Cong's high-profile losers in Uttarakhand

Agencies
May 24, 2019

Dehradun, May 24: Senior Congress leaders Harish Rawat and Pritam Singh who lost from Nainital and Tehri Lok Sabha seats, respectively were the two most high-profile disappointments for the party in Uttarakhand.

The two, on whom the party had pinned all hopes of lifting its sagging fortunes after the rout of 2014 Lok Sabha election and 2017 assembly polls, could not hold out against the saffron surge which swept all the five seats in the state once again.

Far from winning, the duo could not even give much of a fight to their BJP opponents who won by more than three lakh votes.

Singh went down to BJP sitting MP from Tehri Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah while Rawat lost to Pradesh BJP president Ajay Bhatt, a Lok Sabha poll debutante who made it for the first time to Parliament.

Even personally it was a do-or-die battle for Rawat who had lost both the seats he had contested in the 2017 state assembly polls and a win at this juncture would have given him a new lease of life, a political analyst here said.

Given his edge over Bhatt in terms of experience and political stature, the Congress was optimistic about his win in Nainital but Rawat lost more tamely than expected, he said.

Having lost in both assembly and Lok Sabha polls, the road ahead for Rawat looks bleak, he added.

Pritam Singh's task was more difficult as he was pitted against sitting MP Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah who was seeking a third term.

Moreover, being a member of the erstwhile Tehri royal family gave her an insuperable advantage of having a loyal support base in the constituency.

Singh's influence on the other hand was confined to tribal pockets of the constituency. However, Singh has something to fall back on as he represents the Chakrata seat in the state assembly besides heading the PCC.

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News Network
August 7,2020

Kozhikode: An Air India Express flight from Dubai with 190 people on board overshot the Kozhikode tabletop runway on landing there today. The Boeing 737 “fell off” the runway into the valley, broke into two causing death and devastation. 

According to reports, around 20 people were dead including two pilots.

An Air India spokesperson said: “Air India Express flight IX 1344 operated by Boeing 737 aircraft from Dubai to Calicut overshot the runway at Kozhikode at 7.41 pm Friday. No fire reported at the time of landing. There are 174 passengers, 10 infants, two pilots and five cabin crew on board. Rescue operations are on and passengers are being taken to hospital for medical care. We will soon share the update in this regard.”

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is probing this accident. “Prima facie, the aircraft landed beyond the touchdown point and fell into a valley. It has broken into two. We suspect some casualties. More information is awaited,” said a senior DGCA official.

Taking to twitter, defence minister Rajnath Singh wrote: “Devastating news from Kozhikode, Kerala. I am deeply anguished by the loss of lives due to an accident carrying several passengers on Air India flight. In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with the bereaved families. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured.”

Foreign minister S Jaishankar tweeted: “Deeply distressed to hear about the Air India Express tragedy at Kozhikode. Prayers are with the bereaved families and those injured. We are ascertaining further details.”

While, senior BJP leader from Kerala K J Alphons tweeted: “Second tragedy of the day in Kerala: Air India Express skids off the run way at Kozhikode, front portion splits , pilot dies and lots of passengers injured . All passengers evacuated. Very lucky the aircraft didn’t catch fire.”

More details are awaited.

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News Network
January 9,2020

New Delhi, Jan 9: JNU students who tried to march towards the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday protesting the violence on the university campus were stopped by police and later detained.

The police also resorted to baton charge to control the mob who tried to block the traffic at Janpath. Using loudspeakers, the police also appealed to the crowd to maintain peace.

Before the students tried to proceed towards the Rashtrapati Bhavan, a delegation of JNU Students' Union and JNU Teachers' Association also met Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry officials and demanded the removal of Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar from his post.

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News Network
March 27,2020

Mumbai, Mar 27: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday said that Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has taken note of the global economic activity coming to a near standstill due to the coronavirus pandemic and added that large parts of the world could slip into recession in the coming days to the coronavirus crisis.
"The MPC noted that global economic activity has come to a near stand-still as COVID-19 related lockdowns and social distancing are imposed across a widening swath of affected countries. Expectations of a shallow recovery in 2020, from 2019's decade low in global growth, have been dashed," Das said.
"The outlook is now heavily contingent upon the intensity, spread and duration of the pandemic. There is a rising probability that large parts of the world will slip into recession," he added.
The RBI Governor further added that "the implied GDP growth of 4.7 per cent in Quarter 4 of 2019-20, in the second advance estimates of the National Statistics Office which was released in February 2020, within the annual estimate of 5 per cent for the year as a whole is now at risk."
As per the outlook for the year 2020-21, Das said, "Apart from continuing resilience of agriculture and allied activities most other sectors of the economy will be adversely impacted by the pandemic depending upon, its intensity, spread and duration."
Das also announced a reduction in the repo and reverse repo rates for banks.
"The repo rate has been reduced by 75 basis points to 4.4 per cent. The reserve repo rate has been reduced by 90 basis points to 4 per cent," Das said addressing the media.
The decision for "a sizeable reduction" in the policy repo rate, according to the RBI Governor was taken to "revive growth and mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and ensure financial stability." 

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