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Presidential poll: Sangma likens himself with Obama, pins hope on 'hidden votes'

May 27, 2012

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New Delhi, May 27: Presidential hopeful P A Sangma on Saturday likened himself to US President Barack Obama indicating he will continue to canvas support for his candidature despite being rebuffed by Congress and the NCP and the lukewarm response of other parties.

The former Lok Sabha Speaker said his hopes were pinned on "big number of hidden votes" and equated himself to Obama making it to the White House. "We have (the case of) Barack Obama...Nobody thought a black man would ever occupy White House. If a black man can become the President of America, why can't an Adivasi become the President of India," the NCP leader said, whose won party NCP has refused to back him.

Interacting with members of the Indian Women's Press Corp (IWPC) Sangma said he "hopes" that a consensus would evolve on his candidature as "neither UPA nor NDA has numbers ... Besides there are a big number of hidden votes...you never know."

According to Sangma, neither Congress nor the Bharatiya Janata Party has the numbers needed to get their candidate elected to the post and the "third front like Samajwadi Party, Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Trinamool Congress (TMC) and AIADMK" will play a key role.

Sangma said that besides approaching parties, he was in touch with individual members. "The best part is that presidential election is through secret ballot and not a whip. So no one comes to know who voted for whom."

"We have to wait to see how things turn up. As of now, parties are still discussing it and there is still time left," said the leader, who started his career as a journalist in a weekly magazine in the northeast. When asked about the appropriateness of his daughter and minister in the UPA government Agatha Sangma campaigning for his presidential prospects, Sangma said she had started the campaign for a tribal candidate but stopped it as soon as he entered the fray with the support of two leaders - CMs of TN and Orissa J Jayalalithaa and Naveen Patnaik.

"My daughter is part of UPA, I am not. When I went to Chennai, P A Sangma was not a candidate...that time we were campaigning for a tribal candiate. She stopped the moment Jayalalithaa and Patnaik announced support to me....She will go by what UPA decides," Sangma said.

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News Network
April 15,2020

New Delhi, Apr 15: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the extension of COVID-19 lockdown till May 3, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Wednesday issued consolidated revised guidelines on measures to be taken by Ministries and Departments of Government of India, state and Union Territory governments and authorities for the containment of COVID-19.

As per the guidelines, all domestic and international air travel of passengers (except for security purposes), passenger movement by trains (except for security purposes), buses for public transport, metro rail services will remain prohibited.

It stated that all educational, training, coaching institutions etc. shall remain closed. Inter-district and inter-state movement of individuals except for medical reasons or for activities permitted under guidelines shall remain prohibited.

Taxis (including auto-rickshaws and cycle rickshaws) and services of cab aggregators to remain prohibited until May 3.

Also, all cinema halls, malls, shopping complexes, gymnasiums, sports complexes, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres, bars and auditoriums, assembly halls and similar places shall remain closed.

All social/political/sports/entertainment/academic/cultural/religious functions/other gatherings will also not be allowed.

"All religious places or places of worship shall be closed for public. Religious congregations are strictly prohibited. In the case of funerals, a congregation of more than 20 persons will not be permitted," the guidelines stated.

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Agencies
July 29,2020

New Delhi, Jul 29: The new National Education Policy (NEP) approved by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday is set to usher in a slew of changes with the vision of creating an education system that contributes directly to transforming the country, providing high-quality education to all, and making India a global knowledge superpower.

The draft of the NEP by a panel headed by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief Kasturirangan and submitted to the Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal when he took charge last year. The new NEP replaces the one formulated in 1986.

Some of the key highlights of the New Education Policy are:-

The policy aims to enable an individual to study one or more specialized areas of interest at a deep level, and also develop character, scientific temper, creativity, spirit of service, and 21st century capabilities across a range of disciplines including sciences, social sciences, arts, humanities, among others.

It identified the major problems facing the higher education system in the country and suggested changes such as moving towards multidisciplinary universities and colleges, with more institutions across India that offer medium of instruction in local/Indian languages, a more multidisciplinary undergraduate education, among others. 

The governance of such institutions by independent boards having academic and administrative autonomy has also been suggested.

Under the suggestions for institutional restructuring and consolidation, it has suggested that by 2040, all higher education institutions (HEIs) shall aim to become multidisciplinary institutions, each of which will aim to have 3,000 or more students, and by 2030 each or near every district in the country there will be at least one HEI.

The aim will be to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio in HEIs including vocational education from 26.3 per cent (2018) to 50 per cent by 2035.

Single-stream HEIs will be phased out over time, and all will move towards becoming vibrant multidisciplinary institutions or parts of vibrant multidisciplinary HEI clusters.

It also pushes for more holistic and multidisciplinary education to be provided to the students.

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News Network
February 27,2020

New Delhi, Feb 27: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday attacked the government over the transfer of Delhi High Court Judge S Muralidhar, saying the Centre's attempts to "muzzle" justice and "break people's faith in an upright judiciary are deplorable".

Delhi HC Judge S Muralidhar was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court, days after the Supreme Court collegium made the recommendation.

"The midnight transfer of Justice Muralidhar isn't shocking given the current dispensation, but it is certainly sad & shameful," Priyanka Gandhi tweeted. "Millions of Indians have faith in a resilient & upright judiciary, the government’s attempts to muzzle justice & break their faith are deplorable," she said.

The judge was hearing the Delhi violence case and the late evening notification came on the day when a bench headed by him expressed "anguish" over the Delhi Police's failure to register FIRs against alleged hate speeches by three BJP leaders.

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