With pain and anguish, I quit Cong; won't reconsider decision: Krishna

January 29, 2017

Bengaluru, Jan 29: Having decided to end his nearly five decades old association with Congress, former Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna today said the party is in a "state of confusion" on whether it needs mass leaders or not even as he made it clear that he would not reconsider his decision to quit as it was about his "self respect" and "pride".SMKrishna

He, however, made it clear that he was not retiring from active politics."With pain and anguish, I have decided to quit the Congress," 84-year-old Krishna said.

"A situation has now come wherein I have to leave the home in which I resided peacefully for the last 46 years," the former External Affairs Minister, who had maintained a low profile for the last two years, told reporters here.

Krishna declined to spell out the next step, saying he had not yet decided on it but said he had no plans to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi as was being speculated in the media.

Noting that the Congress had given "everything" to him, Krishna said, "I have seen both good and bad and tasted sweetness and bitterness but my loyalty to the party has always been steadfast.

"But it now seems the Congress is in a confusion whether it needs mass leaders or not. Just managing the situation seems to be good enough," he said.

Krishna said he had been haunted by the "question as to how appropriate it was to sideline a loyal Congress worker keeping the age as a factor for it."

"Age is a question of mental attitude,", he said, adding "a politician never retires, he only fades away."

He said the Congress central leaders tried to persuade him to reconsider his decision but he made it plain to them that he stood by it.

"I reminded the leadership that I am still in existence," he said on a sarcastic note, adding, they said they took note of it.

Krishna made no secret of his unhappiness over the way he had to step down as Minister for External Affairs in 2012 just days before a major ministry revamp, indicating that he expected a 'graceful' exit.

"2012 onwards there is a way of getting rid of a political leader. The Congress should learn the art of being graceful. They could have told me that we are thinking of some drastic step. It would have been a graceful exit," he said in reply to a query about when his "disillusionment" started.

Asked about his next step, Krishna said, "I am not going to spell out what my future plan is. All that I am reiterating is that I am quitting Congress."

He said: "This is a decision which I have taken without consulting anyone except my wife. What my next step will be, I will have to ponder, contemplate, introspect and look around and take a decision."

He also said he was not retiring from politics, adding, "the word retirement is not in my dictionary."

Krishna said Congress President Sonia Gandhi had given him "special respect."
Asked about the respect shown by Rahul Gandhi, he shot back, "I will not speak about Vice-President. I will speak about President."

To a question if he felt Rahul Gandhi was inefficient and a leadership change was needed, Krishna said, "being a national party, we look to the president not to Vice-President, general secretary and some others... Given my seniority in the party, at this stage, I should look to the President, not to others."

Asked if he would reconsider his decision to quit Congress if Sonia Gandhi makes a request, he said he would not do it.

"It is a question of self-respect and pride." Krishna dismissed a question if he was an aspirant for the post of country's Vice-President and whether he would meet BJP leaders, saying, "do you think I have gone crazy."

Asked if he was not deserting the Congress at a time when it was facing severe challenges, he said, "I am not ditching the party. I am quitting the party. I have struggled for the party for 46 years."

"What will happen. What will not happen. You (media) will have to analyse it," Krishna said, when asked would not his exit from the Congress benefit BJP, which is hoping to come back to power in the 2018 Assembly polls in the state.

Comments

shaji
 - 
Thursday, 2 Feb 2017

Dear SM Krishna, we have great respect for you, however pls dont hurt us and lose our respect by joining anti national/any secular/anti poor party bjp. If you cant help congress please dont hurt the party which gave u respect by chosing you to the post of CM of karnataka. You did a good job and we all respect you. However, dont fall in the nest of some crooks who might offer you higher positions. Dont put your faith/self respect on sale. If you cant do anything, pls take retirement from politics and give chance to youngsters

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News Network
February 21,2020

Chikkamagaluru, Feb 21: Alleged Bharatiya Janata Party supporters threw stones at Amulya Leona’s father’s house at Gullagadde near Koppa on Thursday night, after she was charged for making objectionable remarks at a public programme in Bengaluru.

Amulya Leona’s father Wazi said that the incident, which left window panes and doors damaged, took place at around 7.30 p.m. “They are all BJP supporters. They were in a group. I have complained to the police with the names of a few who led the group,” he said.

Three policemen have been deployed at his house since Thursday night.

Amulya Leona, a B.A. student, was charged with sedition after she raised pro-Pakistan slogans at a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in Bengaluru.

Mr. Wazi, who owns a two-acre areca plantation and runs a poultry farm, said he condemned the statement made by his daughter and he would not make any attempts to get her bail. “Let the law take its course. I cannot approve of her statement,” he said.

He said he had cautioned his daughter against getting involved in protests. “I told her to complete studies first and later she could fight for poor people. But what she said yesterday is not acceptable. I don’t know what made her so. I hope a probe would bring out who prompted her to make such statements,” he said.

Mr. Wazi said he has been politically active for several years, and had earlier worked for former education minister H.G. Govinde Gowda. He then shifted to the BJP and worked in support of D.N. Jeevaraj, who represented Sringeri constituency last time, and current Udupi-Chickmagaluru MP Shobha Karandlaje. “I have worked for the BJP in the past. As Govinde Gowda’s son contested on JD(S) ticket for Sringeri seat, I supported him”, he said.

Meanwhile, a video clip that went viral on Thursday night showed a group of Bajrang Dal activists compelling Mr. Wazi to shout ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’. “I have no hesitation in raising ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ slogans,” said Mr. Wazi, adding that his statement was taken forcibly. “I am a patriot. Many writers, activists and politicians have come to my place over the years,” he said.

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News Network
April 27,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 27: As many as 345 Bengaluru-based journalists tested negative for coronavirus on Monday after undergoing a medical check-up got up for them at a hospital here, a top official said.

They had undergone the tests at the Sir C V Raman General Hospital here on April 25 and the results came out negative on Monday. They were among a total of 1,170 journalists who took the tests at the four-day medical check-up camp at the Hospital here from April 23.

"The medical check-up was done in four slots at the Hospital here from Thursday and concluded on Monday. A total of 1,170 journalists undertook the tests, 480 of them on Monday alone, the joint director of the Department of Information and Public Relation D P Muralidhar said.

The test reports of the 480 journalists may come out on Wednesday, he said. Only one journalist tested positive so far and has been admitted to the designated COVID-19 hospital, he said, adding 36 of his primary and secondary contacts have been quarantined.

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Agencies
January 16,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 16: Amping up the online payment experience for consumers, Razorpay, the leading full-stack financial services company, today launched a new product, Instant Refunds for businesses.

This new feature activates refunds and credits the customer's source account across payment methods such as credit card, net banking, and UPI within a minute of initiation.

India is one of the fastest-growing online retail markets today. About 71 per cent of internet users in the country purchase products online. Today, the refund process has two major pain points for both the end customer and the business.

First, a delay of five-seven business days for the customer in receiving the money because of multiple intermediaries like the acquiring bank, issuing bank and the networks (VISA/MasterCard/Rupay).

Second, the lack of transparency during the entire refund process for both the customer and the business. This long cycle of processing refunds is a significant problem with every popular payment method in the industry.

By issuing refunds instantly, Razorpay will help businesses retain their customers, build trust through an improved hassle-free payment experience and provide complete transparency on refunds to both the business and the end-user.

This new feature will also reduce the dependence on manpower as every refund issue on an average leads to ten service emails or calls from customer support teams.

"Instant Refunds are the new normal and central to great customer experience. A lot of consumers fail to use online payment methods as they feel getting refunds through an online platform is a very time-consuming task; hence they prefer CoD as the best alternative. Given the technological advancements being made in the fin-tech ecosystem, its fair for customers to expect refunds as fast as possible. A solution like Instant Refunds will not only help build consumer confidence in digital payments but also reduce losses for e-commerce companies where CoD has become an expensive option with more than 50 per cent online transactions made through cash", said Shashank Kumar, CTO & Co-founder of Razorpay.

"Our Instant Refunds feature ensures that the refund is processed at a 3600x faster pace than the normal expected time of five-seven business days. The team is focused on creating new technologies designed to make the entire payment lifecycle hassle-free. We believe this new feature will make customers experience a notch higher, help brands create a competitive advantage, and even make them more profitable", he added.

Razorpay's growth has been uphill, particularly in the last two years. With a 500 per cent growth in 2019, the company has been witnessing a healthy growth rate of 35 per cent month-on-month.

The company also recently launched its corporate credit cards for its partner businesses, RazorpayX current accounts, support for freelancers and homepreneurs, and acquired Opfin, a payroll and HR management software company.

Currently powering payments for over 800,000 businesses including the likes of Indigo, BSE, Thomas Cook, Reliance, SpiceJet, Aditya Birla, Sony, and Oyo, the team plans to increase this count to 1,400,000 by this year. The full-stack financial solutions company expects a 4x growth in its revenue by the end of the next fiscal year.

This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article.

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