Sidhu apologises to Manmohan, says his silence did what BJP's uproar could not

Agencies
March 19, 2018

New Delhi, Mar 19: Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu was full of praise for a reticent Manmohan Singh on Sunday and said the former prime minister's silence did what the ruling BJP's uproar could not.

Addressing the 84th plenary session of the Congress here, Sidhu, a former BJP MP, who had often targeted Singh over his reluctance to speak out on issues, also apologised to the former prime minister.

Sidhu, in his speech peppered with poetry and witty remarks, also said that Singh was both Sardar (a Sikh) and asardar (effective)".

I want to apologise to Sardar Manmohan Singh and that too bowing down (before Singh). Sardar Manmohan Singh, your silence has done what the BJP's uproar could not. I realised this after 10 years, sir, said the cricketer-turned-politician, who joined the Congress before Punjab Assembly polls in 2017.

Lauding the Congress veteran, Sidhu said the economy galloped like an Arabian horse under his watch as the prime minister. Whereas, he said, under the BJP's rule, the economy is moving at the pace of a tortoise.

Sir, you worked hard silently in such a way that your success created an uproar. Sir, you are a Sardar and also asardar (effective), a comment which had former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and senior party leader Ashok Gehlot, who flanked Singh, giggling.

Sidhu also hailed former party president Sonia Gandhi, party president Rahul Gandhi and Congress workers in his speech.

He said Rahul Gandhi is set to unfurl the tricolour from the ramparts of the Red Fort after becoming the country's prime minister post the 2019 general election.

Sidhu said the BJP's lies stood exposed after its four-year rule.

They (BJP) appear tall but are hollow like bamboo from inside. I have seen them from close quarters. And Rahul Bhai is like sugar cane, sweet from within and outside, he said.

Hailing Congress workers, Sidhu likened them to Sikandar (Greek emperor Alexander the Great) and said the party cannot be what it is without them.

If the Congress has lost, it may be due to some leaders, but you are the ones who help win (elections) friends. Sikandar (workers) does not bow before the situation...the workers are soul, life and identity of the party, he added.

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News Network
April 4,2020

New Delhi, April 4: With 355 new cases reported in the last 12 hours, India's tally of coronavirus positive cases rose to 2,902, said the ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday.

Out of 2,902 cases, 2,650 are active cases and 184 have been cured or discharged or have migrated.

The total number of deaths reported due to the disease rose to 68 on Saturday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Maharashtra is the worst-hit state with 423 cases. Tamil Nadu is the next most affected state with 411 cases.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Delhi also rose to 386.

The Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi has emerged as a hotspot for COVID-19 after several positive cases from across India were linked to the gathering including deaths in Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Telangana.

An FIR was earlier registered against Tablighi Jamaat head Maulana Saad and others under the Epidemic Disease Act 1897, in the national capital.

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coastaldigest.com news network
May 6,2020

Mangaluru, May 6: Three more coronavirus positive cases have been reported in Dakshina Kannada district. 

According to fresh bulletin of health and family welfare department, an 11-year-old girl and a 36-year-old woman from Boloor in Mangaluru and a 16-year-old girl from Bantwal tested positive for the covid-19. 

All of them are undergoing treatment at Wenlock Hospital. Their condition is said to be stable. 

With this the total number of cases in the district reached 28 including 22 residents of Dakshina Kannada, 4 from Kasaragod, 1 from Udupi and 1 from Uttara Kannada.

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coastaldigest.com news network
May 6,2020

New Delhi, May 6: The government on Wednesday said no data or security breach has been identified in Aarogya Setu after an ethical hacker raised concerns about a potential security issue in the app.

The app is the government's mobile application for contact tracing and disseminating medical advisories to users in order to contain the spread of coronavirus.

On Tuesday, a French hacker and cyber security expert Elliot Alderson had claimed that "a security issue has been found" in the app and that "privacy of 90 million Indians is at stake".

Dismissing the claims, the government said "no personal information of any user has been proven to be at risk by this ethical hacker".

"We are continuously testing and upgrading our systems. Team Aarogya Setu assures everyone that no data or security breach has been identified," the government said through the app’s Twitter handle.

The tweet gave point-by-point clarification on the red flags raised by the hacker.

"We discussed with the hacker and were made aware of the following... the app fetches user location on a few occasions," it said, but added that this was by design and is clearly detailed in the privacy policy.

The app fetches users’ location and stores on the server in a secure, encrypted, anonymised manner - at the time of registration, at the time of self assessment, when users submit their contact tracing data voluntary through the app or when it fetches the contact tracing data of users after they have turned COVID-19 positive, it said.

On another issue that users can get COVID-19 stats displayed on the home screen by changing the radius and latitude-longitude using a script, Aarogya Setu said that all this information is already public for all locations and hence does not compromise on any personal or sensitive data.

"We thank the ethical hacker on engaging with us. We encourage any users who identify a vulnerability to inform us immediately...," it said.

Responding to Aarogya Setu's clarification, Alderson tweeted, "I will come back to you tomorrow".

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