Mumbai rail protest called off, urge students to apply for recruitment: Goyal

Agencies
March 20, 2018

New Delhi, Mar 20: Railway Minister Piyush Goyal today said the agitation by students seeking permanent jobs in the railways was called off at 10.35 AM and appealed them to apply for the ongoing recruitment drive that ends on March 31.

With scores of agitating students bringing the rail service in the metropolis to a halt early this morning, the minister said all applicants should get a "fair and equal opportunity" to serve the country.

One of the major demands of the agitating job aspirants, mostly comprising those who have passed the Railway Act Apprentice exam, is scrapping the 20 percent upper limit for hiring.

Addressing a hurriedly-called press conference, Goyal said the 20 percent posts were reserved in keeping with the "various judgements pronounced by the Supreme Court from time to time and as per section 22(1) of the Apprentices Act".

This 20 percent posts are reserved for 'course completed act apprentices' who were already engaged in railway establishment under the Apprenticeship Act.

Indian Railways is currently in the midst of a massive recruitment drive to fill over 90,000 Group C and Group D posts and the minister urged them to apply for these jobs, the last date of which is March 31.

This is the single largest recruitment ever undertaken by the railways in India.

Earlier in the day, hundreds of agitated students blocked rail traffic, including suburban services between Matunga and Dadar stations, causing difficulties to lakhs of commuters.

The students blocked the rail track at 7 AM this morning, forcing railways to stop the suburban as well as express trains in the affected section between Matunga and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT).

Entire four lines were affected between Matunga and CSMT. Police and railways officials are having talks with them, an official said.

"There has been no recruitment for four years. We are struggling from pillars to post. Over 10 students have committed suicide. We cannot let such things happen," a student, who was part of the protest, said.

"We will not budge from here until and unless Railway Minister Piyush Goyal come and meet us. Our several prayers made to DRM (Divisional Railway Manager of Mumbai Division) have failed," another student said.

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Agencies
August 7,2020

New Delhi, Aug 7 : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday slammed the Central government as India crossed the 20 lakh COVID-19 positive cases.

Taking to Twitter, the Congress leader reiterated his earlier tweet, sent out on July 17, which stated "The 10,00,000-mark has been crossed.

With the rapid spread of COVID-19, by August 10, more than 20,00,000 will be infected in the country. 

The government must take concrete, planned steps to stop the epidemic."
"20 lakh-mark has been crossed, Modi government is missing," the Congress leader tweeted today.

The Union Health Ministry has said active cases as a percentage of total cases have seen a significant drop from 34.17 per cent on July 24 to 30.31 per cent.

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coastaldigest.com news network
May 4,2020

Mangaluru, May 4: No major crowds were seen in the coastal city of Mangaluru today except in front of the liquor shops after the district administration relaxed the lockdown norms for 12 hours a day (between 7am and 7pm).

There was no mad rush of vehicles either on city roads when the relaxed lockdown began. There were fewer people to buy essentials in front of grocery and vegetable shops as they had time till late evening.

There was no let down in the number of police pickets as well as curbs on vehicular movement across the city either. 

The government has allowed sale of liquor in CL2 (standalone wine shops) and CL 11 (MSIL outlets) to mop up revenues when Lockdown-3 commenced from Monday. Compared the other parts of Karnataka, the size of queues in front of liquor shops in Mangaluru were smaller. 

Like other parts of the country, the lockdown was imposed in the coastal district on March 24 to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Prior to that, a curfew was imposed in the district from March 22 midnight. The lockdown did not apply to essential services such as sale of food, groceries, milk, vegetables, fruits, and meat and fish. Gradually the district administration had to intensify the lockdown and allow those shops to remain open only between 7 a.m. and 12 noon. 

With the lockdown relaxation extending till 7 p.m., Mangaluru today witnessed people and private vehicles moving freely in the afternoon for the first time in more than a month. However, only those who had to go for work and do other essential activities were seen on roads. After 7 p.m. movements of all kinds of vehicles will be prohibited. 

The relaxation was to facilitate economic activities that had come to a standstill during the first two phases of lockdown. Mangaluru City Police Commissioner Dr P S Harsha, meanwhile, warned the people against misusing lockdown relaxation and venturing out without any genuine reason.

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News Network
June 22,2020

New Delhi, Jun 22: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday left for a three-day visit to Russia. Singh is likely to discuss the India-Russia defence and strategic partnership during the visit and also attend a military parade in Moscow to mark the 75th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War.

The visit comes days after the violent face-off with China in which 20 Indian Armymen were killed in Galwan valley in Ladakh.

"Leaving for Moscow on a three day visit. The visit to Russia will give me an opportunity to hold talks on ways to further deepen the India-Russia defence and strategic partnership. I shall also be attending the 75th Victory Day Parade in Moscow," the Defence Minister tweeted.

Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar is also accompanying the minister.

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