‘‘Burqa’ of secularism is better than nakedness of communalism’

July 15, 2013

New Delhi, Jul 15: A day after Narendra Modi listed what he described as the many failures of the government, the Congress issued a detailed rebuttal, challenging what it sardonically described as the BJP leader's "gyaan." ajay_maken

At the top of its list was to challenge Mr Modi's accusation that the Congress falls upon the "burqa (veil) of secularism" when it is mired in a multitude of shortcomings.

"I believe the burqa of secularism is way better than the nakedness of communalism," said Ajay Maken, the head of the Congress's Communications Department.

The new war of words comes after a weekend during which Mr Modi faced severe criticism for his remark on the communal riots that lacerated his state in 2002. "If someone else is driving a car and we're sitting behind, even then if a puppy comes under the wheel, will it be painful or not? Of course it is," the Gujarat Chief Minister had said in an interview to news agency Reuters.

Mr Maken also devoted the rest of a lengthy press conference to challenge Mr Modi's own record on sectors like education and sports in his state.

In Pune yesterday, addressing his first public rally since he was made campaign chief of his party, the Gujarat Chief Minister pilloried the government's economic and other policies, including the new scheme that entitles nearly 800 million Indians to subsidised food, designed as a major vote-getter by the Congress.

"Out of 444 gold medals, how many did Gujarat win? Zero," said Mr Maken, referring to the National Games held in Jharkhand in 2011.

Earlier this morning, Union minister Shashi Tharoor used Twitter to target Mr Modi. "Modi says we "hide behind the burqa of secularism". Preferable, surely, to the khaki shorts of intolerance & hatred that he now tries to hide?" he posted.

Congress flays Modi

Hitting out at Narendra Modi over his veil of secularism remark, Congress today said the "cloak of secularism" envelopes all faiths while the veil of communalism is sectarian and the country is witnessing a clash of these two visions.

Congress leader and Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said the choice before people was an inclusive India or an India which is sectarian.

"The cloak of secularism is all pervasive. It envelopes Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Jains - people of all faiths. While the veils of communalism are extremely sectarian. They believe, in their language people whom they qualify as 'kutte ka bachcha', which you (media) translated as puppies, should be crushed under the wheels of communalism," he told reporters here.

Modi had yesterday charged Congress with wearing the "burqa (veil) of secularism" and "hiding in a bunker" each time it is confronted with a crisis.

Tewari said, "This polarisation is not about Hindus versus Muslims, it is not about those who are the sufferers of a pogrom and those who inflicted the pogrom. It is about the basic idea of India, what kind of India we want to see".

"An India where people of all faiths, all religions, all dispensations, all inclinations have the right to progress in peace or an India which is sectarian in character, where some people believe that if you are not with us, you are against us and if you are against us, you deserve to be crushed under the wheels of communalism. I think that is the question we need to answer," he said.

The Congress leader said that the country had to choose between an inclusive vision and one that was sectarian and majoritarian.

"I think we are again back to basics, the fundamental clash of visions. The vision of the Congress party is pluralistic and inclusive. And the vision of the section of the opposition has been sectarian, majoritarian and communal right from the beginning," he said.

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Agencies
May 26,2020

New Delhi, May 26: The in-fighting among the residents of housing societies over feeding of stray dogs is nowhere near ending, with yet another attack on a pregnant Russian woman again in the national capital region this time in Noida.

The Russian woman residing in a condominium in Noida's Sector 71 was allegedly attacked by two men for feeding foundling canines inside the complex.

"We have initiated an inquiry and a case has been registered against the men for voluntarily causing hurt and criminal intimidation," Amit Kumar Singh, Station House Officer of Phase 3 police station told IANS.

The police said that the victim is married to an Indian man and they live in that society.

The issue was raked up on social media by one of the residents of the society. Her post had even solicited a response and help from the Noida Police Commissioner.

Kaveri Rana Bharadwaj wrote, "Mob led by Vikas Sharma, and Mr. Chauhan beat up a pregnant woman in Jagriti Apartment, Sector 71 Noida. Request you to immediately arrest these men and provide security to the scared woman!"

When contacted, a member of the Resident Welfare Association (RWA) of the society said that the allegations levied by her are false and that he, along with a handful of other people, had only asked her not to feed the dogs.

Vikas Sharma divulged, "The woman was called at the society gate by the members of the RWA. When she was asked not to feed the street dogs, she became aggressive, started fighting with the residents of the society and even pushed a 70-year-old woman. The complaint that she registered against us is false. We did not even touch her."

He added that there are 70-80 street dogs in the society who have lately become extremely aggressive. "The lady was asked not to feed them as people feared stepping out of their houses and getting bitten."

In another incident on Tuesday, a Greater Noida man beat up a Chinese woman for allegedly fostering a stray dog which bit his canine.

Greater Noida District Commissioner of Police Rajesh Kumar Singh told IANS that the man named Amar Pratap Singh of ATS Paradiso misbehaved with the woman after his dog was bit by another dog who she used to feed every day.

The incident happened in the wee hours of the day when the accused took his dog out for a walk. "After his dog was bitten, in a fit of rage, he misbehaved with the Chinese woman." A Non-Cognizable Report (NCR) has been registered and no arrests have been made so far, the police said.

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News Network
April 17,2020

New Delhi, Apr 17: Prime minister Narendra Modi on Thursday held talks with Jordan King Abdullah II and discussed the challenges posed to the world by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The two leaders discussed the challenges posed to the world by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the steps being taken in their respective countries to limit its impact," an official statement said.

Prime Minister conveyed his greetings to Abdullah II and the people of Jordan for the upcoming Holy month of Ramadan which commences late next week.

The leaders agreed that their teams would remain in touch on issues related to COVID-19, as well as on other regional and global issues.

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Wellwisher
 - 
Friday, 17 Apr 2020

Fit for only discuss and diya and to lit candles.Rest of world leaders are struggling to save their citizen and Nation from this pandemic. Till when -----?.

 

For India only the organisation's and social welfare group and well wishers are in the field and helping.

Definitely with the blessings of patriot Indians they will succeed and they all will continue with their noble cause.

Jai Hind

 

 

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News Network
May 7,2020

New Delhi, May 7: Food ordering and delivery platform Swiggy on Thursday said its co-founder and CTO Rahul Jaimini will move away from active role in the company during the month to pursue another entrepreneurial venture.

Jaimini will be joining Pesto Tech, a career accelerator start-up, as their co-founder, Swiggy said in a statement.

He will continue to be a shareholder and board member of Swiggy, it added.

Functions currently led by Rahul, including platform engineering, analytics, IT and labs, will be realigned to Dale Vaz, Head of Engineering and Data Science, who has been with the company for close to two years, the statement said.

"Technology was crucial to what we set out to build when we started Swiggy. Nandan (Reddy) and I could not have asked for a better partner to handle this aspect of the company," Swiggy co-founder and CEO Sriharsha Majety said.

It was Rahul's immense passion to 'build for the billions' that drove technological innovations that set Swiggy apart as we grew phenomenally over the years, he added.

"Working with technology that has large scale impact is what excites me, and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to do just this at Swiggy and grow tremendously over the years," Jaimini said.

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