National Politics

“BSNL Was Cash Cow For…”: Ashwini Vaishnaw’s Swipe At UPA

ashwini vaishnaw

Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “The BSNL went through a very bad phase primarily due to certain political parties especially in the UPA government when a lot of funds from BSNL were diverted”

New Delhi: Communications minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, In Lok Sabha on Wednesday took a swipe at the Congress-led UPA government. He said the current government has a revival package in place to transform Bharat Sachar Nigam Ltd (BSNL). He added BSNL went through a “bad phase” during the term of the Congress-led UPA government, and that it was used as a “cash cow” by some Ministers who are still members of Parliament.

“The BSNL went through a very bad phase primarily due to certain political parties especially in the UPA government when a lot of funds from BSNL were diverted,” he said.

Vaishnaw’s swipe at the Congress-led UPA coalition came while he was responding to questions asked in the question hour.

“The days have gone when certain ministers from the other side of the aisle, for them BSNL was just a cash cow. Those days have gone, and BSNL will revive in a big way,” Vaishnaw said. There were loud protests from the Opposition benches. The minister did not name any particular party or minister.

Ashwini Vaishnaw also highlighted the NDA government’s plans to upgrade the telecom infrastructure and revive BSNL. He said that they have a green signal from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s end. He said, “PM Modi has cleared a 1.64 lakh crore plan that will transform the state-run telecom firm.”

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As per PM Modi’s ‘Make In India’ initiative, BSNL will soon launch 4G and 5G networks designed, developed, and made in the nation. He added, “The revival measures focus on infusing fresh capital to upgrading BSNL services, allocating spectrum, de-stressing its balance sheet and augmenting its fibre network by merging the Bharat Broadband Nigam Limited (BBNL) with BSNL.”

In the question hour, Congress MP Jasbir Singh Gill accused private players of cheating people over the use of mobile data. On this Vaishnaw said, “When Congress was in power people had to pay 200 for every GB of data. Now the price range has come down to 20.”

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Delhi: First Meeting For The Quad Humanitarian Assistance And Disaster Relief Held Today

ANI

The first Quad Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) meeting and TableTop Exercise was inaugurated by Quad Sherpas and senior officials in the national capital

New Delhi: The first Quad Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) meeting and TableTop Exercise was inaugurated by Quad Sherpas and senior officials in the national capital on December 13, according to the External Affairs Ministry.

The Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi in a tweet stated that multiagency teams from India, Japan, the United States and Australia discussed how they can deliver a coordinated and effective response to future HADR events in the Indo-Pacific region.

US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Australia’s Quad Sherpa Scott Dewar virtually participated in the meeting.

In response to Arindam Bagchi’s tweet, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a tweet said, “Following the first biannual meeting, a Table-top exercise for Quad HADR Partnership was held under India’s chair in New Delhi.”
On September 23, the foreign ministers of Australia, India and Japan and the Secretary of State of the United States held a meeting in New York. The leaders from four nations signed into operation the guidelines for the ‘Quad Partnership on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) in the Indo-Pacific.’ The HADR mechanism was announced by Quad leaders in Tokyo in May.

The partnership has been announced as part of a shared vision for a “free and open Indo-Pacific that is inclusive and resilient,” the US State Department said in a press release. The signing of these guidelines demonstrates a significant moment in Quad’s cooperation.

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The partnership has been created to respond to the vulnerabilities of the Indo-Pacific region and serve as a dedicated framework for Quad partners to coordinate disaster response operations in the region. The mechanism will augment the capacity, capability, interoperability and operational synergy to conduct operations under HADR.

Under the partnership, Quad partners will promote inclusion by advancing gender equality and women’s and girls’ empowerment, ensuring people with disabilities are agents and beneficiaries of humanitarian action, and ensuring indigenous people, minority groups and persons in vulnerable situations are not left behind.

According to the US State Department press release, the partnership will coordinate HADR operations with the UN and other international agencies, regional and local governments, public and private organizations and non-government organizations.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by HW News staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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