Like Ayodhya, go by SC verdict on Sabarimala: Kerala Devaswom Minister to BJP

News Network
November 13, 2019

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 13: Kerala Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran on Tuesday asked the BJP, which has welcomed the recent Supreme Court order on Ayodhya, to also respect the apex court verdict on Sabarimala permitting women of all ages to pray at the Lord Ayyappa shrine.

Surendran, who was replying to a question posed by the lone BJP legislator O Rajagopal, also asked the saffron party not to encourage "goons and anti-socials" to go to Sabarimala. Rajagopal had sought a reply from the minister on the arrangements made at the hilltop shrine ahead of the annual pilgrimage season.

The BJP member alleged that the number of devotees to the shrine came down last year and wondered why the Left government supported the entry of "atheist, Left activists" and others into the temple.

Countering it, Surendran said, "Please don't encourage anti-socials and goons to go to Sabarimala like last time", an apparent reference to violence during the protest against entry of young women.

"Society expects more from a personality like you (Rajagopal). Now, the Ayodhya case verdict has come, your party has welcomed it with open arms. Hope the same attitude will be there with respect to the Sabarimala issue," Surendran said.

The minister said facilities have been arranged for keeping the sacred offerings of around 6,500 devotees while a total of 1,161 toilets, 160 bathrooms and 150 urinals had been set up. "Five emergency medical centres have also been readied. Three incinerators and 600 waste bins are also there," he told the House.

The shrine had witnessed protests by devotees and right outfits against the LDF government's decision to implement the Supreme Court verdict in 2018 allowing all women, including those in the menstruating age, to offer prayers at the hill shrine.

The court had lifted the traditional ban on women in the 10-50 age group from entering the temple.

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News Network
July 11,2020

Kochi, Jul 11: Johnny Paul Pierce's five-month stay in Kerala has been a soul-soothing experience for 74-year-old US citizen. He now wants to spend the rest of his life here.

"Kerala is a beautiful place to live in. This is my fifth trip here. I usually stay here for six months. It is such a magical place to be and I want to share that with people from the US," Pierce told ANI.

He came to India on February 26 on a tourist visa and is staying at Kandanadu in Kochi.

According to Pierce's Advocate, his tourist visa is valid up to January 26, 2025. But on this visa, he can only stay consecutively for 180 days.

The guidelines of the Indian government permit continuous stay for only 180 days for foreigners on tourist visas. His 180 days were set to expire on August 24, which the Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO) extended to August 30.

The US citizen has approached the Kerala High Court seeking to convert his tourist visa into a business visa. The petition will be considered next week.

Pierce has sought a directive to the government to permit him to apply for the conversion of his tourist visa into a business visa and also to extend his stay, without having to leave the country.

"I am making a petition for an extra 180 days to stay. And I would also like to get a business visa in order to begin a tour company to bring people from the US to Kerala after the coronavirus. I wish my family could also come here. I am very impressed with what's is happening here. People in the US don't care about COVID-19," he said.

He talked about the risk of going back to his home country saying, "There are only 27 deaths in Kerala and in the US there over 1.3 lakh deaths. I do not want to go back to the US. I am 74 years old and I am at risk. This is a very safe place for me. I hope India embraces and allows me to stay."

"There's chaos in the US due to COVID-19 and government is not taking care like India. I want to stay here," he added.

Pierce further talked about his future plans, saying that if he is allowed to stay, he would like to lease a small resort and make a retirement community, which will be a COVID free zone.

Lastly, he made an appeal to the Indian government to let him stay in India saying that "all the immigration rules were made before COVID-19."

"There should be special consideration for people like me," he added.

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Agencies
February 11,2020

New Delhi, Feb 11: Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari on Tuesday said the party will review why it failed to meet its own expectations in the Assembly polls and saw a moral victory in the fact that the party's vote share has increased since 2015.

"Delhi must have given mandate after careful thinking. Our vote percentage has increased from 32 per cent to around 38 per cent. Delhi did not reject us and the increase (in vote share) is a good sign for us," he told reporters.

He said the BJP hopes that there would be less blame game and more work in the national capital and congratulated Arvind Kejriwal on his party's victory in the polls.

After winning the Patparganj seat, AAP senior leader Manish Sisodia accused the BJP of indulging in the politics of hate.

"We indulge in politics of development not politics of hate. We're against the roadblock in Shaheen Bagh as we were earlier," he said.

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News Network
July 20,2020

New Delhi, Jul 20: India's COVID-19 case tally crossed the 11 lakh mark with the highest single-day spike of 40,425 new cases and 681 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, informed the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry on Monday.

Total cases in the country now stand at 11,18,043 while the death toll is 27,497.
The Health Ministry said the total number of cases includes 3,90,459 active cases and 7,00,087 patients have been cured/discharged/migrated.

Maharashtra remains the worst affected state with 3,10,455 cases reported until Sunday.
Meanwhile, as per the information provided by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 1,40,47,908 samples have been tested for COVID-19 till July 19, of these 2,56,039 samples were tested yesterday.

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