Gave up my job as an actor when I became MP: Smriti

November 24, 2014

New Delhi, Nov 24: Union Minister Smriti Irani, who rose to fame as a popular TV actor, said she quit acting after becoming an MP to focus on her responsibilities as a politician.Smriti Irani 1

"When I came to politics and became an MP, I gave up my job as an actor. If you want to be taken seriously for your political contributions, then you need to give it that much time.

"Only after I settled in my office as a member of Parliament did I put in the time, as much as I can, in my activities of arts and culture," the Minister for Human Resource Development told media persons.

The 38-year-old actor-turned-politician became a household name with her role as 'Tulsi' in producer Ekta Kapoor's television serial "Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi" in mid-2000. She will be seen in soon to release Abhishek Bachchan-starrer "All is Well".

Irani clarified that she took up the movie project before becoming a minister and rued that she was not finding any time for its promotion.

"It's not a new movie... and when I had the time nobody else did and now unfortunately we are just not getting to get our schedules together (for promotions)," Irani, who is member of Rajya Sabha from Gujarat, said.

"I am appreciative of Abhishek that he understands my time challenge and time constraint. Currently, I don't have time to even fix my broken arm," she said in a lighter vein.

Irani was one of the finalists of the beauty pageant Miss India in 1998 and subsequently appeared in several television shows such as "Thodi Si Zameen Thoda Sa Aasmaan", "Viruddh" and "Teen Bahuraaniyaan", before joining the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2003.

She holds the record of winning five consecutive Indian Television Academy Awards for Best Actress (Popular), four Indian Telly Awards, eight Star Parivaar Awards.

Irani became vice-president of the Maharashtra BJP Youth Wing in 2004. In the 2004 general elections for the 14th Lok Sabha, she contested unsuccessfully against Kapil Sibal from the Chandni Chowk constituency in Delhi.

In the recent Lok Sabha elections, she contested against Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi in Amethi but lost.

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News Network
June 3,2020

New Delhi, Jun 3: India registered its highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases on Wednesday with 8,909 more cases reported in the last 24 hours, taking the country's tally to 2,07,615, while the death toll rose to 5,815 according to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry.

The number of active COVID-19 cases stood to 1,01,497 while 1,00,303 people have been cured/discharged/migrated.

According to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry, out of all the states, Maharashtra has recorded the highest number of coronavirus cases with 72,300 patients followed by Tamil Nadu with 24,586 cases.

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News Network
June 11,2020

New Delhi, Jun 11: The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 8,102 and the number of cases climbed to 2,86,579 in the country after it registered the highest single-day spike of 357 fatalities and 9,996 cases till Thursday 8 AM, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

The number of recoveries remained more than the active novel coronavirus cases for the second consecutive day.

The number of active cases stands at 1,37,448 while 1,41,028 people have recovered and one patient has migrated to another country, as per the data.   

"Thus, around 49.21 per cent patients have recovered so far," an official said.

The total number of confirmed cases include foreigners.

Of the 357 new deaths reported till Thursday morning, 149 were in Maharashtra, 79 in Delhi, 34 in Gujarat, 20 in Uttar Pradesh, 19 in Tamil Nadu, 17 in West Bengal, eight in Telangana, seven each in Madhya Pradesh and Haryana, four in Rajasthan, three each in Jammu and Kashmir and Karnataka, two each in Kerala and Uttarakhand, one each in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Himachal Pradesh.

Out of the total 8,102 fatalities, Maharashtra tops the tally with 3,438 deaths followed by Gujarat with 1,347 deaths, Delhi with 984, Madhya Pradesh with 427, West Bengal with 432, Tamil Nadu with 326, Uttar Pradesh with 321, Rajasthan with 259 and Telangana with 156 deaths.

The death toll reached 78 in Andhra Pradesh, 69 in Karnataka and 55 in Punjab. Jammu and Kashmir has reported 51 fatalities due to the coronavirus disease, while 52 deaths have been reported from Haryana, 33 from Bihar, 18 from Kerala, 15 from Uttarakhand, nine from Odisha and eight from Jharkhand.

Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh have registered six COVID-19 fatalities each, Chandigarh has five while Assam has recorded four deaths so far. Meghalaya, Tripura and Ladakh have reported one COVID-19 fatality each, according to the ministry's data.

More than 70 per cent of the deaths are due to comorbidities, the ministry's website stated.

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News Network
May 10,2020

Kochi, May 10: A total of 698 people who were evacuated from Maldives on INS Jalashwa, arrived here on Sunday around 9.30am (India time), said the Cochin Port officials. This operation is part of Indian Navy's 'Operation Samudra Setu'.

Another 121 from Lakshadweep also arrived at Mattanchery, near here. on MV Arabian Sea - a passenger/cargo ship sailing under the Indian Flag.

Samudrika Cruise Terminal has been opened up for handling the expatriates and Port has taken up necessary refurbishments consistent with the medical protocols.

The Cochin Port Trust officials said the first group of 698 persons evacuated from Maldives comprises 595 males and 103 females. Of this, 14 are children below 10 years and 19 pregnant women.

Among the 698 passengers, 440 are from Kerala, 156 from Tamil Nadu and the rest are from various states in the country.

Ernakulam district collector S. Suhas said all those from Tamil Nadu will be sent to their state in the bus.

The ship is berthed at BTP Jetty and the disembarkation procedures are being carried out at Samudrika Cruise Terminal. It will take around three hours for all the passengers to be cleared.

According to the protocols, all the Keralaites will be sent for 14 days institutional quarantine at their respective home districts.

Those who are having exemption from institutional quarantine have to be at home isolation.

Among the 121 who arrived on MV Arabian Sea from Lakshadweep include students and those Keralaites who work in the island.

The protocol for these 121 passengers is that since they have been checked there, all these people can go to their homes and be in isolation for 14 days.

The general guideline is if any one shows any symptoms of Covid-19, all such people will be directly sent to Covid hospitals, here.

The distance between Male and Kochi is 493 nautical miles and it began its voyage to Kochi on Friday evening.

INS Jalashwa is an Indian naval ship attached to the Eastern Naval Command. It was acquired from the United States and was commissioned in 2007.

INS Jalashwa has the capacity to accommodate 1000 troops, and comes equipped with extensive medical facilities, including four operation theatres, and a 12-bed ward facility.

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