PM Modi slams Cong, seeks clear mandate for Haryana's development

October 4, 2014

Karnal (Har), Oct 4: Continuing his Lok Sabha plank of ousting the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today sought a clear mandate for the BJP in Haryana for putting the state on a growth trajectory.

Modi slams
Kicking off his party's poll campaign in Haryana, he hit out at the Congress for the state's backwardness.

Modi said that today the entire world was looking at India with greater respect and this had happened not because of him, but the power of 125 crore people of India, who had formed a strong and stable government at the Centre.

"Why has India's pride increased today? It is not because of Modi, it is because 125 crore people of India have formed a stable and strong government in Delhi. This is your magic not Modi's magic. Do you want that Haryana's name also echo around the world.

"Its first condition is that there should be 'Congress mukt Haryana'. The second that a stable government with full majority should be formed. And third, there should be a government which lets Modi work in Haryana," he said.

Attacking the ruling Congress in the state, Modi said that those who could not do anything for the last 60 years were now asking for his record in 60 days.

"The people who could not do anything in 60 years, they are asking for my 60 day record," he said.

In his 30-minute address at a rally here, Modi, while describing the ruling Congress as "anti-farmer", was also critical of the party's claim that Haryana was No 1 State.

He said the state lagged behind in several parameters including literacy rate, per capita income, poverty alleviation, health, education, among others. Modi also launched a veiled attack on main opposition INLD, asking the people whether they would like the State being governed from jail.

INLD President and former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala has been sentenced in the teachers recruitment scam. Chautala, who is out on bail on health grounds, had said that he would take oath as the next CM from Tihar Jail.

Seeking to connect with the farmers of the state, Modi hit out at the Congress for stating that the Centre had imposed ban on Basmati rice export.

"I am surprised that is it necessary to speak lies in polls. I do not need to tell, but you know all my farmer brother and sisters are being misled, you are being told that Centre has imposed a ban on Basmati rice export, which is 100 per cent lies and injustice to the farmers," he said.

Modi said Haryana was levying four per cent tax which was fetching lesser price for Basmati growers.

Launching a scathing attack on the Congress over alleged land scams, Modi said thousands of acres of land had vanished and farmers were deprived of adequate compensation.

"Who has taken these lands, I want to ask you did you get compensation for your land. Where has the thousands of acres of land have gone, who has taken it," he said.

"Who is anti-farmer, you have to decide. We have to change this, for this I want a clear mandate in Haryana, make our candidates victorious...,"

At the outset, Modi sought to strike an emotional chord with the people, saying he had come to Haryana to campaign, a day after the Vijay Dashmi festival was celebrated.

He said Haryana was the land of "Daanveer Karan", the land on which the Mahabharata battle was fought and holy Gita's message was delivered."This election will decide Haryana's future. I am sitting in your neighbourhood (Delhi)," Modi said.

Recalling the days he used to work in the State as a partyman, Modi said he wanted to repay the debt as he had received love and affection from the people here.

He told the people if they wanted employment, overall progress, development in villages, in cities, then change in Haryana was necessary.

"Do you want that I should serve you, I want your blessings for that and government with absolute majority, give me an opportunity to undertake development," he said.

Talking about the new route for Kailash Mansarovar yatra, he said the route existed even when Congress was in power but they had failed to do anything.

"Kailash Mansarovar was there when Congress government was there. But going there was very difficult. The work which Congress could not do, we did it in such a short time....we managed to make China understand and opened a second road to visit Kailash Mansoravar. And now one can visit Kailash Mansarovar by road," he said.

Modi also touched upon a number of schemes initiated by the Centre including Jan Dhan scheme.

Elections to the 90-member Haryana Assembly will be held on October 15.Haryana is set to witness a multi-corner contest with key players Congress, BJP, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP), BSP, Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC)-Jan Chetna Manch (JCM) alliance all set to cross swords.

In the last Assembly elections, Congress had won 40 seats, INLD 31, BJP 4, HJC-BL 6, SAD and BSP one each and seven seats had gone to Independents.

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News Network
December 13,2025

New Delhi: School-going children are picking up drug and smoking habits and engaging in consumption of alcohol, with the average age of introduction to such harmful substances found to be around 13 years, suggesting a need for earlier interventions as early as primary school, a multi-city survey by AIIMS-Delhi said.

The findings also showed substance use increased in higher grades, with grade XI/XII students two times more likely to report use of substances when compared with grade VIII students. This emphasised the importance of continued prevention and intervention through middle and high school.

The study led by Dr Anju Dhawan of AIIMS's National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, published in the National Medical Journal of India this month, looks at adolescent substance use across diverse regions.

The survey included 5,920 students from classes 8, 9, 11 and 12 in urban government, private and rural schools across 10 cities -- Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Delhi, Dibrugarh, Hyderabad, Imphal, Jammu, Lucknow, Mumbai, and Ranchi. The data were collected between May 2018 and June 2019.

The average age of initiation for any substance was 12.9 (2.8) years. It was lowest for inhalants (11.3 years) followed by heroin (12.3 years) and opioid pharmaceuticals (without prescription; 12.5 years).

Overall, 15.1 per cent of participants reported lifetime use, 10.3 per cent reported past year use, and 7.2 per cent reported use in the past month of any substance, the study found.

The most common substances used in the past year, after tobacco (4 per cent) and alcohol (3.8 per cent), were opioids (2.8 per cent), followed by cannabis (2 per cent) and inhalants (1.9 per cent). Use of non-prescribed pharmaceutical opioids was most common among opioid users (90.2 per cent).

On being asked, 'Do you think this substance is easily available for a person of your age' separately for each substance category, nearly half the students (46.3 per cent) endorsed that tobacco products and more than one-third of the students (36.5 per cent) agreed that a person of their age can easily procure alcohol products.

Similarly, for Bhang (21.9 per cent), ganja/charas (16.1 per cent), inhalants (15.2 per cent), sedatives (13.7 per cent), opium and heroin (10 per cent each), the students endorsed that these can be easily procured.

About 95 per cent of the children, irrespective of their grade, agreed with the statement that 'drug use is harmful'.

The rates of substance use (any) among boys were significantly higher than those of girls for substance use (ever), use in the past year and use in the past 30 days. Compared to grade VIII students, grade IX students were more likely, and grade XI/XII students were twice as likely to have used any substance (ever).

The likelihood of past-year use of any substance was also higher for grade IX students and for grade XI/XII students as compared to grade VIII students.

About 40 per cent of students mentioned that they had a family member who used tobacco or alcohol each. The use of cannabis (any product) and opioid (any product) by a family member was reported by 8.2 per cent and 3.9 per cent of students, respectively, while the use of other substances, such as inhalants/sedatives by family was 2-3 per cent, the study found.

A relatively smaller percentage of students reported use of tobacco or alcohol among peers as compared to among family members, while a higher percentage reported inhalants, sedatives, cannabis or opioid use among peers.

Children using substances (past year) compared to non-users reported significantly higher any substance use by their family members and peers.

There were 25.7 per cent students who replied 'yes' to the question 'conflicts/fights often occur in your family'. Most students also replied affirmatively to 'family members are aware of how their time is being spent' and 'damily members are aware of with whom they spend their time'.

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News Network
December 20,2025

train.jpg

At least seven elephants were killed and one calf injured after a herd collided with the Sairang-New Delhi Rajdhani Express in Assam's Hojai on Saturday morning, leading to disruption of rail services. 

The Sairang-New Delhi Rajdhani Express struck a herd of elephants, resulting in the derailment of the locomotive and five coaches. No passenger casualties or injuries were reported, officials said.

The New Delhi-bound train met with the accident around 2.17 am, PTI reported. The Sairang-New Delhi Rajdhani Express connects Mizoram's Sairang (near Aizawl) to Anand Vihar Terminal (Delhi). 

Railway has issued helpline numbers at the Guwahati Railway Station:-

•    0361-2731621
•    0361-2731622
•    0361-2731623

The accident site is located about 126 km from Guwahati. Following the incident, accident relief trains and railway officials rushed to the spot to initiate rescue operations.

Train Services Disrupted

Sources said that due to the derailment and elephant body parts scattered on the tracks, train services to Upper Assam and other parts of the Northeast were affected.

Passengers from the affected coaches were temporarily accommodated in vacant berths available in other coaches of the train. Once the train reaches Guwahati, additional coaches will be attached to accommodate all passengers, after which the train will resume its onward journey.

The incident occurred at a location that is not a designated elephant corridor. The loco pilot, upon spotting the herd on the tracks, applied emergency brakes. Despite this, the elephants dashed into the train, leading to the collision and derailment.

Last month, an elephant was killed after being hit by a train in Dhupguri in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district. The incident took place on November 30. 

The adult elephant was killed on the spot, and a calf was discovered lying injured beside the tracks. 

Over 70 Elephants Killed In Train Collisions Over Last 5 Years

At least 79 elephants have died in train collisions across the country in the last five years, the Environment Ministry had informed Parliament in August.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Environment Kirti Vardhan Singh had said the figure is based on reports from state governments and Union Territory administrations for the period 2020-21 to 2024-25.

He said that the ministry does not maintain consolidated data on the deaths of other wild animals on railway tracks, including in designated elephant corridors.

Singh confirmed that three elephants, including a mother and her calf, were killed on July 18 this year after being hit by a speeding express train on the Kharagpur-Tatanagar section in West Bengal's Paschim Midnapore district. The incident took place near Banstala between Jhargram and Banstala stations.

The minister said several measures have been taken jointly by the Environment Ministry and the Railways to prevent such accidents.

These include imposing speed restrictions in elephant habitats, pilot projects such as seismic sensor-based detection of elephants near tracks and construction of underpasses, ramps and fencing at vulnerable points.

The Wildlife Institute of India, in consultation with the ministry and other stakeholders, has also issued guidelines titled 'Eco-friendly Measures to Mitigate Impacts of Linear Infrastructure' to help agencies design railways and other projects in ways that reduce human-animal conflicts.

Singh added that capacity-building workshops were conducted for railway officials at the Wildlife Institute of India in 2023 and 2024 to raise awareness on elephant conservation and protection.

A detailed report titled 'Suggested Measures to Mitigate Elephant & Other Wildlife Train Collisions on Vulnerable Railway Stretches in India' had also been prepared after surveys across 127 railway stretches covering 3,452 km.

Of these, 77 stretches spanning 1,965 km in 14 states were prioritised for mitigation, with site-specific interventions suggested. 

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News Network
December 6,2025

pilot.jpg

New Delhi: IndiGo, India’s largest airline, faced major operational turbulence this week after failing to prepare for new pilot-fatigue regulations issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The stricter rules—designed to improve flight safety—took effect in phases through 2024, with the latest implementation on November 1. IndiGo has acknowledged that inadequate roster planning led to widespread cancellations and delays.

Below are the key DGCA rules that affected IndiGo’s operations:

1. Longer Mandatory Weekly Rest

Weekly rest for pilots has been increased from 36 hours to 48 hours.

The government says the extended break is essential to curb cumulative fatigue. This rule remains in force despite the current crisis.

2. Cap on Night Landings

Pilots can now perform only two night landings per week—a steep reduction from the earlier limit of six.

Night hours, defined as midnight to early morning, are considered the least alert period for pilots.

Given the disruptions, this rule has been temporarily relaxed for IndiGo until February 10.

3. Reduced Maximum Night Flight Duty

Flight duty that stretches into the night is now capped at 10 hours.

This measure has also been kept on hold for IndiGo until February 10 to stabilize operations.

4. Weekly Rest Cannot Be Replaced With Personal Leave

Airlines can no longer count a pilot’s personal leave as part of the mandatory 48-hour rest.

Pilots say this closes a loophole that previously reduced actual rest time.

Currently, all airlines are exempt from this rule to normalise travel.

5. Mandatory Fatigue Monitoring

Airlines must submit quarterly fatigue reports along with corrective actions to DGCA.

This system aims to create a transparent fatigue-tracking framework across the industry.

The DGCA has stressed that these rules were crafted to strengthen flight safety and align India with global fatigue-management standards. The temporary relaxations are expected to remain until February 2025, giving IndiGo time to stabilise its schedules and restore normal air travel.

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