Manmohan Singh no less than A Raja: Arun Jailtey on coal block allocations

August 24, 2012

New Delhi, August 24: There were no signs of an end to the deadlock in Parliament with BJP indicating further escalation of the confrontation over the CAG report on the coal block allocation issue in the remaining part of the monsoon session.

Opposition BJP hasn't allowed the Parliament to function for the last three days demanding the Prime Minister's resignation over the issue. Their argument is if former Telecom Minister A Raja had to step down for his alleged role in the 2G scam, the same logic should apply to the Prime Minister.

"We want to compel this government, push it to a corner as the accountability standards for the Prime minister are higher than what they were for A Raja,” Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said.

Speaking to CNN-IBN, Jaitley said, "This government has used the corrupt, those being prosecuted under prevention of corruption act by misusing investigative agencies to manipulate the political class of this country."

Meanwhile, UPA II's reform agenda has been pushed to a corner. Almost 100 bills are waiting for an approval by the Parliament and the government's efforts seem to be losing steam as it tries to work against a deadline of the 2014 elections.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday decided to take the charge asking her MPs to go on the offensive on the issue. The usually calm Congress president told her MPs: "We don't need to be defensive. It is wrong. We must attack. They cannot take people for granted."

However, amidst the tough stance taken by both the sides, for the first time in three days on Thursday, there were attempts to break the ice as the presiding officers of both the Houses called the leaders for a meeting.

Though the BJP did not attend the meeting, it conveyed its willingness to come to the talking table on Monday.

Also, from the government, Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde met Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj.

The government, however, maintained that it did not visualise the deadlock ending before next week. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said talks to end the stalemate were not possible before Monday. He said the week is likely to be lost due to disruption. "I am told that tomorrow also the Houses will not function," he said.

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Protest in Kerala's Idukki demanding protection from wild elephants

Agencies

June 8,2020

Idukki, Jun 8: Devikulam MLA S Rajendran from CPM along with supporters staged a protest by blocking the Munnar-Udumalpet interstate highway here on Monday, demanding that action to be taken to prevent wild elephants entering into human settlements and destroying properties.

The protest started at 9.30 am and demand was made that senior forest officials should give them assurance of putting an end to the problem.

A police team led by Munnar Deputy Superintendent of Police (SP) Ramesh Kumar was camping in the area.

Wild elephants from the nearby forest are frequently trespassing into Munnar and last night two elephants destroyed a vegetable shop in the town.

If it was a lone elephant that the locals nicknamed as Padayappa that used to enter the human settlement, now along with him a baby elephant is also coming to the town at night.

The locals have named the second elephant Ganeshan. Though there were instances of them destroying crops and eating from vegetable shops, till now the duo has not attacked humans.

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I and B Minister Prakash Javadekar condemns alleged attack on Arnab Goswami

News Network

April 23,2020

New Delhi, Apr 23: Union Information and Broadcasting Minister, Prakash Javadekar, on Thursday condemned the attack on Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami saying that this is "against democracy".

"We condemn the attempt to attack renowned journalist Arnab Goswami. Essentially, we condemn every attack on any journalist. Because this is against democracy," the Union Minister said.

"It is really ironical that those who preach tolerance have become so intolerant. Therefore, we condemn this attempt. We appeal to the collective wisdom that this is undemocratic. As per present law, definitely, police takes action, if there is a complaint," said Javadekar.

Two persons were arrested on Thursday morning for allegedly attacking Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami and his wife Samyabrata Ray in Mumbai.

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Javedkar is blind not to accept Arnab's venomous statement in deciding the nation. He is another shameless

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11 Indian universities among top 100 for emerging economies

News Network

February 19,2020

London, Feb 19: Indian universities had a good performance year within the emerging economies of the world as a record 11 made it to the top 100 Times Higher Education's (THE) Emerging Economies University Rankings 2020.

Only China has more universities than India in the top 100 at 30 from a total of 47 countries and territories included in the analysis released in London on Tuesday evening.

A total of 56 Indian universities appear in the full ranking of a total of 533 universities across emerging economies of the world.

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), ranked 16th, is India’s top-ranked institution followed by the Indian Institute of Technologies (IITs).

"There has long been a debate about the success of Indian universities in world rankings, and for too long they have been seen as underperforming on the global stage," notes Phil Baty, Chief Knowledge Officer for the THE.

"The Emerging Economies University Rankings 2020 suggests that real progress is being made by a number of institutions in a number of metrics across our robust methodology, and could mark an exciting turning point for Indian higher education, enabled in part by the Institutes of Eminence scheme," he said.

The Indian government’s Institutes of Eminence scheme was established in 2017 and one of its participating universities, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, has entered the top 100 for the first time, moving up a huge 51 places from joint 141st in 2019.

The other universities included in the Institutes of Eminence scheme that appear in the top 100 mark the biggest improvers in the ranking with IIT Kharagpur moving up 23 places to 32nd, IIT Delhi improving by 28 places to joint 38th and IIT Madras climbing 12 places to joint 63rd.

The Institutes of Eminence scheme provides participating universities with government funding and greater autonomy with the aim of moving them into the top 100 of the world university rankings, including Times Higher Education’s World University Ranking, over time.

The expectation is that this will be achieved through a number of changes including an increase in foreign students and staff, offering online courses and encouraging academic collaboration with other top universities around the world.

This year marks only the second time that 11 Indian institutions have held top 100 positions since the ranking began in 2014, when much fewer universities took part in the ranking globally.

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