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Manmohan Singh pens letter to President on PM Modi’s threat to Cong leaders

coastaldigest.com web desk
May 14, 2018

New Delhi, May 14: Former prime minister Manmohan Singh has written a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind in which he has condemned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'threat' to the Indian National Congress (INC) during a speech in Hubli, Karnataka.

Singh said Prime Minister Modi was "using his powers and privileges as Prime Minister to settle personal and political scores" during the Karnataka elections.

On May 6, Prime Minister Modi in a public rally in Hubli said: "Congress ke neta kan khol karke sun lijiye, agar seemao ko paar karoge, to ye Modi hai, lene ke dene pad jayenge (Congress leaders listen to me while having your ears wide open. If you cross limits, I am Modi, you will have to pay consequences.)"

Dr Singh said Prime Minister Modi's words were "menacing and intimidating with intent to insult and provoke breach of peace".

"We would like to state that neither the party nor our leaders will be cowed down by such threats," Singh added.

Throughout the letter, Singh asked the President to "caution" Prime Minister Modi against using "unwarranted, threatening and intimidating language" against anyone.

Apart from Singh, the letter was signed by Leaders of Opposition of both houses of Parliament and senior Congress leaders like P. Chidambaram, Ashok Gehlot, Ambika Soni, Mukul Wasnik, Motilal Vora, Kamal Nath and Ahmed Patel.

Here's the full text of the letter:

Respected Rashtrapati ji,

The Prime Minister of India holds a very special position under the Constitution of India. He heads the Union Cabinet to which the Union Executive reports and takes orders. On assumption of the office of the Prime Minister, the following oath of the office is administered:

"I, ___, do swear in the name of God/solemnly affirm that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established, that I will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India, that I will faithfully and conscientiously discharge my duties as the Prime Minister for the Union and that I will do right to all manner of people in accordance with the Constitution and the law, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will. I will not directly or indirectly affirm, communicate or reveal to any person or persons any matter which shall be brought under my consideration or shall become known to me as the Prime Minister for the Union except as may be required for the due discharge of my duties as such Minister."

In the past, all Prime Ministers of India have maintained immense dignity and decorum in discharge of public or private functions/actions. It is unthinkable that in our democratic polity, the Prime Minister as Head of the Government would utter words which are threatening, intimidating in content and a public warning to the leaders and members of main opposition party i.e. Indian National Congress.

The Prime Minister on 06th May 2018 at Hubli in Karnataka in his public speech delivered the following address (In Hindi): Video Link: youtube.com/watch?v=7rRpte2qChk

The threat held by the Prime Minister to the INC's leadership deserves to be condemned. This cannot be the language of the Prime Minister of a constitutionally governed country of 1.3 Billion people. Such discourse whether in public or private is unacceptable conduct. The words used are menacing and intimidating with intent to insult and provoke breach of the peace. The Congress Party is the oldest party in India and has faced many challenges and threats. The Congress leadership has always exhibited courage and fearlessness in facing threat and challenges. We would like to state that neither the party nor our leaders will be cowed down by such threats.

The President of India as the constitutional head of the Union of India enjoys high duty and obligation to advise and guide the Prime Minister and his cabinet. Admittedly, the Prime Minister is not expected to use menacing language even in the course of election campaign which tantamounts to using his powers and privileges as the Prime Minister to settle personal and political scores.

Hon'ble President may caution the Prime Minister from using such unwarranted, threatening and intimidating language against leaders of the Congress Party or any other party or person as it does not behove the position of the Prime Minister

With Regards

(Signatures of Congress leaders including Manmohan Singh)

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News Network
July 19,2020

Lucknow, Jul 19: The animal markets, which are usually bustling with activity ahead of Bakrid, are desolate this year.

The Covid-19 pandemic has shorn all festivals of public celebrations, and people are apprehensive that the tradition of animal sacrifice may be affected due to social distancing norms.

Also there is a massive drop in demand for sacrificial animals due to the financial impact of the crisis.

Chairman of All India Jamiat-ul-Quresh Sirajuddin Qureshi urged the government to come out with guidelines for carrying out the celebrations in the traditional way.

The festival will fall on July 31 or August 1. Buyers and sellers start thronging the animal markets almost two weeks ahead of the festival. But this year only a negligible number of buyers have turned up in animal markets in old Lucknow areas including Nakkhas, according to traders.

"It is very difficult to say as to what the government is thinking. 'Qurbani' is a matter of faith for the Muslims. We appeal to the government to deliberate and find a solution. This is a national problem, and our office bearers are speaking to different state governments," Qureshi said.

In the absence of guidelines, not many madrassas are buying animals for sacrifice, he said.

"The madrasas where collective 'qurbani' is done, are also not coming forward. In Bakrid, along with goats, buffaloes are also sacrificed. The government should ensure that people who are transporting the animals are not harassed by the police," Qureshi said.

Prominent Muslim cleric Khalid Rasheed Farang Mahali said he had raised the issue with the Uttar Pradesh chief minister.

"I have recently met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath requesting him to issue guidelines for Bakrid. I am hopeful that the guidelines will be released soon," he said.

Rahat Ali, a goat trader from Rajasthan said, thousands of people will be affected due to the reduced demand for animals.

"The animal trade works in a chain involving farmers who rear animals, small traders and big traders.

"The traders buy the animals from the farmers. These are then sent to various states like Maharashtra, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. In the absence of demand, I did not purchase animals this year," he said.

Sajid, who supplies goats to various districts in western Uttar Pradesh, said the lockdown has affected the livelihood of people and not many have the money to buy animals for sacrifice.

"The lockdown has drained the people of their money. As a result, the animals are not getting sold," he said.

The Maharashtra government has come out with guidelines for Eid al-Adha, also known as Bakrid or Id-ul-Zuha, noting that there is a ban in place on all religious programmes and people should offer "namaz" in their homes and not in mosques.

It also said sacrificial animals should be bought online or over the phone as markets dealing with them will be closed, adding that "qurbani" should preferably be symbolic.

There will be no relaxation in restrictions for Eid in containment zones, and people are directed not to congregate in public places on the day of the festival, it added. 

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News Network
July 27,2020

Chengdu, China, Jul 27: The American flag was lowered at the United States consulate in Chengdu on Monday, days after Beijing ordered it to close in retaliation for the shuttering of the Chinese consulate in Houston.

Footage on state broadcaster CCTV from outside the consulate showed the flag being slowly lowered early Monday morning, after diplomatic tensions soared between the two powers with both alleging the other had endangered national security.

Relations deteriorated in recent weeks in a Cold War-style standoff, with the Chengdu mission Friday ordered to shut in retaliation for the forced closure of Beijing's consulate in Houston, Texas.

The deadline for the Americans to exit Chengdu has been unclear, but the Chinese consulate in Houston was given 72 hours to close after the original order was made.

On Saturday news agency reporters saw workers removing the US insignia from the front of the consulate.

Over the weekend, removals trucks entered the US consulate and cleaners were seen carting large black rubbish bags from the building.

Beijing says closing the Chengdu consulate was a "legitimate and necessary response to the unreasonable measures by the United States", and has alleged that staff at the diplomatic mission endangered China's security and interests.

Washington officials, meanwhile, said there had been unacceptable efforts by the Chinese consulate in Houston to steal US corporate secrets.

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Agencies
August 3,2020

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has given nod to the Serum Institute of India (SII) for conducting phase 2 and 3 human clinical trials of the Oxford University developed Covid-19 vaccine candidate in the country.

Government officials said that the approval for conducting phase 2 and 3 clinical trials by the SII was granted by DCGI Dr V G Somani late Sunday night after a thorough evaluation based on the recommendations of the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) on Covid-19.

"The firm has to submit safety data, evaluated by the Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB), to the CDSCO before proceeding to phase 3 clinical trials," a senior official said.

"As per the study design, each subject will be administered two doses four weeks apart (first dose on day one and second dose on day 29) following which the safety and immunogenicity will be assessed at predefined intervals," the official said.

As a rapid regulatory response, the expert panel at the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) on Friday, after a detailed deliberation and considering the data generated on the vaccine candidate in phase 1 and 2 of the Oxford University trial, had recommended granting permission for phase 2 and 3 clinical trials of the potential vaccine, 'Covishield', on healthy adults in India,  the officials said.

Currently, phase 2 and 3 clinical trials of the Oxford vaccine candidate is going on in the United Kingdom, phase 3 clinical trial in Brazil and phase 1 and 2 clinical trials in South Africa.

The officials said that the SII had submitted a revised proposal on Wednesday after the SEC on July 28, following deliberation over its application, had asked it to revise its protocol for the phase 2 and 3 clinical trials besides seeking some additional information.

The panel had also recommended that the clinical trial sites which have been proposed for the study be distributed across India.

According to the revised proposal by the SII, 1,600 people aged above 18 years will participate in the trials across 17 selected sites, including AIIMS-Delhi, B J Medical College in Pune, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRIMS) in Patna, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh, AIIMS-Jodhpur, Nehru Hospital in Gorakhpur, Andhra Medical College in Visakhapatnam and JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research in Mysore.

"According to the application, it would conduct an observer-blind, randomised controlled study to determine the safety and immunogenicity of 'Covishield' on healthy Indian adults," the official said.

The SII, which has partnered with AstraZeneca, for manufacturing the Oxford vaccine candidate for Covid-19 had submitted its first application to the DCGI on July 25 seeking permission for conducting the phase 2 and 3 trials of the potential vaccine. 

Initial results of the first two-phases of trials of the vaccine conducted in five trial sites in the UK showed that it has an acceptable safety profile and homologous boosting increased antibody response, sources had said.

To introduce the vaccine, SII, the world's largest vaccine maker by number of doses produced and sold, has signed an agreement to manufacture the potential vaccine developed by the Jenner Institute (Oxford University) in collaboration with British-Swedish pharma company AstraZeneca. 

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