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Is this true face of Indian democracy?

February 20, 2014
Lucknow, Feb 20: The Uttar Pradesh Assembly on Wednesday witnessed a “topless” protest from opposition members during the governor’s address to the joint session of the House, even as senior minister Azam Khan said that he was expecting “full exposure”.

up-assembly-topless-mlas

As soon as Governor B L Joshi began his address, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) members carrying placards, posters and banners, denouncing the Akhilesh Yadav government, stormed into the well of the House. Two Rashtriya Lok Dal members took off their shirts in protest against the government’s failure to clear farmers’ sugarcane dues. Sudesh Sharma and Veer Pal Rathi astonished members of the treasury benches with their bare chests, as the governor left the House without completing his address.

Amid chaos and din, the House was adjourned for the day.

Ruling party members decried the behaviour of the opposition members with Azam Khan terming them “besharm” (shameless). “They should be ashamed of what they did in the House,” Khan said later. In a vein of sarcasm, Khan said, “I was expecting full exposure.”

Rathi and Sharma, however, defended their behaviour. “We had no alternative. This government has become so insensitive to the problems of sugarcane farmers, that their plight does not move it. Despite making a promise, the government did not ensure the payment of the arrears of farmers,” they said.

The BJP had earlier announced that its members would boycott the address of the governor.

Later, BSP and Congress leaders accused the government of failing completely on the law and order front. “Jungle raj prevails in UP. The government has failed. SP leaders have created terror in the state,” alleged BSP leader Swami Prasad Maurya.

PDP MLA slaps marshal

Peoples’ Democratic Party MLA on Wednesday slapped a marshal in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly as proceedings were marred by unruly scenes.

During discussion of the grants of Agriculture Ministry, PDP MLA Syed Bashir trooped into well of the House to highlight shortage of ration for migrants. But, Speaker Mubarak Gul ordered his removal from the House and as the marshals were leading him out, other PDP MLAs rushed into the well. Amid unruly scenes, the Speaker ordered their eviction from the House too.

RS official heckled

An official of the Upper House was heckled by a section of agitating members on Wednesday. When Secretary General Shumsher K Sheriff stood up at noon to read out a message from the Lok Sabha on passage of the Telangana Bill, TDP member C M Ramesh, who was agitating in the well since morning, tried to snatch the paper from him. As the MP was trying to take the papers from Sheriff, Parliament staff moved in to protect him and the document. “It is very unfortunate. The staff should not be attacked,” Deputy Chairperson of Rajya Sabha P J Kurien said.

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News Network
June 12,2020

New Delhi, Jun 12: India's COVID-19 tally on Friday witnessed its highest-ever spike of 10,956 cases, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).

396 deaths have been reported due to the infection during the last 24 hours.

The total number of coronavirus cases in the country now stands at 2,97,535 including 1,41,842 active cases, 1,47,195 cured/discharged/migrated and 8,498 deaths.

COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra continue to soar with the number reaching 97,648. Tamil Nadu's coronavirus count stands at 38,716 while cases in Delhi reached 34,687.

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News Network
August 8,2020

New Delhi, Aug 8: The Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Friday directed the governments of four states -- Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, to analyse the factors driving the high COVID-19 mortality and devise ways and means to reduce the mortality.

Apart from the higher case mortality, these states account for 17 per cent of India's active cases, high daily new cases, low tests per million, and high confirmation percentage.

In a high-level virtual meeting, Bhushan advised state administrations to adhere to measures suggested by central advisories and guidelines to prevent and reduce mortality due to coronavirus infection.

According to the health ministry, 16 districts in these four states are reporting maximum virus fatalities. It includes -- Ahmedabad and Surat in Gujarat; Belagavi, Bengaluru urban, Kalaburagi and Udupi in Karnataka; Chennai, Kanchipuram, Ranipet, Theni, Thiruvallur, Tiruchirappalli, Tuticorin and Virudhnagar in Tamil Nadu; and Hyderabad and Medchal-Malkajgiri in Telangana respectively.

"The districts were advised to ensure that the advisories, guidelines and clinical treatment protocols issued by the Health Ministry are adopted and effectively implemented to reduce the mortality among COVID-19 patients and other preventable deaths among all sections of the people, particularly those with co-morbidities, pregnant women, the elderly and children," said the health ministry official.

"States were advised to ensure optimum capacity utilization of testing labs, increase tests per million population and reduce confirmation percentage, in addition to ensuring timely availability of ambulances with target zero refusal," the official further said.

"States were also advised to analyze availability and need for projected beds and oxygen, and plan in a timely manner. States and district administration have also been advised to ensure good infection prevention and control practices to control infection in the healthcare workers," said the official.

Principal Secretary (Health) and MD (NHM) from the four States along with district surveillance officers, district collectors, commissioners of the municipal corporation, Chief Medical Officers, and Medical Superintendent of Medical Colleges participated in the meeting.

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Agencies
February 11,2020

New Delhi, Feb 11: Cheaper lending rates in the country along with the government's booster via tax cuts seem to have had little effect on vehicle sales in January, with car sales decreasing by over 14,531 units, or slightly over 8 per cent, compared to January last year.

According to Rajan Wadhera, President of industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), which gives out the auto sales numbers, the overall slump in vehicle sales in India was due to the "rising cost of vehicle ownership and slower growth in GDP".

Barring three-wheelers, all other segments showed de-growth.

Vehicle sales across segments have been declining for over a year now. SIAM sales data last month compared with that of January 2019 showed that domestic passenger vehicle sales slipped 6.2 per cent to 262,714 units. The decline in car sales stood at 8.1 per cent, and two-wheelers 16.06 per cent.

Sales of commercial vehicles, an indicator of industrial health in the economy, slipped by 14.04 per cent to 75,289 units last month, while the vehicle sales across categories registered a de-growth of 13.83 per cent to 17,39,975 units from 20,19,253 units in January 2019, SIAM said.

However, Wadhera said, they were hopeful that recent government announcements on infrastructure and rural economy would support growth of vehicle sales, especially in the commercial and two-wheeler segments.

"We are looking forward to the early announcement of an incentive-based scrappage policy in the context of the recent assurances by the government," Wadhera said.

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