New Delhi [India], October 1 (ANI): Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Saturday drew an analogy between the Gandhi family and the DNA of the party and said that no party chief can distance himself from the Gandhi family, asserting that he is contesting the party's presidential elections to bring a " change" in the grand old party.

Kolkata Apr 22 PTI Primary and Upper Primary schools in West Bengal are finding it difficult to serve midday meal to students due to hike in prices of essential commodities according to authorities of different schools in districtsThe Bengal Primary Teachers Association has drawn the attention of the School Education Department to the issue and demanded the present midday meal allocation of Rs 497 for every student at primary level and Rs 745 for every student at upper primary level be raised so that the midday meal menu is not tinkered with for the children and their nutritional aspects are not compromisedHeadmaster of an upper primary school in Purba Medinipur district Ananda Handa told PTI on behalf of the association we have to tinker with the menu like introducing egg curry or boiled egg for one day in a week unlike twice in past However management of various schools are sticking to the diet of dal soybean mixed vegetable boiled potato as we dont want to compromise on the issue of the health of our children The teachers have to bear the expenses from their pockets during crunch situations many a time he saidHanda said a large number of students are coming to schools after the campuses opened once the pandemic phase ended and they are facing the prospect of being deprived of the specified midday meal menu due to the price spiral of essentialsIf 150 gram of rice is allotted for one person daily how come 3 kg a month allotment help If daily 150 gram of rice is inadequate for a child 3 kg a month allocation is even lower and is far beyond the 150 gram threshold limit That amount is inadequate for a normal child We demand at least Rs 50-100 be hiked for every child he saidWhile primary schools are for students from classes 1 to 4 students from class 5 to 8 are in upper primary schoolsWe want the children from class one to eight be given musur dal regularly conforming to their health requirements he saidAn education official said 83945 schools having 11582658 students are provided with free cooked midday meal every day and there has been no report about the midday meal project being affected since it resumed two months back after two year break In the last two years due to pandemic packets of rice soybean dal used to be distributed among parents of students from respective schools on a particular dayAnother school department official said there are 15000 SSKs Shishu Siksha Kendra - primary educational institutions run by zilla parishadsFiroza Begum Headmistress of a primary school in Murshidabad district said we are still maintaining soybean for three days and egg one day routine with difficulty It is difficult as the price of an egg is between Rs 550-6 and we are trying to adjust without compromising food nutrition part We have to buy potatoes at a price of Rs 15kg minimum up from Rs 5kg in the pre-pandemic days She said the midday meal is more essential for students from disadvantaged backgrounds in rural areas and they have made representation to local BDO office about the situation turning difficultA teacher of a Malda school not wishing to be named said we are being forced to inflate the number of students present Say there are 100 students in a class and 80 are usually present To ensure the children do not miss their usual quota of meal we are sending requirements for 90 students However Headmaster of a primary school in South 24 Parganas district Rathindranath Das said there had not been any change in the menu of children in our school in last two months Egg is being given as usual But there has been a strain in the costing and expenses which has shot up a bit Naba Kumar Karmakar of Paschim Bango Sikshak Samity said while primary and upper primary schools in the metropolis dont face the pinch with regard to midday meals so much as such schemes are funded by many NGOs the situation is difficult for primary-upper primary schools in districts across the stateIn the pre-pandemic days the daily allocation for every student was Rs 448 at the primary level and Rs 671 for every student at the upper primary stage PTI SUS RG

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India] February 13 (ANI): Reacting to the recent Supreme Court's order on reservation for Other Backward Class (OBC), Congress leader Siddaramaiah said that the issue can be resolved with Social, Educational and Economic Survey conducted by State Backward Classes Commission.

Bengaluru Jan 27 PTI Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday said the state government will review the COVID-19 situation soon and take decisions regarding the curbs that are in place after obtaining the experts committee report in this connection He said the government is coming out with a book on its achievements so far as it completes six months in office tomorrow We Ministers have discussed several issues including COVID situation how to manage it in the days to come representations given by various organisations for relaxations regarding the functioning of schools and colleges among others We have referred it to the experts committee Bommai said Speaking to reporters after the cabinet meeting here he said once we get the report from the experts committee a meeting will be held in about three or four days and certain decisions will be taken Last week the state government had decided to lift the week-end curfew imposed in view of the spike in coronavirus infections while deciding to continue the the night curfew between 10PM to 5AM everyday and all other COVID curbs including 50 per cent capacity rules in cinema halls pubs clubs restaurants bars hotels and eating places Noting that the Ministers after cabinet meeting also discussed the upcoming Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike BBMP elections the CM said it has been decided to conduct these polls successfully whenever it happens by deploying Ministers from other districts along with those from Bengaluru A decision was also taken to make preparations for Zilla and Taluk Panchayat elections Alluding to the completion of six months in office tomorrow he said a book will be released on the achievements of his government so far Bommai said discussions were held on the programmes to be implemented until 2023 and publicise the work done during the last six months It has been decided that Ministers during the next one week through the media will inform people about the performance of their departments He further said that the meeting for coordination between the party BJP and the government that was postponed will be convened soon We have discussed and decided to move ahead and work united he added To a question regarding plans to meet the party high command in Delhi soon he said he was in constant touch with the party leadership and will pay a visit if they call Normally during the parliament session it is a practice for CM to hold a meeting with all MPs from the state in Delhi there is a plan for such a meeting as well he added PTI KSU ROH ROH

Jaipur Nov 29 PTI The nomination process for the election of zila parishad and panchayat samiti members began on Monday in four districts of Rajasthan where seven candidates filed their nominations on the first dayState Election Commissioner P S Mehra said seven candidates filed their nomination for panchayat samiti members No candidate filed nomination for the zila parishad polls on the first day he saidThe nominations can be filed till December 2Mehra said in Baran Karauli Kota and Ganganagar districts elections would be held for 106 zilla parishad members 568 panchayat samiti members four zila pramukhs and four upzila pramukh and 30 pradhans and 30 uppradhans A total of 4161 polling booths will be set up for smooth voting in 973 gram panchayats of the four districtsPolling will be conducted in three phases on December 12 15 and 18 from 730 am to 530 pm Counting of votes will take place on December 21 at all district headquarters the official saidSimilarly the election to the post of pradhan or pramukh will be held on December 23 and that of up-pradhan or up-pramukh on December 24 A total of 3252 lakh voters would be able to exercise their franchise in all the districts he addedPTI AG SRY

Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh) [India], September 20 (ANI): Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) registered a landslide victory in the local body polls after winning 502 Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTC) and 5998 Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies (MPTC), according to the final result at 2 am on September 20.

Mormugao (Goa) [India], August 27 (ANI): As Goa prepares for the upcoming Assembly election, which is scheduled in March 2022, BJP state President Sadanand Shet Tanavade on Thursday expressed confidence in party victory across all constituencies in Mormugao taluka.