Cauvery row: Actors stage protest in Chennai; Rajinikanth asks CSK to wear black band in IPL

The Indian Express
April 8, 2018

New Delhi, Apr 8: As the battle between Karnakata and Tamil Nadu intensifies over the Cauvery issue, actors turned politicians Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan joined a protest in Chennai, demanding the formation of Cauvery Managment Board (CMB). Actors including Dhanush, Vishal, Surya and music composer Ilayaraja were also present at the protest.

Stating that it is embarrassing to hold Indian Premier League (IPL) matches in Chennai, while the state is grappling with Cauvery row, Rajinikanth said the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) players should wear black badges while playing. He also asked his followers to wear the same when the Chennai team plays.

Calling the setting up of Cauvery Management Board a fair demand, Rajinikanth said that that the Centre should pay it immediate attention. “I’d like to tell the Centre that, what every Tamilan unanimously wants is CBM. If you don’t set up the board at the earliest, you will be subjected to the anger and disappointment of every Tamilan,” the actor said.

He also said people from different walks of life have been protesting across Tamil Nadu for the welfare of poor farmers. “To many, it’s unclear who we are protesting for. We are not protesting for the benefits of rich farmers with hundreds of acres of land. We are doing it for poor farmers whose livelihood depends on the farm produce they make from a piece of land they own,” he said adding that even though Karnataka’s politicians might not understand the agony, the poor farmers of Karnataka will.

On Kamal Haasan’s comments that he will oppose Rajinikanth if he takes up ‘divine politics,’ Rajinikanth said, “He is not my enemy. My enemy is unemployment and poverty.”

While Rajinikanth had earlier tweeted saying Cauvery Management Board was the “only acceptable just solution for us,” Kamal Haasan had accused the Tamil Nadu government of being “subservient” to the Centre rather than upholding the state’s rights on the Cauvery issue. He had also alleged that the fast taken up by AIADM members earlier this week was “farcical.” While it was the Centre’s responsibility to constitute the CMB, the state government “cannot hallucinate that it has fulfilled its duty towards the people who elected them by just filing a contempt petition after the deadline or by holding a farcical one-day hunger strike”, he had said in the statement.

The Tamil film fraternity observed a silent protest demanding the setting up of the Cauvery Management Board and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC). It also opposed the operation of copper smelter plant of the Vedanta group in Tuticorin.

The protest organised by the South Indian Film Artistes Association, popularly known as Nadigar Sangam, saw the participation of members of Tamil Film Producers Council and Film Employees Federation of South India.

Leading actors, movie and music directors and other technicians participated in the protest. Among those present were music directors Illayaraja, Shankar-Ganesh, actors Surya, Vijay, Vishal, Prashanth and others. According to Nadigar Sangam President Nasser, the silent protest is held to convey one message — the constitution of the CMB and the CWRC.

The state has witnessed multiple protests, bandh calls, hunger strikes and demonstrations by various political members and farmers in order to demand immediate action by Centre. DMK leader M K Stalin and AIADMK leader T T V Dinakaran launched a padayatra to safeguard Tamil Nadu’s interest in the Cauvery row.

The latest plan of Stalin, who earlier planned to march from Trichy to Chennai and then enter the city with thousands of partymen and farmers, is to cover the entire delta. While the padayatra launched on Saturday will pass through Thanjavur, Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur districts, another march launched on April 9 will cover Ariyalur and Perambalur.

Hoping that Tamil Nadu gets a favourable ruling from Supreme Court before he completes the march, Satlin said, “If not, this protest march will be stronger in the coming days,” he said, adding that the ruling AIADMK lacks the courage to even issue a statement condemning the BJP-led central government.

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News Network
June 13,2020

New Delhi, Jun 13: India's COVID-19 tally on Saturday witnessed its highest-ever spike of 11,458 cases, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).

A total of 386 deaths have been reported due to the infection during the last 24 hours.

The total number of coronavirus cases in the country now stands at 3,08,993 including 1,45,779 active cases 1,54,330 cured/discharged/migrated and 8,884 deaths.

COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra continue to soar with the number reaching 101141. Tamil Nadu's coronavirus count stands at 40,698 while cases in Delhi reached 36,824.

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News Network
May 15,2020

May 15: Global tensions simmered over the race for a coronavirus vaccine Thursday, as the United States and China traded jabs, and France slammed pharmaceuticals giant Sanofi for suggesting the US would get any eventual vaccine first.

Scientists are working at breakneck speed to develop a vaccine for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, which has killed more than 300,000 people worldwide and pummelled economies.

From the US to Europe to Asia, national and local governments are easing lockdown orders to get people back to work -- while fretting over a possible second wave of infections.

Increased freedom of movement means an increased risk of contracting the virus, and so national labs and private firms are labouring to find the right formula for a vaccine.

The European Union's medicines agency offered some hope when it said one could be ready in a year, based on data from clinical trials already underway.

But Marco Cavaleri, the EMA's head of vaccines strategy, acknowledged that timeline was a "best-case scenario," and cautioned that "there may be delays."

The race for a vaccine has exposed a raw nerve in relations between the United States and China, where the virus was first detected late last year in the central city of Wuhan.

Two US agencies warned Wednesday that Chinese hackers were trying to steal COVID-19 vaccine research -- a claim Beijing rejected as "smearing" its reputation.

US President Donald Trump, who has ratcheted up the rhetoric against China, said he doesn't even want to engage with Chinese leader Xi Jinping -- potentially imperilling a trade deal between the world's top two economies.

"I'm very disappointed in China. I will tell you that right now," he said in an interview with Fox Business.

"There are many things we could do. We could do things. We could cut off the whole relationship."

On Capitol Hill, an ousted US health official told Congress that the Trump government had no strategy in place to find and distribute a vaccine to millions of Americans, warning of the "darkest winter" ahead.

"We don't have a single point of leadership right now for this response, and we don't have a master plan," said Rick Bright, who was removed last month as head of the US agency charged with developing a coronavirus vaccine.

The United States has registered nearly 86,000 deaths linked to COVID-19 -- the highest toll of any nation.

World leaders were among 140 signatories to a letter published Thursday saying any vaccine should not be patented and that the science should be shared among nations.

"Governments and international partners must unite around a global guarantee which ensures that, when a safe and effective vaccine is developed, it is produced rapidly at scale and made available for all people, in all countries, free of charge," it said.

But a row erupted in France after drugmaker Sanofi said it would reserve first shipments of any vaccine it discovered to the United States.

The comments prompted a swift rebuke from the French government -- President Emmanuel Macron's office said any vaccine should be treated as "a global public good, which is not submitted to market forces."

Sanofi chief executive Paul Hudson said the US had a risk-sharing model that allowed for manufacturing to start before a vaccine had been finally approved -- while Europe did not.

"The US government has the right to the largest pre-order because it's invested in taking the risk," Hudson told Bloomberg News.

Macron's top officials are scheduled to meet with Sanofi executives about the issue next week.

The search for a vaccine became even more urgent after the World Health Organization said the disease may never go away and the world would have to learn to live with it for good.

"This virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities and this virus may never go away," said Michael Ryan, the UN body's emergencies director.

The prospect of the disease lingering leaves governments facing a delicate balancing act between suppressing the pathogen and getting their economies up and running.

In the US, more grim economic data emerged Thursday, with nearly three million more Americans applying for unemployment benefits.

That takes the overall total to 36.5 million -- more than 10 percent of the US population.

Further signs of the damage to businesses emerged when Lloyd's of London forecast the pandemic will cost the global insurance industry about $203 billion.

European markets closed down, but Wall Street rallied despite the new jobless claims. In a sign of progress, the New York Stock Exchange trading floor was due to reopen on May 26.

The reopening of economies continued in earnest across Europe, where the EU has set out proposals for a phased restart of travel and the eventual lifting of border controls.

"Maybe it's a mistake, but we have no choice. Without tourists, we won't get by!" Enrico Facchetti, a 61-year-old former goldsmith, said of Venice's reopening.

Japan -- the world's third largest economy -- lifted a state of emergency across most of the country except for Tokyo and Osaka.

And Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said national parks would partially reopen on June 1.

But in Latin America, the virus continued to surge, with a 60 percent leap in cases in the Chilean capital of Santiago.

Authorities said 2,000 new graves were being dug at the main cemetery.

South Sudan reported its first COVID-19 death on Thursday.

And in Bangladesh, the first case was confirmed in the teeming Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, which are home to nearly one million people.

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Agencies
August 5,2020

Ayodhya, Aug 5: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday recalled the significance of the path of 'maryada' associated with Lord Ram in the backdrop of the situation created by COVID-19 and emphasised the importance of social distancing and wearing face masks.

He said that the current situation demands 'maryada' should be 'do gaz ki doori, mask hai zaroori' and exhorted everyone to follow it.

In his speech after laying the foundation stone of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the Prime Minister said the temple of Lord Ram will inspire and guide humans for ages to come.

He said that the path of `maryada' followed by Lord Ram is all the more necessary today in the situation created by COVID-19.

"The `maryada' (need) today is do gaj ki doori, mask hai jaroori (keep distance of two yards, wear mask). The Almighty may keep all the citizens healthy and happy, this is my prayer. The blessings of Mother Sita and Shri Ram be always there on the citizens," he said.

The Prime Minister termed the occasion as historic and said that India is starting a glorious chapter when people across the country are excited and emotional to have finally achieved what they had been waiting for centuries.

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