Furore in Rajya Sabha over AK Hegde’s remarks against constitution, secularism

Agencies
December 27, 2017

New Delhi, Dec 27: A united Opposition on Wednesday disrupted proceedings in the Rajya Sabha protesting against controversial comments reportedly made by Union Minister Anant kumar Hegde on changing the Constitution and secularism.

Congress, SP and BSP members trooped into the Well of the House shouting slogans seeking Hegde's removal and forcing Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu to adjourn the proceedings till 12 pm.

The trouble started during the laying of the official papers on the table of the House as opposition members shouted "shame, shame" when Hegde, who is Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, rose to lay the papers listed against his name.

Leader of the Opposition and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad sought a clarification from the mnister as he could leave the House soon after laying papers.

True to this, Hegde sat in the House for a while listening to Opposition protests against his controversial statement that the BJP would change the Constitution by excluding secularism from the preamble. Soon thereafter, he left the House.

Azad asked if a minister does not believe in the Constitution, does he has a right to remain as a minister.

"A minister who has no faith in the Constitution has no right to be a minister. He has no right to be a Member of Parliament," he said.

Sukhendu Sekhar Roy of the TMC said secularism is inscribed in the preamble of the Constitution and asked if a minister is allowed to denounce the same preamble in public.

Naresh Agarwal of the SP said the Constitution is the Ramayana and Gita of democracy and any minister who abuses it and its founder Baba Saheb Ambedkar should be removed.

At this, Naidu interjected to ask members to refrain from bringing Babasaheb Ambedkar into the controversy.

But the Opposition members remained unrelenting and trooped into the Well raising slogans.

Naidu asked members not to raise slogans and ordered that nothing they were saying would go on record.

He then allowed Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment and Republican Party of India founder Ramdas Athawale to speak.

Athawale praised the prime minister for honouring the memory of Ambedkar with a fitting memorial and said it was Congress which had insulted Ambedkar.

"Don't create a ruckus. You are going to be defeated in general elections in 2019 and 2024," Athawale told the Opposition.

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy claimed Ambedkar did not include the word secularism in the Constitution.

Naidu tried to restore order but all his efforts went in vain. "How much should I tolerate. This is not acceptable. This is not done," he said as slogan shouting continued unabated.

As Opposition members continued their noisy protest and demanded a discussion on the issue, Naidu said no discussion can take place without a proper notice.

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News Network
January 29,2020

Mangaluru, Jan 29: Days after some youths allegedly threatened to 'behead' local MLA and former Karnataka minister U T Khader during a pro-CAA rally here, the Dakshina Kannada district unit of the Congress on Wednesday urged the police to register a case against the culprits.

A video of the incident that went viral on social media showed the youths raising slogans that they will "cut off his limbs and chop off his head if necessary" during the rally organised by the BJP in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act on Monday.

Addressing reporters here, District Congress Committee president Harish Kumar demanded that the police register a case on their own against the youths. He said if prompt action was not taken against the youths seen in the video, the Congress will launch an agitation before the office of the Commissioner of Police.

When asked by reporters about the video, Khader had on Tuesday brushed aside the threat, saying he had not taken it seriously. The MLA had also said he did not file a complaint with police as he had concern for the families of the youths.

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News Network
January 3,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 3: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday called on young scientists of India to "Innovate, Patent, Produce and Prosper," and said these four steps would lead our country towards faster development. The Prime Minister also stressed on the need to transform the landscape of Indian science, technology and innovation.

"The growth story of India depends on its success in the science and technology sector. There is a need to transform the landscape of Indian science, technology and innovation," Modi said.

Speaking after inaugurating the 107th Session of Indian Science Congress, he said, "My motto for the young scientists in this country is -Innovate, Patent, Produce and Prosper. These four steps will lead our country towards faster development."

"If we innovate we will patent and that in turn will make our production smoother and when we take these products to the people of our country, I'm sure they will prosper," he said, adding that innovation for the people and by the people is the direction of our new India. The Prime Minister also said he was happy to learn that India's ranking has improved in the Global Innovation Index to 52.

"Our programmes have created more technology business incubators in the last five years than in the previous 50 years. I congratulate our scientists for this achievement," he added.

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coastaldigest.com news network
July 9,2020

Mangaluru, Jul 9: The coastal district of Dakshina Kannada today recorded death of two coronavirus patients.

Meanwhile, the district today also recorded 167 new covid cases taking the total number of cases to 1701.

Yesterday, the district had recorded 183 cases. Today more cases were reported from Bantwal and Ullal regions. 

According to sources, a 48-year-old man from Boloor, who was under treatment for covid-19 at designated covid hospital passed away today. 

A 62-year-old covid patient, who had SARI symptoms, breathed his last at a private hospital.

With this, the total number of deaths of covid-19 patients in the district reached 30 including two deaths caused by other reasons.

Of the 167 who tested positive on Thursday, 110 are males and 57 females including seven children.

Three have returned from Qatar and Dubai, one from Bengaluru, 42 are diagnosed with influenza-like illness (ILI), six are diagnosed with severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) and 64 are primary contacts of earlier patients. Contact tracing process of 38 patients is on, and 13 pre-surgery samples.

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