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PM skips Lalit Modi row, invites oppn attack

June 28, 2015

New Delhi, Jun 28: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today spoke about a number of social issues in his monthly radio address but chose to avoid any reference to the political storm that has been generated by Lalit Modi issue for which Congress warned him that the issue will continue to "haunt" him.modi radio

CPI and AAP also attacked Modi for remaining silent on the controversy. In his 'Mann Ki Baat' programme on radio, Modi refrained from speaking on politics or the recent controversies surrounding Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj over the Lalit Modi issue which some quarters were expecting.

Among various topics, he talked about the girl child, voicing concern over the depleting sex ratio in 100 districts of the country, with the situation being more serious in Haryana. He pitched for a mass campaign to save the girl child.

During the 20-minute programme, he also spoke about the recently-launched three social security schemes and three developmental schemes, including 'housing for all' by 2022, as well as the Yoga Day celebrated on June 21. He also emphasised on the need for saving water and planting trees to preserve the environment.

Speaking soon after the 'Man ki Baat' programme was aired, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad expressed disappointment over the "failure" of the Prime Minister to speak on Lalit Modi controversy.

His other senior party colleagues P Chidambaram and Digvijay Singh as also CPI's D Raja and AAP leader Ashish Khetan.

"All over India, no one is ready to listen to 'Mann Ki Baat....Everyone wants to listen to voice of people in the programme," said Azad, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha.

Taking a dig at Modi, Azad said he continued to be a "dream merchant" in the programme as he has been merely selling dreams in India and abroad.

"It is in the interest of the Prime Minister to take immediate action against those involved in corruption. Otherwise nationally and internationally, it is going to haunt him wherever he goes," he told reporters.

In Pudukottai in Tamil Nadu, Chidambaram also questioned Modi's silence on recent controversies.

"The Prime Minister, who criticised Manmohan Singh for being silent, is silent now...," he said at a meeting while referring to the controversy surrounding Raje for her links with Lalit Modi, former IPL Commissioner.

Attacking the Prime Minister for being silent on 'Lalitgate' and other controversies, Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh alleged that he was helping the former IPL chief in getting him bailed out of ED cases against him.

"Every Sunday he (Narendra Modi) talks about 'Mann ki Baat', but doesn't answer the basic questions which have emerged over the past fortnight ever since the Lalit Modi controversy came up. My charge is that Narendra Modi is helping Lalit Modi. My charge is that he has promised Lalit Modi that he will be bailed out of all the cases in which he is being investigated by Enforcement Directorate (ED)," Singh alleged while talking to reporters in Hyderabad.

"Let Narendra Modi come out clean on this. They (BJP) talk of morality ad accountability, but when it comes to morality and accountability to be practised by the BJP, they said that what we say is absolute truth," he said.

CPI leader D Raja also criticised Narendra Modi. "In 'Mann Ki Baat', he (Prime Minister) spoke on several other issues but he has not uttered a single word on the Latit Modi issue. He has not said anything on Raje. Why is he keeping silent? The situation is getting murkier.... Who is he protecting? Mr Modi is trying to shield certain things or protect some individuals? Why this silence? This is an issue."

AAP leader Ashish Ketan said, "The whole country has only one 'Mann Ki Baat' which is what is the Prime Minister's take on the issue of 'Lalitgate', Sushma Swaraj and Vasundhra Raje. And that Mann Ki Baat remained unaddressed."

BJP spokesman Sambit Patra hit out at Congress for criticising the Prime Minister, saying Modi has spoken on issues of pertinence, like protection of girl child, social security and water conservation. "There are far more issues than satisfying the frustration of the Congress," he said.

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News Network
June 24,2020

New Delhi, Jun 24: Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday said that nearly 1,25,000 Indians have returned from different countries under the Vande Bharat Mission.

He informed that 6,037 people returned to India from overseas on June 23.

"Vande Bharat continues to be a mission of hope and happiness for stranded and distressed Indians around the world. So far, nearly 125K Indians have come back on these evacuation flights and nearly 43K have flown out of India. Today (on Tuesday) 6,037 people returned from different countries," Puri said in a tweet.

As many as 2,50,087 Indian nationals stranded abroad have been repatriated since the beginning of Vande Bharat Mission last month, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said last week.

The Vande Bharat Mission, which started from May 7 to evacuate Indians stranded abroad due to coronavirus pandemic, is in its third phase.
The recent phase commenced on June 11.

Under the third phase, India would have 550 flights including 191 feeder flights.

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Agencies
February 20,2020

Tirupur, Feb 20: Nineteen people died in a collision between a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation bus and a truck near Avinashi town of Tirupur district on Thursday morning here.

The bus was on its way to Ernakulam in Kerala from Bengaluru in Karnataka when the mishap occurred.

Deputy Tehsildar of Avinashi Town informed, "19 people that include 14 men and 5 women, died in the collision between the bus and the truck near Avinashi town."

The bodies have been taken to Tirupur government hospital.
Further details are awaited.

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News Network
February 19,2020

New Delhi, Feb 19: The UIDAI on Tuesday said its Hyderabad office has sent notices to 127 people for allegedly obtaining Aadhaar numbers on "false pretences" but asserted these have nothing to do with citizenship.

The notices were issued after reports from the police, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) said.

"Aadhaar is not a document of citizenship and UIDAI has been mandated under the Aadhaar Act to ascertain residency of a person in India for 182 days prior to applying for Aadhaar," the nodal body, which issues the 12-digit biometric ID, said in a statement.

The Supreme Court, in its landmark decision, has directed the UIDAI not to issue Aadhaar to illegal immigrants, it said.

"It may be noted that the regional office Hyderabad received reports from the state police that 127 people have obtained Aadhaar on false pretences, as in their preliminary enquiry they were found illegal immigrants who were not qualified to obtain an Aadhaar number," the UIDAI said.

As per the Aadhaar Act, such Aadhaar numbers are liable to be cancelled.

"Therefore, the regional office Hyderabad has sent notices to them to appear in person and to substantiate their claims for getting an Aadhaar number," it said.

The UIDAI emphasised that these notices have "nothing to do with citizenship and cancellation of Aadhaar number is in no way related to the nationality of any resident".

In case it is found and proved that any of them obtained Aadhaar by submitting false documents or through false pretences, their Aadhaar is liable to be cancelled or suspended depending on the severity of the transgression, UIDAI said.

"Severe errors like forged documents, etc., will lead to appropriate actions, including suspending /cancelling the Aadhaar," it cautioned.

"Sometimes it becomes necessary to cancel the Aadhaar number when it is found that a resident has obtained it by submitting false biometrics or documents. It is a routine quality improvement process that the UIDAI takes up regularly," the authority said.

The 127 people have been asked to appear before the UIDAI deputy director in Hyderabad for a personal hearing on February 20.

Additional time has been given to allow them to collect the requisite documents, "Since it may take them some more time to collect the original documents that they had submitted for obtaining Aadhaar, as informed by the state police, the UIDAI has postponed the personal hearing to May 2020," it added.

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