by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Kolkata : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday continued her sit-in protest here over the CBI’s attempt to question the Kolkata Police chief in connection with a ponzi scheme scam, as Samajwadi Party leader Kiranmoy Nanda joined her.
The Trinamool Congress supremo, surrounded by her ministers and top party leaders, stayed up the entire night on a makeshift dais at the city hub Dharamtala area, near the Metro Channel, after starting the demonstration around 9 p.m. on Sunday.
There is a blanket security cover in the area.
“This is a Satyagraha and I’ll continue till the country is saved,” Banerjee told the reporters here.
The Chief Minister said she was getting calls from politicians, including former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, all of whom expressed their support for her action.
Nanda reached the venue in the morning as representative of party chief Akhilesh Yadav.
Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress supporters held protest demonstration and put up rail and road blocks in various parts of the city and districts.
A large number of party activists also arrived at Dharamtala since early in the day to express their solidarity.
In an unprecedented confrontation between the Narendra Modi-led central government and the West Bengal government, Banerjee began the sit-in accusing Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah of attempting a coup to destabilise her state, saying there is a “constitutional break-down”, after an ugly face-off between the CBI and the state police.
The showdown started after the federal probe agency’s officers showed up near the residence of Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, who has been under the scanner in connection with the Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the ponzi scheme scam case.
The events were expected to cast a shadow on the Budget Session of Parliament on Monday with the opposition expected to vociferously raise the issue.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Paris : At least 278 people have been detained in the French capital ahead of anti-government protests called by the so-called “Yellow Vest” movement in opposition to a rise in fuel tax, the police said on Saturday.
France was bracing for the renewed demonstrations with nearly 90,000 security personnel on the streets. Some 8,000 officers and 12 armoured vehicles were deployed in Paris alone, where shops were boarded up and sites like the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre Museum closed.
A police spokeswoman said that the number of arrests could rise over the course of the day.
Most of the arrested were detained for being part of groups likely to carry out acts of violence or for being in possession of objects that could be used for that purpose, the spokeswoman said, adding that they could be released once the relevant verifications were made.
The “yellow vest” movement began three weeks ago in opposition to a rise in fuel tax and planned increases in taxes on polluting forms of transport, but it has since evolved into broader demonstrations against the government of President Emmanuel Macron.
Ministers say the movement has been hijacked by “ultra-violent” protesters.
Last week, thousands wearing high-visibility yellow jackets clashed with the police in Paris as demonstrations escalated into anti-government violence.
The French government later suspended its plans to hike fuel taxes following the huge public backlash.
The French press has billed the unrest as Macron’s “greatest political test” since taking office in May 2017.
Protesters were also demanding higher wages, lower taxes, better pensions, easier university requirements and even the resignation of the President.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Economy, News, Politics
New Delhi : The Bharat Bandh called by the Congress and Left on Monday against rising fuel prices and tumbling rupee evoked mixed response in the country as the opposition closed its ranks against the Modi government. The BJP dubbed the protest a failure.
The day-long shutdown affected normal life in Odisha, Karnataka, Bihar, Kerala and Tripura and triggered a mixed response in Gujarat, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
But it was mostly ineffective in Mamata Banerjee-ruled West Bengal.
Shutdown enforcers resorted to blocking roads and rail tracks disrupting traffic in several parts of the country. In Bihar, a critically ill two-year-old girl died on her way to a hospital in Jehanabad town apparently due to a road blockade.
Bandh supporters allegedly resorted to violence and clashed with the police in some parts areas, prompting the ruling BJP, which dubbed the shutdown a “complete failure”, of accusing the Congress of creating an “environment of fear” by violently enforcing the shutdown.
Normal life was paralysed in Odisha with vehicular movement and train services thrown out of gear as Congress workers blocked roads and trains. Hundreds of Congress activists were arrested. The Railways cancelled 12 trains while schools and colleges were closed.
Normal life was hit in Bihar with the shutdown supported by the Rashtryia Janata Dal (RJD), Left, Hindustani Awam Morcha and Jan Adhikar Party of Pappu Yadav.
Hundreds of Congress and other opposition parties leaders and workers took to the streets. Shutdown supporters blocked national and state highways, disrupted rail and road traffic for hours and stranding thousands of passengers.
Demonstrators clashed with police in several places while dozens of vehicles in Patna were damaged.
In Karnataka, normal life was affected as public transport kept off the roads across the state. Schools and colleges were closed although state and central government offices remained open. Global software firms like Infosys and Wipro functioned normally.
Life was thrown out of gear in BJP-ruled Tripura with most markets, shops and business establishments closed and private and passenger vehicles off the roads. Government offices and some banks were open but employee attendance was low.
But the Bharatiya Janata Party claimed that Bandh was a failure in Tripura.
BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh saw stray incidents of protests. The response was mixed in Jharkhand, with few shops closed and long route buses not plying.
In flood-ravaged Left-ruled Kerala, public vehicles went off the roads but private vehicles plied in many places. Shops, markets and establishments were shut.
In Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, bus services were affected and many private educational institutions remained closed.
There was a mixed response in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state Gujarat, where a large number of educational institutions were shut while many vehicles remain off the roads.
In Maharashtra, the shutdown elicited mixed response in urban centres but secured widespread support in the semi-urban and rural hinterland which have been severely hit by the fuel prices and its cascading effects.
In Mumbai and other cities, large numbers took to the streets, railway stations, bus depots, and other public places. But suburban trains, BEST buses, schools and colleges functioned normally. Shops and commercial establishments downed shutters in many localities.
The shutdown was mostly ineffective in West Bengal. Banks, educational institutions in Kolkata were mostly open while trading activities in the city were more or less normal.
The ruling Trinamool Congress supported the issues on which the shutdown was called but opposed the strike in line with its stated anti-strike policy.
Meanwhile, in the national capital, Congress President Rahul Gandhi led the opposition’s show of strength, staging a foot march in support of the Bharat Bandh from Rajghat to Ramlila Maidan in the heart of the city.
The rally drew leaders of the Janata Dal-Secular, Trinamool Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Nationalist Congress Party, Loktantrik Janata Dal, Rashtriya Lok Dal, All India United Democratic Front, Revolutionary Socialist Party and Aam Aadmi Party. Also in attendance were former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
Manmohan Singh hit out at the BJP for “miserably” failing to control fuel prices.
Rahul Gandhi flayed Modi for his stoic silence over rising fuel prices, tumbling rupee, Rafale fighter jet deal and agrarian distress in the country.
The Left parties took out a separate rally in the national capital.
Meanwhile, the BJP said the hike in fuel prices was a “momentary difficulty” and claimed the shutdown was a complete failure.
“Bharat Bandh has been unsuccessful. We condemn the violence being used to instil fear among citizens across the country,” Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : Congress President Rahul Gandhi led a midnight protest by the party workers at India Gate here against the “slumber” of Narendra Modi government over the rape incidents in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua and Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao and to seek justice for the victims.
The candle-light protest on Thursday midnight was called at a short notice and saw people converging at the India Gate in sizeable numbers to express their support.
Congress leaders including Ahmed Patel, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ambika Soni, Ashok Gehlot, Randeep Singh Surjewala and Sushmita Dev walked from the party headquarters at 24 Akbar Road to the India Gate along with hundreds of party workers holding candles.
Rahul Gandhi joined the protest around midnight. His sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and her husband Robert Vadra were also present, along with their daughter.
Similar protests had been held at India Gate after the brutal gang-rape of 23-year-old paramedical student Nirbhaya in 2012. Nirbhaya’s parents were also present at the mid-night protest on Thursday night.
Congress workers tried to come near Rahul Gandhi, giving hard time to the Special Protection Group (SPG) men protecting him. Gandhi sat atop his vehicle to briefly talk to the media.
He said there were repeated incidents of violence, rape and murder of women in the country.
“We want the government to take action. Today, women are feeling insecure to move out of their houses. Somewhere a child, a woman is raped, killed and we want that the government should resolve this. The women of the country should feel safe,” he said.
Gandhi said it was a national issue and not a political issue.
“This is an issue concerning women,” he said, adding that people from all parties as well as the common man was at the India Gate.
“I only want to say that the atrocities being committed against women, the government should something about it.”
He said Modi’s slogan of “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” was a correct slogan. “We are saying that Narendra Modi should begin the task of protecting women of the country,” he said.
The Congress President had tweeted on late Thursday night about his intention to go on a candle march.
“Like millions of Indians, my heart hurts tonight. India simply cannot continue to treat its women the way it does.
“Join me in a silent, peaceful, candlelight vigil at India Gate at midnight tonight to protest this violence and demand justice,” he said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was apparently caught unawares about the protest, with Congress workers from Delhi and neighbouring areas rushing to the venue on the call of their party leader.
Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said they were protesting to awaken the Modi government from its “slumber”.
Surjewala said the BJP-PDP government in Jammu and Kashmir failed to give justice to the minor girl raped in Kathua and the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh did not arrest a party legislator accused of rape of girl in Unnao.
The protest lasted nearly two hours. With the crowds making a rush towards Congress leaders, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra looked a bit miffed with their behaviour.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Employment, Government Jobs, News, Politics
Rajendra Nagar railway station
Patna : Hundreds of youths on Monday staged protests at Rajendra Nagar railway station here against reduction of age limit for recruitment in the railways, leading to disruption of train services for some time, police said.
This is first time that youths staged protest at a railway station in the state capital, after reports of protests at various railway stations across Bihar over the last four days.
The protests against age limit reduction for Group D recruitments and reserving most of the seats for ITI holders in the railways came a day after thousands of unemployed youths protested at Rafiganj railway station in Aurangabad district, Athamgola station in Patna district, Muzaffarpur station and Hajipur railway station in Vaishali district.
In a bid to disperse protestors at Rajindra Nagar Terminal, the police resorted to lathicharge and beat up some of them.
The police also took into custody Chunnu Singh — the president of Bihar unit of National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) — for leading the protests.
The protesters shouted slogans against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government and carried placards that read “Hum pakoda nahi bechenge”, “Protest against surgical strike on railway job aspirants” and “Notify more jobs in railways”, among others.
—IANS
