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Assembly poll verdict in four states tomorrow

December 7, 2013

New Delhi, Dec 7: The fate of governments in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh will be known tomorrow when counting of votes takes place in the assembly elections, considered the semi-finals ahead of the Lok Sabha elections next year.

In Mizoram, where too election was held, counting will take place on December 9.delhi

Voting ranged between over 65 per cent in Delhi and over 81 per cent in Mizoram. Rajasthan recorded over 74 per cent, while Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh over 70 per cent.

With Narendra Modi spearheading the BJP campaign after his nomination as the party's Prime Ministerial candidate, all eyes will be on how the party performs in the current round of elections.

On the other hand, the Congress performance could point to the potential of Rahul Gandhi as the party's mascot ahead of the big fight early next year.

The contest was essentially bipolar between BJP and Congress in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, while in Delhi it was a virtual triangular contest with new entrant AAP making it difficult for the two parties.

Exit polls after the elections in these states have predicted a near rout for Congress and a good showing for BJP, which is likely to retain power in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and wrest power in Rajasthan.

Sheila Dikshit, seeking a record fourth term as Delhi Chief Minister, appears to be facing the toughest battle in the national capital with the emergence of Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party upsetting the calculations of both the Congress and the BJP. Harshvardhan is BJP's Chief Ministerial candidate.

There are 810 candidates in fray in Delhi for 70 seats. While Congress and AAP are contesting all the seats, BJP is in the fray in 66 seats. It has given four seats to ally SAD.

Shivraj Singh Chauhan is involved in a tough battle with Congress in his bid for a hat trick, pitted as he is against a young Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia for the Chief Minister's post in Madhya Pradesh.

For the 230 seats at stake, BJP has fielded its candidates in all the seats while Congress is fighting in one less. A total of 2,583 candidates are in fray.

Rajasthan witnesses a keen fight between Congress led by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and BJP's Vasundhara Raje with both the parties facing each other in all the 200 constituencies. As many as 2,087 candidates are in thew fray in the desert state.

Like his Madhya Pradesh counterpart, Raman Singh is seeking a hat trick in Chhattisgarh where again both BJP and Congress are fighting it out against each other in all the 90 constituencies. There are 986 candidates in all.

In Mizoram, where coalition politics is in play, Congress is fighting to retain power. Congress is contesting all the 40 seats, while the MNF which heads the opposition front is contesting 31 along with Mizo People's Conference 8. Zoram Nationalist Party is contesting 38 seats. A total of 142 candidates are in the fray for the 40-member assembly.

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Agencies
July 30,2020

Kochi, Jul 30: The Kerala High Court on Thursday refused to grant the extension for the stay of a 74-year-old US citizen, Johnny Paul Pierce, who had earlier said that he felt safer to remain in India than in the United States amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The single-judge bench of Justice CS Dias, which considered the writ petition, observed that the grant or extension of visa to foreign nationals fall exclusively within the domain of the Government of India (GoI) and that judicial review in such matters is minimal.

The power of the GoI to expel foreigners is absolute and unlimited, the bench said.

"In view of the categoric declaration of law by the Supreme Court, the plea of the petitioner to permit him to stay back in India cannot be accepted, as it falls within the purview of the guidelines and the discretion of the Government of India," the order said.

"The petitioner cannot be heard that the guidelines/policies/regulations formulated by the Government of India, that an American national though has been granted a visa having validity of five years has to leave India within 180 days, is irrational or unreasonable," it added.

The High Court, which was hearing a plea to permit the US citizen to stay in India for a further period of six months, said that the petitioner does not have a case that there is an infraction of Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

"The petitioner was well aware of the visa conditions when he arrived in India, and it is too late in the day for him to raise a grievance on the visa conditions," the bench said noting that the petitioner's love for India was heartening.

The High Court also directed the Foreigners Registration Officer to consider the petitioner's representation within a period of two weeks in accordance with the applicable guidelines and policies.

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News Network
April 3,2020

Washington, Apr 3: The World Bank has approved USD 1 billion emergency funding for India to help it tackle the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed 76 lives and infected 2,500 people in the country.

The World Bank's first set of aid projects, amounting to USD 1.9 billion, will assist 25 countries, and new operations are moving forward in over 40 nations using the fast-track process, the bank said on Thursday.

The largest chunk of the emergency financial assistance has gone to India USD 1 billion.

"In India, USD 1 billion emergency financing will support better screening, contact tracing, and laboratory diagnostics; procure personal protective equipment; and set up new isolation wards," the World Bank said after its Board of Executive Directors approved the first set of emergency support operations for developing countries around the world, using a dedicated, fast-track facility for COVID-19 response.

In South Asia, the World Bank also approved USD 200 million for Pakistan, USD 100 million for Afghanistan, USD 7.3 million for the Maldives and USD 128.6 million for Sri Lanka.

The World Bank said it was now working to grant up to USD 160 billion over the next 15 months to support measures to tackle the pandemic which will focus on the immediate health consequences and bolster economic recovery.

The broader economic program will aim to shorten the time to recovery, create conditions for growth, support small and medium enterprises, and help protect the poor and vulnerable.

"The World Bank Group is taking broad, fast action to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and we already have health response operations moving forward in over 65 countries," said World Bank Group President David Malpass.

"We are working to strengthen (the) developing nations' ability to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and shorten the time to economic and social recovery," Malpass said.

According to the bank, USD 100 million will support Afghanistan to slow and limit the spread of COVID-19 through enhanced detection, surveillance, and laboratory systems, as well as strengthen essential health care delivery and intensive care.

In Pakistan, USD 200 million will support preparedness and emergency response in the health sector and include social protection and education measures, the bank said.

A total of 1,002,159 COVID-19 cases have been reported across more than 175 countries and territories with 51,485 deaths reported so far, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

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News Network
April 14,2020

New Delhi, Apr 14: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday requested young scientists of the country to come forward and take the lead in developing a vaccine for novel coronavirus which has claimed over one lakhs lives worldwide.

"While India has limited resources today. I have a special request for India's young scientists. They should come forward and take a lead in developing a vaccine for coronavirus for the welfare of the world, for the welfare of the human race," the Prime Minister said in the address to the nation.

He said that if people continue to be patient and follow rules then the country will be able to defeat even a pandemic like coronavirus.
Prime Minister Modi also announced that the country will remain under lockdown till May 3 to contain COVID-19 cases. The 21-day lockdown, which was announced by the Prime Minister last month, was slated to end today.

However, he indicated at easing of lockdown restrictions in places where there are no hotspots after April 20.

"Till 20th April, all districts, localities, states will be closely monitored, as to how strictly they are implementing norms. The states which will not let hotspots increase, they could be allowed to let some important activities resume, but with certain conditions," Modi said.

Odisha, Punjab, Maharashtra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry have already announced the extension of lockdown.

India's total number of coronavirus positive cases has climbed to 10,363 including 8,988 active cases, 1,035 cured/discharged/migrated and 339 deaths, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said today.

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