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Manmohan to take charge of finance ministry

June 27, 2012

pm

New Delhi, June 27: Pranab Mukherjee resigned as Union finance minister on Tuesday, giving Prime Minister Manmohan Singh a free hand to reorient the key ministry during an economic slowdown while raising the possibility of a larger Cabinet reshuffle in about six weeks from now.

Mukherjee submitted his resignation to the prime minister to end his career as Congress leader ahead of filing the nomination for the presidential election for which he is a clear favourite. The PM is expected to retain the ministry in the coming days during which he is widely expected to tweak policies seen as contributing to negative sentiment.

Singh replied to Mukherjee's resignation by lavishing praise on the outgoing minister. "Our government owes a deep debt of gratitude to you for your invaluable contribution to its work over the last eight years," he wrote. "It is a testimony to your extraordinary abilities and your stature in public life that you have carried an onerous range of responsibilities with ease and accomplishment."

President Pratibha Patil accepted Mukherjee's resignation. The Prime Minister will look after the work of the finance ministry while power minister Sushilkumar Shinde is the likely replacement for Mukherjee's other key role as the leader of the Lok Sabha.

The Prime Minister is sure to look at fresh ideas to deal with the slowdown and low market sentiment under Mukherjee's watch. Sources in the government said the PM was not in sync with Mukherjee over how to deal with the sliding economy, but was hamstrung by Mukherjee's clout and seniority as party insider. In fact, the President-in-waiting was never the PM's first choice for the finance ministry but Mukherjee landed the job because of the leadership's preference for a politician.

His exit from the government now gives Singh an opportunity to carry out the changes he could not implement so far. However, there are indications that the exacting nature of the job, rendered tougher by the slowdown, may lead him to opt for a full-time finance minister of his choice before the beginning of the monsoon session of Parliament scheduled to begin in a month's time.

Many in the party view home minister P Chidambaram as the frontrunner for the vacancy in the finance ministry. But shifting Chidambaram to the finance ministry will create its own set of complications, leaving the leadership with the complicated task of finding a replacement in the politically crucial home ministry. The job, given the looming terror threat, cannot be juggled casually.

This can set the stage for a larger Cabinet rejig, a possibility necessitated as much by the likely need to find a fulltime replacement for Mukherjee as by the vacancy triggered by Virbhadra Singh's resignation as small, micro and small enterprises minister on Tuesday over graft charges. There is a view in the Congress that the PM needs to shuffle the pack to revive a business-like perception about his government after the impression of policy paralysis created by anti-corruption campaign of civil society and shocking defeats in assembly elections.

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News Network
July 1,2020

Mumbai, Jul 1: Mumbai police on Wednesday imposed section 144 of CrPC prohibiting the movement of people in public places and gatherings, to prevent the spread of Covid-19, an official said.

The prohibitory order, issued by a senior police official, says restrictions on the movement of residents for non- essential work will remain in force till July 15.

The order prohibits "presence or movement of one or more persons in public places or gathering of any sort", the official said.

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Agencies
March 25,2020

New Delhi, Mar 25: The Indian Rail Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) on Wednesday appealed to the people not to cancel their e-tickets on their own in case of trains being cancelled by the national transporter due to nation-wide lockdown to help curb the spread of novel coronavirus pandemic.

Clearing the doubts of the railway passengers, IRCTC spokesperson Siddharth Singh said, "Doubts have been raised regarding cancellation of e-tickets subsequent to the halting of railway passenger trains.

"It may be submitted that for trains cancelled by the railways in its complete run, refund on e-tickets is full and automatic. In this case, no cancellation exercise is required to be done on the part of the user," he said.

The IRCTC official said that if user cancels his e-ticket in situations of train cancellations, there are chances he may get "less refund". "Hence passengers are advised not to cancel e-tickets on their own for those trains which have been cancelled by the railways," he said.

He also said that the refund amount will be credited to the user account used for booking e-tickets automatically and no charges will be deducted by the railways in case of train cancellation.

His remarks came as the national transporter announced the suspension of the passenger, mail and express services from March 23 till March 31. However, the railways extended the suspension of services till April 14 in the wake of the three week lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from March 25 during his second special address to the nation on Tuesday night.

The railways has cancelled over 13,600 passengers trains across the country in a bid to combat the spread of novel coronavirus. Only freight trains are running to ensure the supply of essential services. About 9,000 freight trains are transporting essential items every day across the country.

On Wednesday, India recorded 562 cases of COVID-19 with 10 deaths.

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Agencies
July 30,2020

New Delhi, Jul 30: Preparing for a long haul in the Eastern Ladakh sector in extreme winters, the Indian Army has an edge over the Chinese as it has deployed 35,000 troops there who have already done tenures in high altitude and cold conditions.

The Indian troops deployed there are mentally prepared for tackling the weather and terrain.
In contrast, the Chinese troops deployed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) are not used to these conditions as they have been brought from mainland China and are not accustomed to high altitude extreme cold weather conditions.

"We are preparing to provide extreme cold weather portable cabins for around 35,000 troops that have been deployed in the Eastern Ladakh sector," government sources said.

"Our soldiers deployed there have already done a tenure or two in Siachen, Eastern Ladakh or Northeast and they are physically and mentally prepared for a longer deployment there," they said.

The Chinese soldiers deployed on the Indian front include mainly conscripts who join the PLA for a period of 2-3 years and then return to their normal lives, sources said.

Indian and Chinese troops are engaged in a standoff situation all along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh from sub-sector north with both sides having deployed around 40,000 troops against each other over there.

The two sides have disengaged at three friction points including Patrolling Point 14, PP-15 and PP-17 and PP-17A.

At PP-17 and 17A, the Chinese have now maintained a small element of close to 50 troops and the remaining elements have gone back into their permanent locations.

The sources said the Army is also not much bothered about the Chinese build-up along the LAC as it has got more than two additional divisions from outside Ladakh sector.

India Army has more troops than what the Chinese have brought there, they said.

For the winter deployment, the Army already has a sizeable stock of clothes and habitat for troops as the Indian army deploys troops at the world's highest battlefield Siachen glacier and is prepared.

For additional requirements, the force is in the process of placing orders for additional tents and shelters from indigenous as well as foreign vendors.

The time for summer stocking is on and we are going to get the additional cabins and tents by that time, the sources.

Months of June, July, and August are considered to be the best time for stocking winter rations and ammunition. The snowfall is expected to start soon in the Eastern Ladakh area where the temperature is already low.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has given financial powers of Rs 500 crore per procurement to the defence forces to address any type of shortages of weapons, ammunition, and habitat.

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