Combative Maran accuses CBI of 'fixing', claims RSS link

January 22, 2015

Chennai, Jan 22: A day after CBI arrested his close aide and two others in illegal telephone exchange case, former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran today charged the agency with trying "to fix" him to please an RSS leader from Tamil Nadu.Dayanidhi Maran

"CBI should be a fact-finding machine and not a fixing one.... I am being singled out. CBI is fixing me to please an RSS ideologue from Tamil Nadu," a combative Maran told reporters here after briefing DMK chief M Karunanidhi on the developments. He, however, did not name anyone.

Maran, who is facing CBI heat, alleged that the investigating agency was compelling the three arrested persons to complain against him and that they were even tortured to give "false statement".

CBI had yesteday arrested V Gowthaman, then Additional Private Secretary of Dayanidhi Maran, and two others in connection with alleged allotment of more than 300 high-speed telephone lines to the the former Telecom Minister's residence in Chennai which were extended to his brother's TV channel.

CBI had named Maran and BSNL officials, including the then Chief General Manager K Bramhanathan and MP Veluswami in the FIR filed in October 2013.

"...after eight years, they are just fixing this case. They have arrested three people. Irony is they have been ill-treated and were forced to give false statement. When they refused, they were arrested. They were compelled to complain against me. Third degree treatment was meted out to them," " Maran alleged.

Asserting that he would fight out the case, Maran hit out at CBI, saying "Is CBI trying to impress the RSS ideologue from Tamil Nadu? The telephone line still functions in my residence....CBI wants to pass the buck, I have no choice but to fight it out."

"CBI has filed FIR against me alleging when I was the telecom minister and there was excess use of telephone connection. I have explained. This investigation has been going on for eight years", he said.

He said for the last 18 months the arrested people have been called by CBI and they cooperated in all the investigation procedures.

The arrested persons included Chief Technical Officer S Kannan and electrician L S Ravi of Sun TV network.

"They were also promised if they give such a statement against me, they will be allowed to go," Maran claimed.

"The case was foisted against me during the UPA regime. The intellectual from Tamil Nadu fixed it, it was done by him," he said.

"There is only one telephone connection.... I will be writing to the CBI on this matter", he said.

CBI has alleged that nearly 323 residential lines were allegedly in the name of the BSNL General Manager connecting the Boat House residence of Maran with the office of Sun TV through a dedicated underground cable during his tenure as Telecom Minister.

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News Network
January 7,2020

Mumbai, Jan 7: People protesting against the JNU violence were evicted from Gateway of India here on Tuesday morning as roads were getting blocked and tourists and common people were facing problems, a police official said.

Police had appealed to the protesters to shift but they didn't listen, so they were "relocated" to Azad Maidan, the official said.

Hundreds of people, including students, women and senior citizens - who assembled at the iconic Gateway of India since Sunday midnight - demanded action against the culprits and called for Union Home Minister Amit Shah's resignation.

Violence broke out in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi on Sunday night as masked men armed with sticks and rods attacked students and teachers and damaged property on the campus.

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News Network
February 9,2020

New Delhi, Feb 9: Calling India a "long-standing friend", Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on Saturday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for visiting his country in the aftermath of last year's Easter Sunday terror attacks and outlined that New Delhi has always helped Colombo in its fight against terrorism.

In a joint press briefing with PM Modi, Mahinda Rajapaksa said he hopes that India will continue to help Sri Lanka fight terrorism.

Mahinda Rajapaksa expressed his gratitude to PM Modi for the neighbourhood first policy and the priority India gives to Sri Lanka.

"We had agreed that our cooperation is multifaceted and priority is given to a number of areas including security, economy, culture and social sectors. Part of our discussions centered on cooperation with regard to the security of the two countries. India has always assisted Sri Lanka to enhance our capacity, capabilities in intelligence and counter-terrorism. We look forward to getting continued support in this regard," he said.

"I thank the Prime Minister for visiting Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday terror attacks that provided us with immense strength to come to terms with the tragedy. We also appreciate Prime Minister Modi's $400 million line of credit to enhance the economy of Sri Lanka and another $50 million line of credit for fighting terrorism," he added.

The Sri Lankan president urged PM Modi to consider further assistance to expand housing projectS all over Sri Lanka to benefit people from rural areas.

"The Prime Minister and I discussed how Sri Lanka and India can work together in the field of economy. India is among the world's fastest growing economies. I discussed with PM Modi how Sri Lanka could benefit from certain economic sectors where India is in a strong position," he said.

Concluding his statement, Mahinda Rajapaksa said, "India is our closest neighbour and a long-standing friend. The close historical links...provided a solid foundation to our ties."

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News Network
June 8,2020

New Delhi, Jun 8: India on Monday reported the highest single-day spike of 9,983 more COVID-19 cases and 206 deaths in the last 24 hours.

With this, the country's coronavirus count has reached 2,56,611, including 1,25,381 active cases, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

1,24,094 patients have been cured/discharged so far and 7,135 succumbed to the deadly virus. While one patient has migrated.

With 85,975 cases, Maharashtra is the worst-affected state in the country followed by Tamil Nadu at 31,667 cases.

A total of 1,08,048 samples were tested for coronavirus in the last 24 hours and overall 47,74,434 samples have been tested till now.

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