Rahul Gandhi is now Congress president

Agencies
December 11, 2017

New Delhi, Dec 11: India's opposition Congress party named Rahul Gandhi as its new leader on Monday after years of speculation, calling it a "historic occasion".

Senior Congress leader Mullappally Ramachandran said the 47-year-old had stood unopposed for election as the president of the party his family had led for generations.

"I hereby declare Shri Rahul Gandhi elected as the President of the Indian National Congress," he told reporters outside the Congress headquarters in New Delhi. "This is a historic occasion."

The announcement caps years of speculation that the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty would take over from his 71-year-old mother Sonia who has led the party for nearly two decades.

Rahul, whose father, grandmother and great-grandfather all served as prime minister, has been her deputy since 2013 and led the campaign for the last general election.

He will officially take over on Saturday at a ceremony in New Delhi.

Congress party workers let off firecrackers and cheered as they celebrated the announcement.

"I have waited for this day for so many years. My joy knows no bounds," said Prem Chowdhury, a long-time party member and former municipal councillor.

Rahul was strongly criticised for a lacklustre campaign for the 2014 general election, in which Congress recorded its worst-ever showing and lost power to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party.

Since the national election defeat, the party has lost polls in many states to the BJP, exposing him to further criticism.

But few inside the party have been willing publicly to criticise the family that has been at its helm for generations.

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News Network
March 30,2020

New Delhi, Mar 30: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday interacted with Indian ambassadors and high commissioners abroad and urged them to remain alert to developments in global efforts against COVID-19 including breakthroughs to help the country's fight against the coronavirus.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla were also present during the interaction through video-conferencing.

"Coming together for India PM interacted with Indian Ambassadors/High Commissioners abroad and urged them to remain alert to developments in global efforts against COVID-19 including breakthroughs to help our national efforts to fight COVID19," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a tweet.

"PM appreciated the efforts of our missions in helping Indians abroad, in particular, students and workers," he added.

The number of positive coronavirus cases in the country stood at 1,071 on Monday. It includes 29 deaths and 99 people, who have been cured of the highly contagious virus.

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Agencies
January 25,2020

Patna, Jan 25: JD Women's College in Patna has issued a direction to the students to follow the prescribed dress code on the campus while stating that wearing a 'burqa' in college is prohibited.

"All students have to come to college in the prescribed dress code, every day except on Saturday. Students are prohibited from wearing 'burqa' in college", reads a notice signed by the Principal and Proctor of the college.

The college administration has also imposed a fine of Rs. 250 for violation of the norm.

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Abdullah
 - 
Sunday, 26 Jan 2020

I think this college management will allow girl students to wear tight jeans + t-shair and miniskirts but is not allowing a girl to cover her body.    Are we in ancient days where humans had no dress to cover themselves or in the time of Nair kings in kerala who restricted ladies of low caste from covering their chest.     

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News Network
February 29,2020

New Delhi, Feb 29: The father of Intelligence Bureau staffer Ankit Sharma, whose body was pulled out of a drain in northeast Delhi's riot-hit Chand Bagh, complained to police that goons had assembled at the residence of former AAP counselor Tahir Hussain and were throwing petrol bombs from the rooftop.

According to the FIR which was registered on Thursday on the basis of the complaint lodged by Ankit's father Ravinder, the goons were also firing from the rooftop.

On Tuesday, Ankit returned from his office at 5 pm and then went outside to buy groceries. When he did not return, the family started looking for him and later filed a missing report, the FIR stated.

They got to know from their neighbours that a body has been recovered from a drain… later it was found to be that of Anikt, it said, adding the body had multiple stab injuries on the face, head, back, and chest.

The family has alleged in the FIR that it was Hussain and the goons at his residence who killed Ankit. In the FIR, Hussain has been accused of murder, destruction of evidence and abduction.

Soon after the FIR was registered on Thursday, the AAP suspended Tahir Hussain from the primary membership of the party till the police completed its probe.

The death toll in Delhi's communal violence rose to 42 on Friday as the situation showed some signs of returning to normalcy and clouds of smoke cleared to reveal the extent of the damage from the worst riots in the city in over three decades.

A total of 148 FIRs have been registered and 630 people have been either arrested or detained so far in connection with the communal violence, a Delhi Police spokesperson said.

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