Sena will lead government in Maha for next 25 yrs: Raut

News Network
November 15, 2019

Mumbai, Nov 15: Maharashtra's next government will be led by the Shiv Sena and the common minimum programme (CMP) being worked out along with the Congress and the NCP ahead of its formation will be in the "state's interest", said party spokesman Sanjay Raut on Friday.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led saffron party will lead the government in Maharashtra for the next "25 years" and not just five years, claimed Raut while talking to reporters here.

The Rajya Sabha MP, who turned 58 on Friday, was responding to questions on whether his party will share the chief minister's post with the NCP and the Congress, its allies in the prospective three-party government.

"Talks are on with the Congress and the NCP to work out a common minimum programme which will be in the interest of the state and its people," he said.

"Whether it is a single-party government or an alliance, an agenda for governance is necessary. There are infrastructure projects to be taken forward, (and issues related to) drought, unseasonal rains (are to be tackled).

"Those coming with us are experienced administrators. We will benefit from their experience," he said.

Regarding alliance with the Congress, Sena's political rival till recently, Raut said leaders of the country's oldest party have contributed to freedom struggle as well as the development of Maharashtra.

Asked whether the Sena will share the CM's post on a rotational basis in the next dispensation, Raut said, "We want to have the chief minister's post for the next 25 years. The Shiv Sena will provide leadership to the state no matter who tries best to stop it."

The firebrand Sena leader said his party's relation with Maharashtra is permanent and not temporary. "Our party is active in the state's politics for 50 years," he said.

The Shiv Sena was founded by Bal Thackeray in 1966.

Asked if the Sena, post-tie-up with the Congress-NCP, will give up its demand for the Bharat Ratna for Hindutva ideologue Veer Savarkar and accept Muslim reservation, Raut evaded a direct reply and said, "We know the source of such speculation."

To a query whether a power-sharing formula envisaging 14 portfolios each for the NCP and the Sena and 12 for the Congress has been decided (as being speculated in media), he declined to disclose details of the proposed coalition arrangement between the three parties.

"You don't worry about power-sharing. Uddhavji (Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray) is capable of taking decisions," said the politician-journalist, who is also the executive editor of Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

Asked how the Sena, a party identified with Hindutva politics and "anti-Congress", will adjust with a non- ideological partner like the Congress, he said, "What is an ideology? We are working on a common minimum programme for the state's welfare.

"Vajpayee (BJP stalwart and ex-PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee) headed an alliance of parties who came together on a common minimum programme. In Maharashtra, Sharad Pawar had led a Progressive Democratic Front (PDF) government (1978-80) of which the Jan Sangh, the BJP's earlier avatar, was a part."

"There have been instances earlier where parties of different ideologies have come together," he said, justifying Sena's efforts to cobble up a ruling coalition with the Congress and the NCP, against whom the Sena fought the last month's assembly polls.

The Sena reached out to the Congress-NCP combine for government formation after its demand for sharing the chief minister's post and equal distribution of portfolios was rejected by the BJP, its pre-poll ally.

The BJP and the Sena, which fought the October 21 polls in the alliance, secured a comfortable majority by winning 105 and 56 seats, respectively, in the 288-member assembly. The Congress and the NCP won 44 and 54 seats, respectively.

President's rule was imposed in the state on Tuesday after Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari sent a report to the Centre, stating that the formation of a stable government was impossible in the current situation.

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News Network
January 8,2020

Meerut, Jan 8: Hangman Pawan Jallad, who officials say is being considered to carry out the execution of the four Nirbhaya gangrape case convicts, on Tuesday said he is ready for the job which will send out a strong message in the society.

He said executing those who were involved in the horrific crime will bring "great relief" to him, Nirbhaya's parents and everybody else.

Earlier in the day, a Delhi court issued death warrants against all the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape-murder case and ordered that they are hanged on January 22 at 7 am in Tihar jail.

The death warrant, also known as a black warrant, addressed to the office of the Tihar jail chief, was issued by Additional Sessions Judge Satish Kumar Arora against Mukesh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31).

"I do not have any information regarding the execution, nobody has spoken to me yet. If anyone approaches me, I am ready to do the job. Earlier, I was asked to be ready for the execution on December 16," Pawan Jallad told reporters here.

"Those who were involved in this brutal incident must be hanged, which will send out a strong message in the society," he said.

"Hanging the Nirbhaya gangrape case convicts will certainly bring great relief to me, her parents and everybody else," he added.

Nirbhaya, a 23-year-old paramedic student, was gang-raped and brutalised on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012, inside a moving bus in south Delhi by the four men, along with two others, before being dumped on the road.

She died on December 29, 2012, at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore.

Of the six persons convicted, one allegedly committed suicide in jail and another, a juvenile, was released from a reformation home after serving a three-year term.

When contacted, Jail Superintendent of Meerut prison V P Pandey said he has not yet received any letter from Tihar authorities.

"Last month, we had received a letter asking us to keep Pawan Jallad ready but there is no fresh communication. The Delhi court warrants were issued this evening, maybe we will get the letter for sending him by tomorrow (Wednesday)," he said.

The gangrape of 23-year-old, who came to be known as 'Nirbhaya', the fearless one, sparked outrage across the country. Repulsed, people took to the streets across the country, demanding justice for her and better safety measures for women.

The case led to toughening of India's rape laws.

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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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News Network
June 11,2020

New Delhi, Jun 11: The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 8,102 and the number of cases climbed to 2,86,579 in the country after it registered the highest single-day spike of 357 fatalities and 9,996 cases till Thursday 8 AM, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

The number of recoveries remained more than the active novel coronavirus cases for the second consecutive day.

The number of active cases stands at 1,37,448 while 1,41,028 people have recovered and one patient has migrated to another country, as per the data.   

"Thus, around 49.21 per cent patients have recovered so far," an official said.

The total number of confirmed cases include foreigners.

Of the 357 new deaths reported till Thursday morning, 149 were in Maharashtra, 79 in Delhi, 34 in Gujarat, 20 in Uttar Pradesh, 19 in Tamil Nadu, 17 in West Bengal, eight in Telangana, seven each in Madhya Pradesh and Haryana, four in Rajasthan, three each in Jammu and Kashmir and Karnataka, two each in Kerala and Uttarakhand, one each in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Himachal Pradesh.

Out of the total 8,102 fatalities, Maharashtra tops the tally with 3,438 deaths followed by Gujarat with 1,347 deaths, Delhi with 984, Madhya Pradesh with 427, West Bengal with 432, Tamil Nadu with 326, Uttar Pradesh with 321, Rajasthan with 259 and Telangana with 156 deaths.

The death toll reached 78 in Andhra Pradesh, 69 in Karnataka and 55 in Punjab. Jammu and Kashmir has reported 51 fatalities due to the coronavirus disease, while 52 deaths have been reported from Haryana, 33 from Bihar, 18 from Kerala, 15 from Uttarakhand, nine from Odisha and eight from Jharkhand.

Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh have registered six COVID-19 fatalities each, Chandigarh has five while Assam has recorded four deaths so far. Meghalaya, Tripura and Ladakh have reported one COVID-19 fatality each, according to the ministry's data.

More than 70 per cent of the deaths are due to comorbidities, the ministry's website stated.

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