BJP must declare Modi is not its PM candidate: Nitish

June 15, 2013

NitishPatna, Jun 15: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has set his terms for staying in the NDA. He has asked the BJP to publicly declare that Narendra Modi will not be its prime ministerial candidate in the 2014 elections. Since BJP can't give such an undertaking, a parting of ways between it and JD(U) is now expected in a day or two.

Speaking to media, Nitish Kumar said: "They (the BJP) will have to address our basic concern immediately and in public. Private assurances will not do." While he didn't mention the Gujarat CM by name, there is no ambiguity whatsoever about what he meant by "basic concern".

JD(U) has publicly proclaimed that only a "secular" person, who does not have rough edges in his personality and can pull everyone along, is fit to be the country's prime minister. It has also held that Modi does not fulfil the eligibility criteria.

As BJP is likely to find it impossible to meet the condition, considering the groundswell for Modi among the party cadre, the 17-year-old partnership between it and JD(U) is on the rocks. This is an unavoidable reality and split in the NDA is now inevitable by Monday.

Both Nitish Kumar and his colleague, JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav, recognize the inevitability of Gujarat leader being anointed BJP's choice for country's top political job, and has conveyed their assessment to BJP leaders, — among them, L K Advani, Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Nitin Gadkari — who have appealed to the JD(U) to not precipitate matters.

They also don't subscribe to the optimism of Modi's opponents that his projection as PM candidate was not a done deal yet. "The way it has been hailed and celebrated by the BJP leaves no doubt whatsoever that his appointment as the chairman of the campaign committee is a key step towards Modi's projection as the party's PM candidate," said a JD(U) source.

According to political sources here, Nitish Kumar has responded to Advani's plea for a reconsideration of the JD(U)'s imminent departure from NDA by saying that he doubted anybody in the BJP could now thwart Modi's march to the top of his party.

"They (BJP leaders calling JD(U) leaders) all come off as helpless to stop what is unfolding, leaving us with no option but to chart out our independent path," said a senior JD U source familiar with the conversations that BJP leaders have had with Nitish Kumar and Sharad Yadav.

Sushma Swaraj's effort on Friday when she, according to JD(U) sources, invoked anti-Congressism to get Nitish Kumar to back off from his plan to withdraw from the NDA, failed to concinve the CM.

JD(U) will start rolling out the withdrawal drill after Sharad Yadav reaches here to explain to party legislators and functionaries why the JD(U) is compelled to break away. The exercise will be a formality, considering that all the important leaders favour a withdrawal from the NDA. In any case, Nitish Kumar and Sharad Yadav, who were authorised by the party in April to take the final call, are clear that their vparty won't have any truck with a Modi-led BJP.

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News Network
January 30,2020

Mumbai, Jan 30: The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) has arrested Dr Kafeel Khan from Mumbai airport for allegedly making inflammatory statements at AMU during protests against the Citizenship Amendments Act (CAA) last month, officials said.

Khan was arrested on Wednesday night with assistance from Mumbai Police at the airport when he arrived in the city to attend anti-CAA protests, an official said.

"Officials of the UP STF arrested Dr Kafeel Khan in a case which was registered at Civil Lines Police Station under section 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups) of IPC. Our police team helped our UP counterparts on their request," said an official from Mumbai Police.

He claimed that Khan had made inflammatory statements on December 12 last year during the protest near Bab e Syed Gate outside the Aligarh Muslim University in front of more than 600 students.

The official also alleged that the Gorakhpur doctor had made objectionable comments against Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The FIR against Khan mentions that Swaraj India's president Yogendra Yadav was also present during the speech at AMU.

Following the arrest in the case, Khan was taken to the Sahar Police Station and after completing formalities he will be taken to UP on transit remand, the official said.

Khan, a paediatrician, had come to the limelight in 2017 when a controversy broke out after the death of over 60 children in less than a week at the BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur, UP.

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News Network
June 20,2020

New Delhi, Jun 20: A rare celestial event, annular solar eclipse, which is popularly known as the "ring of fire" eclipse, will be visible this Sunday in India.

It will be the first solar eclipse of this year takes place on the summer solstice, which is the longest day in the Northern Hemisphere.

While people living along the path annular eclipse passing through Anupgarh, Suratgarh, Sirsa, Jakhal, Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar, Dehradun, Tapowan and Joshimath will be able to see the annular phase, people in rest of India can witness a partial eclipse, said the Ministry of Science and Technology.

When Moon comes between the Sun and Earth, the shadow falls on the surface of the Earth. The Sun is entirely covered by the Moon for a brief period. Those places that are engulfed by the dark, dense umbral shadow of the Moon experience the total solar eclipse. In the regions that plunge into the soft diffused penumbral shadow of the Moon experience the partial eclipse.

"Annular solar eclipse is a particular case of the total solar eclipse. Like the total solar eclipse, the Moon is aligned with the Sun. However, on that day, the apparent size of the Moon happens to be a wee smaller than the Sun. Hence the Moon covers the central part of the Sun, and the rim of the Sun appear like a 'ring of fire' in the sky for a very brief moment" explains Samir Dhurde of The Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune.

During the solar eclipse, the apparent size of the Moon is smaller than that of the Sun by 1 per cent, the expert said.

Allying rumours that the eclipse will mark the end of coronavirus, Aniket Sule, Chairperson, Public Outreach and Education Committee of the Astronomical Society of India, said: "Solar eclipse is caused when the Moon comes in front of the Sun for a short time. As seen from Earth eclipses occur somewhere in the Earth 2 to 5 times a year. Eclipses do not impact microorganisms on Earth. Likewise there no danger in eating of stepping out during an eclipse. No mysterious rays come out of the Sun during an eclipse."

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News Network
July 10,2020

New Delhi, Jul 10: Nepal has banned all Indian news channels, except DD News, for alleged propaganda against the country.

Reports say that Nepal cable operators have stopped getting signals of Indian news channels.

Nepal government spokesperson Yuvaraj Khatiwada said: "We request all not to disseminate news that infringes sovereignty and self-respect of Nepalis. This includes the media of neighbouring countries. We might seek both political and legal remedies."

Earlier, Nepal has amended its map which show some Indian territory as part of it.

Nepal's parliament on June 13 adopted unanimously the Constitution Amendment Bill, paving the way for accommodating the updated political-administrative map, which includes Indian areas of Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura, in its symbol.

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