Aiyar gave 'supari' in Pakistan to get me 'removed': PM Modi

Agencies
December 9, 2017

Bhabhar (Guj), Dec 9: Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused suspended Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar of giving 'supari' (contract) while on a visit to Pakistan to get him "removed" from the way to ensure peace between India and the neighbouring country.

Targeting the diplomat-turned politician for the second time in two days after the Congress leader's 'neech aadmi'(lowly person) jibe at him yesterday, Modi also alleged that the Congress tried to suppress this episode and did not take any action against Aiyar.

Attacking the Congress over its work culture, Modi alleged that the party believes in--'atkana' (to stall) 'latkana' (to keep the issue hanging) and 'bhatkana' (to divert an issue).

The prime minister's remarks come a day after Aiyar set off a political firestorm when he called Modi a "neech kism ka aadmi". The Congress yesterday suspended Aiyar from the primary membership of the party and issued him a show cause notice for his remarks.

"Shriman Mani Shankar Aiyar...you know what he did?" Modi asked a gathering of people in this small town of Banaskantha district in North Gujarat.

"He gave this 'gaali' (abuse) to me or you? Did he abuse me or Gujarat? Did he abuse the cultured society of India or me?" Modi asked.

"Let us not talk about that abuse, as people of Gujarat will look into it and give a reply and they (Congress) will know the result on December 18," he said.

"But, after I became prime minister, this man (Aiyar) went to Pakistan and met some Pakistanis. All this thing is available on the social media. In that meeting, he is seen discussing with Pakistanis that 'jab tak Modi ko raste se hataya nahi jata' (until Modi is not removed from the way), relationship between India and Pakistan cannot improve," Modi added.

"Someone tell me what is the meeting of 'raste se hatana'. You had gone to Pakistan to give my 'supari', you wanted to give Modi's 'supari' (contract killing)," the PM said.

However, people need not worry as 'Maa Ambe' (goddess) is protecting me, he added.

"This conversation took place three years back. The Congress party had tried to suppress this episode...They did not take any action against him for last three years," Modi alleged.

"What is my crime? This country's people have elected me in a democratic way, and you go to Pakistan and say that this man is coming in the way and remove him!" he said. Modi was referring to a controversy that had erupted in 2015 when Aiyar during a talk show in Pakistan had reportedly made the controversial statement. Yesterday, during a rally in Surat, he had said, "Shriman (Mr) Mani Shankar Aiyar today said that Modi is of 'neech' (lower) caste and is 'neech' (lowly). Is this not an insult to Gujarat?...This is a Mughal mentality where if such a person (who comes from a humble background) wears good clothes in a village, they have a problem."

During today's rally, Modi further said the issue here is of Congress' mentality and the party's work culture means "atkana, latkana and bhatkana".

"What Congress has done so far is-atkana, latkana and bhatkana. They will either stall, keep an issue hanging or try to divert it," Modi said adding that they are not interested in solving people's problems.

When our brave jawans conducted the surgical strike then, I think that all the people of the country felt proud, but only Congress was not happy, he said.

"They raised questions about the surgical strike- did this (surgical strike) happen or not? Pakistan is saying that it did not happen...why none of our soldiers were killed... Would you believe Pakistan or India in such matters?" Modi asked.

Comments

Jameel
 - 
Monday, 11 Dec 2017

modi, are you worth the supari. hehehe.

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News Network
June 9,2020

Washington, Jun 9: The defacement of Mahatma Gandhi's statue by unknown miscreants was a "disgrace", US President Donald Trump has said, days after it was vandalised with graffiti and spray painting during the nationwide protests against the custodial killing of African-American George Floyd.

The statue, which is across the road from the Indian Embassy, was vandalised on the intervening night of June 2 and 3, prompting the Indian embassy to register a complaint with the local law enforcement agencies.

The incident happened during the week of nationwide protests against the custodial killing of Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.

"It was a disgrace," Trump made the brief comment at the White House on Monday when asked about the incident.

The Indian Embassy here has taken up the matter with the US Department of State for early investigation into the matter, as also with the Metropolitan Police and National Park Service.

It is working with the US Department of State, Metropolitan Police and National Park Service for expeditious restoration of the statue at the park.

The US president and First Lady Melania Trump, during their visit to India in February, had spent considerable time at the Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had personally given them a tour of the historic place.

"The First Lady and I have just had a pleasure of visiting Mahatma Gandhi's Ashram, a few miles from here, where he launched the famous Salt March," Trump had said during his address at the Namaste Trump rally at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad on February 24. A day later, Trump and the first lady also laid a wreath at Raj Ghat in New Delhi.

Pictures of Trump and the first lady with Gandhi's spinning wheel during their visit to the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad are seen hanging on the walls of the White House.

Last week, top US lawmakers and the Trump Campaign condemned the vandalisation of the statue.

"Very disappointing," tweeted Kimberly Guilfoyle, advisor to Donald J Trump for President Inc. and National Chair of the Trump Victory Finance Committees.

North Carolina Senator Tom Tillis said, "It's disgraceful to see the defacing of the Gandhi statue" in Washington DC.

"Gandhi was a pioneer of peaceful protesting, demonstrating the great change it can bring. Rioting, looting and vandalising do not bring us together, he said.

Senator Marco Rubio said, "more evidence that violent radicals and run of the mill crazies have hijacked legitimate protests to create anarchy or for their own purposes."

Protests against the custodial killing of Floyd turned violent in the US and prestigious monuments were damaged. In Washington DC, protestors burnt a historic church and damaged monuments like the Lincoln Memorial.

US Ambassador to India Ken Juster apologised for the incident.

"So sorry to see the desecration of the Gandhi statue in Wash, DC. Please accept our sincere apologies," he said.

"Appalled as well by the horrific death of George Floyd and the awful violence and vandalism. We stand against prejudice & discrimination of any type. We will recover and be better," he said in a tweet last week.

One of the few statues of a foreign leader on a federal land in Washington DC, the statue of Gandhi was dedicated by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the presence of the then US president Bill Clinton on September 16, 2000, during his state visit to the US.

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News Network
April 16,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 16: Seven fresh cases of COVID-19 were reported from Kerala on Thursday, taking the total number of active cases to 147 in the state,even as over 88,000 people are under observation.

On Wednesday, only one positive case had been reported, thelowest in weeks.

While Kannur reported four cases, two were from Kozhikode and one from Kasaragod, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reportershere.

Five of those affected had come from abroad, while two have got it through contact with infected people.

Samples of 27 people, including 24 from the worst affected Kasaragod, have turned negative on Thursday.

He said 394 coronavirus cases have so farbeen detected from the state.

Over 80,000 people are under observation, including 532 in various hospitals.

Vijayan said 17,400 samples have been sent for testing of which 16,459 have returned negative.

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Agencies
July 29,2020

New Delhi, Jul 29: Coronavirus infections in India continue to mount as the country's total case tally crossed the 15-lakh mark.

India added 48,513 fresh cases in 24 hours, taking the total tally to over 15.3 lakh, according to the Health Ministry’s 8 a.m. update on July 29.

Key Figures

Total number of confirmed coronavirus cases: 15,31,669
Active cases: 5,09,447
Cured/discharged/migrated: 9,88,029
Deaths: 34,193
Number of fresh cases in 24 hours: 48,513
One-day recoveries: 35,175
One-day deaths: 768
India’s coronavirus epidemic is growing at the fastest pace in the world, increasing 20% over the last week, according to Bloomberg’s Coronavirus Tracker. Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are among the states where the maximum number of daily cares are being reported.

Fresh cases continued to come in at a heightened pace, hovering just below 50,000 for the last six days.

Moderna Inc.’s vaccine candidate against Covid-19 protected against the virus in a trial that inoculated 16 monkeys, an encouraging step on the path to a defense for humans against the pandemic. Pfizer Inc., however, is preparing for the novel coronavirus to endure, leading to long-term demand for a seasonal shot to protect against Covid-19.

“There is a likely scenario that either the vaccine’s immunity will not be lasting forever,” said Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla in an interview Tuesday, “or that the virus will mutate, or that the virus will find ways to come back again and again.”

Even as the transmission rate of Covid-19 remains high in India, the pace of recovery has risen too. On Wednesday, India reported its third day of over 35,000 recoveries.

Global Update

Flare-ups in virus cases from Hong Kong to Europe are proving difficult for policy makers to wrangle. The U.S. neared 150,000 deaths from Covid-19, even as daily infections slowed in some hard-hit states. China reported 101 new cases, up from 68 a day earlier, with 98 of the total from local infections, mostly in Xinjiang.

Philippine health authorities warned that hospitals and infirmaries risk getting overwhelmed.

Globally, confirmed Covid-19 cases have topped 16.6 million with over 658,000 dead.

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