"For health officials who have been watching the virus with alarm as it began claiming a foothold in continent after continent, it is a dizzying moment.... While infection rates in the hardest-hit cities in United States and Europe may have slowed, the virus remains deeply woven into the fabric of the world. Indeed, the global peak of infection may still be months away.... Even some countries that moved against the virus head on are losing ground. Among them is India. 'There will be a total ban of coming out of your homes,' Prime Minister Narendra Modi told his citizens on March 24. 'Every state, every district, every lane, every village will be under lockdown.'... India is a country of 1.3 billion, and hundreds of millions of its citizens are destitute, with countless millions living in packed urban areas with poor sanitation and weak public health care. Despite the swift action, the country is now grappling with a sharp surge of infections.... But this week, Indians can once again dine out, shop and pray at religious sites."
From "The World Reopens, Despite Skyrocketing Coronavirus Cases/The number of infections is rising faster than ever, but many countries have decided that this is the moment to ease lockdown restrictions" (NYT)
Showing posts with label India. Show all posts
Showing posts with label India. Show all posts
"Terrified after watching economies built over the course of decades hollow out in a matter of weeks, countries seem to be saying, in effect: Enough."
Once again Pak Make India Unhappy
India unhappy over Pakistan’s release of Lashkar founder
India on Tuesday regretted Pakistan’s release of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed accused of assault on Mumbai in November.
India said it was ‘unhappy’ with Saeed’s release, which is also likely to dismay the United States.
‘He is the head of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Lashkar-e-Taiba, organizations listed by the United Nations under UNSC Resolutions 1267, as being affiliates of the Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Sayeed is specifically listed as linked to these terrorist groups. It is regrettable that notwithstanding this background and the international obligations it entails on Pakistan, he has been released,’ said Vishnu Prakash, an official of Foreign Ministry.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said that Pakistan’s action casts doubts on the sincerity of the Islamabad in fighting terror.
‘Terror has to be fought and has to be contained. It is regrettable that Pakistan has resorted to this. This only shows that Pakistan’s seriousness about fighting terror is still under a cloud,’ said Krishna.
Earlier in the day, a full bench of the Lahore High Court ordered the release from house arrest of Saeed on the basis of a habeas corpus petition filed by his lawyer. The high court said that it had not received substantial evidence to continue the detention of Saeed.
A full bench of the Lahore High Court also ordered the release of another Jamaat-ud-Dawa leader, Colonel (retired) Nazir Ahmad.
The bench, comprising Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry, Justice Hasnat Ahmad Khan and Justice Zubdatul Hussain, heard arguments of the petitioners’ counsel after those of the attorney general.
‘The house arrest of Hafiz Saeed is illegal and unconstitutional and termed it as the violation of human rights,’ petitioners’ counsel A K Dogar said.
Saeed was put under house arrest on December 11 last year, and his release was made after five months and 20 days.
The Attorney General had earlier told the Lahore High Court, that the government had enough proof against Saeed to warrant extension of his arrest, but could not produce that evidence in court. He had also said that Saeed had undeniable links with the Al Qaeda.
India said it was ‘unhappy’ with Saeed’s release, which is also likely to dismay the United States.
‘He is the head of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Lashkar-e-Taiba, organizations listed by the United Nations under UNSC Resolutions 1267, as being affiliates of the Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Sayeed is specifically listed as linked to these terrorist groups. It is regrettable that notwithstanding this background and the international obligations it entails on Pakistan, he has been released,’ said Vishnu Prakash, an official of Foreign Ministry.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said that Pakistan’s action casts doubts on the sincerity of the Islamabad in fighting terror.
‘Terror has to be fought and has to be contained. It is regrettable that Pakistan has resorted to this. This only shows that Pakistan’s seriousness about fighting terror is still under a cloud,’ said Krishna.
Earlier in the day, a full bench of the Lahore High Court ordered the release from house arrest of Saeed on the basis of a habeas corpus petition filed by his lawyer. The high court said that it had not received substantial evidence to continue the detention of Saeed.
A full bench of the Lahore High Court also ordered the release of another Jamaat-ud-Dawa leader, Colonel (retired) Nazir Ahmad.
The bench, comprising Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry, Justice Hasnat Ahmad Khan and Justice Zubdatul Hussain, heard arguments of the petitioners’ counsel after those of the attorney general.
‘The house arrest of Hafiz Saeed is illegal and unconstitutional and termed it as the violation of human rights,’ petitioners’ counsel A K Dogar said.
Saeed was put under house arrest on December 11 last year, and his release was made after five months and 20 days.
The Attorney General had earlier told the Lahore High Court, that the government had enough proof against Saeed to warrant extension of his arrest, but could not produce that evidence in court. He had also said that Saeed had undeniable links with the Al Qaeda.
Taylor and Vettori star in New Zealand win | New Zealand beat India
India v New Zealand, ICC World Twenty20 warm-up match, Lord's
New Zealand's unbeaten record against India in Twenty20s continued today by beat defending champions India by nine runs in their ICC World Twenty20 warm-up match at Lord's here on Monday.
DETAILD SCORE CARD
Victory is for youth and poor: Rahul Gandhi | Party Results for the General Election 2009
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Saturday credited India's youth and its poor for his party-led United Progressive Alliance's (UPA) win in the Lok Sabha elections even as he declined to accept any ministerial position Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's second government. "I have got a job to do... it is to help the youth of the country to change the political atmosphere... I want youth to participate in politics. We need youngsters in politics. I hope youngster are listening to me," Mr. Gandhi told reporters here.
About the UPA's victory, Mr. Gandhi said it "is for the poor and youth of the country".
"These elections are testament to the fact that the Congress believes in unification, in clean politics, in honest politics," he said.
"This country is progressing. The Congress party over the last five years believes that India is progressing quickly. This progress belongs everybody, large masses of this country," said Mr. Gandhi, who retained his Amethi constituency in Uttar Pradesh.
"The people of UP have rejected the politics of religion, politics of caste. They have voted for development."
About the UPA's victory, Mr. Gandhi said it "is for the poor and youth of the country".
"These elections are testament to the fact that the Congress believes in unification, in clean politics, in honest politics," he said.
"This country is progressing. The Congress party over the last five years believes that India is progressing quickly. This progress belongs everybody, large masses of this country," said Mr. Gandhi, who retained his Amethi constituency in Uttar Pradesh.
"The people of UP have rejected the politics of religion, politics of caste. They have voted for development."
Obama congratulates India on election | Second Term For Manmohan Singh
Obama congratulates India on election Second Term For Manmohan Singh
The White House warmly congratulated India on Saturday on its "historic" national election, after the ruling Congress led alliance
surged to a commanding win over its Hindu nationalist rivals. "President Obama congratulates India on its historic national elections," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement. "By successfully completing the largest exercise of popular voting in the world, the elections have strengthened India's vibrant democracy and upheld the values of freedom and pluralism that make India an example for us all." Gibbs said that the United States recognized the achievement of India's people in the election, noting they remained the "strength and foundation for India's prosperity and democracy." "President Obama looks forward to continuing to work with the Indian government
to enhance the warm partnership between our two countries." With results still coming in from the Election Commission, the Congress grouping was on track to win as many as 260 seats compared to 160 for the main opposition bloc headed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The election set up a second term for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Rahul Gandhi Urged to Join Indian Cabinet After Vote | Rahul Gandhi has all qualities to be PM: Jyotiraditya Scindia
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urged Rahul Gandhi, the scion of India’s leading political family, to join the government, lauding his role in the ruling Congress Party’s biggest election victory in almost two decades.Gandhi “should be in the cabinet, but I will have to persuade him,” Singh said in New Delhi today. Gandhi, 38, declined to say whether he would accept, telling reporters his focus remains on drawing young voters to Congress.
“My job as I see it now is changing the politics of the country through the youngsters,” who comprise 70 percent of India’s 1.2 billion population, he said in remarks broadcast on Indian news channels from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
Congress’ victory, with Gandhi as its chief campaigner, may pave his way to succeed Singh, 76, as head of the world’s largest democracy. The party is set to win 60 more seats than in 2004, sidelining its main foe, the Bharatiya Janata Party.
“Rahul Gandhi has a shot at running this country for the next 15 years with the decimation of the BJP,” said Samir Arora, who oversees an India-focused hedge fund at Helios Capital Management Pte in Singapore. “It’s a fabulous result, way beyond what the Congress would have thought.”
Sonia Gandhi
Party president Sonia Gandhi pushed her son to the fore in this election, putting his face at the center of posters and billboards. He addressed 120 rallies, compared with 68 for his mother and 21 for Singh, according to the Indian Express newspaper.
While all the reasons for the surprise victory margin remain to be analyzed, “Rahul will win credit and reap the benefit,” said Ashutosh Kumar, political science professor at Panjab University in Chandigarh, northwestern India.
When the early vote count showed Congress ahead, party activists celebrating outside their headquarters in New Delhi shouted for Rahul to be given power. He rebuffed such suggestions throughout the campaign, saying that the most qualified leader is Singh.
“I think he should be prime minister now,” said Jyotiraditya Scindia, 38, a Congress legislator and close Gandhi ally from the central state of Madhya Pradesh. “He has all the qualities, capabilities and he has shown that,” Scindia said on the news channel NDTV.
Nehru-Gandhi Dynasty
While the Nehru-Gandhi family has provided three prime ministers, including his assassinated father, Rajiv, Rahul initially resisted entering politics and ran his first race, for a parliament seat, just five years ago.
Kumar said Gandhi’s energetic campaign deserves at least partial credit for the Congress victory. Gandhi outdistanced all Indian politicians in campaign travel, flying 87,000 kilometers (54,000 miles) around the country to attend rallies, the daily Hindustan Times reported May 12.
Sonia Gandhi turned down the position of prime minister in 2004, in part because of her Italian roots. She has continued to lead Congress and oversaw the campaign.
“We have won the elections under the visionary leadership of Sonia Gandhi and the youthful leadership of Rahul Gandhi,” Singh said, flanked by 62-year-old Sonia.
Uttar Pradesh
In India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, which elects 80 of the 543 members of parliament, Congress was on course to win 22 seats, up from nine in the last election. Voters in the state, frustrated with petty bickering by local parties “found in Rahul a young man with a vision and a commitment to the public,” said R. K. Mishra, a political science professor at Lucknow University in the state capital.
Gandhi’s push over the past year to rebuild the party’s state and local organizations, and to urge greater internal democracy, helped win voters, Mishra and Kumar said in telephone interviews. Still, they said, much of the advance is due to the failings of its opponents, who were seen by voters as corrupt and ineffectual in advancing economic development.
Congress’ victory, with Gandhi as its chief campaigner, may pave his way to succeed Singh, 76, as head of the world’s largest democracy. The party is set to win 60 more seats than in 2004, sidelining its main foe, the Bharatiya Janata Party.
“Rahul Gandhi has a shot at running this country for the next 15 years with the decimation of the BJP,” said Samir Arora, who oversees an India-focused hedge fund at Helios Capital Management Pte in Singapore. “It’s a fabulous result, way beyond what the Congress would have thought.”
Sonia Gandhi
Party president Sonia Gandhi pushed her son to the fore in this election, putting his face at the center of posters and billboards. He addressed 120 rallies, compared with 68 for his mother and 21 for Singh, according to the Indian Express newspaper.
While all the reasons for the surprise victory margin remain to be analyzed, “Rahul will win credit and reap the benefit,” said Ashutosh Kumar, political science professor at Panjab University in Chandigarh, northwestern India.
When the early vote count showed Congress ahead, party activists celebrating outside their headquarters in New Delhi shouted for Rahul to be given power. He rebuffed such suggestions throughout the campaign, saying that the most qualified leader is Singh.
“I think he should be prime minister now,” said Jyotiraditya Scindia, 38, a Congress legislator and close Gandhi ally from the central state of Madhya Pradesh. “He has all the qualities, capabilities and he has shown that,” Scindia said on the news channel NDTV.
Nehru-Gandhi Dynasty
While the Nehru-Gandhi family has provided three prime ministers, including his assassinated father, Rajiv, Rahul initially resisted entering politics and ran his first race, for a parliament seat, just five years ago.
Kumar said Gandhi’s energetic campaign deserves at least partial credit for the Congress victory. Gandhi outdistanced all Indian politicians in campaign travel, flying 87,000 kilometers (54,000 miles) around the country to attend rallies, the daily Hindustan Times reported May 12.
Sonia Gandhi turned down the position of prime minister in 2004, in part because of her Italian roots. She has continued to lead Congress and oversaw the campaign.
“We have won the elections under the visionary leadership of Sonia Gandhi and the youthful leadership of Rahul Gandhi,” Singh said, flanked by 62-year-old Sonia.
Uttar Pradesh
In India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, which elects 80 of the 543 members of parliament, Congress was on course to win 22 seats, up from nine in the last election. Voters in the state, frustrated with petty bickering by local parties “found in Rahul a young man with a vision and a commitment to the public,” said R. K. Mishra, a political science professor at Lucknow University in the state capital.
Gandhi’s push over the past year to rebuild the party’s state and local organizations, and to urge greater internal democracy, helped win voters, Mishra and Kumar said in telephone interviews. Still, they said, much of the advance is due to the failings of its opponents, who were seen by voters as corrupt and ineffectual in advancing economic development.
India wants action from Pak, not excuses
A day after Pakistan sought more evidence regarding the Mumbai terror attacks, India Tuesday said Islamabad was indulging in "diversionary" tactics that raised questions about its sincerity in punishing those behind the carnage.
"We have given sufficient evidence to Pakistan to act against identified masterminds. By delaying action and raising technicalities, Pakistan would be undermining the credibility of its own commitments to take tangible action," Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma told reporters here.
"Delaying tactics and invoking purely technical issues put a question mark on sincerity and intent of Pakistan," Sharma said when asked to comment on Pakistan's contention that it needed more information to carry forward the investigation into the Mumbai attacks in November last year.
"We are waiting for tangible actions by Pakistan and not excuses," he said.
"What is required is that Pakistan should take action and prove sincerity by bringing perpetrators of the heinous crime to justice," Sharma said while echoing growing anger here about Pakistan's perceived lack of will in punishing the guilty nearly five months after the terror attacks.
Sharma also repudiated Pakistan's "diversionary tactic" in seeking the statement of the late Hemant Karkare of the Anti-Terrorism Squad who was killed during the 26/11 attacks, with regard to Colonel S.K. Purohit in Samjhauta Express blasts.
"It is unconnected. It has nothing to do with 26/11. It is a diversionary tactic."
Pakistan's Director General (South Asia) Afrasiab Monday called India's acting high commissioner Manpreet Vohra to the ministry of foreign affairs in Islamabad and handed over a document seeking "further clarifications/evidence" from the Indian government in the ongoing probe in Pakistan relating to the Mumbai terror attacks.
"The response to some of the queries raised by Pakistan earlier, which is still awaited from India, was also required," Pakistan's foreign office said in a statement.
"The information being sought from India is in the spirit of cooperation with the Indian authorities and with a view to enabling the relevant authorities in Pakistan to proceed further in the matter. The Government of Pakistan expresses the hope that the Indian authorities will provide the information required as soon as possible."
A month ago, India handed over to Pakistan answers to 30 questions it had posed on Mumbai's "horrific terror attacks" and hoped that this step will lead to "credible action" by Islamabad against the perpetrators of the carnage and the "terrorist infrastructure" in that country.
"We have given sufficient evidence to Pakistan to act against identified masterminds. By delaying action and raising technicalities, Pakistan would be undermining the credibility of its own commitments to take tangible action," Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma told reporters here.
"Delaying tactics and invoking purely technical issues put a question mark on sincerity and intent of Pakistan," Sharma said when asked to comment on Pakistan's contention that it needed more information to carry forward the investigation into the Mumbai attacks in November last year.
"We are waiting for tangible actions by Pakistan and not excuses," he said.
"What is required is that Pakistan should take action and prove sincerity by bringing perpetrators of the heinous crime to justice," Sharma said while echoing growing anger here about Pakistan's perceived lack of will in punishing the guilty nearly five months after the terror attacks.
Sharma also repudiated Pakistan's "diversionary tactic" in seeking the statement of the late Hemant Karkare of the Anti-Terrorism Squad who was killed during the 26/11 attacks, with regard to Colonel S.K. Purohit in Samjhauta Express blasts.
"It is unconnected. It has nothing to do with 26/11. It is a diversionary tactic."
Pakistan's Director General (South Asia) Afrasiab Monday called India's acting high commissioner Manpreet Vohra to the ministry of foreign affairs in Islamabad and handed over a document seeking "further clarifications/evidence" from the Indian government in the ongoing probe in Pakistan relating to the Mumbai terror attacks.
"The response to some of the queries raised by Pakistan earlier, which is still awaited from India, was also required," Pakistan's foreign office said in a statement.
"The information being sought from India is in the spirit of cooperation with the Indian authorities and with a view to enabling the relevant authorities in Pakistan to proceed further in the matter. The Government of Pakistan expresses the hope that the Indian authorities will provide the information required as soon as possible."
A month ago, India handed over to Pakistan answers to 30 questions it had posed on Mumbai's "horrific terror attacks" and hoped that this step will lead to "credible action" by Islamabad against the perpetrators of the carnage and the "terrorist infrastructure" in that country.
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