Veiled attack on Team Rahul by section of Cong leaders

May 22, 2014

New Delhi, May 22: In a veiled attack on 'Team Rahul' over Congress' poll debacle, a section of party leaders today said only those having experience of field work should be given "leadership posts" and wanted a "ruthless introspection" to help it bounce back.RaGa

Congress leader Milind Deora, who had yesterday said that Rahul Gandhi's advisers did not have their "ears to the ground" and those with "no electoral experience" were "calling the shots", today stuck to his stand, saying his comments are borne out of deep loyalty to the party and pain due to its performance in the polls.

"My comments are out of emotions of deep loyalty to the party, pain of our performance & a sincere desire to see us bounce back. Nothing more," Deora said on Twitter.

In comments that stoked a blame game within the party and appearing to question 'Team Rahul', he said, "Field party work & electoral battles are key to comprehend ground realities. This should form the basis for leadership posts in Congress."

Senior party leader Satyavrat Chaturvedi appeared to be in agreement with the views expressed by Deora and hoped that an "honest and ruthless introspection" is carried out to rectify the problems.

Chaturvedi said while whatever Deora stated might not be fully correct but "large portion of what he said is correct".

The remarks are considered significant in the wake of a growing perception in the party that a number of people with no electoral experience and novices in politics were given key roles in shaping up the decisions of the leadership on issues like campaigning and alliances.

AICC Secretary Priya Dutt, who met Congress President Sonia Gandhi today, also talked of a "disconnect" of the party leaders with the people.

"We need to bridge that gap. We need to bring that right upto the leadership. There is a lot of criticism. We have to look at where we have gone wrong in the past ten years," she said.

Both Deora and Dutt lost the elections in Mumbai.

They are considered to be part of Rahul's team and it may be mentioned that Deora's assertions in the past on some issues were also followed up by action taken by the Congress Vice President.

Senior Congress leader Capt Amarinder Singh, however, said the Congress should take "collective responsibility" for the rout in which the party got just 44 seats.

NCP leader Majid Memom said Deora's remarks signify that he has indirectly commented on Rahul also.

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News Network
April 27,2020

New Delhi, Apr 27: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday held a video conference with chief ministers to discuss the situation arising due to the coronavirus pandemic in the country, which has been under a lockdown since March 25 to contain the spread of the virus, amid indications that the interaction would also focus on a graded exit from the ongoing lockdown.

This is Modi's fourth such interaction with state chief ministers since March 22 when he discussed coronavirus situation and steps taken both by the Centre and the states to contain the pandemic.

Two days later on March 24, Modi announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown. He extended the lockdown by 19 days on April 14, the last day of the initial three week shutdown, till May 3.

Sources in the government had on Sunday indicated that besides discussing the way forward in dealing with the pandemic, the prime ministers and chief ministers could also focus on a "graded" exit from the lockdown.

In a tweet on Monday, the Prime Minister's Office said Modi and the chief ministers will be discussing aspects relating to the COVID-19 situation.

In his monthly 'Mann ki Baat' radio address on Sunday, the prime minister said the country is in the middle of a 'yudh' (war) and asserted that people have to continue being careful and take precautions.

His note of caution came amidst gradual exemptions being granted by the Centre and states to revive economic activities.

"I urge you not to get overconfident. You should in your over-enthusiasm not think that if the coronavirus has not yet reached your city, village, street or office, it is not going to reach now. Never make such a mistake. The experience of the world tells us a lot in this regard," Modi said while referring to a popular Hindi idiom 'Sawdhani hati, durghatna ghati' (disaster strikes when you lower your concentration).

The Centre and the state governments have been giving gradual exemptions to boost economic activities as also to provide relief to people as some states want further relaxation in areas which have seen few or no coronavirus cases.

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Agencies
July 30,2020

New Delhi, Jul 30: India's gold demand in 2020 is expected to fall to the lowest level in 26 years with domestic bullion prices hitting a record high and as falling disposable incomes could curtail retail purchases, the World Gold Council (WGC) said on Thursday.

Lower demand by the world's second-biggest bullion consumer could limit a rally in global prices, which hit a record high earlier this month, although it could also reduce India's trade deficit and support the ailing rupee.

"Fast rising gold prices could act as headwinds," said Somasundaram PR, the managing director of WGC's Indian operations.

Local gold futures have jumped 35% so far this year after rising a quarter in 2019.

India's gold consumption in the first half of 2020 plunged 56% on-year to 165.6 tonnes. Meanwhile, the coronavirus-triggered lockdown also slashed demand by 70% in the June quarter to 63.7 tonnes, the lowest in more than a decade, the WGC said in a report published on Thursday.

Millions of Indians have lost their jobs or taken a pay cut after the country imposed a lockdown on its 1.3 billion people to curb the spread of the virus that has infected more than 1.5 million Indians.

Consumption is generally high during the June quarter due to weddings and key festivals such as Akshaya Tritiya, but lockdown restrictions kept shoppers indoors this year.

The weak demand in the first half could drag down India's gold consumption in 2020 to the lowest since 1994, when demand stood at 415 tonnes, Somasundaram said, adding that it is still difficult to provide an estimate for full-year demand as the coronavirus crisis is still unfolding.

"Indian demand has previously jumped as much as 300 tonnes in a quarter. Latent demand could come out in the second half," Somasundaram said.

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News Network
May 10,2020

May 10: Delhi recorded five more deaths due to coronavirus, while 381 fresh cases of the virus were reported, the city government said on Sunday.

With the fresh cases, the virus tally in the national capital has climbed to 6,923.

Between midnight of May 8 and midnight of May 9, five fresh fatalities due to the virus were reported, taking the death toll to 73, the government said in its health bulletin.

While there are 4,781 active cases of the virus in the city, 2069 patients have so far recovered from COVID-19.

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