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Manmohan Singh cannot be kept out of CBI probe: Jaitley

October 18, 2013

JaitleyNew York, Oct 18: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cannot be kept out of the CBI probe into the controversial coal block allocation as he was the "competent authority" when the decision was taken, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said today.

Naming industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla and former coal secretary P C Parakh by the CBI in its FIR sent a "very, very adverse" signal that investors and civil servants will face investigation for irregularities, while the "competent authority" in the case, the Prime Minister who held the coal portfolio, "will go scot-free", Jaitley said.

He said successive corruption scandals like the spectrum and coal blocks allocation are adding to the "disillusionment" towards the UPA government.

"This (coal block allocation) case is going to send a very, very adverse signal to both international and domestic investors," Jaitley told PTI here.

The Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha said it defied logic that a secretary to the government who recommends a coal block should be made an accused in an FIR filed by the CBI but the minister who sanctions the blocks should be out of it.

"The competent authority was the minister, the minister in this case happened to be the Prime Minister," he said. Jaitley said Parakh was only a "recommending authority" but has been named as an accused in the FIR. "The automatic corollary of this has to be that the minister in charge, who was the Prime Minister, cannot be kept out. He is the competent authority."

The FIR has named Parakh and Birla for criminal conspiracy and under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act in the allocation of two coal blocks in Odisha in 2005.Jaitley described Birla as "one of the doyens of the industry" and Parakh as an "an honest civil servant" who as a "dissenter" in the coal bloc allocation had recommended auction of coal.

"This case sends three signals. The investor is being told that if you invest in India, years later your projects and allocations can be reviewed by the investigating agencies and the head of your organisation will face criminal investigation.

"The politician is being told that the civil servant will be liable and the competent authority, who is the politician, will go scot free."

Jaitley added that the treatment meted out to Parakh is a warning to bureaucrats that "even the most honest civil servants will be investigated." The "net effect" will be that apart from foreign investments drying up, even domestic investors "will now be compelled to go outside." "This sends a very bad signal to investment. If honest civil servants are going to be squeezed to save the politicians, bureaucrats will stop making honest recommendations," he said.

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News Network
May 9,2020

Thrissur, May 9: Five people were arrested for allegedly conducting congregational prayers at a mosque here in violationofthe COVID-19 lockdown norms.

A case was registered against five people for conducting evening prayers on Friday, police said.

We received information that prayers were being conducted in the mosque, they said adding they were held at Eriyad Masjidul Bilal mosque here.

On Friday, four people, including the president of a local temple trust, were arrested for allegedly conducting a religious recitation in a temple here in violation of lockdown restrictions.

Though lockdown conditions have been eased in accordance with the Centre's guidelines, public gatherings, including functions, weddings, political events and religious gatherings were not allowed.

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News Network
May 27,2020

New Delhi, May 27: Professor Johan Giesecke of the Karolinska Institute, Sweden, on Wednesday claimed that India will ruin its economy very quickly if it had a severe lockdown.

Claiming that a strict lockdown may disrupt India's economic growth, Giesecke during an interaction with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said: "In India, you will do more harm than good with strict lockdown measures. India will ruin its economy very quickly if it had a severe lockdown."

While calling for a soft lockdown approach in India, he suggested that India has to ease restrictions one by one. It may, however, take months to completely come out of lockdown, he said.

He further criticised countries across the globe for having no post-lockdown strategy.

Emphasising on the disease, the Swedish health expert said that coronavirus is spreading like a wildfire across the world. "It is a very mild disease. Ninety-nine per cent infected people will have very less or no symptoms," he added.

Meanwhile, Ashish Jha, Director Harvard Global Health Institute and a recognised public health official, in interaction with Gandhi, called for a need to go in for an 'aggressive' COVID-19 testing to create confidence among people.

"When the economy is opened post-lockdown, you have to create confidence. There is a need for aggressive testing strategy in high-risk areas," he said.

He asserted that COVID-19 is not the last pandemic in the world, adding that "We are entering the age of large pandemics".

Jha further said that countries like South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong have responded the best to COVID-19 pandemic, while Italy, Spain, the US and the UK have responded the worst.

A few days ago, the Gandhi scion had interacted with former Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan and Nobel Prize Winner Abhijit Banerjee to discuss various issues related to the COVID-19 crisis.

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Agencies
August 7,2020

New Delhi, Aug 7: India's COVID-19 cases tally crossed 20 lakh mark with the highest single-day spike of 62,538 cases on Friday, said Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The COVID-19 tally rises to 20,27,075 including 6,07,384 active cases, 13,78,106 cured/discharged/migrated and 41,585 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.

Maharashtra with 1,46,268 active cases and 3,05,521 cured and discharged patients continues to be the worst affected. The state has also reported 16,476 deaths due to the infection.

Tamil Nadu has 54,184 active cases while 2,14,815 patients have been discharged after treatment in the state. 4,461 deaths have been reported due to COVID-19 in the state.

Andhra Pradesh with 80,426 active cases is the third on the list. There are 1,04,354 cured and discharged patients and 1,681 deaths reported from the state.

Delhi now has 10,072 active cases and 1,26,116 cured and discharged patients. 4,044 people have lost their lives due to the disease in the Union Territory so far. 

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