No place for Dalits and backwards in the heart of Congress: PM Modi

Agencies
May 10, 2018

Bengaluru, May 10: There is no place for Dalits and backward classes in the heart of the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday, asserting his government is trying to realise B R Ambedkar's dream of a powerful and prosperous India.

Launching a blistering attack on the Congress over the way it has treated Dalits, Modi said the party showed no respect for Ambedkar.

The Congress, he alleged, used "all its power" to defeat Ambedkar when he contested Lok Sabha election in 1952 and Bandara Lok Sabha by-election in 1953.

"That is the reason why Baba Saheb had to face defeat and insult. Let Congress show at least one thing it did to honour Baba Saheb," he said.

Addressing BJP's SC/ST/OBC and Slum Morcha workers through his Namo App, Modi said, "There is no place for Dalits and backward classes in the heart of the Congress."

"This has been happening for decades. Till the time the Congress party was in power, Baba Saheb was not given Bharat Ratna," he said.

Maintaining that Ambedkar dreamt of an India which takes everybody forward together, he said the BJP is trying to fulfil his dream by implementing various schemes.

The government, he said, is making efforts to ensure there is social justice and equality.

Modi said 'Stand Up' and 'Mudra' Yojanas are playing a major role in the financial empowerment of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, OBCs and women.

Noting that the BJP has the most number of MPs belonging these categories, Modi said, it was for the first time after Independence that the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government created a separate ministry for scheduled tribes.

Also, it was under Vajpayee that the government created a separate national commission for scheduled tribes, he said.

Modi said the BJP has its governments in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh which have sizeable tribal population.

It is also in power in northeastern states like Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Tripura, and is part of coalition dispensations in Nagaland and Meghalaya."This shows that tribal people are fully supporting BJP," he said.

He said the party's manifesto for Karnataka elections has details of the programmes its government will undertake for the empowerment of the scheduled tribes.

In Chitradurga, Mysuru, Uttar Kannada and Bagalkot, the government will set up four 'sindhoora laxman training centres' for vocational training, he said.

Modi said the Congress never thought of giving constitutional status to OBC Commission.

"What problem they have I am yet to understand. Every time they create obstacles despite the community's demand for it," he said.

The Congress, he said, did not allow Parliament to function to block the government's move to accord constitutional status to OBC Commission.

Modi said his government made provisions of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act more stringent and increased the number of offences listed under it from 22 to 47.

"The government did this because I know what problems the poor face, what pain Dalits and tribals suffer, and what kind of language is used against them.

"He asked BJP workers to visit the homes of people belonging to scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and backward classes to reassure them that BJP will work for their welfare.

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News Network
June 15,2020

New Delhi, Jun 15: On Monday, petrol and diesel prices across the country were raised for the ninth consecutive day by 48 paise and 59 paise, respectively.

Petrol price per litre was raised to Rs 76.26 in New Delhi, Rs 83.17 in Mumbai, Rs 79.96 in Chennai, Rs 79.17 in Hyderabad, Rs 78.73 in Bengaluru and Rs 78.10 in Kolkata.

Diesel price per litre was hiked to Rs 74.62 in New Delhi, Rs 73.21 in Mumbai, Rs 72.69 in Chennai, Rs 72.93 in Hyderabad, Rs 70.95 in Bengaluru and Rs 70.33 in Kolkata.

Since 7 June, after ending their 82-day hiatus in daily revision, state-owned oil marketing companies have increased petrol price by Rs 5 per litre and diesel by Rs 5.23 per litre.

These prices are close to levels last seen in October-November 2018 when international oil prices had spiked close to $80 per barrel. In October 2018, petrol price in Mumbai had crossed Rs 90-mark and in Delhi, it was around Rs 83 per litre.

Comparatively, on Monday, Brent crude, the international benchmark for crude oil prices, fell 2.3 percent to $37.84 a barrel over concerns of subdued demand for fuel as new coronavirus infections were reported in China and the US.

The present spike in fuel prices in India could be attributed to the fact that central and state governments, along with oil marketing companies are looking to make up for their loss in revenues due to the lockdown.

Last month, the central government had increased the excise duty on per litre of petrol by Rs 10 and per litre of diesel by Rs 13. Several state governments have also hiked their VAT or cess on fuel in the last month. In fact, now around 70 percent of the retail price of fuel is just some form of tax.

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Agencies
July 29,2020

If everything goes as Russia’s expectation, it will be world’s first country to approve a coronavirus vaccine for widespread in the second week of August despite safety and efficacy concerns, according to a report. The adenoviral vector-based vaccine developed by Russian military and government researchers is currently in phase 2 trials.

According to a report from CNN, Russian officials are hoping to get approval for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Moscow-based Gamaleya Institute on Agust 10 or even before that. The officials told the outlet that the vaccine will be approved for public use with frontline healthcare workers receiving it first.

“It’s a Sputnik moment,” said Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, which is financing Russian vaccine research, referring to the successful 1957 launch of the world’s first satellite by the Soviet Union, according to CNN.

“Americans were surprised when they heard Sputnik’s beeping. It’s the same with this vaccine. Russia will have got there first,” he was quoted as saying.

However, Russia is yet to release the scientific data on its coronavirus vaccine trials, hence, questions remain about the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, said the report. The vaccine is in the second phase of testing with developers planning to launch the phase 3 trials sometime after August 3.

Earlier, Interfax reported, citing Health Minister Mikhail Murashko, that the vaccine will be widely used in parallel with phase 3 trials. He said the country plans to vaccinate medics who are at high-risk for COVID-19 next month before clinical trials are completed.

Murashko added that individuals at higher risk of getting infected with the coronavirus such as older people or those with health conditions will also be prioritised for the vaccine, although he did not estimate or reveal when that would happen. The minister added 800 people will be recruited for the phase 3 trials.

Meanwhile, health officials were more cautious considering the fact that human testing of the vaccine is incomplete, and the state registration is expected to begin after August 3, reported The Moscow Times.

On Monday, Moderna and Pfizer announced the commencement of the final phase 3 trials of their candidate vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which has so far claimed at least 654,477 lives and infected 16,514,500 people worldwide. 

Researchers will recruit up to 30,000 volunteers in separate trials both backed by the US government. India's first indigenous coronavirus vaccine, COVAXIN, is undergoing phase 1 human clinical trials across the country. More than 150 COVID-19 vaccines are being developed all over the world with at least six candidates already in late-stage clinical trials.

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News Network
June 16,2020

New Delhi, Jun 16: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday demanded a rollback of hike in fuel prices, saying the government's decision to increase the prices of petrol and diesel during the coronavirus crisis is "wholly insensitive" and "ill-advised".

The government is doing nothing short of "profiteering off its people" when they are down and out, she said in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Petrol and diesel prices were hiked for the 10th day in a row on Tuesday.

"I am deeply distressed that in these exceedingly difficult times since the beginning of March, the government has taken the wholly insensitive decision to increase petrol and diesel prices on no less than ten separate occasions," Gandhi said in her letter.

She accused the government of earning an additional revenue of nearly Rs 2.6 lakh crore through these "ill-advised" hikes in excise duty and increase in prices of petrol and diesel.

"I urge you to roll back these increases and pass on the benefit of low oil prices directly to the citizens of this country.

"If you wish for them to be 'self-reliant' then do not place financial fetters on their ability to move forward," the Congress president said.

Gandhi also urged the government to use its resources to put money directly into the hands of those in need in these times of severe hardship.

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