Not my job to punish ministers: Rahul Gandhi

January 28, 2014

Rahul_Gandhi_copyNew Delhi, Jan 28: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi Monday said that it is not his job to ensure that cases are lodged against the party ministers accused of corruption.

In an interview to Times Now, Gandhi acknowledged that there was no case being followed up against Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh over alleged corruption, and said: "It is not my job. My job is when I see issues of corruption, take action on it. That's what I do".

"As far as any corruption done, there is a legal process. And that legal process should be followed and concluded. As far as my personal view is concerned, anybody who is corrupt should be brought to book," he said.

"I am not a judge. So, if there is a legal process and there is a result of the legal process, absolutely they should be punished."

Gandhi said that Virbhadra Singh and former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan, accused in the Adarsh Society scam, were not "oblivious" because of their "clout."

Asked that he had not spoken during controversies relating to the "the CWG scam and railgate", Gandhi said he had conversations with the prime minister.

"Whatever I felt I had conversations with the prime minister. Whatever I felt about the issues I made it abundantly clear to the prime minister."

Answering queries, he said Congress had taken action wherever there had been issues of corruption.

"We are the ones who brought the RTI which is the single biggest weapon against corruption. And we got it ourselves. We are the ones who delivered RTI to this country," Gandhi said.

"What I will say is that in the Congress party anybody who does any act of corruption will be taken up and punished," Gandhi said. He also called for passage of pending six anti-corruption bills in parliament.

"What all I'm saying is that anybody, regardless of who he is, if there is any corruption by any Congress person we will take action."

Answering questions about Pawan Kumar Bansal and Ashwini Kumar, who had to resign from their cabinet posts, Gandhi said the country needs to look at the fundamental issues at hand.

"We absolutely have to change the way our political system is structured, we have to change our political parties, we have to make them more transparent, we have to change the processes that we use to elect candidates, we have to empower women in the political parties, that is where the meat of the issue but I don't hear that discussion," Gandhi said.

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News Network
April 20,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 20: The Kerala health department has declared 88 local bodies including the corporation, municipality and panchayats, spread over 14 districts in the state as COVID-19 hotspots.

"The lockdown restrictions in these areas will be continued in the hotspots announced by the state health department," said state DGP Lokanath Behera in a statement.

"Hot spots are being announced based on COVID-19 positive cases, primary contacts and secondary contacts. As the outbreak of the disease increases, hot spots will be revised daily," said State Health Minister KK Shailaja.

However, the Minister said that a particular region will be excluded from the hot spot after a weekly data analysis.

District wise hot spots in the state - Thiruvananthapuram (3) including Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, Kollam (5), Alappuzha (3), Pathanamthitta (7), Kottayam District (1), Idukki (6), Ernakulam (2), Thrissur (3), Palakkad (4), Malappuram (13), Kozhikode (6), Wayanad (2), Kannur (19) and Kasaragod (14).

In Kerala, 400 people have detected positive for coronavirus, including 3 deaths, as per the Union Health Minister.

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News Network
June 30,2020

New Delhi, Jun 30: The Home Ministry on Monday issued guidelines for 'Unlock 2.0' phase across country between July 1 and July 31. The report stated that COVID-19 lockdown shall continue to remain in force in containment zones till July 31. In containment zones, only essential activities to be allowed. The government's guidelines come on a day when Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu extended lockdowns in their respective states to July 31.

Unlock 2.0 Guidelines:

•   Schools, colleges, educational institutes wil remain closed till July 31. Online/distance learning shall continue to be permitted and shall be encouraged

•   Lockdown shall continue to remain in force in containment zones till July 31st.  In containment zones, only essential activities to be allowed.

•   Night Curfew shall continue to remain in force, between 10:00 pm and 5:00 am, except for essential activities and other relaxations.

•   Social/ political/ sports/ entertainment/ academic/ cultural/ religious functions and other large congregations remain prohibited.

•   International air travel, except as allowed by MHA, will also remain barred.

•   Shops depending upon their area, can have more than 5 persons at a time. However, they have to maintain adequate physical distance.

•   Training institutions of the central and state governments will be allowed to function with effect from July 15 and SOP in this regard will be issued by the Department of Personnel and Training.

Meanwhile, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla wrote to Chief Secretaries of all states and UTs, urging them to ensure compliance of Unlock 2 guidelines and direct all concerned authorities for their strict implementation.

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News Network
April 11,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 11: The effective handling of Covid-19 pandemic by the Kerala Government has received a big endorsement in the International media with the latest being a report in Washington Post which suggests that the State’s success could prove instructive to the entire country.

The Washington Post quoted Kerala Health Minister K K Shailaja Teacher as saying “We hoped for the best but planned for the worst. Now, the curve has flattened, but we cannot predict what will happen next week.”

"The Minister said six states had reached out to Kerala for advice. She, however, noted that it might not be easy to replicate Kerala’s lessons elsewhere," according to the Minister's office quoting the report here on Saturday.

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