Show of opposition might at Kumaraswamy's oath-taking ceremony

Agencies
May 23, 2018

Bengaluru, May 23: The swearing-in ceremony of newly elected Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Wednesday marked a rare occasion where opposition parties from all over the country set aside their differences to join hands in a show of might against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Centre.

Notable opposition leaders present at the Vidhan Soudha were Congress' Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Rashtriya Janata Dal's (RJD) Tejashwi Yadav, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Communist Party of India (Marxist)'s Sitaram Yechury, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Nationalist Congress Party's Sharad Pawar.

The rival-turned-allies in Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav and BSP's Mayawati arrived amid loud cheers and shook hands on the podium set up to seat the political dignitaries.

The ceremony also saw a reluctant union of rival parties in West Bengal as Trinamool Congress' Banerjee was seen sharing stage with Yechury.

The high-voltage Karnataka polls were seen as the election that would set the tone for the 2019 general elections, and post the verdict, it seems, it indeed has given us a glimpse of the alliance which may come up before next year's parliamentary elections. The BJP, which bagged the highest number of seats, was dealt a heavy blow after the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) joined hands following the poll results.

The alliance of Congress and the JD(S) has brought together other political parties in support of the non-BJP government.

Speaking to ANI earlier, CPI(M)'s Yechury welcomed the move "that stopped the BJP from forming a government."

The former ally of BJP in Andhra Pradesh, Telugu Desam Party (TDP)'s N. Chandrababu Naidu termed the resignation of the three-day chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa as a "victory of democracy."

The election result for 222 out of 224 assembly constituencies resulted in a fractured mandate, with the BJP emerging as the single largest party (104 seats) only seven seats short of a simple majority mark of 111.

The Congress with 78 seats and JD(S) with 37 seats, and two Independent candidates formed a post-poll alliance with a total of 117 MLAs.

What followed was a high-voltage political drama in the state, as Governor Vajubhai Vala invited Yeddyurappa to form a government on May 16, and gave him 15 days to prove majority, amid huge uproar by the opposition.

On May 18, the Supreme Court, on the plea of the Congress and the JD(S), shifted the floor test to May 19. Unable to garner the required number by the deadline, Yeddyurappa stepped down from the post of the chief minister before the floor test could be conducted, mere three days after he was sworn in.

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News Network
January 22,2020

New Delhi, Jan 22: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has assets worth Rs 3.4 crore, an increase of Rs 1.3 crore from 2015, according to his election affidavit.

Kejriwal's total assets were worth Rs 2.1 crore in 2015.

The cash and fixed deposits of Kejriwal's wife Sunita Kejriwal increased from Rs 15 lakh in 2015 to Rs 57 lakh in 2020.

A party functionary said Rs 32 lakh worth cash and fixed deposits have been received by Sunita Kejriwal as voluntary retirement benefits while the rest are savings.

The cash and fixed deposits of the chief minister increased from Rs 2.26 lakh in 2015 to Rs 9.65 lakh in 2020.

There was no change in the value of immovable assets of his wife while Kejriwal's immovable assets' worth increased from Rs 92 lakh to Rs 177 lakh.

The party functionaries said increase in Kejriwal's immovable assets' worth is due to the increased valuation of the same asset as in 2015.

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News Network
July 22,2020

New Delhi, Jul 22: India is responding with utmost urgency to coronavirus from the very beginning and has been continuously strengthening preparedness and response measures, WHO Regional Director (South-East Asia) Poonam Khetrapal Singh said on Wednesday.

"India is responding with utmost urgency to COVID-19 from the start. It's been continuously strengthening preparedness and response measures, including ramping up testing capacities, readying more hospitals, arranging and stocking up medicines and essentials," Singh said at a virtual briefing.

"India took bold, decisive and early measures earlier in the outbreak. The country did not witness an exponential increase in cases like some other countries which reported their first few cases along with India. Like in any other country the transmission of COVID-19 is not homogenous in India. There are areas yet to see a confirmed case, some have sporadic cases, in some areas some small clusters while we are witnessing large clusters in some megacities from the densely populated areas," Singh said.
She said WHO was aware of varying capacities at sub-national levels.

"Not unusual in a country as big as India and its population size that measures taken may often not be uniformly sufficient across all areas. Scaling up capacities and response remains a constant need in India."

Replying on the question of what more needs to be done in controlling the spread of COVID-19, she said all countries including India must continue to implement core public health and social distancing measures.

"Local epidemiology to guide our response for finding hotspots and testing, detecting, isolating and providing care to the affected, promoting safe hygiene practices and respiratory etiquette, protecting health workers and increasing health system capacity is also key," she said.

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News Network
June 29,2020

New Delhi, Jun 29: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday paid tribute to the senior doctor of city government-run LNJP Hospital who died battling COVID-19, saying the society has "lost a very valuable fighter".

The 52-year-old doctor served in the front line of the war against the pandemic at the government facility, and died of novel coronavirus infection in an ICU of a private hospital on Sunday.

"Dr Aseem Gupta, a senior doctor of LNJP Hospital succumbed to Covid yday. He was known for going out of his way to serve his patients. We have lost a very valuable fighter. Delhi salutes his spirit and sacrifice...," Kejriwal tweeted.

The chief minister also said in his tweet that he has spoken to Dr Gupta''s wife and "offered my condolences and support".

LNJP Hospital is a dedicated COVID-19 facility under the Delhi government. It recently completed 100 days of being declared a coronavirus facility.

"LNJP Hospital has displayed great fortitude in the face of acute challenges. It''s recovery rate is going up, death rate is reducing, ICU capacity is being ramped up - the hospital is saving so many lives," the chief minister said.

A condolence meeting to pay respect to Dr Gupta has been scheduled at 1 pm in the office of the Medical Director of the hospital, a senior official said.

The doctor, a consultant anaesthesiologist died at the Max hospital, Saket in south Delhi, a private dedicated COVID-19 facility.

"He was a front line anaesthesia specialist who contracted COVID-19 infection while on duty. He tested positive on June 6, when he had mild symptoms and was shifted to a quarantine facility. His symptoms aggravated on June 7 and he was admitted in the Intensive Care Unit of the LNJP Hospital," the LNJP Hospital said in a statement on Sunday.

He was shifted to Max Hospital, Saket on June 8 on his request, it said.

The doctor was battling the disease for the last two weeks at Max Hospital, where he succumbed to the illness on Sunday, the statement said.

He was Specialist, Grade I, in the Department of Anaesthesia at the LNJP Hospital, the statement said.

Several hundreds of healthcare workers have been infected with COVID-19 till date in Delhi.

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