14th february 2021
Shorts:
News at a glance
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uttarakhand flood relief:
the foremost aim of our country
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-Devansh Mishra
On the 7th of February, a landslide in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand last Sunday, triggering an avalanche in the surrounding regions. Reportedly, the Dhauli Ganga, Rishi Ganga and Alaknanda rivers flooded as a result, instilling widespread chaos and large-scale material destruction. About 100 ration kits have been delivered to 13 surrounding villages, as relief teams have reached the site of damage.
At the moment, a total of 31 deaths and 200 casualties have been reported to the public, but the exact number is still unknown. There are countless still missing, awaiting to be excavated from the tunnels they are trapped in. People who went missing are allegedly workers from the NTRC’s 480 MW Tapovan-Vishnugad project.
In one such sludge-choked tunnel, over 30 people are currently trapped as more than 200 scientists and relief experts are devising the best way to pull them out. As per reports, they are planning to dig a one-foot wide hole and send a camera down to the people, to check for signs of life and the urgency for relief down there. Their major aims include restoration of the course of the rivers and rescuing the trapped people from the tunnels.
Source: The Hindu
India piles on the runs with Sharma ending the century drought
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-Devansh mishra
On the first day of the second Test in Chennai, fortune finally favoured the home team in the war between India and England. After being humbled in the first round, the Indian team has come back strong on the first day, mounting up massive runs with Rohit Sharma leading the way. Both teams made plenty of changes to their side, with the highlight being both Axar Patel’s and Olly Stone’s inclusion into their respective squads.
The toss finally went India’s way after a long time, as Virat Kohli opted to bat first on a batting-friendly wicket, which turned out to be the right decision. Gill went back to the dressing room early due to lapse of judgement against Olly Stone, but then came the partnerships of Rohit Sharma with Pujara and Rahane. They patiently kept the scoreboard ticking, while also playing cautious, gritty cricket. Pujara and Rahane scored 21 and 67 respectively, and Rohit Sharma didn’t stop before ending India’s drought of centuries, ending with a marvellous score of 161. Coming as a disappointment to most Indian fans, their skipper returned empty-handed, bagging only a duck. This might further place questions upon his credibility as captain no doubt, but we may not see any reaction from the BCCI. The day ended with Pant and Axar on the crease, both batting perfectly well.
English bowlers toiled hard throughout the day, but couldn’t return with their expected figures. Ali went for plenty of runs, while Broad couldn’t add any wickets to his name. Jack Leach too was taken to the cleaners as Sharma and Rahane got set. However, he did bowl consistent line and lengths, and troubled many batsmen. Olly Stone too performed extraordinarily well, as he proved to be Joe Root’s go-to bowler through the day. The skipper was quite the bowler himself, as he was able to get the better of Ashwin. The pitch assisted the bowlers too, as it began to spin and seam on the first day itself.
As the match progresses, batting will get hard, according to experts. This may shift the tide in India’s favour, as they are the current favourites too. Can England make a spirited comeback?
Haryana Agriculture Minister issues controversial statement
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-Devansh Mishra
The farmers’ protest has been going on for more than a few months now. In response to these protests, Haryana Agriculture Minister said ‘they would have died anyways’, spiking up a large-scale controversy in our nation.
In his statement, JP Dayal said that the 200 people who died in the protest “would have died even if they were at home”. He went on to say that “out of 1-2 lakhs, do not 200 people die in 6 months?” The minister included these people in India’s national average death rate, and stated that we shouldn’t worry about these deaths. These remarks came when a reporter asked him about the 200 deaths in the farmers' protests.
Nationwide, people were highly aggravated by these statements and took to social media to show their disapproval. Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala slammed Dalal over his remarks and said such a statement can only be made by an “insensitive” person. “These words can only be used by an insensitive man for agitating ''annadatas'',” said Surjewala in a tweet. The public also suggested the sacking of Dayal from the Cabinet immediately.
A few hours later, JP Dayal reportedly apologised for his comments and said that “his statements were twisted.” He later said “if anyone was hurt by my comments, I tender my apology.”
Source: TimesNow, NDTV
And finally, a Fitting rant on valentines day.
-Devansh Mishra
Personally, I feel like I’m a very romantic person. Granted I’ve barely had any experience, barring a few platonic friends I have engaged with, love has long been a foreign and forgotten concept to me. And I love love. There are plenty of romantic songs on a plethora of my playlists, and my favourite genre of movies is romcoms. I’ve never had any strong feelings of hatred towards anyone in my life unless they do one of the following - knowingly not wish me a ‘happy birthday’, or pat me on my head spoiling my hair (intensity of the latter case is greater if they are shorter than me). On 364 days of the year, all of the above holds true. But when Valentine’s Day enters the scene, it all flips on its head.
The moment I see the month change from January to February and hearing the awkward ‘love is in the air’ quote being thrown around, the cringe level in my heart shoots up. I really don’t see the point of having a whole day dedicated to it. Now, some of you will stand up and give me an entire history of how Valentine’s Day is a Roman concept originating from the 3rd century AD. But if you really love the person you are with, I don’t see a reason to not shower them with love on the other days of the year and have one particular, special day for that.
Okay, let’s say I accept your Valentine’s Day theory as a valid societal tradition because of its history. A glaring problem with it is the concept of gift-giving. Look at it this way - This was a day dedicated to two men, both named Valentine, who were executed by a Roman emperor. Are we really going to celebrate the death of two innocent people by exchanging gifts? Additionally, the whole concept of gifts in society is flawed. When one person gives another a heartfelt present, the other is obligated to return the favour since they are ‘in debt’. This exchange can go horribly wrong. I’ve actually seen a breakup which was caused by one party forgetting to gift the other.
Everything else aside, the foremost reason for people’s deep-rooted hatred for the 14th of Feb is their past experiences of the day in bygone years (I’m included in this set).
Flashback: It’s just a fine morning when you plan to ask someone out; you make all the ideal and perfect preparations, but at the end of the day, it rather spectacularly backfires into your face.
One year later: You look dreadful, and your room’s a mess. You are wallowing in your sorrow about what happened last year, and you are contemplating upon what you could have done differently to win them over.
Nostalgic, you might say. As much as I want to say, you should leave that behind and move ahead in life, that is a perfectly valid reason to hate this holiday. I completely empathise with you.
For others, however, the situation might have turned out totally different. You might now be living together in your little room on cloud nine. I must say though, you all suck, and I know there is a special place in hell where you both can use as your summer retreat.
To conclude my little rant, I have a few messages for both sides of the coin. To all the couples, I hope you guys have your own specially designed Bad Place. This will be a place where you will be anxiously waiting for something you’ve always wished for to happen, but it never does. To all the singles, hold out some hope. One day or another, you will find that one magical person with whom you can fret over Valentine’s Day for the rest of your life!