Uttarakhand: 80 years and above voters can vote via postal ballot

India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage crossed 107 Crore 25 lakh  landmark milestone today. Out of the total vaccination,  more than 73 crore 61 lakh vaccine doses have been given as first dose while 33 crore 64 lakh vaccine doses were administered as second dose. The Union Health Ministry said, more than 37 lakh vaccine doses were administered till 7 pmon Tuesday.

-Punjab Agriculture minister Randeep Singh Nabha on Tuesday urged the Union government to expedite proposed supply of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) in view of the ensuing rabi season.The state government had already demanded 30 rakes between November 1 and 10, 2021.Nabha, in an official release, said wheat is a major rabi crop of Punjab, sown on an area of 35 lakh hectares with a total 5.50 lakh MT requirement of DAP for rabi crops. The minister also said out of the total requirement, 4.80 lakh MT is required up to November for ensuring timely sowing of wheat crop. The Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers has allocated 25 rakes of DAP to Punjab up to October 31, but so far 18 rakes have reached while the rest seven are under process, said the minister adding that the Centre should provide requisite stock of DAP on priority basis. The Government of India allocated 5.50 LMT of DAP for rabi 2021-22, said the minister, further adding that 1.97 LMT was the allocation for October, of which 1.51 LMT had been received till now. The total stock of DAP available as on November 2, 2021 is 0.74 LMT whereas the Centre allocated 2.56 LMT for November, he added.

-Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal Tuesday accused Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi of trying to "befool people in the same manner as his predecessor Amarinder Singh did".He further alleged that Channi did not have any intention of keeping the promises made by him including reducing the power tariff by Rs 3 per unit for domestic consumers."The chief minister is indulging in political stunts. Even (Punjab Congress chief) Navjot Sidhu exposed his own government by saying sops were being given only for two months to fool voters," the SAD president told newspersons here. Badal said Channi had "failed" to explain how he would make good on his promise when his government's "corruption and mismanagement" have virtually left the power utility bankrupt.He said the state government owed the Punjab State Power Corporation a subsidy of Rs 4,500 crore and its departments owed it Rs 2,231 crore. "If you take all subsidies into account including Rs 3300 crore due to the latest announcement and bills that have been waived the subsidy bill will come to Rs 13,934 crores," he said.Asserting that the government did not have any roadmap to meet the financial requirements of the PSPCL, Badal said this "mismanagement" would result in the closure of thermal plants, disruption of coal supply, failure to give salaries to employees and massive powercuts.

-The J&K unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party has removed party leader and former MLC Vikram Randhawa from all party posts, including that of the Jammu & Kashmir BJP secretary post, with immediate effect. Jammu and Kashmir Police had earlier registered an FIR against Vikram Randhawa for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Kashmiri Muslims.The Jammu and Kashmir unit of BJP had served a show-cause notice to Randhawa, with party chief Ravinder Raina saying that his remarks were against the basic principles of the party, which believes in respecting all faiths.

- Voters above the age of 80 and persons with disabilities will have the facility to cast their votes from home through postal ballot, said Uttarakhand’s chief electoral officer (CEO) Sowjanya on Tuesday in Dehradun. He was addressing a media briefing on the pre-revision activities for the voters’ list ahead of the state assembly elections to be held early 2022. The aforementioned category of voters should be in the voter-list of the state and to avail the facility, have to apply with all the required details to the respective returning officer, she said, adding that the facility will also be available to those down with Covid-19 at the day of polling. “As per data available with the Election Commission, out of total 78,46,000 voters in the state, 1,65,113 voters are above 80 years of age including 71,537 males and 93,576 females. The differently-abled voters are numbered at 53,900 including 34,832 males and 19,067 female,” she said.