Munde's death: Second mid-summer tragedy for BJP

June 3, 2014

Mumbai/New Delhi, June 3: Union Minister for Rural Development Gopinath Munde was killed early Tuesday in a road accident in the national capital when he was on way to the airport to catch a flight to Mumbai.Gopinath Munde 3

He was 64 and is survived by his wife Pradnya and three daughters, including Maharashtra legislator Pankaja Munde-Palve.

The news of his death was confirmed by senior cabinet minister Nitin Gadkari to media persons at the AIIMS Hospital where Munde was rushed for treatment.

According to initial reports, Munde suffered serious internal injuries in the head and chest, but later succumbed to a massive heart attack during treatment.

This is the second mega-tragedy for one of Maharashtra top political families comprising the Munde-Mahajan clans.

Barely eight years ago, in April 2006, Munde's brother-in-law and senior BJP leader Pramod Mahajan was shot and grievously injured by his brother Pravin, at his Worli home. Munde was married to Pramod's sister Pradnya.

Mahajan, 56, succumbed to the injuries May 3 that year, plunging the BJP in a state of shock at the passing of its charismatic and youthful leader, who also served as a union minister handling different portfolios in the A.B. Vajpayee cabinets.

Following Mahajan's death, Munde was catapulted as the most important BJP leader in the state until the advent of the Gadkari who became the BJP president in 2010 - leading to a tussle for supremacy in state politics.

At the same time, the BJP chose Munde to be the party's deputy leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi made him a cabinet minister, handling crucial portfolios.

The late Mahajan's daughter, Poonam Mahajan-Rao was swept to victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Mumbai North-Central constituency, defeating Congress's Priya Dutt, while her uncle Gopinath Munde was re-elected to parliament from Beed.

Similarly, Munde's daughter Pankaja Munde-Palve is active in state politics and is a state legislator from Parali, a constituency in her native Beed district in Marathwada region.

The other important leaders in the clan are Pandit Anna Munde (Gopinath's brother) and his son Dhananjay (Gopinath's nephew), both of whom quit the BJP to join the Nationalist Congress Party.

Munde's death is also the second big blow to the backward Marathwada region of the state in the past couple of years.

Barely two years ago Aug 14, 2012, the Congress' charismatic union minister and former state chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, 67, died following a prolonged illness.

Later that year, Maharashtra was plunged into grief when Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray died Nov 17, 2012.

For the BJP, Munde's death will be deeply felt as he was one of the few grassroots leaders who toured the remotest parts of the state during his political career spanning over four decades.

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News Network
June 1,2020

New Delhi, Jun 1: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday asked airlines to allot seats in flights in such a manner that middle seats are kept vacant to the extent possible.

However, if a flyer has been allotted the middle seat due to a high passenger load "then additional protective equipment like the wrap-around gown of the Ministry of Textile approved standards" must be provided to that passenger in addition to three-layered face mask and face shield, said the DGCA order, which has been accessed by news agency.

India resumed its domestic passenger flights from May 25 after a gap of two months due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown. International commercial passenger flights continue to remain suspended in the country.

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Agencies
January 15,2020

New Delhi, Jan 15: A Delhi court on Wednesday granted bail to Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad in connection with the Daryaganj violence case.

The court has ordered him not to hold any protest in Delhi till February 16th.

While hearing the case, the Judge had asked Azad's counsel to read out some of his social media posts.

Advocate Mehmood Pracha, representing Azad, had on Tuesday said that the petitioner was sent to jail without any evidence in connection with anti-CAA protests in Delhi's Darya Ganj area last year.

"I think the court's comments should become a precedent for the country. The Public Prosecutor at the behest of police tried to make this a communal issue. We told the court that the government has a problem with Azad because he made the CAA-NPR-NRC an issue for everyone. 
The Court also sought evidence," Pracha told ANI after Delhi's Tis Hazari court deferred the bail plea of Azad till today.

On Wednesday, the court pulled up the Delhi Police for failing to show any evidence against Azad.

Azad was arrested on December 21 last year after he led a march from Jama Masjid against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. He was sent to judicial custody till January 18 at Tihar jail.

The Bhim Army chief was charged with rioting, unlawful assembly and inciting the mob to indulge in violence after vandalism in Delhi's Daryaganj area.

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News Network
March 4,2020

Mar 4: Twenty-one Italian tourists and three Indian tour operators have been sent to an ITBP quarantine facility in Delhi on Tuesday for suspected coronavirus exposure, official sources said.

Health Ministry sources said these foreigners, 13 women and eight men, were in the same group of which an Italian and his wife have tested positive in Rajasthan capital Jaipur.

“His (Italian in Jaipur) condition is stable,” a source said.

Three Indians, who were accompanying this Italian group as tour operators, have also been sent to the ITBP facility in Chhawla area of south-west Delhi, they said.

All these people, staying at a five-star hotel in south Delhi, have been put in “preventive isolation” at the ITBP camp and their samples will be taken on Wednesday, sources said.

The centre already has 112 people, 76 Indians and 36 foreigners, since February 27 after they were evacuated by an IAF plane from Wuhan in China, the epicentre of the coronavirus.

The first samples of these 112 people had tested negative when reports came in last week.

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