Beni Prasad Verma is 'happy' with rising prices, gets flak

August 20, 2012

Benny

New Delhi, August 20: Union minister for Steel Beni Prasad Verma on Monday stoked a controversy with his comment that price rise was beneficial for farmers. The opposition pounced on his remark accusing the government of being part of the "mehengai mafia" (price rise mafia).

The minister made the

remark on Sunday while talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function in Barabanki, near Lucknow. Asked to comment on price rise, Verma said the government was taking steps to tackle it, but he was happy with the rising prices of food items as it was beneficial to farmers.

"With the increasing price levels, the farmers are benefitting. Dal, atta, vegetables have all become expensive. I am happy with this price rise. The more the prices rise the better it is for farmers," the minister said.

His remark attracted criticism from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with party leader Shahnawaz Hussain saying that though the government maintains it is for the common man, the minister's remark showed it has "actually moved far away from the people".

However, BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi was more critical, saying the government was the "Mogambo" or villain of price rise. He was referring to a popular portrayal of a villain from a Hindi film.

"The government is the mehengai ka Mogambo. It is certain that when prices rise, when there is unemployment and farmers commit suicide... then it is but natural that the mehengai ka Mogambo will be happy," Naqvi told reporters.

"The government has become a member of this mehengai mafia and that is why when the common man mentions price rise, they are happy."


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News Network
July 22,2020

New Delhi, Jul 22: Congress leader Sachin Pilot has served a legal notice to party MLA Giriraj Malinga, for claiming that the former had offered him money to join the BJP.

"Former Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot has served a legal notice to Congress MLA Giriraj Malinga for his Rs 35 crore bribery allegation," a source close to Pilot said.
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Earlier, addressing a press conference, Malinga said, "Those MLAs who are stuck either in Haryana or Jaipur, are running after money. To say, they are not, are false claims. Even I was offered the same by Pilot, which I had refused. Came to this party knowing BJP and Congress do not accept money to give tickets."

When asked by the reporters whether he was offered Rs 35 crore, he claimed by saying, "Yes, 35." The MLA claimed he was himself the prove when the reporters asked for the same.

The political situation in Rajasthan is in turmoil after Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot sacked his then-deputy Sachin Pilot and the latter's confidants from his council of ministers. The Congress has also claimed that BJP was trying to buy its party MLAs.

On Monday, the Rajasthan High Court had said that it would hear the petition filed by Pilot and 18 of his loyalist MLAs on July 24, against the disqualification notices issued against them, a lawyer said.

"The arguments in the matter have been concluded. The court has heard the arguments from all the parties. The High Court has slated the matter for orders on July 24," Advocate Prateek Kasliwal told reporters after the hearing. 

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News Network
April 8,2020

Jamnagar, Apr 7: A 14-month-old baby boy, who had tested positive for coronavirus in Gujarat's Jamnagar district on April 5, died of multiple organ failure on Tuesday, said officials.

The toddler, son of a migrant labourer-couple having no recent travel history, died in the evening at a government hospital in Jamnagar, said an official release.

He was in a critical condition ever since he was admitted to the hospital, it said.

The boy, who tested positive for coronavirus two days ago, was as on ventilator support and eventually died due to multiple organ failure, said the release.

He becomes the youngest patient to succumb to COVID-19 in Gujarat, where the death toll has now gone up to 16.

The baby was the first and the only case of coronavirus infection so far in entire Jamnagar district and the youngest to be diagnosed with the disease in Gujarat.

Ever since he tested coronavirus positive, the authorities had been tracing the source of his infection.

His parents are from Uttar Pradesh and work as casual labourers in factories in the port city.

His parents, who have no travel history in the recent past, are asymptomatic (not showing symptoms) and kept under quarantine, officials said.

The locality where the couple resides in Dared village near Jamnagar city has been put under complete lockdown to check the spread of the virus, they said.

Gujarat has so far recorded 175 coronavirus positive cases and 16 fatalities.

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News Network
March 2,2020

Feb 2: The Supreme court on Monday decided to hear on March 4 a plea seeking registration of FIRs against politicians for hate speeches which allegedly led to violence in the national capital.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde agreed to hear the plea filed by riots victims.

The petition was mentioned for urgent listing by senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for the riots victims.

Gonsalves said that the Delhi High Court has deferred for four weeks the matters related to riots in the national capital despite the fact that people are still dying due to the recent violence.

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