In Yeddy's home turf Rahul Gandhi slams Modi over atrocities on Dalits

Agencies
April 3, 2018

Shivamogga, Apr 3: Congress president Rahul Gandhi today hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "not uttering a word" on the alleged atrocities on Dalits and tribals and "dilution" of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

His remarks at a public meeting here on the fifth leg of his tour of the poll-bound Karnataka came against the backdrop of violence in northern parts of the country during yesterday's protests against the alleged dilution of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The protests during 'Bharat bandh' against the Supreme Court verdict on the issue claimed at least nine lives and left hundreds of persons injured.

"Rohit Vemula is murdered. Dalits are beaten up in Una (Gujarat) but the Prime Minister does not speak a word on it. Atrocities on Dalits and tribals are increasing and the SC/ST act has been diluted. Modi prefers not to speak a word," he said.

Gandhi compared the status of SC/ST welfare in Karnataka with the Modi government's actions on the issue.

He claimed that more than half of the money released by the Modi government across the country for SC/ST welfare was being spent by Karnataka itself on the Dalits and tribals.

He also attacked Modi on the CBSE question papers leak and on the "leak" of assembly election date for Karnataka, saying Modi was silent on these issues too.

Lacing his remarks with sarcasm, Gandhi said the prime minister wrote a book (Exam Warriors) telling children how to face the exam and also gave a lecture for two hours on how to prepare for exams.

He said children took the advice seriously and prepared for the exam with the help of their parents but when they went to appear for the exam, they were told that the exams were cancelled as the question paper was leaked.

"Modi may have failed in plugging the question paper leak but he may again lecture children how to prepare for exams and will tell them about the dos and don'ts during exam," said Gandhi.

On the one side, question papers are leaked, while on the other election dates are also leaked, Gandhi quipped.

"It seems the RSS has taught Modi that he should stress more on giving lectures. The RSS has taught him to stand, hold stick, wear knickers and speak lies. I think the prime minister is now realising that the nation cannot be run with hatred, lathi, speeches and false promises", he said.

He took a jibe at Modi for the India-China stand-off at Doklam despite "swinging" with China president Xi Jinping.

"Modi and China president swung together. Later, the president responded by saying 'I enjoyed the swing and now I am coming to Doklam'.

"Chinese are building roads and airports in Doklam, but Modi is still swinging. The '56-inch' chest could not speak a word when China entered Doklam," said Gandhi.

He took potshots at BJP state unit chief B S Yeddyurappa, who is being projected as the party's chief ministerial face.

Shivamogga is the home district of Yeddyurappa.

"If he looks at the stage properly, on one side (of Modi) there is Yeddyurappa who spent time in jail (in a graft case), on the other side there are four ministers who had been to jail. Modiji you speak about corruption, when there are corrupt sitting next to you on the stage," he said.

Gandhi quipped that the BJP has now started speaking truth.

"First time the BJP spoke truth. Whatever they had in their mind they spoke it. Amit Shah said (at Davangere) that Yeddyurappa government was the most corrupt government. I am happy that he spoke truth for the first time in his life," he said.

Gandhi was referring to Shah's gaffe at a press conference in Davangere on March 27 where he said that the Yeddyurappa government was the most corrupt government in the country. He was actually referring to the Siddaramaiah government.

Shah had, however, corrected himself immediately.

The Congress president also reminded Modi that the nation cannot be run with hatred, anger, violence and partiality.

He said, "I have seen many prime ministers such as Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, P V Narasimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee. One thing is clear. If you want to run the nation, you need to run it with love. You can take the nation to any heights with love. The more you connect people, the country will become stronger," he said.

Before addressing the public meeting, Rahul held a roadshow in the Shivamogga city, with thousands of people standing on the sides of the road to greet him.

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News Network
July 28,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 27: Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka crossed the grim milestone of one lakh Covid-19 cases while Tamil Nadu logged nearly 7,000 fresh infections for the third straight day on Monday as the sharp spike in recent weeks continued unabated in the southern states.

Kerala's tally inched toward the 20,000-mark and Telangana saw the total infection count beach the 55,000-mark while the cumulative cases rose to 2,872 in the tiny union territory of Puducherry as the six together added 20,629 fresh cases and their aggregate shot to 5.02 lakh.

A total of 291 deaths were reported on Monday from these states with Tamil Nadu accounting for the maximum of 77 closely followed by Karnataka with 74 fatalities, according to bulletins issued by respective states.

The cases have been rising in the region since last month when the lockdown norms were eased and thousands of people returned even as testing had been given a push.

The worst-hit was Andhra Pradesh where the Covid-19 count doubled in just eight days as the day's 6,051 cases pushed the tally to 1,02,349. It had crossed the 50,000-mark on July 20.

East Godavari district registered a high of 1,210 cases. After 16,86,446 tests were completed on Monday, the Covid-19 positivity rate in the state shot past the 6 per cent mark, a record high.

From 15,252 confirmed cases on July 1, the number swelled to the current level as every district in the state has been witnessing a severe surge in the pandemic.

The toll rose to 1,090 with 49 fresh deaths. The state now has 51,701 active cases after a total of 49,558 patients had recovered, a bulletin said.

Covid-19 cases in Karnataka spiralled to 1,01,465 as the state reported the biggest single-day spike of 5,324 new infections and 75 fatalities, taking the death toll to 1,953, the health department said.

The day also saw 1,847 patients getting discharged, taking the cumulative recoveries to 37,685.

Tamil Nadu reported highest single-day spike of 6,993 cases, taking the tally to 2,20,716 while 77 deaths propelled the toll to 3,571.

The state has added 45,038 cases since last Monday while the active cases stood at 54,896 and recoveries touched 1,62,249, including 5,723 people discharged today.

Chennai accounted for 95,857 cases of the state's tally.

In Kerala, at least 43 health workers were among the 702 people who tested positive while 745 others recovered, as the state's total infection tally touched 19,727.

The death toll climbed to 63 with two more fatalities from Kozhikode and Kottayam districts, while 9,611 people were presently under treatment, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.

A total of 10,054 patients have recovered so far and over 1.55 lakh people were under observation, he told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.

Telangana's total infection count rose to 55,532 with the addition of 1,473 cases, including 506 from Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) areas, a government bulletin said on Monday, providing data as of 8 pm on Sunday.

With eight more deaths, the Covid-19 toll in the state rose to 471. The death rate was 0.85 per cent as against 2.3 per cent in the country, it said.

As many as 42,106 people have recovered from the infection so far, while 12,955 were under treatment.

Puducherry logged 86 new cases, pushing the overall tally to 2,872 and the toll increased to 43 with three more deaths. It has 1,109 active cases, an official statement said.

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News Network
April 8,2020

Davanagere, Apr 8: BJP MLA from Honnali constituency, MP Renukacharya, said that the government should not ignore those who attended Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi and are escaping detection, and it is not wrong if the person is shot.

"Anyone who attended Tablighi meet, is not coming out for medical checkups and is escaping detection. The government should not ignore them. Even if he is shot, it is not wrong. Otherwise, the virus will spread throughout the entire country. In China it started with one person," Renukacharya said on Tuesday.

"We are suffering because someone is not coming for check-up. I request them to come voluntarily to the doctors and District Magistrates. Not all minorities are terrorists and not all of them are anti-nationals," he added.

A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking direction for the government to impose a complete ban on all activities of the Tablighi Jamaat with immediate effect.

Over 1,000 coronavirus cases in India are linked to Tablighi Jamaat gathering. Hundreds of people who are related to Tablighi Jamaat have been quarantined.

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News Network
March 10,2020

Pathnamthitta, Mar 10: A man under observation for suspected coronavirus infection at the isolation ward of the district hospital here fled, but was tracked and brought back within hours. The man was among those who had interacted with the three-member family who returned from Italy and have tested positive for the virus.

Pathnamthitta district collector PB Nooh said one person, who was under observation at the general hospital had escaped but was later tracked and brought back. "If even a single person under observation goes out, it is a threat. This is a public hazard".

The one excercise which the health authorities have to undertake on Tuesday is to see how many people had come incontact with this person after he left the hospital. There is need to isolate those people with whom he mayhave come into contact, the collector said "This is the timeto behave in a very socially responsible manner".

With six positive cases being reported, the state government has already warned that stringent action would be taken against those flouting the directions of the health department. Health Minister K K Shailaja has warned that those coming from COVID19 affected nations, should report to authorities on arrival in the state, failing which a case would be registered against them under the Public Health Act.

A 3-member family, which had come from Italy recently and had tested positive along with two of their relatives had not reported their arrival to the authorities, health officials said.

At least 733 people who had come in contact with them have been tracked, the collector said and have been placed under observation. While 18 have been admitted to isolation wards in hospital the remaining are under home surveillance.

A two-year-old child is among those under obsevation at the isolation ward, health department sources said. The tracking excercise would continue on Wednesday also.

Meanwhile, an awareness class was held for migrant workers at Pathnamthitta district this morning. However, no directions have been issued to workers fromother states to leave the state. "We are planning to give extra care to migrant workerswith labour officer visiting their colonies and as part of theawareness drive and speaking to them in a language theyunderstand," he said.

A three-year-old boy, who arrived with his parents in Kochi from Italy, tested positive on Monday, a day after three people, also with travel history from the European nation,were declared positive for the virus along with two of their relatives.

The Health Minister has said surveillance system would be stregthened with the support of ASHA workers, civic authorities and ward members and resident associations. Presently, 1,116 people are under surveillance in thestate for the corona virus, 967 in home quarantine and 149 in isolation wards of hospitals. Two 90-year-old relatives of the Pathnamthitta family, who tested positive, have been admitted to Kottayam medicalcollege hospital and their samples have been sent for testing, she said. "If they test positive for the virus, it would be highlyrisky", she had said.

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