Congress begins seeking out allies on Presidential race

April 27, 2012

RastraNew Delhi, April 27: With two months left for the installation of the new President, the Congress has begun consultations with United Progressive Alliance (UPA) allies in the hope of achieving agreement on a common name. Defence Minister A.K. Antony will be flying down to Chennai shortly to meet Dravida Munnetra Kazagham president M. Karunanidhi to discuss the coming presidential elections, senior Congress sources said.

And when West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrives here on May 4/5 for talks between the Centre and the States on the contentious National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), she is likely to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the subject of the next President, according to senior Congress sources.

Mamata-SP envoy meet

Ms. Banerjee recently met Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav's envoy, Kiranmay Nanda, on the issue, leading to speculation that the regional parties would try and force a name of their choice on the Congress. After this meeting, a section in the Congress, angered by the episode, began to say the party could get Vice-President Hamid Ansari elected President with the help of the Left parties even if the Trinamool decided to support some other candidate. But, of course, if the Congress were to do that, the Trinamool would not be able to continue in the UPA. “The Congress has to first get its own partners on board,” party sources stressed.

Pawar's clarification

On Thursday, Union Agriculture Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar met Ms. Sonia Gandhi at her invitation: he is believed to have clarified to her that he had not said that he was in favour of a non-political President — what was important was that there should be consensus on a name.

In the first round of talks, the Congress is hoping to get the green signal on a common name from all its major partners, starting with the Trinamool, the DMK and the NCP — which have the largest chunk of votes after the Congress in the UPA. In the second part of this exercise, the Congress will begin discussions with parties that are supporting it from outside, especially the vote-rich SP and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party.

In the final round, the Congress will talk to the opposition parties because it is still working to avoid a contest. But party sources have made it clear that the name that appears to be emanating from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) circles — that of former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam — is unacceptable to it. If the BJP insists on that name, there will be a contest, Congress sources stressed.

However, even as Delhi is swirling with the names of presidential probables, the Congress is holding its cards close to its chest. In the end, it could even be a name currently not in circulation.

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News Network
April 4,2020

Aurangabad, Apr 4: A marriage was solemnised on a video call, the unique method which was adopted due to coronavirus lockdown.

A Muslim man named Mohammad Minhajudd, based in Aurangabad exchanged marriage vows with a Muslim woman based in Beed via video call on Friday.

The entire country is witnessing a 21-day lockdown due to which there is a limitation on the movement of people from one place to another and gatherings have been banned to prevent the spread of the coronavirus that has wreaked havoc across the globe.

The marriage halls are also closed during the lockdown period.

The bridegroom's father Mohammad Gayaz said that the marriage was fixed between the two persons six months ago when there was no fear about coronavirus. We got the elders of the family assembled at our home and conducted the marriage on phone.

Mufti Anis ur Rehman, the Qazi who performed the rituals for the marriage, said that both the families are happy as the marriage got conducted with the minimal cost incurred and the ceremony was a simple one. 

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Agencies
May 26,2020

The Shopping Centres Association of India (SCAI) on Monday said the sector has lost over Rs 90,000 crore in the last two months, owing to the lockdown, and market players need much more than the repo rate cut and the loan moratorium extended by the RBI.

In a statement, the industry body said that the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) relief measures are not adequate to support the liquidity needs of the industry.

According to the SCAI, there is a common misconception that the shopping centres' industry is centred around metros and large cities with investments only from large developers, private equity players and foreign investors.

"However, the fact is that most malls are part of the SMEs or standalone developers. i.e. more than 550 are single owned by standalone developers out of the 650-odd organised shopping centres across the country and there are 1,000+ small centres in smaller cities," it said.

Amitabh Taneja, Chairman of SCAI said: "The organised retail industry is in distress and has not earned anything since the lockdown and their survival is at stake. While the extension of the loan moratorium talks about some relief on repayment but won't help the industry in liquidity."

He said that a long term beneficial plan from the government is much required to revive the sector.

"Being the most safe, accountable, and controlled environment, unfortunately, malls have not been permitted to open which will lead to job losses and might even shut shops for a lot of mall developers," Taneja said.

In its representations to the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India, the association has also pointed out that, in absence of financial package and stimulus from the RBI, over 500 shopping centres may go bankrupt, that may lead to the banking industry staring at NPAs of Rs 25,000 crore.

The industry body has put forward its recommendations and requests to the government. It had sought moratorium till March 2021 at the least in terms of repayment of bank loans, interest, EMI and so on, without levy of any penalties or penal interest.

It has also sought a one-time loan restructuring with lower rates of interest, permitted for shopping centres and a facilitative and forward-looking support provision of short-term financing options for a period of six to 12 months, at lower interest rates, to meet the increased working capital requirements.

Among other relaxations, it had also appealed for GST rebates to offset the losses on account of and for the period of closure of business.

It also said that interest rates should be brought down to "manageable levels" of 5-6% in view of the precarious financial situation.

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News Network
July 10,2020

New Delhi, July 10: Hours before gangster Vikas Dubey was killed in an alleged police encounter on Friday, a plea was filed in the Supreme Court demanding urgent listing for action into his "possible killing" by Uttar Pradesh Police.

Advocate Ghanshyam Upadhyay had apprehended in his plea that there is a high possibility that Dubey will also be killed in a 'fake' encounter after his arrest from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh a day ago.

Upadhyay claimed that the UP Police was expected to "concoct the same story of encounter" for Dubey like it did when four of his associates were killed after the 2 July incident.

Dubey was the primary accused in the killing of eight policemen in Kanpur on July 2. He was arrested from Ujjain on Thursday. He was killed in a police encounter, when he allegedly tried to flee on Friday morning.

"During the hunt for Dubey and co-accused, five of his accused aides were arrested/caught and then killed by the police in the name of encounter...Thus, there is every possibility that even Dubey shall be killed by Uttar Pradesh Police like other co-accused once his custody is obtained," Upadhyay feared.

He submitted that the killing of the accused by the police in the name of encounter no matter how heinous the crime was "against the rule of law and serious violation of human rights and nothing sort of Talibanisation of the country". Upadhyay sought hearing in the matter on Friday itself, citing extreme urgency.

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