Senior Cong leaders are egoistic, inaccessible: Cadre complain to Rahul Gandhi

Agencies
October 12, 2018

New Delhi, Oct 12: Expressing discontentment, district presidents of the Congress party from various states told party president Rahul Gandhi that issues such as indiscipline among the party cadre, ego and lobby of senior leaders are creating problems for the party.

Sources told ANI that as part of an organisation-building exercise Rahul Gandhi had a telephonic interaction with party members, including district heads, to get ground level feedback.

During the interaction, district heads informed Gandhi that senior leaders of the Congress are egoistic and often don`t communicate with party workers.

According to sources, they further claimed that the district level leaders are unable to maintain discipline as people are being posted on the recommendation of the senior leaders and hence those who join are not bothered about the district units.

A district member from the West Bengal`s Jalpaiguri district unit stated that Congress leaders have a big ego and are uninterested in meeting people, which affects the party agenda. He also requested Gandhi to contest elections in West Bengal sans any alliance and also criticised West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for being arrogant towards Congress leaders.

Echoing similar sentiments, a leader from Odisha said that senior leaders are not accessible.

Another top official from the party`s Warangal district unit in Telangana alleged that senior party leaders do not care about them because they have a lobby in Hyderabad and Delhi, and tickets distribution is decided at that level.

After listening to the conversation carefully, Gandhi, while acknowledging the lack of discipline within the Congress, said the party will make sure that the district Congress units are given priority in the decision making process.

"District presidents are the backbone of the Congress party. I want that we should start working with district and block presidents in a better way to strengthen the district level. District presidents should conduct meetings on a regular basis. We should raise issues of interest and try to solve the matter as Congress party works, for the welfare of people, unlike the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS). I want all district presidents to maintain discipline in their districts. My aim is to involve the districts or block presidents to be a part of decision making process. The district level should connect and engage with the people," Gandhi said.

He also stated that any case of indiscipline should be reported to the state unit and if things are not settled, the district heads are free to take action.

This conversation went on for almost an hour and was concluded by All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Ashok Gehlot with a promise that the party will take all the suggestions and complaints seriously. He added that such conversations are aimed at motivating the available workforce.

Gehlot said, "Rahul Gandhi wants Zilla Congress Committee to work for the people, reach to the people and ask them their queries. Rahul ji wants to strengthen the district and block levels."

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zahoor ahmed
 - 
Saturday, 13 Oct 2018

Send home all above 70, if congress wants to come back.

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Agencies
August 6,2020

Mumbai, Aug 6: Former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan said on Thursday that overly focusing on what sovereign rating agencies think can take one's eyes off what needs to be done for the economy.

"It is also important to convince both domestic and international investors that after the crisis associated with the pandemic is over, we will return to fiscal responsibility over the medium term, and the government should do more to convince them of that," Rajan told the Global Markets Forum.

India was placed under one of the strictest lockdowns in the world in late March for more than two months to stem the spread of the coronavirus, but cases have continued to rise steadily since the government eased restrictions in June, stymieing hopes of an economic recovery.

The government has announced several initiatives to help the poor and small- and medium-size businesses, but actual cash outgo from the government's measures has been estimated at just about 1% of GDP.

Several attribute the fiscal prudence to fear of a downgrade after Moody's cut India's rating and outlook in early June followed closely by a change in outlook from Fitch.

The central bank on its part too has reduced the key lending rate by 115 basis points on top of the 135 bps last year and is widely expected to cut rates by another 25 bps later on Thursday.

"The RBI and government have certainly been cooperating, but it seems like it is elsewhere, the ball is in the government's court to do more," Rajan said.

He said the RBI needs to focus on whether credit is reaching the stressed areas of the economy and also if the viable firms were able to access credit and not the unviable ones.

"And I think that's where it has to focus its attentions, because resources, as you well know, are limited in India today."

Recently analysts, however, have cited the growing possibility the RBI may prefer to pause and cut rates only at its October meeting.

Government officials too have suggested the possibility of any more fiscal stimulus being announced, would only come in the second half of the fiscal year, once a recovery has taken root and coronavirus cases have peaked.

"What India should focus on at this point is protecting its economic capabilities, so that when it has dealt with the virus it can go resume activity in a reasonable way. That should be the focus," Rajan said.

"And if it does that, there is no reason why the rating agencies will not see that as an appropriate policy".

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News Network
April 30,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 30: Shares of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd rose almost 9% on Thursday after the Indian drugmaker got an approval to conduct clinical trials with antiviral drug favipiravir, seen as a potential treatment for COVID-19.

Favipiravir, manufactured under the brand name Avigan by a unit of Japan's Fujifilm Holdings Corp and approved for use as an anti-flu drug in the Asian island country in 2014, has been effective, with no obvious side-effects, in helping coronavirus patients recover, a Chinese official told reporters at a news conference last month.

"After having successfully developed the API and the formulations ... Glenmark is all geared to immediately begin clinical trials on favipiravir on COVID-19 patients in India," Sushrut Kulkarni, executive vice-president for Global R&D, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, said in a statement. 

The Drug Controller General of India, the country's drug regulator, did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment.

On Wednesday, another Indian pharmaceutical company, Strides Pharma Science Ltd, said it had developed and commercialized favipiravir antiviral tablets, and had applied to Indian drug authorities to start trials.

Shares of Mumbai-based Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, which rose as much as 8.9% to 359 rupees ($4.78), was trading up 5.9%, as of 0407 GMT.

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News Network
January 21,2020

Amaravati, Jan 21: Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu and at least 17 MLAs of his party were taken in police custody late on Monday as they tried to conduct a foot march from the state assembly to nearby Mandadam village in violation of prohibitory orders.

TDP leaders started off on the march after staging a sit-in near the assembly main entrance following the suspension of 17 MLAs from the House for the day.

They were protesting the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020, that was passed by the assembly, enabling the establishment of three capitals for the state.

The TDP leaders were taken to the Mangalagiri police station.

Meanwhile, tensions prevailed at the Jana Sena Party headquarters at Mangalagiri as police prevented its president Pawan Kalyan from proceeding to the Amaravati region to speak to protesters fighting for the retention of only one capital for the state.

DIG Kanti Rana Tata and other senior police officials reached the Sena office and blocked the exit of Kalyan and political affairs committee chairman Nadendla Manohar, resulting in an argument.

Kalyan asked how could police impose restrictions within his own office.

Scores of Sena workers gathered outside the office even as a large posse of police was posted to thwart Kalyan and other leaders' plans.

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