Bharat bandh enters second day; 71 arrested for violence in Noida

February 21, 2013

Bharat_bandh

New Delhi, Feb 21: The two-day Bharat bandh called by 11 major trade unions is into its second day today. Banks are shut like yesterday and public transport in many cities remains affected.

Noida adjoining Delhi, where factories and vehicles came under mob attacks yesterday, is under heavy police watch. At least 71 people have been arrested for vandalising factories at a hosiery complex and setting 25 vehicles, including a fire engine, on fire.

Sixty four cases have been registered against the protesters, but it's not clear if they were trade union workers or people leveraging the bandh to loot offices. The factory-owners say they suffered a loss of Rs. 600 crore and allege that the police reached the sites of violence late.

The response to the bandh today appears to be mixed. In Delhi, there are fewer autorickshaws on the roads although government buses are running.

In Bangalore, schools and colleges are closed. A few autorickshaws and buses are running. Shops are open and information technology companies are working.

But public transport in Thiruvananthapuram remains crippled like yesterday. The government's threat to cut pay has not deterred employees from joining the strike.

The situation is better in Kolkata, where taxis are plying and government offices, factories and most shops are open. The Mamata Banerjee government is determined to defeat the strike and has warned government employees that they will lose pay if they miss work.

Government buses are not running in Lucknow and public sector banks are closed. Yesterday, some 50,000 state road transport employees were on strike across Uttar Pradesh and around 9,000 buses were off the roads.

The Bharat bandh has been called to protest against rising prices and disinvestment in public sector enterprises and to demand more jobs. Industry body Assocham estimates the loss from the two-day strike to be Rs. 26,000 crore.

The major unions participating in the strike are Bhartiya Mazdoor Sabha, Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and All India United Trade Union Centre (AIUTUC).

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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
May 3,2020

New Delhi, May 3: Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Sunday said that India's COVID-19 mortality rate of 3.2 per cent is the lowest in the world and over 10,000 coronavirus patients have been discharged from hospitals after recovering from the disease so far.

"Today more than 10,000 COVID-19 patients have been discharged. Those still admitted at hospitals are on the road to recovery. If in last 14 days doubling rate was 10.5 days, then today it is around 12 days," the Minister told ANI after visiting Lady Hardinge Hospital.

"Our mortality rate of 3.2 per cent is the lowest in the world," he said.

With 2,644 more COVID-19 cases and 83 deaths in the last 24 hours, the number of people infected from coronavirus in the country has reached 39,980 including 1,301 deaths, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday.

Currently, there are 28,046 active cases while 10,633 COVID-19 positive patients have been cured/discharged.

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Agencies
August 7,2020

New Delhi, Aug 7: India's COVID-19 cases tally crossed 20 lakh mark with the highest single-day spike of 62,538 cases on Friday, said Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The COVID-19 tally rises to 20,27,075 including 6,07,384 active cases, 13,78,106 cured/discharged/migrated and 41,585 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.

Maharashtra with 1,46,268 active cases and 3,05,521 cured and discharged patients continues to be the worst affected. The state has also reported 16,476 deaths due to the infection.

Tamil Nadu has 54,184 active cases while 2,14,815 patients have been discharged after treatment in the state. 4,461 deaths have been reported due to COVID-19 in the state.

Andhra Pradesh with 80,426 active cases is the third on the list. There are 1,04,354 cured and discharged patients and 1,681 deaths reported from the state.

Delhi now has 10,072 active cases and 1,26,116 cured and discharged patients. 4,044 people have lost their lives due to the disease in the Union Territory so far. 

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