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Over 2 lakh people, 8 CMs to attend Nitish's swearing-in

November 20, 2015

Patna, Nov 20: A staggering 200,000 people, including nine chief ministers and a galaxy of national leaders ranged against the BJP, will attend on Friday the swearing-in ceremony of Nitish Kumar as Bihar's chief minister for a fifth term in office here.

nkUnprecedented security cover has been put in place in Bihar capital for the swearing-in ceremony of Nitish Kumar, who will head the first JD-U-RJD-Congress coalition to rule Bihar.

An estimated two lakh people, mostly workers, supporters and leaders of the Grand Alliance parties Janata Dal-United, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress are expected throng at the historic Gandhi Maidan to witness the event, police said.

Bihar Police chief P.K. Thakur told the media that security cover is unprecedented in view of a number of political leaders across the country attending the function. "We are taking no chances due to threat perception to several leaders."

According to police officials, many leaders having Z plus and Z cover security are attending the oath-taking ceremony, including Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi.

Besides the elite security agencies like Special Protection Group (SPG), personnel of central para-military security forces and state police have been deployed.

"More than 3,000 additional security personnel including 30 DSPs and SP rank officers have been deployed in Gandhi Maidan to manage the two lakh crowd expected to gather here for the show," Patna Senior Superintendent of Police Vikas Vaibhav said.

He said 20 watch towers have been set up and 40 CCTV cameras installed in and around the venue.

Patna Divisional Commissioner Anand Kishore said two huge canopy shaped daises (70x40 feet) are ready for top leaders. "Only Chief Minister designate Nitish Kumar, his new cabinet colleagues and VVIPs would be accommodated on the main dais."

According to him, there is a separate gallery dais for others.

A senior police official told IANS that a team of intelligence officials and SPG personnel has been deployed to keep a close watch during the function. "Bomb detection and disposal squads along with dog squads are carrying regular checks of the site."

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi declining to attend the event, he and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which badly lost the Bihar assembly polls, would be represented by party leaders and central ministers M. Venkaiah Naidu and Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

The ceremony will be attended by nine chief ministers, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar, former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda and leaders of several other political parties.

The chief ministers are Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), Arvind Kejriwal (Delhi), Tarun Gogoi (Assam), P.K. Chamling (Sikkim), O. Ibobi Singh (Manipur), Nabam Tuki (Arunachal Pradesh), Virbhadra Singh (Himachal Pradesh), and S. Siddaramaiah (Karnataka).

Other political veterans expected to join in include CPI-M general secreatry Sitaram Yechury, CPI's D. Raja, Indian National Lok Dal's Abhay Chautala, DMK's M.K. Stalin and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah.

There will also be former chief ministers Omar Abdullah (Jammu and Kashmir), Sheila Dikshit (Delhi), Bhupinder Hooda (Haryana), Shankarsinh Vaghela (Gujarat), Babulal Marandi and Hemant Soren (Jharkhand) and Ajit Jogi (Chhattisgarh).

The Grand Alliance of Nitish Kumar swept 178 of the 243 Bihar assembly seats, leaving 53 to the BJP and five to its three allies in an election outcome that Lalu Prasad said would have major political repercussion.

According to JD-U leaders, Nitish Kumar will take oath at the head of a 36-member council of ministers.

The RJD is the single largest party in the house with 80 seats followed by the JD-U (71) and the Congress (27 seats). There will be 16 RJD ministers, 15 from the JD-U and five from the Congress in the government. Lalu Prasad's younger son Tejaswi Yadav is expected to get a plum post.

Supporters of the JD-U, RJD and Congress from across Bihar are pouring in at the Gandhi Maidan. Hundreds of security personnel are geared to protect the venue and the VVIPs.

JD-U state president Vashisht Narain Singh told the media that it was the first time such a large number of top politicians would attend the oath-taking of Nitish Kumar.

"Such a thing has never happened. It is the beginning of opposition unity in the country," he said.

Friday's gathering would be the first major show of anti-BJP unity since Modi became the prime minister in May 2014.

Also expected to attend the event are B.R. Ambedkar's grandson Prakash Ambedkar and Supreme court lawyer Ram Jethmalani, who along with Mamata Banerjee and Kejriwal repeatedly urged voters in Bihar to defeat the BJP.

Nitish Kumar personally telephoned and invited Modi to the swearing-in ceremony but the prime minister expressed his inability to attend because of his previous engagements, officials said.

Earlier, Nitish Kumar invited BJP veteran L.K. Advani and estranged BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha to the event.

Lalu Prasad and JD-U president Sharad Yadav will be the main guests at the event.

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Agencies
March 9,2020

Mumbai, Mar 9: The mayhem in domestic stock markets deepened with the BSE Sensex falling over 2,400 points and the Nifty50 trading below 10,400 points.

The plunge in the domestic indices was in line with the global markets on persistent fears of economic impact of the coronavirus epidemic.

Stocks of Reliance Industries registered the biggest fall in over 10 years as it fell to Rs 1,094.95 per share. At 1.34 p.m., it was trading at Rs 1,100, lower by Rs 170.05 or 13.39 per cent from its previous close. The stock fell most since October 2008.

The benchmark index of BSE Sensex was trading at 35,232.67 points, lower by 2,343.95 points or 6.24% from the previous close of 37,576.62 points. 

It had opened at the intra-day high of 36,950.20 and has so far touched a low of 35,109.18.

The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange was trading at 10,314.25 points, lower by 675.20 points or 6.14% from the previous close. 

It was a sell-off across sectors, led by financial, metal, energy and IT stocks - which weighed on the markets.

Further, crude oil prices also slumped around 30% on Monday as Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OEPC) failed to agree on an output cut deal, eventually causing Saudi Arabia to cut its prices as it is likely to increase its production. Saudi Arabia's stance has already raised concerns of an all-out price war.

Brent crude futures are currently trading around $34 per barrel.

On Saturday, Saudi Arabia announced massive discounts to its official selling prices for April, and the nation is reportedly preparing to increase its production above the 10 million barrel per day mark, according to reports.

As per analysts, the oil market witnessed the worst price fall on Monday since the 1991 Gulf War.

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News Network
July 25,2020

New Delhi, Jul 25: The Indian Air Force (IAF) has made key appointments in its different commands all across the country including formations that look after operations along the borders with China and Pakistan.

Air Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari has been appointed as the head of the Delhi-based Western Air Command (WAC) which looks after both the crucial borders, with China in Ladakh and all along Pakistan from Ladakh up to Bikaner in Rajasthan.

Chaudhari would be assuming charge of the new office on August 1, replacing Air Marshal B Suresh who is superannuating after a brief tenure of nine months there.

In the Shillong-based Eastern Command, incumbent Air Marshal RD Mathur would be moving to the Bangalore-based Training Command on October 1, he will be replaced by Air Marshal Amit Dev. The Eastern Command looks after the entire Northeastern region including the border with China from Sikkim to Arunachal Pradesh.

As per the new appointments issued on July 24, Kargil war gallantry awardee Air Marshal Dilip Kumar Patnaik would be taking over as the Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO) at the Prayagraj-based Central Air Command.

On October 1, the Air Force would also get a new in-charge of personnel in Air Marshal RJ Duckworth who is presently the SASO in the WAC.

Air Marshal Vikram Singh would be the next SASO of the WAC. Air Marshal J Chalapati-- the officer who had briefed the Supreme Court on the Rafale issue last year, would be the SASO of the Trivandrum-based Southern Air Command.

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Agencies
July 30,2020

New Delhi, Jul 30: Even as COVID-19 cases continue to surge in various parts of India, more than 1 million people have recovered and discharged till now, informed Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary, Ministry of Health, here on Thursday.

"More than 1 million people have recovered from COVID-19 in the country. This landmark recovery has been achieved because of the selfless work and dedication of our doctors, nurses and frontline workers," Bhushan said at a press conference.

Giving the number of cured persons, Bhushan said, "More than 1,020,000 patients have recovered. They have been discharged. It is a great achievement."

He said, "The recovery rate has shown positive trends. It was 7.85 per cent in April and today it is 64.4 per cent, which is another heartening news which tells us that whatever battle is put by the Union government in collaboration with state governments is showing results."

"Sixteen states of the country have a recovery rate that is more than the national average. Of these, Delhi has a recovery rate of 88 per cent, Ladakh 80 per cent, Haryana 78 per cent, Assam 76 per cent, Telangana 74 per cent, Tamil Nadu & Gujarat 73 per cent, Rajasthan 70 per cent, Madhya Pradesh 69 per cent and Goa 68 per cent," Bhushan said.

He said effective clinical management lead to a decrease in case fatality rate. In June it was 3.33 per cent and now 2.21 per cent.

Bhushan said the case fatality rate in India today is 2.21 per cent and it's among the lowest in the world. Twenty-four states and Union Territories have lesser fatality rate than that of the country.

Herd immunity in a country of the size and population of India can not be a strategic option. It can only be achieved through immunisation.

"Over 18,190,000 tests have been conducted in the country including RT-PCR and rapid antigen tests. There has been a week-on-week increase in average tests per day. India is conducting 324 test per 10 lakhs population per day," Bhushan said.

He added, three vaccine candidates, are in phase 3 clinical trial. These three are in the US, UK and China. In India, two indigenously developed vaccine candidates are in phase I and II of clinical trials. 

Trial of the first vaccine involves 1,150 subjects at eight sites, second on 1,000 subjects at five sites.

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