Indore, Nov 23: Congress leader Raj Babbar's remark comparing the rupee's falling value against the US dollar with the age of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mother kicked up a controversy on Friday, with the BJP demanding an apology from the opposition party's president Rahul Gandhi.
Babbar made the controversial remark while addressing a rally in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh's Indore city on Thursday. Madhya Pradesh goes to polls on November 28 and results will be declared on December 11.
"(Before becoming the prime minister) Modi used to say that compared to the (US) dollar, the value of the rupee has fallen to a level where it is almost the same as the age of the then Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh)," Babbar, the Uttar Pradesh Congress chief, said.
"Mr Prime Minister, at that time, you had not taken his (Manmohan Singh) name out of respect. Although our tradition does not allow this, we wish to say that now the value of the rupee has fallen to the age of your respected mother," he added.
Modi's mother, Hiraba, is a nonagenarian.
The rupee has seen a continued fall against the US dollar this year, hovering a little over the 70-mark on Friday.
The BJP condemned Babbar's remark.
The party's national spokesperson Sambit Patra said it was not proper to use unparliamentary words or drag any person's mother into politics.
"But the Congress' attitude against the Prime Minister's mother has been improper from the beginning and such language was used even against the Prime Minister," Patra claimed.
"Rahul Gandhi should apologise and he should clarify whether he endorses such controversial statements," he said.
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New Delhi (PTI): The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has announced a detailed assessment scheme for Class 10 exams in the Middle East region which were cancelled amid escalating West Asia conflict, according to officials.
The exams were cancelled following a critical review of the prevailing situation across Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
According to CBSE Examination Controller Sanyam Bhardwaj, examinations scheduled from February 17 to 28 were conducted successfully. During this period, six academic subjects, including Mathematics, English and Science, were completed. Additionally, 16 language papers and 22 skill subject examinations were also conducted.
The board has divided candidates into five categories -- students who appeared in all examinations, students who appeared in four examinations, students who appeared in three examinations, students who appeared in two examinations and private students registered under the compartment category.
"The results of students who appeared for all exams will be declared based on their performance in the examinations. The result of students who appeared in four subjects will be declared based on the average of the marks obtained in the best three performing subjects for the subjects whose examinations have not been conducted," Bhardwaj said.
"The result of students who appeared in three subjects will be declared based on the average of the marks obtained in the best two performing subjects for the subjects whose examinations have not been conducted," he added.
The examination controller explained that very few students have appeared in the examinations in only two subjects.
"Their results will be declared based on the average of the marks of two subjects in the remaining subject," he said.
The results of Middle East students will be declared along with the rest of the students. Students will be allowed to improve their performance through the second board examinations according to policy.
