BJP, Cong spar over Lalit Modi tweets

June 26, 2015

New Delhi, Jun 26: On the back foot in the row over its leaders' purported help to Lalit Modi, BJP today alleged links between the former IPL boss and the Gandhi family as it pointed to claims by him of "running into" Priyanka Gandhi in London.lalit

BJP, which charged that it was these links which had "prevented" Modi's extradition under UPA rule, demanded that Congress President Sonia Gandhi make a statement on the matter.

That invited a sharp attack from the opposition, which said that Lalit Modi's tweets were a case of "chhota Modi" helping "bada Modi" (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) through "lies".

Seeking to turn the tables on Congress, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said, "Today's big revelation is the fact that Lalit Modi had met the Gandhi family. Only yesterday he met Priyanka Gandhi and Robert Vadra. Why have they met him?

"Let me categorically put today that the issue is about Lalit Modi and Gandhi family... BJP demands Sonia Gandhi make a statement why the Gandhi family has been in touch with Lalit Modi all these years.

Patra further claimed that the then Finance Minister P Chidambaram "did not want Lalit Modi's extradition from Britain despite the fact that UK was ready for extradition".

"Who was preventing them? The Gandhi family," he alleged. "The matter starts and ends at the door of 10, Janpath."

But lashing out at BJP over the charges, Congress said that running into anybody in a restaurant was not a crime and that Lalit Modi was working at the behest of BJP to divert attention to "non-issues".

Congress's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that BJP should tell its "black money stooges to not rely on red-herrings" to divert attention from the issue.

The government must answer to the people about the allegations against External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, he added.

"I can say with full responsibility that neither Priyanka Gandhi nor Robert Vadra ever interacted with Lalit Modi socially. If you see somebody in a restaurant, it is not a crime. 'Chhota Modi' is helping 'bada Modi' with lies.

"It is a diversionary tactic of BJP to turn the attention towards non-issues. The government should speak about real issues and not hide behind Lalit Modi," Surjewala told reporters.

Lalit Modi had last night tweeted, "Happy to meet the Gandhi family... in London. I had run into Robert and Priyanka separately".

Reiterating his party's demand for the sacking of Swaraj and Raje, Surjewala said they had helped a fugitive accused of "fraud of gigantic proportions".

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News Network
June 10,2020

New Delhi, Jun 10: Petrol price on Wednesday was hiked by 40 paise per litre and diesel by 45 paise, the fourth straight daily increase in rates after oil PSUs ended an 82-day hiatus in rate revision. Petrol price in Delhi was hiked to Rs 73.40 per litre from Rs 73, while diesel rates were increased to Rs 71.62 a litre from Rs 71.17, according to a price notification of state oil marketing companies.

Rates have been increased across the country and vary from state to state depending on the incidence of local sales tax or VAT.

This is the fourth daily increase in rates in a row since oil companies on Sunday restarted revising prices in line with costs, after ending an 82-day hiatus.

In four hikes, petrol price has gone up by Rs 2.14 per litre and diesel by Rs 2.23.

Latest petrol, diesel prices in top cities:

New Delhi: Petrol ₹73.40. Diesel ₹71.62

Gurgaon: Petrol ₹72.86. Diesel ₹64.90

Mumbai: Petrol ₹80.40. Diesel ₹70.35

Chennai: Petrol ₹77.43. Diesel ₹70.13

Hyderabad: Petrol ₹76.20. Diesel ₹70b

Bengaluru: Petrol ₹75.77. Diesel ₹68.09

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News Network
June 13,2020

Visakhapatnam, Jun 13: A four-month-old baby who was on ventilator treatment for 18 days for COVID-19 was on Friday evening discharged from hospital after testing negative.

"A tribal woman of East Godavari named Laxmi was infected with COVID-19 in May, later the doctors confirmed that her four-month-old baby was also infected," said District Collector, Vinay Chand.

"The baby was shifted to Visakhapatnam VIMS hospital on May 25. She was treated for 18 days on a ventilator. Doctors again conducted baby's COVID-19 test recently, following which the reports came negative. After a health check-up, VIMS doctors discharged the baby on Friday evening," he added.

Meanwhile, 14 new COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in Visakhapatnam district on Friday, taking the total number of cases to 252 including one fatality due to the virus.

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News Network
March 5,2020

New Delhi, Mar 5: The primary classes of all schools in the national capital will remain closed till March 31 to prevent a possibility of spread of coronavirus, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia announced on Thursday.

According to Directorate of Education (DoE) officials, while elaborate guidelines have been issued about preventive measures for coronavirus, students of nursery and primary classes are too young to understand the risk, making them more prone to infectious diseases.

Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio, tweeted, "As a precautionary measure to prevent the possibility of spread of COVID-19 amongst our children, Delhi Government has directed the immediate closure of all primary schools (Govt/ aided/ private/MCD/NDMC) till 31/3/20(sic)."

A senior DoE official said, "Elaborate guidelines have already been issued. However, students of nursery and primary classes are too young to understand the risks associated with COVID-19. Thus they are more prone to infectious diseases and mingle around with classmates more often."

"It will be good if they are trained in the do's and dont's under the care and supervision of their parents at home. However, students of classes other than primary will continue to come to schools or examination centres for writing their examination as per schedule. The teaching, as well as non-teaching staff, will also attend regular school," the official said.

As of now, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country stands at 30, including 16 Italian tourists. The figure includes the first three cases reported from Kerala last month who have already been discharged following recovery.

Alerted by the coronavirus case reported in Delhi-NCR, schools in the region have sent out advisories to parents suggesting that they do not send their wards to attend classes even in case of mild cough or cold, and saying that they may declare holidays if the need arises. A few schools have announced already holidays and others have advanced their spring break.

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