Baba Ramdev ignored by government, but Gadkari, Sharad Yadav pay tribute

August 13, 2012

gadkeri

New Delhi, August 13: Senior politicians Nitin Gadkari and Sharad Yadav loaned VIP presence this morning to yoga guru Baba Ramdev's protest camp in Delhi, organised as a war-cry against corruption and unrecovered black money or undeclared income stashed by Indians in foreign bank accounts. Mr Gadkari is the President of the BJP; Mr Yadav heads the JD(U). Together, the parties run Bihar and are senior partners of the national NDA coalition.

"Those who fight against black money...should they be persecuted? Is it a crime to fight this corruption?" asked Mr Gadkari, addressing the audience.

In Parliament, just a short distance away, the Lok Sabha was adjourned after Mr Gadkari's party noisily demanded that the government explain what it is doing to recover black money. The BJP therefore took ownership of the issue at two different venues.

Over the last few days, Baba Ramdev has delivered respectable-size audiences at Ramlila Maidan, but the momentum and the scale have been lacklustre compared to his camp organised last year at the same venue. That's empowered the government to ignore Baba Ramdev, offering him no assurances or talks about his main cause - the recovery of black money or undeclared income deposited by Indians in foreign bank accounts.

The low profile of his camp this year instigated Baba Ramdev to phone Mr Gadkari and request his presence at the Ramlila Maidan. Earlier this morning, Baba Ramdev promised the start of a "big revolution" today, including a "peaceful march towards Parliament", which is in session, to highlight his anti-corruption campaign. Police sources have said they will not allow the yoga teacher and his supporters to reach Parliament.

"We are not terrorists. We never wanted to take this step to go and protest outside Parliament; however it is the government's apathy which has forced us. We will follow the principles of non-violence and expect the police also not to use force against us," Baba Ramdev said this morning.

The police plan to allow the protesters to cover a short distance from their base camp at Ramlila Maidan; if they insist on continuing their proposed march, they will be arrested. In June last year, police action at the Ramlila Maidan at the yoga guru's protest had resulted in clashes and the death of a Baba Ramdev supporter. With Independence Day also coming up, the police are taking no chances with security arrangements.

A stadium in the capital is being prepared by the Delhi Police to act as a makeshift jail where Baba Ramdev and his supporters will be put in case they insist on continuing their protest march, the sources said.

The yoga teacher targeted the Congress yesterday, asking people to vote out parties which did not support his demands on black money and corruption.


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Agencies
February 18,2020

Mumbai, Feb 18: A group of citizens on Tuesday demanded a thorough inquiry into the death of special CBI judge Brijgopal Harkishan Loya in 2014.

The group has written a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, seeking a time-bound probe into the death of Loya.

Loya, who was hearing the high-profile Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case of Gujarat, died of a cardiac arrest in Nagpur on December 1, 2014, when he had gone to attend the wedding of a colleague's daughter.

Social activist Ashok Pai, addressing a press conference on behalf of the group, also demanded proper compensation for the judge's family, saying he was on an "official" tour.

Pai said on Tuesday he met NCP president Sharad Pawar, whose party is a key constituent of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra, and raised these demands with him.

Pawar assured to look into the demands, he said at the press conference at the Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh.

"We have handed over a letter to Maharashtra Assembly speaker Nana Patole and dispatched a copy of the letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray (seeking a probe into Loya's death)," Pai said.

As the matter relates to "mysterious" death of a sitting judge of the CBI, all facts about it must be made public after a detailed and time-bound probe, Pai said.

The Loya death case had reached the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court had held that Loya had died of "natural causes" and had rejected PILs seeking an SIT probe into the death, questioning their motive.

The SC had held that petitions were moved by political rivals to settle scores which was a serious attempt to scandalise the judiciary and obstruct the course of justice through a "frontal attack" on its independence.

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News Network
June 27,2020

Hyderabad, Jun 27: Ahead nurse working with a state-run hospital here died on Friday while undergoing treatment for COVID-19, a hospital official said.

The nurse, who was due to retire this month-end, tested positive about 10 days ago, he said.

The woman, who had been on medical leave for about 20 days, is suspected to have contracted the virus when she attended a private function in a neighbouring district, he said.

She was treated at the hospital for two days after she was found positive for COVID-19.

However, she was shifted to another government hospital as the symptoms continued unabated and sugar levels were high, he said.

The woman, who had comorbidities like diabetes and hypertension, died today.

Meanwhile, about 20 healthcare personnel, including doctors and paramedical staff, have so far tested positive for COVID-19 at the state-run Gandhi hospital, according to a hospital official.

He also said that there are around 50 patients whose family members have not come forward to take them home though the patients can be in home quarantine.

Family members have cited reasons such as residents not allowing a positive patient to return to the villages and presence of children at residences, for not taking them home, he added.

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News Network
April 6,2020

New Delhi, April 6: India recorded the highest number of 704 positive cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday.

With these new cases, the total number of COVID-19 positive cases in India have now climbed to 4,281.

Total deaths stand at 111 including 28 new deaths. So far, 318 COVID-19 patients have been cured across the country.

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