Secretary in Health Ministry, Dr. Manohar Agnani. He said, going by India’s current vaccination pace we can claim with confidence that the world’s largest adult vaccination programme is well on track since its launch on 16 January this year. He said, to date, about 79 per cent of the eligible population in India has been vaccinated against Covid-19 with the first dose, while another 38 per cent have been fully vaccinated. He added that 100 per cent of the adult population has received the first dose of the vaccine in several states. Dr. Agnani expressed confidence that with India’s current vaccine delivery capacity, the entire adult population will soon be covered.

-The 52nd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) has announced its prestigious line up of entries for the international competition section. Out of the 15 films included in the competition includes the Bangladeshi film No Ground Beneath the Feet. Bangladeshi film ‘Paayer Tolay Mati Nai’  or No Ground Beneath the Feet directed by Mohammad Rabby Mridha has been included in the international competition section of the 52nd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) to be held at Goa between 20-28 November. This is Bangladeshi director Mohammad Rabby Mridha’s feature debut. It stars Mostafa Monwar, Priyam Archi and Deepanwita Martin. ‘Paayer Tolay Mati Nai narrates the life story of an ordinary man who walks through conflicts in his life involving work, family and morality.

-Union Sports Minister Anurag Singh Thakur on Friday felicitated the winners of Olympic and Paralympic games at a function in Varanasi. Union Minister also addressed the DAV Sports Conclave organised by DAV United Foundation. He also visited the Sampurnanand Sports stadium in Sigra area of Varanasi and discussed ways to increase sports facilities and infrastructure at the stadium with concerned officials. Prior to this the Minister who is also BJP co-incharge of upcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh held meeting with party functionaries at Lal Bahadur Shastri Airport.

-Culture Ministry will hold a Vande Bharatam- Nritya Utsav, an All-India dance competition as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. Briefing media in New Delhi, Minister of State for Culture Meenakshi Lekhi on Friday said, the objective of this competition is to select dancers who will perform during the cultural programme at the Republic Day Parade  next year. The final performance will take place on 26th January at Rajpath, India Gate. She said, Vande Bharatam group dance competition will start from November 17 at district level. Competition will be held at District, State, Zone and Inter-Zone or National Levels. Ms Lekhi said, final National Level competition will be organised on 19th of next month at Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi. She said, participants can perform in four categories Classical, Folk, Tribal and Fusion or Contemporary. The Minister said, 480 dancers will be eventually selected as winners from the National level and they will perform during the cultural performance at the Republic Day Parade. On this occasion Ms. Lekhi also launched the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav App.

-The BJP on Friday hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his criticism of Hindutva and said that Congress leadership nurses pathological hatred for Hinduism. Briefing media BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said, it is at the behest of Rahul Gandhi, Congress leaders like Salman Khurshid, Shashi Tharoor and P Chidambaram have allegedly targeted the religion. He alleged that Rahul Gandhi has a history of making critical comments about Hinduism and its culture and it is in the character of the Congress and the Gandhi family to attack Hinduism at every opportunity.