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Arvind Kejriwal, arrested en route to PM's home, refuses to leave Bawana jail

[email protected] (TNN)
October 13, 2012

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New Delhi, October 13: Arvind Kejriwal, who was arrested for leading a march towards Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence, has refused to leave Bawana jail. The activist-turned-politician, who was detained along with several supporters - many of them with special needs - on Friday afternoon, is adamant that Law Minister Salman Khurshid be sacked and has decided to stay put at the makeshift jail till his demand is met with.

Mr Khurshid is in the middle of a raging controversy over alleged financial malpractices by an NGO - headed by him and run by his wife, Louise - that is meant to help special-needs people in his home state of Uttar Pradesh. Mr Kejriwal has been demanding that the minister should either quit or be fired.

"Both the minister and his wife are influential people and they can tamper with evidence," Mr Kejriwal said. Fresh from launching an as-yet-unnamed political party, Mr Kejriwal had marched towards the Prime Minister's residence at 7, Race Course Road yesterday but was stopped by the police who detained him along with other activists and took him to the makeshift jail at Rajiv Gandhi stadium in Bawana.

In a late night tweet, Mr Kejriwal alleged that the police were "selectively picking up volunteers and beating them up" to "terrorise" them. "If the government thinks that they can silence us, they are mistaken. Every such incident will strengthen our resolve to fight for our country," he said.

Police, however, denied the allegations.

Earlier on Friday, Mr Kejriwal, who gathered at the Jantar Mantar along with other activists after being stopped by the police, called on his supporters to "turn this into Tahrir Square". Later, supporters of the activist-turned-politician punctured a tyre of the bus that was leading him away, prompting his transfer to another vehicle. As he was being driven away, Mr Kejriwal, referring to Mr Khurshid, said, "Those who fight corruption are being jailed. And a corrupt minister is free."

Mr Kejriwal wanted the Prime Minister to meet differently-abled people today, but was refused an appointment. Sources in the Prime Minister's Office said that the request for the meeting was made on Friday morning, and that the Prime Minister had a full day.

Mr Kejriwal says that the Law Minister must be removed because a sting carried on a Hindi news channel earlier this week proved large-scale embezzlement of funds by his NGO. The channel claims that the NGO, which is run by Mr Khurshid's wife, forged signatures of government officials to attest that the funds were being used as intended.

Mr Khurshid has denied the charges. On Friday, he described Mr Kejriwal as a "man possessed not with any noble idea but burning ambition for which he will destroy whatever is in his path." He added that Mr Kejriwal should be aware that "the free ride is over" and that he will battle his allegations legally and on public platforms.

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News Network
March 23,2020

New Delhi, Mar 23: The total number of COVID-19 cases in the country rose to 390 on Monday after 30 fresh cases were reported.

The figure includes 41 foreign nationals and the seven deaths reported so far.

Gujarat, Bihar and Maharahstra reported a death each on Sunday, while four fatalities were reported earlier from Karnataka, Delhi, Maharashtra and Punjab, the Union Health Ministry said.

The total number of active COVID-19 cases across the country now stands at 359, while 24 people have been cured/discharged/migrated.

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Agencies
January 5,2020

New Delhi, Jan 5: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday sàid it was "shameful" that Sadaf Jafar, SR Darapuri and Pavan Rao were arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police for violence without any evidence against them.

He also said that it was a shocking admission by the police that there is no evidence of their involvement.

"Sadaf Jafar, S R Darapuri and Pavan Rao Ambedkar released on bail after police ADMITTED no evidence of their involvement in violence. Shocking admission," he said on Twitter.

"If that were so, why did the police arrest them in the first place? And how did the Magistrate remand them to custody without looking at the evidence," he asked.
"The law says 'find evidence, then arrest'. The reality is 'first arrest, then search for evidence'. Shameful," Chidambaram tweeted.

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Agencies
August 6,2020

Mumbai, Aug 6: Former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan said on Thursday that overly focusing on what sovereign rating agencies think can take one's eyes off what needs to be done for the economy.

"It is also important to convince both domestic and international investors that after the crisis associated with the pandemic is over, we will return to fiscal responsibility over the medium term, and the government should do more to convince them of that," Rajan told the Global Markets Forum.

India was placed under one of the strictest lockdowns in the world in late March for more than two months to stem the spread of the coronavirus, but cases have continued to rise steadily since the government eased restrictions in June, stymieing hopes of an economic recovery.

The government has announced several initiatives to help the poor and small- and medium-size businesses, but actual cash outgo from the government's measures has been estimated at just about 1% of GDP.

Several attribute the fiscal prudence to fear of a downgrade after Moody's cut India's rating and outlook in early June followed closely by a change in outlook from Fitch.

The central bank on its part too has reduced the key lending rate by 115 basis points on top of the 135 bps last year and is widely expected to cut rates by another 25 bps later on Thursday.

"The RBI and government have certainly been cooperating, but it seems like it is elsewhere, the ball is in the government's court to do more," Rajan said.

He said the RBI needs to focus on whether credit is reaching the stressed areas of the economy and also if the viable firms were able to access credit and not the unviable ones.

"And I think that's where it has to focus its attentions, because resources, as you well know, are limited in India today."

Recently analysts, however, have cited the growing possibility the RBI may prefer to pause and cut rates only at its October meeting.

Government officials too have suggested the possibility of any more fiscal stimulus being announced, would only come in the second half of the fiscal year, once a recovery has taken root and coronavirus cases have peaked.

"What India should focus on at this point is protecting its economic capabilities, so that when it has dealt with the virus it can go resume activity in a reasonable way. That should be the focus," Rajan said.

"And if it does that, there is no reason why the rating agencies will not see that as an appropriate policy".

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