My husband not Lalit Modi's lawyer in passport case: Sushma

August 12, 2015

New Delhi, Aug 12: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday said her husband Swaraj Kaushal was not the lawyer for former IPL chief Lalit Modi in his passport case and she was not at fault in the issuance of travel documents to him by the British government.

Sushma"I am saying again today that there is no mistake by me," she said while participating in a debate in the Lok Sabha on an adjournment motion on the Lalit Modi issue.

The minister said the British government had conveyed that Lalit Modi was given travel documents according to appropriate rules.

Sushma Swaraj said her daughter Bansuri was a junior lawyer in Lalit Modi's passport case but received no money.

"She was a junior at ninth number in the appearance list. She appeared with her senior. Not a single rupee was taken (by her)," Sushma Swaraj said, amid continuous slogan-shouting by Congress members.

She rejected the Congress allegations of a quid pro quo with Lalit Modi.

Sushma Swaraj, who earlier spoke in the house, reiterated she did not help Lalit Modi but his wife who was to undergo a medical procedure for cancer treatment in Portugal.

The minister hit out at the Congress over its allegations on her conflict of interest.

She said when P. Chidambaram was finance minister in the United Progressive Alliance government, his wife Nalini Chidambaram was appointed a lawyer by the income tax department.

She said when an AIADMK member brought this to the notice of parliament, Chidambaram said he had no knowledge of the department's decision.

Sushma Swaraj also cited other instances of alleged conflict of interest by Congress leaders.

The Congress is demanding the resignation of Sushma Swaraj over her alleged help to former Indian Premier League chief Lalit Modi, who is facing investigation by the Enforcement Directorate.

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News Network
January 29,2020

Mumbai, Jan 29: Unfazed by his suspension from flying on Tuesday, stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra on Wednesday claimed that he once again approached television journalist Arnab Goswami, who he said was his co-passenger on a flight from Lucknow, for an "honest discussion" but was turned away.

Kamra tweeted in the morning that "Arnab Goswami was again travelling in his flight while returning from Lucknow". "I again asked him politely if he wants to have a honest discussion he with his verbal arrogant hand jester he asked me to move away & I did that (sic)," he tweeted.

The comedian was suspended from flying by IndiGo and Air India on Tuesday after he allegedly heckled Goswami aboard a Mumbai-Lucknow plane and posted a video clip on his Twitter handle.

While IndiGo suspended Kamra from flying with it for a period of six months, Air India banned him until further notice.

In a statement released on Twitter after he posted the video, Kamra said he did "exactly what Republic TV journalists do to people in their private/public spaces". Kamra stated he had not done anything criminal by allegedly heckling Goswami.

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News Network
June 17,2020

New Delhi, Jun 17: With an increase of 10,974 new cases and 2,003 deaths in the last 24 hours, India's COVID-19 count reached 3,54,065 on Wednesday while the toll due to the virus stands at 11,903.

This includes 1,55,227 active cases and 1,86,935 cured, discharged and migrated patients, according to the Union Health Ministry.

While the spike in the number of cases has stayed below the 11-thousand mark, the death toll has increased manifold today as compared to the 380 death reported on Tuesday.

Maharashtra with 1,13,445 cases continues to be the worst-affected state in the country with 50,057 active cases while 57,851 patients have been cured and discharged in the state so far. The toll due to COVID-19 has crossed the five thousand mark and reached 5,537 in the state.

It is followed by Tamil Nadu with 48,019 and the national capital with 44,688 confirmed cases.

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News Network
July 26,2020

New Delhi, Jul 26: Nidan Singh Sachdeva, the Afghan Sikh who was kidnapped a month ago and released recently, arrived here earlier in the day and narrated the ordeals that he faced at the hands of abductors and also thanked the Indian government for bringing him back to his 'motherland'.

Facing threats from Pakistan-backed Taliban, eleven members of Sikh community from Afghanistan, who were granted short-term visas by Indian Embassy in Kabul, including Sachdeva, who was abducted from a gurudwara in Paktia province last month, touched down in New Delhi on Sunday afternoon.

Speaking to news agency on his return, an emotional Sachdeva, said, "I don't know what to call Hindustan -- whether it is my mother or my father -- Hindustan is Hindustan."

"I was abducted from the gurudwara and 20 hours later, I was covered with blood. I was tied to a tree as well. They used to beat me and ask me to convert into a Muslim. I repeatedly told them that why should I convert, I have my own religion," he said while describing
Nidan Singh thanked Government of India for bringing him here.

"I am more than thankful to the Indian government for bringing us here to our motherland. I have no words to describe my feelings here. I arrived here after much struggle. The atmosphere of fear prevails there.

Gurudwara is where we can be safe but a step outside the Gurdwara is fearful," he said.
"They used to beat me every day and every night," he said further and added, "It is because of sheer happiness, I am speechless. I am very grateful to them."

Ministry of External Affairs recently announced that India has decided to facilitate the return of Afghan Hindu and Sikh community members facing security threats in Afghanistan to India.
The decision comes four months after a terror attack at a gurdwara in Kabul's Shor Bazaar killed at least 25 members of the community.

India has condemned the "targeting and persecution" of minority community members by terrorists in Afghanistan at the behest of their external supporters remains a matter of grave concern.

Leaders of the Afghan Sikh community have appealed to the Indian government to accommodate the Sikhs and Hindus from Afghanistan and grant them legal entry with long term residency multiple entry visas.

Once a community of nearly 250,000 people, the Sikh and Hindu community in Afghanistan has endured years of discrimination and violence from extremists, and the community is now estimated to comprise fewer than 100 families across the country.

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