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2019 polls: Shatrughan Sinha keeps all sides guessing

Agencies
December 23, 2018

Patna, Dec 23: Amid speculation that he may be denied a BJP ticket for Lok Sabha polls and join the RJD, actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha has kept all sides guessing by saying that people should instead speculate whether he would contest on a BJP ticket or not.

Sinha, who has represented his native Patna Sahib as a BJP MP for two consecutive terms, said his remarks on various issues which have not been liked by some party leaders, were meant to "show the mirror" to the BJP and cannot be termed as "anti-party."

"Instead of guessing whether they (BJP leaders) will give me the ticket or not speculation should be whether I will take the ticket or not," Sinha told PTI.

The actor-turned BJP leader met jailed RJD president Lalu Prasad in Ranchi on Saturday.

Though he said the meeting with Prasad at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences was personal, the timing of the meeting assumes significance.

Speculation is rife that Sinha, whose attack on his party has sharpened in recent times, may enter into fray from Patna Sahib from Prasad's party if he is denied a BJP ticket for the Lok Sabha polls.

Sinha, popularly known as "Bihari Babu", has on several occasions made it clear that the "place (constituency) will be the same, even if the situation changes."

He said loss of power in three states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh is enough to show that the situation is not good in the NDA.

"Many people have left, some others are preparing to leave and others driving tough negotiations...all said and done the party's popularity and that of one leader and two-men Army have taken a beating," he said.

He was alluding to Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) chief and former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and RLSP leader Upendra Kushwaha leaving NDA and LJP of Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan bargaining hard with a "weakened" BJP.

The actor-politician, who served as a Cabinet minister in the NDA ministry of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and was a star campaigner for BJP for a long time before falling out with the current leadership after being ignored in the 2015 Bihar Assembly polls, has been critical of the party functioning, alleging all power is vested in one leader (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) and two-men Army (Modi and BJP president Amit Shah).

Maintaining that the "writing is on the wall", the BJP leader said, "There is still some time and some hope left if party veterans like L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Arun Shourie are brought at the front."

On his remarks on GST, demonetisation and the party functioning often putting the BJP in an embarrassing situation, Sinha said he had been manifesting peoples' voice and not asking for any personal favour for himself.

Besides meeting Prasad and praising his younger son Tejashwi Yadav as "Bihar's face" and "its future", the BJP leader has been frequently seen sharing the dais with former union ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie and at functions of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) much to the discomfort of partymen.

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Agencies
August 4,2020

Ayodhya,  Aug 4: Various religious ceremonies have been conducted for the past 108 days by saints in Ayodhya and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take part in `muhurat puja' at 12.44 pm on Wednesday as part of 'bhoomi pujan' for construction of a grand Ram temple.

PM Modi will arrive at 12:30 pm at the Ramjanmbhoomi and take part in various prayers including the main "bhoomi pujan".

Govind Giriji Maharaj, treasurer of Shri Ramjanmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, said that the religious ceremonies will begin from 8:30 am in the morning and will continue till 12:30 pm.

"The Prime Minister will arrive at 12:30 pm and he will offer `puja' for 15 minutes and take 'sankalp'. First Lord Ganesh will be worshipped then he will offer prayers of eight shilas. Some prayers at shilas we have conducted already," Giri told said.

"The muhrat of pooja is at 12: 44 pm. He will say words 'prathisthapayami' and it is crucial to be done in that muhrat," he said.

Elaborating on the rituals to be performed tomorrow by the Prime Minister, the trust member said that most important is `Kurm Shila' .

"The most important is Kurm Shila - this is right beneath the place where Ram Lalla will be seated. It is this ceremony that we are conducting tomorrow. A cone of Bakul tree wood will be kept in ceremony. This isn't an ordinary cone, it is made of various metals including gold and silver. 

A lotus with nine gems too will be part of pujan which will be offered to this cone by the Prime Minister," he said.

"These are intrinsic to main bhumi pujan. The first religious ceremony was of Devi Kali. There are two devi kalis here, `choti' and `badi'. She is kuldevi, family's goddess of Sita. Today we held Ramarchan ceremony," said Giri.

The Vedic pundits who are involved in religious ceremonies have come from Delhi, Mathura and Kashi.

Asked about the absence of Nepal's religious head of Janaki Mandir, he said that there are many, including 20 religious heads, who would not able to come because they can't leave their seat in Chaturmas.

On the design of temple, Giri said, the old design will remain as it is except a rise in height.

"The structure has become popular and we will keep it. Keeping in mind the modernisation of architecture, we have raised height from 128 feet to 161 feet and instead of three peaks we will have five peaks," he said.

Kanchi Pithadhishvar Maharaj has sent silver coins as souvenirs for every sadhu participating in it, Giri said.

Invitations have been sent to 175 people, including 135 saints of 35 religious organisations to attend the foundation stone-laying ceremony of Ram temple.

The construction of Ram temple will begin in Ayodhya after the ceremony to lay the foundation stone.

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Agencies
January 21,2020

New Delhi, Jan 21: With the IMF lowering India's economic growth estimate for the current fiscal to 4.8 per cent, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Tuesday claimed an attack on the world body and its chief economist Gita Gopinath by government ministers was imminent.

He also alleged that the growth figure of 4.8 per cent given by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is after some "window dressing" and he won't be surprised if it goes even lower.

"Reality check from IMF. Growth in 2019-20 will be BELOW 5 per cent at 4.8 per cent," Chidambaram said in a series of tweets.

"Even the 4.8 per cent is after some window dressing. I will not be surprised if it goes even lower," the former finance minister said.

IMF Chief Economist Gopinath was one of the first to denounce demonetisation, he noted.

"I suppose we must prepare ourselves for an attack by government ministers on the IMF and Dr Gita Gopinath," Chidambaram said.

The IMF lowered India's economic growth estimate for the current fiscal to 4.8 per cent and listed the country's much lower-than-expected GDP numbers as the single biggest drag on its global growth forecast for two years.

In October, the IMF had pegged India economic growth at 6.1 per cent for 2019.

Listing decline in rural demand growth and an overall credit sluggishness for lowering of India forecasts, Gopinath, however, had said the growth momentum should improve next year due to factors like positive impact of corporate tax rate reduction.

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News Network
June 30,2020

New Delhi, Jun 30: With a spike of 18,522 COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, India's coronavirus count now stand at 5,66,840, said the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry on Tuesday.

According to the Ministry, 418 deaths due to COVID-19 were reported in the last 24 hours. The number of deaths in the country now stands at 16,893.

There are 2,15,125 active coronavirus cases in the country while the number of cured/discharged patients stands at 3,34,821 and one patient migrated.

As per the Ministry, Maharashtra is the worst-hit state with regard to the COVID-19 cases and has reported 1,69,883 cases, including 73, 313 active cases 88,960 cured/discharged patients and 7,610 fatalities.

Tamil Nadu has a total of 86,224 cases including 1,141 deaths. Delhi's COVID-19 count stands at 85,161 cases and 2,680 fatalities.

The total number of samples tested up to 29 June is 86,08,654 of which 2,10,292 samples were tested yesterday, informed the Indian Council of Medical Research.

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