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Antony meets Karuna on Prez poll; to report to Sonia

April 29, 2012

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Chennai, April 29: Congress leader and Defence Minister A K Antony today met DMK chief M Karunanidhi as part of consultation process among UPA allies on the Presidential election to arrive at a consensus leader to succeed incumbent Pratibha Patil, who is retiring on July 25.

After more than an hour-long meeting, Antony told reporters that he would convey the DMK leader's views on the issue to Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

"It was a very, very fruitful meeting. I will report to the Congress President whatever he said", he told reporters, refusing to disclose details about his discussion.

Observing that Gandhi had asked him to meet the DMK chief to discuss about the "present political situation", he said "What we discussed, I will convey to the Congress President".

He said Karunanidhi is one of the seniormost leaders in the country and "we always value his advice".

DMK Parliamentary party leader T R Baalu and Karunanidhi's daughter and party MP Kanimozhi were also present.

Antony's meeting with Karunanidhi comes close on the heels of Agriculture Minister and NCP leader Sharad Pawar's consultation with the Congress President a few days ago. Pawar was understood to have urged the Congress chief on the need for a consensus on the choice.

Congress sources said that a meeting between Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and Gandhi is also expected.

Vice President Hamid Ansari and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee are among the names doing the rounds in the ruling party circles for the top post.

Talks with parties outside UPA would be held after completion of the consultations in the ruling alliance, the sources said.

Gandhi, as also Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is expected to have interaction with Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and BSP supremo Mayawati.

UPA as well as NDA leaders admit that support of Mulayam, Mamata and Mayawati could be crucial for the Presidential election.

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News Network
June 3,2020

Jun 3: Emphasising that airlines are clearly the safest mode of transportation, IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta on Tuesday said there is no evidence yet of coronavirus infection getting transmitted among passengers onboard an aeroplane.

His comments against the backdrop of instances of some passengers, who had taken flights after resumption of domestic air services on May 25, testing positive for coronavirus.

"Those people had the virus before they got on to the aeroplane. What is noteworthy is that they have done the tracing after that. There is no evidence of transmission onboard there... that is a very encouraging sign on the safety of airline travel," he said during an earnings call.

According to him, airlines are clearly the safest mode of transportation and there is no evidence yet of contamination on an aircraft.

"You can come in contaminated but so far there is no evidence of passing it on to a fellow passenger," he noted.

Amid concerns over the coronavirus pandemic, aviation regulator DGCA has asked airlines to ensure that to the extent possible, middle seat in flights should be kept empty.

In this regard, Dutta said the airline would keep the middle seat empty wherever it can and "where we have to fill the middle seat, we will have the extra protective gown".

To a query about possible hedging of fuel prices, he said it would be a dumb idea and that airlines adjust to ups and downs in fuel prices.

"I can't overemphasise what a dumb idea it will be for an airline to hedge fuel prices. I looked at it from different angles and it is not a good idea... we looked at hedging and we talked about it at the board level and we said no," he noted.

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Agencies
July 30,2020

New Delhi, Jul 30: Even as COVID-19 cases continue to surge in various parts of India, more than 1 million people have recovered and discharged till now, informed Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary, Ministry of Health, here on Thursday.

"More than 1 million people have recovered from COVID-19 in the country. This landmark recovery has been achieved because of the selfless work and dedication of our doctors, nurses and frontline workers," Bhushan said at a press conference.

Giving the number of cured persons, Bhushan said, "More than 1,020,000 patients have recovered. They have been discharged. It is a great achievement."

He said, "The recovery rate has shown positive trends. It was 7.85 per cent in April and today it is 64.4 per cent, which is another heartening news which tells us that whatever battle is put by the Union government in collaboration with state governments is showing results."

"Sixteen states of the country have a recovery rate that is more than the national average. Of these, Delhi has a recovery rate of 88 per cent, Ladakh 80 per cent, Haryana 78 per cent, Assam 76 per cent, Telangana 74 per cent, Tamil Nadu & Gujarat 73 per cent, Rajasthan 70 per cent, Madhya Pradesh 69 per cent and Goa 68 per cent," Bhushan said.

He said effective clinical management lead to a decrease in case fatality rate. In June it was 3.33 per cent and now 2.21 per cent.

Bhushan said the case fatality rate in India today is 2.21 per cent and it's among the lowest in the world. Twenty-four states and Union Territories have lesser fatality rate than that of the country.

Herd immunity in a country of the size and population of India can not be a strategic option. It can only be achieved through immunisation.

"Over 18,190,000 tests have been conducted in the country including RT-PCR and rapid antigen tests. There has been a week-on-week increase in average tests per day. India is conducting 324 test per 10 lakhs population per day," Bhushan said.

He added, three vaccine candidates, are in phase 3 clinical trial. These three are in the US, UK and China. In India, two indigenously developed vaccine candidates are in phase I and II of clinical trials. 

Trial of the first vaccine involves 1,150 subjects at eight sites, second on 1,000 subjects at five sites.

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Agencies
June 7,2020

New Delhi, Jun 7: The Islamic Centre of India on Saturday issued an advisory for those visiting mosques in view of the Centre’s decision to allow reopening of religious places from June 8.

Islamic Centre of India chairman Maulana Khalid Rasheed Farangi Mahali advised people above 65 years and under 10 years of age not to visit mosques and instead offer prayers at home.

He also advised against crowding in mosques, stressing that not more than five people should be present at a time and social distancing be maintained, with the ‘namazis’ using masks and keeping a distance of six feet among themselves while offering prayers.

He added that the situation would be reviewed after 15 days and if required, another advisory would be issued.

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