Mani Shankar Aiyar calls Modi ‘neech’; suspended from Congress

Agencies
December 8, 2017

New Delhi/Surat, Dec 8: Congress suspended Mani Shankar Aiyar on Thursday after the former Union minister stoked yet another acrimonious row by describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a "neech aadmi".

Aiyar's choice of words not only drew a ferocious attack from Modi in Surat but riled his own party functionaries who feared potential damage to its electoral prospects due to the diplomat-turned-politician's foot-in-the-mouth penchant. "He (Modi) is neech kism ka aadmi who has no sabhyata (civility)," Aiyar had said earlier in the day after Modi accused Congress of using Dalit icon B R Ambedkar merely to get votes and trying to erase his contribution in building India.

Addressing an election rally in Surat, Modi hit back at Aiyar and said dejected Congress functionaries had lost their mental balance and crossed all limits of decency. "Mani Shankar Aiyar has called me neech and from nichli jaati (lower caste). Is this not an insult to Gujarat? Is it not an insult to India's great values? But people of Gujarat will take revenge on December 18 and teach you the precise meaning of neech," Modi said.

The PM said Aiyar's remarks smacked of Congress's "Mughal mindset" that discriminated between the lower and upper castes. "I, as chief minister of Gujarat for 14 years and now as PM, have done nothing that has forced citizens to hang their heads in shame. If Congress feels that working for the poor and distressed is something too low, I can only wish them good luck," he said amid chants of "Modi Modi".

The PM even recalled Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's 10-year-old "maut ka saudagar" remark against him as he accused the rival of constantly insulting and conspiring against him. "Despite so many insults, I have not been vindictive as PM and BJP will always work to uphold the values of public life," he said.

With a procession of BJP functionaries alleging that Aiyar's controversial remark was a reflection of the Nehru-Gandhi family's arrogance and their sense of entitlement, and fear growing that the indiscretion might hurt the party in Gujarat, Congress led by Rahul Gandhi went into damage control. The party vice-president took to Twitter to disapprove of Aiyar's remark and asked him to apologise. "BJP and PM routinely use filthy language to attack the Congress party. The Congress has a different culture and heritage. I do not appreciate the tone and language used by Mani Shankar Aiyar to address the PM. Both the Congress and I expect him to apologise for what he said," Rahul said.

Though Aiyar can stubbornly hold his ground, he promptly obliged and blamed the derogatory remark on his poor Hindi. "My Hindi is not very good. Yes, I called Modi 'neech' but did not mean it as a low-born; I meant it as low," he said, recalling that his poor grasp of Hindi had failed him earlier too when he called former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee a "nalayak" PM.

However, this did not fully assuage the worry of the potential fallout of Aiyar's slur against the PM in a state where in 2007, Sonia calling Modi "maut ka saudagar" had badly boomeranged on her party. Coming just after the controversy over Kapil Sibal for allegedly seeking to delay resolution of the Ayodhya dispute by seeking postponement of hearing in the SC until after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, many in the party expressed concern over "self-goals" during the last lap of the Gujarat polls. Former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit, in fact, suspected an effort to sabotage Rahul when he is about to take over as party president.

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Friday, 8 Dec 2017

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Agencies
January 14,2020

Farukkhabad, Jan 14: In a shocking incident, a new-born baby was mauled to death by a dog inside the operation theatre (OT) of a private hospital in Farukkhabad on Monday.

Family members of the baby boy said that they noticed the hospital staff shooing a dog away from inside the operation theatre and soon after, they were told the baby boy, born just two hours ago, was dead.

The family members said that they found the baby's body on the floor and it had deep gashes around the neck and other parts of the body.

District magistrate Manvendra Singh has ordered an FIR and the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Chandra Shekhar said the hospital has been sealed and an inquiry ordered into the incident.

Sources said that the hospital where the incident took place was unregistered and was being run adjacent to a government hospital.

According to the FIR lodged with Sadar Kotwali police, the infant's father Ravi Kumar said he had admitted his wife Kanchan in the hospital on Monday and she was taken for a C-section to the operation theatre.

After the delivery, Kanchan was shifted to the ward but the family was told that the baby would be shifted later.

An hour later, the family was informed that the baby had died.

The family members then saw the hospital staff trying to chase a dog out of the operation theatre.

The family members forced their way into the operation theatre and found the infant lying on the floor with several injuries on the neck.

The police said that the baby's body has been preserved for examination and post mortem.

The FIR has been registered against Dr Mohit Gupta, and some of the staff members who were present during the delivery.

The hospital owner, Vijay Patel, however, feigned complete ignorance about the incident and said that he had been told that the baby was born dead.

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News Network
June 1,2020

Jun 1: Gold prices rose on Monday as riots in major U.S. cities rattled investors already reeling from strained Sino-U.S. relations and boosted demand for the safe-haven metal, with a weaker dollar lending further support.

Spot gold gained 0.8% to $1,739.75 per ounce by 0242 GMT. U.S. gold futures ticked up 0.1% to $1,752.60.

"Concerns about the unrest in the United States at the moment appear to be weighing on market sentiment," said Michael McCarthy, chief strategist at CMC Markets, adding that rising tensions between the world's top two economies provided further support to gold.

Protesters have flooded the streets in the United States over the death of George Floyd in police custody, in a wave of outrage sweeping a politically and racially divided nation.

The closely packed crowds and demonstrators not wearing masks have sparked fears of a resurgence of COVID-19, which has killed more than 101,000 Americans.

In Asia, China's state media and the government of Hong Kong lashed out on Sunday at U.S. President Donald Trump's pledge to end Hong Kong's special status if Beijing imposes new national security laws on the city.

Gold is often used as a safe store of value during times of political and financial uncertainty.

Indicative of sentiment, holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.3% to 1,123.14 tonnes on Friday, a fresh seven-year high.

Further supporting gold's appeal, the dollar index fell 0.4% against its rivals.

Elsewhere, silver jumped 2% to $18.20 per ounce, its highest since Feb. 26, before retreating slightly to trade 1.8% higher at $18.16.

Speculators cut their bullish positions in COMEX gold and increased them in silver contracts in the week to May 26, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Friday.

Palladium rose 0.7% to $1,958.25 per ounce, while platinum declined 0.3% to $835.56.

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Agencies
June 4,2020

New Delhi, Jun 4: Press Council of India (PCI) member BR Gupta has resigned from his post, saying he was unable to work individually or collectively for the media, which is in a "deep crisis".

"I have tendered my resignation as a Press Council of India member," Gupta told PTI.

He said the PCI had the responsibility to encourage media and media professionals constantly.

"But everyone now realises that the media scenario is in a deep crisis. The motto for which the Council was created was not being fulfilled and I felt I was not doing anything remarkable for the freedom of media," Gupta said.

He claimed that the PCI was not a wholly representative body for the media.

"Then how can we come out of the crisis being faced by the media and mediapersons? It is a big challenge for us. I have quit as I have not been able to work individually or collectively being a PCI member," Gupta added.

Referring to salary cuts and job losses, he said media and mediapersons were struggling for social, political and economic justice.

When contacted, PCI chairman Justice C K Prasad said Gupta's resignation has not been accepted yet.

"I have received it (the resignation). I have not gone through it. It has not been accepted," Prasad told PTI.

Gupta was appointed as a PCI member for a three-year term on May 30, 2018.

He said liberty is one of the basic features of the preamble to the Constitution that continues to inspire people and the media.

"It is difficult (for me) to fulfil the unbiased role and responsibility to help citizens and the media for making democracy stronger," Gupta said.

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