Modi vs Nitish: NDA cannot come to power with a 'fanatic face', JD(U) says

June 20, 2012

modi-nitish

New Delhi, June 20: Making clear its aversion for Narendra Modi, JD(U) today virtually gave an ultimatum to BJP to desist from projecting the Gujarat chief minister as NDA's prime ministerial candidate or be ready to snap the alliance.

The warning was given by party general secretary Shivanand Tiwari, who said that NDA cannot come to power with a "fanatic face" and JD(U) will not compromise on principles on which it had joined the opposition alliance in 1996.

After Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar's strong pitch for a "secular" prime ministerial candidate for NDA, Tiwari took the anti-Modi tone in JD(U) to a new decibel.

He said that surveys indicate that had the former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee dismissed Modi government in Gujarat for the post-Godhara riots in 2002, NDA would have still been in power and not lost the 2004 general elections.

"People who voted for BJP due to liberal face of Vajpayee went away from it after Gujarat riots and the floating votes went to Congress because people do not accept fanatic politics. Those people in BJP who want the party to come to power will have to realize that they cannot do it by putting a fanatic face in the front," Tiwari said in an apparent reference to Modi.

He said while Vajpayee had asked Modi to follow the 'Raj Dharma' and wanted the government to go, the move was "vetoed" by BJP leaders like LK Advani.

Tiwari said JD (U) will not compromise on the secular framework based on which it had become a part of NDA, maintaining, "We will not compromise whether our government remains in Bihar or not."

JD(U) chief and NDA convener Sharad Yadav declined to comment on the spat as Nitish Kumar's remarks invited criticism from RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.

"Nitish Kumar is a responsible person. If he has said something on which somebody else has said something, what is the need for me to paraphrase it further," was his brief remark on the issue.

Yadav refused to answer questions on what was the sudden provocation for the Bihar Chief Minister to talk about NDA's prime ministerial candidate.

Shivanand Tiwari, however, said that there appears to be two lines of thinking in BJP today.

"One is that there is a need for a larger group like NDA if it wants to return to power as a government cannot be formed by propping up a fanatic face. The second line of thinking is to go back to its pre-1996 ideology.

"This is what is being reflected from the statement of the RSS chief. We want to tell Bhagwat that the country does not approve of this ideology and the BJP cannot form a government on the basis of such an ideology," Tiwari said.

"BJP had realised in 1996 itself that they cannot form a government in the country on the basis of their hardcore Hindutva agenda and, hence, NDA was formed after it agreed to drop the three contentious issues of Uniform Civil Code, withdrawal of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir and construction of Ram temple," Tewari said, maintaining that the changed stance had the backing of RSS.

Reacting to Tiwari's statement, BJP leader Balbir Punj said, "This is a needless controversy. Nobody has a right in this country to give fatwa as to who is secular and who is not. People have their opinions."

Another senior party leader in JD(U), speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Kumar's remarks for a "secular" NDA prime ministerial candidate reflects the larger sentiment in JD(U), which is uncomfortable with Modi's projection in BJP.

"At the same time, this is also a snub to the Gujarat chief minister, who a week ago blamed caste politics by leaders of Bihar and UP for the lack of development in these states," the leader said.

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News Network
January 13,2020

New Delhi, Jan 13: Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, has fired around 50 of its India executives as part of its restructuring in the country, three sources with direct knowledge said.

The move underscores the struggles Walmart has faced in expanding its wholesale business in India. The Bentonville, Arkansas based company currently operates 28 wholesale stores where it sells goods to small shopkeepers, and not to retail consumers.

The firings mostly affected executives in the company’s real estate division because the growth in the wholesale model has not been that robust, two of the sources said.

“It’s happening because focus is shifting to e-commerce rather than physical (stores),” said one source, who declined to be identified as the decision is not public.

Walmart did not respond to a request for comment.

Walmart has placed bold bets on India’s e-commerce sector. In 2018, it paid $16 billion to acquire a majority stake in India’s online marketplace Flipkart, in its biggest global acquisition.

The second source added that while Walmart could slow down the pace of opening new wholesale stores, the focus will increasingly be on boosting sales through business-to-business and retail e-commerce.

Some of the executives were sacked last week and more could be let go on Monday, two sources said.

In a statement to India’s Economic Times newspaper, which first reported the news, Walmart said it was always looking for ways to operate more effectively and that “this requires us to review our corporate structure to ensure that we are organized in the right way to best meet the needs of our members.”

Walmart has around 600 staff in its India head office out of a total of around 5,300 nationally, one of the sources said.

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News Network
July 5,2020

New Delhi, Jul 5: World's largest, 10,000-bed Sardar Patel COVID Care Centre and Hospital (SPCCCH) at Radha Soami Satsang Beas in Chhatarpur area of the national capital has made operational on Sunday.

Inaugurated by Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Anil Baijal, the facility has been created on an emergency basis by the South Delhi District Administration with support of the Ministry of Home Affairs in a record time of 10 days.
Notably, this coronavirus treatment centre which is set up in Chhatarpur area of the national capital is said to be the "largest" of its kind in the world.
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"The Sardar Patel COVID Care Centre and Hospital has been developed to help the citizens of Delhi and NCR who are affected by the coronavirus. Our team of doctors and medical staffs will take care of this facility. Sardar Patel COVID Care Centre and Hospital will have 10 per cent of beds with oxygen facility," the Delhi LG said after the inaugural.
Talking about the facilities at the new coronavirus centre, Baijal further stated, "We have counsellors for mentally traumatised patients. We have a team of good psychiatrists and specialists in medicine."

The facility will function as an isolation centre for mild and asymptomatic COVID positive patients. 10 per cent of the beds will have oxygen facility in case the patient develops severe breathlessness and requires tertiary hospital care, read a statement.

Operationally, the facility has been linked to the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital and Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital. The referral tertiary care hospitals are Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital and Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital.

ITBP will be running the first 2,000 beds with their 170 doctors/specialists and more than 700 nurses and paramedics, the statement added.
Most of the basic infrastructure such as beds, mattresses and linen has been donated by various civil society organisations and non-governmental organisations. 

A recreational centre has been made available to the patients along with a library, board games and skipping ropes. People admitted to the facility will be provided five healthy meals a day along with immunity-boosting chawanprash, juices and hot kadha, the statement added.

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News Network
January 21,2020

Amaravati, Jan 21: Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu and at least 17 MLAs of his party were taken in police custody late on Monday as they tried to conduct a foot march from the state assembly to nearby Mandadam village in violation of prohibitory orders.

TDP leaders started off on the march after staging a sit-in near the assembly main entrance following the suspension of 17 MLAs from the House for the day.

They were protesting the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020, that was passed by the assembly, enabling the establishment of three capitals for the state.

The TDP leaders were taken to the Mangalagiri police station.

Meanwhile, tensions prevailed at the Jana Sena Party headquarters at Mangalagiri as police prevented its president Pawan Kalyan from proceeding to the Amaravati region to speak to protesters fighting for the retention of only one capital for the state.

DIG Kanti Rana Tata and other senior police officials reached the Sena office and blocked the exit of Kalyan and political affairs committee chairman Nadendla Manohar, resulting in an argument.

Kalyan asked how could police impose restrictions within his own office.

Scores of Sena workers gathered outside the office even as a large posse of police was posted to thwart Kalyan and other leaders' plans.

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