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Save Democracy March: Sonia, Rahul, Manmohan detained, released

May 6, 2016

New Delhi, May 6: Members of the Congress party, including Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, party president Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, were detained by the police on Friday.

savedemocracy

Party workers protested the arrest outside the Parliament Street Police station, climbing over police barricades.

The party had taken out a 'Loktantra Bachao March' (Save Democracy March) against the BJP government, starting from Jantar Mantar.

Before the march, the party leaders collectively slammed the Narendra Modi government, asking them where their promised 'Achhe Din' was and accusing them of "attacking democracy."

"They don't know what we are made of"

Ms. Gandhi alleged that the Congress-led governments in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh were dislodged by the Modi regime with use of money power:

She said, "Today, Uttarakhand's jungles are burning but nothing is being done about it because there is no government. The BJP government is murdering democracy by taking down democratically elected governments. No matter how much they try to fight democracy, we will not let you succeed."

She asked Congress wokrers to “unmask” the Modi government in a democratic way and said they would not buckle under any form of injustice. "We will take detractors head on. Life has taught me to struggle, we have faced a lot of challenges. They don't know what we are made of," she said.

"Modiji has nothing to say"

"Modiji talked about 'Achhe din' when he came to power. But today, almost 40% of the country is affected by drought and he has nothing to say," said party vice-president Rahul Gandhi. "They destabilized the Congress government in Arunachal Pradesh, removed elected leaders & broke all laws," he said.

"Today in this country, there is talk of only two people - Narendra Modi ji and Mohan Bhagwat Ji. And whoever stands in their way or speaks against them, there are false accusations made about that person," he added.

Dr. Singh also spoke at the rally, saying Mr. Modi had attacked democracy. "By destabilising Congress governments in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh, Modi ji has attacked democracy. Now they are eyeing other INC governments," said Dr.Singh.

"Congress has always made sacrifices and taken steps to ensure that democracy is safe and we will continue to do so,"he added.

sonia

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News Network
January 9,2020

Srinagar, Jan 9: Envoys from 15 countries including the United States were shown around Srinagar on Thursday, the first visit by New Delhi-based diplomats since the government stripped Kashmir of its semi-autonomous status and began a harsh crackdown five months ago.

The diplomats were driven by Indian authorities in a motorcade amid tight security from the airport to the military headquarters in Srinagar, where they were briefed on the security situation, an army officer said. He spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

They also held discussions with civil society members and some Kashmiri politicians, said Raveesh Kumar, spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

The objective of the visit, organized by the Union government, was for the envoys to see first-hand “how things have progressed and how normalcy has been restored to a large extent'' in Kashmir since August, Kumar told reporters in New Delhi.

In October, a group of European Parliament members had visited the region, which is claimed by both India and Pakistan.

The delegation that visited Kashmir on Thursday included US ambassador to India Kenneth Juster and diplomats from Bangladesh, Vietnam, Norway, the Maldives, South Korea, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Argentina, the Philippines, Fiji, Uzbekistan, Peru and Togo.

Offices, shops and businesses were open in Srinagar on the cold winter day, but the diplomats did not stop to talk to people as they moved to different venues of their meetings.

They were to fly to Jammu, the winter capital of Kashmir, later Thursday and return to New Delhi on Friday.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh pointed out the oddity of taking foreign diplomats to the troubled state but not allowing allowing Indian political leaders to freely visit it.

The National Conference said it was "disappointed" with the way the government brought envoys from various countries to "endorse" its "claims of normalcy" in the union territory. The party alleged that it was no more than a "guided tour" with access limited to "handpicked individuals who toe the government line".

“The NC wishes to ask these envoys that if the situation in Jammu & Kashmir is "normal", then why are scores of people, including three former chief ministers, under detention for almost 160 days and why have the people been denied access to the internet for over 5 months?" a statement issued by the party said.

Kumar dismissed as unfounded criticism of the visit, and said more such visits to Kashmir by New Delhi-based diplomats are likely in the near future.

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Agencies
July 30,2020

Kochi, Jul 30: The Kerala High Court on Thursday refused to grant the extension for the stay of a 74-year-old US citizen, Johnny Paul Pierce, who had earlier said that he felt safer to remain in India than in the United States amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The single-judge bench of Justice CS Dias, which considered the writ petition, observed that the grant or extension of visa to foreign nationals fall exclusively within the domain of the Government of India (GoI) and that judicial review in such matters is minimal.

The power of the GoI to expel foreigners is absolute and unlimited, the bench said.

"In view of the categoric declaration of law by the Supreme Court, the plea of the petitioner to permit him to stay back in India cannot be accepted, as it falls within the purview of the guidelines and the discretion of the Government of India," the order said.

"The petitioner cannot be heard that the guidelines/policies/regulations formulated by the Government of India, that an American national though has been granted a visa having validity of five years has to leave India within 180 days, is irrational or unreasonable," it added.

The High Court, which was hearing a plea to permit the US citizen to stay in India for a further period of six months, said that the petitioner does not have a case that there is an infraction of Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

"The petitioner was well aware of the visa conditions when he arrived in India, and it is too late in the day for him to raise a grievance on the visa conditions," the bench said noting that the petitioner's love for India was heartening.

The High Court also directed the Foreigners Registration Officer to consider the petitioner's representation within a period of two weeks in accordance with the applicable guidelines and policies.

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Agencies
May 10,2020

New Delhi, May 10: A medium-intensity earthquake of 3.4 magnitude hit Delhi on Sunday.

According to the National Center for Seismology (NCS), the quake occurred at 1.45pm at a depth of five kilometres.

There were no immediate reports of loss of life or property.

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