Presidential poll: Sangma likens himself with Obama, pins hope on 'hidden votes'

May 27, 2012

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New Delhi, May 27: Presidential hopeful P A Sangma on Saturday likened himself to US President Barack Obama indicating he will continue to canvas support for his candidature despite being rebuffed by Congress and the NCP and the lukewarm response of other parties.

The former Lok Sabha Speaker said his hopes were pinned on "big number of hidden votes" and equated himself to Obama making it to the White House. "We have (the case of) Barack Obama...Nobody thought a black man would ever occupy White House. If a black man can become the President of America, why can't an Adivasi become the President of India," the NCP leader said, whose won party NCP has refused to back him.

Interacting with members of the Indian Women's Press Corp (IWPC) Sangma said he "hopes" that a consensus would evolve on his candidature as "neither UPA nor NDA has numbers ... Besides there are a big number of hidden votes...you never know."

According to Sangma, neither Congress nor the Bharatiya Janata Party has the numbers needed to get their candidate elected to the post and the "third front like Samajwadi Party, Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Trinamool Congress (TMC) and AIADMK" will play a key role.

Sangma said that besides approaching parties, he was in touch with individual members. "The best part is that presidential election is through secret ballot and not a whip. So no one comes to know who voted for whom."

"We have to wait to see how things turn up. As of now, parties are still discussing it and there is still time left," said the leader, who started his career as a journalist in a weekly magazine in the northeast. When asked about the appropriateness of his daughter and minister in the UPA government Agatha Sangma campaigning for his presidential prospects, Sangma said she had started the campaign for a tribal candidate but stopped it as soon as he entered the fray with the support of two leaders - CMs of TN and Orissa J Jayalalithaa and Naveen Patnaik.

"My daughter is part of UPA, I am not. When I went to Chennai, P A Sangma was not a candidate...that time we were campaigning for a tribal candiate. She stopped the moment Jayalalithaa and Patnaik announced support to me....She will go by what UPA decides," Sangma said.

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News Network
February 28,2020

Hyderabad, Feb 28: The Cyber Crime Police of Hyderabad has registered an FIR against social media platforms- WhatsApp, Twitter and TikTok- for allowing people to spread anti-national activities, as per a complaint filed by one S Srishailam.

Raghuveer, Additional DCP Cyber Crimes said," We have received a court referred complaint, which was filed by S Srisailam in the concerned court stating that social media platforms Whatsapp, Twitter and TikTok are allowing few people to spread anti-national activities and videos."

S Srisailam also claimed that a few people are running a campaign against the CAA on social media platforms to spread hatred which in turn is causing damage to national integrity.

"In this regard, because the complaint was referred by a court a case has been registered against Whatsapp, Twitter & TikTok under the relevant section of Indian Penal Code and IT Act and took up the investigation," the DCP added.

He also added that the police cannot take action against these platforms as they are not banned in India but can initiate action against persons who intentionally indulge in spreading hatred.

"The police are conducting the investigation and if allegations of the complainant are found to be false then we will drop the case. We had received the case one week ago," informed the DCP.

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News Network
July 18,2020

Washington, Jul 18: The government of India has agreed to allow US air carriers to resume passenger services in the US-India market starting July 23, the US Transportation Department said on Friday.

The Indian government, citing the coronavirus, had banned all scheduled services, prompting the US Transportation Department in June to accuse India of engaging in "unfair and discriminatory practices" on charter air carriers serving India.

The Transportation Department said it was withdrawing an order it had issued requiring Indian air carriers to apply for authorization prior to conducting charter flights, and said it had approved an Air India application for passenger charter flights between the United States and India.

A group representing major US airlines and the Indian Embassy in Washington did not immediately comment on Friday.

India's Ministry of Civil Aviation said on Twitter it was moving to "further expand our international civil aviation operations" and arrangements from some flights "with US, UAE, France & Germany are being put in place while similar arrangements are also being worked out with several other countries."

"Under this arrangement," it added, "airlines from the concerned countries will be able to operate flights from & to India along with Indian carriers."

The US Transportation Department order was set to take effect next week. The Trump administration said in June it wanted "to restore a level playing field for US airlines" under the US-India Air Transport Agreement. The Indian government had banned all scheduled services and failed to approve US carriers for charter operations, it added.

The US government said in June that Air India had been operating "repatriation" charter flights between India and the United States in both directions since May 7.

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News Network
March 30,2020

New Delhi, Mar 30: The government on Monday said there was no plan to extend the 21-day lockdown which came intro force on Tuesday midnight.

The Press Information Bureau (PIB) of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting tweeted, saying Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba has denied media reports claiming that the government will extend the lockdown.

"There are rumours & media reports, claiming that the Government will extend the #Lockdown21 when it expires. The Cabinet Secretary has denied these reports, and stated that they are baseless," it said.

The 21-day lockdown is aimed at checking the spread of the coronavirus.

Following the lockdown, there has been a massive exodus of migrant workers from big cities to their villages after being rendered jobless.

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