AAP asks Ravi Shankar Prasad to resign over ‘Reliance link’

December 19, 2014

New Delhi, Dec 19: The Aam Aadmi Party alleged impropriety and conflict of interest on the part of Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and former UPA minister Manish Tewari in connection with Reliance Industries.

Alleging that Prasad’s association with the corporate group prevented him from issuing a notice to Reliance Jio on the 4G issue, the party demanded the Union Minister’s resignation.rsprasad

Prasad and Tiwari refuted the allegations and called them baseless. “We have documents that show direct conflict of interest and impropriety in conduct of a current and a former cabinet minister,” senior AAP leader Yogendra Yadav said. The AAP had with them invoices worth Rs 84 lakh raised by Prasad on Fine Tech Corporation Private Limited, a company associated with the Reliance group, between April 2013 to March 2014.

Senior AAP leader Prashant Bhushan alleged that Prasad has been receiving payment from the company “in the form of retainership fee” which “appears to be a token of gratification being offered”.

The party also pointed out that before becoming a union minister, Prasad was a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee from March 2011 onwards, examining matters relating to allocation and pricing of telecom licences and spectrum.

“Is the current Minister for Telecom (Ravi Shankar Prasad) not sitting over a notice that needs to be issued to Reliance Jio with respect to the 4G case? Why is the Minister for Telecom Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad sitting over this notice for the past three months and not allowing DoT’s Access Service Division to issue notice to Reliance?” the AAP asked in a statement.

According to a statement by Prasad’s office: “The allegation of the AAP is completely false and misleading… Mr Prasad has never given any advice or appeared for the Reliance Industries.”

The statement also said that before becoming a minister, Prasad had terminated all his professional relationships.

In the case of former telecom minister Manish Tewari, the AAP said that he was in a retainership agreement with the RIL even during his tenure as a union minister.

Alleging that Tewari’s retainership contract expired on June 30, 2012, he got the contract extended tell June 30, 2015. Pointing out that Tewari was also a member of JPC which probed the 2G telecom scam, Bhushan said, “Such former ministers speak in Parliament on issues of interest to these companies (Reliance group).”

According to Tewari’s office, he was sworn in as a minister on October 28, 2012 and took charge on the October 29 and on his request his licence to practice was suspended by the Bar Council the next day. “On the November 1, 2012, we wrote to Reliance Industries Ltd. terminating the Legal Relationship with immediate effect and Reliance Industries acknowledged the termination of the Legal Relationship vide letter dated November 3, 2012,” the statement read.

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Agencies
June 15,2020

New Delhi, Jun 15: After Two Indian officials working with Indian High Commission in Pakistan wet missing on Monday,  the Ministry of External Affairs summoned Pakistan's Charge d'affaires to India in the national capital and told them not to interrogate or harass Indian officials.

"Two Indian High Commission officials are missing since morning while on official work. The matter has been taken up with the Pakistani authorities," Akhilesh Singh, First Secretary and spokesperson, Indian High Commission, Pakistan, said.

According to sources quoted by PTI news agency, the MEA told the  Pakistan's Charge d'affaires to India that the responsibility of safety and security of Indian personnel in Islamabad "lays squarely with Pakistani authorities."

"Pakistan was asked to ensure return of two Indian officials along with official car to Indian High Commission in Islamabad immediately," sources added. 

The incident comes after two Pakistani officials at the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi were accused of espionage and deported.

The two officials have been missing since Monday morning. Officials said the issue has been taken up with the Pakistan government.

Earlier, a vehicle of India's Charge d'affaires Gaurav Ahluwalia was chased by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) member.

In March, the Indian High Commission in Pakistan sent a strong protest note to the foreign ministry in Islamabad protesting against the continuing harassment of its officers and staff by Pakistani agencies.

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News Network
March 5,2020

Mar 5: The fourteen Italians, who have tested positive for coronavirus, have been shifted to the Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon from an ITBP quarantine centre.

The hospital issued a statement on Thursday morning, saying these patients are housed on a completely separate floor, which has been quarantined and has no contact with the rest of the hospital.

There is a dedicated medical team wearing protective gear looking after these patients.All items used on the floor are isolated to that floor.

The isolated floor will completely contain the disease even with these asymptomatic persons. All other hospital operations are operating as normal, and there is no increased risk to patients, visitors or staff, the statement said.

Twenty-one Italian tourists and their three Indian tour operators were shifted out from an ITBP quarantine centre here on Wednesday as they were exposed to novel coronavirus.

An affected Italian couple is being treated at Jaipur's SMS medical college.

Officials on Tuesday said the foreigners have been sent to a private hospital in Gurgaon and a centre in the national capital while the Indians have been transferred to the Safdarjung Hospital.

Fourteen Italians and an Indian (driver), who were in the same group as the affected Italian couple, tested positive for the virus as per information provided by the Health Ministry.

The Italian tourists and three Indians were admitted to the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force centre in Chhawla on Tuesday.

The Centre already has 112 people, 76 Indians and 36 foreigners, since February 27 after they were evacuated by an Indian Air Force (IAF) plane from China's Wuhan, the epicentre of the deadly coronavirus.

The first samples of these 112 people had tested negative when reports came in last week.

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News Network
February 14,2020

Feb 14: India will never forget the martyrdom of the security personnel killed in last year's Pulwama attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday.

He termed the slain security personnel were "exceptional individuals" who devoted their lives to serving and protecting the nation.

On February 14 last year, a convoy of vehicles carrying security personnel on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was attacked by a vehicle-borne suicide bomber at Lethpora in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir. Forty Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed in the attack.

"Tributes to the brave martyrs who lost their lives in the gruesome Pulwama Attack last year. They were exceptional individuals who devoted their lives to serving and protecting our nation. India will never forget their martyrdom," tweets PM Modi one year since the Pulwama attack.

"I pay homage to the martyrs of Pulwama Attack. India will forever be grateful of our bravehearts and their families who made supreme sacrifice for the sovereignty and integrity of our motherland," tweets Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

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