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Congress should get post of Leader of Opposition: Sonia

July 7, 2014

New Delhi, July 07: Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday made a strong pitch for the party being given the post of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha contending that it is the single largest party in the opposition.sonia gandhi

"We are the single largest party. We have got a pre-poll alliance. Hence, we are entitled to Leader of Opposition's post," Gandhi, who is also CPP Chairperson, said in her first comments on the issue.

She, however, said the party has not decided yet whether to approach the judiciary in the matter.

Rejecting BJP's allegation that the Congress was desperate for the post and has not accepted defeat, the Congress President said, "That is not true. We have lost the elections. We are are aware of that." Senior Congress leader Kamal Nath dubbed as "lame excuse" the BJP's position that the issue was with the Lok Sabha Speaker.

"Just saying that there is a direction by the Speaker is a lame excuse to deny the Congress the position. The floor of the House is very different and Parliament is very different what it was two decades ago.

"Today politics is different. Parliamentary practices are different. Speaker's directions have been changed over years and merely because of the Speaker's direction what they (BJP) are citing is not an adequate reason for not giving the Leader of Opposition post to Congress," Nath told reporters outside Parliament House.

"I don't see what the BJP is afraid of. Was anybody afraid of? It is a mere designation and they should agree to it...It is direction of the Speaker which they are leaning on," he said.

He said, "There is no law which says you need 10%" seats in the Lok Sabha to stake claim for the post of Leader of Opposition.

Earlier in the day, parliamentary affairs minister M Venkaiah Naidu had slammed Nath for his remarks that Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan's decision on the issue of grant of Leader of Opposition status could be "flavoured" by BJP.

Responding to questions over Nath's remarks on the LOP issue, Naidu had said, "It is unfortunate that such a comment has been made by a senior leader like Kamal Nath. He must have made such a comment based on his own experience. The matter will be dealt by the Speaker according to the rulebook and precedent. Once elected, the Speaker is above the party."

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News Network
April 10,2020

New Delhi, Apr 10: With 896 COVID-19 cases reported in the country in the last 24 hours, India's total number of coronavirus positive cases rose to 6,761 on Friday, informed the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Out of all these cases, 6039 are active cases, 516 have been cured/discharged/ migrated, and 206 deaths have been reported so far.

The country witnessed the highest one day increase with 896 cases.

37 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.

Maharashtra with 1364 cases is the worst affected state followed by the Union Territory of Delhi with 898 cases and Tamil Nadu with 834 cases.

The country is under a 21-day lockdown until April 14 which was imposed to curb the spread of the virus.

States like Odisha and Punjab have extended the lockdown till April 30.

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News Network
March 18,2020

New Delhi, Mar 18: As many as 276 Indians have been infected with coronavirus abroad, including 255 in Iran, 12 in UAE and five in Italy, the government informed the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said the total number of Indians infected by coronavirus is 276 — 255 in Iran, 12 in UAE, five in Italy, and one each in Hong Kong, Kuwait, Rwanda and Sri Lanka.

A fourth batch of 53 Indians returned to India from Iran on Monday, taking the total number of people evacuated from the coronavirus-hit country to 389.

Iran is one of the worst-affected countries by the coronavirus outbreak and the government has been working to bring back Indians stranded there. Over 700 people have died from the disease in Iran and nearly 14,000 cases detected.

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Agencies
July 30,2020

Chennai, Jul 30: Tamil Nadu government on Thursday extended the Covid-19 lockdown till August 31, giving only a few relaxations like allowing delivery of non-essential goods by e-commerce sites. The ban on public transport has been extended till August 31, while availing of e-pass for inter-district and inter-state travel will continue to be in force.

In a detailed statement, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami announced a “complete lockdown” during which only essential services would continue to be in force on all Sundays during the month of August across the state.  

In Chennai, restaurants will be allowed to open dine-in facilities at 50 percent of its total capacity from 6 am to 7 pm from August 1, while vegetable shops, grocery outlets and standalone commercial establishments will also be allowed to remain open from 6 am to 7 pm.

E-commerce sites have been allowed to begin delivery of non-essential goods from August 1, while the ban on public transport, temples in urban areas and towns, cinema halls, shopping malls, and gyms would continue till August 31.

It also said companies or factories in Chennai that have been allowed to function with 50 percent of staff can increase their strength to 75 percent from August 1.

COVID-19 Pandemic Tracker: 15 countries with the highest number of coronavirus cases, deaths

The government also asked companies to encourage its employees to work from home and advised commercial establishments to follow the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) as advised by it. Inter-state or inter-district travel will be allowed only with e-pass, while ban on metro and suburban trains continues.

The decision to extend the lockdown till August 31 comes as Tamil Nadu continues to grapple with an increasing number of coronavirus cases. The prevalence of the virus is no more limited to one city or region of the state with almost all districts reporting fresh cases, some of them over 200 new patients, every day.

On Thursday morning, Tamil Nadu’s Covid-19 tally was 2,34,114 including 1,72,883 discharges and 3,741 deaths. The active cases stood at 57,490.

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