Month: April 2022

Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday called for “unity at all levels” of the organisation at a meeting of party MPs in which she spoke about the party’s “shocking and painful” defeats in the recent elections even as she slammed the government for targeting the Opposition and “spreading maximum fear and intimidation”.

Stating that the road ahead for the Congress party was more challenging than ever before and the spirit of resilience of party workers was under severe test, Sonia Gandhi said she had received many suggestions on how to strengthen the party and she was working on “many of them”.

Addressing a meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) in Parliament, Sonia Gandhi said, “The road ahead is more challenging than ever before. Our dedication and determination, our spirit of resilience are under severe test. Unity at all levels of our vast organisation is of paramount importance and speaking for myself, I am determined to do whatever is needed to ensure it. Our revival is not just a matter of importance to us alone–it is, in fact, essential for our democracy itself and indeed for our society as well.”

Sonia Gandhi also said she had received many suggestions on how to strengthen the Congress and she was working on “many of them”.

“I am very well aware of how disappointed you are at the recent election results. They have been both shocking and painful. The CWC has met once to review our performance. I have met with other colleagues too. I have received many suggestions on how to strengthen our organization,” she added.

The comments come ahead of a ‘Chintan Shivir’ of the party organised following party’s defeat in recently held Punjab Assembly elections and its failure to make a mark in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa. Post the poll drubbing, Sonia Gandhi had offered to step down, a suggestion that was turned down by the Congress Working Committee (CWC), even as G-23, the group of dissident leaders called for organisational changes in the party.

Speaking at the CPP today, Sonia Gandhi also thanked all the senior and experienced colleagues who have retired from the Rajya Sabha for their contribution.

“Four of our very senior and experienced colleagues have just retired from the Rajya Sabha, more will retire before we meet next. Each and every one of them has contributed much during their tenure. I thank them all. I am sure they will all remain involved in some way or the other in public and political life, and continue to work to strengthen our party,” she said.

The Congress interim president further said that this session of Parliament has seen the Budget as well as discussions on the functioning of various ministries. “A number of you have participated and put across our party’s viewpoints forcefully. Issues of public importance have also been raised by our MPs in both Houses. Of course, the Government’s attitude has not changed,” she added.

Hitting out at the ruling BJP, she said that the ruling party’s “divisive agenda” has become a regular feature of political discourse in all states and that history is being “mischievously distorted” to add fuel to its agenda.

“The divisive and polarizing agenda of the ruling party and its leaders has now become a regular feature of the political discourse in state after state. History, not just ancient but also contemporary, is mischievously distorted and facts are maliciously invented to add fuel to this agenda. It is for us all to stand up and confront these forces of hate and prejudice. We will not allow them to damage the bonds of amity and harmony that have sustained and enriched our diverse society for centuries,” Sonia Gandhi said.

She said that the ruling establishment continues to target the opposition, its leaders and workers. “The full might of the state machinery is unleashed against them. Maximum governance to those in power clearly means spreading maximum fear and intimidation. Such blatant threats and tactics will not frighten or silence us nor will we get cowed down,” she said.

She further slammed the BJP for the rising inflation and asked the party members to sustain the ‘Mehngai-mukt Bharat ‘campaign.

She also said that the future of medical students evacuated from Ukraine needs to be assured at the earliest.

“The future of the thousands of students who have been evacuated from Ukraine needs to be assured at the earliest. And sooner rather than later, the continuing astronomical cost of medical education in the country needs to be addressed,” said Sonia Gandhi.

The Congress president said that the labour laws have been diluted at a time of growing unemployment and livelihood insecurity which is expected to turn out to be another disaster as demonetisation.

“Interest rates on employee provident fund accumulations have been reduced considerably. Public sector enterprises, the one important avenue for employment of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes are being sold off under the fancy name “asset monetization”. This will be another disaster as demonetisation turned out to be,” Sonia Gandhi said.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury were also present at the meeting. (ANI)

Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Monday reached Mumbai to investigate the Gorakhnath Temple attack case and learnt that the accused Murtaza had not met his family members for the last three years.

Yesterday, the team visited Navi Mumbai where the accused Murtaza used to live earlier with his family.

UP ATS team has reached Mumbai to investigate the Gorakhnath Temple attack case. Yesterday, the team visited Navi Mumbai where the accused Murtaza used to live earlier with his family. Murtaza did not meet his family members for the last 3 years.

Notably, the father of the accused has said that his son is mentally not stable and had no plan to commit the offence.

“He is not mentally stable. Since childhood, he is suffering from depression. He also received medical treatment,” Munir Ahmed Abbasi, the father of the accused told ANI while adding that due to some developments (in his mental health), the accused believed that police were after him.

“He had no planning and did this due to his current mental state,” Abbasi added.

According to Uttar Pradesh Police, a man forcibly tried to enter the Gorakhnath Temple premises and attacked the on-duty police personnel with a sharp weapon on Sunday. The accused has been identified as Ahmed Murtaza Abbasi, a resident of Gorakhpur.

The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to hand over the probe to the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).

ADG (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said the man who attacked two police personnel at Gorakhnath temple has been arrested.

“He is a resident of Gorakhpur. A sickle has been recovered from him. An FIR has been lodged against him. There could be a terror angle in it. The case will be transferred to ATS,” he said.

Police said the accused Ahmed Murtaza Abbasi, after being presented in court on Monday, has been sent to judicial custody.

Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said strict action will be taken based on the investigation. (ANI)

Cheteshwar Pujara will have to wait to make his Sussex debut until next week, as delays in issuing his visa means that the Indian will not be available for the first County Championship match of the season.

The club have been in regular contact with Pujara and have been working tirelessly to enable him to be available for the first game of the season against Nottinghamshire, however due to delays in issuing his visa, the overseas batter will not be available until next week.

Speaking on the issues relating to the delay, Sussex Performance Director, Keith Greenfield commented: “Securing overseas players has been tremendously difficult in the current climate. We renegotiated the initial Pujara contract so he could return for more County Championship and Royal London Cup matches, and this subsequently changed the visa requirements.”

“On top of this, the Ukraine crisis has meant that the Home Office redirected their resources to help with the displacement of Ukrainian citizens. We were expecting Pujara to be with us last weekend but can now confirm he will be here at the back end of this week.”

Pujara will still be available for five rounds of County Championship cricket out of the first six fixtures as agreed, starting with Derbyshire next week. He will also be returning later in the season for the Royal London Cup, and some additional four-day games.

Head Coach, Ian Salisbury added: “Of course I am extremely disappointed that we will not have a player of Pujara’s experience and quality to be available for the opening day of the season, but we must move on and now focus on the game ahead of us.”

Sussex will start the season hosting Nottinghamshire this Thursday at The 1st Central County Ground. (ANI)

Wedding bells are ringing for one of the much-loved couples of Bollywood — Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor — as per several rumours circulating on social media.

Ranbir and Alia, who have been dating for around four years, are reportedly gearing up for their wedding this April.

The rumours further claim that the couple will tie the knot in an intimate ceremony at RK house in Chembur, Mumbai, just like late star Rishi Kapoor and veteran actor Neetu Kapoor’s wedding ceremonies took place in 1980.

If reports are to be believed, the couple will be inviting only close family members and friends.

Details about Ranbir’s rumoured bachelor’s party are also floating on the internet, including Arjun Kapoor and Ayan Mukherji on the guest list.

Ranbir and Alia had fallen in love on the sets of their upcoming film ‘Brahmastra’. The two made their first appearance as a couple at Sonam Kapoor’s reception in 2018.

The couple has been vocal about their relationship — sharing pictures of several vacations together and visiting each other’s houses for family get-togethers on numerous occasions.

Alia was also present at Rishi Kapoor’s funeral service in 2020.

Having seen the couple being there for each other in joy and sorrow, Ranbir and Alia’s fans are eagerly waiting for them to put a ring on their relationship. (ANI)

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has created several problems for Pakistan by cosying up with Russia and China while keeping at bay US who considered Islamabad as a strategic non-NATO ally.

Moreover, Imran Khan’s foreign policy is not in consonance with the Pakistan army who wants the US on its side.
Imran Khan is one more in the long list of the country’s leaders who were ousted before they could finish their tenure.

First, he lost his majority in the National Assembly after Muttahidda Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), a key ally, walked out of the coalition, accusing the government of economic mismanagement. The Opposition tabled a no-confidence vote in the parliament, seeking his ouster.

Imran Khan asked President to dissolve assemblies and call fresh elections in order to block a no-confidence vote that was tabled in National Assembly to oust him from power

However Pakistani President Arif Alvi dissolved the country’s parliament on Sunday.

The economic figures reveal the poor economic scenario in the country, the report said, adding that, despite the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP)’s ‘sunny side up’ approach. Pakistan’s total debts and liabilities have crossed PKR 50.5 trillion, an increase of around PKR 20 trillion under the current PM Imran Khan government. SBP data further shows that the current account deficit has increased to 4.7 per cent of GDP, far above the target of 2-3 per cent for 2021. Moreover, the rupee has plunged to cross the mark of PKR 183 against the US dollar, indicating bleak fundamentals.

Khan, a world-famous cricketer, started his political career in 1996 with the launch of his party PTI, which aimed to challenge the dominance of PML-N and PPP. Though Khan became a Member of Parliament in 2002, his party tasted success only in 2013, when it emerged as the second-largest in Pakistan.

With the vision of a “new Pakistan”, the cricketer turned politician came back with power in 2018. The former cricket captain branded himself as a religious, anti-poverty reformer, who wished to create an Islamic welfare state and reform the country’s tax system and bureaucracy.

But none of his promises came to fruition. Pakistan was hit by a wave of inflation as the rupee plummeted and the country’s debt soared. The COVID-19 onslaught didn’t help matters. In the end, Khan had to negotiate a USD six billion rescue plan with the IMF to shore up the country’s foreign currency reserves, according to a media report.

Pakistan media has criticised the dissolution of the National Assembly in the country, saying that whatever happened on Sunday violated all rules governing proceedings in the House, particularly those dealing with the motion of no-confidence.

In an editorial published on Monday, the Dawn newspaper said that Imran Khan could have played the political game like a true sportsperson and still emerged stronger from the loss given the sharp narrative he had spun leading up to the vote.

“Instead, he chose to thrust the country into a constitutional crisis. The president, too, failed to act with wisdom: instead of looking into the constitutionality of the entire process, he acted as an Imran Khan loyalist and sullied his office with his partisan decision,” the Dawn editorial said.

The country is even finding it difficult to pay even its embassy staff. In a major embarrassment for the country, Pakistan Embassy in Serbia through its official Twitter handle recently disclosed that the government had not paid its dues for three months.

Notable, political observers say that Khan’s major issue is that he has fallen out of favour with the influential military generals. Many other political figures in Pakistan in the past have faced a similar situation. In fact, no Pakistan Prime Minister has ever completed the full five-year term. Though the Pakistan military says that it is neutral with regard to this issue, the fact of the matter is that Khan’s relationship with the military has cooled. He made the situation worse for himself by making a shocking comment at the military.

“Humans are not neutral, they take the side of good or evil; only animals are neutral,” he said during a speech.

Another point of contention between Khan and the military is the recent appointment of the new ISI chief. Khan reportedly dragged his feet over the candidate chosen by the army, which miffed the military. The outgoing ISI chief, a Khan loyalist, had helped him secure the 2018 election. (ANI)

Charging Maharashtra Navnirman Sena with attaining a communal approach rather than a developmental one, one of its Muslim leader from Pune on Tuesday resigned from the party citing that the political stand of the party’s chief Raj Thackeray has changed.

Majid Shaikh, the branch head of MNS, in his resignation letter stated: “I am resigning from the post because since the last few days, instead of focusing on issues like development, inflation, women empowerment, unemployment, the party is more focused on the communalism.”

Citing that the political stand of Thackeray has changed from a development to a communal one, Shaikh further stated, “Raj saheb was an icon for me as he used to talk about the blueprint of Maharashtra and farmers issues and that is why I had joined the party in 2009. But now his political stand has changed and politics of communalism has crept in the party and that is why I have resigned.”

Shaikh has sent his resignation to the immediate superior and the city unit president Vasant More.

He was working for MNS since 2009 as Shikha Adhyaksh in Pune city.

The development comes a day after MNS chief Raj Thackeray had warned to play Hanuman Chalisa on loudspeakers outside mosques if they do not remove loudspeakers for Azaan.

Raj Thackeray had said, “I am warning now…Remove loudspeakers or else will put loudspeakers in front of the mosque and play Hanuman Chalisa.”

Notably, on Sunday morning, MNS played ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ at high decibels from loudspeakers that are installed at its office in Ghatkopar in Mumbai. (ANI)

Film star Priyanka Chopra turned cheerleader for her husband and singer Nick Jonas at a baseball game.

On Tuesday, Priyanka took to Instagram and shared a string of images from the match. In the pictures, she can be seen watching Nick playing as she stood behind the nets.

For the game day, she chose to wear a long oversized white jersey with her name written on it and rust coloured pants. She kept her hair tied in a ponytail.

One of the images features Priyanka posing for the camera while her cousin Divya Jyoti’s daughter clicks her picture.

“Game Day#perfectsunday #happyVallis,” she captioned the post.

Nick, too, shared a glimpse of his game day.

“Good to be back on the field,” he captioned the post.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Priyanka will be seen sharing screen space with Alia Bhatt and Katrina Kaif in Farhan Akhtar’s ‘Jee Le Zaraa’. She is also a part of the Russo brothers’ ‘Citadel’. (ANI)

Sri Lankan police have warned protesters not to take the law in their own hands and said strict action will be taken against those involved in violence during the agitations.

The police arrested several protesters on Monday night and said they are relying on scientific and video footage to nab violators in the coming days.

“There were reports of protests and demonstrations in various parts of Sri Lanka yesterday, some of which involved arson, incursions and other acts of violence. Arrests have been made of the perpetrators, some of whom have been identified on video evidence and will be arrested in the near future,” Sri Lanka Police said in a statement.

They say that strict action will be taken against those involved in violence during the protests.

“Violent means to arrest protesters, using scientific, technical, and video evidence. Accordingly, all are requested not to engage in violent or violent acts,” the police said.

On April 4, protesters in large numbers were seen marching toward the residences of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. The protesters displayed their anger and broke the barricades put up to stop the protesters from running toward President and Prime Minister’s houses.

The Sri Lankan police said they have not banned protests, but said protestors should act in a peaceful manner.

Meanwhile, an emergency health situation has been declared in Sri Lanka from today, due to a severe shortage of medicines in the country.

This decision was announced after an emergency general committee meeting of the country’s Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) to discuss the imposition of the emergency law and the severe drug shortage, the Daily Mirror reported.

The island nation is facing an unprecedented economic crisis. Sri Lanka’s economy has been in a free fall since the COVID-19 pandemic due to the crash of the tourism sector.

Sri Lanka is presently facing a foreign exchange shortage which has led to a food, fuel, power and gas shortage and has sought the assistance of friendly countries for economic assistance.

The country is witnessing at least 13-hour daily power cuts. Sri Lanka’s currency has been also devalued by almost SLR 90 against the US dollar since March 8. (ANI)

Indian Nursing Council on Monday condemned the “derogatory content” in the Sociology textbook for nurses wherein merits of dowry are listed, adding that it does not endorse any author or publication nor has it allowed any author to use the name of Indian Nursing Council for their publications.

A chapter in a sociology textbook for nurses sparked a row yesterday as it has claimed that the system of dowry is actually good for society and even helps parents of “ugly looking girls” to get them married off.

The book is called ‘Textbook of Sociology for Nurses’ by Author TK Indrani lays and it is part of the curriculum for second-year B.Sc. students.

Taking note of the content and the outrage it faced on social media, the Statutory Body under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare– INC condemned the “substandard content” and said, “It has been brought to the notice of the Indian Nursing Council that some authors of Sociology for Nurses are quoting INC syllabus to publish substandard content in textbooks. INC strongly condemns any derogatory content which is against the prevailing law of the land.”

INC also issued a clarification and said that it only prescribes syllabus for nursing programs, and the same is listed on its website.

“It is clarified that INC only prescribes syllabus for various nursing programs which is placed on its website. Indian Nursing Council as a policy does not endorse any author or publication nor has allowed any author to use the name of Indian Nursing Council for their publications,” the statement read.

Notably, Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi had flagged the issue and has also written to Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan over the contents of the textbook.

In her letter, Chaturvedi listed the content of the textbook wherein one of ‘advantages’ as stated in the textbook states: “Ugly looking girls can be married off with attractive dowry will well or ugly looking boys”.

Another point in the textbook states: “Because of burden of dowry, many parents have started educating their girls. When the girls are educated or even employed, the demand of dowry will be less. Thus, it is an indirect advantage.”

Calling out the textbook for its content, the Shiv Sena MP said, “It is appalling how such derogatory and problematic text remains in circulation and that a textbook elaborating the merits of dowry can actually exist in our curriculum is a shame for the nation and its constitution.”

Demanding immediate action, Chaturvedi said that it is extremely unfortunate that such outdated ideas prevailed despite dowry being a criminal act.

“It is even more concerning that students are being exposed to such regressive content and no action has been taken so far. Such reinforcement of the dowry system is offensive and should be actioned upon immediately,” she added.

She has also requested Pradhan to “immediately stop the circulation of such regressive textbooks and take them off the curriculum.”

“I also request you to take strict measures in this regard and ensure that in future such anti-women content is neither taught or promoted, especially by the academic institution, and, that the textbooks are reviewed and approved by a panel,” the MP added. (ANI)