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Maha Congress to agitate
for ARNAB'S ARREST
Democrats take control
of US Senate
Washington, Jan 21 (IANS) The Democratic Party has taken control
of the US Senate after Vice President Kamala Harris swore in
three party Senators as new members of the upper chamber.
Stepping onto the Senate floor for the first time as Vice President,
which also makes her the President of the Senate, Harris on
Wednesday swore in Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock from Georgia,
as well as her replacement from California, Alex Padilla, reports
Xinhua news agency.
The party breakdown in the Senate is 50-50 now, with Harris having
the power to cast the tie-breaking vote.
Warnock, 51, and Ossoff, 33, won runoff elections in Georgia earlier
this month that determined the control of the Senate.
Padilla, 47, was picked by California Governor Gavin Newsom to
fill Harris’s Senate seat when she resigned to become vice president.
Meanwhile, Democratic leader in the chamber, Chuck Schumer,
became the Senate Majority Leader.
"We have a lengthy agenda, and we need to get it done together...
This will be an exceptionally busy and consequential period for the
US Senate," he said in the first speech in his new role.
"The divisions in the country are real. We have no choice but to
try to work together every day," Schumer said in remarks to
Republican Senators. Mitch McConnell of the Republican Party
became the Minority Leader. Schumer and McConnell will have to
reach a power-sharing deal in the coming weeks on how the business
of the Senate will be run, with issues remaining to be resolved including
the number of Senators each party will have on committees and
the mechanism to break ties in the panels. McConnell in a floor
speech noted Joe Biden, who was sworn in as the 46th President of
the US earlier in the day, "made unity the major thing of his inaugural
address", acknowledging that both Biden and Harris are alumni of
the Senate and pledging cooperation with the new President "wherever
possible". The Democrats have now controlled the White
House, the Senate and the House, but the evenly-shared senate seats
and the shrinking majority they have in the House, the slimmest in
decades, show just how divided the country is.
46% feel global rights bodies
doing enough on Tibetan cause
New Delhi : According to the IANS C-Voter Tibet Poll, as many
as 46 per cent of the respondents feel that on various world forums,
enough has been done by
the international human
rights organisations to
help the Tibetan cause,
while 32.5 per cent feel
otherwise, while 21 are
undecided on the issue.
The survey included a
sample size of 3,000
spread across the country.
In the urban areas of
the country, 44 per cent
people are satisfied by the works of the global rights bodies on the
Tibetan cause, while in the rural areas the figures go up to 47.5 per
cent.
As many as 51 per cent of Indians in the Eastern part of the country
feel that enough has been done by the international human rights
organisations to help the Tibetan cause, while 50 per cent people
from Northeast also feel the same. However, just 25 per cent of people
in the Union Territories feel the same while 50 per cent of them
are undecided on the issue. According to the survey, 45 per cent of
people in the higher education group feel that not enough has been
done by the global rights bodies while only 39 per cent are satisfied
with their works. As per the survey, nearly 47 per cent of the people
in the age group of 35-44 years said yes’ when asked Has enough
been done on various world forums by international human rights
organisations to help the Tibetan cause?’
Nearly 45 per cent of those in the age group of 18-24 years
responded positively to the question.
Farmers body rejects
govt proposal to
suspend farm laws
New Delhi : Farmer leaders on Thursday rejected the government’s
offer to suspend the three farm laws for 12 to 16 months. At a
full general body meeting of the Sanyukta Kisan Morcha, a complete
repeal of three central farm laws and enacting a legislation for remunerative
MSP for every farmer were again reiterated as the outstanding
demands of the farmers movement.
"The Morcha pays homage to more than 140 farmers who have
lost their lives in the agitation. These companions are separated from
us while fighting this mass movement. Their sacrifice will not go in
vain and we will not go back without the repeal of these farm laws,"
said a statement released by the Sanyukta Kisan Morcha.
In the meeting held with police officials, the police requested the
farmers not to take out the tractor parade in Delhi, while the farmers
repeated their plan to do that on the Outer Ring Road of the Capital.
"This peaceful movement is becoming a nationwide people’s
movement. Farmers are uniting for Republic Day through vehicle rallies
in many places in Karnataka. Tractor marches are taking place in
many places in Kerala as well. Farmers of Bilaspur and Rampur in
Uttarakhand are preparing for the farmers’ parade in Delhi by organising
tractor marches. Farmers in Chhattisgarh will march towards
the Raj Bhavan on January 23 and a group of farmers will also leave
for Delhi," Dr. Darshan Pal of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha told
IANS. "The Kisan Delhi Chalo Yatra of Navnirman Kisan
Sangathan, which was started from Odisha, is being disturbed repeatedly
by the Uttar Pradesh police. Police officials are disturbing public
meetings also. We oppose this behaviour of the administration,"
the statement further said. "A big three-day protest will take place in
Kolkata from January 20 to January 22. Thousands of people are
likely to participate in this. The protest is expected to intensify in the
coming days," added the statement.
Mumbai : Terming the recent revelations
of WhatsApp chats of two media personalities
Arnab Goswami and Partho Dasgupta as
"extremely serious and violative of the
Official Secret Act, 1923" the Maharashtra
Congress on Thursday announced state-wide
protests on Friday (Jan. 22) demanding their
arrest and prosecution.
State party President and Revenue
Minister Balasaheb Thorat said that the chats
between the Republic TV Editor and the ex-
BARC head had some serious revelations
related to national security and pertaining to
the retaliatory surgical strike by India in
Balakot, Pakistan.
"How did Goswami get the information
on the air-strikes of Feb. 23, 2019, three days
before the action was taken? Who is the ’Big
Name’ in the government that he refers to?
With whom did Goswami share such sensitive
information that is violative of the OSA,
1923," Thorat demanded.
The Congress leader pointed out that the
WhatsApp chats indicate how Goswami
enjoys very close ties with Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah
and other ministers in the Bharatiya Janata
Party government, many ministers or highranking
officials have helped him out by
flouting rules, and the Pulwama attack pointed
to vested interests of some big functionary.
"The chats mention that ’he will win elections’
on the issue - so did the BJP use the
martyrs’ sacrifice only to win polls? What is
the connivance between Goswami and the
BJP which is dangerous not only for the
press freedom, but also the country’s security
and democracy," Thorat pointed out.
Claiming that Goswami is not ’the only
culprit’, the Congress chief alleged that many
Central ministers have violated their oath to
help the Republic TV chief earn commercial
gains, and action must be taken against all
those who were party to the entire episode.
Referring to the ongoing TRP manipulations
scam and Republic TV illegally using
Doordarshan’s satellite frequencies causing
huge losses to Prasar Bharati, Thorat said
even after DD lodged a complaint, the then
Information & Broadcasting Minister
Rajyavardhan Rathore failed to take cognizance
of the matter and set it aside.
"This shows that Goswami enjoys great
support from within the BJP government is it
the reason he has been spared of action
despite misappropriation of public funds,"
Thorat asked.
Last week, Home Minister Anil
Deshmukh had said that the state government
will seek legal opinion to examine how
it could proceed against the Republic TV
head in the matter which concerned national
security.
73.7% back restoring Tibet’s
status as buffer zone
between INDIA & CHINA
New Delhi, Jan 21 (IANS) Majority of the respondents of the
IANS C-Voter Tibet Poll back restoring Tibet’s status as a buffer zone
in order to prevent border conflicts between India and China.
Responding to query on ’Do you think it is important to restore the
historic status of Tibet as a buffer zone or a zone of peace in order to
prevent border conflicts between India and China’, 73.7 per cent of
the respondents said ’Yes’, 13.8 per cent said No’, while 12.6 per cent
said they couldn’t comment on the matter.
The survey included a sample size of 3,000 people spread across
the country.
Gender wise, 13.4 per cent male replied they couldn’t comment,
72.8 per cent agreed with the query, while 13.8 per cent said ’No’.
Among females, 74.7 per cent agreed, 13.7 per cent answered in the
negative, while 11.7 per cent said they couldn’t comment.
Among those in the age group of 18 to 24 years, 12.0 per cent said
they couldn’t comment on the matter, 73.5 per cent said ’Yes’, while
14.5 per cent said ’No’. In the 25-34 age group, 12.2 per cent were
undecide, 72.5 per cent agreed while 15.3 per cent answered in the
negative. As many as 16.9 per cent of people in the lower education
group said they couldn’t comment on the issue, 67.2 per cent agreed
to the query, while 15.9 per cent said ’No’.
In the middle education group, 8.4 per cent said they couldn’t
comment, 79.9 per cent said ’Yes’, while 11.7 per cent said they didn’t
agree with the query. In the higher education group, 12 per cent
said they couldn’t comment, 73.8 per cent said ’Yes’, while 14.2 per
cent replied in the negative. As per the survey, 16.6 per cent people
in the lower income group said they couldn’t comment, 68.3 per cent
said ’Yes’, while 15.1 per cent said ’No’. In the middle income group,
8.1 per cent said they couldn’t comment, 80 per cent agreed with the
question, while 11.9 per cent answered in the negative. Similarly, in
the higher income group, 5.3 per cent replied they couldn’t comment,
80 per cent said ’Yes’, while 14.7 per cent answered with a ’No’.