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Time of India
an hour ago
- Business
- Time of India
Naidu flags off statewide campaign to showcase NDA achievements
Vijayawada: Chief minister Chandrababu Naidu asserted that the NDA govt is spending twice as much on welfare compared to the previous YSRCP regime, while also accelerating development across the state. Launching the month-long outreach campaign titled "First Step in Good Governance" at Kuppam on Wednesday, Naidu said the initiative aims to connect with every household in Andhra Pradesh and highlight the government's achievements over the past year. All MLAs have been directed to visit their constituencies and explain the various welfare and development programmes implemented by the NDA govtt. While Naidu began a two-day tour of his Kuppam constituency, his son and minister Nara Lokesh launched the campaign in Mangalagiri. Ministers and legislators across the state kicked off the programme in their respective regions. During his Kuppam visit, Naidu inaugurated development projects worth 1,293 crore and signed MoUs with four companies for skill development initiatives involving an investment of 1,617 crore. He also unveiled Vision Swarna Kuppam – 2029, outlining a roadmap for transforming the constituency he has represented for nine consecutive terms. Addressing a public meeting in Shantipuram, Naidu said Andhra Pradesh is recovering from the "destruction" caused by the previous government. He announced that the Handri-Neeva project would be completed within a year, with 3,890 crore allocated to ensure irrigation for every acre of farmland. Naidu also announced plans to promote "Brand Kuppam" by improving market access for local products. He revealed that an airport would soon be built in Kuppam with an investment of 850 crore. Appealing to locals not to oppose land acquisition, he promised fair compensation on par with Amaravati farmers. He urged residents to take advantage of the PM Surya Ghar scheme by installing solar panels to reduce electricity costs. Naidu also highlighted plans to modernise the railway station and improve road connectivity. Criticising the YSRCP, Naidu said only those who can deliver development have the right to speak about welfare. He argued that borrowing for welfare while ignoring development is not good governance. "To spend on welfare, wealth must be created first—and that's what the NDA govt is doing," he said. Naidu also distributed pensions to new beneficiaries, tricycles to differently-abled persons, and e-cycles to 400 DWACRA women. He visited households in Timmarajupalle to interact with beneficiaries and understand their concerns.
Memri
2 days ago
- Politics
- Memri
Africa's 'Second' World War Is Not Winding Down Anytime Soon
The First and Second Congo Wars, waged between 1996 and 1997 and then 1998 and 2003 were so bloody and far-reaching that they drew in the armed forces of at least eight separate African countries plus many rebel groups. They have been dubbed "Africa's World War" because of the number of regional belligerents and the sheer destructiveness of the conflict. Millions died and millions more were displaced and made destitute. But despite the carnage, this was a war contained and fought within the boundaries of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC); the foreign armies were not fighting each other elsewhere. There is another world war waging in Africa today, not quite as bloody as the Second Congo War but much more widespread, raging from Mali in West Africa to Mozambique in Southern Africa. This is the war being waged by Salafi Jihadist terror groups in at least seven main fronts – Mali, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Niger, DRC, Somalia, and Mozambique. This Jihadist war has so far also spilled over into terrorist attacks in at least eight other countries – Benin, Togo, Chad, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. A second brutal African conflict, in Sudan, is the world's worst humanitarian crisis and threatens to spread to neighboring states. It is not a Jihadist insurgency but rather a civil war between rival branches of the security forces, former allies turned bitter adversaries and supported by different regional powers. The Jihadist Second World War has foreign roots. Most of the Jihadist insurgents have sworn public loyalty to foreign Arab Muslim entities, to either Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State. Two of the principal leaders of the Jihadist insurgency in West Africa, JNIM's Iyad Ag Ghaly and Amadou Koufa, were "radicalized" by foreigners, reportedly by itinerant Pakistani Tablighi Jamaat preachers. When I worked in the State Department a decade ago, Niger's interior minister told me about the problem of foreign preachers, flush with Qatari or Saudi money, appearing and telling Africans that "your Islam, the one you have practiced for the past thousand years, is all wrong." But despite the foreign connections, these Jihadist wars are nothing if not local, relying on local realities and grievances, following local fissures. These insurgencies build upon not only criminal networks – smugglers, cattle rustlers, illicit gold miners, and bandits – but also tribal and ethnic connections. In West Africa, the wars often follow the paths forged by Fulani (or Fula) pastoralists, peoples already in conflict with farmers (Christian, Muslim, and animist) and governments. Fulani are found from Senegal in West Africa to Sudan in East Africa and form important populations in a dozen countries, including some of the worst hit by Jihadist violence: Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. Also "local" is the reality that in many of these countries rival Jihadist groups – usually Al-Qaeda-aligned versus Islamic State-aligned – continue to fight each other in a bloody, continuing situation that actually somewhat blunts these groups' effectiveness against the state. Islamic State official propaganda boasting of attacks on the "Al-Qaeda militia" But while the conflict is similar from West Africa to East and South, with Jihadist insurgents challenging government security forces and targeting civilian populations, not all of these conflicts are the same. All are dangerous, all are challenges to the state, all are aggressive and ambitious and try to spread, but not all of them have the same prospects for long-term success. Of the seven main fronts I have mentioned, the Jihadists are mostly contained in specific regions in three countries – Niger, DRC, and Mozambique. Muslims, from where the insurgents draw their recruits, are a small percentage of the population in the DRC and only slightly larger in Mozambique. And while Niger is a Muslim majority country (98 percent), the Jihadist insurgency so far is limited to the country's far southwest (both Al-Qaeda and Islamic State branches) and far southeast (Boko Haram). It is in Mali, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, and Somalia that the core Jihadist insurgency is most potent and dangerous. No one expects that Boko Haram (or the larger phenomenon of Fulani herders/terrorists preying on mostly Christian farmers) will ever overthrow the state in Nigeria, but the insurgency, instability, and violence that is generated can certainly help to destabilize Africa's most populous country. In Mali, Burkina Faso, and Somalia, the goal is definitely to overthrow the state and that possibility cannot be discounted. Al-Shabab in Somalia has made something of a resurgence in recent years, controls considerable territory and dreams of becoming a force again inside the country's capital. That is not impossible but probably unlikely as the Somali National Army is backed up by African Union (AU) Forces, Turkey, and American drone strikes. So, then Mali and Burkina Faso present the most tempting, promising targets for Jihadist victory where it is conceivable that they could – at least temporarily – be able to seize the state and take its capital. The security situation has been palpably deteriorating in both countries in recent months. Mali, where Jihadists compete with each other, with Tuareg nationalists and with the Russian-backed regime in Bamako, may be too complicated, too difficult of an objective. Burkina Faso looks much more at risk, with about half of the countryside already dominated by Jihadists. It is already the "most terrorist-affected country in the world," a dubious distinction, according to the 2024 Global Terrorism Index. A quarter of all deaths caused by terrorists worldwide were in Burkina Faso. "Sheikh Mujahid" Iyad Ag Ghaly as seen in JNIM's official propaganda outlet Az-Zallaqa. Here it is JNIM, the local al-Qaeda branch, that is most likely to succeed. Jima'a Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (the "Support Group for Islam and Muslims," JNIM) is currently by far the most capable, best-armed, and best-led of all of the rival Jihadist groups in Africa (Al-Shabab and Boko Haram would come second). The group's leaders, the wily veteran Tuareg tribal aristocrat Iyad Ag Ghaly and deputy commander Amadou Koufa, a charismatic ethnic Fulani preacher, were both denounced by the Islamic State as "apostates" for their political flexibility. This seeming pragmatism (and willingness to talk to "unbeliever" media and regimes) is as dangerous as their use of violence. JNIM represents a strategic evolution away from the brutal Algerian dominated days of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) to a broader and looser African alliance, currently led by Malians. The 64-year-old Fulani preacher and JNIM deputy Amadou Koufa Led by Ag Ghaly, dubbed "the strategist," JNIM even avoids using the name of Al-Qaeda. "Support Group [Nusra Group] for Islam and the Muslims" harkens to the original name of what became Syria's new Islamist rulers – the Nusra Front (later called Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham, (HTS)). Like Abu Muhammad Al-Joulani's Syrian organization, JNIM seems increasingly distant from Al-Qaeda. Inspired by the Qatari-supported examples of the "independent" Jihadist Taliban in Afghanistan and HTS in Syria – different (more national than regional) organizations and very different situations on the ground – JNIM seeks to follow its own ambitious regional path to power. On the surface, it still seems very implausible that JNIM could actually take landlocked Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou, a city of over two million people. Yet the inhabitants of Kabul, Mosul, Raqqa, and Damascus once thought the same thing. However, JNIM does not even need to take the city but rather isolate it from the surrounding countryside. And it would be far more difficult to administer such a large urban population than to seize it. Much will depend on the ability of the beleaguered government of Burkina Faso to retake and hold territory lost to JNIM. Burkina Faso's interim president 37-year-old Ibrahim Traore faces a major security challenge The group could also bypass the city and country altogether in its remorseless southern march to the sea and toward the threatened Christian-majority cities and countries on the coast of West Africa. The JNIM-controlled rural regions of Burkina Faso already function as a kind of hub or safe haven for strikes into Benin, Togo, and other littoral states. JNIM's extensive use of swarms of fighters on motorcycles, in addition to the ubiquitous Toyota Hilux, gives them great mobility. Regardless of JNIM's immediate successes or failures in the coming months, the larger phenomenon of Jihadist pressure against fragile or failed states across a vast swathe of Africa will continue. *Alberto M. Fernandez is Vice President of MEMRI.
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Business
- Indian Express
Railway fare hikes to kick in from July 1: 2 paise per km for AC travel, 1 paise per km for non-AC
The Ministry of Railways has hiked fares across AC, sleeper and second classes after five years. The new fares will come into effect from July 1. It has kept suburban fares and monthly seasonal fares the same. According to a Ministry circular issued Monday, AC class (first class, 2-tier, 3-tier, and chair car) fares have been increased by two paisa per km. For non-AC classes in mail and express trains (sleeper class, second class (general) and first class), the fare increase is one paisa per km. Put simply, a passenger travelling 1,000 km in any AC class will have to pay Rs 20 more. For those travelling in a sleeper or general coach of any Mail or Express train, the additional fare will be Rs 10. For the second class or general class in ordinary trains, there is no fare increase up to 500 km. After that, the fare has been increased by Rs 5 for distances between 501 km to 1,500 km, Rs 10 for distances between 1,501 km and 2,500 km and Rs 15 for distances between 2,501 km to 3,000 km. The Ministry said the revised fares will not affect those who have already booked tickets for journeys after July 1 on the earlier rates. 'However, any new tickets made by ticket checking staff in trains/at stations on or after 01.07.2025 shall be charged on the revised rate,' said the notification. Additional charges such as reservation fee and superfast surcharge have been left untouched. Going by the Railways' projection of passenger kilometres, the hike starting July 1 could generate an additional revenue of over Rs 1,100 crore for the remaining period of the current financial year (2025-26). For the complete financial year, the additional revenue generated would have been over Rs 1,450 crore. According to the Railways, the total projected revenue from the passenger segment for FY26 is Rs 92,800 crore, on the expectations of an increase in passenger numbers. In FY25, when over 736 crore people travelled by trains, the total passenger revenue was Rs 75,215 crore. The last revision in passenger fares happened in January 2020, when the Ministry increased the fare of non-AC classes in Mail and Express trains by two paisa per km and of AC classes by four paisa per km. One paisa per kilometre was the increase in ordinary non-AC classes. The Railways heavily subsidises passenger services. According to a Parliamentary committee report, the suburban services recover around 30 per cent of their costs and non-AC services recover 39 per cent. AC travel generates a marginal surplus of 3.5 per cent. The Railways generates nearly 65% of its total revenue from transportation of freight. The passenger segment contributes almost 30 per cent. The rest is from sundry sources. In the passenger segment, premium AC Classes — such as AC First Class, AC 2-tier, AC 3-tier, and AC Chair Car — contribute almost 54 per cent of total passenger revenues. But in terms of the number of passengers, AC classes account for only 4.8 per cent of the total, while Sleeper and General Classes together carry almost 37 per cent. Suburban trains account for 57 per cent of passengers. In December 2024, the Standing Committee on Railways recommended the Indian Railways review the revenue from the AC Classes and align it with the cost incurred to reduce losses in the overall passenger segment. Dheeraj Mishra is a Principal correspondent with The Indian Express, Business Bureau. He covers India's two key ministries- Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Road Transport & Highways. He frequently uses the Right to Information (RTI) Act for his stories, which have resulted in many impactful reports. ... Read More
NBC News
2 days ago
- Health
- NBC News
Supreme Court turns away online censorship claim by RFK Jr.'s anti-vaccine group against Meta
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday turned away without comment a claim brought by the group formerly run by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. alleging that its anti-vaccine speech was censored by social media company Meta Platforms. Kennedy, now the Health and Human Services secretary in the Trump administration, founded and was the former chairman of the group, Children's Health Defense, which had sued Meta, the operator of sites such as Facebook and Instagram. The justices left in place lower court rulings that tossed out the lawsuit, which claimed Facebook, starting in 2019, colluded with the federal government to restrict access to its content. The issue came to a head during the Covid-19 pandemic, with Facebook removing the group's page in 2022. Children's Health Defense brought claims under the Constitution's First and Fifth Amendments as well as other laws. Lower courts, including the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, ruled in favor of Meta, saying there was no evidence of coordination with the government, meaning it was not a "state actor" bound by the First Amendment. As a private entity, Meta was therefore free to decide for itself what content to platform, the courts ruled.
Black America Web
3 days ago
- Politics
- Black America Web
Federal Judge's Ruling Could Halt Mississippi's DEI Ban In Schools
Source: kickstand / Getty Across the country, several states have enacted bans on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in K-12 schools and higher education. Unsurprisingly, Mississippi is one such state, but a lawsuit filed by attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) could temporarily prevent it from being enforced. The Clarion Ledger reports that the ACLU's lawyers have requested that Federal Judge Henry Wingate put a restraining order on several state boards designed to enforce Mississippi's DEI ban at K-12 schools and public universities. The ACLU has argued that enforcement of the ban should be halted due to the law having vague language, leaving open different interpretations of how it should be enforced. They also argue that the ban infringes on educators' and students' First and Fourteenth Amendment rights by restricting their speech. The attorneys from the ACLU are representing several students and education advocacy groups. The ACLU has requested a 14-day temporary restraining order (TRO) on the ban and intends to file a motion requesting a second 14-day TRO as the issue is litigated. The state's Assistant Attorney General Rex Shannon is representing the state boards targeted in the lawsuit and has argued the TRO shouldn't be granted as it would infringe on the state's sovereignty. Wingate repeatedly asked Shannon what harms the state would experience should he grant the restraining order, but Shannon said he didn't have enough time before the case to provide specific harms. Wingate will make a decision on granting the restraining order in the next week. Mississippi's DEI ban did not pass without a fight. House Bill 1193 prevents Mississippi schools from having DEI programs and teaching 'divisive concepts.' Sounds vague? Apparently, that was the point, which is concerning, as Mississippi's DEI ban allows students, parents, and educators to sue schools if they feel the ban was violated. Should a school receive two violations, the state would withhold funds until the violations are corrected. Source: Dennis Macdonald / Getty From Mississippi Today: People could only sue after they go through an internal campus review process and a 25-day period when schools could fix the alleged violation. Republican Rep. Joey Hood, one of the House negotiators, said that was a compromise between the chambers. The House wanted to make it possible for almost anyone to file lawsuits over the DEI ban, while Senate negotiators initially bristled at the idea of fast-tracking internal campus disputes to the legal system. The House ultimately held firm in its position to create a private cause of action, or the right to sue, but it agreed to give schools the ability to conduct an investigative process and potentially resolve the alleged violation before letting people sue in chancery courts. 'You have to go through the administrative process,' said Republican Sen. Nicole Boyd, one of the bill's lead authors. 'Because the whole idea is that, if there is a violation, the school needs to cure the violation. That's what the purpose is. It's not to create litigation, it's to cure violations.' So much of American and global history consists of 'divisive concepts.' So if a teacher says 'Slavery was bad,' or 'Mississippi has a shameful history of lynching,' and a child's parents disagree, the vagueness of the law seems as though it would allow them to file a suit claiming that Mississippi's DEI ban was violated. So that then begs the question: are we just going to stop teaching about historical horrors because it offends the people who think they were a good thing? Democratic Rep. Bryant Clark, son of Robert Clark, the first Black Mississippian elected to the state Legislature since the 1800s, argued Mississippi's DEI ban was unnecessary and particularly offensive given the state's dark history in its treatment of Black people. 'We are better than this, and all of you know that we don't need this with Mississippi's history,' Clark said during the debate period. 'We should be the ones that say, 'listen, we may be from Mississippi, we may have a dark past, but you know what, we're going to be the first to stand up this time and say there is nothing wrong with DEI.'' Mississippi's DEI ban is just one of many being enacted around the country. States such as Texas and West Virginia have passed similar laws banning DEI in K-12 and postsecondary education. Several colleges have already begun phasing out their DEI initiatives as a result of a 'Dear Colleague' letter sent by the Department of Education threatening to withhold federal funding from schools believed to have DEI initiatives and programs. SEE ALSO: Survey: High-Level Business Execs Say DEI Is Necessary UNC Asheville Dean Of Students Fired For Pro-DEI Comments SEE ALSO Federal Judge's Ruling Could Halt Mississippi's DEI Ban In Schools was originally published on
