Round 2 goes to Obama; slams Romney's outsourcing plans

October 17, 2012

obama-romney-debate-round

Washington, October 17: A decidedly more aggressive President Barack Obama went on the offensive right from the word go as he clashed with Republican challenger Mitt Romney over their conflicting visions in their second encounter.

Romney, who by all accounts bested the president in their first encounter two weeks ago to put his campaign on an upswing, in turn used Tuesday night's pivotal second encounter at Hofstra University in Long Island, New York, to recount a litany of Obama's own failings as president.outs

Meeting just three weeks before the Nov 6 presidential poll, the two contenders went at each other often on topics ranging from the economy, taxes and outsourcing to energy, women's rights and immigration in a tension filled exchange.

Coming into his own, Obama did not disappoint his supporters and aides who wanted him to put in a "stronger, more assertive performance" at the second debate after his admittedly bad night at Denver to hand over to his rival an advantage that he had enjoyed for weeks.

Debate watchers were divided on who won Tuesday night's debate with 46 percent in a CNN/ORC International survey saying Obama won the debate, while 39 percent said Romney fared better. The seven-point margin falls within the poll's sampling error.

As many as 73 percent said Obama did better than expected, compared to 37 percent who said the same about Romney.

The results offer a stark contrast from the first presidential showdown Oct 3, when 67 percent of debate watchers said Romney fared better while 25 percent said Obama won the debate.

But how far his aggressive performance would help Obama get back into the game is yet to be seen with most media reports describing the race for the White House as either a virtual tie or Obama's to lose.

A National Poll Average by Real Clear Politics, an influential political news aggregator, show Romney just 0.4 percentage points ahead with 47.4 percent to Obama's 47 percent.

But Obama still enjoys 201 to 191 vote advantage over Romney with 146 votes too close to call in the 538 strong Electoral College. It takes 270 votes to win the White House.

During the town hall format debate, where 82 uncommitted voters picked by Gallup

Organization got to ask the questions, Obama mocked Romney's five-point economic plan saying: "Governor Romney says he's got a five-point plan. Governor Romney doesn't have a five-point plan."

"He has a one-point plan. And that plan is to make sure that folks at the top play by a different set of rules," he said. "That's been his philosophy in the private sector. That's been his philosophy as a governor. And that's been his philosophy as a presidential candidate."

Romney shot back that Obama was "great as a speaker, but his policies don't work."

"That's what this election is all about," Romney said, saying he would prioritise middle class growth. "It's about how we can get the middle class of this country a bright and prosperous future."

The two also clashed over the Sep 11 terrorist attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya that killed four Americans, with Romney suggesting the Obama administration played politics by failing to immediately acknowledge what happened.

Obama shot back that the suggestion anyone in his administration would play politics on such an issue was "offensive". When Obama said he called it a terrorist attack the very next day, Romney challenged him, and Obama responded "check the transcript".

Moderator Candy Crowley, the CNN chief political correspondent, cut in to say both men were right -- Obama called it a terrorist attack when he said he did, but the administration took longer to fully explain what occurred.



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News Network
March 31,2020

Washington, Mar 31: The United States has performed over one million coronavirus tests so far, said President Donald Trump on Monday.

"Today, we reached a historic milestone in our war against coronavirus. Over 1 million Americans have now been tested, more than any other country by far, not even close," Trump said during a press briefing.

US Health Secretary Alex Azar said that approximately 100,000 samples are tested for coronavirus daily.

The number of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases within the United States surpassed 150,000 and the death toll has reached 2828, according to Johns Hopkins University. 

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News Network
March 18,2020

Washington, Mar 18: Hundreds of distressed Indian students, stuck in the Philippines, are seeking help through video messages as they are unable to fly back home due to the travel restrictions imposed by India to contain the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus, according to friends and relatives of some of these students in the US.

The Indian government on Tuesday banned the entry of passengers from Afghanistan, Philippines and Malaysia to India with immediate effect amid stepped up efforts against the spread of COVID-19.

In a video message by one of these students Akhil Bala Nair, around 200 Indian students had booked their flight tickets for India in the next few days. But all of them have been cancelled due to the new policy.

Most of the students, she said, had booked their flights for March 17 and rest were schedule to travel to India on March 19 and 20. But the flights were cancelled and scores of Indian students are now stuck at the airport in Manila, Nair said in the video message sent to Prem Bhandari, head of the Jaipur Foot USA.

“It is need of the hour that the Indian government send a plane to bring these Indian students back home,” Bhandari, who in the past has worked for the cause of the Indian diaspora, and who was approached by these students told PTI.

According to these students, some 100 of them have been at the airport since Tuesday.

They all have confirmed tickets but the airport authorities are not allowing them to check in because of the new travel regulations.

While the airport authorities have asked them to go back to their respective place of residence, the students said they were unable to travel because of the absence of local taxi or shared ride services.

The students said that they are running out of time as the Philippines government has given them 72 hours time to exit the country, which started from March 16, after which the country will go into lockdown.

“This means we would not be able to travel anywhere outside Philippines after March 20,” Nair said in her message.

The students said that there are many of them who have applied for renewal of their visas and are unable to travel to India.

There are nearly 1,000 Indian students presently in Manila who are willing to travel back home, they said.

Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy in Manila, in a tweet, said that they, along with the Ministry of External Affairs, are trying to work out a solution.

“It is requested to all to kindly have patience,” the embassy said.

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News Network
February 13,2020

Feb 13: Two Indian crew on board a cruise ship off the Japanese coast have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the Indian Embassy in Japan said on Wednesday as authorities confirmed that 174 people have been infected with the deadly disease.

The cruise ship Diamond Princess with 3,711 people on board arrived at the Japanese coast early last week and was quarantined after a passenger who de-boarded last month in Hong Kong was found to be the carrier of the novel virus on the ship.

A total of 138 Indians, including passengers and crew, were on board the ship.

“Due to the suspicion of novel coronavirus (nCoV) infection, the ship has been quarantined by the Japanese authorities till February 19, 2020,” the embassy said in a statement.

“Altogether 174 people have been tested positive for nCoV, including two Indian crew members,” it said.

All the infected people have been taken to hospitals for adequate treatment, including further quarantine, in accordance with the Japanese health protocol, it said.

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