Modi's poll pitch in Delhi; targets Kejriwal

January 10, 2015

New Delhi, Jan 10: Kickstarting BJP's poll campaign for Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today wooed voters with a host of promises as he singled outAAP leader Arvind Kejriwal for attack and asked people to punish him for "wasting" one year.

Anarchist Kejriwal

Without naming Kejriwal or his party, Modi said at a rally here that if the AAP leader wants to be an "anarchist" as he has claimed to be, he should go to jungles to join naxals as Delhi cannot have anarchy. Kejriwal had said about a year ago that he is an "anarchist".

During the 30-minute address, he suggested that Kejriwal has "mastery" in "lies" and dharnas and protests and should be given that role only and that power should be given to BJP which has "mastery" in administration.

At the rally at Ramlila Ground attended by all three new BJP Chief Ministers of Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand, Modi sought a clear mandate for his party to ensure allround development and create a "new" Delhi.

Delhi, which is under President's Rule, is expected to have Assembly polls next month.

Promising to take Delhi to new heights of development, the Prime Minister said people here will be given an option of choosing their power service provider on the lines of mobile number portability and pledged to make Delhi slum-free by 2022.

He also promised to usher in a corruption-free system, saying it has been started at the top and gradually it will reach down to colonies.

In a apparent reference to Kejriwal's comment made almost a year back that he was an anarchist, Modi said "if somebody is an anarchist, he should go to the jungles and join the naxals. Do not allow Delhi's pride to be affected by anarchy. Delhi will not benefit from it."

Apparently referring to resignation by Kejriwal government on February 14 last year after being in power for 49 days, he said, "people should punish those because of whom one year of Delhi was wasted."

Committing to provide a corruption-free society, Modi said he already commenced the cleansing from the top and asked if anyone has heard any complaint about him ever since he took over as Prime Minister some seven months back.

"Trust me, I will clean up the system. I have started from the top and I will take it to the bottom. People take money from auto drivers, shopkeeper, the poor people...It will all stop," the Prime Minister said.

Reaching out to the vast slum population, he promised to replace the slums with concrete houses by 2022, saying "your dream is my dream." He said steps have already been initiated in this regard by the Urban Development Ministry.

While talking about schemes benefitting the poor, he referred to Jan Dhan and said bankers, who earlier used to be reluctant to open accounts of the people from lower economic strata, are now going house-to-house to open zero-balance accounts.

"So far 11 crore accounts have been opened as against the target of 7 crore by January 26," he said adding though people had an option of opening zero-balance accounts, Rs 8,500 crore were deposited by them. In Delhi alone, 19.50 lakh accounts were opened under the scheme," he said.

Taking a dig at the Congress over its claim of standing by the poor, he said "who was running government for the rich and who is running government for the poor has been proved by the Jan Dhan scheme."

Promising 24 hour power supply to Delhi, Modi said he will rid the city of generators which will also ensure a cleaner environment. "We will shut the voice of generators in Delhi. It will also help clean up the air by reducing poisonous gases."

He said BJP was all set to take some "revolutionary steps" in Delhi which no one can even think of and talked about portability of choosing power service providers on the line of mobile number portability.

Assuring to end water woes in Delhi, he said BJP-ruled Haryana has promised to provide more water to Delhi after Central intervention.

He also hailed people of Jammu and Kashmir for coming out in large numbers and defeat the separatist forces.

Modi termed Amit Shah as the "most successful" party president as under his leadership party has achieved unprecedented success in various states.

Without naming anybody, the Prime Minister said a "factory of lies" has come up in the city and rumours are being spread that if BJP comes to power, the retirement age of government employees will be reduced from the current 60 to 58 years.

He said those spreading lies cannot be defeated by anybody except the people and asked the voters to do so.

"The government never thought about it and never spoke about it. And still a lie is being spread. Every day a new lie is being manufactured. Spreading lies is their job and their politics. Modi can never back stab anyone...Elect a good government in Delhi. Give us a clear mandate," he told the gathering.

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News Network
May 25,2020

New Delhi, May 25: Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra on Monday said lockdown extensions are not just economically disastrous but also create another medical crisis.

While acknowledging that choices are not easy for policymakers, he said a lockdown extension will not help.

"Lockdown extensions aren't just economically disastrous, as I had tweeted earlier, but also create another medical crisis," Mahindra said in a tweet.

He was referring to an article that highlighted "the dangerous psychological effects of lockdowns & the huge risk of neglecting non-COVID patients".

Mahindra, who had earlier proposed a comprehensive lifting after 49 days of lockdown, further said, "The choices aren't easy for policy makers but a lockdown extension won't help".

He said, "The numbers (coronavirus cases) will continue to rise & the focus must be on rapid expansion of field hospital beds with oxygen lines".

He further said, "The army has enormous expertise in this".

On March 22, before the government announced nationwide lockdown, Mahindra had proposed such a move expressing concerns over reports that India was likely to have already reached stage 3 of coronavirus transmission.

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News Network
January 2,2020

Perambalur, Jan 2: Veteran Tamil writer Nellai Kannan was arrested in Perambalur for criticizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah during a protest against Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

The Tirunelveli Police had registered the FIR against the writer for the speech delivered at a meeting, which was called by the Social Democratic Party of India on December 29 last year.

The police have booked him on the basis of multiple complaints filed by BJP leaders.

Kannan has been booked under Sections 504, 505(1) and 505(2) of the Indian Penal Code.

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Agencies
May 17,2020

New Delhi, May 17: Following the COVID-19-induced economic disruptions, up to 135 million jobs could be lost and 120 million people might be pushed back into poverty in India, all of which will have a hit on consumer income, spending and savings, says a report.

According to a new report by international management consulting firm Arthur D Little, the worst of COVID-19's impact will be felt by India's most vulnerable in terms of job loss, poverty increase and reduced per-capita income, which in turn will result in a steep decline in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

"Given the continued rise of COVID-19 cases, we believe that a W-shaped recovery is the most likely scenario for India. This implies a GDP contraction of 10.8 per cent in FY 2020-21 and GDP growth of 0.8 per cent in FY 2021-22," the report said.

India's COVID-19 tally has crossed 90,000 and the nationwide death toll has touched nearly 2,800 so far.

The report titled "India: Surmounting the economic challenges posed by COVID-19: A 10-point programme to revive and power India's post-COVID economy" said the 'collateral damage' of the forecasted GDP slowdown, will be felt most acutely in employment, poverty alleviation, per-capita income and overall nominal GDP.

"Unemployment may rise to 35 per cent from 7.6 per cent resulting in 136 million jobs lost and a total of 174 million unemployed. Poverty alleviation will receive a set-back, significantly changing the fortunes of many, putting 120 million people into poverty and 40 million into abject poverty," the report said.

"India is headed towards a W-shaped economic recovery with a potential GDP contraction of 10.8 per cent in FY21. An opportunity loss of USD 1 trillion is staring India in its face," said Barnik Chitran Maitra, lead author of the report and Managing Partner & CEO of Arthur D Little, India and South Asia.

Maitra further said "for its USD 5 trillion vision, a radical economic approach is needed, centred on an immediate stimulus and structural reforms. The Prime Minister's visionary 'Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan' is a good start to this new approach."

The report lauded the steps taken by the government and the Reserve Bank of India, but said a far more assertive approach may be required given the magnitude of the adverse economic output.

The report suggested a 10-point programme to accelerate the recovery which include strengthening the 'safety net' significantly for the most vulnerable, enable survival of small and medium businesses, restarting the rural economy and providing targeted assistance to at-risk sectors.

It further said the government should launch "Make in India 2.0" to capture global opportunities, build 'Modern India', accelerate Digital India and Innovation, strengthen global investment corridors with the US, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Japan and the UK, debottleneck land and labour and transform banking and financial markets in a bid to secure a sustainable economic future for 1.3 billion Indians. 

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