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No 'blanket ban' on PM Modi's 'Mann ki baat', says EC

September 16, 2015

New Delhi, Sep 16: The Election Commission today ruled out a "blanket ban" on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Mann ki baat' radio programme amid reports that the Congress is likely to approach the poll body with such a demand alleging it "violates" the Model Code of Conduct in force due to Bihar assembly polls.

NarendraA senior EC official said they can take "cognizance" of any such demand only after finding that the programme's contents violate the model code.

A regular radio broadcast in which Modi shares his thoughts on issues, Mann ki baat's next episode will be aired on Sunday. "No blanket ban can be enforced on things like Cabinet meeting and Mann ki baat but the EC can take cognizance if the Cabinet decision or the content of programme is in violation of the Model Code of Conduct," the official said.

He, however, made it clear that he was making a "matter of fact" statement and was not aware of any such demand by the Congress or any other party.

If such a complaint is made, the election watchdog goes through the recording as well as transcript of the episode and takes a decision, he said.

A similar complaint was made by Congress against the programme during the Haryana assembly polls but the EC had not found anything "objectionable", he noted.

At the Congress briefing, party's senior spokesman Anand Sharma made a strong pitch for a ban on 'Mann ki baat' programme till the Assembly elections in Bihar are over.

"We take strong objection to the misuse of the public broadcaster for political purposes by the Prime Minister, who is the chief campaigner and face of the BJP," Sharma said.

The Congress leader said the Prime Minister should have "shown grace" and avoided the radio programme in the run up to the crucial elections.

He said the Congress and its alliance partners are approaching the EC as the Prime Minister is "thick skinned" and determined to "misuse" his office and the public broadcaster.

Noting that political parties are allotted time on the AIR and Doordarshan for reaching out to people during elections, he said the ruling party is "no exception".

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News Network
June 3,2020

New Delhi, Jun 3: India registered its highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases on Wednesday with 8,909 more cases reported in the last 24 hours, taking the country's tally to 2,07,615, while the death toll rose to 5,815 according to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry.

The number of active COVID-19 cases stood to 1,01,497 while 1,00,303 people have been cured/discharged/migrated.

According to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry, out of all the states, Maharashtra has recorded the highest number of coronavirus cases with 72,300 patients followed by Tamil Nadu with 24,586 cases.

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News Network
June 8,2020

New Delhi, June 8: Only 20.26 lakh migrant workers of the targeted 8 crore such labourers have received free food grains in May and June (2020), according to data released by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

In the middle of May, as part of the Rs 20 lakh crore Atma Nirbhar Bharat package, the Modi government had announced that migrant labourers who are not covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) or any state-run PDS scheme, will receive free food grains for two months.

"Non-card holders shall be given 5 kg wheat or rice per person and 1 kg chana per family per month for the next 2 months. About 8 crore migrants will benefit from this scheme that will cost the government Rs 3500 crore,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said at a press conference following PM Modi’s announcement.

But the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said on Sunday, "The states and UTs have lifted 4.42 LMT (lakh metric tonne) of food grains and distributed 10,131 MT of it to 20.26 lakh beneficiaries."

It added, "The Government of India also approved 39,000 MT pulses for 1.96 crore migrant families. Around 28,306 MT gram/dal have been dispatched to the states and UTs. A total 15,413 MT gram have been lifted by various states and UTs". The state governments, the ministry added, had distributed only 631MT (metric tonnes) of gram so far.

Because of the constant movement of migrant workers, the Centre had said that the states will be responsible for identifying the migrants and subsequent food distribution.

The Centre claims it is spending approximately Rs 3,109 crore for food grains and Rs 280 crores for grams/chana under this package.

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News Network
July 15,2020

New Delhi, Jul 14: India's COVID-19 tally has reached 9,36,181 as 29,429 new coronavirus cases were reported in the last 24 hours, informed the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday.

The death toll went up to 24,309, including 582 fatalities in the last 24 hours.

Out of the total cases, 3,19,840 are currently active and 5,92,032 are cured/discharged/migrated.

As per the Ministry, Maharashtra -- the worst-affected state from the infection -- has a total of 2,67,665 COVID-19 cases and 10,695 fatalities. While Tamil Nadu has a tally of 1,47,324 cases and 2,099 deaths due to COVID-19.

Delhi has reported a total of 1,15,346 cases and 3,446 deaths due to COVID-19.

As per the information provided by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) 3,20,161 samples have been tested for COVID-19 till July 14, of these 1,24,12,664 samples were tested on Tuesday.

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