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'Arvind Kejriwal to take on Modi in Varanasi'

March 13, 2014
New Delhi, Mar 13: The AAP has almost decided to pit former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal against Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha polls if the BJP's prime ministerial candidate contests from Varanasi.

ArKe_NaMo

AAP leader and Kejriwal confidant Manish Sisodia, who is the virtual no. 2 in the AAP, also said his party hopes to field 350-400 candidates in the April-May elections and do particularly well in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi.

"If Modi contests from Varanasi, then we have almost decided that Arvind Kejriwal will be pitted against him (Modi)," said Sisodia here. Sisodia, who was education minister in the 49-day AAP government in Delhi, hoped Modi will contest one Lok Sabha seat - not two seats -- if he is indeed a mass leader.

"Those who are afraid (of losing) contest from two seats. If he is afraid, he will fight from two seats. Let him decide." There is intense speculation that the Bharatiya Janata Party will field the Gujarat chief minister in the temple town of Varanasi in a bid to generate a pro-BJP wave in Uttar Pradesh.

Pressed to confirm that Kejriwal, 45, will be a candidate in the general election, Sisodia replied: "Personally, I feel he (Kejriwal) should contest."

The AAP, formed in November 2012, has announced 187 candidates for the Lok Sabha battle thus far. It includes a mix of the known and the unknown. Sisodia said the AAP hoped to do well in Karnataka because people there "are as much fed up with the BJP as the Congress".

One of the oldest associates of Kejriwal, Sisodia said he and his colleagues were surprised that social activist Anna Hazare had come out in support of the Trinamool Congress and its leader Mamata Banerjee.

"Annaji used to say that he will never support any political party. I am confused whether Annaji is supporting Mamata Banerjee or the Trinamool. It is fine if Annaji is only supporting a leader, not a party."

Sisodia said people in east Delhi - where he lives - and Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh had asked him to contest the election but he said he prefers to campaign for the party.He denied accusations that Kejriwal and the AAP "ran away" over the Jan Lokpal bill instead of governing Delhi .

"The truth is we did not want to form the government. Circumstances forced us to form a government.

"With 28 MLAs (legislators), the government can last only this long. More numbers are needed to run a stable government."

Sisodia underplayed the reported bickering within the AAP over ticket distribution and said the party had fielded more journalists than any other party as "they have a fair idea of what is happening on the ground".

At the same time, he accused sections of the media of unfairly targeting the AAP. "A section of the media is compromised... That are betraying the country. If we do wrong, criticize us. But they are running a smear campaign. Many stories are not based on facts."

Sisodia claimed that the AAP tour of Gujarat this month had helped expose many claims made by Modi on how the state had been developed.

"Our purpose was to get a fair idea about the condition of schools, hospitals, colleges and youths," he said, adding that 26 AAP teams visited all the districts in Gujarat.

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News Network
April 2,2020

New Delhi,  Apr 2: Muslim cleric Imam Umer Ilyasi appealed to all the individuals who attended Tablighi Jamaat congregation at Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi recently, not to hide from the government and not to be scared of it.

"I appeal to all the Muslim brothers and mosque managing committees involved in the Jamaat congregation to please come out and inform the government. You do not need to feel scared of the government," Ilyasi told news agency.

He added: "You do not need to feel scared of the government. If you are quarantined, it doesn't mean you will be punished. This is for your and other people's safety."
On the subject of people likely to be quarantined, he said that if one does get quarantined, he or she must not think those quarantine facilities are jails. "If you are quarantined, it doesn't mean you will be punished. This is for your and other people's safety. Quarantine is the cure, you do not need to worry about it," he added.

Ilyasi further appealed to the people that one must not associate religion with the coronavirus outbreak. "Islam talks about saving one person's life and securing a person's life. Do not connect the outbreak with religion as this outbreak does not affect any religion or caste in particular," he said.

With regards to the lockdown being imposed by the centre, he said: "I appeal to all that we must obey the lockdown judiciously as there is no medicine or cure for this disease."
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's latest bulletin said that there are 1,834 coronavirus positive cases in India, including 1,649 active cases, 144 cured/discharged/migrated people and 41 deaths.

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Agencies
August 7,2020

New Delhi, Aug 7: India's COVID-19 cases tally crossed 20 lakh mark with the highest single-day spike of 62,538 cases on Friday, said Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The COVID-19 tally rises to 20,27,075 including 6,07,384 active cases, 13,78,106 cured/discharged/migrated and 41,585 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.

Maharashtra with 1,46,268 active cases and 3,05,521 cured and discharged patients continues to be the worst affected. The state has also reported 16,476 deaths due to the infection.

Tamil Nadu has 54,184 active cases while 2,14,815 patients have been discharged after treatment in the state. 4,461 deaths have been reported due to COVID-19 in the state.

Andhra Pradesh with 80,426 active cases is the third on the list. There are 1,04,354 cured and discharged patients and 1,681 deaths reported from the state.

Delhi now has 10,072 active cases and 1,26,116 cured and discharged patients. 4,044 people have lost their lives due to the disease in the Union Territory so far. 

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Agencies
July 31,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 31: In Kerala, the prisoners will now work as employees in petrol pumps and take home a salary, as the Kerala government has rolled out Petrol Pumps from jail premises in association with Indian Oil Corporation.

Speaking to news agency, Rishiraj Singh, Jail DGP said that initiative to employ jail inmates in petrol pumps was taken as in Kerala there are many projects of which prisoners are a part of and are being employed.

"In petrol pumps, 15 jail inmates will be employed at each pump. The outlets of Thiruvananthapuram, Viyyur and Cheemeni jails have been started to function from today. 

Many express doubt whether the prisoners will try to escape. But my experience working with them prove otherwise. They are managing five cafeterias in the state and selling food prepared by them. We pay them Rs 220 per day for their work and the jail inmates are running it successfully particularly at COVID-19 times," he said.

The Indian Oil Corporation is investing around Rs 9.5 crore to set up four petrol pumps at the jail premises. The share of the jail department is Rs 30 lakh for setting up petroleum outlet. Other than the three presently, it will also be started in Kannur jail.

"The land has been leased to the Indian Oil Corporation for 30 years. The prisoners are employed here and for that, they underwent a training in petrol pump of IOC and the uniform will also be supplied by them, " said Rishiraj Singh About 25 cents in Thiruvananthapuram, 39 cents in Kannur, 25 cents in Viyur and 25 cents in Cheemeni open jail have been allotted.

Through this, the government will get Rs 5.9 lakh per month in rent. 

It also plans to expand the project in the future by setting up a CNG and electrical charging station. 

The petrol pumps will be also accompanied by public comfort stations.

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