BJP insists on PM's resignation, defends its chief ministers

September 2, 2012

sushma


New Delhi/ Mumbai, September 2: The BJP Sunday said it stood firm on its demand that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh resign in the alleged coal scam but would allow parliament to function if the allocations were cancelled and an independent probe ordered.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani meanwhile defended the chief ministers of party-ruled states, whom the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has blamed for being against the new policy for auction of coal blocks.

"(Congress president) Sonia Gandhi called me three days back and asked if a debate could take place in parliament. I said they should cancel the allocations and order a fair probe. She said she would get back to me, but the talks remained inconclusive," Sushma Swaraj told media persons in Mumbai.

"However, the interpretation that the BJP has given up the demand for the prime minister's resignation is wrong."

"We have put these two conditions so that parliament can function. Even in the debate we would take the stand that the prime minister, as the then coal minister, should resign," she said.

Gandhi had telephoned Sushma Swaraj Thursday.

The BJP leader also said that her party would take to the streets after parliament's monsoon session ends Sep 7 to demand Manmohan Singh's resignation.

Advani, in the latest post on his blog, pulled up Manmohan Singh for blaming BJP chief ministers for his decision to allot coal blocks to private players without competitive bidding.

He said he was "intrigued" by the prime minister's reference to federalism, which has been rightly described by the Supreme Court as one of the basic features of the Indian constitutions and so one, which cannot be amended by parliament.

Chattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh's name was taken more prominently while referring to the BJP chief ministers, Advani said, noting that the May 2, 2005 letter written by Raman Singh to then minister of state for coal Dasari Narayan Rao had asked for the central government to share the revenue from competitive bidding of coal blocks with the state governments.

"Raman Singh is fully justified in demanding a share in the revenues earned by the state as a result of competitive bidding. How can this letter be cited as opposing auction?" Advani wondered.

The BJP has been disrupting parliament in the last two weeks demanding the resignation of the prime minister after the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on coal blocks allocation had claimed a presumptive loss of Rs.1.86 lakh crore ($38 billion).

The Congress has tried to deflect the attack, saying chief ministers of BJP ruled states were not in favour of auctioning of the coal blocks.

Manmohan Singh was in charge of the coal ministry for most part of the UPA-I from 2004 to 2009, and is therefore is the opposition's target for the presumptive loss calculated by the CAG.

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News Network
August 8,2020

The Kozhikode International Airport located at Karipur is not safe for the landing of flights in rainy season, according to an air-safety expert, who had warned the aviation ministry and the civil aviation regulator about this in 2011. 

The warning was particularly about the dangers of permitting passenger aircraft to land on runway 10 of the airport during rains and unfavourable wind conditions. 

Nine years later, on August 7, 2020, the warning became a reality when an Air India Express pilots landed in tailwind conditions and the aircraft overshot the tabletop runway to drop off the end and crash.

 “An aircraft landing on runway 10 in tailwind will experience poor braking action due to heavy rubber deposits … All such flights … are endangering the lives of all on board,’’ said Capt Mohan Ranganathan, in a letter sent on June 17, 2011 to then director general of civil aviation Bharat Bhushan and Nasim Zaidi, chairman of a civil aviation safety advisory committee, which was formed after the May 2010 Mangaluru air crash which killed 158 people.

“My warning issued after the Mangaluru crash was ignored. It is a table-top runway with a down slope. The buffer zone at the end of the runway is inadequate,” Capt Ranganathan said. Given the topography, he pointed out, the airport should have a buffer of 240m at the end of the runway, but it only has 90m (which the DGCA had approved). “Moreover, the space on either side of the runway is only 75m instead of the mandatory 100m,” he added.

Capt Ranganathan said there is no guideline for operations on a table-top runway when it is raining. “Runway 10 approach should not be permitted in view of the lack of runway end safety area (RESA) and the terrain beyond the end of the runway. RESA of 240m should be immediately introduced and runway length has to be reduced to make the operations safe,” his letter said.

If an aircraft is unable to stop within the runway, there is no RESA beyond the end. The ILS localiser antenna is housed on a concrete structure and the area beyond is a steep slope. “The Air India Express accident in Mangalore should have alerted AAI to make the runway conditions safe. We have brought up the issue of RESA during the initial Casac-sub group meetings. We had specifically mentioned that the declared distances for both runways have to be reduced in order to comply with ICAO Annex 14 requirement,” Capt Ranganathan said.

He said the condition of the runway strip was known to DGCA teams that have been conducting inspection and safety assessments. “Have they considered the danger involved? Did the DGCA or the airlines lay down any operational restrictions or special procedures?”

The letter also refers to Approach and Landing Accident Reduction (ALAR) training, which is supposed to be mandatory before every monsoon, but airlines don’t follow it, he said. “70% of accidents take place during approach and landing and that is why this training is essential,” he added.

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Agencies
May 18,2020

India is among 58 nations, including 27 European Union members, who have moved a draft resolution demanding evaluation of the World Health Organisation (WHO)'s response towards the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The European Union-led draft resolution on global COVID-19 response is set to be tabled at the upcoming World Health Assembly on Monday.

The draft resolution demands initiation "at the earliest appropriate moment to review experience gained and lessons learned from the WHO-coordinated international health response to COVID-19".

"We are deeply concerned by the morbidity and mortality caused by COVID-19 pandemic, the negative impacts on physical and mental health and social well-being, the negative impacts on economy and society and the consequent exacerbation of inequalities within and between countries," read the draft.

"We express solidarity to all countries affected by the pandemic, as well as condolences and sympathy to all the families of the victims of COVID-19," it added.

The resolution says timelines are to be evaluated regarding "recommendations the WHO made to improve global pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response capacity".

The WHO on January 23 declare a global health emergency, but did not declare it and waited for a week for its director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to return from China.

By that time, COVID-19 cases increased 10 times and the virus entered 18 countries.

According to Health Policy Watch, till as late as February, the WHO did not support countries for imposing travel restrictions to China.

"When countries began evacuating their citizens from Wuhan, the COVID-19 epicentre, the WHO said it did not favour this step".

The WHO finally declared it a pandemic on March 11.

The global health body has come under criticism not just from the US for its response being "China-centric".

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News Network
January 6,2020

Hyderabad, Jan 6: AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday expressed solidarity with students of Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, following violence in the campus and said the "cruel attack" was meant to "punish"the students as they "dared to stand up".

"In solidarity with the brave students of JNU. This cruel attack is meant to 'punish' JNU students because they dared to stand up. It's so bad that even Union Ministers are tweeting helplessly. Modi Sarkar must answer why cops aresiding with goons," the Hyderabad MP tweeted.

The AIMIM has also tweeted expressing solidarity with the "students of JNU". "AIMIM stands in solidarity with the students of Jawaharlal Nehru University. Who feels threatened by the voice of students?," the party said in a tweet.

Violence broke out at the JNU on Sunday night as masked men armed with sticks and rods attacked students and teachers and damaged property on the campus, prompting the administration to call in police which conducted a flag march.

At least 28 people, including JNU Students' Union president Aishe Ghosh, were injured as chaos reigned on the campus for nearly two hours.

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