Sonia names Pranab as Prez candidate

June 15, 2012

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New Delhi, June 15: Putting an end to all the speculations, the UPA has declared that none other than Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will be its candidate for the Presidential elections. The announcement has come after two days of rigorous meetings, discussions and bitter of words across the Indian polity.

The announcement was made by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi after all the members present at the meet endorsed the candidature of the Finance Minister.

The UPA statement in support of Mukherjee said, “Pranab has a long and distinguished record…there is broad support for his candidature. All political parties must support Pranab.”

Pranab had been the most likely candidate since the talks of Presidential poll began, but his candidature was put under question by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who along with Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, declared on Wednesday that they would prefer former president APJ Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh or former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee as the President.

This, just less than an hour after telling the media that Congress president Sonia Gandhi wanted either Mukherjee or Vice President Hamid Ansari as the president.

However, around 24 hours after the announcement by the chiefs of the Samajwadi Party and the Trinamool Congress, there was an apparent change in the stand of the former, while Banerjee stuck to Kalam, saying he was her final choice.

Following the move by the West Bengal Chief Minister, the Congress had begun attempts to reach a consensus on the name of Mukherjee, and isolate Banerjee on the issue.

Not only did they approach the Samajwadi Party, but the UPA chairperson met almost all her allies such as the DMK, the NCP separately before the Friday meeting.


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News Network
March 9,2020

New Delhi, Mar 9: Petrol and diesel prices registered a drop across the country on Monday as global oil prices plummeted around 30 per cent after Saudi Arabia slashed prices and set plans for a dramatic increase in crude production in April.

In New Delhi, petrol price fell by 24 paise intra-day and stood at Rs 70.59 per litre. Diesel in the national capital was retailed at Rs 63.26 per litre on Monday as against Rs 63.51 on Sunday.

The retail price of petrol in Kolkata saw a drop of 23 paise to Rs 73.28 per litre. The diesel price fell by 25 paise in the eastern metropolitan city to retail at Rs 65.59 per litre.

In Mumbai, petrol price was Rs 76.29 per litre as against Rs 76.53 a day earlier. Diesel was retailed at Rs 66.24 per litre, 26 paise lower than on Sunday.

In Chennai, petrol was retailed at Rs 73.33 per litre, 25 paise lower than a day earlier. Diesel price saw a fall of 26 paise to retail at Rs 66.75 per litre in the southern metropolitan.

Global crude oil prices fell by as much as a third following Saudi Arabia's move to start a price war with Russia amid worries over the spread of coronavirus.

Brent crude futures were down 13.29 dollars or 29 per cent at 31.98 dollars a barrel by 04:33 hrs GMT after earlier dropping to 31.02 dollars, their lowest since February 12, 2016.

Brent futures were on track for their biggest daily decline since January 17, 1991 at the start of the first Gulf War.

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News Network
April 1,2020

New Delhi, Apr 1: The number of COVID-19 cases climbed to 1,637 in the country on Wednesday while the death toll rose to 38, according to the Union Health Ministry.

The number of active COVID-19 cases stands at 1,466, while 132 people were either cured or discharged and one had migrated to another country, the ministry stated.

As per the health ministry's updated data at 9 AM, three fresh deaths were reported since the last update on Tuesday. However, it could not be known from which parts of the country these three fatalities were reported.

Till Tuesday night, Maharashtra had reported the most deaths (9) in the country so far, followed by Gujarat (6), Karnataka (3) Madhya Pradesh (3), Punjab (3), Delhi (2), West Bengal (2) and Jammu and Kashmir (2). 

Kerala, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Himachal Pradesh have reported a death each.

The state-wise breakup of the cases was also not available immediately.

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News Network
May 24,2020

New Delhi, May 24: Overwhelmed by the donations that poured in from the society for his help, Phool Mia, the fruit seller in north Delhi's Jagatpuri area whose mangoes were looted by the ordinary people, said that those who helped him have made his "Eid" and have shown that "humanity is still alive".

Video footage that went viral on social media, shows that scores of passers-by looted the unattended crates of mangoes of a fruit seller after a fight broke out in the neighbourhood. The incident took place on Wednesday.

"My stock of mangoes worth Rs 30,000 was kept there. Some persons were fighting with each other fearing which I left the place to avoid any sort of altercation. When I returned, I saw that they were looting the mangoes kept there. There were 50-100 people who were involved in this act," Phool Mia, narrated the ordeal.

"A video got viral about the incident after which people donated to me on a portal. They empathised with me when I was ruined. I thank the media and all those people who have donated from the bottom of my heart as they made my Eid. Now, I would be able to celebrate Eid with my children. This shows humanity is still alive," he added.

However, four people have been arrested on the basis of video footage, Delhi Police said.

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