Rahul Gandhi not to be PM candidate, to lead Congress campaign for L S polls

January 16, 2014

New Delhi, Jan 16: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi will lead the party's campaign for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections but will not be declared prime ministerial candidate, the party said Thursday.

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A meeting of the extended Congress Working Committee (CWC) Thursday evening decided the agenda for the All India Congress Committee (AICC) meeting Friday, in which a resolution will be moved about the role of Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha polls.

Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi told reporters after the CWC meeting that there was a demand from several leaders to declare Rahul Gandhi the prime ministerial candidate but party president Sonia Gandhi intervened to say that the Congress did not have the tradition of declaring a prime ministerial candidate.

He said the CWC decided that the resolution be moved at the AICC meeting.

"This meeting of CWC declares that the 2014 election campaign will be led by Rahul Gandhi," Dwivedi said reading out the resolution.

Dwivedi said Sonia Gandhi told the meeting that it was not necessary for the Congress to declare a prime ministerial candidate even if some other party had done so.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has declared Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi its prime ministerial candidate.

Dwivedi said it was always known in the Congress who will lead the poll campaign.Answering queries, he said the resolution means that the 2014 elections will be contested under "one leadership".

He said the party has been consistently saying that Rahul Gandhi was the party leader next to Sonia Gandhi.

"Rahul Gandhi is the leader of the future," he said.

Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi said he was always ready to discharge any responsibility given to him by the party.

He also said there were attempts to strike at the Congress ideology and there was a need to strengthen it.

Dwivedi said the party's election leaders were known from the time of Jawaharlal Nehru even if there was no announcement of the prime ministerial candidate.

He said an announcement was made about Manmohan Singh's candidature as prime minister ahead of the 2009 Lok Sabha polls as he was already holding the position.

Manmohan Singh had announced earlier this month that he will not be seeking another term as prime minister.

Sources said several CWC members at the meeting asked the party-led United Progressive Alliance government to take immediate steps to check price rise.

They demanded an increase in subsidised cooking gas cylinders from nine to 12 for each household.

They said the concerns were targeted at Petroleum Minister M. Veerapa Moily, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who were all present at the meeting.

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News Network
January 19,2020

New Delhi, Jan 19: Reacting to a tweet by ace lawyer Indira Jaising urging her to forgive the four men on death row for brutally raping that finally took her life, Nirbhaya's mother said on Saturday: "Even if God asks me, I won't forgive them."

Speaking to news agency, over the phone, the mother who had been fighting for seven long years to send her daughter's killers to the gallows, said, "...even if god comes and asks me to forgive them, I will not. People like these (Jaising) are a blot on the society."

Commenting on Jaising's tweet, she said: "Who is she to tell or suggest to me to forgive them. What relation does she have with me. I have nothing to do with such people. She can be a relative of those (the convicts) that she is having a soft corner for."

"She is an insult to women. She is running a business in the name of human rights. She is a veteran, she should give a message to the society. But she instead will go against her own kind," she added.

Earlier in the day, Jaising had requested Nirbhaya's mother to follow the example of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who had moved for the clemency of a woman, Nalini Murugan convicted for the assassination of her husband and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

"While I fully identify with the pain of Nirbhaya's mother I urge her to follow the example of Sonia Gandhi who forgave Nalini and said she didn't want the death penalty for her. We are with you but against death penalty," Jaising tweeted on Friday.

A Delhi Court on Friday issued fresh death warrants against the four convicts -- Akshay, Pawan, Mukesh and Vinay in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case.

Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Satish Kumar Arora fixed 1 February as the date of execution of the four death row convicts. They will be hanged at 6am.

The move came after the prosecution moved an application seeking issuance of fresh death warrants following the rejection of the mercy plea of one of the convicts Mukesh by President Ram Nath Kovind.

The 23-year-old victim was brutally gang-raped and tortured on December 16, 2012, which later led to her death.

All the six accused were arrested and charged with sexual assault and murder. One of the accused was a minor and appeared before a juvenile justice court, while another accused committed suicide in Tihar Jail.

Four of the convicts were sentenced to death by a trial court in September 2013, and the verdict was confirmed by the Delhi High Court in March 2014 and upheld by the Supreme Court in May 2017, which also dismissed their review petitions.

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News Network
April 14,2020

New Delhi, Apr 14: With 1,211 fresh cases of coronavirus reported in the last 24 hours, the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country has reached 10,363 including 339 deaths, said Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, here on Tuesday.

As many as 1,036 people have recovered from the disease so far, said Aggarwal during the daily media briefing on the coronavirus. "In one day, 179 people were diagnosed and found cured," he added.

"A total of 10,363 confirmed cases have been reported in India including 339 deaths and 1,036 people, who were COVID-19 positive have recovered. Out of the total deaths, 31 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours," said Aggarwal.

Aggarwal said that an evaluation of each district and city will be done till April 20.

"An evaluation of each district and city will be done till April 20 in which it will be evaluated what measures did that authorities take in these cities and districts to combat COVID-19," he said.

"Based on the results of this litmus test approach, permission will be granted for some selective activities to those districts and cities which controlled the situation effectively. Detailed guidelines will be issued soon," he added.

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News Network
August 8,2020

Kozhikode, Aug 8: Minister of State (Mos) for External Affairs V Muraleedharan on Saturday reached Kozhikode where Air India Express flight (IX-1344) crash-landed yesterday. 

He is likely to meet those injured in the crash and their family members.

At least 17 people including two pilots have lost their lives in the incident. However, the four-cabin crew members are safe, said the Air India Express in a statement. 

The injured are admitted to hospitals in Malappuram and Kozhikode, as per the state government officials.

Informing about his visit to Kozhikode, Muraleedharan tweeted: "Taking off to #Calicut by @airindiain
special flight. Hope to visit the crash site at the Calicut Airport and also meet those injured in the crash and their family members."

Muraleedharan on Friday expressed grief after an Air India Express plane carrying 190 passengers including 10 infants skidded while landing at Karipur Airport in Kozhikode.

"Deeply anguished to hear about the mishap in Calicut airport involving the flight from Dubai to Calicut. Was informed that the plane overshot the runway and seemingly nosedived," the Minister tweeted.

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