Mani Shankar Aiyar calls Modi ‘neech’; suspended from Congress

Agencies
December 8, 2017

New Delhi/Surat, Dec 8: Congress suspended Mani Shankar Aiyar on Thursday after the former Union minister stoked yet another acrimonious row by describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a "neech aadmi".

Aiyar's choice of words not only drew a ferocious attack from Modi in Surat but riled his own party functionaries who feared potential damage to its electoral prospects due to the diplomat-turned-politician's foot-in-the-mouth penchant. "He (Modi) is neech kism ka aadmi who has no sabhyata (civility)," Aiyar had said earlier in the day after Modi accused Congress of using Dalit icon B R Ambedkar merely to get votes and trying to erase his contribution in building India.

Addressing an election rally in Surat, Modi hit back at Aiyar and said dejected Congress functionaries had lost their mental balance and crossed all limits of decency. "Mani Shankar Aiyar has called me neech and from nichli jaati (lower caste). Is this not an insult to Gujarat? Is it not an insult to India's great values? But people of Gujarat will take revenge on December 18 and teach you the precise meaning of neech," Modi said.

The PM said Aiyar's remarks smacked of Congress's "Mughal mindset" that discriminated between the lower and upper castes. "I, as chief minister of Gujarat for 14 years and now as PM, have done nothing that has forced citizens to hang their heads in shame. If Congress feels that working for the poor and distressed is something too low, I can only wish them good luck," he said amid chants of "Modi Modi".

The PM even recalled Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's 10-year-old "maut ka saudagar" remark against him as he accused the rival of constantly insulting and conspiring against him. "Despite so many insults, I have not been vindictive as PM and BJP will always work to uphold the values of public life," he said.

With a procession of BJP functionaries alleging that Aiyar's controversial remark was a reflection of the Nehru-Gandhi family's arrogance and their sense of entitlement, and fear growing that the indiscretion might hurt the party in Gujarat, Congress led by Rahul Gandhi went into damage control. The party vice-president took to Twitter to disapprove of Aiyar's remark and asked him to apologise. "BJP and PM routinely use filthy language to attack the Congress party. The Congress has a different culture and heritage. I do not appreciate the tone and language used by Mani Shankar Aiyar to address the PM. Both the Congress and I expect him to apologise for what he said," Rahul said.

Though Aiyar can stubbornly hold his ground, he promptly obliged and blamed the derogatory remark on his poor Hindi. "My Hindi is not very good. Yes, I called Modi 'neech' but did not mean it as a low-born; I meant it as low," he said, recalling that his poor grasp of Hindi had failed him earlier too when he called former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee a "nalayak" PM.

However, this did not fully assuage the worry of the potential fallout of Aiyar's slur against the PM in a state where in 2007, Sonia calling Modi "maut ka saudagar" had badly boomeranged on her party. Coming just after the controversy over Kapil Sibal for allegedly seeking to delay resolution of the Ayodhya dispute by seeking postponement of hearing in the SC until after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, many in the party expressed concern over "self-goals" during the last lap of the Gujarat polls. Former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit, in fact, suspected an effort to sabotage Rahul when he is about to take over as party president.

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Friday, 8 Dec 2017

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Agencies
January 11,2020

London, Jan 11: Former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar's famous lap around the Wankhede Stadium after the World Cup 2011 win has been nominated in Laureas's list for the most inspiring sporting event in the last twenty years.

The moment featuring Tendulkar has been described as "Carried on the shoulders by a nation".

On his sixth attempt at the World Cup and with India not having won the competition since 1983, Tendulkar finally became a part of the team that lifted the coveted trophy. Carried on the shoulders of the Indian team, he made a lap of honour, shedding tears of joy after the victory was sealed in his home city.

The 2011 World Cup was also the first time, in which a host nation ended up winning the trophy.

Apart from Tendulkar, England's Andrew Flintoff is the only other cricketer to feature in the list. In 2005, England managed to defeat Australia in an Ashes Test, but Flintoff chose to first shake hands with Brett Lee rather than celebrate with his side.

Matthias Steiner (weightlifting), Natalie du Toit (swimming), Sky Brown (skateboarding), Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee (triathlon), Xia Boyu (mountaineering) have been nominated in the list.

Female tennis stars also feature in the list for coming up with an equal play, equal pay campaign. After pressure from Venus Williams and others, Wimbledon announced that female tennis players would receive prize money equal to the men's.

German international footballer Miroslav Klose was playing for Lazio in Italy's Serie A in 2012 against Napoli when he rose for a ball in the early moments of the game.

The ball came spiraling off his hand and skirted into the back of the net and a goal was awarded. While most players would carry on as if nothing had happened, Klose was honest with the referee and admitted that he handled the ball.

As a result, he also finds a place on the list.

The Laureus Sporting Moment Award celebrates the moments where the sport has unified people in the most extraordinary way.

This campaign has shortlisted 20 sporting stories from the last 20 years that have left their mark on the world.

The winner will be decided on the basis of public voting. It has already started, and the final date to cast the vote is February 16.

Finally, the result will be declared on February 17.
With three knock-out rounds, the top-20 moments will be whittled down to ten then five, with the top-five moments going head-to-head.

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Agencies
March 7,2020

New Delhi, Mar 7: Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad has taunted Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati saying that she has lost her way. He also said that one will have to work for the larger interest of the society to bring about equality. Only the speeches cannot improve the condition of the Dalits, their participation in power must increase.

In an interview with media persons, Chandrashekhar said: "Members of minority community, Dalits and backward classes are being targeted in the country. Their rights are being taken away. Our workers want that they too should get equal share in political power. Keeping this in mind, we are going to form a new political party on March 15. Their (Dalits) issues will have to be raised. Mere speeches will not work for Bahujan society, one has to raise voice in their favour. They should get a share in power."

On the question that how he would find a foothold in view of large political base of the BSP, Chandrashekhar said, "We are not looking for an alternative. Look at the crores of Muslims, Dalits, members of backward community and minorities. We have to protect their interests. We have a large organisation in the state. Our Bharat Bandh was also successful".

On the question that with which party he will forge an alliance in 2022 after forming his party on March 15, Chandrashekhar said: "When we are forming our party then we don't need to go seeking alliance with anyone. Our party will be formed on the basis of some principles. Whoever will find it suitable will come close to us".

On meeting with Yogi government's former minister Om Prakash Rajbhar, he said that Rajbhar is not a controversial person. He is a big backward leader. He raises voice in favour of the backwards in the Assembly. He also supported us when I was in jail. We talked about how to stop the BJP and will take all necessary steps to prevent the BJP from coming back to power.

When asked why he had several run-ins with the police, Chandrashekhar said: "Ask this question to the police. Have I broken any law? Am I not a citizen of this country? There is no freedom of speech in the Yogi government. This is happening at the behest of the government. We are just opposing it".

Talking about the CAA, NRC and the NPR, he said: "We will not stage protest because the government does not want it. Any law which is wrong in our view will be opposed. This is a secular country. The CAA will divide the country. If there is anything against the Indian Constitution, we will raise our voice. Laws will not be allowed to be made on the basis of religion".

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News Network
April 9,2020

New Delhi, Apr 9: With an increase of 540 positive COVID-19 cases reported in the last 24 hours, India's tally of coronavirus cases has risen to 5,734, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday.

Out of the 5,734 cases; 5,095 are active COVID-19 cases and 472 cases have been recovered/discharged and one case migrated.
The death toll has also risen to 166 after 17 new deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.

Maharashtra is the worst-hit state 1,135 positive cases so far and while Tamil Nadu is second with 738 positive cases. Delhi's tally has risen to 669 cases. 

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