Hazare parts ways with Kejriwal

September 19, 2012

Anna

New Delhi, September 19: Team Anna on Wednesday suffered a vertical split with Anna Hazare and some top activists choosing to part ways with the Arvind Kejriwal-led group, opposing their plans to form a political party.

After a roller-coaster ride of 18 months in which they came together to run a high-steam anti-graft movement, the group led by Mr. Hazare had acrimonious discussions with Mr. Kejriwal and his supporters including Prashant Bushan and Shanti Bhushan on the issue of forming a political party.

Backed by activists including Kiran Bedi and Justice Santosh Hegde, Mr. Hazare told the other group during the nine-hour deliberations that they were free to form a political party but cannot use his name or photo for their campaign.

“It is unfortunate that the team has separated...I will not join any party or any group. I will not go for their campaign. I have told them not to use my photo or my name in their campaign. You fight on your own,” he told reporters in New Delhi.

Mr. Hazare refused to accept the survey done by India Against Corruption, which overwhelmingly favoured a political path, saying he does not agree with the exercise done through social networking sites. “My best wishes are with them (those taking political path). There is no harm in it. If they think that they can get majority in Parliament, it is good... The paths have been separated. Both of us have chosen our (separate paths).”

When pointed out that Mr. Kejriwal had earlier declared that he will not form any party if Mr. Hazare does not approve it, he said if that was the case, then the party should not be formed but “it is a good thing”.

The discussions saw a section alleging that Mr. Hazare was “exploited” by the Kejriwal group. It was countered by others saying “people in Delhi have made Anna what he is now“.

Reacting to the developments, Mr. Kejriwal tweeted, “Country is on sale. It is passing through very difficult phase. I will do everything possible for me to save my country.”

Ms. Bedi, who is opposed to forming of a political party, tweeted, “Anna finally distances himself from political option. Moves to strengthen the movement. May bring together anti-corruption movements.”

She told PTI that she did appeal to those members of the team who were very keen on political option to give the movement some more time.

“But it appears that they are convinced about their option. This finality by Anna was essential to dispel the mix up of the movement and the party politics,” she said.

Giriraj Kishore, an ex-Registrar of IIT Kanpur who attended the meeting, said the overall mood of the discussions was that the movement should remain united and should reach a fruitful conclusion.

“A section of those in meeting said Hazare was exploited by some people in the movement. But this is not true. If Anna has given his name to the movement, people here have made the Anna what he is now. They built the image of Anna,” he said.

Bollywood actor Anupam Kher, who attended the meeting, said in case one needs to fight corruption solidly, one “may have to fight elections”. He said there is no controversy but only deliberations.

During his interaction with the media, Mr. Hazare also expressed hope that government will be forced to pass a strong Lokpal Bill as elections are nearing and the government should be fearing it.

“They will be afraid of losing power. That time has come. I believe that they will have to bring the Lokpal Bill before elections. Now it is that they bring Lokpal or my death,” he said.

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May 18,2020

New Delhi, May 18: Very severe cyclonic storm ‘Amphan’, over central parts of South Bay of Bengal, has intensified into extremely severe cyclonic storm, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Monday. The weather department has warned that ‘Amphan’ may turn into a “super cyclonic storm’.

According to experts, North Odisha coast will face the maximum impact of cyclone Amphan when it makes landfall.

“Wind speed expected to be 110-120 kmph, gusting up to 130 kmph. Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Mayurbhanj dist can be affected on 20 May (when it makes landfall), IMD Bhubaneswar scientist Umashankar Das told news agency ANI.

The IMD has said that ‘Amphan’ will cross West Bengal - Bangladesh coasts between Digha (WB) and Hatiya island - in the afternoon/evening of May 20 as very severe cyclonic storm.

Earlier, the IMD had warned that ‘Amphan’, over central parts of South Bay of Bengal, will intensify into an extremely severe cyclonic storm on Monday.

“Very Severe Cyclonic Storm (VSCS) ‘AMPHAN’ over central parts of South Bay of Bengal near latitude 12.5°N and longitude 86.4°E, about 870 km nearly south of Paradip (Odisha). To intensify further into an Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm (ESCS) in the next six hours,” the IMD said in a tweet on Monday.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has sent its 10 teams to Odisha and seven teams to West Bengal in view of the approaching Cyclone Amphan, news agency reported.

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News Network
May 12,2020

New Delhi, May 12: With 3,604 more COVID-19 cases reported in the last 24 hours, India's tally of coronavirus cases reached 70,756, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday. 87 deaths were reported during the period.

As per the tally, 46,008 patients are active coronavirus cases while 22,454 patients have been cured/discharged and one patient has migrated.

With 87 deaths due to COVID-19 reported in the last 24 hours, the number of deaths has risen to 2,293.

As per the ministry, Maharashtra has the most number of coronavirus cases with 23,401 cases with 4,786 patients being cured/discharged while 868 deaths have been reported in the state.

Gujarat is second on the list with 8,541 cases that include 2,780 patients recovering from the disease and 513 fatalities.

Tamil Nadu's tally reached 8,002 cases, including 2,051 recoveries and 53 deaths.

While Delhi's tally stands at 7,233 cases with 2,129 patients recovered and 73 deaths.

Meanwhile; Mizoram (one case reported--now recovered), Goa (seven cases reported and all seven recovered), Manipur (Two cases reported and both patients recovered) and Arunachal Pradesh (one case reported--now recovered) have reported no new cases in the last 24 hours.

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News Network
March 27,2020

Mumbai, Mar 27: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday said that Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has taken note of the global economic activity coming to a near standstill due to the coronavirus pandemic and added that large parts of the world could slip into recession in the coming days to the coronavirus crisis.
"The MPC noted that global economic activity has come to a near stand-still as COVID-19 related lockdowns and social distancing are imposed across a widening swath of affected countries. Expectations of a shallow recovery in 2020, from 2019's decade low in global growth, have been dashed," Das said.
"The outlook is now heavily contingent upon the intensity, spread and duration of the pandemic. There is a rising probability that large parts of the world will slip into recession," he added.
The RBI Governor further added that "the implied GDP growth of 4.7 per cent in Quarter 4 of 2019-20, in the second advance estimates of the National Statistics Office which was released in February 2020, within the annual estimate of 5 per cent for the year as a whole is now at risk."
As per the outlook for the year 2020-21, Das said, "Apart from continuing resilience of agriculture and allied activities most other sectors of the economy will be adversely impacted by the pandemic depending upon, its intensity, spread and duration."
Das also announced a reduction in the repo and reverse repo rates for banks.
"The repo rate has been reduced by 75 basis points to 4.4 per cent. The reserve repo rate has been reduced by 90 basis points to 4 per cent," Das said addressing the media.
The decision for "a sizeable reduction" in the policy repo rate, according to the RBI Governor was taken to "revive growth and mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and ensure financial stability." 

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