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PM attacks Congress, then reaches out to Oppn for support

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modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today reached out to the opposition, saying he needs their support for ‘improvement’ in his government, even as he attacked the Congress over disruptions in Parliament while skipping the raging issues like JNU and Dalit student’s suicide.

Modi, speaking in the Lok Sabha, used wit and barbs as he responded to the attack by Congress over various initiatives of his government, including ‘Make in India’ and MNREGA.

Slamming the Congress for disrupting Parliament and stalling bills, he said the main opposition party was doing so because of “inferiority complex” of its top leaders. He also invoked the statements made by Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and first President Rajendra Prasad by reading out their statements against stalling of legislative business.

He deploredthe ‘tu tu, mai mai’ (blame game) attitude by political parties for “scoring points”, saying the officialdom rejoices over this and nation suffers.

“This government also needs improvement which cannot happen without your help. I am new, you are experienced. I need the benefit of your experience. Governments will come and go. Let us work shoulder to shoulder,” Modi said while replying to a debate on Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address which was approved later.

He said a democratic country like India cannot be left at the mercy of the bureaucracy as he sought to underline the importance of the Legislature, saying even a single MP of any party should be treated like “Prime Minister”.

In his 75-minute speech, Modi, however, did not respond to the specific issues raised by Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders, like his visit to Pakistan, blackmoney, JNU and Dalit student Rohith Vemula’s suicide.

(PTI)

 

CM Siddaramaiah hands over the controversial watch to Assembly Speaker

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Siddaramaiah-watch

Bengaluru: Mired in a controversy over a luxury watch gifted to him, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday handed it over to the Speaker amid uproar in the state Assembly, declaring it a state asset.

As the Assembly was rocked by the controversy for the second consecutive day, an angry Siddaramaiah gave the watch and a letter to Speaker Kagodu Thimappa as BJP and JDS members continued to stage a dharna in the well of the House.

Siddaramaiah’s dramatic gesture came when the House reassembled after two adjournments with BJP and JDS persisting with their demand for a discussion on the issue. The Chief Minister said in the letter to the Speaker, who read it out, that he had paid “advance tax” for the watch.

He said the pre-owned “HUBLOT BIG BANG-301-M” wrist watch was presented to him by his Dubai-based NRI friend Dr Girish Chandra Varma in July last at Bengaluru as a personal gift. Siddaramiah also said Varma has no official dealings with Government of Karnataka or its organisations.

Opposition BJP leader Jagadish Shettar dismissed Siddaramaiah’s action as “high drama” and said he was doing so thinking that the controversy would end. A high-level probe by a central agency should be conducted, he said.

The Chief Minister is in the eye of a storm over the diamond-studded watch.

As controversy erupted, he declared last week that the watch, claimed to be worth Rs 70 lakh, would be declared as state asset and handed over to the government. As the Assembly met for the day, BJP members entered the well of the House and demanded that a discussion on the issue be allowed and Speaker should reconsider his decision on not allowing an adjournment motion on the issue.

However, Thimmappa, who rejected BJP’s appeal on Tuesday to allow adjournment motion, stuck to his decision. Following this, BJP continued its protest, stating that affidavit, documents and receipt relating to the watch had to be made public by Verma, who is said to have gifted it.

As both opposition and treasury benches were involved in war of words, the House was adjourned by the Speaker who called the floor leaders for a meeting. When the House reassembled, opposition members again entered the well and demanded a discussion.

Amidst sloganeering and protest by opposition, the Speaker even allowed introduction and passage of Karnataka Legislature Salaries, Pension and Allowances (Second Amendment) Bill, 2015, aimed at making provision to provide family pension to family members of the member deceased before December 26, 1978 operative from February 22, 2014.

As the protest continued, the Speaker once gain adjourned the House till afternoon.

(PTI)

UN warns of hunger crisis in Central African Republic

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WFP says it only has about half of the funds needed to help 2.5 million people who are facing acute food shortages.

Families have been forced to sell their possessions, pull their children out of school and even resort to begging [AP]

Families have been forced to sell their possessions, pull their children out of school and even resort to begging [AP]

by Al Jazeera

At least half of the population or 2.5 million people in the Central African Republic are facing a hunger crisis, in a situation that has become dire, the World Food Programme said.

Bienvenu Djossa, WFP country director in CAR, said on Tuesday that the number of people battling hunger had doubled from 2015 and serious interventions had to be implemented to ensure the crisis did not deteriorate.

“It is serious. The situation is worse than last year,” Djossa said a statement.

“It is crucial that we continue helping the most vulnerable, who need emergency food assistance to survive. This is the time when people need the maximum help possible as it is also the lean season, when people struggle to have enough food to eat before the next harvest.”

Three years of bloodshed and the displacement of nearly one million people from their homes have disrupted harvests and sent food prices soaring in the volatile country.

The WFP’s call for CAR not to be forgotten comes as the UN revealed that overall crop production in 2015 remained 54 percent below the pre-crisis average.

“Some 75 percent of people in CAR depend on agriculture, and with the planting season starting in less than two months, boosting agriculture now is crucial to revitalising the economy and to stability in the country,” FAO Country Representative Jean-Alexandre Scaglia said in a press release on Monday.

The WFP said that families are so short of food that children receiving school meals under the WFP’s emergency programme put part of their serving in a plastic bag to take home.

Families have been forced to sell their possessions, pull their children out of school and even resort to begging.

The country suffered the worst crisis in its history in early 2013 when mainly Muslim Seleka fighters toppled then leader Francois Bozize. Christian militias responded by attacking the Muslim minority.

Killing and looting had almost halved the number of cattle and reduced the number of sheep and goats by almost 60 percent, the UN said. Damage to infrastructure and insecurity had also hit fishing.

An escalation of violence in September helped exacerbate a massive increase in food prices, the agencies said, with the price of beef almost double pre-crisis levels.

WFP said it had only secured about half the $89m it needs until the end of July to respond to the needs of 1.4 million people in CAR and neighbouring countries hosting CAR refugees.

Movie Review: ‘Tere Bin Laden: Dead Or Alive’ is not at all worthy of its prequel

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Tere Bin Laden Dead Or Alive

Banner: Walkwater Media
Producers: Pooja Shetty Deora & Aarti Shetty
Director: Abhishek Sharma
Star Cast: Manish Paul, Sikander Kher, Pradhuman Singh, Mia Uyeda, Piyush Mishra, Sugandha Garg and above all President Obama
Music: Dhruv Dhalla

Writer-director Abhishek Sharma tried his level best to make a worthy sequel in Tere Bin Laden: Dead Or Alive but has miserably failed to recreate the magic of its prequel Tere Bin Laden.

So this time, it’s operation ‘Osama Dead or Alive?’ Set against Osama Bin Laden’s mysterious death followed by counter reports claiming he is alive, stirring the biggest controversy in the world. The US wants to prove to the world that they shot him dead while Khalili (Piyush Mishra) the terrorist arms dealer wants the world to believe he is alive. In fact Tere Bin Laden – Dead or Alive is a whacky comical satire that misfires as it transpires in this desperate tug of war between US & the Terrorists. Stuck in this distressed crossfire is a budding Bollywood film director Sharma (Manish Paul) looking for a big break, gets hired by US agent David Chaddha (Sikander) on the pretext of making a Hollywood film on Osama using his doppelgänger Paddi Singh (Pradhuman Singh). The hidden motive is to shoot a fake tape to prove his death.

Director Abhishek Sharma has made a complete mess in trying to justify a sequel of a cult & iconic film like Tere Bin Laden. Truthfully speaking Tere Bin Laden was and still is one of the “Best Films” to have been made in the last decade. Nothing but nothing seems to work in favour of Tere Bin Laden: Dead Or Alive. Even the gags are forced down the audiences gullet. Which in turn hardly raises a full throated laughter. Need I say anything more.

Performance wise Pradhuman Singh turns out to be the biggest disappointment of all. Manish Paul’s (as himself) satirical comic attempt is laudable at times. Sikandar Kher unfortunately could not deliver the goods at all that too when he had the opportunity to enact a dual role. Ali Zafar in a cameo is hardly impressive or rather totally wasted to say the least. The extended cameo of President Obama was totally uncalled for and should have been dispensed with.

Tail Piece: Its safe to give miss to a lacklustre film like Tere Bin Laden: Dead Or Alive. In fact it will be better to watch the DVD of the prequel Tere Bin Laden. And if you are still curious to know what happens in the sequel Tere Bin Laden: Dead Or Alive then wait for its global premiere on the small screen.

Movie Review: ‘Neerja’ is an emotional biopic which leaves you teary eyed towards the end

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neerja-movie

Banner: Fox Star Studios
Producers: Atul Kasbekar, Shanti Sivaram Maini, Bling Unplugged & Fox Star Studios
Director: Ram Madhvani
Star Cast: Sonam Kapoor, Shabana Azmi, Shekhar Ravjiani, Kavi Shastri, Yogendra Tiku, Abrar Zahoor, Jim Sarbh, Ali Baldiwala, Vikrant Singta & Rehan Shaikh
Music: Vishal Khurana

Director Ram Madhwani in this latest offering Neerja has made a very heart touching and real life biopic on flight purser named Neerja Bhanot. The film revolves around the Libya backed Abu Nidal Organisation’s hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73 in Karachi, Pakistan on 5th Sept, 1986, specifically focusing on head purser Neerja Bhanot who thwarted the hijack attempt by preventing the plane from taking off, which resulted in the lives of 360 hostages being saved.

The plotted scenario of Neerja showcases her life’s journey and opens up with a 22 year old Neerja arriving late for a house party. A die – hard fan of Rajesh Khanna who remembers all his dialogues by heart. She was the youngest and the only girl in her family that had 2 brothers. Her parents Rama Bhanot & Harish Bhanot were her pillar who taught her not to lose hope, fight injustice with courage and to stand by what she believes in. Neerja loves her job but her mother was not excited about her job. 2 days before her birthday she boarded the plane as chief purser from Mumbai to New York via Karachi. As soon as the plane makes a halt at Karachi airport it is hijacked by the Libyan Terrorists. Neerja then cleverly informs the pilots and skilfully manipulates the terrorists and saves the passengers. She could have easily escaped but she chose humanity and sacrifices her life to save little kids. Even on her death bed her last message to her mother was, “Pushpa, I hate tears” which portrayed her bravery and her love for life. She was truly a courageous woman.

Director Ram Madhvani was perhaps lost in oblivion after his debut movie named Let’s Talk in 2002 had tanked miserably at the Box Office turnstiles. And now with his 2nd outing Neerja he makes a grand comeback. Needless to add that with Neerja he has proved his par excellence directorial prowess. Vishal Khurana’s soulful & soothing music is another highlight of the film.

Performance wise Sonam Kapoor in the title role of Neerja is simply terrific and beyond imagination. If only Neerja was her debut film. Once again it won’t be out of place to say that with Neerja, Sonam Kapoor has proved that indeed she too is the chip of the old block. Ironically speaking even her father Anil Kapoor could prove his histrionic versatility only after tucking in a couple of non -performing films under his belt. Shabana Azmi as usual is superb as Neerja Bhanot’s mother Rama Bhanot. She has literally lived the role. Yogendra Tiku as Neerja’s father is upto the mark. The music composer turned actor Shekhar Ravjiani does justice to his brief role. While the rest of the actor, also in their brief roles, like Kavi Shastri, Abrar Zahoor, Jim Sarbh, Ali Baldiwala, Vikrant Singta & Rehan Shaikh are adequate.

Tail Piece: Neerja is one film that should not be given a miss at any cost. In fact it’s a strongly recommended movie for one & all.

Movie Review: ‘Aligarh’ is a sensitive portrayal of a man who is fighting his inner & outer demons for his sexual orientation

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Aligarh

Banner: Eros Entertainment & Karma Pictures
Producers: Sunil Lulla & Shailesh R. Singh
Director: Hansal Mehta
Star Cast: Manoj Bajpai, Rajkummar Rao, Ashish Vidyarthi, Ishwak Singh, Nutan Surya, Divya Unny, Suman Vaidya & Master Devyansh Agnihotri

Director Hansal Mehta is known more for tackling themes which are more suited, or rather which are more often than not slotted, in the category of the middle of the road cinema. No doubt his kind of cinema wins a lot of critical acclaim topped with awards galore in global film fest circuit. Just like his latest offering Aligarh which got a standing ovation in Busan International Film Festival.

Aligarh’s plotted scenario starts off on the premises of Aligarh Muslim University, the very ‘Urdu dominated’ place where Professor Shrinivas Siras (Manoj Bajpayee) happens to teach Marathi to the students. The film gradually moves onto capturing the ‘intimate moments’ between Professor Shrinivas Siras and a rickshaw driver Irfan. The moment they get intimate with each other, 2 reporters (who claim to be from TV 100 channel) do a sting operation on the duo. As Siras & Irfan get caught in the act, Dr. Zuber Khan, Dr. Firoz Majid, Dr. Shadab Qureshi & Professor A. K. Murtuza from the university enter the room. Even though Dr. Shadab Qureshi (who also happens to be the college’s PRO) assures Siras that he will not leak his intimate video, yet he goes back on his words and tells the media all about the incident. The next day morning sees all the newspapers & channels screaming about Siras’ incident, which also results in a mob burning his effigies, human protests et al. All of this results in Professor Siras being suspended from the college and gets told to vacant the quarters within a week’s time. Meanwhile, a young & ‘fire in the belly’ journalist Deepu Sebastian (Rajkummar Rao) starts writing about the case arming himself with thorough investigation, because he feels that Siras is not guilty and could have been framed. Initially, Siras is reluctant to speak to Deepu about the incident because the latter is a journalist. But after a few meetings, Siras develops full faith in Deepu and he confides the whole incident that had taken place that night. While on one hand, Deepu goes all out to get justice for Siras, on the other hand, the court case against Siras only gets prolonged day after day. After days & days of struggle, when Deepu finally succeeds in being the ‘agent of change’ for Siras to get justice, a drunk Siras tells Deepu on the phone that he strongly feels that he should get settled in US as that’s where people of his sexual orientation get accepted with open arms.

Director Hansal Mehta deserves a standing ovation, a heartfelt salutation coupled with some brownie points for his par excellence directorial prowess in Aligarh. That apart hats off to its producers Sunil Lulla & Shailesh R. Singh for backing Aligarh with all their sincerity & their integrity. That apart a round of another standing ovation also goes to behind the scenes team of Apurva Asrani for his story, screenplay & editing, Karan Kulkarni for his background music & Satya Rai Nagpaul for his cinematography.

Performance wise Manoj Bajpayee is simply outstanding. He excellently & effortlessly conveys the humiliation & the pain by straight away getting into the skin of his character, seriously no other actor could have stepped into his shoes. So much so that Aligarh adds yet another milestone in his chequered career innings. While on the other hand Rajkummar Rao proves yet again that he is no doubt a gifted actor in his own right. That apart the rest of the cast comprising of Ashish Vidhyarthi, Ishwak Singh, Nutan Surya, Divya Unny, Suman Vaidya & Master Devyansh Agnihotri
bring in their own value added performances to make the film reach its goal.

Tail Piece: Sadly enough even though Aligarh is a sensitive, heart-wrenching & heart warming film it may appeal to a very niche segment of the multiplex audiences. It has already proved to be a critics delight but may not attract the masses, mainly the commercial entertainment starved audiences of the single theatres. All in all Aligarh is one classy film that will not attract the mass audiences.

Bishops covered up sex abuse of Pennsylvania children

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Cases of sexual abuse over four-decade period by Roman Catholic priests were covered up by US bishops, jury says.

The report contains explicit details of abuse cases, naming perpetrators, many of whom have since died [File: Max Rossi/Reuters]

The report contains explicit details of abuse cases, naming perpetrators, many of whom have since died [File: Max Rossi/Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Hundreds of children in the US state of Pennsylvania have been sexually abused by about 50 Roman Catholic priests over four decades while bishops covered up their actions, a grand jury report said.

Released on Tuesday, the report found that former Altoona-Johnstown Diocese Bishop James Hogan, who died in 2005, and his successor, Joseph Adamec, who retired in 2011, worked to cover paedophile priests’ tracks.

Some local law enforcement agencies also avoided investigating abuse allegations, said state Attorney General Kathleen Kane.

“The heinous crimes these children endured are absolutely unconscionable,” Kane told reporters in unveiling the report, based on a two-year investigation.

“These predators desecrated a sacred trust and preyed upon their victims in the very places where they should have felt most safe.”

Revelations that some priests had habitually sexually abused children and that bishops had systematically covered up those crimes burst onto the world stage in 2002 when the Boston Globe reported widespread abuse in the Boston Archdiocese.

That report, which won a Pulitzer Prize and was the subject of last year’s Academy Award-winning film “Spotlight,” set off a global wave of investigations that found similar patterns at dioceses around the world. They led to hefty lawsuits and seriously undermined the church’s moral authority.

No charges filed

No criminal charges will be filed because the alleged incidents are too old to be prosecuted, Kane said.

Al Jazeera’s Kristen Saloomey, reporting from New York City, said: “Some of the victims… are just too traumatised to testify.”

Advocates for victims of sex assault have long urged lawmakers to give prosecutors more time to bring charges of sex assaults of minors, noting that particularly in the case of assaults by members of the clergy, victims can take years to come forward.

The report contains explicit details of scores of attacks, naming perpetrators, many of whom have since died.

Many of the surviving priests were still serving parishes at the time the investigation began, Kane said, but all have since been removed by the current bishop.

“This is a painful and difficult time,” current Altoona-Johnstown Bishop Mark Bartchak said in a statement. “I deeply regret any harm that has come to children.”

“We’re saddened but not the least bit surprised,” said David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

“It proves what we’ve long maintained: that even now, under the guise of ‘reform,’ bishops continue to deceive parishioners and the public about their ongoing efforts to hide abuse.”

India beat Sri Lanka to enter Asia Cup final

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Virat-srilanka

Mirpur: India rode on fine knocks by Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh to defeat Sri Lanka by five wickets in their Asia Cup Twenty20 cricket match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium here on Tuesday and enter the finals.

Coming in after the early fall of opener Shikhar Dhawan, Kohli anchored the innings with an unbeaten half-century as India overhauled the 139-run target with four balls to spare.

The Delhi lad remained not out on 56, with seven well-timed boundaries studding his 85-ball knock.

Yuvraj produced a power-packed innings, hitting 35 runs off 18 balls with three boundaries and an equal number of sixes.

India, who have won all the three matches they have played so far, thus assured themselves a spot in the final.

The men in blue are at the top of the five-team table with six points and even an unlikely defeat in the final group game against minniows United Arab Emirates will see them through to the summit clash.

Nuwan Kulasekara was the most successful among the Sri Lankan bowlers with figures of 2/21.

The Indian run chase was off to a rocky start with openers Dhawan and Rohit Sharma departing early.

But Kohli and Suresh Raina came together to bring the innings back on track. While Kohli was the more aggresive of the two, Raina gave him good support from the other end.

The duo batted patiently, finding the gaps for the occasional boundary to add 54 runs between them.

Raina, who scored 25 runs off 26 balls with two hits to the ropes, was dismissed by Dasun Shanaka when he miscued an attempted big hit. The left-hander was surprised by the extra bounce and offered an easy high catch for Kulasekara at mid-off.

Yuvraj strode in and proceeded to plunder the Lankan bowling with some powerful hits. The veteran left-hander carried India within sniffing distance of the target before a bouncer from Perera carried the top edge to Kulasekara at fine leg.

Hardik Pandya followed Yuvraj back to the pavilion in the next over, but by then India were well on the way to victory.

Fittingly, Kohli hit the winning runs with a boundary off left-arm spinner Rangana Herath.

Earlier, Sri Lanka produced a competitive total of 138/9 in their 20 overs.

For India, promising all-rounder Pandya (2/26), off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (2/26) and young pacer Jasprit Bumrah (2/27) took two wickets each.

Veteran pacer Ashish Nehra (1/22), who bowled an excellent opening spell, also got a wicket.

Chamara Kapugedera (30) was the highest scorer among the Sri Lankan batsmen.

Asked to bat first on a greenish pitch, the Sri Lankan batsmen never really managed to settle down and lost wickets at regular intervals.

Sri Lanka suffered an early setback when opener Dinesh Chandimal was caught behind off Nehra’s bowling while attempting a big hit.

Bumrah piled on the pressure in the next over with a superb delivery which Shehan Jayasuriya edged to Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni behind the stumps.

Dhoni’s decision to bring Pandya into the attack in place of Nehra brought immediate results as the all-rounder got rid of the dangerous Tillakaratne Dilshan with his very first ball.

Angelo Mathews seemed to be in good touch, hitting Pandya for a couple of boundaries. But the right-hander was undone by poor timimg when he got a thick inside edge onto the stumps.

Kapugedera and Milinda Siriwardana (22) tried to steady the innings with a 43-run partnership.

The duo handled the Indian bowling quite well, producing the occassional boundary as the Sri Lankans tried to come back into the game.

But the partnership came to an end when Siriwardana holed out Raina at long-on while trying to hit Ashwin out of the ground.

The Sri Lankans plunged into further trouble when Dasun Shanaka was run out off the last ball of the same over.

Thisara Perera (17) and Kulasekara (13 not out) then came up with a few bit hits in the closing stages of the innings to take their team to a competitive total.

(IANS)

Two JNU videos ‘manipulated’: forensic report

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kanhaiya-kumar-jnu

New Delhi: A Delhi government-ordered forensic probe of a set of video clippings of the controversial JNU event has found that two videos were “manipulated” where voices of persons not present in the clips were added.

Out of seven videos sent by the Delhi government to the Hyderabad-based Truth Labs, two have been found to be tampered with while the rest were authentic, sources said.

“In the manipulated clips, videos have been edited and voices have been added. The main report with a supplementary have been submitted to the Delhi government,” they said.

When asked whether the voices that were added were of persons not seen in the manipulated clips, they said “naturally”.

The Arvind Kejriwal led-government had on February 13 ordered a magisterial inquiry into the alleged raising of anti-national slogans on the Jawaharlal Nehru University’s campus on February 9.

Earlier, a video showing raising of anti-India slogans allegedly by outsiders at the event had given a fresh twist to the case.

In the video, the youths, whose faces were covered, could be seen raising slogans against India.

Several videos of the event have surfaced since the row broke out leading to the arrest of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar on charges of sedition, triggering widespread protests.

A Delhi court on Tuesday sent JNU students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, also arrested in connection with the same case, to 14 days judicial custody.

(Agencies)

‘Fair and Lovely’ scheme launched to convert black money into white: Rahul Gandhi

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Rahul-Gandhi

New Delhi: Congress vice president on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi government, saying it launched a “‘Fair and Lovely Yojana’ to convert black money into white money”.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi said: “Nobody who has black money will be jailed under Modi’s ‘Fair and Lovely’ scheme. All those who have black money can make it white under this scheme.”

Gandhi was participating on the discussion on the motion of thanks to the President on his address to the joint sitting of parliament’s two houses, marking the beginning of the budget session.

He hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi: “Modi ji had promised that he will put people with black money behind bars, now they have come up with way to save those people.”

“I was shocked to see Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launching such scheme.”

He said the prime minister failed to fulfil his poll promise of bringing the black money from foreign countries.

Gandhi also raked up the issue of suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula and said the prime minister neither called up his mother nor did he speak on the issue.

Gandhi slammed the prime minister for his silence over the violence done with students and media persons at a Delhi court.

“Why were you silent, Modi ji, when journalists, teachers and students were beaten,” he said.

On the ongoing Jawaharlal Nehru University row, Gandhi said: “I had heard (JNUSU president) Kanhaiya’s whole speech, not a word in his speech was anti-national.”

He said the government could not “crush the JNU” or the “poor people of the country”.

(Agencies)

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