Question in Tamil, reply in Hindi:Heated exchanges in Lok Sabha between Opposition, treasury benches
New Delhi, Feb 10: A question asked in Tamil triggered heated exchanges in Lok Sabha on Wednesday between the Opposition and Treasury benches that spilled over to the issue of ministers giving replies in Hindi.
It all started during Question Hour, with DMK member A Ganeshamurthi asking a supplementary question about FDI inflow in Tamil and Union minister Piyush Goyal saying that he missed the first part in Tamil and wanted to know which project was he referring to.
"If I ask a question in English, then the ministers should respond in English only... a member asks a question in Tamil and the minister replies in Hindi," the member remarked and Goyal responded by saying that he can answer in Hindi while the translation is available for the member.
Some opposition members shouted as they also apparently sought to raise the issue of ministers replying in Hindi to questions asked in English. In recent times, there have been instances in the House when opposition members, especially from southern states, have protested against such a trend.
Speaker Om Birla asked Ganeshamurthi to repeat the question and the member asked the same in Tamil.
A visibly peeved Goyal asked the Chair for a ruling on whether there is any rule that a question asked in a language should be replied to in the same language.
"I will give the reply in Hindi... I also listened to the translation (of the question that was asked in Tamil)," the minister said.
As Ganeshamurthi again raised the issue, Birla smiled and asked the member to put on the headphones. Birla, who generally speaks Hindi in the House, spoke in English, saying please member address to the Chair... no problem".
When it was the member's turn to ask the second supplementary question, he said he will ask in Tamil only and raised the question.
And Goyal gave the reply in Hindi.
Last week, Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who were also former party colleagues, sparred over the minister replying to English questions in Hindi.
While responding to supplementary questions asked by members from Tamil Nadu in English, the civil aviation minister had replied in Hindi.
Soon after, Tharoor had commented that it was an "apmaan (insult) that the minister was responding in Hindi.
Scindia had then responded that it was strange for the member to make such a comment.
Immediately after Tharoor made the remarks, Speaker Birla had said, "Ye apmaan nahi hain (this is not an insult)."
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Kerala woman on trek at Tadiandamol hills goes missing, search operations on
Bengaluru (PTI): A 36-year-old woman, who went trekking at Tadiandamol hills in Kodagu district, has gone missing inside the forest. Additional personnel and drone cameras have been deployed to search for her, Karnataka Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre said on Sunday.
He said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, expressing concern about the young woman's disappearance, instructed that search operations be intensified.
G S Sharanya had come alone from Kerala for the trek and stayed at a private homestay in Kakkabe village.
She had gone to the high mountain range of Tadiandamol hills in Kodagu with a guide and 15 other trekkers on April 2. She went missing that afternoon. As soon as the matter was known, five teams of 50 people, including police, the anti-Naxal squad, a dog squad and forest personnel were formed, and are conducting searches, the minister's office said in a statement.
According to Khandre, CM Siddaramaiah expressed concern about the disappearance of the young woman who went on a trek and instructed that additional personnel be deployed for the search.
"Four additional teams of 40 personnel have been deployed today. A total of 9 teams are conducting the search operation. Honest efforts continue to find the missing young woman," he said.
Further noting that, as per reports, the young woman last contacted the homestay by phone on Thursday, stating she had lost her way, the minister said, "Search is being conducted based on her phone location. Local tribal people have also rushed to help, and sophisticated thermal drone cameras have been obtained with an additional team deployed starting today."
