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Not my job to punish ministers: Rahul Gandhi

January 28, 2014

Rahul_Gandhi_copyNew Delhi, Jan 28: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi Monday said that it is not his job to ensure that cases are lodged against the party ministers accused of corruption.

In an interview to Times Now, Gandhi acknowledged that there was no case being followed up against Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh over alleged corruption, and said: "It is not my job. My job is when I see issues of corruption, take action on it. That's what I do".

"As far as any corruption done, there is a legal process. And that legal process should be followed and concluded. As far as my personal view is concerned, anybody who is corrupt should be brought to book," he said.

"I am not a judge. So, if there is a legal process and there is a result of the legal process, absolutely they should be punished."

Gandhi said that Virbhadra Singh and former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan, accused in the Adarsh Society scam, were not "oblivious" because of their "clout."

Asked that he had not spoken during controversies relating to the "the CWG scam and railgate", Gandhi said he had conversations with the prime minister.

"Whatever I felt I had conversations with the prime minister. Whatever I felt about the issues I made it abundantly clear to the prime minister."

Answering queries, he said Congress had taken action wherever there had been issues of corruption.

"We are the ones who brought the RTI which is the single biggest weapon against corruption. And we got it ourselves. We are the ones who delivered RTI to this country," Gandhi said.

"What I will say is that in the Congress party anybody who does any act of corruption will be taken up and punished," Gandhi said. He also called for passage of pending six anti-corruption bills in parliament.

"What all I'm saying is that anybody, regardless of who he is, if there is any corruption by any Congress person we will take action."

Answering questions about Pawan Kumar Bansal and Ashwini Kumar, who had to resign from their cabinet posts, Gandhi said the country needs to look at the fundamental issues at hand.

"We absolutely have to change the way our political system is structured, we have to change our political parties, we have to make them more transparent, we have to change the processes that we use to elect candidates, we have to empower women in the political parties, that is where the meat of the issue but I don't hear that discussion," Gandhi said.

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News Network
March 25,2020

New Delhi, Mar 25: The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in India rose to 562, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday.
This includes 512 active cases, while 40 infected people have already been cured or discharged.
The Union Health Ministry said that total deaths due to the disease now stand at 9, as the second death reported in Delhi is COVID-19 negative. One patient has also migrated due to the infection.
The Central government has taken several steps to contain the rapid spread of the virus including the screening 15,24,266 passengers at the airports.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Tuesday announced a 21-day lockdown in the entire country effective from midnight to deal with the spread of coronavirus, saying that "social distancing" is the only option to deal with the disease, which spreads rapidly.
In a televised address to the nation, Prime Minister Modi said that it is vital to break the chain of the disease and experts have said that at least 21 days are needed for it.
The Prime Minister, who had also addressed the nation last week, said the lockdown has drawn a "Lakshman Rekha" in every home and people should stay indoors for their own protection and for that of their families. 

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Agencies
July 30,2020

Kochi, Jul 30: The Kerala High Court on Thursday refused to grant the extension for the stay of a 74-year-old US citizen, Johnny Paul Pierce, who had earlier said that he felt safer to remain in India than in the United States amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The single-judge bench of Justice CS Dias, which considered the writ petition, observed that the grant or extension of visa to foreign nationals fall exclusively within the domain of the Government of India (GoI) and that judicial review in such matters is minimal.

The power of the GoI to expel foreigners is absolute and unlimited, the bench said.

"In view of the categoric declaration of law by the Supreme Court, the plea of the petitioner to permit him to stay back in India cannot be accepted, as it falls within the purview of the guidelines and the discretion of the Government of India," the order said.

"The petitioner cannot be heard that the guidelines/policies/regulations formulated by the Government of India, that an American national though has been granted a visa having validity of five years has to leave India within 180 days, is irrational or unreasonable," it added.

The High Court, which was hearing a plea to permit the US citizen to stay in India for a further period of six months, said that the petitioner does not have a case that there is an infraction of Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

"The petitioner was well aware of the visa conditions when he arrived in India, and it is too late in the day for him to raise a grievance on the visa conditions," the bench said noting that the petitioner's love for India was heartening.

The High Court also directed the Foreigners Registration Officer to consider the petitioner's representation within a period of two weeks in accordance with the applicable guidelines and policies.

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News Network
May 29,2020

May 29: Over 45,000 stranded Indians were brought back home from abroad under the Vande Bharat mission and another 1,00,000 will be evacuated till June 13, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.

The mega evacuation mission was launched on May 7.

MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said the government is also assisting return of stranded Indians from remote locations in Latin America and Caribbean, Africa, and parts of Europe.

"This is being done by taking advantage of foreign carriers flying to India primarily for evacuation of their nationals," he said during an online media briefing.

He said a total of 45,216 Indians were brought back till Thursday afternoon and they include 8,069 migrant workers, 7,656 students and 5,107 professionals.

About 5,000 Indians have returned through land border from Nepal and Bangladesh.

In the first phase of the mission from May 7 to 15, the government evacuated around 15,000 people from 12 countries. The second phase of the evacuation mission was scheduled from May 17 to 22. However, the government has extended it till June 13.

Srivastava said a total of 3,08,200 people have registered their request with Indian missions abroad for repatriation to India on compelling grounds.

"During the phase two, a total of 429 Air India flights (311 international flights + 118 feeder flights) from 60 countries are scheduled to land in India. The Indian Navy will be making four more sorties to bring back returnees from Iran, Sri Lanka and the Maldives," Srivastava said.

The MEA spokesperson said the government is targeting to bring back 1,00,000 people from 60 countries by the end of phase two of the Vande Bharat mission.

"Preparations for third phase of Vande Bharat Mission are well underway," he said.

As per the government's policy for evacuation, Indians having "compelling reasons" to return like pregnant women, elderly people, students and those facing the prospect of deportation are being brought back home.

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