I won't quit, will speak to Rahul: Manmohan

October 2, 2013

Manmohan1

On board Prime Minister’s special aircraft, Oct 2: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday ruled out his resignation in the wake of Rahul Gandhi’s attack on his government on the issue of the ordinance to protect convicted lawmakers.

“There is no question of resigning,” Mr. Singh told reporters, asserting that he does not get “upset easily.”

Several observers and Opposition leaders have said that Rahul Gandhi’s description of the ordinance as “complete nonsense” that should be “torn up and thrown away” amounted to an insult of the Prime Minister and undermined his authority, especially when he was on a foreign visit.

Dr. Singh said he would try to find out why Rahul Gandhi made a public statement and “why it had to be that way.” “I am not the master of what people say. It has happened and as I said when I go back I will try to find out why it happened that way and how do we handle it,” he said.

Speaking to journalists on the way back home from Frankfurt, the Prime Minister said he would discuss the issue with Mr. Gandhi and “it is always possible to change one’s mind.”

He referred to his earlier statement and noted: “I said I will put up all these issues before my Cabinet colleagues. These are all matters which were discussed before the highest body, the core group of the Congress. The Cabinet discussed this matter twice, not once.”

Answering questions on the controversy, he said he takes everything in his stride and “I don’t get upset easily, even when you ask.” Dr. Singh said: “He has written to me on this subject also and let me say that when issues are raised in a democracy, in a democratic polity, the right course is to start with and try to understand what is agitating the mind of the concerned people.”

“When I go back, I will discuss these matters with Rahul Gandhi. He has asked for a meeting with me and I will also take my Cabinet colleagues into confidence,” he added.

Dr. Singh was asked whether one individual, no matter how senior he might be in the party, should have the space to undermine the decisions taken by the Cabinet and the Congress Core Group and whether his authority was undermined. “No, I don’t feel that way. I honestly feel that if there is an important point of view, any member of the Congress, any member of my Cabinet is free to raise issues and seek reconsideration of issues,” he replied.

Dr. Singh said his government may have made “some mistakes” during the last nine years of its rule but has done “a lot of good things” which he hoped the “generous” people will take into account while voting. “I sincerely hope all secular forces will combine to face the onslaught of people like Narendra Modi. You will see that will happen when people realise what they are in for.”

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Agencies
February 23,2020

Motera, Feb 23: A day before US President Donald Trump's visit to Ahmedabad, a makeshift VVIP entry gate erected outside the newly-built cricket stadium in Motera area here collapsed due to gusty winds on Sunday morning, an official said.

The entire incident was recorded by a bystander and aired on local television channels.

The makeshift entry gate was made of welded steel rods and covered in flex banners.

After some time, a portion of another makeshift gate structure at the stadium's main entrance also collapsed due to the windy weather, another official said.

No one was injured in both the incidents and work was underway to put the structures back in place, he said.

"The (VVIP) entry gate collapsed when fabrication work was going on. It was not a major incident. No one was injured in the incident," said Special Commissioner of Police, Crime Branch, Ajay Tomar said.

President Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in a roadshow here on Monday and later address the 'Namaste Trump' event at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera area where over one lakh people are expected to be present.

The stadium has already received 'Building Use' permission from the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, an official earlier said.

It is the world's largest stadium with a capacity to accommodate 1.10 lakh spectators.

The stadium has been rebuilt after demolishing the old one which had a seating capacity of 49,000 spectators.

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News Network
March 3,2020

New Delhi, Mar 3: A day after two new cases of novel coronavirus that included one from Delhi were reported, the Health Ministry on Tuesday said six cases with "high-viral load" were detected during sample testing in Agra and these people have been kept in isolation. The six people had come in contact with a 45-year-old patient from Delhi, whose case came to light on Monday, and they include his family members.

According to government sources, the man, who is a resident of Mayur Vihar, had visited them in Agra.

The six have been kept in isolation at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi and their samples are being sent to NIV, Pune for confirmation.

Contact tracing of the people who came in contact with the six is simultaneously being done through the Integrated Disease Surveillance Program (IDSP) network, the ministry said in a statement.

Sources said the patient from Mayur Vihar was shifted to a quarantine ward at Safdarjung Hospital on Sunday night.

His other family members have been asked to stay alert and look out for symptoms. One accountant, who came in contact with the man and some of his family members, was also quarantined, they said.

India on Monday reported two new cases of the novel coronavirus, one from Delhi and another one from Hyderabad. The government has stepped up its efforts to detect and check the infection which has killed 2,912 people in China.

On Monday, Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma had said that an Italian tourist tested positive for coronavirus in Jaipur.

The first sample collected from him on February 29 tested negative but his condition deteriorated, so a second sample was collected which tested positive on Monday, the minister said, adding, "Since there is a variation in the reports, the samples have been sent to the NIV, Pune for testing".

India had earlier reported three cases from Kerala, including two medical students from Wuhan in China, the epicentre of the deadly novel coronavirus. They had self-reported on their return to the country and tested positive for the infection. They were discharged from hospitals last month following recovery.

The infected person from Delhi had travelled to Italy, while the other patient who tested positive for the COVID-19 infection is from Telangana and had recently travelled to Dubai.

Both the patients had self-reported after they developed symptoms.

"They tested positive. They are stable and being closely monitored," ministry said on Monday.

The government has asked people to avoid non-essential travel to Iran, Italy, South Korea and Singapore and said India was in discussions with authorities in Iran and Italy, two countries badly affected by the infection, to evacuate Indians there.

The novel coronavirus or COVID-19, which originated in China, has spread to over 60 countries.

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Agencies
May 17,2020

Mumbai, May 17: Much on expected lines, Maharashtra, on Sunday, extended the coronavirus lockdown till May 31, in order to control the spread of the virus, under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, the state government said in a statement.

On Sunday afternoon, Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta, in a notification said: "It is further directed that all earlier orders shall be aligned with this order and remain in force up to and inclusive of May 31, 2020. The calibrated phase-wise relaxation or lifting of lockdown orders will be notified in due course."

"Lockdown 3.0 ends today. Lockdown 4.0 will come into effect tomorrow and will be valid till May 31. There will be some relaxations in the fourth phase," he said.

"The green and orange zones will get more relaxations, in terms of starting more services. As of now only essential services are operational, he said.

Maharashtra has recorded 30,706 COVID-19 cases of which 22,479 are active. The death toll is 1135, while 7,088 patients have been discharged after recovery.

In exercise of the powers conferred under Section 2 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1898 and the powers, conferred under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, the Chairperson, State Executive Committee, issued direction to extend the lockdown till 31 May 2020 for containment of COVID-19 epidemic in the State and all Departments of Government of Maharashtra shall strictly implement the guidelines issued earlier form time to time, according to the statement.

Over the last two days,  Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray held a series of meetings with his ministerial colleagues, senior leaders including NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and top officials. 

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