Ramdev threatens to intensify stir, to knock on doors of President

August 11, 2012
babaNew Delhi, August 11: As Baba Ramdev’s fast entered the third day on Saturday, the yoga guru threatened to intensify his stir if his demands on black money and Lokpal bill are not met by the deadline set by him and decided to knock on the doors of the President to put pressure on the government.

Baba Ramdev had set a three-day ultimatum, which ends on Saturday evening, to the government to address the issues raised by him when he launched his three-day fast on Thursday at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi.

“We will wait till evening (to hear from the government on our demands). Our three day deadline ends then. After that period is over, a roar will arise from this very Ramlila Maidan.

“We have not been taking names. But after then, we will take names who were in fault in this looting of country’s wealth,” he said in the morning addressing the crowd, whose count has been on the decline since yesterday.

After a meeting with his close aides to decide on the future course of action, he said he will submit support letters collected from gram sabhas and MPs to the President and urge him to put pressure on government to act.

“We have gone to more than 1.25 lakh gram sabhas and got their support letters. We have also received support letters from 225 MPs. We will take these support letters to President, who is well versed with matters of economics. We will urge him to put pressure on government, so that it will act,” he said.

Baba Ramdev also claimed that he has the support of many Congress MPs but they are “scared” of giving it in writing fearing suspension from the party.

“Some have given the support letters, I would urge them not to just give in writing but also to air views in public.

Then there would be more pressure on government and they would be forced.

“Even if the government does not do anything, then the government will have to give answers to people. If the whole of India wants it, then why does not the government act? These are not imaginative or impossible demands. These are in public interest and then what is the problem?” Baba Ramdev said.

He also said India’s standing in the world will increase if an honest person hoists the flag on Independence Day.
“If a person with clean hands hoists the tricolour, it will raise the country’ prestige. But, if it is hoisted by some dishonest person, then it will be disgraceful. How can it be, that you have a tricolour in your hands and you do not have the tricolour in your heart,” he said.

Baba Ramdev had said on Friday that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should show “political honesty and political will” on the issue of black money and tackling corruption.

He had also said that he will not leave the protest venue without a “big decision” from government on steps to bring back black money and enactment of a strong Lokpal law. “Only after a big decision from the government, we will leave Ramlila Maidan,” he said.


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News Network
March 4,2020

Mar 4: Twenty-one Italian tourists and three Indian tour operators have been sent to an ITBP quarantine facility in Delhi on Tuesday for suspected coronavirus exposure, official sources said.

Health Ministry sources said these foreigners, 13 women and eight men, were in the same group of which an Italian and his wife have tested positive in Rajasthan capital Jaipur.

“His (Italian in Jaipur) condition is stable,” a source said.

Three Indians, who were accompanying this Italian group as tour operators, have also been sent to the ITBP facility in Chhawla area of south-west Delhi, they said.

All these people, staying at a five-star hotel in south Delhi, have been put in “preventive isolation” at the ITBP camp and their samples will be taken on Wednesday, sources said.

The centre already has 112 people, 76 Indians and 36 foreigners, since February 27 after they were evacuated by an IAF plane from Wuhan in China, the epicentre of the coronavirus.

The first samples of these 112 people had tested negative when reports came in last week.

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Agencies
January 4,2020

New Delhi, Jan 4: In more troubles for the former Finance Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday questioned him for over six hours in its probe into the Air India aircraft deal case, first time since his release from Tihar jail almost a month ago.

A senior ED official told IANS, "We questioned Chidambaram for over six hours today in the ongoing probe into the Air India deal with Airbus."

According to financial probe agency officials, Air India had planned to buy over 111 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing during the erstwhile United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in 2009. This is the first time the ED has questioned the senior Congress leader in the Air India deal case.

The questioning of Chidambaram came for the first time since his release from the Tihar jail where he spent 106 days in connection with the INX Media money laundering case. He was released from Tihar on December 4 last year after he was granted bail by the Supreme Court. The former finance minister is also being investigated by the ED in a separate money-laundering cases of Aircel-Maxis deal.

An ED official said the contract to buy 43 aircraft from Airbus was finalised by a panel of ministers headed by Chidambaram in 2009. According to the ED, when the proposal to buy 43 aircraft from Airbus was sent to the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), there was a condition that the aircraft manufacturer would have to build training facilities and MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) centres at a cost of Rs 70,000 crore. But later, when the purchase order was placed, the clause was removed.

The name of another UPA minister, Praful Patel, had also come up in the alleged scam in a charge sheet filed by the ED against corporate lobbyist Deepak Talwar on March 30 last year. Talwar was arrested last year by the ED after he was deported from the UAE.

The ED is probing the Air India-Indian Airlines merger; purchase of 111 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus at Rs 70,000 crore; ceding profitable routes and schedules to private airlines, and opening of training institutes with foreign investment.

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News Network
June 3,2020

New Delhi, Jun 3: Seasoned diplomat and former spokesperson of the External Affairs Ministry Raveesh Kumar has been appointed as India's next Ambassador to Finland, the government announced on Wednesday.

Raveesh Kumar, a 1995-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, served as the spokesperson of the MEA from July 2017 to April 2020 during which he deftly articulated India's position on a number of sensitive issues including last year's Balakot strike, reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir and the controversy surrounding the National Register of Citizens.

"He is expected to take up the assignment shortly," the MEA said.

Before becoming the MEA spokesperson, Kumar was serving as Consul General of India in Frankfurt.

Kumar started his career at the Indian Mission in Jakarta and it was followed by his postings in Thimpu and London.

In his nearly 25-year career, Kumar also looked after the East Asia desk in the headquarters of the MEA in Delhi and served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Jakarta followed by his posting as Consul General in Frankfurt from August 2013 to July 2017.

In Finland, he succeeds Vani Rao.

Finland is an important country for India in Europe, and bilateral trade has been on an upswing in the last few years.

Around 35 Indian companies have invested in Finland in IT, healthcare, hospitality and automotive sectors while over 100 Finnish companies have operations in India in energy, textiles, power plants and electronics sectors.

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