Sena shocks NDA, supports Pranab

June 20, 2012

pranab_1


Patna/New Delhi, June 20: Struggling to find a candidate of its own to contest the presidential election, the BJP-led NDA found itself in acute embarrassment on Tuesday as alliance partner Shiv Sena came out openly in support of the UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee.

Sena supremo Bal Thackeray made known his party position through party mouthpiece Saamna: “Let bygones be bygones. Let us unanimously support Pranab Mukherjee and show the world that “hum sab ek hai” (we are all united).

Thackeray’s stand came a day after Mukherjee telephoned him and his son Uddhav seeking support for his candidature.

The Sena statement has come as a jolt to the NDA as BJP has been desperately trying to put up a fight against Mukherjee. The coalition suffered a setback on Monday as former president A P J Abdul Kalam declined to contest despite strong efforts made by BJP veteran L K Advani.

Another NDA ally, the JD(U) is also in favour of a consensus on Mukherjee. The saving grace for the NDA is that the Bihar party has not gone public.

With Sena gone out of the NDA as far as presidential elections are concerned, the BJP is now doing evaluating supporting the candidature of P A Sangma, who is insisting on remaining in contest. BJP is not sure which way JD(U) will behave if it insists on the Sangma candidature. The NCP, a UPA partner, on Tuesday expressed confidence that party leader Sangma will opt out of race for Presidential elections and ultimately support Mukherjee.

“He (Sangma) is a senior leader. We are meeting on June 21 and he will attend the meeting. We are confident he will support the UPA candidate,” said NCP general secretary D P Tripathi after meeting Pranab Mukherjee.

Asked about his meeting with Pranab Mukherjee, he said: “It was a courtesy call. We are an ally of UPA, so I came to meet him”.

Hailing Mukherjee as the “right candidate”, Thackeray said : “The farce that is on for the top post of President is not justifiable. The country’s prestige is at stake for political gains. Those who have no merit are also in the race.”

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News Network
June 3,2020

New Delhi, Jun 3: India registered its highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases on Wednesday with 8,909 more cases reported in the last 24 hours, taking the country's tally to 2,07,615, while the death toll rose to 5,815 according to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry.

The number of active COVID-19 cases stood to 1,01,497 while 1,00,303 people have been cured/discharged/migrated.

According to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry, out of all the states, Maharashtra has recorded the highest number of coronavirus cases with 72,300 patients followed by Tamil Nadu with 24,586 cases.

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News Network
March 5,2020

Lucknow, Mar 5: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said last night that the role of teachers would come under the scanner when "anti-India" slogans are raised at universities and institutions of higher education.

"When anti-India slogans are raised at institutions of higher education, we should be prepared to ask why this type of distortion occurrs among our students?" he said at a programme organised by the Basic Shiksha Parishad in Lucknow.

"We begin our work with pledge for the country's unity and integrity and today slogans are raised for the division of the nation. In such a situation, questions are raised over the role of teachers who are considered equal to god in society," he said.

"Who all are involved in this sin and chaos? Governments can provide resources, but the one who has given them basic education, who has given them secondary education and who has led them to that place, all of them should evaluate their actions today," the chief minister said.

Speaking about the condition of education in the state when his government came to power three years ago, he said there was an atmosphere of chaos and anarchy in the state and the condition of basic education was very bad.

"The worst problem was that of proxy teachers. Our government started the process of prohibiting proxy teachers in the first phase," he said.

Adityanath said that a teacher is not just a government servant, but the fate of the nation. He said teachers should learn from Chanakya.

Had Chanakya confined himself to Nalanda University, he would not have been able to make India a superpower of the world during that period. Teachers will have to prepare themselves according to the challenges and need of society, he added.

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News Network
March 9,2020

New Delhi, Mar 9: The Centre and the Delhi government are working in close coordination to deal with coronavirus, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said here on Monday.

Talking to reporters after a review meeting with Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on the preparedness for COVID-19, the chief minister said people arriving from foreign countries are being screened at airports.

A campaign will be run to make people aware of the preventive measures to contain the spread of the disease, Kejriwal said.

Health Ministry sending directives to states: Vardhan

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the government is prepared to deal with novel coronavirus and his ministry is sending directives, including guidelines, to states in all the languages on ways to contain it.

"We are sending detailed guidelines to all states on ways to contain coronavirus. Have asked states to strengthen laboratories and manpower to effectively deal with coronavirus and form early rapid action teams," Vardhan told reporters adding, that the government is prepared to deal with the infection.

Vardhan stressed on a coordinated action between all concerned departments and agencies for activities such as contact tracing, community surveillance, hospital management, identification of isolation wards, ensuring adequate personal protection equipment and masks and risk communication for mass awareness.

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