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Over 600 global academicians write to PM Modi, blame him for 'terrible state of affairs'

Agencies
April 22, 2018

New Delhi, Apr 22: Over 600 academicians and scholars from across the globe have written an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing their anguish over the Kathua and Unnao rape cases and held his government responsible for the 'terrible state of affairs'. The academicians also raised concerns over the prime minister's "prolonged silence" on the issue and the "non-specific assurance of justice" for the victims of the two rape cases that have shocked the entire nation.

"We wish to express our deep anger and anguish over the events in Kathua and Unnao and the aftermath of these events; over the efforts of those administering the relevant states to protect the alleged perpetrators of these monstrous crimes; over the subsequent profoundly distasteful efforts of rationalization and the deflection and diversion that have been so much in evidence in the reactions of your party's spokespersons in the media," the letter read.

"We have observed that there has been a prolonged silence on your part over the 'terrible state of affairs' in the country and 'an undeniable association of violence with the ruling dispensation'," it added.

The signatories to the letter include academicians and scholars from universities across the globe including the New York university, the Brown University, the Harvard, the Columbia and prominent IITs, among others. The academicians also said the prime minister broke his "prolonged (and by now familiar) silence" with "wholly inadequate, platitudinous, and non-specific assurances of justice for the victims."

They further said the Unnao and Kathua cases are not isolated incidents, but part of a sequence of "repeated targets". "We send you this letter because it is our duty to do so; so that we are not guilty of silence; and so that callousness and cowardice might finally draw the line at the broken body of a little girl and the rape of a young woman," the letter concluded.

The letter comes on the day the Union Cabinet approved an ordinance to provide stringent punishment, including death penalty, for those convicted of rape of girls below 12 years, amid a nation-wide outrage over cases of sexual assault and murder of minors in Kathua and Surat and the rape of a girl in Unnao.

Comments

angel of death
 - 
Sunday, 22 Apr 2018

The worst PM indian ever had. A coward who went to pakistan without invitation.

 

 

now his bhakts have burned there own ass after electing this man as PM hoping he will uplift hindu community...LOL

 

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News Network
May 28,2020

May 28: Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Thursday asked the central government to unlock its coffers and help the needy affected by the coronavirus-induced lockdown.

In a video message posted as part of the Congress' 'Speak Up India' campaign, she lamented that even though the country is passing through a serious economic crisis with loss of livelihood due to the pandemic and the lockdown, the central government has not heard the cries of pain and trauma of people.

"We again urge the Centre to unlock its coffers and help the needy. Put direct cash of Rs 7,500 per month in the account of every family for the next six months and provide Rs 10,000 immediately; ensure safe and free travel of labourers back home, employment opportunity and rations; and also increase the number of work days under MNREGA to 200 days to facilitate jobs in villages," Gandhi said.

"Instead of loans, provide financial relief to small and medium industry so that crores of jobs are saved and the country progresses," she said in her video message on the party's social media handles.

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News Network
January 31,2020

Wuhan, Jan 31: The World Health Organization declared a global emergency over the new coronavirus, as China reported Friday the death toll had climbed to 213 with nearly 10,000 infections.

The UN health agency based in Geneva had initially downplayed the threat posed by the disease, but revised its risk assessment after crisis talks.

suspended or reduced service to China include British Airways, German flag carrier Lufthansa, American Airlines, KLM and United.

Chinese efforts to halt the virus have included the suspension of classes nationwide and an extension of the Lunar New Year holiday.

All football matches across the country also will be postponed, the Chinese Football Association said on Thursday, including games in the top-tier Chinese Super League.

World stock markets tumbled again Thursday on fears that trouble in the "world's factory" would upset global supply chains and dent profits.

Toyota, IKEA, Starbucks, Tesla, McDonald's and tech giant Foxconn were among the corporate giants temporarily freezing production or closing large numbers of outlets in China.

Volkswagen announced Thursday its China joint-venture plants would not start production again before February 9.

US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the coronavirus posed a fresh risk to the world economy.

Throughout China, signs of paranoia multiplied, with residents of some Beijing residential compounds erecting makeshift barriers to their premises.

In one of many similar photos posted online, a man wearing a surgical mask and brandishing a traditional martial arts weapon squatted on a barricade outside a Chinese village, near a sign saying: "Outsiders forbidden from entering".

The crisis has caused food prices to spike, and the central government on Thursday blamed this partly on overzealous preventive measures, issuing a directive banning any roadblocks or other hindrances to food shipments.

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News Network
March 7,2020

Mar 7: Two Malayalam news channels, Asianet News and Media One, which were banned by the information and broadcasting ministry for their coverage of the recent violence in Delhi on Friday evening, were allowed to resume telecasting on Saturday morning.

While Asianet News appeared to have begun operations around 7am on Saturday, Media One was screening content by 9.30am.

The ministry of information and broadcasting had imposed a 48-hour ban on Asianet News and Media One for their coverage of the Delhi violence for 48 hours from 7.30pm on Friday. Both Asianet News and Media One were barred under Rule 6(1 c) and Rule 6(1e) of the Cable Television Networks Act, 1994.

The ministry of information and broadcasting alleged Asianet News and Media One were "biased" and critical of the RSS and Delhi Police.

The ban on Asianet News and Media One triggered a torrent of criticism of the move. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor asked how "Malayalam channels inflame communal passions in Delhi?" and alleged some English news channels were continuing "their brazen distortions" with impunity.

In a statement issued on Friday after the ban, Media One termed the move "unfortunate and condemnable" and called it a "blatant attack against free and fair reporting". Media One called it "an order to stop free and fair journalism".

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