Rahul accuses PM Modi of insulting Cong leaders with 'urban Naxals' remark

Agencies
November 10, 2018

Jagdalpur, Nov 10: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi by accusing him of insulting Congress leaders like Mahendra Karma and Narendra Kumar Patel, who fell to the bullets of Naxals in Chhattisgarh. "Our leaders in Chhattisgarh have made the real sacrifice by standing up against the menace of Naxals," said Gandhi, while addressing a poll rally at Naxal-affected Jagdalpur.

"A few days back, Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked about Naxals. But the real sacrifice was made by the leaders of Congress party. Our people have sacrificed their lives for the country and Chhattisgarh as well. Congress leaders like Mahendra Karma and Chhattisgarh Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel lost their lives here. By his statement, the Prime Minister has insulted Karma ji and Patel ji."

Only recently Prime Minister Modi had accused the Congress of backing "urban Naxals" who, he said, have ruined the lives of poor Adivasi youths in Chhattisgarh. During a rally at Jagdalpur, PM Modi had said: "The urban Maoists, who live in air-conditioned homes in the cities and whose children study abroad, remote control Adivasi children in Naxal-dominated areas. I want to ask the Congress why it supports urban Maoists when the government takes action against them."

It is worth mentioning that in 2013, Naxals attacked a convoy of Congress leaders in Darbha Valley in Sukma district which led to 27 deaths, including the killing of former state minister Mahendra Karma and Chhattisgarh Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel and Vidya Charan Shukla.

Lashing out at the Prime Minister, Gandhi said: "The Congress party has many such leaders who have lost their lives fighting against the Britishers. When our leaders were fighting against the Britishers, when Britishers were ruling this country, when all the Congress leaders were in prison, your (Prime Minister Modi) leader Veer Savarkar was folding hands in front of the Britishers."

Coming down heavily on Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, Gandhi raised the issue of his son's name in the Panama Papers case, asking why no action had been taken against him till now. Gandhi said, "If the Chief Minister doesn't want to answer that, then he should explain to the people of Chhattisgarh why no action has been taken against his son, whose name appeared in the Panama Papers case? In Pakistan, the Prime Minister is jailed because his name appeared in the Panama Papers case."

Mounting attack on Prime Minister Modi over alleged Rafale fighter jet scam, Gandhi said: "At every platform, Prime Minister Modi talks about patriotism, but he is the one who changed the Rafale contract. When the UPA government was in power, the Air Force senior officials proposed the name of Rafale fighter jet but our government put two conditions-the aircraft should be made in India and secondly, the fighter plane should be minimally priced. When Modi came to power at the Centre, they gave the contract to Anil Ambani because he is the Prime Minister Modi's friend. Here, the Prime Minister compromised with the national security."

The election campaigning for the first phase of Chhattisgarh polls will end on Saturday night, 48 hours before the voting on November 12. Chhattisgarh polls will be held in two phases, first phase polling is on November 12 and then on November 20. The counting of votes for both the phases will take place on December 11.

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News Network
April 2,2020

New Delhi, Apr 2: With 437 new cases reported in the last 24 hours, the tally of COVID-19 positive cases in India shot up to 1,834 on Wednesday night.

The number of deaths in the country due to COVID-19 has risen to 41.

The total number of active cases in the country is 1,649. 143 persons have been cured and discharged from the hospitals. One person has migrated, according to the data provided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Earlier on Wednesday, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla urged all state governments and Union Territory administrations to ensure the lockdown measures issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs are strictly implemented.

"All the state governments/UT administrations are requested to strictly implement the lockdown measures issued by MHA in the exercise of the powers under Disaster Management Act, 2005 in letter and spirit," Bhalla said.

Prime Minister Modi had earlier announced a 21-day lockdown in the entire country to deal with the spread of coronavirus, saying that "social distancing" is the only option to deal with the disease, which spreads rapidly.

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News Network
June 5,2020

New Delhi, Jun 5: On World Environment Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged citizens to ensure that the flora and fauna thrive and take a pledge to preserve our planet's rich biodiversity.

"On #WorldEnvironmentDay, we reiterate our pledge to preserve our planet's rich biodiversity. Let us collectively do whatever possible to ensure the flora and fauna with whom we share the Earth thrive. May we leave an even better planet for the coming generations," the Prime Minister tweeted.

He also shared a clip from his last 'Mann Ki Baat' programme where he mentioned about conservation of rainwater and protecting the rich diversity of nature.

"On June 5, the entire world will celebrate 'World Environment Day'. The theme for this year's 'World Environment Day' is bio-diversity. This theme is especially pertinent in the current circumstances. During lockdown in the last few weeks the pace of life may have slowed down a bit but it has also given us an opportunity to introspect upon the rich diversity of nature or biodiversity around us," the Prime Minister had said.

"Much of the avian fauna had sort of disappeared due to sound and air pollution, and now after years people can once again listen to their melodic chirping in their homes," he said.

The Prime Minister also said that water conservation, in particular the conservation of rainwater, is essential and exhorted everyone to strive for saving rainwater in the upcoming monsoons.

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Agencies
January 24,2020

New Delhi, Jan 24: The government's plan to sell national carrier Air India may face political and legal headwinds with senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy raising the red flag against the decision.

Days before the launch of bidding process by inviting Expressions of Interest (EoI) from potential suitors, Swamy has warned against such move, saying the issue was currently being discussed by a Parliamentary panel.

"Right now, it (Air India disinvestment) is before the consultative committee and I am a member of that. I have been asked to give a note which will be discussed in the next meeting. They can't go ahead without that," Swamy told media.

"If they do, I will go to court. They know that too," he cautioned.

A vocal opponent of Air India privatisation, Swamy had earlier suggested to list 49 per cent of Air India shares on stock exchanges while government holds 51 per cent in the carrier, as an alternative to selling its entire stake to private companies.

It has been reliably learnt that the Rajya Sabha member had expressed reservations over privatisation of Air India at the meeting of a Parliamentary consultative committee earlier this month.

After its failed first attempt, the Modi government has shown great zeal this time to sell Air India. It is set to offer a sweetened deal to potential buyers this time around by removing a large chunk of the debt and liabilities from the airline’s books.

Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had earlier said that Air India will be shut down, in case the disinvestment exercise is not successful.

Sources told media that the preliminary information memorandum (PIM) inviting EoI has been tentatively scheduled to be unveiled on January 27.

Air India is proposed to be sold along with its subsidiary Air India Express and ground-handling joint venture company Air India Singapore Airport Terminal Services Ltd (AISATS) in which it has 50 per cent stake.

Air India on January 10 came out with a tender for engaging aircraft asset management companies for carrying out technical audit of its entire fleet.

A Ministerial panel on Air India chaired by Home Minister Amit Shah on January 7 approved the draft EoI and a share purchase agreement (SPA) for the airline's disinvestment.

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