Bhopal Apr 21 PTI In an embarrassment for the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh a power outage affected Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhans speech during an event here on Thursday prompting him to admit that there was coal crisis in the state while the opposition Congress took a dig at the ruling dispensation over the issue The incident took place in the state capital during a function organised in the afternoon on the occasion of Civil Services Day As the power cut occurred in the middle of his speech Chouhan said Is Sanjay Dubey principal secretary of energy department around His comment triggered laughter among the audience The chief minister then tapped the microphone to check whether it was working or not and then said There is a coal crisis I had held talks with Sanjay Dubey on Wednesday morning and he requested me for some rakes of coal Chouhan said The chief minister continued his speech despite the power outage for five minutes before the electricity supply resumed Taking a dig at the BJP government state Congress spokesman Narendra Saluja said in a tweet There was a power outage for a long time while Mamaji CM was addressing a Civil Services Day function at Academy of Administration Mamaji also talked about the coal problem Power crisis has manifested in MP he added Two days ago All-India Power Engineers Federation AIPEF said that thermal plants across the country were grappling with coal shortages indicating a looming power crisis in the country Thermal plants across the country are grappling with coal shortage as the power demand in states has increased and many of them are not able to bridge the gap between demand and supply because of insufficient coal stocks at thermal plants AIPEF spokesperson V K Gupta had said in a statement The Union Power Ministry has recommended the import of coal for blending up to 10 per cent to ensure adequate stock when the power demand is at its peak in the next few months PTI LAL NP NP

Lucknow Dec 30 PTI Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra on Thursday said all political parties in Uttar Pradesh want the Assembly elections to be held according to schedule while ensuring Covid protocolThe number of polling booths will be enhanced and the voting time will be increased by an hour he said adding polling officials will be vaccinated and those eligible will be given a booster doseOn a three-day visit to Lucknow to review preparations for the elections slated to be held early next year Chandra held a series of meetings with representatives of different political parties as well as state and district-level officialsElections are due in Uttar Pradesh by mid-March when the term of the Yogi Adityanath government endsI have been told that 86 per cent of the people in the state have got the first dose and 49 per cent the second shot of Covid vaccine We have been assured that in 15 to 20 days all eligible people will get their first dose the chief election commissioner said We have asked for increasing vaccination The situation arising out of the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus was also reviewed It has been noted that there was not much impact of the latest variant in the state where only four cases were reported and three of them have recovered Chandra saidHe said because of the COVID-19 pandemic the number of polling booths in the state will be enhanced by 11000 to maintain proper social distancingPolling time will also be increased by an hour the CEC saidEarlier a booth was made for 1500 voters But keeping in mind the Covid pandemic the number of voters in each booth has been reduced to 1250 Because of this the number of polling booths has increased by 11000 So a total of 174351 polling booths will be set up in Uttar Pradesh he saidPolling officials will be vaccinated and those eligible will also be given a booster dose Thermal scanners masks will be provided at all polling booths and special care will be on maintaining social distancing besides proper sanitisation of booths he saidTo ensure free and fair elections and to ensure a level playing field the election commission ordered the transfer of officials who have been posted at one place for over a year after various political parties cast their aspersions over thisAround 5000 policemen have been transferred and the remaining will be transferred soon the CEC saidThere will be 4030 model polling booths-- 10 at each constituency -- Also 800 all-women polling stations will be set up he saidFor the first time senior citizens and those differently-abled will have the option of casting their votes from their houses Chandra added PTI SAB NSD NSD

Chandigarh Aug 25 PTI The Haryana government has decided to reopen primary schools for Classes 4 and 5 from September 1 Education Minister Kanwar Pal said on Wednesday Students will be allowed to come to the school with prior written permission of their parents he said in an official statement Over a month ago schools in Haryana were reopened for Classes 9 to 12 Later students of Classes 6 to 8 were allowed to attend school However it has not made it mandatory for students to come to school as online classes are also continuing As per the guidelines issued last month only one student is allowed to sit on a desk and sharing of food or stationery items is prohibited A gap of at least six feet has to be maintained between two students and desks will bear name tags of students where they have to sit according to the guidelines Thermal scanning and hand sanitisation of students is to be done at the entrance of the school Masks are to be checked and provisions have to be made to provide one if a student is found not wearing a face cover PTI SUN RDK RDK