Mar 4: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday that he has decided not to participate in any 'Holi Milan' programme as experts have advised reducing mass gatherings to avoid the spread of coronavirus.
"Experts across the world have advised reducing mass gatherings to avoid the spread of COVID19 Novel Coronavirus. Hence this year, I have decided not to participate in any 'Holi Milan' programme," the PM tweeted.
This year, Holi is on March 10.
New Delhi. May 26: 6,535 more coronavirus cases have been reported in India in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country to 1,45,380, informed Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday.
Out of the total, at present, there are 80,722 active cases in the country. So far, 60,490 people have been cured/discharged and 4167 have died due to the lethal infection.
According to the data compiled by the Centre, Maharashtra has so far recorded the maximum number of cases of COVID-19 across the country with 52,667 people.
The tally of cases in Tamil Nadu has risen to 17,082. While Gujarat has recorded 14,460 cases of the infection so far.
There are 14,073 cases of coronavirus in the national capital.
New Delhi, Jul 13: Top Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, are in touch with Sachin Pilot and are trying to placate him, a day after the Rajasthan Deputy CM declared open rebellion against Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, sources said on Monday.
Pilot has claimed that the Ashok Gehlot government is in minority and that he has the support of over 30 MLAs in the 200-member Assembly.
According to sources, top Congress leaders have talked to Pilot and have asked him not to rebel against the chief minister. They also assured him that his grievances would be redressed at the party level.
For latest updates on Rajasthan political crisis, click here
Besides Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, other Congress leaders who are learnt to have spoken with Pilot are Ahmed Patel, former Union finance minister P Chidambaram and AICC general secretary K C Venugopal.
It was not immediately known what transpired during the discussions.
Sources said the leaders asked Pilot to attend a Congress Legislature Party meeting in Jaipur, but he has not given any assurance.
Pilot, who is in Delhi, has not been taking calls of many party leaders. AICC general secretary in-charge for Rajasthan Avinash Pande has said that Pilot has not been responding to calls and messages have been left with him.
Pilot has raised a banner of revolt against Gehlot after the special operations group (SOG) of Rajasthan Police sent a notice to him for appearing before it in the case involving "horse-trading" of MLAs in the state.
The SOG has registered an FIR in this regard and has also sent notices to the chief minister, chief whip of Congress and some ministers and MLAs.
Meanwhile, Congress has pulled out all the stops to save its government in Rajasthan and CM Gehlot has convened a meeting of the state legislature party.
Pilot, who is also the state Congress president, is miffed with Gehlot and has alleged that he was not being kept in the loop on key decisions.
The Congress Legislature Party meeting began about three hours later than scheduled, with ministers and MLAs flashed victory signs for the cameras.
The Congress said 109 MLAs have already expressed support for Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, rejecting the claim by Deputy Chief Minister and the party’s state unit president Sachin Pilot that the senior leader does not have the majority.
About 100 MLAs had walked into the chief minister’s residence by 12.30 pm, an hour before the meeting actually started.
But some MLAs considered close to Pilot had not arrived till then.
Jun 13: The Congress on Saturday accused the BJP-led government of burdening the common man with high taxes on petrol and diesel and earning Rs 2.5 lakh crore since March 5.
Congress leader Kapil Sibal said while international crude oil prices have fallen and are at the lowest level in 15 years, yet petrol and diesel prices are skyrocketing and common people continue to suffer under the Modi dispensation.
He said instead of passing the benefit of lower crude prices to consumers, petrol and diesel prices were hiked for the seventh straight day on June 13.
"The government has earned as much as Rs 44,000 crore in the last six days due to hike in petrol, diesel prices. Since March 5, the government has earned as much as Rs 2.5 lakh crore by way of increasing petrol, diesel prices.
"If the government had even the slightest feelings for the common man, instead of benefitting the companies and the government, the prime minister would have helped the common man with reduced fuel prices," Sibal said at an online press conference.
According to a report by Care Ratings, he said the hike effectively meant that the Central government is collecting around 270 per cent taxes on the base price of petrol and 256 per cent in case of diesel.
The former union minister said petrol was selling at Rs 71.41 in Delhi on May 1, 2014, when international crude oil prices were USD 106.85, while on June 12, 2020, the price of petrol was Rs 75.16 when the crude oil was at USD 38.
He said central excise and VAT cumulatively account for 69 per cent of tax on fuel in India which is higher than anywhere else in the world. He said the tax of fuel in the US was 19 per cent, Japan 47 per cent, the UK 62 per cent, France 63 per cent and Germany 65 per cent.
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