Pranab Mukherjee hails Election Commission

Agencies
May 21, 2019

New Delhi, May 21: At a time when the Election Commission is under fire from opposition parties for being biased, former president Pranab Mukherjee on Monday lauded the role of the poll panel saying the 2019 Lok Sabha polls were conducted "perfectly".

Speaking at a book launch event here, he said that right from the first election commissioner Sukumar Sen to the present election commissioners, the institution is working very well.

He said all the three commissioners are appointed by the executive and they are doing their job well.

Mukherjee said, "you cannot criticise them, it was a perfect conduct of elections".

"If democracy has succeeded, it is largely due to perfect conduct of elections by election commissioners starting from Sukumar Sen to the present election commissioners," Mukherjee said at the launch of the book 'Defining India: Through Their Eyes' by NDTV's Sonia Singh.

His remarks come a day after Congress president Rahul Gandhi alleged that the Election Commission's "capitulation" before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is obvious and the poll watchdog is not feared and respected anymore.

The EC has been criticised by the opposition parties for being allegedly biased towards the BJP.

The opposition stepped up its criticism of the poll panel after Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa wrote to the Chief Election Commissioner stating he will be recusing himself from EC meetings as his dissent was not being recorded on clearances given by the poll panel to the PM and BJP chief Amit Shah over alleged poll code violations.

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FAIRMAN
 - 
Tuesday, 21 May 2019

Dada

 

What are you talking about. You were OK when in Government, you are different totally after retiring.

Be neutral not different.

Election commission itself is alleging there is no uniformity and no impartiality

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Agencies
August 8,2020

New Delhi, Aug 8: Former Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy on Saturday said that it is unfair and unfortunate to blame the pilots or the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for the Kerala place crash which took place on Friday evening.

"It is very unfortunate and unfair when experts come under television channel and they try to put blame on the Airports Authority of India or the pilots. Airport authority in an institution which has had survived various tests of time for the last 65 to 70 years, or pre-independence, so it is unfair to blame them," he said.

While speaking to news agency, Rajiv Pratap Rudy said that the 737 Boeing aircraft is reliable and the pilots were experienced, and it was wrong to blame them.

He further said that there are many possibilities on what could have happened, and said, "It is an accident and we need to find the facts."
Rajiv Pratap Rudy also expressed his deepest condolences to the family members of those who lost their lives in the plane crash. "This accident is terrible and heart-rending. 

I offer my deepest condolences to the family members of the captain and first officer, and the families of passengers who died and were injured," he said.

At least 18 people died when a plane carrying 190 passengers came from Dubai met with an accident at Karipur airport in Kozhikode on Friday evening, as per the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

"Eighteen people, including two pilots, have lost their lives. It is unfortunate. 127 people are at hospitals, others have been released," said Puri on the Air India Express flight that crash-landed on Friday evening.

Air India Express Dubai-Kozhikode IX-1344 flight, carrying 190 people on board from Dubai under the Vande Bharat Mission, skidded off the runway at Karipur Airport in Kozhikode at 7.41 pm on Friday in which several people sustained injuries.

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News Network
June 1,2020

Jun 1: Gold prices rose on Monday as riots in major U.S. cities rattled investors already reeling from strained Sino-U.S. relations and boosted demand for the safe-haven metal, with a weaker dollar lending further support.

Spot gold gained 0.8% to $1,739.75 per ounce by 0242 GMT. U.S. gold futures ticked up 0.1% to $1,752.60.

"Concerns about the unrest in the United States at the moment appear to be weighing on market sentiment," said Michael McCarthy, chief strategist at CMC Markets, adding that rising tensions between the world's top two economies provided further support to gold.

Protesters have flooded the streets in the United States over the death of George Floyd in police custody, in a wave of outrage sweeping a politically and racially divided nation.

The closely packed crowds and demonstrators not wearing masks have sparked fears of a resurgence of COVID-19, which has killed more than 101,000 Americans.

In Asia, China's state media and the government of Hong Kong lashed out on Sunday at U.S. President Donald Trump's pledge to end Hong Kong's special status if Beijing imposes new national security laws on the city.

Gold is often used as a safe store of value during times of political and financial uncertainty.

Indicative of sentiment, holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.3% to 1,123.14 tonnes on Friday, a fresh seven-year high.

Further supporting gold's appeal, the dollar index fell 0.4% against its rivals.

Elsewhere, silver jumped 2% to $18.20 per ounce, its highest since Feb. 26, before retreating slightly to trade 1.8% higher at $18.16.

Speculators cut their bullish positions in COMEX gold and increased them in silver contracts in the week to May 26, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Friday.

Palladium rose 0.7% to $1,958.25 per ounce, while platinum declined 0.3% to $835.56.

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News Network
May 9,2020

New Delhi, May 9: With 3,320 coronavirus cases and 95 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, India's COVID-19 cases rose to 59,662 on Saturday, informed the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The total number of active cases in the country now stands at 39,834 while the number of cured/discharged/migrated stands at 17,847.

The country has reported 1,981 deaths so far, added the Ministry.

Maharashtra has the highest number of cases with 19, 063 followed by Gujarat with 7,402 cases and Delhi with 6,318 cases.

Meanwhile, the country continues to remain in a lockdown slated to end on May 17.

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