Will accord welcome to PM if govt brings back Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi from abroad: Congress
New Delhi, May 25: Soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi was accorded a warm welcome on his return from a three-nation tour, the Congress on Thursday said it will stand at the airport for a reception of the prime minister when the government brings back fugitive offenders Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi.
"We will also accord a grand welcome (to the prime minister), but only on the condition that the other Modis are brought back. We will also stand at the Delhi airport and offer a grand welcome if Lalit Modi or Nirav Modi is brought back to India by the government," Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera told reporters here.
He was asked to comment on Modi getting a rousing welcome at the airport after his tour to Japan, Papua New Guinea and Australia.
Khera, however, cited reports and claimed that soon after Modi landed back home, an Australian university announced a ban on admission for Indian students from five states.
On Modi's achievements, the Congress leader said even within two hours of his arrival back home, when his jet lag would also not have gone, an Australian university announced that it will not allow Indian students from five states to get admitted.
"Is this the achievement of the prime minister? He would not even have reached home from the airport when this news came in. Whenever the Indian prime minister goes abroad, he represents India. His first and primary responsibility is to safeguard India's interests even if he gets accolades and holds big programmes for himself.
"What steps have you taken on Australia banning students from five Indian states and when will there be a discussion when the future of Indian students is in danger? This is a very bitter reply in diplomacy when students are banned soon after your landing back," Khera said.
He also said every right-thinking Indian is supporting the wrestlers agitating at Jantar Mantar here. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had also gone to the protest site and spent some time with the wrestlers, Khera added.
"So have our other leaders and a lot of concerned citizens are trying to reach out to the wrestlers. The prime minister ... is less than four-five kilometres away. Smriti Irani, all these ministers, they live around three to four kilometres from Jantar Mantar. It is unfortunate that not a single minister was seen there.
"We have all witnessed protests. When we were in power, there was a sensitivity in governments during those days. You see not even an iota of sensitivity in this government or anybody in this government. Not even in the sports minister," the Congress leader said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
