Colombo, Mar 6: Sri Lanka Tuesday declared a nationwide state of emergency to quell anti-Muslim riots that have killed at least two people and damaged dozens of mosques and homes, a minister said.
"The cabinet of ministers decided on tough measures, including a 10-day nationwide state of emergency," Minister of City Planning Rauff Hakeem said as police imposed a curfew in the riot-hit central district of Kandy.
New Delhi, Jan 29: Badminton champion Saina Nehwal joined the ruling BJP today and is likely to campaign for the party ahead of the February 8 Delhi election.
"I have won medals for the country. I am a very hardworking and I love hardworking persons. I can see Prime Minister Narendra Modi does so much for the country, I want to do something for the country with him," the shuttler said, wearing the BJP scarf.
"I draw a lot of inspiration from Narendra sir".
Haryana-born Saina Nehwal, 29, is a major acquisition for the party in the middle of the Delhi poll campaign; she is one of the most popular sportspersons in India with a huge fan following and brand value. She is preparing for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
A former world number 1, she has been honoured with the country's top sporting awards like the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award. She was also awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2016.
The Badminton player has won over 24 international titles. In the London Olympics, she won a bronze. She was world number two in 2009 and number one in 2015.
With her tweets praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Saina Nehwal was widely seen to lean towards the BJP.
One of her tweets became controversial when it was found to be identical to several others in praise of a PM Modi speech last year. Saina was trolled on Twitter with screenshots of the identical tweets. She was also among the sportswomen who put up identical tweets on Diwali thanking PM Modi for his initiative to empower women, with the hashtag #bharatkilaxmi.
The BJP roped in many famous personalities last year, including cricketer Gautam Gambhir, who was elected MP from Delhi in the national election, and wrestler Babita Phogat. Just before the Haryana assembly polls, the party roped in wrestler Sushil Kumar, Babita Phogat and former Hockey team captain Sandeep Singh. Sandeep Singh won the election and was appointed minister.
New Delhi, May 9: The Trinamool Congress on Saturday responded to Union home minister Amit Shah’s charge that the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government is not facilitating the movement of stranded migrant workers.
Amit Shah has written to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, saying her government is doing “injustice” to migrant workers by not allowing the special Shramik trains to reach the state.
“Union home minister Amit Shah speaks after weeks of silence only to mislead people with lies,” the TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
“The Centre is lying… West Bengal is running 711 camps for migrants in the state. We are taking good care of them,” Abhishek Banerjee, who is also the chief minister’s nephew, said.
Amit Shah had pointed out in his letter that the Centre was not receiving the “expected support” from the state government in helping stranded migrant workers from West Bengal.
“West Bengal government is not allowing trains with migrants reaching the state. This is injustice with WB migrant labourers. This will create further hardship for them,” Amit Shah had said in his letter to Mamata Banerjee.
The issue of migrant workers is the latest flashpoint between the Centre and the West Bengal government amid a row over the state’s efforts to control the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
The Centre and the state have exchanged allegations over the criteria for reporting deaths from the infection, and while While Bengal says the Centre is trying to politicise a public health crisis, the Union government maintains that state officials are ignoring repeated warnings to step up the fight against the disease.
Federal officials have said that the region has not conducted adequate tests and that there has been mismanagement over identifying hotspots and containing them.
Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla also slammed the state government for a very low rate of testing and high rate of mortality, 13.2%, by far the highest for any state.
The Centre has also accused the state government of not allowing cross-border movement of goods trucks to Bangladesh.
There are 1,678 Covid-19 cases and 160 deaths in West Bengal until Saturday morning.
Bengaluru, May 27: Karnataka Chief Minister Yediyurappa on Wednesday said that his government will re-open temples, mosques and churches in the state after May 31.
"We are going to open temples, mosques and churches in the state after May 31, he said while speaking to media in Bengaluru.
The Chief Minister added that the "guidelines will be followed" as suggested by experts for opening the worship places.
"We have no objections to open malls and cinema halls, but we are waiting for the guidelines of the central government, Prime Minister will take decisions to allow malls and cinemas to open," he added.
Yediyurappa has said that people from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala and Tamil Nadu will not be allowed in the state till May 31.
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