5,000 Gujarat farmers protest against Maruti plant

August 17, 2013
Rajkot, Aug 17: Slogans of "Maruti Go Back" rented the air as nearly 5,000 farmers and their families marked the Independence Day by organizing a massive protest against India's leading carmaker in Dalod village near Hansalpur, where the company is setting up its Rs 4,000 crore plant.

The agitation was held just a day after Narendra Modi government's climb-down by excluding 36 of the total 44 villages from Mandal-Becharaji special investment region (SIR). Politician-turned-activist Kanubhai Kalsaria said that farmers of the remaining eight villages also don't want the SIR to come up.Dalod-Protesters

"Farmers also want Maruti's plant to be shifted. In reality, out of eight villages which are still in SIR, five are openly opposing it," Kalsaria said.

Lalji Desai, one of the leaders of the agitation, said, "The government claims to have given gauchar and private land to Maruti by showing it as revenue wasteland. But farmers were tilling the land until the government handed it over to the company."

Kalsaria has also demanded the formation a committee headed by a retired high court judge to take a referendum from these eight villages whether they want SIR or not.

After hoisting the national flag in Dalod, the protesters also burnt a replica of Maruti car as a mark of protest. This was the biggest protest against Maruti ever since the company zeroed in on Becharaji-Hansalpur to set up its plant.

The company has already stated that the plant to manufacture 2.5 lakh units will be commissioned by 2015.

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Agencies
January 19,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 19: The CPI(M) will soon launch a nation-wide house-to-house campaign to explain to the people, the 'link' between CAA-NPR-NRC, party general secretary, Sitaram Yechury said on Sunday.

The intense campaign will take place all over the country, he said while briefing the media about the three-day central committee held at Vilapilsala near here.

The central committee also urged the people not to answer the NPR questions.

"The Central committee has called upon the people not to answer any questions concerning the NPR when the enumerators come to their houses...," the left leader said.

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News Network
April 4,2020

Kochi, Apr 4: France on Saturday evacuated 112

French citizens stranded in Kerala and Tamil Nadu in a special Air India flight, official sources said here.

The Embassy of France had made a request to the Kerala government to facilitate the journey of the French citizens stranded due to the lockdown announced by the central government to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus.

The French citizens, mostly tourists and those who came for Ayurvedic treatment, were brought here by the state tourism department 24 days ahead of their trip.

They underwent a medical examination before boarding the flight for Paris from Cochin International Airport at 08.13 am on Saturday, officials said.

The Air India flight was chartered by the French government for evacuating its citizens in various cities in India including Kochi, Bengaluru and Mumbai.

On Friday, Gulf nation Oman had evacuated its 46 citizens stranded in Kochi in an Oman Air flight.

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News Network
January 31,2020

Jan 31: President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday hailed the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act as "historic" in his address to joint sitting of both houses of Parliament, prompting protests by some opposition members.

He also said that debate and discussion on any issue strengthens democracy while violence during protests weaken it.

"The Citizenship Amendment Act is a historic law. It has fulfilled wishes of our founding fathers including Mahatma Gandhi," he said.

"Debate and discussions strengthen democracy, but violence during protests weaken democracy," he said without directly referring to the anti-CAA protests in the country some of which have witnessed violence.

In a reference to abrogation of Article 370, Kovind said there is happiness among people of India that people in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have got rights on par with the rest of the country.

The president said Parliament has created record in the first seven months of the new government headed by Narendra Modi by enacting several landmark legislations.

"My government is taking strong steps for making this decade as India's decade and this century as India's century," he said.

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