BJP is known forming govt even after losing polls; Cong-JD(S) ended trend: Yechury

Agencies
May 23, 2018

New Delhi, MAY 22: The ripples created by the Karnataka results have refused to die down in the CPM with general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Tuesday virtually rejecting an editorial in the party mouthpiece that pilloried Congress.

A communique issued by the CPM polit bureau acknowledged the developments in Karnataka, where the "BJP-RSS attempts to cobble a majority through horse-trading have been thwarted".

"The BJP has perfected the art of losing elections and then forming the governments. This trend has been stopped with the formation of a government by the JD(S) and Congress," he told a press conference a day after the polit bureau meeting.

He said the developments in Karnataka are the "beginning of a big political change" in the country and he, along with Kerala Chief Minster Pinarayi Vijayan, would attend the swearing-in.

His remarks come days after Peoples Democracy, edited by Polit Bureau (PB) member Prakash Karat, described the Karnataka results as a "big loss" to the Congress and criticised its chief Rahul Gandhi's temple visits, saying it "proved to be a flawed and compromising approach" to counter the Hindutva forces".

When asked about the editorial in the party mouthpiece, Yechury said, "you have the PB communique. That is the party line."

Yechury's subtle public comments against the editorial comes amid signals that the faction led by Karat, which takes a stringent anti-Congress line in the fight against the BJP, does not want to water down their Opposition to the main Opposition party.

The editorial last week also came at a time when Yechury was holding discussions to convince the JD(S) leadership, which was speculated to be warming up to the BJP, not to dump the secular camp.

The party has been witnessing a tussle between supporters of Yechury and Karat on whether the CPM should have an understanding with the Congress to counter the BJP.

Yechury, who argues for a broad-based understanding with all secular parties that includes the Congress, had managed, in the Party Congress, to amend the draft political resolution to keep the options open for an electoral understanding with the Congress.

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News Network
January 28,2020

New Delhi, Jan 28: Kolkata Metro Rail Corp expects to complete its East-West project, which runs partly under the city’s iconic Hooghly river, by March 2022 after a delay of several years doubled costs.

The authority is awaiting a final installment of Rs 20 crore ($2.8 million) over the next two years from the Indian Railway Board, said Manas Sarkar, managing director at KMRC. A soft loan of Rs 4,160 crore from Japan International Cooperation Agency helps fund 48.5% of the project.

India’s oldest metro, which started in 1984 with a North-South service, was due to expand by 2014 but faced problems including squatters on the planned route. These issues have contributed to the total project cost rising to about Rs 8,600 crore for some 17 kilometers from Rs 4,900 crore for 14 km.

“About 40% of total transport demand will be tackled by these two metro services,” Sarkar said in an interview at his office in Kolkata. “It will be a relief for environmental pollution and the city should be much more decongested.”

The new line is expected to carry about 900,000 people daily, -- roughly 20% of the city’s population -- and will take less than a minute to cross a 520-meter underwater tunnel. Depending on the time of day, it takes some 20 minutes to use the ferry and anywhere upward of an hour to cross the Howrah bridge.

KMRC will repay the JICA loan over 30 years after an initial six-year moratorium. The interest rate is between 1.2% to 1.6%. The East-West metro project is 74% owned by the railway ministry and 26% by the ministry of housing and urban affairs.

“We don’t anticipate any further cost escalation now,” Sarkar said.

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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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Agencies
May 17,2020

New Delhi, May 17: With the highest-ever spike of close to 5,000 cases in the past 24 hours, the COVID-19 count in India has crossed 90,000 on Sunday.

With an increase of 4,987 COVID-19 cases being reported in the last 24 hours, the count has reached 90,927, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The total number of active cases in the country stands at 53,946 today, while 2,872 deaths have been recorded due to the infection so far, with one patient having migrated. 120 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.

However, on the positive side, close to 4,000 patients have also been cured and discharged in the past 24 hours, taking the tally of cured patients to 34,108.

With 30,706 confirmed cases, Maharashtra remains the worst-affected by the infection in the country.

It is followed by Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, with 10,988 and 10,585 cases, respectively.
The national capital, with 9,333 cases, is also one of the regions which is badly affected by the infection.

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